Chapter 17 - 17. Konohagakure

The next day they left early in the morning. Now they were more focused on reaching Konoha as that was the only clue they got. On their way, they tried to ask a few people indirectly about Kurama or Shukaku, but none had seen such a big animal anywhere.

"Don't worry, Shiro. I'm sure it was something else. Don't you remember the Uchiha and Senju had many abilities that let them do a lot of damage? It must be them fighting." Monari tried to make him feel better. ​​

But, Shiroken was feeling uneasy. He hoped he could just fly there as soon as possible.

*Pat Pat*

He patted the horse, "You can do it, run fast."

...

They travelled for the next 3 days continuously. Instead of stopping at only villages, they started to stop whenever they felt too tired and set camps. The horses were from Dama village so of course they were very strong and could run for hours at a stretch.

The roads were mostly empty though, as trade and economic activities were not that developed yet since the wars stopped not long ago. Also, there were many rogue ninjas who didn't join any village and stayed outside to steal and kill as they pleased.

Monari and Shiroken met a fair share of them. They beat them to a pulp and tied them to the trees before heading forward. They even took away their equipment, from clothes to weapons.

After a total of 4 days of continuous journey, they finally arrived at the gates of Konohagakure. It was a giant gate, positioned into a larger wall that circled around the village as its border. They didn't know about the security aspect though as Shinobi could easily climb them.

The door was open, there was nobody there but Shiroken could feel a few presences that were constantly watching them. Meanwhile, Monari was acting like a normal civilian, just enjoying herself and being cheerful.

"Shiro, let's go." She said and trotted through the gates.

"STOP!" A voice came from the small shed on the left side of the gate.

There were two Shinobi inside, both had normal Ninja clothes and a headband of Konohagakure village.

"Register yourself here before you enter," They told them.

They got off their horses and walked to the shed. There was an open window, and on the other side, the ninja sat.

Monari used her charm and asked, "Sure, how do we register?"

There was a moment of silence as they both admired her beauty, but then they coughed and asked, "Umm, name?"

"I am Monari Dama and this is Shiroken Dama, we are from Dama village further south near the Hanguri Gulf." She replied. Though she lied about the location of their village. Sure, it was south but not near the gulf.

"Reason for the visit?" They asked them.

"Oh, we just wanted to sightsee and maybe buy some tools for our village. Finally, the world is at peace so what better time than now?" She chirped.

The two men nodded, "Okay, you need to pay 1000 Ryo for entering and bringing in your horses."

[A/N: Ryo is based on the old Japanese currency. 1 Ryo = 10 Yen. Also, 1 USD = 100 Yen. Hence, 1 USD = 10 Ryo. The guards just asked them for 100$. Just divide Ryo with 10 to find real-world USD value.]

"What? Why would you take money from people who are coming to spend more money in your village? Won't this scare away customers?" Shiroken asked them as this didn't make sense.

They looked at Shiroken. Their eyes widened a little, all this time they had not even noticed it, only when Monari introduced him they saw him but other times they didn't notice him.

"Kid, we need to maintain the infrastructure of this village. And for that, money is needed. All the money you will spend in the village will belong to the people." A shinobi argued.

"But don't people pay tax? Which is then used to make better buildings?" Monari asked, she knew these men were trying to wrongfully take their money.

"You gotta pay the tax, or you can't enter. We can't just let anybody enter the village." They spoke together.

Shiroken sighed. He'd rather not deal with this right now. So he started to take out money from his pocket.

~I will deal with this when I find Kurama~ he thought.

"Here," he proceeded to hand over the coins.

But, as soon as one of the ninja stretched his arm to take it, out of nowhere another man appeared, and he with one arm caught the ninja's hand and on the other Shiroken's.

Shiroken looked at the tall man. He had long black hair, slightly tanned skin and a kind-looking face. He was wearing a match of white and red robes, with a weird big hat on the head.

"I don't remember imposing any such tax on the visitors of our village. Can you remind me where in the rulebook it is written?" The man asked.

Shiroken noticed that the two ninjas now seem to be very scared for some reason.

*Woosh*

Just then another person appeared. He had ashen hair akin to white, with two red lines on his cheek. He was wearing blue armour on his black underclothes. There was also the Konohagakure headband.

The two Shinobi seemed more scared of him.

