Chapter 44: Harsh Reality

Though she had wanted to witness Wu’s battle with the Raikage, Tayuya obediently waited for him on a mountain peak several hundred kilometers from the battlefield. She wasn’t looking forward to returning to Otogakure, but she still had a part to play in the forthcoming invasion of Konoha. Wu had also entrusted her with an important task, so even though she would have preferred never to return to Orochimaru’s side, Tayuya was willing to put her life on the line to secure her future…

Interrupting the pensive redhead’s thoughts, Wu snuck up behind her and gave her meager breasts a light fondling, asking, “Did you miss me~?” in a teasing tone. In response, Tayuya leaned back her head, hitting the tip of his chin as she flatly remarked, “You’re becoming more degenerate with each passing day…”

Without missing a beat, Wu adopted a cheeky smile, retorting, “That’s an interesting accusation, coming from someone who spends nearly an hour a day masturbating…”

Tearing herself from Wu’s clutches, Tayuya ‘glared’ back at him, asking, “And whose fault is that…?” with narrowed eyes and an accusatory tone.

Pointing to himself, Wu feigned shock as he replied, “Don’t tell me…could it have been me…!?”

Exhaling loudly through her nose, Tayuya changed topics, asking, “Are we leaving, or what?” in an irritable tone.

Nodding his head, Wu replied, “Yeah.” before adopting what appeared to be a concerned expression, asking, “Are you sure you’re okay with this? I know I was the one to propose making you a double agent, but-”

Before Wu could finish, Tayuya’s expression became serious as she said, “I don’t need your concern, Wu. I’ve been doing shit like this since I was six years old. Just don’t fuck up on your end.”

Raising his hands in a gesture of mock surrender, Wu replied, “Okay, okay. I just wanted you to have the option to refuse. If this is the path you’ve decided, I have nothing else to say on the matter. As for Orochimaru…you can just leave him, her, or however else they refer to themselves, to me…”

Nodding her head, Tayuya ‘almost’ responded by saying she trusted him. Instead, she stared into his eyes for a few seconds, the distance between their bodies gradually diminishing until Wu seized the initiative to wrap his arms around her. Only then did she whisper, “Let’s fucking do this…” with a look of conviction on her face.

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Upon returning to Kumo, the Raikage, transformed to resemble his older self, had Mabui compile the records of every Kunoichi between the ages of fourteen and twenty-six. The reports he had received from Samui and Yugito mentioned how Saiko Dadi had openly attempted to flirt with them. He had expressed a similar interest in Mabui and Karui, so A had reason to believe the mysterious youth had a penchant for promiscuity.

Seeing the Raikage perusing the records of their Kunoichi with a serious expression on his face, Mabui felt compelled to suggest, “If you’re going to choose someone for this matter, please delegate it to those of us with more…experience. The younger generation should be allowed to choose their own partners…”

Furrowing his brows, the Raikage raised his gaze to meet Mabui’s as he firmly stated, “Times may have changed, Mabui, but Kunoichi do not have the same rights as ordinary citizens. If they are not prepared for this kind of responsibility, then the Academy has failed them. If that’s the case, we may as well scrap the entire Kunoichi program…”

Bowing her head slightly, Mabui closed her eyes and replied, “Forgive me, Raikage-sama…I have spoken out of turn…”

Shaking his head, A returned to perusing the files as he appended, “The lives of Shinobi are not meant to be glamorous and filled with virtue. We are liars, deceivers, and killers who train our very children to possess the same traits. Anyone who can readily claim the lives and futures of others but is not willing to jeopardize their own has no place in this field…”

Though she wanted to point out that they were slowly making a transition to more ‘honest’ work, such as transporting cargo and constructing cities, Mabui kept her head low and replied, “I understand, Raikage-sama. I will ensure that the Kunoichi chosen are well acquainted with what’s expected of them…”

Without raising his gaze from the files, the Raikage gave a curt nod. At the same time, however, he was also considering Mabui’s proposal. He would rather not assign one of their few female Jonin to a seduction mission, but mature women had a ‘charm’ most younger girls lacked. Mabui even had a prior arrangement with Saiko Dadi, so there was always the possibility of entrusting the matter to her. The real question was, who should he assign as her support? Samui? She certainly wasn’t lacking in appeal…

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After touching down a few kilometers from the entrance to Otogakure, Wu playfully remarked, “What happened to ‘never, ever’ doing that again? You seemed to enjoy it quite a bit this time around.”

Ignoring Wu’s remark, Tayuya regained her previous standoffishness as she said, “We should hurry and report to the Otokage as soon as possible. She will be expecting us.”

Rolling his eyes, Wu replied, “Yeah, yeah…” before shoving his hands into his pockets and leading the way. Shortly after that, he and Tayuya found themselves at the usual entrance, this time being guarded by the man Wu had once given ‘wings.’

Seeing Wu, the dark-haired, beady-eyed man, one of the many members of the defunct Fuma Clan, visibly tensed. It hadn’t even been three days since he was released from the medical ward, so seeing the person that had forcibly pried apart his shoulder blades caused him to feel a mixture of anxiety and rapidly increasing nausea.

