Red Riot - Chapter 20 - Red bargain (Patreon)

Character list:

Matsu:- The MC, a Kiri Chunin, with Uzumaki traits.

Himeko:- Kaguya clanswoman with their Kekkei Genkai, Genin, and violence enthusiast

Sharkbait:- real name Jun. Genin that trained with Matsu, skilled combatant, expert bait for sharks

Hideo Munashi:- One of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, Wilder of Shibuki - the exploding blade

Jonin Akiko - Matsu’s Sensei and exasperated mentor of other children

Yumi:- Geisha of the Land of Vegetables, Matsu has plans for her

Hana:- Handmaiden and younger girl that acts as Yumi’s helper

Madam Yubaba:- Port Potato Okiya (Geisha den) matron, person who hired Kiri nin to secure Yumi’s procession.

Lord Edo:- The Lord that Madam Yubaba is claiming has sired Yumi. Unpopular man who has lots of enemies. Yubaba hopes to cash in on this enmity. She just needs Yumi to survive Edo’s backlash.

Hotaru Uzumaki - Uzumaki clan leader who was captured and turned into Gengetu’s toy. He’s very, very dead now.

Hiroshi Uzumaki - Old shinobi of Uzushio, father to Mara, Grandfather to Momotaro. Blacksmith. Hideo’s target. 

Momotaro Uzumaki - Kid with a chip on his shoulder. 

Mara Uzumaki - sickly daughter to Hiroshi. Former Kunoichi of Uzushio.

                                     __________________________________________ 

“I never met a ‘Lord Arashi’,” I said contemplatively. “Was he a bit of a wild man?” I asked. The only name I could recall was Hotaru and he’d been the leader of the Uzumaki.

He stood out in my mind, both as the only Uzumaki until today that I had met, along with the manner in which I’d met him. on your knees before Gengetsu certainly stood out to me as a memory.

The older Uzumaki, who'd just sent me flying raised his blade. “Urgh, I'm being nostalgic. You're just using a Henge, aren't you?” he said. I spotted how his muscles tensed and prepared myself to dodge in case what I said next made him go for another blow. 

“Nope, pure bastard Uzumaki,” I said. 

“Grandfather we should just kill them!” growled the kid. 

Thankfully the Grandfather seemed to be a calmer in temperment. “No… I want to know what you're doing in this city. There's no need to rush. How many are there of you?”

Sharkbait bristled but I raised a hand. “There's only a few of us and you don't have to worry about us. Our mission isn't to hunt you down.”

The man searched my expression but I kept things calm while cycling my chakra up as much as I could to refocus my attention to building back up my steel body jutsu. Not that I had much of  chance with that if he got serious. My best bet would be the nuclear option if it came down to survival. 

Openning the gates would have everyone in the city with  lick of chakra senstivitiy aware of us. We’d fail our mission with Yumi with how tight security would become in the capital. 

Worse, Hideo would be on us in seconds. 

Chances were he'd see us as useful pawns… if we were lucky, and I didn't like to think luck would factor in. Not with how happy he'd been to try and blow us up. The man had a bloodlust that trumped a shark's.

We'd be convenient scapegoats or additional targets if I had to guess at his thought process. 

If it came down to it we'd have to hope that Akiko was close by to pull us out of the fire. 

The man's eyes narrowed. “You said our mission… meaning that there might be someone else looking for me?”

I snorted only to regret it immediately as my still healing body protested the action. “Most of Kiri would be I imagine. But no, you have been flagged. someone knew you were in the Land of Vegetables and has sent someone sniffing around.”

“So we kill you and then go to ground!” snapped the kid, his head whipping from me to his older relative, possibly grandfather. 

I kept my gaze on the old man. He was the real threat here. I took in his features. Noting the way his face had whiskers that looked worn while his eyes tracked me and Sharkbait while occasionally shifting, watching for anyone else. He was listening but not taking our words as honest truth. 

His fingers opened and closed ot of reflex around the handle of a beautiful dark blue blade that glinted in what little light there was in the street. On the pommel a red thread tracked down, looking so very like blood that I had to wonder if I hadn’t been cut before only to not register it. 

I shuddered and reflexively fluctuated my chakra, drawing the old man's attention to me. 

“You… don't want to fight us,” he intoned gravelly. 

I nodded. 

He searched my features. “But you aren't the type to run from Kiri are you? Not even for family?”

