WAB: Chapter 11

It had started as such a simple request. Ebisu had promised the Priests of Suijin at the shrine in the Capital that he would visit the Shrine in the Hakage Forest along the Banks of the Hasegawa River and retrieve their Scripture Scrolls from the shuttered temple. Apparently, the place had been close enough to Konoha when the Kyubi had been unleashed that it had been deemed no longer a viable site by the Priesthood of Suijin. They'd unfortunately had other things to worry about at the time, and so had shuttered the shrine hastily enough that they had left copies of their Scriptures, and thus the Spiritual Energy Techniques held inside them, behind.

Of course, this wasn't exactly a paying mission. Suijin wasn't the most popular of Kami in Fire Country, largely because the Primary areas of worship for Suijin had been in what had once been Whirlpool Country, in River Country, and in Rain Country. The Clergy of Suijin was thus considered less prestigious here than they would be someplace like Tani or Ame, or back when it was around, Uzu. At least outside of certain areas like Suisen, Hijin, and Moeru Lakes. Suijin was a god of freshwater, after all. The Sea was the Domain of Ryojin, and while the Wetlands on several of the islands in what had been Whirlpool Country, along with the Rivers of River Country, and the Lakes of Rain Country, made for a powerful incentive to worship the Kami, much of Fire Country was less inundated and more mountainous or forested.

This had meant that, as Suijin was not exactly a popular God in Fire Country, the Priesthood of Suijin in Fire Country couldn't afford to simply burn Ryo on such an endeavor. Accordingly, Ebisu had no problem with farming out such a task to someone else while he got on with paying missions. It was the perks of being a Full Jonin, I supposed. Even if you weren't one of the Elites like Asuma-Sensei or Gai-Sensei, you still had seniority over your Tokubetsu Jonin comrades and thus could get them to run your errands for you. That still left me with a very specific question, however.

"Why would you agree to do them this solid if it didn't pay?" I questioned.

"I have found that building connections with other organizations can help one to be a more well-rounded Shinobi." Answered Ebisu.

"Is that what you're doing, then?" I queried.

"Not exactly. I may have owed one of the Priests in the Capital for helping to clear up a certain issue." Admitted Ebisu.

"And you're what, farming out the favor?" I asked.

"Take heart, Akimichi-San. When you gain your promotion to Full Jonin status, you too will have the ability to delegate such things to your Juniors." Opined Ebisu.

"Right. Until then, I suppose I should be grateful for the privilege, then?" I questioned sarcastically.

"Do you want the Water Transformation Exercise or not?" Queried Ebisu.

"You know I do." I grumbled.

"Then you will simply need to go with the flow here." Intoned Ebisu.

"Was that a water pun?" I asked, blinking.

"It was. There is no reason this can't be fun, you know." Smirked Ebisu.

"Just. . .tell me where the shrine is." I grumbled, physically restraining myself from face-palming. Puns were the lowest form of Comedy, after all.

Regardless, Ebisu gave me the directions to the Shrine. I was supposed to leave Konoha via the west gate, then follow the Hasegawa River until I arrived at a tributary creek branch that was marked by a Charcoal Merchant's Hut. Eiji, the Charcoal Merchant, who lived there, along with his brother, the Woodcutter Taro, lived along the banks of a tributary creek that wound its way through a section of rapids. There were about three hours of running north from Eiji and Taro's Hut along the Tributary Creek until you reached the Suijin Shrine on the other side of the rapids. The whole trip should take about half a day to complete, and I should be back in Konoha with the scriptures by dinner time.

"All right, and what are you gonna do with them from there?" I questioned.

"You mean how do I plan to get them to the Capital if I'm too busy to attend to this myself?" Queried Ebisu.

"Yeah. You could send it by courier, but I doubt you want to go through the hassle of actually hiring one with the Tower." I pointed out.

"I will not have to. I simply need a storage seal and a messenger hawk, which is infinitely cheaper to rent the use of than to use a Genin as a courier." Pointed out Ebisu.

"You can rent messenger hawks?" I asked.

"You didn't know this?" Questioned Ebisu.

"No. I thought they were only used for critical village communications. That's what the textbooks at the academy said." I frowned.

"Ah, yes. You probably have not run across this yet. You will with time, though." Nodded Ebisu, sagely.

"What are you trying to tell me?" I queried.

"The Chunin who runs the Konoha Messenger Hawk Service, Kurobe, runs a rent-a-hawk service on the side to help supplement his income. Outside of wartime, the Tower allows it, similarly to how they allow Shinobi to retain portions of any loot captured while on missions." Informed Ebisu.

"Huh. I guess the Messenger Hawk Service does tend to have a lot of slack outside of emergencies." I mused.

