I, Your Father, Carry a Big Stick - Chapter 92

Seeing Kurotsuchi’s reaction, Tobirama crossed his arms and remarked, “Seems this one lacks a spine. And you said she was the Tsuchikage’s Granddaughter? It’s no wonder Onoki hasn’t been able to pass on his title to the next generation…”

Recovering from her shock, Kurotsuchi’s face formed into a frown as she asked, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Instead of answering the raven-haired Kunoichi’s question, Tobirama snorted in contempt, appending, “Seems she’s a bit slow in the head as well…”

Before Tobirama could undermine ‘all’ of the progress he had made with Kurotsuchi, Wu stood between the two and said, “That’s enough out of you, old man. Hasn’t your bigotry caused enough problems? Besides, half the reason she’s here is to expand her mind and broaden her horizons. I’ll have you treat her as a guest of the Senju Clan, not an outsider.”

Contrasting Kurotsuchi’s expectations, Tobirama responded to Wu with a curt nod, replying, “Very well. You ‘are’ the future Head of the Senju Clan. I will respect your decision.”

Shifting his gaze to Kurotsuchi, Tobirama added, “However, if I find her snooping around someplace she doesn’t belong…”

Rolling his eyes, Wu replied with a lazy, “Yeah, yeah…” before asking, “Mind getting to the reason you’re here? Coming to me with the Flying Raijin, I imagine you have something important to discuss…?”

Nodding in affirmation, Tobirama surprised Wu as he revealed, “My brother insisted I get your permission before venturing outside of the village. There is a matter I want to look into in the Land of Iron. I’ll be sure to avoid any unnecessary conflicts.”

Though they had agreed that the people reanimated by the Edo Tensei wouldn’t leave the village, Wu only hesitated for a brief moment before answering, “If the Hokage approves of the mission, it’s fine by me. Just try not to antagonize anyone or cause a war while you’re out, okay?”

Furrowing his brows, Tobirama looked like he wanted to say something but ultimately chose to teleport away using the Flying Raijin Jutsu. Wu had given him a ‘history lesson’ shortly after his revival, and, after looking into the events perpetrated by Danzo, Tobirama couldn’t refute the claim that his principles had paved the way for most of the wars that followed his brother’s death. He also felt personally responsible for the destruction of the Senju, Uchiha, and Uzumaki Clans, so he had a lot of ‘balancing’ to do before his ledger was clean…

With the ashen-haired Hokage out of the way, Wu turned to Kurotsuchi, extending his hand as he asked, “You okay…?” in an ostensibly concerned tone.

Though she would typically slap aside the hand of someone trying to help her up, Kurotsuchi accepted Wu’s assistance, asking, “Was that really ‘the’ Senju Tobirama? Didn’t he die like fifty years ago…?”

Since it was only a matter of time before the ‘rumors’ circulating around the Elemental Nations became common knowledge, Wu replied, “We can ‘thank’ Orochimaru for that. Before his suicide, the snake bastard used a Forbidden Jutsu to reanimate and weaponize the former Hokage against the village. Fortunately, the Kinjutsu he used was something pioneered by the Second. The Third managed to use a Contract Seal, freeing him from Orochimaru’s control. Now he and his brother are living here until they can find closure.”

Hearing Wu’s ‘casual’ revelation, Kurotsuchi felt as though the cogs in her mind were grinding to a halt. If Konoha truly possessed a Forbidden Jutsu that could reanimate the dead, how could any other village hope to stand against them? Wu was already monstrous enough…now they had to worry about the return of Hashirama, the man who had single-handedly brought an end to the Warring States Period…?

Realizing there was a real possibility that Wu could complete his objective of unifying the Elemental Nations, Kurotsuchi’s plan for her stay in Konoha changed drastically. She was originally planning to play along, gathering as much information as possible so that Iwa wouldn’t be completely in the dark should a war break out with Konoha. Now, war was the furthest thing from her mind. Instead, she was thinking about how they could avoid it at any cost…

Forcing a smile, Kurotsuchi asked, “Soooo…about that training to help me become Tsuchikage…when do we start?”

Adopting a smile of his own, Wu replied, “As soon as you’ve settled in and I’ve introduced you to everyone. With that in mind, why don’t you go and drop off your stuff? Afterward, we’ll head over to Gaara’s place and eat lunch with him and his siblings, Temari and Kankuro. The former is one of the Gokage candidates, so the two of you should try and get along.”

Nodding her head, Kurotsuchi replied with an uncharacteristically serious and curt, “Understood.” Now that she fully understood what was at stake, she wasn’t planning to fool around. After all, with monsters like Hashirama backing up Wu, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say the very existence of Iwa hung in the balance…

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With Kurotsuchi abruptly becoming less of a cunt, Wu had no difficulties introducing her to the rest of the compound’s temporary and permanent residents. Ino, Hinata, and Tenten were away on missions, but everyone else was present, either training, studying, or simply relaxing in between their efforts to improve.

With the inclusion of Kurotsuchi, the previously ‘abandoned’ Senju Clan Compound now had thirteen residents. Tsunade, Shizune, Hinata, Hanabi, Tayuya, and Kagero made up the permanent residents. Ino, Sakura, and Kaia represented those that still lived at home but spent a considerable amount of time within the estate, while Temari, Gaara, and Kankuro were considered ‘guests’ alongside Kurotsuchi. Hashirama and Tobirama also lived with them, but the two weren’t exactly alive, so Wu excluded them from the ‘census’ of his estate.