I barked a laugh. “I think our definitions of family are very different.” I reached up and ran my hand through  the red strands of hair that marked me as Uzumaki blooded. “I'm not going to give up what I have for you though, no.” The look the kid was giving me if anything intensified. 

I shrugged. “It's just that I'm not going to sell you out either.”

Sharkbait twitched in surprise. “Really Matsu? What if Hideo finds out?”

I made a noncommittal wave of the hand. “It will depend on how right now plays out,” what hat Hideo revealed about his target? Old Uzumaki blacksmith, most likely that meant Bladesmith, if the sword and the kid's armour were any indication. 

The question was how do I deescalate this situation to the point that we all walk away unharmed? 

“Soooo,” I said slowly, “any chance we can just forget we saw each other?”

“Hnnn,” said the old man. 

That was enough to embolden the kid. He raised his blade. “Can't let you run back to your other bottom feeders!” he said provoking a twitch of annoyance from Sharkbait. 

I sighed and decided to roll the dice. I knew just mentioning this could be risky but I had to try. With the way things were building we were simply going to end up fighting it out again.

“This is about your mother,” I said looking towards the kid before shifting towards the adult. “Or rather your daughter, isn't it?” 

As both their faces shifted to blank I knew I had made a mistake, they were moments away from stabbing us. “I’m a medic,” I said hurriedly. 

Both of them paused only for the kid to scoff. “Yeah right! A brat like you? There's no way you're a medic.”

I shrugged. “Things are rough in Kiri. You need to work hard and smart. Being a medic was just a method of survival. It’s helped me, why can't I let it help you?” I said ignoring the brat comment. No way this kid was older than me. He was bigger but I think that had more to do with the armour than actual size on his part.

The old man shook his head. “The best healers of Uzushio looked her over, but they couldn't help.”

I swallowed. while the old man had relaxed I could almost see the steam building in the kid's head. 

He was about to do something stupid like attack us.

So I decided to beat him to it. “Take me hostage, I bet on my life I can heal her,” I said brazenly. 

Sharkbait stared at me. “Yo Matsu, what the hell man? No way you can take them alone if things go south,” he said quietly. 

I just smiled confidently. “We're both dead if I don't do something. Dare to dream sharkbait,’ I said. 

The old man merely raised his blade. “And why do you think I'd let a Kiri nin like you anywhere near my family?” he said with a smirk.

Heh damn he had me there.

I continued to smile. “Cause I already know where you currently live,” I said with a smile while inwardly I was sweating bullets. Come on acting lessons with the ladies don't fail me now!

Both of them stilled at this news and I just shrugged, my mouth talking before my brain could catch up. “I didn't detect you old man. Your chakra control is impeccable… but the kid's and his mother?”

I clicked my tongue softly as my mind bgan connecting dots for the most likely spot they;d have set themselves up in. “Much easier for a sensor like me.” I glanced up towards the castle where other chakra signatures were.

A blacksmith that was as skilled as this old man? Well he'd find an easy billing working for a Daimyo, wouldn't he?

Both of their faces twitches and I repressed an urge to laugh maniacally. instead I offered up my wrists. “so, you have nothing to gain but everything to lose from killing us, but if you take me and I heal her? well…” I splayed my hands open. “I think you might like to hear what else I have to say,” I said, still trying to think what else I really had to say. 

Damn it, I really was the causer of all my life's big issues, wasn’t I?

The kid could have started a fire with how fast and hard he was grinding his teeth together while the elder had a more contemplative look. “You sure you never knew your dad kid?” he said before shaking his head. “Never mind that question, heh for all you never met him you're just as bold as him.” 

He waved a hand. “Come on, both of you can come up but any funny business an I'll gut you both.” 

“Grandfather!?” shouted the kid, shocked at this turn of events. 

“He isn't wrong, I am that desperate to heal your mother kid,” said the older man before a look of shrewdness flashed over his features, “Just to make sure you don't try anything though, both of you will be coming,” he said.

“Excellent,” I sais, like I couldn't be happier at this turn of events.

The older mn stared at me as though trying to see through me and what I had plan, but the joke was on him because I was flying by the seat of my pants right now.

The old man jerked his head, sheathing his sword as he did so. Let’s go,” he said. 

When the kid made to open his mouth the old man stared him into silence

Sharkbait stared at me as we jumped back onto the rooftops. “Damn Matsu, that was smooth,” he said and I realised that it wasn't just the Uzumaki that had fallen for my bullshitting. 

