Chapter 56.5- One Thousand Hands

“Okay, so that could work. Then maybe some obfuscation seals for the rods themselves to make them harder to find” I suggested.

“No, no, no. It would clash conceptually. The obfuscation seals work on the concept of not being found, you can’t pair that with chakra sensing seals that work with the concept of finding other things. You can’t blow hot and cold at the same time, Shori”

“I was thinking of the rods not having any identification matrixes at all. Give that fully over to the discreet seals and have it just function as aggregator and waypoint.”

“Hmmm” She considered, holding her brush against her lips while she thought my suggestion through.

“I’ve got it, now get out. The Hyuga clan head came by to tell me to make sure you’re on time for your date”

“Date? We’re meeting up for tea, Grandma”

“A boring date, but still a date”

“She’s my cousin” I pressed.

“So? My parents were closer than cousins. You’re an Uzumaki, and half Hyuga on top of that. The family tree is basically a straight line.” You know what? I really really don’t want to know. So I took the out with that and turned around to make my way out.

Uraume had sent the invitation for tea to my office, and then to my home, and now gotten Grandmother involved. Well, if she wanted to make sure I didn’t miss it, then she had succeeded. I returned to my room, switched out my jonin fatigues for a simple black kimono with red embroidery. I did not have the anbu guards that a Hokage would have enjoyed, because technically speaking I was not the Hokage. The council had taken over administration of the village and entrusted that power to me as head of the council to act in their stead. That meant wearing a kimono with no armour or protection and then taking a scenic walk about the village was as much a message as it was a choice.

I was telling the villagers that the village was safe, and that was something that needed to be said. No one was blind to the losses Konoha had suffered. We had either withdrawn or been beaten off all fronts of the war and were essentially allowing the other villages run roughshod over the neighboring villages to us. They were probably securing lines of attack, baggage trains, resource provisions and the likes before advancing on Konoha proper. It meant that I had time to plan, but unfortunately the villagers had time to panic. And there was panic to go around.

I walked into the Hyuga clan compound and the guards barely even gave me a second look. Uraume’s orders? I wondered. An attempt to make it seem like I was family here and to remind me where my loyalty ought to lie?