Chapter 132 - Politics, Cognizance

Li ignores the two men entirely, but Lo uncomfortably greets them. "Eh.. Danzo and Orochimaru, hello. Sorry to hear, regarding your eye. And you, kiddo, you're all grown up now, eh?"

Danzo pauses, looks at Lo and Li, and scoffs before continuing to walk away. This is a good thing. No one there wants to talk to Danzo.

Orochimaru stops staring at Azula and acknowledges Lo. His voice has a dry tone to it with a hint of a hiss. "Yess, I never got a chance to thank you for showing me how to dual cultivate. Thankss."

After speaking his part, he turns his attention right back to Azula and gestures to the twins, "Introduce uss?"

Li mentally groans at how she is going to deal with this guy and quickly points to Azula, "Azula from Fire World, she is a cultivator candidate." Then points to the creep. "Orochimaru, disciple of the 73rd Hokage. Alright, introductions are done. We should head up." Li pulls on Azula, notices her unnatural warmth, and thinks she might be uncomfortable, so she grips tight and drags her into the Tower.

Azula is horribly uncomfortable. Most of her conscious thoughts involved attempting to kill those two in various ways that were all entirely insane because she knew she would be getting herself killed or at least pummeled to near-death. She had to freeze up not to let any signs of belligerence show. High level shinobis are a type of energybender, so they are naturally capable of sensing the emotions of others through body language. Hopefully, her freezing up only registered as discomfort.

Behind her, Orochimaru says, "Nice to meet you, candidate Azula. Maybe we could get tea ssometime?"

Li turns around and shoots back, "Stay in your lane, Orochimaru. She is my girlfriend." She grabs Azula's hand and pulls her up the stairs. Orochimaru looks like he is going to clarify, but then he shrugs and walks off.

~ ~ ~

Lo watches him go with suspicion, then follows the other two up. Her sensory innate ability tells her that he has already reached the peak of Soul Tier 2, which means that he is far more powerful than she had expected him to be. The twins themselves are at high-t2, but they focus more on supplementary skills and jutsus than combat, so they would not be a match for even the mid-t2 Senjus, Uzumakis, Hyugas, or Uchihas, most of whom have dedicated themselves to combat and protecting the village. They are the families at the frontline of Konoha.

For a shinobi to become powerful is a blessing for the town, but Lo and Li know this is not the case for Orochimaru. He has always been an eccentric youth, obsessed with knowledge, particularly the forbidden kind. When a shinobi is at high risk of becoming a criminal or deserter, commonly known as a missing-nin, the town takes steps to ensure that they either be reformed, forced to reconsider, be captured, or simply killed. There is no room in this Shinobi World for those that are detrimental to the survival of humanity by not contributing, as is the case for missing-nin.

Of course, if he reaches soul t3, then it is likely that only the strongest, Kage-level combatants can take him down. It would not be worth it to take actions against him at that point. They cannot afford to lose anyone in the process of defeating him, which becomes far more likely once he reaches t3 soul.

Lo only knows him from when she took his virginity when he became an adult. He was an oddball and she did not even come close to an orgasm. She knows that it was discovered that he was conducting illegal experiments on civilians, but he got off with a slap on the wrist due to his high talent as a shinobi. She sighs and decides to look through the internal files on his actions for the last 50 years, if she has access to them under the new Hokage.

~ ~ ~

Li feels Azula's hand burning as she climbs the stairs. She coats her hand in chakra and actually feels it thin slightly under Azula's tight grip and rampaging Phoenix flames. Li connects a chakra string to Azula's throat from her own and says into her mind, "Chill out, already."

Azula startles, sees the chakra string, and says in her own mind, "Hello?" There's no response. She goes into her mindscape similarly to how she used to chat psychically with Nuwa and sees a small string with a cup at the end. She speaks into it, "Testing." and the chakra string vibrates into the void where it is hanging from. By now, her body has regained its cool.

Li smiles and says into Azula's mind, "You catch on quick. Connecting our Throat Chakras is an easy method to ensure private communication, but you should only allow someone you trust to establish the connection, since it is easy to receive and deliver mental attacks through this direct line between our spiritual bodies."

Azula transmits back, "Mental attacks?"

Li replies, "In the Shinobi World, chakra can be used in creative ways. There is a subset of abilities called genjutsu, which is the manipulation of chakra to form illusions. It is difficult to do, since the chakra control has to be precise or else the target will know something is off and bring chakra to their brain to dispel the illusion. If I was connected to your Third Eye Chakra instead of your Throat, then I would be able to project my memories into your mind to form a genjutsu without much effort and you might even become trapped inside your own head for as long as I keep it up."

