Chapter 75.5- One Thousand hands

Foolish, I thought to myself, as I ducked underneath an attempt to behead me from behind. The assailant, an Iwa jounin, to his credit managed to adapt quickly, moving backwards and attacking again. I wasn’t in sage mode so I couldn’t just catch the sword in my hands as I knew would be the cool thing to do. Sadly, I’d have to fight properly today.

He came again, blade clutched in both hands and attempting a straight stab. I danced to the side, filled my fingers with chakra and then tapped the blade. It warped with he contact and I spun into his guard next. Whatever skill he has was decidedly insufficient to bear the brunt of my attentions, In a matter of seconds, he was limp and motionless on the floor. I turned to the next person in the room. This one just sat at the desk like nothing I had done so far had concerned him.

If I hadn’t seen hIm offER the other man the poison with my byakugan then maybe I would have fallen for the feigned act of innocence.

“Shorirama Senju. Welcome to Kusagakure.” He said in greeting. I grunted and stepped towards the Iwa shinobi on the floor. I looked at his face, even as I struggled to place it. It had been a while since I’d explored the bingo book for fun. Their entries regarding me just kept getting more and more inaccurate so I began to consider the whole thing a waste of time in truth.

“Are you going to swear yourself to Konoha now?” I asked.

“No” He said flatly. I arched my brow. Was that a spine I was beginning to sense? Or did he think I was Onoki’s lesser when it came to power?

“Interesting. Because whispers in the wind tell me Onoki did not even need to ask before you fell to your knees begging for your miserable life”

“I did what was necessary for Kusagakure’s continued existence. And I had a feeling that it would be a temporary state of things” He said, nodding towards the unconscious man.

“So now you think not bending the knee will keep Kusagakure alive? You think you can defeat me?”

“I haven’t even the vaguest notion of that, bit I do know that you are a different man than Onoki was”

“I haven’t the time for all this beating about the bush. Speak your peace so I may decide if you get to keep your head or not” I punctuated may words by projecting a tiny sliver of Kurama’s killing intent. The Kusa Head JOunin, so smug and self assured seemed to nearly fall to the floor from the change in atmosphere.

“Very well. Iwa had no respect for the independence of the small villages. But your Grandfather supported Kusa with its forming. He saw the value in smaller villages that acted as borders between the large ones. If you annexed us, then you would have Iwa as direct neighbors and have to worry about that. This way, Kusa are our neighbors and you can be sure to have a friendly relationship with the nation across the border and not have to worry about spontaneous invasion into your land” he said.