Chapter 46.4- One Thousand Hands

“We came as quickly as we could.” I said with a calm smile, not allowing myself to be caught in the indignation that was spreading through the shinobi behind me.

“Be kind, Maki. These people are here to help us.”

“Not like Iwa is only here because of their damn war” She retorted sarcastically.

“Please forgive her. She’s lost her whole team to the Iwa attacks” Shino said, turning to me instead.

“Worry not. Konoha can afford to forgive a slight or two. I mean I am here now even though your village elders sent a shinobi to assassinate my Grandfather and then disavowed him when he failed” I said, adding the dig with a subtle flex of my chakra’s weight. That there was no seal separating what was mine from what was Kurama’s meant that when I wanted to flex my weight, I ended up flexing a bit of his as well. And let’s just say, he had a lot of weight to throw around.

They went still. Only for a few seconds, but it was enough to show that they knew they were in front of a much bigger dog.

“As I said earlier, please accept our apologies.”

“All is forgiven. We’re all friends here” I said with a smile that didn’t reach my eyes.

“Now, what can you tell me about the Iwa shinobi attacking you”

“Well, we’ve only had a few skirmishes so far. They are trying to find our village and that has taken the most of their time.”

“Have they succeeded?” Did Iwa have knowledge of Taki’s location?

“No. They’re still quite a bit far off.”

“So you know where they are” I said with a hum.

“We do. This is our land” He said with some authority.

“Now tell me about their camp. What are their numbers? How many do they send to searching at a time? What is the army composition? Leave not a single thing out” I ordered.

—

“Doubting yourself serves no purpose” Kurama said in my head.

“And yet, I can’t help but worry. The last time we went to war on a plan of mine, people died. My friends died.”

“For one, this plan is much better than that silliness you were up to in the Land of Rivers. For another, these people are no friends of yours. You might want to care but you don’t. There’s nothing wrong with that. And this plan is no more likely to kill them than any other so it is not that you are throwing away their lives on a whim. Humans die. That is the thing you do” He said simply.

“That’s not very reassuring”

“Okay. Let me reassure you then. If you do not manage to remove your head from your arse, Son Goku and Kokuo will enjoy removing it for you”