Naruto SoundITP IC 1: A Melancholy Song of Hope To Come

[Rater202]

Ishikawa Estate

"...You know, Jirou-san, most people fall for this."

An illusion is dispelled and the clan member's body begins to change shape and size.

Shinpi is standing there is their traditional robe and mask. For whatever reason, they've elected to assume the size and proportions of a child.

"But that glance? Your subtle body language. You catch things that many people would miss," they say in a perfect imitation of Kimiko's voice. "Jirou-san, I will be honest with you... It is not in my interests for my... Firey tempered colleague to become Otokage. But that does not mean that endorsing our bid is in my interest."

"I could just search your estate to find any secrets you might be hiding... But that would be wrong. Especially since I chastised a little bunny for doing just that the other day. I'm no hypocrite."

"So, tell me, head of the Ishikawa-clan... What are your plans for the future of this village?"

In town, Foyuki-san's.

Fuyuki-san's frozen concoctions is a small shop, not unlike a ramen stand but with a bigger kitchen area that can't completely be seen from the front. If asked, Fuyuki-san, a young man with pale skin, brown eyes, and hair bleached white will say that that's where he keeps his top-secret ice making machine.

He has another treat, of course, but the man's selling point are his perfect snow cones.

Flavors, judging from the signage, come in strawberry, cherry, water mellon, lemon, lime, lemon-lime mixed, lemon-strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, blackberry, and "triple berry" which appears to be blueberry, raspberry, and strawberry mixed based on the colors.

"Senko-chan," the proprietor greets when you arrive. "It's been a while. You want your usual?"

"Yes. They have me doing missions now, I was on an extended C-rank. The details should be going public in a few days. And yes please."

"And I see you've brought a friend."

"Yes, this is Kimiko Ishikawa."

"You're becoming more popular lately. Does Menko-chan still refuse to try a snow cone?"

"Yes. To be fair, she is cold-blooded."

[Lord Raziere]

Ishikawa Estate:
Jirou of course decides to be polite
"Shimpi of the Three Thunders, I'm honored by your presence. I admit I have a bit of an advantage in this particular case considering the state of clan-less faces to memorize."
He considers the possibility the Shimpi was lying about not searching his estate: He could be telling the truth, but he could also be lying about it and just seeing if Jirou would tell the truth to him as a test then report to Nozojo or Ameoku about it if he did lie with evidence of their secrets. But then he just subtly alluded to chastising Usagi about it at some point and claiming to not be a hypocrite, which y'know strange thing to add. Hm. For now, play it safe, not lie exactly but be vague, fish out the situation with a little lure to make him bite on and show his real colors, restate some of the things he already told to the DJ.
"Well I have a promise to Nozojo about carrying on his vision in some manner. I'd be lacking in integrity if I went against this, wouldn't I? Of course we are a military so I plan on figuring out a way to train up a consistent force of Jounin as well. Legends like you won't be around forever after all, and its better that we have quality shinobi to face potential threats to our nation, and Futility-sans attacks provides all the reason I need to sell the idea politically since we currently seem unable to effectively deal with him.

And of course this village obviously needs allies, and I too wish form a coalition or alliance of sorts of with other minor nations for diplomatic purposes. Our voices together will louder than alone. But who knows? Perhaps I will find a way to gain an even greater ally."
Which of course depending on what Shimpi knew, could refer to one of two different superpowers in relation to Jirou, but it was best to leave that unspecified until he knew Shimpi's answer. If he was watching the rest of Team 3 as closely as he did Usagi then Jirou bet which one would be more likely he would he is talking about, but you can never be too sure.

Foyuki-San's Place:
She considers the flavors and says
"Watermelon flavor, please. Yes, I am Kimiko Ishikawa, Shining Star of the Hope Generation, hyu hyu! she recently joined my Genin team. Senko is a new addition, and that means some things still need some working out, but I'm confident that we will make a great team in time. Who might you be, I ask?"
She says, her usual more upbeat manic and ego-focused persona back now that is in public.

[Rater202]

Ishikawa Estate.

"Interesting, interesting, so very humble... Not at all like a typical clan head. Very interesting." Now Shinpi is using Senko's voice.

"That's all I need to here for that, but... Something a little more specific."