Feigning ignorance, Wu raised his hand, a friendly smile on his face as he said, “Yo. Did you join Otogakure just recently? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you before.”

“…”

Amused by the man’s hateful glare, Wu was tempted to tease him further when Kagero showed up in her hunchbacked disguise, popping up out of the ground as she stated, “Otokage-sama wishes to speak with you…”

Nodding in affirmation, Wu replied, “I was planning to head over there in a moment.” before asking, “Is she in her throne room or one of her labs…?”

Since it was a fair question, Kagero gave a nod of her own before replying, “She’s in her throne room. Guren-sama is also present…”

Though Tayuya had warned him about flirting with Guren, Wu responded with a fairly cheeky, “Nice.” Then, before Kagergo could retreat into the ground, he added, “I might stick around for a bit before heading out in the morning. You should stop by my room when you’re off duty…”

Hearing Wu’s ‘proposition,’ the green-haired girl concealed beneath the visage of a buck-toothed hunchback visibly reddened. She immediately ‘understood’ why he was asking her to stop by, so she began to fidget nervously, a rather disgusting sight for Tayuya and the dark-haired man. Then, instead of responding verbally, she sank into the ground and ‘swam’ away at her fastest speed.

Seeing the little mayfly run off, Wu mused, “And there she goes~” in a sing-song tone. Afterward, he casually made his way into the interior of the underground compound, Tayuya following close behind as they made their way to the Otokage’s, Orochimaru’s throne room…

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“Welcome back, Dadi-sama, Tayuya-chan. Considering how long you were abroad, I trust your visit to the Land of Lightning was eventful? I certainly heard quite a few rumors while you were away…”

Since just about everyone throughout the Mainland had heard about the ‘disaster’ that had befallen Kumogakure, Wu made no effort to conceal his involvement in the matter, casually replying, “The Raikage was quite a bit stronger than I was expecting. If I hadn’t thoroughly trained the muscles of my neck and shoulders, that damned ogre would have taken my head off at the start of the fight.”

Though her breathing became audible when she heard Wu admit to being the culprit behind Kumo’s near destruction, the Otokage forced herself to appear calm as she mused, “As expected of the boy who intends to carve his name into the very foundations of the Shinobi World. Well done, Dadi-sama…”

Smiling proudly, Wu made a show of raising his chin and puffing out his chest slightly as he retorted, “Was there ever any doubt? I mean, it’s not like I refer to myself as the splendiferous Saiko Dadi just because I like how it sounds. I’m fucking awesome.”

Exhaling a bone-chilling chuckle, ‘Otochimaru’ was about to stoke Wu’s ego further when the latter interrupted her, saying, “Oh, and while we’re on the subject of my badassery, you should probably know I’m planning to head to Suna next. I kind of agreed to give the other villages a taste of the same medicine once I was finished with Kumo.”

Furrowing her brows ever so slightly, Otochimaru wanted to insist that Wu stick around. However, even if she offered him power through the Cursed Seal of Heaven, the odds of him actually accepting it were slim. ‘Dadi’ was a prideful, borderline arrogant boy who believed in the power he already possessed. He was also capable enough to contend against someone like the Raikage, so if she intended to make him into one of her future vessels, she would need to employ more…subtle tactics.

Fortunately, while Dadi’s constant wandering was a mild inconvenience for Otochimaru, his next destination actually served her interests. She had spent the last three and a half years ensuring that tensions between Suna and Konoha were at an all-time high. They had already agreed to support her during the crushing of Konoha, but their cooperation could be assured if she sent Dadi to them as a representative of Oto.

Having made up her mind, the Orochikage proposed, “How about visiting Suna as my representative alongside Guren and Tayuya-chan? Otogakure and Sunagakure will be cooperating during the upcoming Chunin Exams. I believe the teams participating at the behest of Sun will be ‘motivated’ to improve once they witness the power possessed by Oto Shinobi similar to them in age…”

Though he originally intended to have Tayuya stick back at the base and see if she could convince the other girls to emigrate to Konoha, Wu didn’t hesitate to respond, “Sure, sounds like a lot of fun. Just don’t get mad if I accidentally beat up their Kazekage, hahahahaha~.”

Narrowing her eyes in amusement, the Otokage replied, “I would like you to defer to Guren during the mission, but I won’t protest if you ‘cut loose’ a bit. Just be sure to avoid causing too much damage to their village. It’s quite pitiful, you see, being constructed in the center of a desert and all…”

Providing a thumbs up, Wu mused, “No worries. If it comes to that, I’ll be sure to take things out of the village. I wouldn’t want to sabotage our little alliance, now would I~?”

Believing that ‘Dadi’ was just fooling around, the Otokage responded with one of her creepier chuckles. Even if Dadi destroyed the entirety of Suna, she actually wouldn’t mind. More accurately, it wouldn’t matter so long as he went on to weaken or outright destroy Konoha soon after. Both results served her underlying desire to abolish the existing system in its entirety. Then, while the various nations warred against one another, she would have all the time in the world to research Immortality and her other fields of interest. After that, she could finally rid the world of the very concept of mortality…then no one else would ever have to die…

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(A/N: For those of you who are unaware, Orochimaru wasn’t always a monster. He just got tired of watching everyone around him die…)