I gave him a confident smile, hoping that I could back things up. For the moment, a few minutes more without fighting worked for us. 

“I don't trust you,” hissed another voice, making me turn towards the kid in samurai armour who waas glaring at me and Sharkbait. 

“No one cares what you think,” Sharkbait said firmly and I chuckled at the kid's affronted look. 

“S-shut up!” spluttered the kid. “I was about to use my secret move to win against you before you cheated!”

Sharkbait and I shared a look. Was this kid for real? We both faced forward, ignoring the kid as we moved towards one of the only sizable chakra signatures around which had been in the noble ring of the city. 

I relaxed, pleased that the old man wasn't testing my bluff.. for now at least. 

“Hey! old man! I'm Matsu by the way and this is Jun, but we call him Sharkbait!” I called.

The old man glanced at me for a moment. His gaze weighed me up before he grunted out, “Hiroshi.” The he nodded at the kid. “Momotaro,” he said. I raised an eyebrow, huh someone had a traditional upbringing. 

“Gramps!” whined Momotaro and Sharkbait snickered at his plight. 

We ran for a while until we came up to a compound of buildings that was well established. I frowned. I hadn't been into this compound, because it wasn't where the major nobility could be found.

It was a bland set of buildings which were perfectly beneath notice apart from the wall that surrounded the buildings. 

Interesting. 

This was the perfect getaway for a noble, potentially someone very rich. Someone that knew about Hiroshi being a blacksmith. they must have wanted his… I frowned, looking around and noting that there wasn’t a forge.There wasn't any area for leatherworking. There wasn't even a tool shed…

… The noble, or sponsor wasn't using Hiroshi's skills? Or they weren't aware of them? There was something else going on here, that much I Could tell but I didn't have enough information. 

Hiroshi led us into the main building and while the outside appearance was extremely bland, the interior was styled in a subtle, if paired back fashion.The walls were bare but made of rich woods. The floors were perfectly level and maintained. As we walked along I didn’t have to adjust my footing at all to ghost along due to a single creaky floorboard. 

Interesting… very interesting.

We didn't pass anyone in the halls but I noted some minor signs that lived, or at the very least worked here. 

The only room with a chakra source lay before us and Hirohshi opened it. “Dear, we're back,” he said. 

The door opened to reveal a women sitting up in a futon. around her small items lay within arm's reach. 

The woman herself was thin with a sickly palour. Her wrists were visible with how the dress drapped over her frame and I knew that she lacked a lot of muscle and fat tissue. 

Other things stood out to me though, such as how her dress was rich in colour and style. Her hair was well brushed and in a single braid off to the side that drapped over her shoulder.

She smiled brightly at the old man and her son before giving Sharkbait and I inquisitive looks. Her eyes lingered on me, or more specifically my red hair. 

“Father?” she said, her voice had a wonderful lilt that made it sound like she was seconds from breaking into song. 

Hiroshi shifted slightly. “Mara… these two… gentlemen were…” he glanced at his grandson and took a moment to think. “Waylaid by Momo,” he said. 

Momo shot his grandfather a betrayed look while Mara merely sighed and shook her head. “Oh Momo my sweet boy, why must you keep fighting everyone?” she said before eying us. “then again… they are from Kiri even if one of them looks like…”

“Arashi?” I supplied. Mara nodded. I offered a polite smile. “I've heard that before, can't say I ever met him.” I flicked my eyes to Hiroshi. “The old man thought I might be able to help out with your condition,” i said.

Mara tilted her head causing her side braid to flop ovr her shoulder. “Are you sure-” she started to say only to be cut off by me. 

“The first thing we need to change is your hairstyle,” I said indicating what I could only register as ‘the hairstyle of death’ for mothers and women from cartoons. 

“Eh?” said Mara as I reached out and readjusted her hair with a few deft movements to have it pinned and neatly tucked away. “What are you… oh my that's much nicer,” said Mara as I presented a mirror to her. 

“So you're a shinobi… fashion expert?” Mara said to me with an amused smile.

Sharkbait chuckled and I held my polite smile. “Ah, no, I just couldn't tolerate your look. It really didn't work for you,” I said. In truth it suited her far too much but I wasn't allowing her that hairstyle. 

Not if I was going to heal her. 

Too many red flags. 