"Let us say for the sake of argument that a Ronin from the land of Iron was cought trying to sneak into the Sound village, looking to speak with you specifically. She is not your typical 'no rights' Ronin becuase her contract with her lord was severed by legal means due toa quirk of the unique political make-up of the land of iron... But she was still trying to infiltrate the village instead of coming in though official channels."

"Under... interrogation, it's determined that her story is true and she is only here becuase she wants you to verify a story before she decides if she wants to continue pursuing a bounty... Or swear herselfto the service of her former target until she repays a debt she perceives herself to have, something about guilt at almost killing an innocent. You know how weird Samurai are about that. But under interrogation, she reveals something interesting."

Shinpi pulls out a storage scroll and, with a poof of smoke, desposites a sixteen-year-old girl.

A sixteen-year-old girl who is quite muscular for her age, with a nasty scar on her back, who has been stripped down to her underwear. She's hogtied and has a black eye and what appear to be cigarette burns completly covering her left arm.

"I ass to kick I'm gonna god your swear when I get out of this," the bound ronin slurs deliriously.

"See, the prisoner let slip that her target, the person she needs you to verify the story of, your protege, Jirou-san, has been stealing Kekkei Genkai from the sound village's own clans... How would you handle that information getting out."

Fuyuki-san's.

"Why, I'm Fuyuki-san, owner and proprietor of this establishment," the man says as he steps back to make the ordered snowcones.

[igordragonian]

Present

Usagi sigh.
"I guess it make sense. If I had legs I would have just focused on my bow and close the day. Maybe I am wasting chakra... I could have defeated you fair and square princess!' She realize.
"Hmm. Summoning come easy to me. I guess I need to explore what I do there, that works so well."

Odayama add. "It quite an unusual for an academy student to already have contract. But I guess you this in common with Senko. But it's a good start Usagi. Humility-"

"I don't have humility! I am a proud kunoichi! And I'll never be helpless! Studying geeky stuff is just a means to an end!"

[Lord Raziere]

Ishikawa Estate:
He looks at this ronin. He takes a deep breath, keeping calm. Okay this looks bad. But if Shimpi wanted to screw over Jirou, he already would have. The question is how much does Shimpi know about Nozojo's mistake, and what would he do about it if he did if turns out he doesn't and he revealed that information? Well if he already knew about it and wanted to reveal it, he would've done so. If he knew about it and didn't want to reveal it, why was he saying that Senko stole the kekkei genkai? What would be the point of that manipulation? So he probably doesn't know. Bess stick to the vague truths then.
"....You are treading on a state secret, Shimpi. One that could prove damaging to our village beyond the loss of me or Senko. The ronin is....technically misinformed, but her claim has enough weight to it that I'd be forced to respond with the full truth. Justice would be done, but at great and terrible cost to our village. You'd be ensuring Ameoku's win besides.

But I assure you, Senko while irresponsible in her actions, did not technically steal the kekkei genkai from the clans. It'd be in both our interests if this matter was kept quiet."
After all, if Nozojo didn't inform Ameoku, the Jonin commander of Ottomaru's origins, why would he reveal it to the other two Thunders? He couldn't try and cover it up if Shimpi made it a point about standing against him in that scenario, he can't take on two Thunders physically or politically. Nozojo if he truly stood for the values he claims he does would reveal the truth to save Senko anyways and thus sacrifice himself, as she is still a young child and if he doesn't to preserve his own legacy for the greater good of the village, Jirou's only recourse would be to respond with the full truth to take Nozojo down with him. No one throws his lab assistant under the horse and gets away with it, Nozojo would not be worth his respect in that case.
"As for the ronin themselves, I believe she was someone Team 3 encountered on their recent mission, now what did Senko say...? Oh right, she said she was "more concerned about justice than money". Admirable. I'm sure I can deal with her myself."

Kimiko:
She will of course become bored while waiting and looking about for anything to focus her mind on, that and she hasn't experienced much life outside of shinobi life and her Estate so perhaps she curious of the process of how they're made or something. Point is she will lean over to try and take a closer look of him doing it and might see something interesting.

