Ilea hated politics, she really does.
She had ridden monsters that humans could only see in their nightmare, fought alongside those that humans called their enemies, and saved a being that was closest to god in her dictionary.
But when it came to exchanging a thousand words with each other, even her regeneration and [Pain Tolerance] skill would fail to catch up.
However, what she hated more was someone who said one thing and did another thing. A powerful being with an appetite for the world? She could understand that. But a leader willing to lie through their teeth when their subordinates' lives were on the line? Yeah no.
The effect of her [Queenslayer] title flared. Satisfaction washed over her as she saw the face of the Hokage as well as the three standing behind him stiffening up.
For a heartbeat, no one moved.
Then, a low murmur rippled through the hall. Chairs scraped. Tankards were set down a little too carefully.
The orcs from Tempest stopped mid-bite, eyes flicking between the Hokage's entourage and her. A few goblins shifted closer together, instinctively bunching up near walls and away from open space. The Daeben's wolf stood, muscles bunching, while his elven partner's hand drifted toward his weapon more out of habit than panic.
Yes, in this place where the space was so jumbled, Ilea's spatial sense was still working. Not as clear as it should be, but usable nonetheless.
The Hokage forced his shoulders to relax, hand still choking on a staff he carried. "A generous offer. But how can we be sure you are not lying? We don't know you. But we know who the staff of his restaurant are."
His eyes flicked briefly to Vilera, then to the staff clustered behind the bar. She could see it in his eyes. He only wanted them. They were their goals of coming here today.
A scoff and a loud thud broke out from the corner of the restaurant. The restaurant's focus shifted to the man sitting there in an instant.
Ilea didn't have to, her sense was already picking the appearance of the men as her eyes locked into the entourage from Konoha. He was big, bigger than even Kyrian. His muscles were bulging a little bit too much, like body builder combined with orcs genes, even the dwarves in the North weren't that bulky.
But what interested her the most was the control the man had in his body. Every move he made was deliberate, not a single twitch of his body was out of his willingness.
"I've been told yesterday that this place doesn't allow any fights." The man's low voice rumbled through the restaurant. His blue eyes peeked through his messy brown hair and nailed at the Hokage. "Yet, someone dared to come with… hah! Is that an army of yours?"
Ilea chuckled at his blatant insult. Thrashtalking was another side of a fight. A less fun one but still fun nonetheless.
The Hokage frowned, and the masked ninjas around him glared at the man, hands hovering around their selected weapon of choice.
"I will apologize if our visit disturbs you." Hiruzen started. "But I hope you can understand that this is the matter of Konoha. It's precious to us."
The man sighed before raising to his feet. The chair pushed back with a screech, the wooden planks beneath him creaked due to his weight.
"When in Rome, do as Romans do." The man stated, his voice was devoid of fluctuations. "From what I heard until now, you should also know this place is nowhere in Konoha. Hell, we shouldn't be standing in your world either. So my question is… why are you trying to bring your law here?"
Ilea's brows went up when she heard the first part of the man's word. Another one. She thought.
Even though he didn't dress up like modern people, that idiom and how it used Rome meant only one thing. The man should be from earth. He either died on Earth and got reincarnated in another world just like Ludwig and Rimuru, or was transported directly like her and Cless.
Ilea crossed her arms, not minding in the slightest that her thunder had been stolen. On the contrary, she was looking forward to the spectacle. Of course, she would also give the Hokage some words of hers. With thorns as a bonus.
The Hokage regarded Lee Han with that calm, weighted stare Ilea had already come to associate with old rulers. Measured. Calculating. Dangerous in slow ways.
"Law is not bound by walls." Hiruzen said at last. "Where Konoha's shinobi walk, its duty follows. Kushina is our kunoichi. Her safety is not a matter we can leave to strangers and… foreign customs."
Lee Han's expression didn't change. "Your duty belongs in your world." He replied. "You step outside it, you're just another armed group. Law doesn't cross realities with you."
A couple of Tempest orcs grunted in agreement.
"He's got a point." One muttered so
"Shut up." A jonin snapped, nerves fraying.
The pressure of [Queenslayer] pulsed again, and Ilea watched the tiny tightening around Hiruzen's eyes, the imperceptible stiffening of his shoulders. The Title bit deepest into rulers and commanders. It whispered to something older than chakra, older than worlds: you are prey on the food chain too.
"Regardless." Hiruzen said, voice now with less honey and more iron, "We cannot simply accept that one of our most important assets has been removed from our world by… The owner of this restaurant and the Head Administrator of Ravenhall."
Trian let out a laugh at that moment. "You called her an asset just now, but called her your Kuno–whatever earlier. Which one is correct?"
Ilea nodded, Lee Han also scoffed.
"So this Konoha of yours treats their ninjas as assets, huh? Something disposable whenever the need calls for it." Lee Han said with unadulterated disdain. "Bet your city is a good city everyone is raving about."
The ninjas bristled as the big guy went straight to their village. Excessive reaction, too excessive for his liking. But since she knew about the world they came from, she could only nod. It was only natural for them.
"If I were you guys, I'll retire." Lee Han sneered and looked at the whole entourage of the Hokage. "Living a laidback life is not bad, you know."
Lee Han's words dropped into the room like a stone into still water.
For a heartbeat, nothing moved.
