YOOOO! GUESS WHO'S NOT DEAD!

THAT'S RIGHT! ME BITCHES!

But honestly, I really am so sorry. It's been an INSANELY long time since I've updated, and for that I am sincerely sorry. I'm not trying to make excuses for myself, but it's been a pretty crazy year.

As I'm sure a few of you know, I'm a Pre-Med student, and it's actually a LOT more work than it sounds like. I've seriously been running around like a headless chicken and even on my summer break, I've been getting up at like 5 am so that I could get to hospitals to shadow doctors and help them with their research and volunteer…

Ahem. Sorry for that little rant. But yeah. I'll try to be better about my time management in the future XD

It needs to be said that a big scene in this chapter was influenced by Hook and Line by Tygermine. Thank you for the idea! *Kisses*

But enough of that, I'm sure you're excited to get to the chapter! But I've realized that it's been a while, so I decided to make a little shorthand/guide for you, if you choose to read it.

Of course, it's not necessary, but I you find yourself confused and don't want to flip back to the previous chapters, this might help you out a bit. Here goes!

CHARACTER GUIDE

KIYOIJUU CLAN

Noble Ten Members:

Incs Faction (Incapable of accessing Flames)

Hibari Seigi
Kyoya's paternal uncle. Leader of the Kiyoijuu Clan. Married to Song Ji-Min. Recruited the Sannin when they were 10 years old. Is Fon's nephew. Flame inactive.
Identifying animal: Wolf

Song Ji-Min
Kyoya's Aunt. Married to Seigi. Daughter of Head of Korean Underground Family, Bichgwa Eodum, whose cover is a K-Pop record company. Childhood friends with Li Fen. Tsunade operated on her when she was attacked by the Kowazumi gang. Flame inactive.
Identifying animal: Peacock

Hibari Masai
Kyoya's father and Seigi's younger brother. Superintendent General of the Japanese police force. Is generally very exasperated by his crazy wife. Is Fon's nephew. Flame inactive.
Identifying animal: Grizzly Bear

Tian Li Fen
Kyoya's mother. Married to Masai. Best friends with Ji-Min. The daughter of the leader of the Chinese Tiāntáng Yǔ Dìyù Group. Is a little crazy and is trying to start a cult for Kyoya. Gives Masai high blood pressure. Flame inactive.
Identifying animal: Swan

Aizawa Tsukihime
Head of the Sex Trade and Regulation branch of the Kiyoijuu. Is Nagata's lover. Took in Nagi after her accident. Flame inactive.
Identifying animal: Fox

Nagata Shunsuke
Head of the Drug Regulation department of the Kiyoijuu. Is Aizawa's lover. Good friends with Seigi and Masai. Flame inactive.
Identifying animal: Foxhound

Akiyama Jirou
The current member who has held his seat the longest. He gained his seat when Seigi and Masai's father was still the head. High ranking member of the Japanese Military. Was originally Miyamoto's superior officer. Tsunade conducted surgery on him when Nobunaga trued to amputate his legs off. Flame inactive.
Identifying animal: Killer Whale

Accs Faction (Capable of accessing Flames)

Takikabe Kotaro
The politician who Seigi hates, but is forced to deal with because he's one of the members who has had a seat since his father's time. Ordered the hit on Kyoya when he and the Sannin went to Dubai. An overall pain-in-the-ass. Flame active, type: Storm.
Identifying animal: Hornet

Nobunaga Yusei
The clan's head doctor before Tsunade was in the picture. A sadistic bastard and actually, only an okay-kind-of-doctor, even with his flames. Flame active, type: Sun
Identifying animal: Alligator

Miyamoto Toshiro
Another military man and was previously a subordinate of Akiyama. Very aggressive and appears to have something against Kyoya. Flame active, type: Lightning
Identifying animal: Boar

KOWAZUMI GANG

Sogoui Narashi
Head of the Kowazumi gang and a very successful, young politician. Has a considerable amount of influence and had systematically cut off support for the Kiyoijuu Clan. Flame active, type: Rain

Shizuku
The woman Jiraiya had run into in Dubai. Carried out the hit on Ji-Min, which led to her surgery with Tsunade. Was hired to take out Kyoya in Dubai but was unsuccessful. Flame active, type: Storm

Aaaand, that's it, guys! Sorry for the long Author's Note, now go on and enjoy the chapter! I hope you like it!

Seigi folded his hands in front of himself as he looked at the three prodigious children in front of him.

Jiraiya, the disrespectful little shit, was slouched back on the couch and sleepily scratched his head. "So, why'd you call us in so early, boss-man?"

Seigi mentally rolled his eyes. No matter how much Tsunade and Ji-Min tried to pound manners into him, he refused to use them. Well, as long as he knew how to act formally when the situation actually warranted it, it wasn't a total waste, he supposed.

"I've received some news that concerns you three."

Orochimaru, ever the polite, pleasant child, smiled neutrally at him. "Ho? Anything to worry about?"

"Actually… yes."

Though none of the trio moved a muscle, the air in the room grew sharp as he successfully snagged the attention of the genii in front of him.

"And?"

Seigi leaned back to regard them better, deceptively casual. "It seems as though we've hit a little snag in regard to your continued membership to the clan."

The three silently processed that fact. Finally, Tsunade, amber eyes neutral verbalized the unspoken question. "We are being dismissed from the clan?"

Seigi remained silent for a long, tense moment, feeling the pressure in the room increase steadily. "In a way."

Jiraiya scowled. "Why?"

Seigi hummed. "You three are inseparable. You wouldn't be willing to leave one another, correct?"

The three looked at each other. "Yes?"

"Then, as Tsuna-chan is going to have to leave the clan, you two are going to have to leave along with her."

Startled, Orochimaru and Jiraiya looked over to the stupefied blonde. "Me?"

Seigi nodded gravely. "Yes. You. You see, I just received some very concerning news from the information dealers in Italy. The last son of Timoteo of the Vongola has just been pronounced dead."

Jiraiya, who understood what this meant, went bone white. However, Tsunade and Orochimaru continued to stare expectantly at Seigi so he could elaborate what the new development had to do with the sole female Sannin.

"Timoteo only bore four children, and his first two sons have already died in the past. As for his fourth son, he was imprisoned for attempting to rebel against the current head, so that left only Massimo Vongola as heir. And yesterday, he was pronounced deceased."

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes. "Alright. So now the Vongola Famiglia is without an heir. What does that have to do with Tsunade?"

Jiraiya sighed heavily. "Everything, teme. Everything."

The other two turned to regard him. Tsunade frowned at him. "What do you mean?"

Jiraiya smiled sardonically. "Now that there are no more direct heirs, you're the only eligible person to take the position. You're the last of the Vongola Primo's blood, Hime."

Seigi tilted his head inquisitively. "I assumed that you knew that, Tsuna-chan. After all, this one does always call you princess." He gestured to Jiraiya.

Tsunade sourly smirked. "Well, he doesn't call me 'Hime' because of that, I can assure you."

Seigi looked curious, but decided that they had more important matters to discuss at the moment. "Normally, it isn't done, but because you three are so exceptional, I did extensive background checks on you. And while your father's involvement with Vongola wouldn't have prevented you from joining the clan, as your autonomy is your own, your eventual inheritance of one of the most powerful Famiglias in the world does introduce a conflict of interest. One that can't exactly be ignored, taking into account the good of the clan."

It didn't need to be verbalized: When the Vongola eventually came hunting for Tsunade, the Kiyoijuu would not be fighting to keep her. They simply don't have the money, resources or manpower to do such a thing. Preemptive action would be best for them, so the Sannin were being let go.

Tsunade was silent as she processed the new information. She knew that her father worked for Vongola, but the thought never crossed her mind that he may be an important, blood-related member.

She sat back and folded her arms across her chest. So this was the reason that Timoteo Vongola was so close to her father and took an interest in her. This explained a lot of things.

One thing was for certain. Her father was a piece of shit for springing this on her out of the blue. Everything was going swimmingly and then all of the heirs had to just go and croak.

Why. Why did she always receive an unwanted inheritance from her long dead ancestors? First it was that thrice-damned Hokage seat, and now it's the inheritance to this hot mess of a Famiglia. It just never seemed to end.

She turned to scowl at Jiraiya. "You. You knew about this."

Jiraiya chuckled sheepishly. "Eh he he he, well, you see, kinda… yes."

Orochimaru turned his own glare at him. "And you didn't think that it's be prudent to inform either of us?"

Jiraiya shrugged. "Well, you know, it was one of those last case kind-of-things. There was a low chance that Hime would be in the running for the position. When I first learned of it, there were still three sons that could have taken the seat. So I didn't really think that it was necessary, you know? But this really screws things up. I had so many plans. All gone. Down the drain. All the people I was going to meet! All the idiots I was going to take advantage of! All the women I was going to grope!"

He scowled and dramatically shook his fists at the ceiling. "CURSE YOU, IEMITSU! I BLAME THIS ON YOU! NOW ALL MY PLANS ARE RUINED, YOU HOBO-BASTARD!"

Seigi raised his eyebrows at him. "Why are you blaming him? I don't think it's his fault that the third son died."

All three looked at him with dead, soulless eyes. "It's his fault. It's always his fault." The animosity towards the man practically dripped off of them.

Seigi wisely backed off. That was one topic that he wasn't going to touch with a ten-foot pole. Clearly there were some unresolved issues there.

He cleared his throat. "Well, because you three are now such public figures in the clan, by law I have to bring this up with the other Noble Ten members."

He leaned forward conspiratorially. "Now, here's where I need a favor from you three. You see, because of your help in the last few years, our feud with the Kowazumi has greatly turned in our favor. Previously, even with Masai's support from the Police Force and Akiyama's influence in the military, the Kowazumi Group had systematically cut off our resources. And even with Ji-Min and Li Fen's help from their original families, we weren't able to replenish our supplies faster than we used them up because they had to be transported from overseas. And as you probably know, smuggling doesn't happen quickly or cheaply."

Seeing the three nod, Seigi continued. "Having you three has supported the clan greatly. Orochimaru's research on economical technology and weapons, Jiraiya's handling of the information trade and of course, Tsunade and her medicine."

He melancholically sighed, eyeing them with something resembling disappointment. "It will be a shame to let you three go, that is for certain."

The Sannin felt their hearts pang as well. It had been a productive three years and Seigi was a fair superior. He granted them autonomy as long as they were productive with their time and resources. They couldn't ask for much more freedom.

Seigi straightened and his expression hardened. "For a long time, the Kowazumi Group was stumped with how the clan was reviving itself, even after all of our resources had been systematically blocked. And while you three are very well known within the clan, information about you three getting out has been specially monitored." He scoffed. "Not that it stopped the Kowazumi Group from learning about you three, in the end. Damn traitorous Accs Faction. They would be willing to collude with our enemies and even stage a coup if it meant gaining more power for themselves. But regardless of the information leak, you three are just too well protected to be outright attacked."

Seigi eyed them. "It is a law that members of the Noble Ten cannot be questioned about their personal activities, if it does not relate to clan business. So, even though it is almost clear that Takikabe, Nobunaga and Miyamoto and the rest of the Accs faction are acting against us, we cannot question them without definite proof. Which we don't have," He grumbled acerbically. "And by the time we could get some, they could preemptively launch a Coup."

The Sannin grimaced. That was a big no-no. The casualty count and damage would be too high.

Seigi looked intently at them. "So. What I want you to do. Tonight, I'm going to call a meeting with the Noble Ten and inform them of the removal of you three from the clan. This will obviously be spectacular news to the Accs faction, and they will want to inform the Kowazumi Group as soon as possible to take advantage of the situation. It is likely that they would attack very soon because they would assume that the clan would be reeling without your support."

Seigi, the proud head of the noble Kiyoijuu clan, bowed his head to them.

"This is my request. Tonight, after the meeting, follow the traitors and infiltrate the hideout. So far, we have been unable to gain entry and acquire hard evidence that members of the Noble Ten have been colluding with the Kowazumi due to the fact that there are strong energy barriers surrounding their headquarters. However, with your imminent departure from the Clan, this is an opportunity that I cannot pass up. You three will officially be freed from the laws of the clan forbidding any encroachment on a Noble Ten member's privacy and thus, any responsibility from for breaking said laws. So please. Infiltrate the Kowazumi Gang so that we may finally have evidence to execute the traitors without causing a revolt within the clan."

The Sannin silently processed his request for a long moment. Then Jiraiya, in his typical informal way, lazily slumped in his seat. "What, is that it? I thought that you were going to ask us something hard."