“Now, let me have a look at you,” I said as I laid my hand properly on her forehead and her chest. I relaxed, pulsing my chakra through her body only to immediately detect several issues with her body, or more specifically her chakra system. 

“What the?” I said as I started tracing the strangeness of her chakra. Instead of the chakra nodes and pathways being a few millimeters under the skin, her pathways led directly into the skin and in some cases out causing chakra to evaporate into the atmosphere around her. 

It was only a miniscule amount of chakra but with the number of pathways branching erratically to the skin she would be losing a sizeable amount of her chakra with each moment. 

A suspicion formed in my mind. I reached for her sleeve of her right arm where several of the strange pathways were located. I drew back the sleeve and wasn't surprised to find numerous scars in the shape of small circle marks with indents. 

I ran my hand over the scars, noting how the skin dimpled. I eyed the bite marks and noted that the scar marks weren't uniform. this would have been caused by numerous people biting off her. 

If she was like Karen in the story the bite marks made a lot of sense but seeing the overlapping marks which resulted in the chakra leakage. I began connecting the dots. If I didn't have the knowledge of the anime with Karin I might not have understood what caused this issue. 

“You are running out of chakra,” I said firmly. “Your body is not producing enough.” 

The other occupants of the room stared at me. Momotaro scoffed. “As if! You just swan in here and claim you know what is causing my mother's illness? Get real” he said his hand twitching towards his blade. 

I ignored him, instead keeping my focus on Mara. “You've had people drain your chakra in a forceful manner. From the indentations and scars I would assume via a bite. So, chakra vampirism? Or perhaps the opposite,” I mused. 

Mara blinked very slowly. “You were able to determine that from merely looking at my chakra system?” she said.

“I deduced it,” I said before tapping on one of the marks. “These bite marks corrrolate to where the chakra is flowing to so it isn't that hard.” 

I turned her hand over and start inspecting her fingernails, her fingers, her blood flow. I then moved on to looking over her teeth. “That doesn't mean there isn't other issues with your body right now.” 

“And my fashion sense?” she asked her fingers toying with her hair.

I nodded faux sadly. “There's no cure for poor taste I'm afraid, I'd get a new stylist.” 

Mara giggled into her other hand. 

Hiroshi coughed. “That is all well and good, but she needs treatment, not just a…” he trailled off uncertainly. 

“Diagnosis,” I said, supplying the answer to him. 

He grunted in acceptance. “Yes, that. So, what treatment do you propose?” he said pointedly his hand moving towards his sheathed blade. Momotaro looked gleeful but I merely shot them a disinterested look, like this was merely another day at work for me. 

I continued to probe at various landmarks of Mara's body. While I did that I started asking questions that helped give me more of an idea how her body was being impacted. 

“How often do you sleep? Do you ever have any mental issues or feel like certain things are true when they're not?” 

I began working through the list of potential issues, asking about her heart, lungs, stomach and even the patterns of her menstrual cycle. I took a little bit of pleasure going into detail on this last topic and watching Hiroshi and Momotaro squirm.

That'd teach them to question me. 

Sadly the most telling answer she could give me was that her health had been deteriorating since the fall of Uzushio. I suspected she might have been enlisted as a chakra battery for the fighters and since then she'd reached a sort of ‘critical state’ with her health worsening. 

With each question Mara started to look me over more seriously. I let her and during one round of questions she turned my hand over and inspected my wrist gently.

When I was done with my questions I had a list of organs that were weaker than they should be or weren't working. 

Sadly this list was, while not extensive, critical. 

“Your heart and lungs are the primary concern but I think there might also be some issues with your kidney function. Those are… possible to heal up but we're also going to have to include some medications to bolster their function going forward that I don't have the skills to create,” I said easily. 

Momotaro took the chance to speak up with both hands. “Oh? What's this? You're not skilled enough?”

I shook my head easily, letting the comment slide. “I'm a battlefield medic. I can regcognise that there's  lot wrong. Heck I can do some patching up on things like her heart, her lungs and some of her artiers and veins but the damage to crucial structures is there and hs been long term. I'd suggest getting a doctor versed in medicine to make up some medications for those after we're done.”

I held up a hand to forstall any further snide comments. “These are merely the symptoms of your actual impairment however which is the chakra deficiency. your body is breaking down as it tries to provide more energy or in this case lower the demand for energy. We need to fix your chakra network… which isn't going to be quick or easy,” I said. 

Hiroshi stared at me like a hungry dog stares at  butcher's shop. “But, you can fix this main issue?” he said. 

