The Awakened Soul (Naruto SI)

[Welydora]

I mean, he could have done that as soon as he hit the wall, no? Just send a few clones to other countries, leave some hiraishin marks and farm as many bandits and nukenin as you need. I suppose he could do it in Fire country as well, but the chances of being found out would increase and if that happens Hiruzen would immediately try to murk him out of Orochi PTSD. Then again, he did build a lab in his own basement like a dumbass instead of hiding it somewhere accesible only with hiraishin

Click to shrink...

He could have, and he was already planning to start hunting criminals on his own, but the opportunity to get them basically presented itself.

Hiruzen won`t touch him as long as he`s not putting his own people under the knife like Orochimaru did. The lab is in the village because he needs the logistics, and besides, no one`s actually forbidding it.

 

[Welydora]

In a flash, we found ourselves on a wide street by a river in a small town. Small by the standards of the Land of Fire, anyway. From what I knew from the rather sparse info in the textbooks about this area, this was the second-biggest city in the Land of Waves. It was closest to the mainland of the nearest country on the continent—the Land of Fire—and it was a trade hub. There was another similar city on the other side of the country, to the east, toward the Land of Water. But since the Land of Water was farther away and this city had the better location, this one ended up being the largest.

It was evening; we'd already completed a D-rank mission that day, so it was getting late.

We looked around and spotted two old folks a short distance away, who recoiled when we popped in. Their faces went wide with surprise, and when they noticed Tazuna among us, once again bent over like a pretzel, their jaws dropped even more.

"Is this the right place?" Sakura asked curiously, looking around. "There are no tall buildings at all and… wooden buildings with sloping roofs?"

Sasuke was looking around too, his gaze so contemptuous you'd think the buildings were made of shit.

"Exactly," I confirmed. "This is the merchant quarter. See that tower on the river, the one with part of its floor collapsed into the water? That's city hall. But in the locals' defense, it's not all bad. It doesn't reek here, which is already an achievement. I've been to some port towns in the Land of Fire. Our countrymen could learn a thing or two."

"Also…" Tazuna finally straightened up and added heavily, "the Land of Waves is famous for its mangrove forests, haaah."

"Yeah, because we've never seen a forest in Konoha," I turned to the old man. "Lead us to your house. We'll start organizing your protection."

Nodding, he led us to the place. The walk wasn't very long, but the whole time, walking in front, the old man tried to stay close to Kakashi and as far from me as possible. He kept shooting me side‑eye, too.

Tazuna's house turned out to be pretty big, even if it was shabby and looked poor. The wings of the house spread maybe twenty meters across, and part of the building jutted out over the Kanzoku Sea, making a good spot to sit and stare at the water on the horizon.

Soon a woman with dark blue hair in a pink dress came out to meet us. Waving a hand, she walked up and bowed in greeting.

"Welcome to our home. Are you the shinobi protecting my father?"

She nodded toward the old man and got a nod back from him. Even though she'd asked us, yeah.

"Good day," our jonin began, a bit formally. "I am Kakashi Hatake, the team commander. That is correct. May I ask—"

"Oh, forgive me. My name is Tsunami," she covered her mouth for a second, looking us over. "Shall we go inside? We were expecting you later, so the meal after your trip isn't ready. But I'll think of something."

"Don't worry about it," Kakashi kept the conversation going. "We used a space–time technique, so the journey took less than an hour."

"Wow… Shinobi can do things like that?"

While those two were talking, I gave Hatake a fresh look. Turns out he can talk without all his "M‑ma, M‑yeah, A‑aaah, E‑eeeh," and the rest of the "master orator" phrasebook.

As for Tsunami… I liked the client's daughter way more than the client himself. In a whole minute of talking she hadn't insulted us even once. Plus, she was polite.

Soon we went inside. In the hallway we ran into a dark‑haired kid in a fisherman's hat. He looked gloomy.

"Inari, say hello to these people. They're the ninja who are protecting your grandfather."

"Why?" he turned to his mother—Tsunami, apparently. "They're just going to die soon anyway."

"Now that's some fatalism," I noted, focusing on him. "Care to explain your reasoning?"

"Gato. Don't you know? He runs everything here… And if you try to stand up to him, you'll die. Just like the people before you…"

"Hmph." I gave him a skeptical look and, just in case, once again proved who the biggest smartass in the room was. "Your assertion lacks empirical support and is derived not from observable facts, but from subjective a priori assumptions. Since your argumentation is built on biased premises and a cognitively limited perception, any further continuation of this discourse on your part appears irrational. Refrain from making assertions that can't withstand elementary logical scrutiny."