Seigi looked up sharply to determine whether or not her was serious. Orochimaru's eyes gleamed in response. "Though I may not like admitting that the idiot is right-"

"Hey!"

"-what he says is true. Do not worry about whether or not we children should be sent out for this job. Come morning, the Kiyoijuu will be the sole ruler of the Land of the Rising Sun once more."

Tsunade looked at Seigi's dumbstruck expression and smirked. "You've been good to us the past few years. This is the least we could do for you before we take our leave."

Then, as one, the three stood and knelt in front of him in a salute, with their heads bowed and their right arm crossed across their chest to rest in front of their hearts.

Seigi slowly rose to his feet and steeled himself, pushing all images of the three children he had watched grow up for the past three years and stood before them as a general would stand before their soldiers.

"Thank you for your service." He bowed before them once more.

And the three vanished from his sight, leaving only a whirlwind of leaves in their place.

ANBU armor was pretty useful.

Sure, while it may look minimalistic and unpractical, it is specifically designed to give the shinobi wearing it maximum protection and maneuverability.

Which is why, the Sannin were feeling the absence of said armor quite acutely.

Instead of lightweight, sturdy armor, they had to make do with Kevlar vests.

Kiddie-sized Kevlar vests.

They had acquired them a while ago and had taken them over to Tsunade's house (which is what the Sannin do with everything they horde, Jiraiya's parents are blissfully ignorant of his business and he'd like to keep it that way, and Orochimaru doesn't really have anywhere else he lives. He's happy freeloading off of Tsunade. Nana doesn't seem to mind), where Nana happily dyed all of them black.

So now, wearing said kiddie-sized Kevlar vests and black tights (the boys had to borrow off of Tsunade, who was a little offended when they turned out to be looser on them than they were on her) and they were outside Seigi's house waiting for the Noble Ten to exit so that they could get started on their mission.

It didn't take long. Soon, people started exiting one by one. They watched Aizawa and Nagata leave, followed soon after by Akiyama, then Li Fen and Masai. Finally, their three targets walked out together, an air of excited smugness surrounding them.

Stealthily, the Sannin followed after the limo (really? A limo? Tacky, much?), and as the car continued to drive on, the scenery around them changed. From the mostly empty, secluded area that the Hibari Household was in, the car made its way into the louder, more populated area of downtown Tokyo.

The Sannin had to think quickly in order to keep up with the limo all while running through the shadows to make sure that they weren't spotted, neither by people nor security cameras.

Finally, after running for almost forty minutes, the car pulled to a stop in front of a bland, non-descript building. There were absolutely no special aspects on the building that could be used to identify it if one didn't know what they were looking for. It was a murky brownish-grey color, with dusty windows and its walls contained the remains of old posters.

All in all, it was completely unremarkable in every way and indistinguishable from any other building in the poorer part of Tokyo. An ironic antithesis to the Kiyoijuu HQ, which was Seigi and Ji-Min's beautiful, antique mansion.

Still, the Sannin could see the sense in having a base that's unobtrusive. In the Second Shinobi war, Konoha's base in the Rain Country was just a glorified pit that a skilled Earth-release user dug out for them.

They watched as Takikabe, Nobunaga and Miyamoto exited the car and surreptitiously looked around. Once their suspicions were assuaged, they entered the building.

In a blink, all three of the Sannin congregated together.

"So, what's the plan?" Jiraiya asked while still eyeing the building.

"First things first." Orochimaru reached a hand out, and suddenly, where there was once nothing, a shimmering, translucent barrier appeared.

The Snake Sannin smiled in satisfaction. "Of course. No wonder none of Seigi's spies have been able to infiltrate the Kowazumi. There's a chakra barrier protecting it. All of Seigi's men are chakra inactive. Even against an almost useless barrier like this, they wouldn't have been able to get past the Genjutsu that it casts."

Tsunade tilted her head at him. "Genjutsu?"

Orochimaru nodded. "When someone who isn't keyed into the barrier crosses it, a mild Genjutsu is cast over them, causing them to turn and walk away from the building. Clever, but weak."

Jiraiya looked at him. "This isn't a seal, that's for sure. Do you think you could take it down?"

Orochimaru smirked at him. "Of course, dobe."

With a series of strategic chakra pulses, timed in response to the barrier's reactions, Orochimaru disabled it. The Sannin watched as the barrier quietly dissolved in front of them.

He looked pointedly at Jiraiya. "Would you like to do the honors?"

The Toad Sage grinned in response. "Gladly."

With a quick handsign, he summoned a Shadow Clone, who collected the surveillance equipment and promptly slipped silently into the building.

With a nod, Tsunade took her phone out and called Seigi.

"Hibari speaking."

"It's Tsunade."

She heard a hum of acknowledgement from the other end. "Are you ready?"

She smiled. "You should be seeing it momentarily."

In front of a screen, all of the other members of the Noble Ten were assembled.

As they watched, the display flicked to life, showing a surprisingly clear view of Miyamoto, Nobunaga and Takikabe sitting at a table with a man who was undoubtedly Sogoui Narashi, the revered Politician and head of the Kowazumi Gang.

Sogoui smiled and stood, causing everyone else in the room to stand as well. He walked over to the three traitorous Noble Ten members and shook their hands amicably. He gestured to his subordinates nearby and three men stepped forward with black briefcases.

In the silent room, the Noble Ten members watched as the briefcases were opened, revealing stacks of Japanese Yen notes.

And finally, all of them watched the traitors seal their fates as they accepted the money while smiling in satisfaction.

Seigi lifted his phone back to his ears, his voice deceptively calm.

"The verdict has been passed. Execution."

He could practically feel Tsunade's smile on the other end of the line.

Jiraiya rubbed his hands together in excitement. "Wonderful! Now, if all you wonderful ladies and gentlemen would be so kind as to step on the paper that I gave Seigi, we can move onto the second phase."

There was a shuffling and rolling noise on the other end as the Transportation seal that was in Seigi's position was spread onto the ground.

"We're ready."

Jiraiya grinned as he unrolled his own seals on the ground. "Perfect. Now, brace yourselves."

With a pulse of chakra, a plume of smoke erupted from the seal and when it cleared away, it revealed the seven loyal Noble Ten members dressed for battle.

Seigi stepped forward, barely sparing them a glance. "Thank you. You have done well. You may return now."

However, Tsunade's next words stopped him short. "Return? You didn't think that we'd let you go in and have all the fun by yourselves, did you?"

The Hibari turned sharply to her. "This was not a part of the plan we discussed."

Tsunade folded her arms and looked up at him with a stern expression. "Maybe not. But we want in."

Seigi glared at her. "I forbid you-"

Jiraiya yawned and stuck a finger in his ear flippantly. "Yeeaah, about that, in case you forgot, we're not a part of the Clan anymore. So you can't really forbid us from doing anything."

Orochimaru's smug grin concluded their argument. "Which means that whether you like it or not, we are fighting with you."

After a tense silence, Ji-Min broke out into gales of laughter and hugged her stunned husband. "They've got you there, darling. You're not the boss of them anymore!"

Seigi finally relaxed and huffed in exasperation as he turned away. "Alright. You may fight. But be warned, we will be a part of our own battles, so do not expect one of us to come save you later." He addressed the resto of the Noble Ten members. "Remember, if encountered, Nobunaga, Miyamoto and Takikabe are to be executed on the spot. It doesn't matter who does it as long as it happens tonight. And do not be reluctant to kill any Kowazumi members to do so."

With that, he marched towards the building, everyone else following a few feet behind.

As Tsunade walked, she felt a deceptively light hand land of her shoulder and she looked up to see Li Fen's smiling face.

"Do take care, Tsunade-chan. Kyoya would be so very… displeased if something were to happen to you."

Even though she remained smiling, her aura suddenly turned black.

Masai face-palmed and muttered something about crazy women.

Tsunade grinned back at her. "Oh, you don't need to worry about me." She turned back to the building with a small smile on her face.

"I'll be perfectly fine."

Orochimaru had mixed opinions about his current situation.

He may have not been a part of an actual Hidden Village for a long while, but the mindset was still ingrained deeply within him: Protect the Village.

And while the clan wasn't exactly a village, per say, many of the sentiments could be carried over.

A coup, regardless of circumstance was unacceptable. So, with the orders of his superior, he was now once again expected to go into the center of the mess and sort things out.

Well, Seigi wasn't his Kage. More of a… meal-ticket. To a person like Orochimaru, once he had the taste of freedom, he wouldn't willingly shackle himself back into subservience so easily. The Kiyoijuu were a means to the end, nothing more, nothing less.

Seigi and his ilk were useful. They provided him with opportunities and resources that he would struggle to get elsewhere. He was grateful for that fact, at least. It was the main reason he was even endeavoring to grace this debacle of a situation with his presence.

He stopped abruptly when he finally felt two reasonably strong chakra signatures along with a weaker one, and the sight that greeted him made his eye tingle in anticipation.

Oh yes. He was looking forward to this immensely. Daily spars with his teammates were there to take the edge off his restlessness, but never once had he been allowed to let loose upon an opponent. He yearned for the day where he could use his new dojutsu in real battle.

And finally, after waiting for so long, the day had come.

With the eerie smirk that was his trademark, he approached them.

Conversationally, he asked, "You both are aware that the penalty of treason is death, correct?"

The faces of Takikabe and Nobunaga were an absolute picture of surprised rage as they leaped away from the bleeding and unconscious form of Akiyama.

They violently turned to him and fell into aggressive battle stances but a sneer creeped up in their lips when they realized who addressed them.

Nobunaga snarled and turned his head away. "Ah fuck, that scared me. For a second I thought that it was someone actually important."

Orochimaru's smile twitched.

Ahhhh, this again. If the Snake Sannin had to name one thing that irritated him about this new world, he would immediately declare that it was the lack of peons running away from him in fear. He was, after all, a horribly terrifying person.

But no. In this new body, he had a cherubic little face that people wouldn't take seriously for at least another Ten years. It irritated him to no end.

"Oh, you seem to be under the impression that I'm not a threat to you."

To his annoyance, they completely ignored him and continued discussing on how to salvage the situation.

"As a courtesy, I'll give you this moment to prepare yourselves."

Takikabe scoffed.

A fucking scoff.

That was the straw that broke the camel's back. The smile slipped of Orochimaru's face and the pleasant crescents that his eyes had been shaped in opened, revealing one deep blue and one blood red iris.

Orochimaru, the mighty Snake Sannin and Legendary Ninja, unleashed the restraint on his chakra and bloodlust.

Immediately the room darkened and the air became almost oppressive. The looming feeling of Death hung like a cloying, rotting smell in the air. The absolute feeling of doom and pressure pressed down upon them like God's will.

The two traitors fell to their knees.

But they didn't stay down for long. Activating their own Chakras, they stood up against the overwhelming gravity of his Chakra and turned to face him.

They weren't scoffing at him anymore, no. Their faces now held looks of wariness and instinctual fear.

Casually, Orochimaru stepped forward and smiled when the two went rigid at his increased proximity. He effortlessly lifted Akiyama's form and placed it outside the room before he turned back to his stationary opponents.

Takikabe, with sweat beading his forehead, choked out, "How is it possible? How are your Flames so strong, even though you're so young?"

Orochimaru gave a coy look to him. "Hmmmm, a secret wouldn't be a secret if I go around telling people, would it?"

"Why?"

Nobunaga, though he was trembling under the pressure of Orochimaru's Chakra, looked absolutely murderous. "Why would you be with those weak Incs when you can use Flames? Why stick to that coward Seigi when you should be with us? Why?! Those people can't use Flames, and yet here you are, a Flame user, attaching yourself to insects like them! Have you no shame?!"

Orochimaru tilted his head to examine him, much in the way a raptor would examine a particularly interesting specimen he was about to devour. "I have no loyalty to Seigi. I simply use his resources and in return offer my services."

At those words, Takikabe leaned forward with an eager expression on his face, acting as if he had forgotten all about his previous wariness and fear. "You don't have any loyalty to him?"

"Correct."

Takikabe smiled his conniving, slimy smile. "In that case, why are we in this situation at all? If you have no loyalty to Seigi, then you shouldn't have any problem with the coup as long as you receive your resources, correct?"

Orochimaru knew where the bastard was going with this. "Yes."

A look of victory flashed over his face. "Then I'll do you one better. Seigi and his faction are weak. His father would be absolutely horrified if he were alive to see what he'd been doing to the Clan. But us? No, no no no, we're going to make it great again. Under our rule, the Kiyoijuu will flourish. In time, we'll eliminate all of our enemies, including the Kowazumi gang. They're weak as well. They're just a tool for us to get control of the Clan.

