"Life here is so quiet, it's almost boring," I told my two teammates while eating dango.
"It's not so bad being here," said the ladybug.
"Well, you have a reason to be here; you're lucky. Kushina isn't the type to sit still. With your attitude, you'd probably only be dating when she's 50." I complained to Minato, who blushed slightly and fell silent.
"I also think we should be doing more than just training and doing D-rank missions here." He went along with it, his eyes wild.
"All we can do is wait for the old Hokage to promote us to Chunin so we can do B- or A-rank missions; maybe we could team up with other squads for more dangerous missions," I suggested.
"The most dangerous missions are related to the war, and I don't feel we're prepared for anything more warlike," Minato announced as the team leader.
"We could also do something if Uncle Toad came, but the way things are, they might even call him a rogue ninja," I said.
"I don't think so. He's one of the heroes of the war, one of the Sannin, just like Tsunade and Orochimaru. I don't think the village would let such an important asset slip away, especially not during wartime," Minato said.
"Well, I don't really care," I said, getting up from my seat. "I'm going to my training area. See you later," he said, waving goodbye.
Right now, the war situation has calmed down. Ame is no longer the epicenter of all the battles. Some problems have already arisen in Kusagakure and the surrounding areas.
But the most important battles are still taking place in Amegakure, something that affects and will affect the future, creating a conflict between a young and hopeful Akatsuki and an aging Hanzo of the Salamander.
"Miyu, let's train together. I'm not doing anything right now," I heard Kushina's voice as soon as I entered the compound; she didn't let me answer, grabbing my arm and forcibly leading me to a training field.
...
"Here's the report, miss," said Number Four.
"Good work," I replied and began to look at the report.
The Uchiha police aren't doing their job properly. They've left parts of the village unprotected, basically a lawless place. These are the areas furthest from the village's commercial center. But that's good, since I can start manipulating the situation and take all that territory for my own benefit.
This lawless area is where the poorest people live, where thugs, prostitutes, and drunks hang out, not to mention that even ninjas come here to let off steam and do bad things without the village noticing.
I have no idea if the old monkey knows about these things, but I have a feeling he doesn't care much.
"Everyone come," I ordered, and the six of them appeared in a flash.
"In the lawless zone, there are three small gangs that extort poor people; the idea is to destroy them or annex them so they work for us," I told them, giving them an idea of what needs to be done.
"The idea is to empower the people being extorted so they'll rebel," I said, looking at the report. "We'll be their benefactors, give them a better life, and help their families; that way, they'll be indebted to us, or specifically to me, and that's how we'll gradually earn their loyalty."
We have an advantage: none of these people are ninjas, so all we have to do is give our guinea pigs food and better weapons, and that's it—plus information, which isn't too complicated to do.
"Here's a list of people you can use for this; give them food and weapons in exchange for working for me; their families will be protected, and they'll have enough to eat and live comfortably. If they accept, they'll introduce me as 'M,' not my real name, and if they don't accept—" I remained silent for a moment. "Tell the thugs that this person wants to rebel and take them out; that way, they'll have a new motivation to join us, which is revenge. And do it without them realizing that we're the ones who instigated all of this, understood?"
"Understood," the six said.
"Good, here's the list. Begin, and don't forget to come back at your usual time. If you don't, the torture—I mean, the training—will be ten times worse for everyone." I thought I saw the tools wobble slightly as the six of them left with a shunshin.
All of this is necessary, because as time goes on, my strength will be at its peak among the Kage, but if I want to accomplish certain things, I need the support of the people, and for that, I need to be able to extort them.
I already control almost half of the market businesses thanks to the payments they make for the land that belongs to my family, and as the next leader of the Senju clan, it's best that they're on my side unless they want to fall into poverty.
Civilians are replaceable, especially those from the Leaf Village, who like to judge their heroes and mistreat children.
And incidentally, I'll have complete control over the lawless area of the village.
My plan is to form two groups, each of which I will fully control. One in the south and one in the north. The idea is to create the illusion that these groups are in conflict so the higher-ups don't suspect that this group is trying to seize control of the village.
But it will all be a ruse, since I will be the leader of both groups. This will serve me well in the future, because as the old monkey's term progresses, he will become increasingly negligent and irresponsible in his role as Hokage, dedicating himself to procrastination.
This will allow me to gradually seize power in the village without anyone noticing.
When the conflict escalates to a point where the village needs to intervene, I will arrive as a savior and take control of the groups, which I supposedly didn't have, thus putting the higher-ups at ease.
Perfect. Now that all this is happening, it's a different story, but I'll see what the future holds.
...
As I continued researching my new sealing technique, which is almost finished, I think I'll have to ask Minato and Kushina for help with the final details. I heard a knock at the door.
