'Hmm... so Mōsō was expecting something like this,' Naruto hummed thoughtfully. 'It's a good thing we planned for him to know what we were planning that way we could countermand any plan he has in the works. Hehe, sometimes I even amaze myself.'
'That's not a very hard thing to do,' Kyuubi quipped, causing Naruto to frown.
'Such a mean thing to say...'
XoX
As a Cursed Warrior disguised Naruto and Chomei entered the shrine and descended the stair case, one of the rocks scattered across the clearing shifted on one side as a man with rock colored skin stepped out. The skin (and clothes he was wearing) changed back into their normal colors. The blocky looking man stood before the shrine, a smirk on his face.
He had been waiting here for a while now. Mōsō had been very sure that the Cursed Warrior would make an appearance and save Chomei once news that Chishima's body had not been found came to him. It looked like all that forethought and planning had paid off. Now all he had to do was report to Mōsō and inform him of where the Cursed Warrior and Chomei were headed and they could take out both nuisances in a single strike.
Just than a strange feeling passed over him. It sort of felt like a soft breeze had ruffled the back of his neck, but it was slightly different and there was a stinging sensation following it.
A second later the blocky ninja's, whose name was never learned, head slid off his body with only a little bit of blood flowing out due to how clean the cut was. As the head rolled along the ground and came to a stop near the foot of the shrine, the body crumpled to the dirt like a puppet with it's strings cut off.
A clone of Naruto stood behind the now dead ninja, his left hand holding onto Kubikiriboucho, the blade glowing with a light sheen of green light that coated it like a second skin. Sticking his blade point first in the ground, Naruto held out his left hand, palm pointed towards the headless corpse.
A ball of flame appeared before the palm. It was about the size of a small ball, and brilliant white in color. The flame looked very much like a miniature sun.
"Kitsune-bi (Fox Fire)."
Launching the small ball of fox fire at the deceased ninja, Naruto watched dispassionately as the flames spread across the body, blackening and burning it until there was nothing left but ash that soon scattered on the wind. Another burst of fox fire and the head near the shrine was destroyed as well.
With his mission done, the Naruto clone dispersed itself in a cloud of smoke, altering the real Naruto that he had accomplished his mission.
XoX
'That was kind of pathetic,' Naruto thought as the memories of his clone hit him. 'Are all ronin supposed to be so weak? He didn't even feel my clone sneaking up on him.'
'How should I know? It's not like I've ever dealt with ronin, unless you count the ninja who were around before the birth of the hidden villages, but they at least had clans.'
'You've fought ninja before?' asked Naruto, before realizing everything his statement entailed and hastening to correct it. 'I mean aside from when you were attacking Konoha.'
'Of course,' Kyuubi said, and Naruto got the feeling she was flipping her hair at him in a gesture of haughty arrogance. 'I have fought many shinobi in my time, both in my fox form and my human form. I have even fought your Shodai Hokage.'
'Really?'
'Mmm. The first time I was actually in my human form. Apparently, I had not been as careful as I usually was when manipulating you humans and someone had put a hit on me. Long story short, he and I fought. I managed to win, but he escaped.'
Naruto didn't know what bothered him more, how Kyuubi could speak so casually about using humans, or how he wasn't even getting angry like he used to.
'Wait? I thought the Shodai's Mokuton was able to suppress your youki? How did you manage to beat him?'
'For starters, he didn't use his Mokuton. He didn't know who I was, and as I was using my fox fire, which is hot enough to turn anything it touches into ash, he probably didn't think it would matter.'
'Huh. You learn something new everyday.'
After reaching the exit, Naruto crouched down after sliding the lid out of the way. Linking his hands together, he looked over at Chomei, making it clear what he wanted from the man.
A nod was his answer. Chomei walked up to Naruto and stepped onto his linked hands, allowing the armor clad blond to hoist the man up so he could pull himself out of the exit. Naruto followed soon after, jumping through the exit with a chakra enhanced push. His bulky, armored frame was just barely small enough to scrape through.
"This is... the daimyo's palace," Chomei said, turning to the blond as he dusted dirt off his armor. "So it's true, Sagi-sama, it is you."
Naruto wondered if he should correct the man, but decided not to. Technically speaking, he was right... sort of. Though the fact that 'Sagi' was actually 'Toki' he wasn't really right either.
Ah, whatever. He would leave explaining everything to Toki.
Gesturing with his hand for Chomei to follow him, Naruto led the man through a hidden door that led into the Daimyo's palace. Chomei followed him as he walked down the narrow path, coming out behind a hidden door hidden behind a portrait. A few more twists and turns and Naruto finally came to the room where he had left Toki.
He entered the room, Chomei behind him, to see that Toki was pretty much exactly where he had left her, sitting at Chishima's bedside. Chishima was also where he had left him, laying unconscious on said bed while being hooked up to numerous medical devices. As they walked in, Toki looked up, and Chomei stopped in shock.
"S-Sagi-sama!?" He looked back and forth between Naruto and Sagi. "But I thought that – aren't – I could have sworn Sagi-sama was the Cursed Warrior."
"Oh... he is," Naruto said, putting a very slight emphasis on the word he. Toki narrowed her eyes. "I was just borrowing this for a little while so I could mount my rescue mission."
"I see," Chomei frowned. "Then... who are you, exactly?"
Naruto grinned as he placed a hand on the oni mask and pulled it off, revealing his face to the Chief Tactician. Chomei's eyes widened.
"You're that Konoha Shinobi from the other night!"
"Wow," Naruto's dry voice cut through the air. "You're pretty smart to have figured that out all by yourself." He looked over at Toki, who was glaring at him. "Anyways, why don't we let... Sagi, explain everything so you can get up to date on what's happening."
XoX
"I see, so Sagi-sama disguised himself as the Cursed Warrior in order to lure out the person behind Owashi-sama's and Toki-sama's death."
Chomei and 'Sagi' were now sitting in seiza position on the floor several meters apart from each other. Toki had just finished explaining everything that had happened up to this point, and Chomei was nodding along as she finished her tail.
Naruto was standing several feet behind Chomei, leaning against a wall with his arms crossed. He wasn't particularly interested in listening to this spiel again, so he spent most of his time talking with Kyuubi.
'So just how strong is the Shodai anyways? You should know, right? Since you fought him and all.'
Kyuubi let out a small chuckle.
'Let me put to you this way. As everything stands right now, Hashirama could destroy you and the entire village of Konoha with little more than a thought. The shinobi of this era are incredibly weak when compared to those of the last two generations. Even your beloved Fourth Hokage would have been nothing more than a fly compared to Hashirama.'
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