"But you. Oh, you're a gem hidden within all these faded pebbles. If it's resources you want, stick with me and I'll give you all the resources and money you need. The Kiyoijuu will be great again, and you'll be a part of it."

Orochimaru stared at him, thinking about his offer, then answered him.

"No."

Nobunaga squinted at him as if he didn't understand. "What?"

Orochimaru gave a long-suffering sigh. "According to my understanding, the Accs faction believes in their total superiority because they are able to use chakra-no, I apologize, 'Flames'. However, that doesn't interest me in the slightest. So what if you can use 'Flames'? Are Flames the true power in the world? No. Not unless you want to risk the Vindice hunting you."

At the mention of the shadowy enforcers, Takikabe and Nobunaga went pale. However, Orochimaru continued on.

"So what is the true power in the world? Money? No, that only takes you as far as the next person's greed. Fame and influence? No, it's too fickle, the sheeple will turn on you at the drop of a hat. The true power… is technology."

The two Noble Ten members looked dumbstruck. Orochimaru smirked at them. "Allow me to explain. The entire world today runs on technology. From phones and computers to firearms and explosives. Technology is everywhere. In this age, it is the currency of trade. Control the technology and, well, I'm sure you see where I'm going with this."

Takikabe woodenly smiled. "So you're saying that technology is even greater than Flames?"

Orochimaru looked introspective. "Well, I suppose that 'Flames' do have their pros. No, what I'm saying is that in your hands, the art of 'Flames' is rather… primitive."

Nobunaga ground his teeth, his usually sharp black eyes flashing a sickly yellow. "I beg your pardon?"

Orochimaru began to circulate his own chakra in response to feeling the other man activate his. "I suppose that you want me to spell it out for you," He responded mockingly in regard to their previous exchange. "There's a metaphor that I think relates to this quite nicely. Something about using a hammer to do a scalpel's work?"

Takikabe's hands began to glow a deep, rusty red. Orochimaru smiled. "No class, no control, no finesse. Only dumb, brute force."

The furious look on Takikabe's face and the maniac look on Nobunaga's were sure to be remembered for a long time.

Orochimaru resumed his pacing. "You see, you do make a very convincing offer. However, you've overlooked several variables."

He circled around the two frozen adults, akin to a predator stalking its prey.

"First of all, you assume that because I'm not loyal to Seigi, I'm loyal to the Clan. After all, why would I be here if resources were all that were keeping me here? There are many other places to look."

He looked them directly in the eyes. "Honestly, the Clan could rot for all I care."

The two tensed up at his blasphemous words, regardless of whether they hated its current leadership or not, the two deeply loved the Kiyoijuu, Orochimaru noted.

"Second, you assume that because of my age, a menial thing like being a part of a famous Clan is enough to sway me in your favor. Incorrect. Name and prestige means nothing to me."

He resumed his pacing, noting with great amusement that their hackles had been raised to an even higher degree than they were previously.

"Third, you assume that because I can use these 'Flames', as you call them, I owe you my allegiance. You are dreadfully mistaken." He bared his teeth at them. "I answer to no one but myself."

He came to a stop in front of them, posture deceptively relaxed, if not for the knowing glint in his eyes.

"And fourth, you assume that just because I'm not particularly fond of Seigi, I'll allow you to escape from me alive." A predatory, bloodthirsty grin split his lips. "Unfortunately, you're mistaken about that as well."

He lunged towards them at breakneck speeds, but being the combat veterans they were, they leaped back in time to avoid his attack.

Nobunaga's Chakra, so like Jiraiya's but yet so different, collected in his hands as the man rushed forward to engage him in Taijutsu.

A maniac grin crept onto the Snake Sannin's face and his eye rotated to the kanji for the number '4'.

Orochimaru easily kept up to his quick strikes, his smaller and more nimble build allowing him to slip several hits under Nobunaga's defense. The rally between then was fierce and unyielding with no time to think, only react.

However, with his young body, even with the Chakra reinforcement, the strikes weren't nearly powerful enough to cause him serious damage.

Nobunaga swung a sharp hook at the boy, which he skillfully dodged, and received a kick to his sternum in return, causing him to double over with a wheeze. Before the larger man could recover, Orochimaru gripped him by the neck and slammed his knee into his midsection, strategically aiming for his kidneys.

With a choked sound, Nobunaga stumbled back, but before Orochimaru could take advantage of the man's vulnerability, his battle-honed instincts instructed him to dodge, so he released the man's neck and leaped into the air.

A blade glowing with aggressive red Chakra swung under his feet in the region his neck had been just a moment before.

The Snake Sannin gracefully dropped into a crouch and sprung away from his second attacker. Helping Nobunaga back up into an upright position was Takikabe, a gleaming sword dancing with red flames in his hands.

The old man scowled furiously at Orochimaru and ran at him with his sword brandished.

Orochimaru pulled out one of the custom kunai he had ordered and blocked the blow. However, to his curiosity, the red Chakra on Takikabe's sword ate away at the metal steadily, allowing the sword to cut through the kunai and come closer to his face.

Takikabe grinned cruelly. "It doesn't matter how much Flames you have. In the end, Flame types always determine the winner, and Mist Flames can never trump Storm Flames! Anything you make I can deconstruct! It's over!"

Orochimaru's eyes narrowed and he released his grip on the kunai. As Takikabe regained his balance from the difference in force opposing him, he looked to Nobunaga, who had once again come at him with a brutal punch. Easily dodging the hulking man, he watched as the two regained their bearings and fell into a tight, defensive formation.

Nobunaga's cruel grin matched Takikabe. "You may have more Flames than us, brat, but against an experienced Sun and Storm, a baby Mist like you has no chance! Even if you beg for mercy, I won't spare you. I've been itching to kill your little healer girlfriend ever since she interrupted my surgery of ol' man Akiyama, and although you're not her, your death would break her enough to satisfy me!"

Orochimaru condescendingly sneered at them. "For self-proclaimed 'Flame' experts, you both are under quite a lot of delusions. While it's true that some Chakra natures have advantages over others, it doesn't mean that the outcome of the battle rests entirely on one's Chakra nature itself! That is, quite frankly, utter stupidity."

Takikabe had a perplexed look. "It doesn't matter what you call them, boy, against an experienced Storm, a Mist stands no chance. All of your constructions will be disintegrated by me before we can be fooled by your illusions!"

Orochimaru laughed. "Is that what you assume? That my abilities only extend towards Taijutsu and Genjutsu? Fool!" He spat at them. "I am the great Orochimaru! One of the Legendary Sannin, master of all Ninjutsu known to mankind! An inconsequential thing like Chakra Natures won't allow you to beat me!"

Orochimaru's red eye spun and stopped on the kanji for 'one'. His hands resting in a single handseal, he channeled his Chakra and declared, "Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu!"

Blazing fireballs flew towards his opponents, but to Orochimaru's dismay, they two didn't move out of the way. They defiantly stood before the onslaught with their Chakra flickering from their hands with confident grins on their faces.

Takikabe roared, "Idiot! I told you, Mist illusions don't work against Storms!" He reached out to grab a fireball with his red Chakra flickering from his hands.

Orochimaru watched with great satisfaction as the arrogant look on the slimy politician's face turned to horror when his Chakra didn't protect his hand from getting severely burned by his fireball. He shrieked in pain and fell to his knees, clutching the raw, cooked skin of his hand.

Nobunaga's eyes were wide and terrified as he gripped Takikabe's form and attempted to dodge the rest of the volley of fireballs. "But how?!"

Takikabe, voice raw from screaming, croaked, "Impossible! Mist Constructions can't be real! Impossible!"

Orochimaru smiled nastily. "Is it? Is it really impossible?"

With another handsign, he murmured, "Doton: Doryuheki."

As the two desperately tried to escape, the wooden floors around them cracked and hulking stone walls rose around them on all sides, trapping them in a bowl-like structure.

Orochimaru, wasting no time, leapt onto one of the walls and peered down at them.

Nobunaga took a look at Takikabe's pained form and released him onto the floor. The politician slumped into the dirt with a groan.

The doctor pumped his legs full of his bright golden Chakra and Orochimaru watched in fascination as the muscles bulged with the onslaught of energy.

With a great running leap, Nobunaga jumped onto a wall next to the Snake Sannin. "Fight me, you brat."

Orochimaru raised his eyebrows in amusement. "Aren't you a doctor? You aren't going to heal your comrade?"

Nobunaga look at him as if he was crazy. "Of course not! Although I am a doctor, I am a hitman first and foremost! I'm not going to waste time healing someone when I could have taken out the target!"

Ahhhh. Orochimaru's opinion of him fell down from low to nonexistent. So he wasn't actually a doctor. He was just a person who knew how to heal. A real Medic would heal their comrades, regardless of their mission's outcome. Every Medic he knew followed that principle, from Tsunade and Shizune to Karin (well, to the extent of a Medic she was…) to even that traitorous Kabuto. That was the code of a Medic.

Well. It was no skin off his back, whatever this traitorous non-doctor believed in. He was going to be dead in a few minutes, anyway.

Nobunaga rushed at him aggressively, but with the uneven surface of Orochimaru's constructed walls as the platform, all it took was a well-timed sweep of his feet for the Sannin to send the man tumbling back down to the floor.

Nobunaga groaned and pulled himself back to his feet, glaring up at Orochimaru.

The Sannin smirked. It was over now.

"Suiton: Taihoudan."

Gushing out in a furious stream from his mouth, water began to rapidly fill the area between the walls that Orochimaru had strategically erected.

Takikabe heavily rose to his feet in an attempt to escape the rising water level, but with his sensed dulled by pain, he stumbled into Nobunaga and brought them both to the ground in a pile of curses.

It only took a handful of seconds for the water technique to fill the valley completely and the two were left trying to clumsily paddle their way to the edge to pull themselves out.

Before they could reach the edge, Orochimaru called out to them. "Even though it doesn't make much of a difference at this point, I'm curious to know if your opinion has changed."

The two spluttered in the water, but Orochimaru took that as an acceptable response. "I'm sure that you will agree with me now when I say that Chakra Natures, in a battle, are little more than inconsequential."

He brought his hand up into one last handsign. "A last demonstration to drive my point home."

"Raiton: Jibashi."

A white-hot, crackling pillar of electricity materialized in Orochimaru's hands and connected with the surface of the water.

The two traitorous Noble Ten members only had time for their eyes to widen in horrified realization before their muscles clenched up with the onslaught of electricity.

The synapses of their nerves fried under the strain and kick started their bodies to go into a seizure. Without the control of their muscles, they slowly sank under the surface of the water, twitching and seizing for a minute longer before they finally succumbed to asphyxiation.

Orochimaru watched impassively as their lifeless bodies swayed silently in the water, their expressions still frozen with rage and pain.

With a pulse of chakra the walls fell and the water that was held within them gushed out, the bodies of the two Noble Ten members flowing along with it.

With a final look at them, Orochimaru turned and left.

As he walked to find his next battle, Orochimaru analyzed his previous fight.

As expected, his opponents severely underestimated him and he was able to dispatch them easily, even if they were supposed to have been unusually powerful.

Perhaps the standards of strength were just too different in the two worlds? It was likely, after all. He doubted that there were any people in this world who could perform a Jutsu to call a meteorite down from space to crash into the Earth's surface.

Although that was probably a bad example. If he had to describe Madara with one word, it would be overkill.

However, it didn't change the fact that people's attitudes about Chakra were very different to the Elemental Nation's. There, a Chakra Nature was something that was simply a tool to find which elemental manipulation came easiest to a person. But here, it seemed that it was the be-all, end-all of a battle.

While it was true that some Chakra Natures had an advantage over others in a battle of Ninjutsu, it was nothing close to the extent that the people in this world were emphasizing it as.

As Orochimaru walked over and collected Akiyama's unconscious form, his train of thought drifted over to Takikabe's offer.

Truthfully, it wasn't a bad offer. All he had to do was sit back and let things run their course, and he would reap the benefits. A coup would severely weaken the Incs faction within the Clan, and with the support of the Kowazumi the power was sure to shift.

So why did he reject it?

All of the reasons he gave them were indeed true, but Orochimaru had other reasons for staying his hand.

Defecting to the Kowazumi meant leaving Jiraiya and Tsunade, and he had to admit, without them, this world would be a boring place indeed.

Jiraiya zoomed down the hallway, keeping his senses open to any movements around him. There were mooks running around screaming, but there wasn't really anything that required his immediate attention.