"Ah, Lord Hokage, Lord Tobirama... We were just..." They two had no way to justify this. It was clearly a case of corruption.

"What is a Hokage?" Shiroken asked.

The man looked at him kindly and answered, "I'm the leader of this village, as well as its founder, Hashirama Senju."

"So you're like the Daimyo," Shiroken replied.

"Haha... Yes... But a small one. What is your name?" Hashirama asked back.

Shiroken answered politely, as he felt respect for the man who ended the hatred and started this village. "I am Shiroken Dama. This is my sister, Monari."

Hashirama nodded. But he felt very weird. On the one hand, he felt crazy power in the girl, while he felt nothing from Shiroken as if he wasn't even there.

"Well, Shiroken, I hope you will like this village. Now I must go. I have an important summit to visit." He patted Shiroken's shoulder and walked out of the gates, with more than 10 others Shinobi following.

Meanwhile, Tobirama was beating the two corrupt ninjas, "You two will sweep the streets for 1 month from now on. I will not tolerate such corruption. My brother may have gone soft, but remember, now that he's gone, I am the authority."

"Yes, yes... Forgive us, Lord Tobirama." The two apologised and ran away.

Tobirama then looked at Monari. He felt his heart skip a beat. She was too beautiful and seemed equally strong. Sadly, unknown to him, she was taken and also an Uchiha.

Then he noticed Shiroken and felt the same as Hashirama.

~Strange. Even normal people have a presence. He doesn't. I should keep an eye on them~ he decided and silently left without talking to them.

"He seems like the rude type," Monari commented.

Shiroken shrugged, "Let's go and search for information. That Hokage and this Tobirama are very powerful, I sensed it. Let's not mingle with them for now."

"Really? Even stronger than me?" She inquired in surprise.

He nodded, "Tobirama may not be, but the Hokage is probably stronger."

"What about you? Can you beat them?" She asked.

He looked confused, "I don't know. My core energy is very different from everyone else. I don't even know how strong I am."

"Aww... Don't be sad, Shiro. I'm sure you're the strongest. Let's go, we will find a good place to eat and also start looking for clues from there." She cheerfully put her arm around his neck and walked together. Many men walking past them looked at Shiroken enviously.

But, they also nodded after seeing how handsome he was.

...

Tobirama immediately returned to the Hokage office and called a few trusted men and asked them to keep an eye on Shiroken and his activities.

He had the register in his hand which had the information about Shiroken written.

"There is no village called Dama in the whole of the Land of Fire. The only place in the south that is still unexplored is the forest. That kid seems too strange... could he be related to... but he seems too young." He talked to himself, pondering over Shiroken's identity. He was the cautious type and believed in dealing with a problem before it arises with a hard hand.

"I need to make sure the village stays stable as long as Hashirama is at the 5 Kage summit. If his talks of peace fail... I will need to prepare for battle." He planned.

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[A/N: Okay, some of you said in yesterday's chapter about "OH MC IS NERFED!" "WHY ISN'T HE SAVING HIS FAMILY?

Well, have some patience, don't assume the plot because it is entirely different from what you all are thinking. And, don't see the story from your perspective, instead see it from the MC's. We are seeing things from the 3rd person God's eye view, but the characters in it are seeing things from the 1st person. They don't have access to the same information that we do.

I have more things to say but I won't. So, just be patient and I hope you enjoy reading this.]

[A/N 2: Just so you know, there will be a long time skip soon. After that, we will directly reach the end of the 3rd Shinobi War, somewhere after Naruto was born. My reason for doing this is that I don't want Shiroken to turn into some white knight who will save every character from dying. Some, he might kill himself.]

He will indeed get stronger during the time skip and you will understand how soon.

His motives will be related to his family. Also, I need to let the original plot to at least develop a little bit so the things get interesting, and Tsunade will also be old enough by that time ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°).

Oh! One more thing, the story is currently at the start of the 1st Shinobi War. Hashirama has gone to attend the 1st Five Kage summit, to discuss "peace".]

[You can see Konohagakure, Konoha gate, Hashirama and Tobirama on my Discord - https://discord.gg/DgHkrAn OR see them on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mister_immortal_novel]

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Special thanks to *Douglas Flower* *Umar Latif* *Julian Rocamora* *Darrien Steely* *Franklin Walley*

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