I opened it to find an ANBU from the Hokage waiting.
"The Hokage needs you here urgently," he said, disappearing in a Shunshin.
I just sighed and headed to the Hokage's office.
I just hope it's not something that requires me to leave the village, since I'm almost ready to finish this.
...
"I need you to go to Takigakure to support a team on the border. There's been a warning about a large Iwa ninja presence in the area, so they called for reinforcements, and right now we're a bit short-staffed," he told the three ninja squads in the office.
Minato, Kosuke, and I, along with nine other ninja, were listening.
"Ayumi, you'll be the leader of this team, understood?" he said to the female jōnin in the office.
"Understood, Hokage-sama," the woman replied. Ayumi Sarutobi—I have no idea if it was because she was from the same clan or because she was really good, but it's a peculiar coincidence.
"That's all. You can leave," the old man said, and we all left.
After leaving the Hokage building, Ayumi spoke.
"Alright, I want everyone ready at the village gates in an hour and a half, prepared for a long mission, as we're not leaving the Taki-Iwa border until things calm down," the woman ordered.
"Yes," most of us replied.
And so, everyone went home to prepare.
When I arrived, Kushina wasn't there, so she must have been on a D-rank mission or training with her team. I left her a note telling her I was going on a long mission with my team, so she'd know Minato wouldn't be in the village either.
I took four scrolls. One with food supplies, another with medicine and poison, another with ninja tools, and the last one was the Uzumaki katana I stole.
The sword had a name, but it was something given by the extinct Uzumaki clan, and they no longer exist, so I renamed it Eremetarukatto, or as I shorten it, Etto.
I was going to carry it on a scroll, but I figured if there was an ambush, I might not be able to get it out of its sheath.
So I tucked it into my waistband, near the Thunder God sword, which I keep just in case.
In my ninja holster, I carried 6 kunai, 5 explosive tags, and 4 smoke bombs. I left the rest behind because there are too many of us to escape.
"Forward!" I ordered, and I drew three of my personal tools: 0, 3, and 5.
"Yes, my lady," the three replied in unison.
"Are the others working in the lawless zone?" I asked.
"Yes, my lady," said 0.
"Good, I have a mission outside the village right now; I'll take 3 and 5 with me. Your mission is to capture and gather information on potential enemies; you'll only do this if a confrontation occurs, whether planned or an ambush; you mustn't be seen under any circumstances, by enemies or allies, understood?" I gave the order.
"Yes, my lady," said 3 and 5.
"Good, you'll keep your distance so you aren't detected, and you, 0, continue the mission in the lawless zone with the others while I'm gone; go as slowly as possible until I return."
"Understood, my lady," said 0.
Now I realize they've changed from Miss to Lady; I don't know if that's a good thing or if it makes me feel old.
...
The journey towards Taki has been quite relaxed, especially since we're allied with the village, so entering the country isn't too difficult; the village is the tricky part, but that's our objective.
Kosuke and Minato are by my side, and they've been quiet since this started, either because they don't want to say anything personal to each other or because of the pressure of the mission.
To elaborate, the conflict in Taki's country hasn't been good. Even though Taki is our ally, they won't join the war and will remain in their village like cowards, so we have zero support in their country. We're only allowed to be here, and if any enemy infiltrates, it's our duty to eliminate them.
It's ironic, but if we don't, there's a risk that Iwa will take control of Taki's country, and that would be bad.
So we're obligated to do this.
No wonder the only known ninja from Taki is a deserter from thousands of years ago; the ones from Taki are worthless.
(Note: To avoid using any idioms from my country or others, I've made it as understandable as possible for everyone.)
The only thing that bothers me is that there aren't any Hyuga in our squad; they're all in the village or in Ame.
Because of that, we only officially have one sensor ninja, since I have sensory abilities, but I don't know if they're better or worse than this ninja's.
As we passed by a tree, I heard the sound of an explosive talisman about to detonate.
"MINATO!" I almost yelled, and he grabbed us and with a single blow pulled us both away, only to reappear and hear an explosion. Two of our squad died, unless having half your body destroyed and missing half your head counts as being alive.
I felt a footstep behind us, so I quickly took a step back. Minato fired some shuriken, and Kosuke launched a fireball that merged with the shuriken.
As soon as I hit the ground, I sensed the different battles raging all over the battlefield.
"Three mere brats; we've got it made," said one of the five ninjas who appeared around us.
"Shut up, Matsuki." He said he was a lame ninja.
Three jonin and two chunin—I don't like how this is going. Seeing how things are, it'll be three against five.
Minato, Kosuke, and I against three jonin and two chunin from Iwa—what could be worse?