I rubbed my chin and considered what I knew and what I could do. I had the healing palm, the diagnosis jutsu, the coma jutsu, the chakra strings and a number of other offensive techniques. 

Was that all I had available to me though?

I also had a partial jutsu in the form of the Rasengan, or the control exercise that led to the Rasengan. 

It caused intense pain and a searing of chakra pathways with what it needed to form. Was there a way I could increase the friction of exercise to cut off the flow of chakra permanently? 

It wasn't the same as Cancer treatment but it reminded me of chemotherapy of my past life in how we used controlled amounts of poisons to destroy cancer cells. 

Well, in a sense that was what a lot of modern medicine was, it just stood out a lot more in chemo. 

I decided to fish for other options first before exploring that., “Do you know any fuinjutsu that can alter the flow of chakra in her body?” I asked. 

Hiroshi snorted. “No! I only know the basics and specialised techniques for swords and armour!” 

I nodded. “And what are the basics?” I asked carefully. 

Hiroshi shook his head. “Mostly they are explosive tags of variou yields and then some very limited storage scrolls.” 

“Explosive seals are basic?” asked Sharkbait. 

Hiroshi eyed us both for a moment, apparently remembering himself that we were enemy shinobi for all that I was assessing his daughter. The words came out carefully as he eyed us for any greed. “Chakra that is made to flow in disruptive paths can lead to a highly energetic response. in most cases explosions. Explosions are easy,” he said. 

“I imagine that they also teach students the importance of safety and to respect sels when they strt out, no?” I said idly, my mind still turned towards Mara's chakra network issue.

Hiroshi merely grunted. “Most don't get past this stge. For all that fuinjutsu is a highly desired set of skills it is not something that everyone can pursue.”

“What stops people from advancing from basic sealing techniques?” Sharkbait asked the question I was wondering about.

“Mindset,” he said cryptically. 

When I glanced at him I noted he was looking back firmly daring me or sharkbait to ask more. I decided to not push… for now. Interestingly Momotaro seemed annoyed with how he was staring at the wall like it had wronged him. 

“Right,” I said. “I think I might have an option but it will hurt as I will need to, for lack of a better term, cauterise the chakra network leading out of her body. With the number of sites she hs this will be exhaustive and take quite a while,” I said. 

“Cauterise?” said Hiroshi. 

The chakra network needs to stop flowing where we don't want it to flow to.” I made a pinching action. “To do that we're going to have to cauterise or physically damage the network in a controlled manner.”

Momotaro bristled as I knew he would but Hiroshi cut him of, well aware of his grandson's shorter fuse. “How much will it hurt?”

I shrugged, “I couldn't say. this is a theoretical treatment.”

Both of the male Uzumaki deflated at this, obviously giving it up as lost cause. I swallowed, annoyed that I couldn't think of a better response. 

“Will it give me more time with my son?” Mara asked. 

I turned my head away from Hirshi to my actual patient. “it should,” I said. “But again, I don't know.” 

Hiroshi stiffened. “I won't let him hurt you like that Mara!” he said and Momotaro nodded along. 

Mara merely smiled. “Father, son… I am actually in pain everyday, but you know this. I want to try. We've spoken with other healers, wisewomen, and doctors but they've never had a true solution.”

“What if he's lying?” Momo said shifting to grip his mother's hand. 

Mara put her other, thin hand over the top of his. “He's not,” she said looking me straight in the eyes. 

Her eyes held mine and there was something there. I suddenly realised that I could feel her chakra rippling through me. when had she done that? I blinked in surprise and she smiled warmly. 

“You are a young man in a bad situation that is trying to do good for not just yourself but those around you, aren't you young man?” 

I ducked my head knowing there was little more I could do. I'd underestimated her, thinking the only threats were Hiroshi and Momotaro. 

In hindsight it should have been obvious that a ‘chakra battery’ like Mara wouldn't have been on the support lines where she could be best used without some skills as a kunoichi. 

She nodded to herself. “Please young man, help me live to see my grandchildren and enjoy their laughter and smiles. I think you are my best chance.” 

I coughed and nodded. “Very well, I will try my best,” I said. 

I then smiled my best merchant smile and sat up. “Now comes the matter of my fee,” I said.

Momotaro and Hiroshi both spluttered while Sharkbait twitched in surprise, shooting me a disbelieving look. 