Recalling how similar genjutsu is to the plight of the Joo Dees, Azula worriedly asks, "How can I build resistance?"

Li lectures, "Increase your chakra capacity and control. Also, if you notice any strange discrepancies in your daily life, then that might be a sign that you are already trapped in a genjutsu. Don't get too paranoid though. We cannot have you attempting to kill yourself just to escape an nonexistent genjutsu. Anyway, I get that those two are the unsavory type, but why did you get so heated?"

Azula transmits, "Uh.. well, they reminded me of my father." She couldn't simply admit that she wanted to kill them at first sight.

They continue walking through some hallways with periodic meeting rooms and offices full of people busy doing paperwork, most of which are shinobi.

Li transmits back, "Keep your cool. Some of them, even we cannot protect you from." Azula nods, feeling a weight upon her shoulders.

They enter a waiting room with masked guards, only to be sent ahead without pause by the receptionist when she recognizes Lo and Li. Next, they enter an office. Compared to the rest of the building and office space, it is a little old-fashioned. The furniture is fashioned out of wood and appears well-aged. There are thick windows to give a good view of the town. All of this would appear professional if there weren't empty bottles of alcohol and beer strewn haphazardly throughout the room.

Lo says, "Well, look who it is!"

Li continues, "I guess seeing is believing, but what's with all the alcohol?"

They are speaking to the blonde woman in a green jacket looking out of the window at the town. Recognizing their voices, she turns around abruptly to reveal a beautiful face with a purple diamond on her forehead. That is not what Azula looks at though. Her gaze drops and her mouth gapes when she sees the largest pair of tits she has ever seen in her life on someone who is not overweight or obese. They are wrapped loosely in beige robes and their asymmetric bouncing makes it obvious that she has foregone bras. 'Holy booba! According to Nuwa's charts, those funbags must be at least J cups.'

Lo and Li get a good look too and are similarly impressed. Lo asks dumbfoundedly, "Wow.. is that really you, Tsunade?" Their most memorable moments with Tsunade are of her being an entirely flat-chested kid.

Tsunade's drunken haze quickly dissipates to recognition and she cheers, "Big sisters!" while jumping over to glomp them. Azula slides out of the way as both Lo and Li are barreled over by the big booba lady. Li complains, "You reek of alcohol! Get offa me." Lo laughs and plays with Tsunade's boobs wantonly.

Tsunade stands up blushing and pulls them up with her, then slaps Lo's hands off her chest. "Have some respect for your Hokage, big sis!" She straightens her robes and turns to Azula, "So this is the candidate then? Don't you know other nations bring back several candidates every other year and we haven't seen you in 50? I would have sent a rescue party if I was not reassured of your skills by uncle Hiruzen."

Lo and Li shrug. Li connects all their throats by chakra threads to make the conversation into a truly private one. She says, "You know why we had to leave for an extended time. Besides, their candidates are no doubt mere cannon fodder. Azula is a combat Daoist who has passed our tests."

Tsunade looks at Azula with wariness and interest. She then turns back to Lo and Li and asks, "How have you been, ladies? Have any men caught your interest?"

Lo answers, "Oh you know me.. I get around. Not exactly the type for commitment. Li fell for a country bumpkin, but it wouldn't work out so she's still grumpy about that. She had to settle for his niece." Lo points at Azula and mouths silently, "Futanari!"

Tsunade hums with interest as she glances at Azula's crotch and averts her eyes with a slight blush. Li snorts with annoyance at how open Lo is about her private life.

Lo takes the chance to rapidly fire questions, "Do you know Orochimaru is peak-t2? Have you taken any steps to address that? Can you give us a rundown on the current political landscape?"

Sighing, Tsunade picks up a bottle of liquor and sips on it as she says, "Yes. We know, but he is sheltered from any official proceedings by Danzo. If you understand the kind of person he has grown to become, you would know that mental health therapy or coercion is useless to stop him from his pursuit of forbidden knowledge. That brings us to the topic at hand and my biggest headache."

Li narrows her eyes and guesses. "The political divide between the progressives and the conservatives? Has it gotten worse? What about the citizenry?"

Tsunade nods and looks out the window as she speaks, "I'll give a full introduction so that your candidate can understand. The conservative faction believes that we can overpower the tailed beasts with human unity and by breaking our limits training every day. The progressive faction believes that we must innovate to develop new seals, jutsus, and techniques to capture or eliminate the tailed beasts."