Then, it exploded.
A kunoichi near the front bared her teeth. "You don't know anything about Konoha." she snapped. "About what we protect."
"That's the problem with people like you." Lee Han replied, venom rolling out from his mouth. "You think protection excuses everything."
Ilea could almost see the vein in Tsunade's temple throb. Jiraiya's usual slouch had straightened into something warier. Orochimaru just watched, eyes bright, like a man seeing a new specimen in a jar.
But Ilea couldn't agree more with the guy's words. That's how a good government spiralled into a bad one. Telling their subject that everything they did was for them.
Hiruzen inhaled slowly, tamping down his own flicker of anger. "We are not here to debate philosophies of governance. We are here because our Jinchuriki was taken from our world without the Hokage's consent. We cannot allow such a precedent. Not with war looming."
"War with your neighbours." Ilea said. "Not with us."
"Not yet." Hiruzen answered, and there was no give in his tone.
His gaze slid past Lee Han, past Ilea, to the bar again. To Vilera. To the demon waiters. To Valerie half-hidden behind stacked plates. Pieces on a board. Tools for leverage.
"We will speak to the owner and to this Head Administrator when they return." Hiruzen said. "Until then, one of the staff will accompany us to Konoha. You will be treated well. Questioned. Released when terms are satisfactory."
He pitched his voice louder, addressing the whole room now. "This is the only way I can guarantee Kushina's safety before the war breaks fully. If you claim to care for her, you should understand."
Ilea scoffed. Now he wanted to appeal to their care for Kushina? Talk about by any means necessary.
Another seat moved. The Daeben rose with his bow in his hand. An arrow nocked, its head pointed at the ground, but the line it drew through the space in front of the Hokage's group was unmistakable. The Daeben's wolf eased up beside him, hackles rising.
"You threaten their people." Kashi said quietly, "You're not talking about safety. You're talking about fear."
A couple of goblins made nervous, offended sounds. One of the Tempest orcs stood with a grunt, his chair scraping.
"You step into my drinking spot and start demanding to take the girls who bring the food?" An orc rumbled. "That's not 'talk'. That's picking a fight."
"Sit down." an ANBU snapped, hand twitching toward a weapon.
The orc's eyes narrowed. "Make me."
Ash curled tighter around Ilea's boots, eager. She let it spread, a faint grey film skittering along the floorboards in a slow circle around her. Not enough to choke, just enough to claim space.
Ilea could hear a familiar hum from her back. At the same time, a sharp crackle also pierced through the noise.
With a smirk, Ilea taunted. "You're about to turn 'only way' into 'worst way,' old man. You want to talk when Ludwig's back? Claire will shred you with contracts. Fine. That's her fun. But if you want to walk out of here today with someone in chains…"
Her eyes went flat, smirk gone and mana flaring. "You'll know why my world bestows me the title of [Queenslayer]."
The Hokage's fingers tightened on his staff. She could also feel the ANBU on a knife's edge around him. It seemed like he was contemplating. Probably thinking about backing down but couldn't do so easily because that would make him lose face. At the same time, Konoha would lose its prestige inside the restaurant. Not like it was there in the first place.
But then, his eyes went sharp.
"ANBU." Hiruzen said, the word sharp as a bell. "Take one. Disable, don't kill. Civilians unharmed."
They moved.
Masks blurred in different directions, breaking like shrapnel from a single explosion. Two angled for Vilera and the big demon waiter, another slid toward Valerie, and one came straight for her, as if to test whether her threat was only words.
"Shadow Hand!" Trian snapped. "Guard the staff!"
Kyrian's palm pressed against the underside of their table. Nails and brackets in the floor shivered, then wrenched sideways. A low ridge of warped wood and metal hissed up between the bar and the door, turning clean dashes into awkward hurdles.
One ANBU's foot hit the twisting board mid-leap. His ankle rolled; his body pitched, forced into a half-roll that sent him crashing shoulder-first into a pillar instead of landing behind Vilera.
Before another could adjust, Lee Han stepped.
He didn't blur. He didn't vanish. He simply shifted his weight, heel driving down into the floor in a short, controlled stomp. The wood two meters away bucked. A tight shock shot along the grain and lifted the ANBU's front foot just enough that his lunge fell short, fingers closing on empty air instead of the demon's sleeve.
"Hitting the cow across the mountain." Lee Han muttered.
Tempest orcs blinked.
"What cow?" One whispered.
"Later!" A goblin planted his elbow into the orc.
Meanwhile, Ilea's ash boiled out from around her in a low rushing wave, hugging the floor. It flowed around ankles and boots, hot and prickling. One ANBU snarled and tried to flare chakra to blow it away, only to curse when the greyish dust drank it completely.
"That's mine now," Ilea said.
Tsunade's chakra flared green, temper snapping.
"You think you can just—!"
She hit the floor between them with a punch, the shockwave heaving boards and bowling nearby chairs aside. Ilea rode the motion, ash absorbing some of the blow, feet sliding, then stepped back into range.
Ilea grinned at the woman. Her fighting style was similar to her. Even her ability to close wounds on flight was just like her. However… when Ilea herself could regrow her body as long as her head was intact, the woman in front of her was not like that.
Though… She also had something Ilea didn't have. Something which no matter what she tried, she wouldn't get.
"Finally. Someone fun."
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