Suddenly, a handful of loud, powerful chakra-signatures thrummed next to some more familiar ones.

He skidded to a stop, turned, and rushed over to them.

There, in what had recently been a beautiful dining room, were the bloody forms of Tsukihime and Shunsuke. Both had their teeth bared and were fighting furiously, but it was clear that they were almost kneeled over in exhaustion and could not go much further. And for good reason: judging by the number of still bodies around them, they must have waded through dozens of enemies.

Even battered and bloody, Tsukihime looked like one of the elegant, graceful Kunoichi that Jiraiya had written about so many times in his Icha Icha series: both beautiful and deadly. She danced around, her feet gliding across the floor as she slashed enemies left and right with deceptively-delicate looking foldable fans, the sharp metal edges stained with blood.

And as if he only existed to be her contradiction, Shunsuke was all hard, sharp movements and brutal strikes. With nothing but a pair of brass knuckles on, he smashed his way through the crowd, back to back with Tsukihime as he protected her six while they both fought.

However, they were both visibly slowing down and when Shunsuke slipped in a puddle of blood and dropped to one knee, leaving himself defenseless in the face of the encroaching mob, Jiraiya swooped into action.

With a twist of his foot he shunshin-ed in front of Shunsuke, promptly stopping a blade that was aimed at Shunsuke's neck. He roughly pushed the assailant back and before anybody could react, he slapped his hand to the floor.

"Fūin!"

Spidery black symbols shot out from under Jiraiya's hand and wrapped around the perimeter of the battered forms of his two clan members. When the lines connected, the air pulsed once, twice, thrice with Chakra and a shimmering, transparent barrier erected around them.

The battle halted for a second as everyone stared in shock at the new development.

Regaining her senses quickly, Tsukihime panted out, "Jiraiya-bo? What- what is this?"

The white-haired Sannin smiled charmingly at her. "A barrier. It's going to be up a while, so leave the rest to me, alright? I'll take care of everything here."

Shunsuke snorted. "Be careful, boya, these guys aren't easy. They're-"

"I know. Don't worry. I got it covered."

And with that, he confidently turned to the waiting mob. An ugly, scarred man that looked vaguely familiar stepped forward, sneering. "A kid? Normally I'd ask what the hell you could do against us, but we got information about Seigi's 3 brats. One with white hair, one with navy, and a small blonde one. It's a random shot in the dark, but you don't happen to be one of them, do you?" "He grinned an ugly grin that made Jiraiya grimace a little.

Suddenly, it hit him. Jiraiya pointed a surprised finger at him. "Ahh! You're the ugly dude that was with that bombshell in the red kimono in Dubai! It's hard to forget an ugly mug like that!"

The man flushed a little in irritation as a titter ran through the crowd.

Jiraiya withheld a grin. Say what you want about him, but there was no denying that he knew how to work a crowd, even if they were full of his enemies.

"Shitty brat! I'm not ugly! I'm manly, get it right! And Dubai…" He peered with sharp eyes which widened with realization. "You're the shitty brat who hugged Shizuku-madam! So it appears that you were a Yakuza brat, after all. And of all things, Kiyoijuu scum! Should have killed you when we had the chance."

Jiraiya smiled at him, razor-edged and vicious. "Of course, of course. If you were capable of it in the first place."

A rumble of offence rose up from the crowd, incensed at his cocky words.

Before anyone could snap and attack, a sultry, feminine voice spoke up from the doorway.

"Daiki, are you finished yet? I swear, Sogoui-sama hires more useless people every year."

And there stood the aforementioned Shizuku-madam. Her hair and makeup was as impeccable as it had been when Jiraiya last saw her at the Dubai convention, but the sight of her rumpled clothes caused him to smile in satisfaction.

She examined her bloody nails, then wiped them on the edge of her clothes. "Hurry this up, I swear that I saw Ji-Min here around here somewhere. I wanna finish off that bitch for once and for all."

Jiraiya chuckled heartily. "Hahaha, that's funny. Because Ji-Min would skin you and feed you to the pigs without even chipping her nails."

The beautiful woman's gaze narrowed and fell to him.

"And you are…?"

Jiraiya bowed with a dramatic flourish. "My name is Jiraiya, my fair lady. I'm just your average child prodigy, legendary shinobi and Toad Sage, at your service."

Her eyebrows rose in amused condescension. "Oh? So you're one of the three brats that Miyamoto, Nobunaga and Takikabe told us about. They warned us about you three, but they told us that you weren't anything special other than Seigi claiming you as his own."

Jiraiya's smile remained friendly and pleasant. "Of course, useless information brokers like that could only tell you shitty information."

Finally, a reaction. Beautiful Shizuku's eyebrow twitched in irritation. "Oh? And you think you know better about selling information than them?"

"Ahhh, did I forget to mention? I'm a master spy as well. Sorry about that. I have too many qualifications to list off the top of my head."

Another twitch. Good. He was getting under her skin.

She scoffed dismissively and turned away from him and towards the two Noble Ten members inside the barrier Jiraiya erected.

"Whatever. I don't have time for delusional brats like you. Daiki," She turned to Ugly, who snapped to attention at the sign of her address of him, "Hurry it up. We need to find Sogoui-sama and regroup as fast as we can."

She hefted a gun and aimed at Tsukihime. "Well, it looks like my patience has run out. Say goodbye to your lover, Aizawa."

Shunsuke tensed and prepared to throw himself in front of Tsukihime, but before he could do so, the shot rang out and a bullet flew right at the courtesan.

But instead of hitting her, the bullet violently ricocheted against the barrier, which pulsed with violently gold colors.

Another man dropped to his knees with a screech of pain, holding his middle where the redirected bullet had pierced him.

Shizuku looked astounded at the turn of events, then she shot again, then again, until the click of the empty cartridge rang out. She growled and threw her gun to the ground in frustration.

"Oh, I forgot to mention again, I'm a Seal Master. Sorry about that." Jiraiya rubbed his head sheepishly. "You won't be able to get to those two until I allow it."

Daiki snarled and stepped forward. "Then take it down!"

Jiraiya stared at him. "No."

"What? Why not?!"

Jiraiya looked at him in pity. "My good man, I hoped that with your unfortunate looks, you would at least have a semblance of intelligence, but it appears that I was gravely mistaken. It's such a pity. Not everybody can be as beautiful and as smart as me." He shook his head at the tragic loss.

From behind, Jiraiya heard a snort. "This kid is great, Tsukki. We should get one too."

He heard a resigned sigh. "Shut up, Shun-chan. Now's not the time."

Daiki glared daggers at him while Shizuku was stunned into incredulous silence. The hefty man held up a beefy arm as he strode forward with violent purpose.

"Let me handle the shitty brat, Madam. If I take him out, the flames should die out and they should be released."

Without waiting for a response, he lifted his broadsword and pointed it in between Jiraiya's eyes. "Draw your weapon!"

Jiraiya frowned. "What?"

"Are you deaf, brat? Draw your weapon! I'm going to fight you and kill you!"

Jiraiya stared at him. "I don't have a weapon. I don't use one."

Daiki waved his sword in the air in frustration. "Just draw your weapon, dammit! We can't begin fighting if you don't fucking draw your weapon!"

Jiraiya's eyebrows drew together in a frown. "Fuck you. I don't need a weapon to beat your idiot ass. Deal with it."

And at the moment, his eyes strayed towards Beautiful Shizuku's form (a very normal occurrence, as he couldn't stop himself from looking at beautiful women for too long) and he saw that a vein was bulging dangerously in her forehead.

Oh. Well, that didn't look particularly healthy.

And inevitably, the thick thug followed his gaze to the woman he was so desperate to impress and puffed up in self-righteous anger.

"Just do it already! I won't get any pleasure from killing a little boy. At least if you come at me with a blade I can justify it to myself when I look back fondly of crushing you."

Jiraiya stared blankly at him. "So, what, you want me to come at you with a weapon so that you won't feel guilty of beating an unarmed kid?"

Daiki tutted. "No, boya, you got that wrong. I want you to come at me with a weapon so that I won't feel bad that I killed an unarmed kid."

Ooooh, no he didn't. This fucker was going down. "Alright, fine. You want a weapon? I'll give you a weapon!"

In one smooth motion, Jiraiya unbuttoned his pants and pulled his zipper down.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

"I'll have you know that my cock is a very virile weapon and should be approached with extreme caution!"

There was a pin-drop silence in the room before Shunsuke bellowed out gales of laughter. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA TSUKKI, LOOK AT HIM! THIS IS PRICELESS! HAHAHAHAHA! WAIT TILL I TELL SEIGI!"

Even the ever-composed Tsukihime couldn't contain her raucous giggles. "Oh my god, Jiraiya-bo, you shameless boy!"

Jiraiya gravely folded his arms across his chest and cocked his hips. "Do you tremble at the sight of the monstrosity in front of you? It has made many a woman scream, so it's alright to be afraid."

Shizuku's mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out.

Daiki's face was twisted into a look of sheer incomprehension. "What- what the hell would you know about women, brat?! You're like, ten!"

Jiraiya sniffed condescendingly, "I'm thirteen. Which means that I have reached the age of consent in Japan! WOMEN!" He threw his arms out and shouted to the heavens. "TAKE ME AND MAKE ME YOURS! MY BODY IS READY!"

As extra emphasis, he swayed his hips enticingly.

Shunsuke and Tsukihime were wheezing uncontrollably.

Finally, Beautiful Shizuku snapped out of her insensate, staring state and snapped at him. "What the hell do you think you're doing, you shameless brat?!"

Jiraiya looked coolly at her. Perfect. She'd finally snapped. His mission of making the well put-together woman come apart at the seams had been accomplished. He took another moment of admiring her crazed eyes and pulsing veins before giving his answer.

"That's easy. I'm showing you my glorious weapon so it'll be the last thing you see in your miserable lives."

And without further ado, he held out a hand and his chakra churned, coming to the surface in a roiling, volatile sphere. There, in a blinding gold color, was the Rasengan rotating in his palm, looking akin to a miniature sun.

Jiraiya smiled, a mean little thing. "So long, suckers."

He flooded his legs with chakra, and immediately he felt the familiar heady feeling of the shunshin-no-jutsu.

Everything appeared to be in slow motion as he flickered from person to person, Rasengan whirling and drilling at anything that dared to stand in its way.

Five, then ten, then almost all of the members fell before the might of Minato's prized technique. So single minded in his focus, Jiraiya didn't even react to the agonized and fearful screams and the splattering blood and flesh of his defenseless victims.

He took particular pleasure in smashing his Rasengan in Daiki's ugly mug. What a dumbass.

As always, he saved the best for last, and came to a stop before a frozen Beautiful Shizuku. He smiled at her.

Her previously vicious and confident eyes were now filled with a blank incomprehension.

"Just… what are you…?"

Jiraiya bowed. "Like I said, master shinobi, seal master, and epic lover of women. Pleased to be of service, madam."

When he looked back up, the same mischievous smirk remained painted across his lips, but the good-humored glint no longer remained in his eyes.

"I'm afraid that playtime's over, my pretty. I assure you that I'm usually a man who likes to take his time, but in this case I'm gonna need you to explode for me, m'kay?"

Shizuku shook herself out of her stupor and sneered cruelly down at him. "Give me your worst, little boy! Don't think you can beat a Flame user that easily!" With a growl, she activated her own chakra, although it was admittedly weak in comparison to Jiraiya's own, and soon a thin layer of red chakra shrouded her form.

Jiraiya simply smiled. "Oh, I plan to."

As one, the two rushed in to viciously collide in a rapid Taijutsu exchange. Jiraiya was mildly impressed that she could even keep up with his speed, but then again, in his current body his maximum speed was high-genin/low-chuunin level at most. But it was worth noting when most couldn't even hope to follow him with their eyes.

The woman's attacks grew more and more erratic when she realized that Jiraiya was able to match her blow for blow. She tried channeling more chakra to her hands, but that proved ineffective as well when Jiraiya covered his forearms and legs with a layer of his own chakra.

Absently, the Toad Sage noted that her chakra seemed mildly corrosive. It ate away wherever it touched his own chakra, but he didn't pay it any mind because he was able to replenish his own chakra much quicker than she could get through it.

Besides, the corrosive properties had nothing on the Kyuubi's chakra. Even thinking about fighting and subduing Naruto in that form made him tremble. This, this couldn't even be compared to that.

Finally, it became clear that Shizuku had decided that brute force over skill was needed in this situation when she put space between them and sent a wave of rusty-red chakra at him.

"Die!"