Mara merely threw back her head and laughed like I'd told a grand joke. she then smiled widely at me. “I can teach you to be a better chakra sensor than you already are young man,” she said. She put a hand to her chest. “I might not look it but I was a highly skilled sensor capable of the Kagura shinsen, a clan jutsu hat I think you'd be a quick study with,” she said.

That made me pause. I hadn't been expecting that from her. Damn but that was actually quite tempting.

I shook my head and sighed. “Sadly, I need more, I also need to learn fuinjutsu if I want my dream to come true,” I said. 

Momotaro lurched back as if I'd struck him while Hiroshi snorted. “Arrogant little thing, aren't you?” he said. 

I shrugged. “If you know or can do something well, make sure you’re paid for it,” I said casually. 

“Absurd!” said Hiroshi. 

Mara hummed eying me thoughtfully before turning her gaze to Sharkbait. “What is his dream you speak of?” she said. 

I smiled as widely as I could trying to will my fate into that of a shounen protagonist. “I am going to create a home that is safe for my family and friends, for those that I call mine. I am going to change Kirigakure and become Mizukage,” I said, making sure that my words rang true and as solemn as possible.

Everyone in the room stared at me. For a long moment people seemed frozen s they tried to grasp the enormity of the statement.

Sharkbait surprised me by breaking the moment first. 

He bowed his head to the ground. “You're the sort of person we need Matsu. I'd follow you,” he said. 

Hiroshi stared at Sharkbait in annoyance. “Don't feed his delusion! He's of Uzumaki blood! there is no way the clans will allow such a thing! You're naive! Don't decieve yourself!” 

I leveled a look at him while pushing down my chakra to make it fill the room but go no further. The three Uzumaki stiffened. 

“I don't care if you are a million people decry my goal. No goal is impossible so long as you have the drive to see it fulfilled.” I leveled a single finger at him. “It has been a path I have already begun to walk and you and your teachings? those are merely the next step for me,” I said.

“You!!!” he growled. 

Mara giggled. “Can we be friends?” she said surprising everyone in the room. 

She smiled at me and I saw for a heartbeat the woman she'd been before she'd fallen ill. She was beautiful. “I rather like the idea of being friends with a future Mizukage. Will you make the Uzumaki clan part of Kiri then?” she said with an amused lilt of her words.

I hummed. “Perhaps,” I said. 

“Mara!?” said Hiroshi. 

Mara gave her father a look. “Father,” she said before coughing. “I rather like the idea of supporting one  of our family in their bid to claim Kiri as their own.” She giggled. “Isn't it rather poetic? Kiri bit into Uzushio and found themselves getting far more than they bargained for.” 

Hiroshi put his hands to his temples. “You were always too willful by half,” he said. 

Mara merely smiled at her father. 

Hiroshi seemed to grapple with himself before slumping. “Very well, I will teach you what I can,” he said bitterly. “Chances are that you won't be able to use it though,” he said.

“That will be up to me,” I said. 

Sharkbait bounced on the spot in his seat. “Oh damn this is cool! what happens now?” he said asking the all important question. 

I sucked on my lips, knowing this might be a make or break moment for Sharkbait. “We need to kill Hideo and convince Akiko that the target has fled the Land of Vegetables.”

If there was anything that might be a deal breaker, killing another Kiri nin migh-

“Yesssssss let's fucking do it!” said Sharkbait.

Ah, right. I'd forgotten that out of all of us, Sharkbait hated Hideo the most out of all of us.

I hummed thoughtfully before eying the room. “I'm assuming you have a sponsor with how nice this house is?” I asked. 

Hiroshi coughed. ‘Ah, I am making blades for the heir of the Land of Vegetables. He rather considers himself a savant of the a blade. He is still acquiring me the tools I require though.”

“And is he? A good swordsman?” I asked as the pieces of an extremely elaborate puzzle began to click together in my mind. 

Hiroshi grimaced. “He pays well,” he said, causing me to nod. 

“Right, I think we can do a lot of good here," I said as I began to outline a plan. 

Everyone listened in  and while Hiroshi did so with a frown that slowly morphed into a contemplative look. 

He glanced at Mara and saw her nod while Momotaro merely glanced around looking rather lost with how our situation had changed within the last few minutes. 

A few points needed to be altered but that if anything seemed to make the Uzumaki family more on board with the plan.  

When we departed I had a spring in my step. And why shouldn't I? 

