Chapter 31 - The Message

HIRUZEN SARUTOBI POV

I was sitting in my office, enjoying the view of the peaceful village while dealing with all the paperwork caused by the war that recently seemed to starting.

I lamented as I looked at the giant pile of paperwork still left untouched when my musings were broken by a knock on the door.

I quickly adjusted my sloppy expressions removed the wrinkles on my coat and spoke

"Come in."

An Anbu ninja came in and said 

"Hokage-sama one of the door guards of the village has come here, he has something to report."

"Send him in."

"Yes."

"Greetings, Lord Hokage." said the calm guy from the door.

"Tell me Kazumo, what was so important that you left your post, is someone attacking?"

"No, lord Hokage, a messenger has arrived at the village doors, and as we could not confirm his identity, I stopped him at the doors."

"What is he here for?"

"He has a letter for Lady Mito from her deceased father, Lord Ashina Uzumaki."

"Kazumo, how many years has it been since the destruction of Uzumaki clan?"

"A little over four years, Hokage-sama." Kazumo replied.

"Isn't this letter a little late?" I couldn't help but ask.

"The messenger said he forgot about it." said Kazumo as he lowered his head in shame cursing the guy at the door for giving such a shameless reason.

"I see." I said after a moment of silence, I had no response to that.

"What is his name?"

"Katsugi-te Denrei, was what he reported his name to be."

'That literally means bearer of message, either he is too dedicated or it is a false name.'

"Anything else?"

"He called himself with the moniker 'The god of Messengers'."  Said Kazumo in a tiny voice.

"Can you repeat that?"

"He called himself with the moniker 'The god of Messengers'."

  'So I did hear it right! Now that is either an inspiration from Lord First or he is probably making a fool of us. If that is so, I will make him pay!'

"Where is the letter?" I asked.

"He gave it to me to deliver on a condition." He said while passing the letter to me.

"What condition?" I asked as I examined the letter.

'It looks real. The seal used on the letter is real and the handwriting matches with one I saw before.'

"He said to tell Lady Mito that someone named Sen sent it, ask her to say something he will believe is her words and pass those words back to him, to confirm the delivery."

Looks like Lady Mito knows that person, then I will have to check it out myself.

"I see, I will personally deliver the letter to Lady Mito, you can wait outside for the response."

'This way I will know what is in the letter and find out more about this Katsugi-te Denrei or Sen.'

"Yes."

I got up and went out of the Hokage building and walked towards the Senju clan compound.

After I reached Lady Mito's house I took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

"Come in." Her voice answered.

As I entered the room I saw Lady Mito was sitting there on a chair teaching something to the little girl who will be the next jinchuriki of nine tails.

"Greetings Lady Mito." I took off my hat as I greeted her.

"Good day to you too, what brought you here today?" She asked.

"I have something to inform you about." I said as I looked towards the little girl.

Lady Mito grasped the meaning of my action and gestured for her to leave the room.

I watched as she collected her study supplies and left the room and after we were left alone I told her the reason for my visit.

"Someone has come to the village claiming to bring a letter from your deceased father."(Hiruzen)

"Oh, Who is he?"(Mito)

"He called himself 'Katsugi-te Denrei' the 'God of Messengers' but according to the words he spoke later I believe his actual name might be Sen." Even I feel embarrassed saying this kind of made-up name out loud.

"Pfft Ha ha ha ha I see, where is the letter?" She said as laughed at the name he took.

'Judging by her reaction she knows of him and since she doesn't find his moniker offensive meaning he is close with her or her clan for her to take it as a joke.'

"Here." I said as I handed her the letter.

"And where is the 'God of Messengers', pfft?" She asked as she traced the envelope with her hands and then opened it.

"Since we couldn't confirm his identity we had stopped him from entering the village."(Hiruzen)

"And he just gave you the letter?" She asked as she read the letter.

'It appears she really knows about him, she could even guess he wouldn't just hand over the letter.'

"No, he had a condition to bring some words from you that he knows only you would say as a confirmation," I told her about his condition for handing over the letter.

"I see, clever boy!" she remarked.

"How should I proceed, Lady Mito?"(Hiruzen)

"Do you want to know what's in the letter?"(Mito)

"If you permit."(Hiruzen)

"Here," she said as she put the empty envelope on the table and handed me the letter.

All that the letter contained was well wishes for her and asking her to look after her niece and nephew, which left me confused, so I asked

"It mentions your niece and nephew, who are they?"(Hiruzen)

"The girl Kushina who was here just now is my niece, sadly my nephew hasn't arrived in Konoha yet."(Mito)

"If he hasn't reached here yet, the chances of it happening are slim as war is breaking out again and travel will become difficult."(Hiruzen)

I remarked as I analysed the letter thoroughly while also taking time to check for any hidden messages.

She smiled brightly at those words and said

"But we can always hope."(Mito)

Though I felt her words might contain some other meaning I didn't dwell on it.

After making sure the letter didn't have any useful information I asked

"What response should I give to 'The Messenger?"(Hiruzen)

"Tell him that I said 'Senju Hashirama *** * ****'."

I was taken aback by those words and after a moment of silence, I couldn't help but advise

"Lady Mito, I don't think those words are very appropriate to be said to an outsider."(Hiruzen)

"Don't worry about it, just pass those words, if you worry about its impact you can monitor his response to them." She said to reassure me but didn't change her message.

"As you wish." Seeing that she was adamant about those words, I decided I would do as she said but I will ask Kazumo to note the response of the messenger to those words.