Jiraiya didn't even bat an eyelash as he bunched his muscles and took a chakra-fueled leap over the licking flames.

Shizuku was completely unprepared when Jiraiya landed behind her and wrapped his hands around her head. He leaned in close to her ear. "Fatal mistake, my darling."

With a quick jerk of his arms, her lifeless form slumped over in his hands.

Well, that was over with.

Jiraiya rose and stretched, then he bent down buttoned his pants back up. He turned to the barrier he erected, behind which Tsukihime and Shunsuke watched him speechlessly, eyes darting to the carnage before returning back to his face.

The toad sage channeled his chakra and slammed his hand to the ground once more and the barrier receded.

He smirked roguishly at Tsukihime. "See, my beauty? I told you I'd take care of it. And all while my dick was hanging out. You may now sing my praises."

Tsukihime giggled incredulously, then eyed him appraisingly. "A little brutal, don't you think?"

Jiraiya smiled, but it was a small bitter thing. Memories other shinobi who had met the same fate, soldiers who were much more capable and deadly than the Kowazumi Gang members flashed through his mind. He shook his head to clear it. "What do you mean, gorgeous?"

Shunsuke drawled, "Oi, oi, stop flirting with my woman, exhibitionist boya. That seemed a little intense, even for you."

Jiraiya shrugged. "Well, she had a grudge against Milady Ji-Min. Did you know," he said conversationally, "She was the one who sniped her a few years ago when she was coming back from that art exhibition. You know, the time when Hime had to operate on her before we got inducted. That was her." He looked back at them. "I gotta protect Milady Ji-Min, she's like the Hokage's wife."

"Hokage?"

Jiraiya waved his arm dismissively. "A reference between me and the other two. You won't understand. But yeah, she's someone of rank who needs to be protected."

The hard glint in his eyes melted away and he wriggled his hips in pleasure. "And Milady Ji-Min is my ticket into meeting all the K-Pop girl groups! Kyaaaan, I can't wait!~"

The two Noble Ten members wisely chose to ignore that last bit.

He waited for them to rise to their feet and once they did, turned to the door. But before he could leave, he heard Shunsuke's deep rumble call out to him. "Hey boya."

Jiraiya turned. "Yes?"

"Was what you said all true? All of those qualifications you gave yourself?"

"Sure is."

Shunsuke deadpanned. "Seriously? Then why would you go telling your enemies that? Couldn't they use it against you?"

Jiraiya smirked. "In the wise words of Captain Jack Sparrow, 'Unless, of course, I knew they wouldn't believe the truth, even if I told it to them.' Ahhh, good man, Jack. He knew his stuff. Would've made a fine shinobi."

The duo just stared at him.

He turned around and headed to the door. "Well, come on. We can't stay here too long. We got shit to do, people to kill, and time waits for no one!"

And with that last parting quip, Jiraiya disappeared down the hallway, looking for more people he could fuck up.

"So. We finally meet face to face."

Tsunade stood a few feet back and watched the cool way that Seigi and the man who had to have been Sogoui Narashi regard each other.

Looking at Sogoui, Tsunade wouldn't think that he would be the kind of person to be the head of a criminal group. He had a mildly handsome face with well-proportioned features, which was molded in a pleasant expression. His clothes, while fashionable and in good condition, were more to the simple side. He was also around an average height for a Japanese male, coming up to only around 5'7".

All in all, he looked completely unremarkable next to Seigi, who, with his outrageously good looks, expensive tailored clothing and looming height, outclassed him in the appearance department at every corner.

Sogoui smiled neutrally. "Oh, come now Hibari, I have to say that I expected much better from you."

Seigi's already default brooding expression deepened. "What?"

Sogoui clasped his hands behind his back and paced for a few steps. "Getting through my Mist barrier. Impressive. But staging an attack on my headquarters with only seven people and three children? Foolish. Very, very foolish."

He sighed dramatically and came to a stop in front of Seigi once more. "But then again, it would be foolish of me to hold everyone up to my own ridiculous standards."

He looked up at Seigi, who was almost a good half-foot taller than him, but somehow gave the impression that he was looking down on the Kiyoijuu head.

"Did you honestly think that you would be able to win against all of us? All of my gang, and on our home turf, too?"

Seigi sniffed dismissively. "Of course not. But you have completely misread us. Our objective isn't to kill all the members of your group. We came here to execute the traitors." He practically spat out the last word. "And if I so happened to finally come face to face with you after almost four years of dancing around each other, then you can't blame me for taking advantage of an opportunity."

Sogoui chuckled lowly. "Oh, Hibari, Hibari Hibari. You know," he said conversationally, "I've always regarded you as some sort of untouchable rival. After all, with your resume, I would be foolish not to."

He stepped away and started to count off on his fingers. "Brother to the Superintendent General of police. Married to the daughter of the patriarch of the Bichgwa Eodum Family and also the brother-in-law to the child of the leader of the Tiāntáng Yǔ Dìyù Group. And, most interesting of all," His eyes flashed in ironic mirth, "you are the nephew to an Arcobaleno. I must say, it was quite the surprise when I found out."

Sogoui turned back to Seigi and tilted his head in an almost mocking, curious way. "Forgive me, but I have to ask: how is it that you and your brother, direct blood-family to Eye-of-the-Storm Fon, are Flame inactive?"

Tsunade tilted her head in interest. While she didn't believe that being chakra-active was a necessity to being a good soldier, it was true that it didn't hurt. She was interested to hear the answer as well.

Seigi sneered down at Sogoui. "If you understand the Arcobaleno at all, you would know that what defines them is not their Flames, no, but the fact that they are the absolute best in their chosen fields. And Fon is, first and foremost, a martial artist, regardless of his flames." He raised his head in familial pride.

"Whether or not he was Flame-active would have been inconsequential for him to hold the title. In fact," He looked at Sogoui in contempt, "He has cursed the fact that he has Flames on numerous occasions, as it was because of them that he was cursed into such a form."

Seigi crossed his arms and glared. "Me and my brother don't need to be able to use Flames to be able to fight. We're strong even without them."

Sogoui looked at him in genuine surprise. "Interesting."

Tsunade was fascinated as well. That was an admirable mindset to have. They didn't let the fact that they haven't activated their chakra hinder them in any way. In fact, if she understood correctly, they capitalized on that fact. Impressive.

Sogoui's eyebrows furrowed as he looked at Seigi. "I have to admit that I didn't expect you to be proud of the fact that you can't access Flames. That seems a little counterintuitive to me."

Seigi sniffed. "It's not something to be proud of. Flames are a tool, noting more, nothing less."

Sogoui's eyes lit up. "Oh? Is that so? Then explain why you have claimed three young, exceptional Flame-active children, Hibari."

Finally, Sogoui turned to look at Tsunade, who straightened under his gaze.

Seigi scoffed. "It's not because of their Flames."

Sogoui smiled patronizingly, his gaze never leaving Tsunade. "Really? They why exactly? I've been observing your behavioral patterns for years and recruiting kids isn't really your style, Hibari. For all your ruthlessness and brutality, you have a clear soft spot for children. It took me by surprise years ago when I heard about it."

Just then, Tsunade understood why this man was such a feared politician. He may not look all that remarkable, but his mind was a steel trap and he had a silver tongue to accompany it. Looking back, she realized that Sogoui had been directing the conversation to his pacing. It was so subtle that Tsunade didn't even notice.

Suddenly, a clear, mocking voice rang out from behind Sogoui.

"You know, I've been wondering the same thing for the longest fucking time. Making little kiddies do your dirty work for you? I always thought that you were to self-righteous and noble for that, Boss."

Seigi's face fell into a snarl as he saw the newcomer.

"Miyamoto Toshiro. You have been sentenced to death for your traitorous actions. Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

The hulking man grinned, his diamond grills glittering in the dim light. "Oh, I have plenty I would like to say, but most of it isn't suitable for young ears."

He mockingly winked at Tsunade, who scowled back at him.

"But since you asked, let me tell you this. I used to think you were amazing, Hibari-san. I truly did. I was young, one of the best soldiers the Japanese Military had to offer, and I was utterly bored. Bored out of my goddamn mind. It seemed that noting could challenge me. Nothing could entertain me anymore. I mean, what was the point of doing anything if it was all going to be boring?"

He sneered grimly. "And then, one day, ol' man Akiyama approached me and told me to come with him. 'Course, I couldn't disobey a superior officer's orders, right? And then the next think I know, I'm meeting you. A guy my age who controls almost the entire underground of Japan."

Miyamoto shook his head with a sour smile. "I was star struck by you. So I joined the Kiyoijuu and worked my way up to the top. But it was never good enough, was it?" He smiled meanly at Seigi.

"No matter how good I got, no matter what I did for the clan, my efforts were never noticed by you. But whatever, I didn't really care that much. At least I was living again. I wasn't constantly bored anymore. But then," He lost his smile and his eyes grew dangerously hard. "You got soft."

Seigi and Tsunade's eyes narrowed as well.

"When Li Fen's spawn was born, it was like someone cut off your balls. You changed from the fearless, ruthless man that I had once looked up to."

Tsunade had a sudden recollection of the exchange they had years ago, when they had first encountered one another: he had threatened Kyoya's life. And even after that, he always seemed to have an unusual aggression towards Kyoya. She guessed that this was why.

He glared and spat on the floor. "Sentiment. So fucking stupid. And then, I knew what needed to be done. Things needed to be changed. And so I brought it up with Nobu. He felt the same way. And then Takikabe somehow heard about it, and we all agreed. With you at its head, the Kiyoijuu was becoming fucking weak. And we needed to change that."

He gestured over to a grinning Sogoui and smiled himself, his grills giving him an almost animalistic look. "And, as they say, the rest is history."

The politician walked over to Miyamoto and comfortably stood at his side. "Is that a good enough explanation for you, Hibari? Are you satisfied now?"

Seigi glowered darkly, but Tsunade scoffed, drawing everybody's attention to herself, and she spoke up for the first time.

"Honestly, I just don't understand what it is with megalomaniacs and their monologues. Seriously, if things were to get any more dramatic, you could write your own sonnet or something so that you could declare to the world about how Seigi didn't notice you enough and how you felt upstaged by his kid nephew."

All three men were staring at her in dumbfounded silence, not expecting something like that to come out of her.

She crossed her arms and glared at him. "We came here for one job, and that is to separate your head from your body. We don't need any more sob-stories as background music. We all know how this is going to end."

Sogoui chuckled. "My, aren't you a tactless one. But no matter, it's to be expected from children."

Tsunade glowered. "Cut the crap. I don't know what you're trying to buy time for by talking to us, but it's not going to work."

Sogoui looked mildly impressed. "So you figured it out. I suppose I should have expected it from a prodigy like you. So, Sawada Tsunayoshi. Or, as I hear you prefer, Tsunade. Why have you come here today? Hibari, I can understand, he has a vendetta against me. But you? A descendent member of the illustrious Vongola Famiglia? I have done nothing to you."

Both Seigi and Tsunade looked sharply up at him and Sogoui laughed. "Oh yes. Though you didn't tell them, it was easy to put the pieces together. 'A conflict of interest' indeed. Little Tsunade-chan here isn't just any old member of the Vongola. She's the daughter of Sawada Iemitsu. She's the last of Sawada Ieyasu's line."

There it was again, that name. Sawada Ieyasu. Tsunade didn't know much more than the fact that that he was one of her ancestors, but the way that Sogoui had declared it implied that she was missing something big.

At seeing her drawn brows, Sogoui laughed heartily. "Oh, my dear child, you don't know who Sawada Ieyasu is? Ironic that his own family doesn't know. He was none other than the first head of the Vongola!"

Oh. Oh. So Sawada Ieyasu, the man that Iemitsu had raved she looked like for years, was Vongola Primo? Suddenly a lot of pieces clicked into place.

Sogoui continued talking through Tsunade's little revelation. "It was easy to figure out. After Miyamoto, Nobunaga and Takikabe came to me with the news that the prodigious children were leaving the Kiyoijuu so soon after information of Vongola Nono's last heir had been leaked, it became so clear."

He smiled down at her. "I wonder what price that kind of information is worth."

Tsunade's mind blanked.

This man. Was he threatening her? Her? The goddamn Godaime Hokage and Legendary Sannin? The most powerful Kunoichi to ever fucking walk the Elemental Nations?

If she didn't have enough incentive before, she certainly did now. He wasn't going to walk away from this alive.

Seigi snarled, and for a brief second his piercing silver eyes flashed purple. "I will not let you touch what is mine."