I had an, extremely rough, timeline on the treatment plan along with a plan for dealing with Hideo. 

Sharkbait had a huge grin on his face as we made it back to camp. I didn't doubt for a second that Hiroshi was ghosting us, but I couldn't detect him depsite searching for him. 

Himeko met us with a scowl at the edge of camp.

“Bark!” she said. 

“Bite,” I replied, giving the correct response to the challenge. 

“You're late,” she said her eyes flicking up and down my form before she gave a single disinterested glance at Sharkbait. “You must have found something interesting,” she said. 

I nodded and waved for Yumi and Hana to join us. “I have some lodgings for us along with someone that can get us an in with the royal court,” I said.  

The girls raised eyebrows at this declaration. I'd planned to spend at least a few days ghosting around after all, so the sudden windfall must have struck them asa odd. 

Himeko shook her head. “Only you could have such luck,” she said. 

I just smiled and by the morning we had our cart loaded up. we trundled into the capital with me leading them to a certain out of the way walled manor where Hiroshi and Momotaro met us. 

Both of them now sported black hair while wearing samurai amour.

Himeko eyed them both and when Momotaro narrowed his eyes at her she growled. “Fuck you looking at?”

“Fuck you say to me?” he said back. 

Within moments they were brawling with Momotaro getting laid out much faster than he'd obviously been expecting. Sharkbait grinned from the other side of me while Yumi merely sighed, used to our antics. If anything she was probably surprised Momotaro was still alive.

I just chuckled as Hiroshi pinched the bridge of his nose. “That will be a hundred laps of the yard now lad for your poor discipline,” he said. 

Momotaro shot him a betrayed look but nevertheless got up and began jogging laps. I ignored that as I led Yumi and Hana into the house with the servants, who were now awake, greeting us formally. 

Oh yeah, it was all coming together. 

I had a playmate for Himeko, Hideo would soon stop being a thorn in my side, I was going to land a whale for Yumi, and best of all I was going to get a huge power multiplier with fuinjutsu.

I just needed to back up my talk and help Mara.

Later that afternoon I caught some more rats and started practising what I was going to do with them. I made sure to do it far from the manor so no one could hear the screams of the poor things. I made sure to only try for a few procedures on each rat before I put them out of their misery.

Success for me came in the form of quieter screams of pain and a non crippled rat. numbing the tissue around the chakra node I was cauterising sadly did nothing. I eventually worked out that knocking them out offered the best results but that wasn't something I could keep up while cauterising them. 

Every rat that I knocked out and then began ‘treating’ woke up screaming in pain. I searched around for an apothecary to use drugs to knock he rats out but he pain into the chakra system seemed to negate the drugs somewhat. 

Their little bodies would invariably flood with adrenaline in response to what I was doing to them and they would wake up. 

Sadly it was the best option I had for Mara.

I knew Mara couldn't be removed from the manor without potentially worsening her condition, or worse Hideo catching wind of her. There was still the issue of servants, or worse Yumi, Hana, or Himeko hearing Mara in pain and investigating. 

I needed a solution for that so I headed to a farrier. 

I donned a Henge for a nobleman with a sly looking face who was in Lord Edo's employ. I then made some rather clumsy attempts at threatening the farriers with not telling anyone about what they'd made for ‘my Lord’. 

Spite alone would see rumours of Lord Edo, who was, according to Madam Yubaba Yumi's father, to have some rather colourful rumours circulating the capital. Drama, drama, drama. all of which I planned to capitalise on in the coming days.

I returned to the manor that night with a leather harness to bind Mara's mouth with the strap in the middle acting to stop her breaking her teeth or biting her tongue as some of my test subjects had done. 

Mara gave me an amused look. “Are you going to bind my wrists as well?”

I smiled sheepishly and produced the wrist  cuffs. “Yes, actually,” I said causing her to blink in surprise. 

“Where in all the waterways did you learn about things like this?” she asked. 

“I had a different upbringing,” I said casually as I began strapping Mara up.

When Hiroshi joined us he took a long moment to stare at the contraption attached to his daughter. “I see,” he said with the tone of a man that was firmly out of his depth. 

I merely nodded and began feeding Mara the medicine to knock her. Then slowly began the process of cauterising a pathway in her hand. 

Mara twitched awake with her eyes shooting open as soon as I started spinning my chakra at the junction point causing the pathway to burn and close off. 