"…What?" He didn't get it.

"I'm saying I doubt you know enough about me and my team to be drawing conclusions. So don't spread doom and gloom for no reason. Go mind your own business. Go beat some nettles with a stick, or whatever it is you do."

Throwing me a disgruntled look, the kid walked out of the house and headed for the pier.

"Please… forgive Inari. He doesn't mean any harm," Tsunami started.

"Kids." I waved it off so she wouldn't think I was offended or waste brain cells on it. She gave me a strange look in return.

Soon we were settled into different rooms—turns out this Tazuna was quite the rich guy by local standards, with a really not‑small house. After that, the locals left my team alone in the main hall.

"Well, I propose we discuss our information‑gathering strategy," I began, sitting in the center of the room across from Kakashi, with Sasuke on my left and Sakura on my right. "For now it'd be smart to interrogate Tsunami and Tazuna. After that, we can split up: Sasuke and Sakura, staying together for safety, will question the locals. Kakashi and I will handle deeper recon and separately infiltrate places where the enemy's concentrated. We'll regroup in the evening and build a plan…"

Kakashi cut me off with a raised hand.

"Naruto, none of that is necessary right now," he waved his hand dismissively, and my eyebrow twitched. "Well, it is necessary. But you'll do it tomorrow. Consider it training."

My eyes went wide at the balls on that masked bastard, who had basically just said he wouldn't be doing any recon. Like… what? That went against everything I'd been taught.

If you've got a chance to scout in a dangerous situation, you take it. Information is what can give you a huge edge over the enemy. And this guy… this guy… if only Koharu were here to see him—spouting such crap!

Tomorrow… he says. When we might not have the advantage anymore, and they might already know about us… That's bullshit.

I tried to lay all that out, but Hatake just waved his hands again, like I was worrying too much.

"It's already evening. Questioning the locals won't get you anything now; everyone's already gone home."

"If we hurry, it could still give us a lot," I pointed out.

"Or it might not," he spread his hands. "You'll get up tomorrow and start working on it. It's just a C‑rank mission, after all."

"Don't play dumb, Kakashi. You know about Gato. And that he could easily have hired shinobi."

While we argued, Sakura just moved her head back and forth between us, while Sasuke sat there with his eyes closed, looking all mysterious and wise.

"M‑ma," he looked away. "Yeah, I know. The local shipping monopolist, a fairly wealthy guy. Maybe he did hire shinobi, but don't bother your head with that. It's unlikely to be anyone even at genin level. Hiring strong shinobi on a permanent basis for shady work is not easy at all, you know. Naruto, you think too much. Go get some sleep."

"So we're just supposed to sit here and wait until we get attacked?" I clarified, my face clearly showing what I thought of that plan.

But he just waved his hand again.

"If something extraordinary does happen," Kakashi drawled sarcastically, already tired of this conversation, "the two of us can handle it."

"Hn," was Uchiha's contribution.

"I agree with Sasuke. And yeah. If you're so smart, you're going in first if something does happen."

"Deal," Kakashi said irritably, folding his arms across his chest. "But this conversation isn't over yet. Naruto, I decided to ignore it before, but I'll say it now. What you did at the gate was a gross violation of shinobi protocol. I'll mention it in my report and file a complaint against you."

"Hah," I snorted. "Be my guest. Write it in triplicate if you want. You're not getting anything out of it anyway."

"That was highly irresponsible."

"Yeah, yeah, sure. It would've been better if I'd started threatening Tazuna outside the village? When he was completely dependent on us?"

"…That's not what I meant. But yeah, that would have been better. For now, I suggest we wrap this up."

"Good idea. You, 'Kakashi‑sensei,' could use some sleep too, before your head turns completely to mush."

"Mngh." He showed me the middle finger, and I cheerfully returned the gesture. Then he left the room.

"Sakura, Sasuke. What do you think of my ideas?" I asked the two who were left.

"According to my regimen, I've got evening training," the boy said, then got up and left too.

"…"

"…"

Sakura and I watched Uchiha's back disappear.

Apparently my authority isn't that high, hmm. Then again, I didn't use any heavy leverage to make them do what I want.

"Sakura, be a sweetheart, please. Interrogate Tazuna and Tsunami according to the A6 structure and give me an oral report in two hours."

She sighed, dragging her gaze away from the door Sasuke had vanished through.

"Fine."

"Thanks." I gave her a warm smile, patted her on the shoulder, and stood up. "My mark is on you. I really doubt you'll be in any danger. But if something unforeseen happens, just release your chakra and I'll show up right away. For now I'm going to do some recon…"

"Naruto…"

"Hm?" I'd already reached the doorway.