"There are good and bad people on both sides. Things have been this way for the past few hundred years and tensions have always been high, especially when progressives cover up human experimentation on our own shinobi for power and conservatives divulge crucial intelligence to other nations or Spirits in attempts to promote unity. Most of us are somewhere in the middle, trying to calm down the fanatics from each faction to prevent disagreements from getting out of hand."

"The latest attack on the city was only 2 weeks ago. The Daimyo is angry because he figured out that Danzo brought a few old people out of the shelters for Shukaku, the Tanuki beast, to eat so that it would leave sooner. It is one of our old tricks, which we had not planned to use again considering the thousands of years of progress we made, but Shukaku knocked the wall right over. We had little choice."

Tsunade's voice cracks a little with sadness and anger. Azula guesses that she must be biased more to the conservatives than the progressives from her tone of voice, despite arguing on behalf of Danzo's actions. She gets even angrier, "And you wouldn't believe how crazy some people are.. There is a group that worships the beasts and wants to be eaten by them!"

Li cringes and says, "Sounds like a clusterfuck. Now you know one of the reasons we left. So how'd you end up as Hokage?"

Tsunade takes a big swig and says, "Hiruzen had given the seat of Hokage to Minato originally, much to Danzo's consternation. Only a few years in, Minato lost his leg to an encounter with Kurama, the Fox beast. He got a new leg grafted onto him, but he was not the fastest shinobi anymore, so he stepped down after that. The main reason I was chosen is because I'm the best at using the Eight Gates. I was the moderate choice compared to the pervert Jiraiya and the viper Orochimaru. Anyway, I need plenty of help from my big sisters! I won't approve of you going back to Fire World now. Hehehe."

Tsunade puts on a sly smirk in anticipation of a girl's night out.

Azula does not understand much of the background details, but she is starting to sense the desperation and helplessness that the people of Konoha feel regarding how to deal with the tailed beasts when they have a drunkard in charge. It is not a good quality for a leader, in her opinion.

~ ~ ~

Zagreus wakes up feeling refreshed. He opens his eyes and recalls that he was waiting for Nuwa before he fell asleep. Feeling an arm and several snakes resting on him, he figures Nuwa fell asleep too. 'Maybe she already forgave me?'

He turns around with as little disturbance to Nuwa's limbs as possible. What he sees leaves him flabbergasted with cognizance of the fact that his little sister has grown up. He could not believe he had been seeing her as the same cute baby gorgon for the past few years that she had been filling out her curves. Zagreus simply never noticed how utterly fucking hot she had become. Her face and body could not even be classified as remotely cute anymore.

Nuwa is sleeping soundly next to him in her usual clothes, which consist only of several fashionable gold jewelry and skimpy snakeskins. Her skin color has changed from grey when she was young to white, matching that of Zagreus. Her eyes are alluring and her eyelashes long. Her hair-snakes have gone from tiny black critters to large and dark green. They are also sleeping splayed out across the bed and floor. Nuwa has a small mouth with pink lips and two pointy fangs. Her breasts are as large as Nyx's, easily at E cup. They squish together such that her areola are only barely hidden from Zagreus' view as she sleeps on her side.

The side of her dress opens up such that her entire left underboob, left hip, and most of her back down to the crack of her butt are exposed. Her body does not have much muscle, unlike Megaera, and he finds himself salivating at how her bare, smooth, and soft legs look like they go on forever past the dress that only just covers her crotch. Zagreus cannot see her back from this angle, but he remembers it from his recent memories, which after the current revelation, he now finds extremely arousing.

'Since when did my little sister become a temptress?' he thinks obliviously as his penis rapidly engorges to full mast. 'If Meg's insides are hard and tight, my sister's must be soft and.. HANG ON. This is my precious little sister! The apple of my eye.. There's no way I can take advantage of her!'

His rising penis had finally pushed the body of one of Nuwa's snakes enough that it awoke slowly, looked around, and drowsily wrapped itself tightly around Zagreus' neck to pull him closer to Nuwa's body. He holds still as the disturbance causes Nuwa to make sleepy sounds and to adjust her sleeping position to hug him close enough for her head to land on the nape of his neck, her breasts to squish onto his chest, and her leg to climb on top of his. Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how he thinks about it, this leaves the bulge on his pants pushing into her honeypot.

(A/N: Welp! Zag tries to put himself in horny jail, but it's ineffective..)

(A/N: https://discord.gg/VD3C2BFPAu)