Present/With Usagi:
Yuyuyu is confused by Usagi's words
"Geeky stuff? What does being a manga fan have to do with any of this? I think your just jealous cause Kimiko knows how to do her job, Usagi."
"Yeah who would think smart people aren't popular? Your weird, Usagi. I didn't waste my time on silly mangas in my room, I studied and got good grades. You were the unpopular one because your grades were so bad remember? But thats neither here nor there.

Summoning is mainly a matter of how much chakra you have rather than have best chakra control. Small amounts of chakra, you can only summon minor allies, but kages have been said to summon giant animals of war to assault fortresses, destroy their foes and take on armies. it essentially delegates the task of knowing chakra control to others, and what becomes important is the relationship you have with your summons. For that I am no help, social skills is more Yuyuyu's expertise. But I imagine being friendly and not ticking them off is the most of it."
"Hm, good point. I should find a summons contract to sign. With the right one, I think it will leverage my skills quite nicely, and help with the dream I have."

Spoiler: OOC: Explanation for confusion

Show

the shinobi nations don't have the western concept of "geek/nerd/jock/whatever": remember how Naruto was the dead last and Sasuke was the popular kid AND got good grades? yeah, japanese culture values intellectuals higher than western culture does in school, while western culture tends to see Sasuke as nothing but an edgy whiny teen. if the two were taught in an american high school, the situation would most certainly be reversed with naruto being the popular one as he'd be seen as social and fun while Sasuke would be seen as the unpopular stuck up edgy nerd. thus the closest concept they have of someone being a "geek" is someone that is shut in and obsessed with manga, no matter their intellectual capacity. you didn't do anything wrong, I'm just being accurate to the culture.

[igordragonian]

(I can make sense of it)
"I make up my own terms and slang! Smart people arent popular by my decision!"


She blink

"You have a dream? I didnt heard you yelling it in a traininf or something"

[Rater202]

"Well, seeing how you deal with the Ronin will answer my third question."

Shinpi tosses the storage scroll at you. If you examine it, you'll find that there's still something in it.

Shinpi then pulls a large firecracker out of their sleeve and sets it off before melting into the floor.

It makes quite the loud BANG.

Kimiko

From the front of the store, it's kind of hard to see behind the partition... She can make out the edge of what might be a freezer but that's about it.

[Lord Raziere]

Jirou:
Mitsuko will leap out of the shadows as he disappears
"Always an annoying bastard to deal with, that one."
"You do know he can probably still hear you, right?"
"Yes. He is a master spy, if he didn't want to hear every word spoken about him behind his back he should've quit long ago."
""hmph. Well I've got things to do..."
"Whats this about a "Senko" stealing kekkei genkai?"
"Nothing to concern yourself with, mother. I assure you, there is no threat to our clan. Neither is the ronin on the floor."
"...Sigh. I'm loyal, I'll remain in the dark."
"Good. Now to deal with you."
He says picking up the ronin, then body flickers away.

Some time later....
After getting some of his spare clothes for her to wear, untying her but not giving back her sword yet, as he takes her to the lab after she is dressed and clear of mind.
"I was informed of the verification you want."
He says as they step into his lab.
"I'm being generous of course. You realize that you already know a high-ranking secret of the Sound Village, and request for more is not lightly granted. And your going to know one that technically Senko herself is not supposed to know, but I wouldn't be surprised if she figured it out. Its relatively minor in comparison."
He goes to a certain wall grips a certain part of it, opening a hidden panel with a hidden folder cabinet inside. He takes out a folder from in it.
"Here. A file on the "Oni-2 Investigation" a minor project where I and a couple other assistants worked to independently study and verify Senko's stories and biology without her knowledge or consent. This particular file details the comparison of biological samples between the one she gave us and the one we took while she as asleep when she was eight to make sure we didn't receive a tampered sample. All to make sure she wasn't some high-ranking Jounin with some weird kekkei genkai infiltrating our village for whatever reason at the time of course. It all turned out to be true of course and I ordered the investigation and her crimes buried as far as the village was concerned buried because a child should not have to held accountable for the cruelties of biology in my eyes. If there is anyone to blame for why the authorities did not respond to Debuita it is me, possibly the Otokage as well given that anything cleared to me is to cleared to him as well. This is not an apology, for I will not apologize for saving a child.

Does this satisfy you?"