"Indeed. Not everyone can breach the wall that separates even Tokubetsu Jonin from Chunin. In fact, a vast majority of Shinobi will never be promoted further than Chunin in their entire career. Absent the truly high-paying missions, which tend to go to those Jonin or Geniuses who can handle them, many Chunin seek ways to supplement their mission pay, especially if they do have a Clan to support them." Lectured Ebisu.

"That figures, I guess." I shrugged.

"Now, Akimichi-San, if you don't mind, I have business to attend to elsewhere. I will see you when you return to the Village." Nodded Ebisu.

Then, without saying another word, Ebisu headed out of the cafe we met at. Thankfully, he left Ryo behind to cover his portion of the bill. I was pretty sure that wasn't something I could count on happening from all my Senpai who were Full Jonin. At the very least, I expected someone like Kakashi to try and stiff me. Mission Record aside, Kakashi was one hell of a Shady guy, after all. From what I'd heard, some of the Torture and Interrogation Jonin were even shadier. That figured, you had to be shady to work for what was essentially Military Intelligence. It just went with the territory. No wonder they'd snapped up Mitarashi Anko after Orochimaru had skipped town.

At any rate, I finished my tea and paid my half of the tab before making my way out of the Village by the west gate and into the Hakage Woods. After a brief stop to show my Shinobi ID at the guard post at the gate, which surprisingly wasn't being manned by either Kamizuki-Sensei or Hagane-Sensei, but by some fresh Chunin that had seemingly been recently promoted from the Genin Corps during the war, I leaped out into the woods on my way to the Hasegawa River Suijin Shrine. It took me a couple of hours of running along the banks of the Hasegawa River, but I eventually found the Charcoal Merchant's Hut.

Hut was maybe downplaying things just a bit. This wasn't a hut, even though it was a one-floor dwelling. The place was a traditional house in the Fire Country Style, which was to say, the Traditional Japanese Style, with wooden construction and a terra cotta roof. There were multiple rooms, though, arranged in a sort of trefoil fashion, one of which seemed to back out onto the Hasegawa River. Out front, a small charcoal mound sat for turning wood into charcoal, near a stump that had an Ono-style felling axe stuck into it. Likely, that was where Taro the Woodcutter turned his daily haul into charcoal, which Eiji the Charcoal Merchant then sold to the various villages that were scattered around the Hakage Woods. Of course, we in Konoha had our own Charcoal Merchants, so Eiji was likely limited to selling to the outlying villages.

As I took the scene in, I heard a gruff voice clear its throat from behind me. Turning, I beheld an older man in simple clothes. He wore a white, undyed hanten jacket and blue hakama pants, along with a pair of sturdy straw and wood sandals. His gray beard was cut short, and he wore a conical bamboo Kasa hat on his head to shade him from the sun. Tellingly, there was a bundle of sticks tied to his back, and he carried an Ono-style felling axe in one hand casually. This had to be Taro, the Woodcutting Brother.

"Can I help you, Shinobi-San?" Asked Taro.

"No. I was simply told to turn north along the creek here to get to my destination." I answered.

"Going to the Old Suijin Shrine, eh?" Questioned Taro.

"I am. How did you know that?" I queried.

"It's the only thing out that way now. There had been a village there a few years back, but it's gone now. The Forest Reclaimed it. I don't know why you want to go there, Shinobi-San, but I'd reconsider if I were you." Insisted Taro.

"Why would that be?" I asked.

Before Taro could answer, however, another, reedier voice from inside the Hut called out for him. It was most likely his brother, the Charcoal Merchant, Eiji. I didn't want to assume, however. Instead, Taro looked at me, frowning, before shaking his head.

"Just turn back if you know what's good for you, Shinobi-San. Nothing Good will come of going to that shrine now." Insisted Taro.

Then he headed back into his hut to see what his presumable Brother wanted from him, leaving me alone outside. Of course, I wasn't about to just leave and head back to Konoha on the warnings of one Old Man. It might have been Genre-Blind of me or something, but I found that I didn't much care whether it wasn't very Genre-Savvy of me or not. I wanted that Water Nature Transformation Exercise. Ebisu wasn't the type of guy to just let me not actually doing him the favor go while still giving me the Water Nature Transformation Exercise. He was too much of a hardass when it came to his juniors for that.

No, instead, I continued on my way, making a mental note to keep an eye out for anything strange at the Suijin Shrine. I ran north along the banks of the Hasegawa River Creek Tributary for another few hours, passing by rapids that churned the water of the tributary in great rushing whorls. As I saw that, I frowned. Maybe it was Kappa or something? They were known to nest in whirlpools in rivers sometimes, after all. If it were a group of Kappa that had taken up residence in the Suijin Shrine after the Priest and Miko left, I could handle it. It would also make sense that a random Civilian Woodcutter couldn't, as well.