As eager as he was to grow the number of residents further, Wu spent the remainder of Winter and Spring, roughly four months, spending time with the girls, focusing on his growth, and ferrying people to and from Taki. He didn’t want Fu to think he had abandoned her and risk her imprinting on someone else, so Wu made sure to stop by every couple of days with one or more of the girls in tow. The mint-haired girl had a powerful yearning to be accepted by others, so as more and more people from Konoha became her friends, her attachment to Taki gradually waned.

After around two months of getting to know the girls from the Senju Clan Compound, Fu submitted to her curiosity and flew over to Konoha to see it for herself. After that initial visit, she began spending around five days a week at the estate, only returning home on the weekends. It was difficult for people to cling to the past when they had several others helping them move forward, so, as time passed, Fu spent less of it tending to graves of villagers she rarely interacted with and more of it with the family that had accepted her.

Though her guilt compelled her to return to Taki, Wu knew it was only a matter of time before Fu stopped asking him to accompany her and began timing her visits with him returning to check on things. There was nothing but sadness awaiting her back in Taki, so Fu’s desire to return withered as her friendships in Konoha grew. She even adapted his dream as her own, so, alongside Gaara and, to a lesser extent, Naruto, Wu now had a total of three Jinchuriki at his beck and call…

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After following Wu to the outskirts of Konoha, Fu, with her hands behind her back and insect-like wings buzzing loudly, asked, “Do you really have to go alone? I know you’re strong, but if something happened to you…a lot of people would be very, very sad…”

Patting the mint-haired girl on her head, Wu assured her, “Everything will be fine. Kiri is currently in the midst of a Civil War, and, even if it wasn’t, I could waltz into the Mizukage’s office without fear. Just to be a good girl and await my return with the rest, okay…?”

Nodding her head, Fu drew herself closer to Wu’s body, the beating of her wings slowing until eventually stopping as he linked his hands around her waist. They didn’t kiss, at least not yet, but Fu felt incomparably close to Wu as their foreheads touched and he asserted, “I ‘will’ return, Fu…” in a faint but firm tone.

Adopting a faint smile, Fu replied, “I believe in you…” before closing her eyes and pressing her lips to Wu’s. The two of them had never crossed ‘the line’ for various reasons, but Fu was slowly working up the courage with a bit of ‘assistance’ from the other girls. If Wu returned safely, she intended to give him that and much, much more…

Feeling more than a little sheepish, Fu eventually broke free from Wu’s embrace and took off like a startled grasshopper. She was the type of girl that could take a bath with a boy without batting an eye, but the moment they touched hands or kissed, her emotions would compound until she needed to decompress. Living in relative isolation for sixteen years had forced her to become an introvert, so even though she was bubbly and excited most of the time, Fu ‘needed’ to have personal space and alone time…

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Following Fu’s departure, Wu flew Eastward for nearly five hours, making a short stop at the ruins of Uzugakure before advancing to the first of the Land of Water’s many mist-shrouded islands. It was a little eerie, seeing an entire nation shrouded in mist, but that didn’t deter Wu from touching down on the western coast of the country’s second smallest island, the location Jiraiya had reported as the location of Kiri’s rebel headquarters.

Since the current Mizukage, Yagura, was known throughout the Elemental Nations as a brutal dictator, responsible for both the Bloodline Purge and the ongoing civil war, Wu was planning to back the commander of the resistance forces opposing him, a fairly beautiful woman named Terumi Mei. She was listed in the Bingo Book as having a bounty of 70,000,000 Ryo, so Wu had high expectations for the woman purported to be able to use not one but two Kekkei Genkai.

Fortunately for Wu, the diminutive island rumored to be the resistance’s headquarters was even smaller than Konoha at 1872 square kilometers. Nearly all the towns on the island were fishing villages, and the only city had a population of 11,872 people. Thus, even without utilizing his clones, he could easily locate the resistance headquarters by tracking one of the few people with Chakra or following one of the small fishing trawlers that were traveling along the coast instead of out to sea.

Less than twenty minutes after he arrived at the island, Wu found himself at the entrance of a hidden alcove that was only visible at low tide. There was also a thick layer of fog obfuscating it, but as the entirety of the Land of Water was covered in mist, it wasn’t too conspicuous.

Ditching the trawler carrying food and supplies, Wu passed through the invisible barriers used to detect foreign Chakra and prevent Chakra from leaking out. Such measures were useless against him, so he followed the traces of Chakra left behind by others, eventually finding himself in a tiny village housing around 1300 people, a large number of which gave off the aura of people possessing Kekkei Genkai.

Locking on to the most potent Chakra signature by a landslide, Wu found himself at the entrance of a barred window attached to a bath. There was a ward set up to prevent peeking, but he simply ignored it and slipped into the hazy bath, his eyes narrowing into an appraising gaze as he laid them on a tall, slender woman with fair skin, bright green eyes, auburn hair, and a shapely figure. However, while her other features were worthy of note, it was the brutal scar running across the woman’s abdomen and up the left side of her body that caught Wu’s attention…

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(A/N: It isn’t polite to peek at people, Wu…)