Dimiterium Intel [Req. Raikage]

[Kagami Miro]

Red hues caught that gesture for her to wait. Kitsune gave her a few commands but from behind the mask a fine brow rose up. As a newly appointed Anbu Sennin, a title she thought was out of her qualifications, Mirō believed it wasn’t her responsibility to prevent a chuunin from running rampant in the medical branch. The Medical Sennin had the same responsibilities as her to keep him in check. As far as she knew, Junko was once MS then left for an extended period and now came back, now a chuunin. If he really gave a rats ass about medical sennin he would just retake the exam and pass with flying colors.

“Raikage, I wanted to talk to you about what Junko said. From being demoted then acquiring the Raikage position… How did you manage that?” A genuine question, all this happened when she was only 10. Mirō remembered the inauguration, however the government system wasn’t something she learned until she was an AiT. She wasn’t suspicious of her come-up, she really wanted clarification from the Raikage herself. “I’d give my life for the village. It saved me… from a life of wandering as…” Trailing off, Mirō hated delving into her past and nowadays it was classified. “As your ANBU Sennin, I’ll do everything I can to ensure the village's safety. Dying for it is a no-brainer. The Raikage should have mutual thoughts on that.”

A chill ran down her spine. A cold chill at the thought of the Raikage abandoning her village for her own personal gain or her life. Being the Raikage, the leader of the village, came with heavy responsibilities. Kitsune knows this, but if the Raikage wouldn’t give her life for the village… who else would. The thought of such selfishness made Mirō grit her teeth in anger. Waving the terrible fumes of that thought from her mind with a shake of her head, those red hues focused on Kitsune for a response. If she had nothing to say, the newly appointed sennin would leave to pursue the dimiterium threat.

[Mirō thinking.]
[Mirō talking.]

 

[Shinrya Kitsune]

Kitsune leaned back in her chair and turned to look at Miro ”It’s a long story. But. Many years ago, I was on a mission with the Raikage, some Sennin, and a few others. We were in Tenouza, for a summit between Bear, Marsh, Lightning and Tenouza. So they hosted it, and we all showed up. This was before their anti-chakra user crusades mind you. The Shogun was there, the Hoshikage was there, the Tenouzan Pope was there. And unbeknownst to us, so were a group of criminals called The Kingslayers. They attacked us during the summit and we fought to keep the dignitaries safe.” she began her story.

It had been a fierce fight, for sure. ”The Raikage, Hayata Shin, the then ANBU Sennin Kogami Ayumu, the father of my daughter, Main Branch Sennin Takaki Masao, they were all close to falling, and Masao broke off from the fight to pursue the leader of the Kingslayers, while the rest of us took care of the others. Thing is, one of them used incredible disguises and managed to fool me into thinking they were Masao to get close to me and stab me in the throat.” she said, and lifted her choker up, so Miro could see the star shaped elongated scar in the dead center of Kitsunes throat.

”I then gave my life, converting my life energy into healing power, to bring our forces back to fighting condition, which in turn caused our side to win against the Kingslayers. From that point, to my revival in my coffin, I’ve been told about six months had passed and I had to warp out of the coffin. If you go to the Heroes Section of the graveyard, you’ll find my grave. The coffin is still down there, empty. So at that point, I had died to save my Raikage, my comrades, and indirectly our village.” she continued, having let go of the choker so it could slide back into place.

She took a short breath before resuming her story ”After my revival, I went to meet with the Medical Sennin Daisuke, to let him know I was actually alive, at which point I was made his 2nd in command. I then proceeded to meet with the Raikage, still Hayata Shin, along with a few others, but we were held at arrowpoint a short time into the meeting when three people held up the meeting, killed Hayata Shin, Daisuke, and a genin whose name I don’t know, and then the two of them turned on the third, and essentially held us hostage until we agreed to assist covering it up. Having just been dead, I didn’t quite fancy going back to that state.” she said, recalling the darkness, and the hungry thing that was in the darkness...

