The Zero Tails Jinchuriki #13

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Konoha, Land of Fire

–Kenta ‘Akimichi’ Senju–

“We are all gathered over here…” He tuned out Sarutobi’s speech as he remained hidden in one of the trees, keeping a close watch on the State Funeral. That was his job for the day, to be the one who kept a watchful eye on everyone and everything in the event.

Granted that his eye was the best in the village, bar Jiraiya, when it came to ferreting out unwanted people. As soon as the Nature Energy left him, he stilled for a moment and it all came roaring back, granting him enhanced senses which were more than enough to cover the thousands of civilians and shinobi who were attending today's ceremony.

The Daimyo was present, sitting behind the Hokage, along with his Finance Minister who was supposedly the Daimyo’s right hand. It made sense, control the Finances, which inevitably controls the military arm of the Daimyo, i.e., Konoha.

There were dozens of ANBU who were doing the exact same thing as he was doing, along with two sensors who were periodically sending out chakra in droves to make sure that no illegal item was being smuggled into the area, like chakra swords or explosive tags. For that reason, not even storage seals were allowed in.

Almost casually, his gaze roved over a particular shinobi, who was actually dressed like a civilian and in a group of people who were all civilians, merchants from the looks of it, looking solemnly at the Hokage and yet, he knew that it was all fake.

The shinobi’s chakra as well as emotions were suppressed, to the point that it had taken a Sage to identify the pattern in the middle of such a huge crowd. That particular shinobi was not alone, as there were dozens of them present today. Most of them were mixed with the crowd but there were two, stronger than all the others, combined, who were standing beside Danzo, hidden from everyone else but not from him.

Well, he knew that Jiraiya and Saruobi could sense them, obviously but he had no idea if they knew of the same technique being used by dozens of other shinobi. The same kind of shinobi was also the person who was provoking a reaction out of that Uchiha clan member that day, pretending to be drunk to accuse someone from the Uchiha clan of being the ones who orchestrated the death of the Yondaime.

Danzo was, as always, clad in those bandages that somehow hindered even his own senses, indicating a pretty high level Fuinjutsu being used to stop anyone from looking into whatever was beneath those bandages. It couldn’t be merely injuries or else why would Danzo, a shinobi, hide them? It made no sense.

Usually, living to an old age while being a shinobi made you someone to be feared. Scars and permanent injuries were just part and parcel of the lifestyle. No, something was afoot and he wondered why Sarutobi and Jiraiya just let it slide.

Something to confirm with Jiraiya later on. He still had to talk to Tsunade about her ridiculous issues, something that he was sure would not be just verbal. He expected physical violence from her once she became incapable of retaliating with any logic so there was that to look forward to. 

He sighed, in relief as, finally, the Hokage was done speaking. Then, he almost groaned out loud when he passed the stage to the Daimyo, who was…not what he expected the man to be. He had been shadowing the Daimyo and his entourage ever since they came to Konoha.

They were all clean, squeaky clean. The reason for that was because they did not do anything while in Konoha. Their samurai and guards stayed within the premises, not even stepping out a bit as everything necessary was supplied to them.

The Daimyo was also very young, likely in his early forties, with a body that had seen some hardships. He also had multiple chakra injuries on his body, the healing not done properly so there was still some chakra residue that he could detect. Whoever the healers were, they did the best they could by mitigating any damage from the chakra residue and letting it remain there for it to dissipate naturally.

From what he could gather, the chakra residue should be gone in a few more weeks. Passable work from healers who were probably not as skilled or well versed as Tsunade was. Granted, no one was as skilled as Tsunade was and wasn’t that a great irony that the one with the greatest skill was now turned into a shinobi who was all but a cripple.

Tsunade must be really shameless since the shame of having to rely on one’s disciple, who was barely a chunin from the looks of it, for continued survival hadn’t yet killed her.

If it was not already clear, he was really disappointed with the whole Tsunade situation. It could have been excused if the village was brimming with powerful shinobi, when the loss of Tsunade did not impact Konoha’s overall power, especially in peacetime but now?