Yuyuyu:
She sweatdrops and says
"N-not everyone shouts their dreams out, Usagi. and arguably in the ninja world, being too open about your actual goals is detrimental as people will be able to know what your aiming for and thus predict your actions."
Yuyuyu suspected the only reason Kimiko says her "get all jutsu" dream aloud is because she knows its so ridiculous and pie in the sky that she is counting on her combination of youth and egomaniacal personality to make other people dismiss it as nothing but the proclamations of an egotistical blowhard-a way of making people underestimate her.
"Like imagine if your dream was to get a valuable trinket, if you shout out that your dream is to get the trinket, your enemies will know they have to be faster than you to get the trinket and thus do things to sabotage your success or get it first if they value it as well or if they only value it in relation to you, use it as leverage over you. If however your quiet about it, they will be unable to know what your aiming for and be less sure what actions to take to counter or defeat you. and if you lie and say your dream is something completely different, then you mislead your enemies entirely and make them do things that can only be beneficial to you. Like saying your dream is to do something completely different like get revenge on a guy, they might go and protect that guy or something, so you get the trinket without them interfering. Its all about control of information. Its kind of why the ninja world is focused on deceit and seeing underneath the underneath."

Kimiko:
She will be annoyed, but in her curiosity, she won't give up yet. She had to distract Senko or she'd question why she wants to look into this, and Kimiko honestly was just seized by a sudden insatiable curiosity. So she decided to attempt to make her rant about something
"So authority in the shinobi nations sucks, right, Senko? What do you think of that?"
Then when she is distracted, Kimiko at high speeds will hide under a table while leaving an illusory basic clone jutsu to stand still and repeatedly nod as if listening to Senko then make herself invisible with Yuyuyu' invisibility genjutsu then begin climbing on the wall using the wall-walking technique on both hands and feet like spiderman, climbing up to the ceiling then skittering along the ceiling to get into the kitchen and look down upon the process of making snow cones.

[igordragonian]

Usagi grunt.
"It empower me. Maybe it double my chakra!", she argue.
A pause.
"Look... every day.. every moment is a challenge for me. Do you think it's EASY to wake up two hours before school and run on walls with my hands? Also, I show my determination, it might show them I am too strong willed for Genjutsus"

[Rater202]

Some time later....
After getting some of his spare clothes for her to wear, untying her but not giving back her sword yet, as he takes her to the lab after she is dressed and clear of mind.
"I was informed of the verification you want."
He says as they step into his lab.
"I'm being generous of course. You realize that you already know a high-ranking secret of the Sound Village, and request for more is not lightly granted. And your going to know one that technically Senko herself is not supposed to know, but I wouldn't be surprised if she figured it out. Its relatively minor in comparison."
He goes to a certain wall grips a certain part of it, opening a hidden panel with a hidden folder cabinet inside. He takes out a folder from in it.
"Here. A file on the "Oni-2 Investigation" a minor project where I and a couple other assistants worked to independently study and verify Senko's stories and biology without her knowledge or consent. This particular file details the comparison of biological samples between the one she gave us and the one we took while she as asleep when she was eight to make sure we didn't receive a tampered sample. All to make sure she wasn't some high-ranking Jounin with some weird kekkei genkai infiltrating our village for whatever reason at the time of course. It all turned out to be true of course and I ordered the investigation and her crimes buried as far as the village was concerned buried because a child should not have to held accountable for the cruelties of biology in my eyes. If there is anyone to blame for why the authorities did not respond to Debuita it is me, possibly the Otokage as well given that anything cleared to me is to cleared to him as well. This is not an apology, for I will not apologize for saving a child.

Does this satisfy you?"

The Ronin seems... Shaken. Shaken in a way that she wasn't before, despite being subjected to Torture and Interrogation.

"I almost murdered an innocent..."

Kimiko:
She will be annoyed, but in her curiosity, she won't give up yet. She had to distract Senko or she'd question why she wants to look into this, and Kimiko honestly was just seized by a sudden insatiable curiosity. So she decided to attempt to make her rant about something
"So authority in the shinobi nations sucks, right, Senko? What do you think of that?"
Then when she is distracted, Kimiko at high speeds will hide under a table while leaving an illusory basic clone jutsu to stand still and repeatedly nod as if listening to Senko then make herself invisible with Yuyuyu' invisibility genjutsu then begin climbing on the wall using the wall-walking technique on both hands and feet like spiderman, climbing up to the ceiling then skittering along the ceiling to get into the kitchen and look down upon the process of making snow cones.