I finally came into view of the Hasegawa Shuijin Shrine as the sun had passed the horizon, and it came up on twelve-thirty in the Afternoon, or the middle of the Hour of the Horse, going by the Old Jade Empire Clock, which was still used by the Samurai of Iron and some Daimyo who were sticklers for tradition. The Shrine, surprisingly, looked in a lot better condition than I was led to believe. Clearly, someone was living here and had fixed it up some. The architecture was wood, stone, and terra cotta in the traditional style, with the roof tiles painted a vibrant green to match the foliage, the stone walls whitewashed, and the wooden supports lacquered in Uzumaki Red. The whole place abutted onto the creek, which had a small section of rapids remaining, not enough to really churn the waters, though.

I frowned as I made my way up toward the gates of the Shrine Complex. In the back of my mind, a snuffling noise could be heard as I did so, Inoshishi-No-Kami making his presence known through our connection via the Blade. I tuned my senses into the snuffling and sent off a questioning thought as I did so. What I received in return was more or less what I had been expecting.

'Be careful. There is a Powerful Yokai nearby. Trust not your eyes, for the stink of illusion wafts from this place.' Warned Inoshishi-No-Kami, mentally.

'I'll keep that in mind.' I sent back telepathically.

When I entered, however, it was to find two people in silk kimono of the sort that, while not exactly priestly, would be considered good for Priests and Miko to wear when not attending to their normal duties about the shrine. One was a man in a blue and white floral kimono, hair slick with styling product and pulled up into a formal arrangement. The other was a woman in a red and white floral kimono with a green and yellow obi, her face painted like a noble lady, and her hair done up similarly. The Woman carried a black staff with gold Fuuinjutsu Script carved into it along its length.

"Welcome. We hadn't been expecting anyone." Intoned the Man.

"Yes. We had thought this place abandoned." Spoke the Woman.

"I'm just here to pick up the scriptures, and I'll be on my way." I insisted.

"I see. You have come from the main temple, then Shinobi-San." Mused the Woman.

"Something like that." I agreed.

"If this is so, then follow me. I will lead you to where the Scrolls are being kept." Opined the Man.

He turned and began to lead me toward the Main Shrine Hall, the Woman taking up position to my side. I frowned as I followed. There really was no other alternative here, as Ebisu hadn't told me where I could find the scripture scrolls, just that they were on the Shrine Grounds. As the Man led me over to the Main Shrine Hall, I frowned at its appearance. It was noticeably less upkept than the rest of the Shrine Complex, with dust on the floor and covering the statue and altar of Suijin. There was even a cobweb hanging from a ceiling beam.

Irregardless of any lack of upkeep, the Man made his way over toward one of the floor tiles, removing it from its place in the floor to reveal a black and gold, lacquered, wooden chest. Opening the chest revealed the Scriptures inside, and the Man bade me come over to verify that this was what I was looking for. He then stepped away, and as I peered down into the hole in the floor, I saw that these were indeed the scrolls I'd been sent here to retrieve. Of course, no sooner had I bent down to look than Inoshishi-No-Kami let out a squeal of warning in the back of my mind. That was enough for me to use the Kawarimi no Jutsu (Replacement Technique) to avoid a surprise attack.

As I reappeared on the other side of the room, I beheld a sight. Instead of two humans, there were two Crablike Yokai now occupying the space where the Man and Woman from earlier had been. Clearly, they had been under some kind of illusion, one subtle enough that I'd missed it, and one which bypassed my Fuuinjutsu Medallion thanks to working off of Spiritual Energy. I scowled as the Yokai that had been impersonating the Man's pincer clamped down on the Wooden Log that appeared where my neck had been, shearing it in two with a single swip. The Yokai that had been impersonating the woman then let out a screech as it threw the Staff at me with enough force that I was forced to use the Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique) to avoid it. The staff let out a sonic boom as it smashed into and through the painted, dusty, terra cotta statue of Suijin, crumbling it and coring through the solid stone altar it had stood on as well.

'Kanibōzu! Be careful, they are both strong and resilient, with bladelike pincers and a mastery of both illusion and water-based techniques!' Warned Inoshishi-No-Kami, mentally.

I didn't answer Inoshishi-No-Kami. Instead, as I began to ready my own techniques for the fight ahead, all I could think was that it was par for the course that this wasn't going to be as simple as Ebisu had made it seem. After all, when had my life ever been simple?

It was just the way the world seemed to work, after all. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here's the next chapter. We get a bunch of worldbuilding, along with setting up a supposedly simple fetch quest for Choji to undertake in order to get the Water Nature Transformation Exercise from Ebisu. Unfortunately, as Choji just said, the Universe just seems to love messing with him. Of course, this simple fetch quest was about to be complicated by a pair of powerful Yokai. What else is new? That much should have been evident by the crazy old man who warned Choji not to go to the Shrine Complex. That's a horror movie trope, after all.

At any rate, the next chapter will involve the actual fight with the pair of Kanibōzu, along with a chewing out of Ebisu when Choji returns to Konoha. I'll also have some more images out before then as well.

Stay tuned. . .