Kitsune shook her head to shake off the thoughts of what she had experienced while technically dead ”So we had to help them, it was covered up, Keiji, a fellow mednin ended up going missing to escape the situation, while I remained behind. Obviously, I had to put up a facade to ensure survival at that point in time, but when the situation was investigated by the next Raikage, Akira Saito, I told him everything that had happened. He demoted me from Medical Sennin to Mednin Chief, replacing me with Kahako, my adoptive daughter. I kept working to better the branch. Later down the line, after Kahako fell ill, Junko took over as Sennin, and decided to give me a combat test, of all things.” she said, sighing at that last bit.

”It was the dumbest thing ever; Junko felt it necessary for a researcher and doctor to be as skilled a fighter as everyone else. Personally, I find that if the mednin has to fight instead of heal, the rest of the team has failed in their duties. He wasn’t satisfied with the result and demoted me to mednin as a result of that, and added a stipulation for my re-promotion, in that I were to take lessons in combat. I didn’t do said lessons and instead just focused on managing my two provinces: Raimei no Seika, the ancestral lands of the Shinrya Clan, and Liancourt-Tsushima, an area close to the border of the country given to me by the Shogun. Did I mention that I saved him on a previous occasion? That was a doozy of a mission. We paraglided from the top of the Torre Celeste onto a moving nuclear powered train to rescue the Shogun from the Kingslayers who had kidnapped him. We succeeded.”

After a short pause Kitsune went back to telling the story of how she came to be Raikage. ”Anyway. A while later, a bunch of Kumogakurians vanish into thin air, including most of our higher-ups and the Raikage at the time, Kogami Ayumu. The council had to do something, so they called in a small group of people they felt were potential candidates, myself included. I might’ve been the lowest in shinobi rank present, but I was the only one with a title of nobility and provincial management skills, which I figure is why I was brought in. We were given a task to show how we interacted with the community, how we performed our duties, and then they’d vote on the outcome. In the end, they picked me, and exonerated me from having assisted in the cover up of a murder under threat of death.”

The story was coming to an end, and Kitsune maintained her gaze at Miro ”And since then I’ve done what I can to best govern our forces, and our city. Including handling the diplomatic crisis caused by someone pretending to be the Raikage, sending letters to Leaf regarding the alliance. We have a new, proper alliance now, and that’s thanks to the work I put into making it happen.” she finished, folding her hands and awaiting the reaction from her ANBU Sennin. ”So you tell me, Miro. What is your verdict on this whole situation? Have I acted in bad faith, do you think?”

[MFT; WC: 1013]

 

[Kagami Miro]

Pale ears perked up once Kitsune began her story. The Tenzouans, the strongest people in the village and others gathered at the summit for a mission, and a group by the name Kingslayers… Just who were they? Mirō watched the Raikage’s hand slide up to reveal the nasty scar at her throat. ‘Nobody would survive a wound like that.’ As she continued Kitsune revealed that once again they walked into a trap. Forced at arrow point which ended up killing the Raikage, medical sennin and a few genin. Mirō bit her lip, aligning up her story with Junkos, Mirō could understand his pain for a moment. A colleague of his dying alongside the Raikage and more only to have Kitsune live… as if she didn’t attempt to defend them.

Withholding any signs of interrupting her, Mirō pondered Kitsune's side too. Coming back to life… must have post traumatic issues when you finally awaken from a revival like that. Dying again wouldn’t be the first thing back on a zombies agenda. On top of that, a cover up was made to ease the situation and a ninja named Keiji went missing. All this alongside Kitsune’s daughter falling ill put Tsuyoshi Junko into medical sennin. What truly baffled Mirō was a combat test while in the medical branch. If she wasn’t recommended for ANBU Mirō would still invest her time into Main because of her fighting prowess. Medical ninja should focus their time on research, healing and surgeries. If they have to fight… Mirō nodded in agreement with Kitsune’s words. Junko’s reasoning was selfish.