Now it was inexcusable for her to just pack up and leave once the hospital was not under severe stress.

Nature Energy left him, snapping him out of his thoughts as he stilled for a moment, Sage Mode coming back as he continued his scans of the arena. The Daimyo was now done with his speech, the crowd clapping back with some cheer as the Daimyo announced multiple financial assistance schemes for Konoha, including free rations for the next five years for low income families, orphans (from civilians and shinobi alike) and some more.

It was kind of impressive how much Daimyo was throwing around but even then, this was not enough. If the numbers he had heard were real, then the lion’s share of funding for Konoha’s own expenses, including incentive packages for the village’s business, were yet to be announced.

He had a hunch that the Daimyo was waiting for something to announce that and that something was his existence. The confirmed existence of a Sage. Even beyond the obvious power that came with being a Sage, there was an air of mystery around the moniker of being a Sage.

The First Hokage was a Sage. Jiraiya was a Sage. Those were big names and having someone else be a Sage while in Konoha, even if he could not really match the First Hokage in terms of power and versatility, was going to create a perception of power around Konoha.

Especially for civilians, since for them, Elite Jounins and Kage level shinobi were one and the same, i.e, god like existences so far above them that they could barely comprehend their existences. Sages were held on the same level of reverence.

Soon, the ceremony came to an end and as if on schedule, it began raining, forcing the attendees to scramble to leave the area, leaving behind a handful of shinobi who could obviously keep themselves dry or did not care about the rain, either way.

The Hokage, along with the Daimyo left first, followed by Danzo, his merry band of shinobi, Jiraiya and then once everyone of note left, the ANBU did a thorough sweep of the grounds and left as well, leaving behind only him and a couple of other shinobi, too distraught to leave, their emotional states down in the dumps.

Exhaling, he jumped from his position, and went in the direction of the Hokage Tower since that was the meeting that was going to decide whether Konoha got the funds it needed or not.

Jumping in through one of the windows, the secretary barely even registered his arrival as she waved her one remaining hand towards the door to the Hokage Office. Nodding, he knocked once and went in.

He nodded at the Daimyo who was looking at him with a critical eye. “He does not look like much, Hokage-dono.” The man remarked.

The Hokage shrugged, in a what can you do gesture so he stilled for a moment and entered Sage Mode. Instantly, the Daimyo’s gaze snapped to the markings on his face, and the slight brown hue that he let appear near his skin, signalling the Zero Tails’ energy coming out.

The effect was immediate as, usually, he controlled the energy from the Zero Tails and prevented it from spilling out since its effect was well known on shinobi minds, let alone civilian ones but since the Daimyo wanted a demonstration, a demonstration he shall have. 

Saurothi narrowed his eyes at him as the very air in the room turned cold, the presence of the Zero Tails drawing out the negative emotions out of everyone in its vicinity. Thankfully, Sarutobi’s mind was a steel trap, unaffected by the Zero Tails and since he made sure to keep it at very low levels, the Daimyo should not be too–

“Okay, fine. I get it. You are a Sage.” The Daimyo waved his hand, and he blinked in confusion at the change in demeanour while letting the Nature Energy slip away and the Zero Tails cloak fade away.

The Daimyo then turned around, facing the Hokage and said in a defeated tone, “I have to hand it to you, Hokage-dono. Even after all that has happened, all the wars that Konoha won and fought, all the people you lost, even after that, you still have a trump card hidden somewhere. Amazing.”

The man shook his head and took another long look at him before turning around and retrieving a scroll from his person, “Fine. You get everything you asked for.”

“Thank you, Hinokami-dono, for your continued support.”

The Daimyo waved Sarutobi off, “The Land of Fire was never going to benefit from a weak Konoha. I hope you can get the results you hope for because the vultures are never too far away.”

“Now then, I will see you soon, Senju Kenta.” The Daimyo tapped him on the shoulder and left, leaving behind him and Sarutobi, who was looking at the now opened scroll with an unreadable look in his eyes.