Tsunade glanced up at him, surprised. He sounded very much like Kyoya during one of his territorial moods. Which meant that like Kyoya, he was about to go berserk.

Sogoui smiled. "Well, it seems like the chat's over, folks. You were correct, Tsunade-chan. I was waiting for something. This."

All at once, a flood of people entered the room, armed with heavy artillery. Taking advantage of the momentary distraction, Sogoui and Miyamoto turned to the back doorway, as if to escape.

Tsunade narrowed her eyes. "Oh no you don't!"

In one smooth motion, she channeled chakra to her hand and slammed her fist to the ground.

A thunderous rumble erupted, and from the point of impact a spidery network of cracks spread until the floor literally crumbled from beneath them.

The debris flying in the air drew surprised cries from all the newcomers and Sogoui and Miyamoto were forced to halt as the floor fell away in front of them, cutting off their exit.

They both turned to look back at Tsunade, who smirked vindictively. "I'm afraid that I can't let you get away so easily. You see, it wouldn't be good if you were to spread the news of my heritage."

Sogoui stared at her, then a low chuckle escaped his lips, which progressively got louder and louder until he was howling in mirth. "Ahhhh, that answers that, doesn't it! So this is why Hibari wanted you for himself! Smart man, smart man! But you see, my dear, something like that isn't enough to stop me!"

He raised his arm and on signal, all of his men regrouped and raised their firearms. "Farewell, Hibari, Tsunade-chan. May your spirit rest in peace."

He brought his hand down in a sharp wave but Tsunade and Seigi were already moving. They ducked under the cover of some taller rubble as bullets danced around them.

Seigi turned to her, his hands gripping tightly around his sleek twin hand axes. His eyes were intense and were tinted with the faintest tinges of violet. "Tch. Herbivores."

Tsunade's lips twitched up in a ghost of a smile. The Hibari men were truly cut from the same cloth. "Alright. I'll disarm the grunts."

Seigi nodded sharply in agreement. "I'll handle Miyamoto and Sogoui." He twirled one of his axes in anticipation.

Tsunade cracked her knuckles and began to channel her chakra. "I'll join you after I'm done."

Seigi nodded once more, then rose. "Don't take too long."

Tsunade smirked. "Don't worry, I'll be there in no time."

They two lunged away from their cover and leaped towards their respective opponent.

Tsunade landed lightly and took off in a sprint, making sure to keep ahead of all the bullets aimed for her. It seemed that Sogoui's men had decided to target her first, probably seeing her small size and young age and deeming her to be the easier target.

It didn't take long for her to reach the first man, and before he could do more than widen his eyes Tsunade's glowing fast was buried in his face, knocking him straight off his feet. The force of the blow propelled the man back into two more of his comrades and they all went down in a cursing heap.

Before the other two men were able to recollect themselves and get back to their feet, Tsunade's feet came down in a crushing blow on their necks and they too were out for the count.

By then the rest of the men began to clearly become nervous due to the ease in which she had taken three men down in seconds. A few more idiots threw down their guns and tried to engage her in hand-to-hand combat, but Tsunade demolished them as if they were made of nothing more than Styrofoam.

The rest of the men attempted to shoot at her, but because of their close proximity she was able to disarm them easily and debilitate them.

Suddenly she felt three heavy thumps on her back and she stumbled forward to the ground because of the force, letting out a grunt as she fell. She got back to her feet and saw the last man attempting to put as much space between them as he could as he sniped at her from a distance. He managed to get a few shots in when she wasn't paying attention, but her Kevlar vest did its job and protected her admirably from the bullets.

Taking a quick look to make sure that Seigi was out of her range, Tsunade took a running start to spin into a flip and brought her heel down hard onto the concrete ground. A cacophony of cracks rumbled as the floor literally split beneath the man's feet, and Tsunade eyed his fear-filled gaze with satisfaction as he fell below.

With all of the grunts taken care of, Tsunade spun around towards the bigger battle that Seigi was in the middle of.

He was engaged in a fast pace exchange with Miyamoto, who had bolts of green chakra dart around his form. She noticed that even with Seigi's brutal strikes, Miyamoto usually defended them off with his bare forearms, but instead of suffering serious injury from the wickedly sharp blades, he was left with nothing more than mild lacerations.

As she got closer to the battle, she could hear Miyamoto's arrogant gloats. "This is really the worst pairing for you, Seigi! You're a close-range fighter, but no matter how hard you try you will never be able to get past Sogoui-san's Flames or my hardened skin!"

As a demonstration, he purposefully allowed one of Seigi's blades past his guard and let it slam forcefully into his shoulder. While the tip sank in slightly, enough to cut past his skin and into the top layers of muscle, it wasn't nearly as much damage as Seigi's attack warranted.

Miyamoto smiled nastily at him. "You see! Useless! You can never win against my diamond skin!"

"God, do you ever stop talking?"

Tsunade appeared behind Miyamoto in a blink and slammed her fist into his liver. Miyamoto's smug countenance melted away as his eyes bulged in shock and pain as his abdominal cavity concaved under the force of her blow.

With spit spraying out of his mouth, he flew backwards.

Immediately, Tsunade felt the faint chakra-threads of Genjutsu attempt to invade her mind.

"Kai!"

She dispelled it without a second thought, and the illusion dispersed, leaving Sogoui looking perplexed.

She noticed that his hands were glowing blue with chakra, but the shade was much lighter than the shade that Orochimaru's had. It was more like a sky-blue, or a sea-blue.

Again, Sogoui outstretched his hands and the feathery feeling of a Genjutsu fell upon her. Out of curiosity, she allowed it to take hold.

Serenity.

Tsunade felt peace.

She just wanted to lay down and sleep. Maybe forever.

Why… was she fighting again? What was the point? She was so tired.

She just wanted to close her eyes…

Just for a moment…

It wouldn't hurt…

Just a moment…

Aaaand, KAI!

She dispelled the illusion and immediately she felt her razor-sharp awareness fall back into place.

Tsunade looked back at Sogoui, this time with a little trepidation.

That… was a scarily powerful Genjutsu. Even knowing that she was under it didn't stop her from almost succumbing to it.

Against anyone weaker willed or unable to dispel Genjutsus…

No hope.

That was an extremely dangerous technique. Especially in the hands of someone like Sogoui.

The politician tilted his head at Tsunade, looking very much like a confused bird. "I don't understand? Why doesn't it work on you?"

He looked back at Seigi, who was twirling his axes, a glint of murder in his eyes.

"It worked on him just fine. So why not you?"

Tsunade's eyes widened and her head jerked to look at Seigi to see if she needed to dispel the Genjutsu for him before he succumbed to it-

-only to find him with multiple cuts on his forearms.

She smiled. Of course. Someone like Seigi would be smart enough to use the second way of dispelling Genjutsu: inflicting physical pain to break themselves out of it.

By then, Miyamoto stumbled to his feet, cursing up a storm and clutching his abdomen. "You fucking brat! How the fuck did you do that?!"

Seigi simply adjusted his grip on his axes and growled out, "She's simply better than you. That's all there is to it."

And with that quip, he made a beeline over to Sogoui, who looked quite alarmed and frantically pushed another wave of chakra at him. It barely fazed Seigi, who with a flick of his wrist, made another small cut on his forearm, not stopping in his pursuit of the Kowazumi head.

The Voice in Tsunade's head told her to duck, and with a casual twist of her head, she watched the beefy arm of Miyamoto sail through the space her head had been seconds prior.

She reached out and grabbed Miyamoto's outstretched arm, and flooded her arms and thighs with chakra. She gritted her teeth and put her entire body into flipping him over her shoulder and slammed him into the ground so hard that his body was embedded a foot in the concrete flooring.

She let go and leaped back while taking a deep breath and anticipated her next move. Sure enough, while he was winded, Miyamoto's body reinforcement allowed him to stagger to his feet with minimal damage. As his eyes flashed with violence, his electric green chakra flickered around his body.

"You," he panted, "Are gonna pay for that."

Tsunade scoffed and channeled her chakra. "Less talking, more fighting."

She lunged at him, and while it was clear that he was still winded, he was able to parry her blow for blow. The Slug Sannin wasn't too surprised, he had been in the military for upwards twenty years, and hand-to-hand combat was essential there.

She leaped into an aerial spin-kick and he ducked down low to avoid it, his hand touching the ground for a brief second before he was back upright and counterattacking.

Tsunade only caught a glimpse of his cruel smirk before a handful of cement chunks and powder was flung into her face.

The split second of disorientation that she suffered because of the dust in her eyes and nose was enough for him to capitalize on and his fist met her head.

It was as though a truck rammed into her. Her brain rattled in her skull and her teeth clattered from the force.

She was violently thrown back from him and she heavily rolled on the floor. When she came to a stop and her ears stopped ringing, she could hear his haughty voice as he stood over her. "See? Doesn't feel so good to be on the receiving end, does it?"

This motherfucker. Tsunade was going to utterly destroy him.

She opened her eyes, and though it was a little blurry around the edges, she could see him reach down for her.

Oh, hell no.

She shifted her weight onto her hips and spun as hard as she could, her legs coated in a thick layer of chakra and felt it connect to his legs. She felt the slight give of flesh and knew that even with his reinforcement, she had cracked his tibia and fibula.

There was a second of silence before Miyamoto fell to his knees and howled in agony. It gave Tsunade enough time to roll away from him and regroup.

She shook her head, feeling the medical chakra she circulated slowly reduce the swelling and her senses gradually sharpened once more. However, she knew that this was a temporary measure. She needed to find a place to sit down and examine her head, otherwise she might miss some hemorrhaging, but now wasn't the time.

She rose to her feet, watching as Miyamoto did the same, hissing through his teeth as circulated his green chakra around his leg. She saw that because of the reinforcement of his chakra, it formed a kind of splint for his leg. Still, it must have been excruciating to stand on.

The two glared at each other and in unspoken agreement, they both channeled the majority of their chakra. The next exchange was going to be the last. Their bodies couldn't handle much more, as her madly throbbing head indicated.

The air grew heavy with pressure, then suddenly there was movement.

Miyamoto's entire body crackled with green electricity and his eyes glowed eerily. From the glimpse Tsunade caught of herself in the reflection of his eyes Tsunade knew that hers blazed unnaturally as well.

The tongues of the electric green chakra licked at her as she punched and kicked at him, but her own brilliant orange chakra was enough to nullify it before it could harm her. She felt him pull even more chakra to the surface and she did the same in response.

The loud sound of flesh smacking against flesh echoed in the cavernous room as they both did their very best to beat the shit out of their opponent.

Tsunade felt him pop another one on her face and felt blood spurt from her nose. In response, she rammed her heel into his mouth and watched in satisfaction as he reeled back and spit out a bloody tooth.

Both of them took a moment to breathe, and that's when she saw it: a faint bruising around the right side of his low chest, high abdominal area.

She looked him over and quickly categorized his other symptoms, just to confirm her suspicion. Pale, clammy skin, elevated heart rate but low blood pressure.

That first blow she had given him, it had ruptured his liver. While it wasn't severe, it was enough for what she had planned.

Miyamoto spit another bloody wad out and glared at her. "I, I'm gonna kill ya, ya little brat."

Tsunade wiped the blood off her face. "You can try."

The huge man lunged at her aggressively, hands outstretched, but Tsunade deftly dodged him and positioned herself to his right.

She pulled up a huge amount of chakra to her hand and clenched it tightly. With a cry, she swung it hard and felt it connect.

Immediately, Miyamoto dropped like a rock. There, right along his lower ribcage was an imprint of her tiny fist and it was bruising from the internal bleeding by the second.

Miyamoto gurgled something unintelligible before falling unconscious.

Tsunade sat down heavily. Her plan worked. With that last blow, his liver had to have been completely destroyed. His hepatic vein had to have been damaged previously, which would have resulted in his lowered blood pressure, but with the complete destruction of his liver he was fated to die very soon.

Suddenly, she heard a scream of agony and turned to see Sogoui pinned to the wall by one of Seigi's axes.

Gone was the composed, well-groomed politician. In his place was a bloody, disheveled wreck of a man whose left forearm was almost completely severed from his body.

Like a predator, Seigi stalked towards him. In his abdomen was lodged a long sword, and without a flinch the Hibari pulled it out and continued to walk towards the Kowazumi head.

Sogoui looked at Seigi in sheer terror and frantically attempted to get away, but he was pinned too well by the axe.

Seigi came to a stop in front of him and stared at him while Sogoui trembled in pain and terror.

Finally, Seigi bared his bloody teeth at him. "Weak."

And in one clean motion, he used Sogoui's own sword to decapitate him.

