76 3.38

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As we approached the docks of Kirigakure, I felt several presences rapidly approaching from the shore, from underwater.

Stretching my limbs, I watched as two men suddenly erupted from the water on both sides of our ship, landing right on our deck.

It didn't seem to be that unusual of a greeting though as none of the men on board got scared.

The two Shinobis from Kiri were about to speak to Captain Sumichi, when I caught their eyes. Or rather, my coat.

Oblivious to their mood, or simply choosing to ignore it, Sumichi said to them, "We're here for business purposes. Are we good to dock?"

One of the two Shinobis, both of whom were Chunins, turned to look at Sumichi, and after a moment said, "For how long will you be staying?"

Sumichi turned to look at me, so I shrugged, "I should be done by tonight. Unless he decides to rat out."

Sumichi rolled her eyes at this, and said to the sweating Chunin, "We will leave tomorrow morning."

The Chunin gulped, while his companion approached me and bowed, "Sir, if you would follow me."

"Sure, lead the way."

As I said that, he jumped off the ship, running across the water.

I jumped right behind him, and focusing on the Force I decreased the gravitational pull on me, while using Force Inertia to thread across the water, effectively running on water.

It required a lot of focus, especially since water is in constant movement, unlike a wall. But it was good practice.

We quickly reached the shore, and I think I scared the Chunin when I said I wanted to this fast as he used the Body Flicker as soon as he set foot on the harbor.

I would have much preferred to walk there, but asking him to slow down would blow my credibility, so I used a rather advanced Jedi technique, Force Valor.

Force Enhancement is one of the most basic techniques for a Jedi to learn, and the first that could help them with combat as it allowed the user to enhance one of their physical attributes.

Force Valor is the advanced version of the technique, as it increases every physical attribute by tapping into the user's resolve. But the true value of this technique is that it allows the user to compensate any physical weakness with the Force.

For example, old age could be compensated through the Force, which is what allowed Yoda to move so quickly and fluidly while fighting.

It didn't do much for me, as I wasn't old or injured, but it certainly allowed me to keep up with the Chunin, as coupled with my improved attributes that came with this year of training, we sped through the village in a matter of minutes.

Soon, we arrived at a basement, where the Chunin finally stopped. He knocked on the door in a special way, and the door was opened by a civilian.

His eyes darted to me for a moment, widening ever so slightly, before he looked back at the Chunin, muttering, "The high sea rumbles."

The Chunin replied, "That's because the sky is agitated."

Okay? Weird code, although I guess it serves its purpose.

As we were let in, we walked through a tunnel barely lit up by torches, following the civilian. After a moment, he turned to look at me, and said, "It is an honor to meet you Chief Enforcer."

I nodded, remaining silent as I didn't know what to say. I didn't even know who the guy was.

Thankfully, we quickly arrived at a large cave, which was packed full of weapons and people. I immediately spotted a few people wearing the Akatsuki's coat. Some had black coats with faint red swirls, while others had clouds on theirs. They had a different amount of clouds on their coats though.

This was another change Yahiko had brought in the past year. As the Akatsuki grew, it became necessary to give the organization a real ladder of power, which is now represented by our coats.

New recruits had a coat with a red swirl in the back. Shinobi members with more experience would then get a coat with a single red cloud. Then, going up the ranks, the highest ranked members of the Akatsuki, the leaders of divisions, had five red clouds.

As far as I know, the only ones with a Five Clouds Coat were Yahiko, Konan, Nagato and myself, but I might be wrong on this as I haven't been checking for news very diligently.

In any case, out of everyone present, I immediately noticed one of them, as he was the only one with four clouds on his coat. While there were more four clouds coats than five clouds ones, they were still pretty rare, so this must be my direct subordinate.

He was older than me, probably in his early thirties, and he had a bored look on his face. He had short dark hair and a smoke as he listened to his own subordinates making their reports.

There wasn't much about him that stood out, he seemed to be using a sword, and was from Kumo before joining the Akatsuki. He must be a new recruit, considering I don't know him, so it was quite impressive for him to reach this high of a rank despite joining for a year at best.

As I looked at him, he seemed to sense something as he turned to look in my direction, and the moment he spotted me, he raised a hand, stopping his subordinate as he strode towards me.

He stopped a couple of meters in front of me, looking at me up and down, while I kept quiet. After a moment, he commented, "So you're my boss."

"It would appear so. Anything to say?"

He snorted as smoke came out of his nose, and said, "I do. I have some bad news."

At that I sighed, "Of course you do. Tell me, what happened?"

Taking a breath of smoke, he replied, "The Mizukage has managed to bring many forces to his side. Counting the Mizukage himself, all Seven of the Swordsmen have taken his side. But that was to be expected, this generation is made of sadistic madmen."

I sent a pointed look around the room as I remarked, "We have most of the clans ourselves, as well as some elite Jonins of the village. Plus the enforcers. Where's the problem?"

He looked tired as he replied, "He also managed to bring over the Kaguya Clan. They too are a war loving clan, and want to exterminate us. They have several Jonins among them."

The Kaguya Clan was, as the name clearly implied, a clan related to Kaguya Otsotsuki herself. They weren't as powerful as the Uchiha or Senju though, as they were more offshoots than anything.

The only real danger they could represent would be if they had a member who inherited their Kekkei Genkai, Shikotsumyaku, which allowed them to manipulate their bones. The only one present in the anime with this ability was Kimimaro, and he was quite the fearful opponent, even as a child.

However, if I remember it right, the Kaguya Clan-members feared the ability themselves, so chances there wouldn't be anyone with the ability today. Besides, the Kaguya Clan was erased in the original timeline by a weakened Kirigakure, when the Fourth Mizukage was only a child, so they couldn't be that strong.

I waited for him to continue, but after a couple of seconds of silence, I asked, "That's it?"

His face looked like he had a swallowed a lemon as he asked, "Isn't it plenty enough?"

Smirking, I said, "All the Swordsmen are getting old, so there probably are some here who trained to kill them and take their swords. I bet there is more than one pretender for each sword, so that should be good enough to take care of six of the swordsmen. As for the Kaguya Clan, we have the Kozuki Clan, the Hoshigaki, the Karatachi and the Yuki Clan. You can't tell me they can't take care of a single Kaguya Clan, right?"

I took a second look around the room, briefly making a headcount as I continued, "Besides, we have like what, 200 men of our own? And they don't even have Sanbi on their side."

As I said that, a middle aged Shinobi who had been standing next to my second in command suddenly asked, "How do you know that?"

Raising an eyebrow, I asked back, "You thought I wouldn't feel his Jinchuriki while standing in the same room?"

The room instantly turned silent as every pair of eyes turned towards me.