A whimper escaped her and by the time a few minutes had passed a wetness had built up ion her eyes. 

she shuddered when I took the harness off and let her breathe. She took them gratefully along with a sip of water. “How many more tonight?” she asked. 

I flexed my hand from the numbness. “at least four more so that we can judge the treatemnt,” I said. 

She swallowed and nodded before fitting the leather strap into her mouth herself. she then nodded and committed herself. 

By the end of  the night tears poured freely from her eyes and my entire arm felt like it had a million pins and needles running along it. Mara allowed herself to be carried from the room by her father and I let myself slump down. 

In the morning I reassessed her while Sharkbait distracted Himeko.

Hiroshi and Momotaro stared as I performed a diagnosis. I took my time assessing the sites I'd cauterised last night. 

Eventually I drew back and relaxed. “It seems to have taken. Only time will tell if this will actually work,” I said. 

The other three Uzumaki sighed in relief with Mara clutching her hand and eying the five sites. “I can't say that I'm looking forward to the rest of the treatment but I am looking forward to being able to move around again on my own.”

I nodded. “I'm not sure if you will ever be as good s you were, and I wouldn't dream of being a kunoichi properly but some small things might be possible.” I held up a finger. "That said, do not ever act as a chakra battery for anyone else again,” I said.

“If I can,  I will avoid it,” she said.

I nodded, understanding that if it came down to it, she'd do it in a heartbeat for the right reasons. 

“We'll give the next round of treatment another day's wait to allow your chakra system to settle before we go again,” I said. I turned to Hiroshi.

“Until then, how about your first lesson?” I said. 

Hiroshi gained a glint of something in his eyes. “I'm no master but I can teach the basics." He pulled out a scroll and a set of inkwell. “First thing we need to work out is your chakra alignment. No two fuinjutsu users methods should be written in the same manner.”

That wasn't what I'd seen of seals in Kirigakure. “Kiri-” I started to say only for Hiroshi to cut me off.

“Kiri, Kumo, Suna, Iwa, and Konoha are all backwards in their approach to sealing!” he said firmly his fist thumping into it before coughing. 

“Well, Konoha was until Mito helped them out. Still the prevalent seling school of thought is one created by their second Hokage. That man loved trying to standardise things and in doing so he has set the majority of their seal users back. There are some, and I will stress this some seals the can be standardised, their results will always be subpar compared to personalised seals.”

“So Konoha has what? Hamstrung themselves?” I said, amused at how one of the best fuinjutsu users in the story might have actually done more damage with his methods. 

“There should be more of them yes.” Hiroshi said.  Then he coughed. “It's either that or they’re all just terrible,” he muttered to himself.

I raised an eyebrow and he coughed realising he'd said something out loud that he probably meant to keep to himself. It seemed he wasn't a fan of Konoha. 

“Now, you will want to make sure that the flow of your scrolls correlates to your chakra.” he slapped a seal on the table. It was a  circle with five markings listed out equidistant to each other. Water, Fire, Wind, Lightning, and earth were all listed out.

 “Put your chakra into this.” 

I did so and wasn't surprised when the marking for water began to glow. 

“Hmmm makes sense,” said Hiroshi. 

“Alright so you will need to learn about the flows and inflections of water. How the tides ebb and flow and how the contours of lines correlate to your chakra,” he said. 

He began detailing points and I pulled out a notebook and began writing everything down. 

The more he spoke the more I felt despair. Most, if not all of this was going over my head and I suddenly knew that fuinjutsu wasn't going to be an easy powerup like i'd hoped. 

It had the potential but it was going to take a long time before I reached those levels. 

I nodded feeling confident. 

Hiroshi glanced over my note and nodded. “Good you have good handwriting, now that we've covered the ways you will need to move your chakra through any sealing that you've done it will be up to you to practice this on your own.” 

He made a simple straight line. “Now it is time to learn of the one hundred and one meanings of this symbol. It will depend on what is placed before or after or above or below it. The meaning will shift greatly. Initially on a clear day, by itself this line will indication a linking of two phrases making it the most common.”

I stopped as a memory of my past life flared up. 

Shit. 

Fuinjutsu wasn't programming it was fucking elvish!

I felt a headache building but knew that I was committed.  

There was no way I was leaving this line of strength untapped. I would just have to persevere.

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A.N. Thanks go to all my patreons! This chapter took a lot to get done up!

Thankfully I got enough of the build up written. I have a lot more planned but that i going to take a few chapters to write up I believe.