Metal as fuck.

Tsunade watched as the head bounced away and rolled before stopping, Sogoui's expression permanently frozen in terror.

It was as if all the fight had left Seigi and he slumped bonelessly to the ground, holding his midsection.

He panted harshly and blood dribbled down the sides of his mouth but there was no mistaking the look of utter triumph in his eyes.

Tsunade slowly pulled herself back up to her feet and dragged herself over to where Seigi was sprawled. Her head throbbed in beat with her pulse and once again her sight was going blurry around the edges.

But it was no time for self-pity. She had a job to do.

She came to a stop next to Seigi and dropped to her knees. He lazily looked up at her.

"So you executed him."

Tsunade stutteringly activated her Medical jutsu, feeling the pull in her low chakra reserves. "Yup."

He chuckled. "Good little minion."

Tsunade laughed softly too, then slowly began to fix the damage in his abdomen. "I see you took care of Sogoui as well."

Seigi blinked slowly. "Of course. It wasn't a challenge at all."

Tsunade skeptically looked at his mangled forearms where he had cut to free himself from Sogoui's Genjutsu. "Of course."

Seigi let his head slump back onto the ground. "Orochimaru was right."

Tsunade glanced at his face before looking back to his abdomen. "Hmm?"

"He said that after tonight, the Kiyoijuu would reign over the Land of the Rising Sun once more. He was right."

Tsunade smiled in amusement. "I guess he was."

They fell into a comfortable silence as Tsunade continued to mend his injury. Her vision became more and more blurry the longer she used up her chakra but she pushed through it, knowing that she was almost done healing him.

"Tsuna."

Startled, she looked down at him. "Yes?"

"… Thank you."

Tsunade stayed silent for a long moment. "You're welcome."

"I have one more favor to ask of you."

"What is it?"

"Nothing much. I just want you and the boys to meet someone."

Tsunade tilted her head. The Voice gave the equivalent of a mental purr, so she shrugged. "Alright."

And once again, they fell into silence. Her vision started to flicker once she was just about done healing Seigi, but she forced herself to remain conscious for just a few minutes longer to finish the job.

Dimly, she heard Ji-Min and Orochimaru's voices, but she felt like she was listening to them underwater. She felt a hand touch her but was too insensate to do anything about it.

She ran a final check just as her chakra flickered and confirmed that he was as good as new.

Job done, she gladly succumbed to the sweet pull of darkness.

Three Days Later

"…"

"You're joking, right." Li Fen's voice was absolutely deadpan.

"No, I swear to god, he really did it. He just unbuttoned his pants and whipped it out for everyone to see. Then he declared that the age of consent in Japan is thirteen and invited all the women to ravage him."

Ji-Min exploded with laughter. "BWAHAHAHAHAHA, THAT'S PRICELESS! Ahhh, Jiraiya-ssi, you never fail to surprise me. It's gonna be a damn shame to let them all go."

Akiyama nodded. "Yes, I never got to express my gratitude to young Orochimaru for his help. If he hadn't intervened when he did, I fear that I may be much worse off. These old bones aren't what they used to be."

Aizawa sighed. "Time flies so quickly. I remember when they were so small. Tsuna-chan came to me with a lost little girl like she was a child presenting her mother with a kitten." She rested her cheek on her hand and pouted in fond remembrance.

Li Fen giggled behind her sleeve. "Yes, they really do grow up fast."

Nagata tilted his head at Seigi. "So, what are you going to do now?"

Seigi smirked lightly. "I'm going to take them to the Onishi."

Masai looked up sharply. "But why? They're not a part of the Clan anymore."

Seigi's smirk grew more pronounced. "Maybe. But it's not as if we hold a record when a member gets one. For all the Vongola know, they would have been marked before Massimo Vongola's death. They can't begrudge her then, could they?"

Masai stared at him, then an identical smirk crawled across his own face. "No. They couldn't."

Nagata just groaned and rubbed his face. "You can't be serious."

Seigi smiled serenely at him. "Regardless of their circumstances, I'm not just going to let them go without marking them as mine."

Ji-Min playfully rolled her eyes and slumped across Seigi's shoulders. "Oh my god, you sound like a savage. Control yourself, my darling."

Aizawa had a satisfied smirk across her face as well. "I agree with Milord Seigi. Those children are ours. They are proudly Japanese, and when the Italians come for them they would probably need to be reminded of that fact."

Akiyama shook his head in resignation. "I can already see that nothing is going to change your mind. When are you taking them?"

Seigi grinned.

"Tonight."

When Tsunade agreed to go with Seigi to meet his mysterious person, she certainly did not expect this.

Upon his request, she gathered Jiraiya and Orochimaru and arrived at his mansion at 5 pm.

Seigi was there to meet them and he ushered them all into a car, and soon they were on their way.

Within an hour, the looming slopes of Mt. Fuji was visible to them, but they weren't headed to the infamous landmark.

The car drove in a circumference around the mountain and pulled to a smooth stop in the northwestern flank of the mountain.

By then, the sun had set and the light from the sky was fading, giving the forest they were in an eerie appearance.

Silently, Seigi handed them all flashlights and stepped out of the car. The Sannin were quick to follow him.

He led them into the forest, and finally they saw a fading sign display the word AOKIGAHARA.

Jiraiya let out a little whimper at the realization.

They were in Japan's Suicide Forest.

Nobody spoke as Seigi led them deeper and deeper into the forest, with only four dim flashlights to lead the way.

As they walked, more and more signs begging people to rethink committing suicide were peppered across the trees, but chillingly, after a point, there were no more signs, only bits of paper stuck to trees and broken poles, as if someone had ripped them all off.

A quiet breeze ruffled the leaves and branches crunched under their feet as they walked, but still, nobody spoke.

More than once Tsunade thought she saw large forms swaying from trees, but she never said anything to the others.

But judging by their tensed shoulders, both Jiraiya and Orochimaru had probably seen them as well.

They walked in the darkness and silence for around an hour before Seigi finally said something.

"Here."

He led them to what looked like the remains of a hut. It was dilapidated and crumbling and the windows were missing. The roof had completely collapsed and the walls looked dangerously close to falling as well. The remains of the door had something that looked suspiciously like a red handprint smeared on it.

Behind the ruins was a deep, dark abandoned well. It was deep and dark enough that even with the flashlight, the Sannin couldn't see the bottom. The wind echoed in it, producing an unearthly wailing sound.

Seigi dropped his pack to the ground and dug inside until he found long line of rope. He deftly tied it around the raised stone walls then threw the rest of the rope into the darkness of the well.

After several long seconds, there was a muffled thump that came from within.

Seigi gestured to the well. "Climb."

Jiraiya gulped, then looked up at him. "You're… you're not gonna, you know, do something awful to us down there, are you?"

Seigi silently stared down the boy intently, not saying a word. Finally, he once again gestured to the well.

"Climb."

Jiraiya hesitated, then whimpered but obediently gripped the rope and began climbing into the darkness.

Without saying a word, Orochimaru went next, and finally it was Tsunade's turn.

She gripped the rope and slowly let herself down. Though she had managed to heal herself after she woke up following the fight with the Kowazumi, her reserves weren't back up to completion yet. She preferred to err on the side of caution until she was back to one hundred percent.

Time seemed to have stopped as she made her way down in the darkness. The only sound in the oppressive silence was the echoing howl of the wind, and that did nothing to assuage her frayed nerves as she climbed deeper and deeper into the earth.

Finally, she saw the illumination of Jiraiya and Orochimaru's flashlights, and soon after her feet touched the ground. The trio waited in silence for a few more minutes and the sound of Seigi coming down the rope permeated through the silence.

Once he touched the ground, he clicked on his flashlight and gestured to them. "Follow."

Once again, in silence, he led them though an unobtrusive passage built into the side of the well. The walls surrounding them were made of smoothened dirt and the floor was even with flat stones.

Finally, he came to a stop in front of a plain wooden door and knocked.

After a tense wait, the door slowly creaked open to reveal a dark room illuminated only by the light of lit torches hanging from the wall.

In front of them stood a teen with black hair and milky-white eyes. The way he didn't focus on anything led Tsunade to believe that he was completely blind.

"Welcome." He bowed down to them, and with Seigi's cue, they too bowed back to him.

The blind boy led them into the room, then disappeared behind a curtain, where there was a rustling noise and the sound of low whispers.

From behind the curtain came an old woman with the same milky eyes as the teen. Her shiny silver hair was pulled into a neat bun. She came to a stop in front of them and bowed to Seigi. He bowed back.

She turned to the Sannin and smiled warmly at them.

"Please, this way."

The three followed her and she led them behind another curtain into a room lit with a crackling fireplace. In front of it was laid three mats.

"Please take a seat."

The Sannin each sat on one of the mats and Seigi took a seat on a cushion in the corner.

The curtain behind them rustled again and another old woman, this one with braided silver hair, stepped out from behind it, her eyes milky and sightless as well. She was holding a tray with three steaming clay mugs.

She smiled at them and offered each of them a cup. "Please drink."

Tsunade examined the cup and inhaled the scent of the tea. It wasn't a combination of herbs that she knew. She glanced at Seigi, and taking his lack of reaction as a green-light, she took a small sip from her cup and was pleasantly surprised to find that it tasted quite pleasant.

The Sannin sipped at their cups in silence and handed them back to the braided woman once they had drained their cups.

Tsunade felt herself relax, both the hot tea and the heat of the fireplace soothing her senses.

She heard the teen ask them to remove their tops and complied absently. The deep feeling of relaxation was taking a hold of her and she didn't fight it when someone gently nudged her forward so she was comfortably lying face-down on the mat.

She closed her eyes and inhaled once more, taking in the scent of herbs and campfire and honey, and she drifted off to sleep.

XOXOX

Tsunade opened her eyes.

She realized that she had fallen asleep and someone had put a blanket over her.

She made to get up, but then stopped.

First, she looked to Jiraiya and Orochimaru, who were also asleep. They were lying face-down just like her, and someone had put blankets over their shirtless forms as well.

Wait.

A quick check revealed that she too was shirtless. She was about to get up when she saw something that made her stop dead in her tracks.

On Orochimaru's face were markings. Very similar markings that she had seen on him for nearly fifty years.

Starting from his eyes and going to the bridge of his nose were dark blue stripes, giving him that familiar serpentine-like appearance that she knew so well.

A quick glance to her left revealed that Jiraiya also had facial markings, but instead of the red ones he possessed in his previous body were the start of brilliant gold tear-track-like markings that came to a stop on his cheekbones.

Uncaring of her state of undress, she rose and looked around until she found an ornate mirror hanging on a wall.

Looking into it showed that she wasn't unchanged either.

On her forehead proudly stood a bright orange, completed Yin-Seal.

Cautiously, she channeled her chakra (her reserves had surprisingly replenished themselves completely in the time she had been asleep) and the feedback almost took her breath away.

Her chakra reserves had expanded exponentially and in her head was a concentration of thick, pure chakra, ready to be used at her disposal.

Finally, after years of trying, the seal was finally complete. But she had to wonder… why? Nothing she did on her own could get the seal to stabilize enough to manifest on her forehead, so why now?

She slowly circulated her chakra through her body, but when it came to her back, she froze.

It felt, somehow… open. As if she were a house, and her back had windows which let a strong draft in.

She furrowed her brows and closely examined the sensation in her back.

Oddly, it felt normal, except, there was a flow of chakra that wasn't her own.

Was that… was that Nature chakra?

She made to turn her body so that she could see her back in the mirror, but before she could she felt a hand on her shoulder stop her.

She looked up to find the teen she had seen earlier, but now, instead of his eyes being milky white, they were an intense, piercing hazel.

"Whoa there missy. You can't see your back just yet."

Tsunade stared at him. "I thought you were blind."

He pulled away and ruffled a hand in his hair. "Yeaaaah, about that, I'm not really blind, neither is my family. It's just when we're about to perform the ritual we lose our sight. But the rest of the time, I have 20/20 vision. So like right now, I can see that you're totally naked from waist up and while you're a cute girl, I have to say you're a little too young to do it for me, so it'd be best if you put your blanket back on."

He handed her blanket back to her and she numbly wrapped herself with it.

At that moment, Orochimaru and Jiraiya both began to stir.

The boy lit up. "Oh good, they're waking up. I'll go and get baa-chan and baa-san. Wait right here." He lifted the curtain to their room and walked out.

Tsunade sat and watched her teammates wake up fully and start to re-orient themselves. Just as they sat up the teen returned with both of the old women.

Just like the boy, instead of blind white eyes, their eyes were now a bright hazel.