“I might’ve been the lowest in shinobi rank present, but I was the only one with a title of nobility and provincial management skills…” Naibu scoffed at her words. ‘Nobility? Is that how things worked back then?’ Her laugh echoed in Mirō’s head before fading. Time spent at the library let Mirō gain knowledge on past factions. Nobility being a recurring trend which meant absolutely nothing to her. ‘Born lucky.’ Herself being on the polar opposite side of the spectrum that title of nobility never sat well in her gut.

However, during that time Junko left the village to pursue personal matters. The candidates around must’ve been scarce but at the same time the most qualified for the village. A hard decision in trying times, before Mirō’s time.

At the end of her story Kitsune reviewed her past achievements, settling the crisis between Cloud and Leaf. Something Mirō was actually informed about from Shikyu. He had to travel to Leaf to offer the letter of an alliance which in turn brought the Hokage and his sennin to Cloud. Mirō having fought one the Medical Sennin at the time… maybe combat prowess was something that should be worked on. Nagisa sent her optimistic Anbu ass right into the infirmary in thirty seconds. Could Kitsune, the Raikage of Kumogakure defend and attack that well? ‘I’d hope so.’ Naibu chimed in once more. ‘You’d have to think someone who governs the entire village and has saved the shoguns hide would have incredible combat skills. From what Junko says, Kitsune might be lackin-..’ ‘Enough. I won’t tolerate disrespect to the Raikage… Even if you do make a compelling argument.’

Mirō’s soft lips curled inward, biting down on them with a few teeth trying to make sense of the entire story and what leads up to it and the future. ”What is your verdict on this whole situation? Have I acted in bad faith, do you think?”

Mirō remained silent for a moment. She pooled all the information she had of Kitsune, evaluating it carefully, her gaze tilted upward toward the ceiling to think clearly. A index finger curled naturally and was brought up to her mask where her chin would be. “As Raikage, settling the alliance, the efforts to settle the dimiterium situation are all shining in your favor.” Those red hues met her Sensei’s gaze once again. Mirō refrained from talking further. She was in compliance with everything her Sensei has done except for promoting her to Anbu Sennin. Mirō felt under qualified but luckily she wore a one horned mask to conceal her distress. It was another obstacle she had to overcome with large strides.

At the gate when Tsuyoshi Junko flexed his chakra at his bratty daughter (Son?) she’d be a liar if she didn’t admit to having weak knees if her gravitational shield failed to protect her. If that was the base power of the once medical sennin, Mirō was light years behind. Perhaps he’s a prodigy but even then talent only gets you so far. “As for what Junko is spouting, I will agree with him in a sense.” Remaining resolute, “As a medical ninja I believe you don’t need to meet the requirements in combat like ANBU must, but be on the same level as the Main Branch. However, now, as Raikage, unparalleled strength in words and fighting are needed.” Referring back to the bout Mirō and Nagisa had. Nagisa and Yukio both boasted the strength of their Hokage and they themselves were monsters. “To be your ANBU Sennin I’ll do what it takes to benefit the future of Kumogakure. Sensei, you haven’t led me astray since I became a ninja…” A silence fell across the room Mirō shook her head, “I, alongside ANBU, will defend you with my life if the situation demands it.” ‘If she ever falters, the ANBU will seek a greater leader.’ Naibu whispered her thoughts sweetly into Mirō’s mind. ‘The chances of that happening is low… but never zero.’

“With that, I’ll be off to examine the contents of our Dimiterium findings in Sileo and investigate the lords and patrons who are funding this Tenzouan situation.” With a nod of respect Mirō gracefully turned around stepping towards the door. Once she had left the Raikage’s office two ANBU ninja appeared at her side immediately. Her skin peeled off into two sheets of paper regarding plans to spy on big wigs within Kumogakure. Their footsteps were quiet as each member got their sheet and dashed off. ‘Naibu… The Raikage seeks to improve Kumo as a whole, don't you see?’ ‘Perhaps, I just like to keep an open mind.’ Mirō struggled with the idea of her Sensei moving Kumo forward with her own selfish ideals.

[WC:1051]
[Snapshot used.]
[Mirō thinking.]
[Mirō talking.]
[Naibu thinking to Mirō]
[Topic Left.]