"I just wanted to ask: what do the words on your kunai mean?" She looked away, like she'd asked something inappropriate. "And on the markers… 'Ruthlessness,' 'Right,' 'Love.'"

"Oh…" I leaned against the doorframe, slowly spinning a kunai with three characters on it between my fingers. "'Ruthlessness for the Right to Love,' if you want the full version. I'm afraid this might turn into a bit of a long monologue."

She nodded silently, showing she was ready to listen.

"Life is a cruel thing," I started anyway. "It's filled with light, sure. But you need strength if you want to be able to fight for what matters to you… I guess I should've told you this after you talked with Tazuna and Tsunami, but whatever, this works too. Let's back up a little: did you see the people on the street?"

The girl nodded carefully.

"Dirty. And under those sackcloth rags you couldn't see it, but they were hungry too. They had the right to a life—maybe not a rich one, but a good one. I'm sure there are plenty of skilled people here; they could be providing for themselves and for their country. But you saw how the buildings on the street were all wrecked. That's because this Gato showed up with his cartel and took away their right to a normal life. He robs them and does far worse things, because he's stronger, and with that strength he just hands himself that right. All those rights are worth nothing if you can't protect them. The world isn't the Academy. Hardly anyone out here is gonna listen to your arguments. The strong devour the weak and take their rights. That's the law. There's almost no third option.

"Ruthlessness is what I have to pay for strength. It's the readiness to do what others can't, or are afraid to do, to protect what you believe in. For years now I've been working hard, digging through corpses… Can't say it's all that hard on me. But it's what I have to do to move forward. To get stronger and at least try to earn the right to live the rest of my life the way I want. For years I've worked so that now, knowing we're up against a danger hundreds of people couldn't overcome… I can just sit here calmly talking to you. And know we'll be fine.

"Right now… I have to go do something else cruel. So that in the future, my loved ones and I will again have the chance to just smirk in the face of a threat. Even if that threat becomes way bigger than this one. That's the path… By walking it, I keep the abyss away."

When I finished, I only then noticed my eyes had gone unfocused and I was just staring straight ahead with a glassy look. Snapping out of it, I looked at Sakura and saw her gaze was practically bursting with mixed emotions: surprise, pity, sympathy, sadness… and a bit of understanding?

"So… that wasn't just you being a jerk? You just wanted to—" she started, then cut herself off.

"..?" My face made it clear I was interested and she could go on.

"No… nothing. Thank you… I don't have any more questions. G‑good luck… out there."

It was obvious Sakura suddenly really wanted to be alone.

"Thanks… And hey, about my request for the interrogation…" I was about to say she didn't have to do it, but she interrupted.

"It's fine."

I don't believe you.

"I'll do it."

"…," I stared at her for a moment, then just nodded in thanks.

Leaving the room, I headed for the exit. I wasn't going to get much sleep tonight.


After creating a few dozen clones, we got to work.

Finding the main hideout of this "Gato" was easy. I walked up to the first local I saw and made sure it was that building on that island. The entire Land of Waves basically consisted of about two dozen such islands, with rivers flowing between them.

When I reached the round three‑story building, I didn't even have to go inside. Taking on the appearance of some unremarkable guy, I slipped into a nearby bar and calmly drank juice while the whole HQ lay open to me like it was in my hand, thanks to my soul Sphere‑Sight.

Fifteen minutes later I had all their paperwork, an approximate headcount for the cartel, their concentrations, and Gato's plans in my head. Reading texts that aren't visible to normal sight with Sphere‑Sight is an obvious application for me. But reading separate sheets of text pressed right up against each other—that was a skill I'd only developed less than a year ago, and it took some work.

Gato himself, as you'd guess from the reports and his record, was one corrupt… ahem. Also rotten, cruel, and greedy bastard, ready to do anything for his business. Short but stocky, with medium‑length spiky brown hair. Black suit, yellow shirt, purple tie.

Once I had the basic info, I pushed it through our link—to the clones. A plan started putting itself together in my head. The main goal was to herd all these rats into one place, so we wouldn't have to run around hunting them down.

The plan had several points…

And the clones started carrying each one out in parallel.


On the roof next to yet another bar, an invisible figure sat lazily, legs dangling over the edge. Slowly turning his head from side to side, he watched the conversations of the already tipsy crowd.

This bar was where one of Gato's closest associates was hanging out. While he drank, he was talking about some shinobi that had shown up in one of the Land of Waves' towns.

