Necessary Corruption 29 (Patreon)

Necessary Corruption

Chapter 29

-VB-

“Naruto… right?” I said as the orange jumpsuit wearing boy followed me. His team and teacher weren’t with him.

“Yeah! You remembered me!” he grinned happily as he skipped alongside me.

“It’s hard to forget you. You certainly made yourself memorable,” I replied. ‘Telling me and my retinues everything and anything about Konohagakure put you on my list of favored people,’ I thought to myself.

“I’m going to be in the exam!”

I paused, wondering if the boy should be participating. He hadn’t seemed like a particularly experienced or able fighter. Yina didn’t mention him much, either.

“Are you sure you’ll be fine?” I asked. “I don’t want to see a friend get hurt.”

He wasn’t a “friend,” so to speak, but he was a child, and connecting with him like this would have more impact than saying “I am older, I have authority, so listen, kid.”

Naruto looked indignant before faltering.

“Uh. Friend. Right,” he muttered. And then he brightened up. “I’ll be fine! Just watch me in the finals!” he boasted.

I snorted. “If you are so certain, then what else am I supposed to say except good luck?” I asked.

Around that point, he left while waving me goodbye, and I waved back at him.

“Friend, milord?” Yina asked from the shadows as I got back into the carriage.

I chuckled. “He seems interesting enough. Besides, he is a teenager. He’ll only react negatively if I baselessly discourage him. Who knows? He might actually get into the finals and give me a good show.”

“If you say so, milord,” Yina hummed before disappearing back into her abyssal realm.

“Wow.”

I looked up and saw Tsunami looking at my men and women with wide eyes. “I … wasn’t aware your people were that strong.”

I smiled fondly. “They are amazing, aren’t they?” I asked her.

I also saw my retinues straightening their backs at what I said.

“Yes,” she said, obviously and genuinely awed. “Ninjas are supposed to be powerful but … Gito made that ninja hesitate and question herself.”

Gito’s back straightened even more.

“Your back is going to be break if it goes any straighter, Gito,” I laughed, and the man withered a little before chuckling lightheartedly along with me. “Still, I wasn’t joking or being disingenuous when I said you did great, Gito. You showed the Hokage, the strongest person in the entire world, that you and our people are not to be messed with.”

“I am glad, milord,” he replied back before returning to being my silent guardian.

“Tomotaka.”

“Yes, Takanori-sama?” my wood “tinker” asked, his huge living wood armored frame shadowing over the carriage.

“I made a promise to the Hokage that I would gift him a living weapon. You are to make that weapon, my dear. Your work will reflect my intention, and I very much would like to keep Konohagakure happy with us. I hope you know what I want?”

“A gift sufficient enough to impress but also be practical, because ninjas are practical. Showing that we understand their mentality will go further to show that we too are taking them seriously.”

“Indeed. You have your task and for the duration of it, you will focus solely on that.”

“Yes, Takanori-sama.”

I turned back to Tsunami. “Do you have anywhere that you want to go to? The Hokage Mountain in the distance, the shopping district, and more are here in Konohagakure.”

She pondered my question before looking up towards the Hokage Mountain. “I want to see how big those faces are.”

I nodded. “You heard your lady. To the mountain.”

-VB-

Later that night, I slipped out of bed, nude as the day I was born while Tsunami continued to sleep, thoroughly satisfied with me in bed. I slid a robe over my frame, tied the straps, and walked out onto the balcony of the manor I had rented.

I looked up at the full moon and hummed.

“Nari.”

The waif woman stepped forth from around the corner.

“Yes, milord?”

“Are there any ninjas observing us?”

“Some, but they are far away. They are aware of my ability,” she said before bowing her head in shame.

“None of that now. We can’t always expect to run into weaklings like that which populate the Land of Rivers.”

“Hai.”

“And how goes Chushini’s mission?”

Konohagakure may be my ally, but there was no law in place banning opium.

“He has left Konohagakure and are looking into neighboring towns and villages.”

“Good, good. Having Konohagakure as an ally should mean that at the very least my men won’t be executed for asking.”

It was a bad idea to introduce drugs to my future ally, but I wanted a route in place just in case Konoha turned its back on me. If that were to happen, then I would flood this land so that the ninjas won’t be an issue for me.

I dismissed Nari and turned to my shadow.

“What about Tenemo?” I asked Yina, who rose up out of the shadows but out of the sight of the ninjas observing. Yina had better lock on them than Nari had.

Tenemo was one of my blessed from the start of my reign. A loyal retinue like Washimoto, he would throw himself into fire and die if it meant achieving my goals because I have given him … many closures.

“He is already in the Fire capital. Soon, he will have the Fire Court singing to his tune.”

“Good, good.”

Tenemo was dangerous, because unlike most of my retinue members, he possessed no overt expression of power, but he could nonetheless manipulate people like no one else. No illusion was needed. Just words, laughter, and “friendship.”

“Have a good night’s sleep then, Yina. You deserve it.”

“... Milord.”

And then she disappeared.

I turned back and admired the full moon again.

It wasn’t enough to just ally someone. No, no, no. To take the former gang boss Chushini’s words, I had to “grab them by the balls while making them smile and thank me for it.” Once the Fire Court was in my hands, I’ll make them lenient towards Konohagakure while I would assert that it was through my influence that such a thing happened.

Everything was going well.

I just hoped it would continue to go well.