The woman with the braid smiled at them. "How are you feeling?"

The boys grumbled something unintelligible, and when the woman's gaze turned to her, Tsunade mumbled a soft "Fine."

The woman with the bun smiled as well. "Excellent. We can now proceed to the last step of the ritual."

The Orochimaru looked blankly at her. "Ritual?"

Jiraiya blinked cluelessly. "Say what?"

The women both chuckled. "Don't worry too much. Just let down your blankets."

After a moment, the Sannin obliged and all three let their covers fall to the ground.

The woman with the bun stepped in front of Jiraiya and the woman with the braid stood in front of Orochimaru. The teenaged boy came to a stop in front of Tsunade and gave her a playful wink.

As one, all three lifted smaller ornate mirrors and held them in front of the Sannin, their surfaces tilted at a slight angle.

Tsunade gasped and she heard Orochimaru and Jiraiya's own indications of surprise.

On the surface of the mirror, Tsunade could see the reflection of the huge ornate mirror behind them, and on that mirror was a reflection of their backs.

And on her slim back, Tsunade saw a brilliant bird tattooed into her skin. Its plumage was comprised of searing shades of orange, with a few hints of red and yellow thrown in for good measure. Its wings were spread elegantly and its beak was open in a victorious song, and it rose from flames licking at its feet.

Tsunade was speechless.

The voice of the braided woman jolted her back to the present.

"Orochimaru. Today, with eyes that see both nothing at all and everything at once, I saw in you… a Dragon."

A quick glance through the mirror allowed her to see his back: a mighty, snarling dragon was coiled, ready to pounce. Its scales shimmered in deep shades of blue and green, and at its feet were misty clouds it stood on. Its expression was incredibly detailed. Instead of mindless rage or aggression, the dragon looked playful. Cunning. Ruthless. Somehow, after looking at it, Tsunade couldn't find a better representation of Orochimaru.

"Greedy for knowledge and known for their wisdom, Dragons are noble beasts that covet whatever they deem precious. In battle, they are peerless. And just like a Dragon, you too are knowledgeable and wise, and powerful. Your lust for what you want, your treasure, knows no bounds. Be careful to not let it consume you, as I am sure it has in the past. Take care of the treasure already in your possession, for you know that it is irreplaceable."

Through her mirror, Tsunade was able to watch as his expression went from awe, to pride, to shame, and then finally resolution. She saw as he gingerly raised his hand to his face and traced the markings near his eyes that had once been violet but were now a deep blue.

"Tsunade."

Startled, her eyes jolted back to the teen in front of her, and while his expression was serious, his eyes belayed his mirth.

"Today, with eyes that see both nothing at all and everything at once, I saw in you… a Phoenix."

Against her will, Tsunade's eyes were drawn back to the design on her back.

"Fierce both in and out of battle, Phoenixes are creatures that represent purity and rebirth. Reborn time and time again in the heat of flames and the weight of ashes, the Phoenix is a representation of defiance against the laws of nature. You too are fierce and beautiful, and your intensity carries into all aspects of your life. Just like a nesting mother, you are fiercely defensive of those under your protection and would not hesitate to burn anybody you deem a threat. However, just as a phoenix, you are quick to judge and defensive. Allow yourself to soften your heart. One day, there will be somebody capable of taking care of it."

Tsunade felt her throat tighten up. This hit too close to home. It was as this young boy had peered deep into her soul and had seen everything.

Opening her heart? She wanted to scoff. After Dan there was no one for her. No one. Maybe it would happen one day, but for now, she was good the way she was.

"Jiraiya."

Tsunade shook herself out of her thoughts and turned her eyes over to Jiraiya's side. What she saw through the mirrors made her lift her brows up in surprise.

The woman with the bun smiled gently at him.

"Today, with eyes that see both nothing at all and everything at once, I saw in you… a Kitsune."

Sure enough, painted in brilliant, blinding golds, whites and yellows was a sleek nine-tailed fox. It was elegantly perched; its lean body supple and its tails elegantly spread out. The level of detail was astounding, the texture of its fur looked almost touchable, just as the feathers on her phoenix and the scales on Orochimaru's dragon did. And, just like in Orochimaru's dragon, the kitsune's expression was captivating. It's whiskered lips were pulled up into a mischievous smirk, but its ears were straight and alert and its eyes were analyzing. Just like before, she couldn't think of anything more suitable for Jiraiya.

"Known for their shape-shifting ways and flawless masks, Kitsunes are masters of disguise. The Kitsunes may play the fool to lower their prey's suspicions, but they are capable, smart and deadly. Infiltration, sabotage, espionage, they are masters of the subtle arts. And of course," The woman smiled at Jiraiya playfully. "They are ardent appreciators of the pleasures of the flesh."

Jiraiya had enough grace to look a little embarrassed at the comparison.

"Just like a Kitsune, you are playful and intelligent. You always know that there is more than one way to solve a problem, and you use your immense creativity to your advantage. You always cover your true self with an exterior so that you would be underestimated and you only allow your closest loved ones to look past the mask."

The woman paused, then looked at Jiraiya compassionately. "The Kitsune has a special significance in your heart. While you might dislike the symbol for the reminder it causes, you must remember that they are not the same thing. Your precious one always has you in his heart, and now, with this, you may carry a piece of him with you always, wherever you go."

Tsunade saw Jiraiya's eyes well up, and when he gritted his teeth and closed them, tears leaked out and flowed down his face. He opened his eyes once more, made eye contact with the woman then bowed in gratitude.

She smiled kindly at him in return.

XOXOX

Tsunade shrugged her top on and neatly folded her blanket and placed it at the foot of the mat she was lying on.

Jiraiya and Orochimaru had already packed up and were talking in low tones by the door. Seigi was in deep conversation with the two older ladies.

"So. Did you like it?"

Tsunade turned to see the teenage boy looking at her expectantly. She smiled. Even though, biologically, he may be older than her, he was still very much a child.

"Yes. I love it. I have to say it suits me perfectly."

He snorted and walked closer to her. "Well, of course it did. It is a representation of your Dying Will Flames, after all. It's supposed to be the perfect manifestation of you."

Tsunade looked up at him. "How do you do it?"

He smirked mischievously at her and winked. "Sorry, family secret."

Tsunade nodded in understanding. "Well, thank you again. It was nice to meet you. Can I ask your name?"

He nodded. "Sure, just call me Sora." He turned away from her. "Well, it was nice meeting you too. Guess I'll see you again in a year or so."

Tsunade looked up in confusion. "What?"

Sora turned back to her in surprise. "What, you didn't think that was it, did you? You're still a kid, as you grow your tattoo is gonna need maintenance as you get bigger."

That made sense, she supposed. Though, she had to ask.

"Do I have to come back here?"

He looked down at her. "What do you mean?"

She raised her brow at him. "You know. Aokigahara."

He shuddered. "Hell no. This whole creepy setup is for first-timers. Touchups I can do anywhere, as long as I have the right tools."

Tsunade stared at him. "Why here?"

He shrugged. "I dunno. Something about the place stabilizing you when we begin to tattoo you. Sometimes there's an energy imbalance or something."

Well, that practically confirmed her theory about the tattoos being some kind of conductor/filter for Natural chakra. That must be why their facial markings manifested, because of the unpredictable effects of Nature chakra.

Tsunade furrowed her brows. "Ok. That makes sense. But in Aokigahara, of all places?"

He scoffed and looked at her incredulously. "Hell if I know. Do you think I like trapezing through Suicide Forest every time some idiot wants a tattoo? No! I tried to tell my family, but they're all like, 'Oh, Sora-chan, we have to do it this fucking way because our ancestors were psychopaths and we have to keep up the tradition or we'll be fucking cursed, m'kay?'. I swear to god, my family is so fucking creepy sometimes."

Tsunade honestly had nothing to say to that.

"Ok. So now what?"

Tsunade, Jiraiya and Orochimaru were seated on the Sawada family's back porch, just as they had done so many times before. The air was quiet and cool and crisp and the light of the waning moon gently illuminated the Sannin's faces.

"I'm leaving the country."

Tsunade and Jiraiya's heads whipped to Orochimaru, who gave no indication that he said something unexpected.

"Teme? What?"

Orochimaru sighed long-sufferingly. "Because of a few of my published theses, I've been invited to schools over the world to give lectured to the students, and a few investors want to talk to me about actually building one of my designs."

Tsunade was honestly surprised, but she was happy for her teammate. "Good for you, Oro. I'm happy for you."

Orochimaru gracefully accepted the complement. "Thank you."

"You know… I was thinking about leaving Japan, too."

Both pairs of eyes came to rest on Jiraiya, now. Taking their silence as an indication to continue, he spoke. "You see, Hime, I have a, a secret I've been keeping from you."

Tsunade's eyes widened in surprise and suspicion. "Ho? What is it?"

Jiraiya cringed. "But first, you have to promise me that you won't get mad."

Tsunade rolled her eyes. "Just tell me, Jiraiya."

"No, you have to promise!"

"Just tell her, Jiraiya."

"No! She has to promise!"

Tsunade huffed in irritation. "Fine, whatever, I promise I won't be mad. Now what is it?"

Jiraiya gulped. "Well, it's, you see… I may have, hypothetically, you know, published Icha Icha again."

Tsunade looked at him. "I know."

"Pleasedon'tkillmeI'mtooyoungto- wait. What?" Both Jiraiya and Orochimaru stared at her.

She looked back at both of them. "I said that I know. I've known for years, for cryin' out loud."

Jiraiya's mouth opened and closed like a fish. Orochimaru turned to her curiously. "How did you find out?"

Tsunade snorted. "Honestly, it wasn't that hard. The first day I saw Jiraiya again he said that he wanted to rewrite the series and turn it into a motion picture."

She paused, then reluctantly admitted, "That, and I saw Nana reading a copy once."

Jiraiya choked in horror while Orochimaru eyed her in fascination. "You're not angry?"

Tsunade shook her head. "Not really. It's not the books that piss me off, Jiraiya, it's your research. Put a fucking stop to it."

The white-haired Sannin swallowed nervously. "Of course, Hime. So you see, I've been invited to a lot of book signings and tours and stuff, and I've been planning to take Takeshi too. That, and I really wanna explore the information network in the Underworld. Sure, Seigi's spies were okay, but I really want to go to Mafia Land."

Tsunade nodded. That made sense. Now that both of them finally got a chance to spread their wings, it was obvious that they were going to take off and explore, especially since there was the looming deadline of the Vongola coming after her eventually.

"Whatever you boys want to do, I'll support you fully."

Neither of them said anything in response to her declaration, but she could feel the gratitude from them nonetheless.

"What about you Tsunade?"

She sighed. "Me? Well, leaving does sound good. I'll probably take Kyoya with me and go hopping around the world. Just like I used to do in the Elemental Nations with Shizune."

Orochimaru and Jiraiya nodded.

"Sounds like a plan."

And with that, the three of them fell into a comfortable silence once more.

The wind rustled the leaves in the trees and the cicadas chirped quietly under the moonlight.

Life goes on.

Aaannnd that's a wrap! Thank you for reading through this monster of a chapter. I hoped you enjoyed it!

No, but seriously guys, I'm so sorry for the long wait. I swear that no matter how long it takes to update, this fic isn't dead and will never be dead. It's my baby, I won't abandon it until I see it into completion.

Ok, so the last part may have made it clear, but if not I'll tell you outright. There's gonna be a timeskip, and then we're finally gonna get to canon! Are you excited, 'cuz I am!

But before that, I'm gonna write three interludes for each of the Sannin about their adventures (or, should I say, misadventures) through the three years before we hit canon. I already have a lot of ideas and some of them are pretty funny, so please wait tight for them!

So yeah! About the last poll on Minato vs Alaude, here are the results:

Minato: 59

Alaude: 14

And strangely enough, we got a third category vote:

Kushina: 1

Wow! What a poll, guys! I'm so happy you all sent your opinions!

For this chapter's contest, it's gonna be an interesting one: Itachi vs Byakuran. Who would come out on top?

One massacred his clan for his brother and became one of the most untouchable, infamous shinobi in the world, even when he was dying from a disease. 'Nuff said.

The other one literally hunted each and every one of the Arcobaleno down and tore the entire Underworld, including the Vongola Famiglia, a new asshole. And, he can also look into different timelines and realities. Just like Dr. Strange. So badass.

So send in your votes!

So yeah! Thank you wonderful readers so much for all the support and I hope that you'll be patient with me as I get the next chapter ready. Please have a awesomesause day and I'll see you later! Peace!