"It's all bullshit, guys," a muscular man with a bare, scarred torso went on. This was him, one of Gato's deputies. "There are three kids and only one real shinobi."

His words set the whole bar roaring with laughter.

"Our little demon will carve 'em up like a butcher carves a…" He snapped his fingers.

"A cabbage?" one of the guys laughing the loudest prompted—and immediately got smacked on the back of the head.

"What fucking cabbage, you idiot? You a sheep or what?"

The bar exploded in laughter again. No one noticed the black Bingo Book—where all wanted shinobi are listed with info on them—appear out of nowhere on one of the tables. But when it slid off and hit the floor, opening to one of the pages, one of the regulars, a tall man, finally noticed.

"What's this?" he bent down for the little book. What he saw inside froze him for a few seconds. "Boss!!"

He screeched it, jabbing a finger at the book.

"Shut the hell up, you bolt, before I strip your threads. Say what you're yelling about."

"S‑rank shinobi! It's him! Our guys saw him!"

"Wha…" The book was in the "boss's" hands almost instantly. "Yeah, we're screwed."

Gato's deputy—whose name, by the way, was Shinto—chewed on his lip.

"Fucking hell!" he repeated his favorite word and turned to his subordinates. "Alright, you disgraceful bastards. I'm going to the boss. There better be booze left for me, or I'll, you know… and you'll, you know. Got it?!"

"Yes, boss!" came the ragged chorus.

"That's more like it." Flashing a gap‑toothed grin, he swaggered proudly out of the bar.

The rumor about how strong the new shinobi were had been planted.

At the same time. On another island

Another bar. Me—one of the other clones—really liked manipulating drunk people.

Such pliable material.

An invisible thread latched onto one of the local gang members. The local boss wasn't that expressive; the real ringleader here wasn't him but some random thug.

The thread, slowly and imperceptibly feeding chakra into him, kept planting more and more fake images and thoughts—ones I wanted said out loud.

After a few minutes of work, we got the result we needed:

"And that demon swordsman… Did you see how bandaged up he is? That Mist scum… Why do you think he needs all those bandages? I heard someone saw him limping…"

"Definitely got wounded back in Kiri," a voice came from the back.

"Exactly!" the local loudmouth agreed, then went on babbling nonsense.

But that didn't matter anymore. Gato's attentive but silent associate remembered everything and was going to bring it up with his boss.

The rumor that Zabuza might not be all that invincible was successfully set loose.

Another island, again

One more of the gang's, so to speak, local governors, and another of Gato's deputies, wasn't in a bar or any other fun place. But the role he was meant to play was the most important…

A skinny man with cunning, but currently relaxed, eyes was just getting ready for bed. He lived alone, but with good security outside by local standards. So he didn't worry about anything.

But when he walked out of the shower in his robe into the dark room, he didn't even make it to the light switch before a steel grip clamped around his throat.

He was forced to his knees.

The horror that hit him was so strong he couldn't even twitch, never mind make some futile attempt to scream.

There was nothing to see in the darkness in front of him—until two blue spotlights lit up out of it.

"The pirates from the Land of Noodles found out about the bridge and Gato's money. Word is they're going to attack and take it all for themselves while everyone's busy dealing with the ninja," the blue light spread, screwing itself into his head. "In four hours your scouts will report this to you. You'll go straight to your boss and tell him he needs to hurry. As for me, you'll forget…"

The grip loosened, and the man's body dropped to the floor.

Like a wind‑up toy, he repeated what he'd been ordered.

"Excellent…"

A green, healing light flooded the thug's vision. When it faded, the blue spotlights were gone.

The man, without a single mark on his neck, simply got up and headed for his bed. The toy had been wound, and soon it would wake again to do exactly what had been programmed into it.

This rumor would force Gato to move. And more importantly, it would force him to gather his forces into a single fist so that, taking the previous rumors into account, he'd quickly stage a fight between the arriving shinobi and the Demon Zabuza. The newcomers might be too dangerous to deal with separately, and then he could finish off whoever lost. Zabuza might be wounded and weak, and there was a good chance he'd lose to the arrivals. But against worn‑out and most likely injured shinobi, Gato's combined army would handle it. And he wouldn't even have to pay for an elite shinobi's services—profit everywhere.

All so that afterward, according to plan, he could just as quickly move on the southern port, on the side where the Land of Noodles lies. Luckily, that wasn't far from the first position, and organizing it wouldn't be too hard.

And a light genjutsu suggestion, if needed, would definitely help him make the decision I wanted.

---

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[Lillie Jones]

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[Despacitoleo]

Umazing chapter