There is quite a lot of equipment in the room.

But Fuyuki-san isn't using it.

Well, he's using the water dispenser.

One show cone is already made, and now he's filling a vessel...

And then holds up his hand and forms a ball of chakra, whirling and spiraling and glittering, ice-cold mist forming around the pale ball of chakra.

He then dips the ball into the vessel, which tears the water into countless tiny droplets which then freeze solid, and with that, he deposits a perfectly formed snowcone into a serving dish and then begins drizzling the flavored syrup over it.

That... Was high-level Ninjutsu. High-level shape and nature transformation without hand signs.

And he uses it to make snow cones.

[Lord Raziere]

Jirou:
He is silent for a moment at her reaction. It is a sad day when a man admits to spying on a child and covering up multiple deaths and the person seeking justice for that says they're the one in the wrong as a result.
"....If this was a better world, none of this would've happened. In a better world, kekkei genkai and their effects on humans who inherit them would be studied openly, with better organizations to help deal them growing up with such abilities. I doubt Senko is the only example of a child whose life was ruined by this kind of thing when they had no support network to turn to. Support that is better than a bunch of warlike clans whose discipline comes at the cost of making them weapons for the state. After all, Senko's clan was mostly wiped out, seemingly long ago. If the clans didn't wage war, Senko's clan wouldn't be in their fallen state, and she'd have a family that would've made sure such an incident didn't occur.

I want to make a better world such as this. Or at least, make the first step towards it. You said you would swear your life to serve Senko. This is good. I am after all, going to become Otokage sooner or later and I won't be able to protect Senko myself forever. As an Otokage, I can at least make changes in this village, but I hope to do more. If you can help me do that- perhaps things can be made better, and perhaps even the Land of Iron could be apart of it. I plan on a world where minor nations like mine and yours get a voice rather than just being pawns in the five's game, a world where samurai do not seek to kill children to protect others. Can I count upon your aid in this?"

Kimiko, With Usagi:
Yuyuyu looks at Kimiko as Usagi claims this
"Would that really work?"
Kimiko thinks
"Would that double her chakra? Doubtful. Mental energies are increased by studying, meditation and experience. It may count as a mantra and be slightly increasing her mental energies, but it'd be nowhere near as efficient as meditation would be. Her constant handstand exercises are definitely increasing her physical energy a lot however. It'll make her better at Yang release jutsu and taijutsu thats for sure, as well as enhancing her physical abilities with the elemental releases. Won't improve her genjutsu techniques at all though."
"and her genjutsu defense?"
"....Eh, defending against genjutsu is often experiencing enough to get inured to it and getting used to noticing your mind being tampered with and resisting it. She's stubborn, she'll do fine."
She then says
"But this is all derailing from the education. To go further into shape transformation, one must recognize that there are three main components of it: Direction, Power, Definition. To master shape transformation, One must be able to use their chakra in multiple directions, be able to control the volume and density of the chakra they wield and contain their chakra in a defined shape. To have all three of these is ideal, but many techniques make do with only parts of these components, as I shall now demonstrate."
She pulls out her Origami-No Tsurugi.
"First, Direction."
She makes the paper blade bend this way and that with her chakra.
"Next, Power."
She pours chakra into the blade to make it incredibly sharp then slashes a nearby rock with it and it splits cleanly in half.
"Last, Definition."
She points her blade upwards and makes it extend, rigid despite its paper nature, now incredibly long, then retracts it back to normal.
"If one could properly combine these components together into one technique, they'd be a master of shape transformation indeed....."

Kimiko, Snow-Cone Place:
....and this technique she was seeing down there was exactly that technique. The rotation fulfilled direction, power was needed to constantly spin things that fast, the simple spherical shape fulfilled the definition part of the components. Her eyes shine with discovery. It was so simple yet so......brilliant. The techniques she demonstrated with Usagi earlier were just applications of one aspect or another, but this technique had all three working as one. Why did no one discover this before? Perhaps it was because the environment of war naturally made people want to go for blades rather than spheres. What to call this technique...? Whether she just thinks similarly to Minato Namikaze, or whether this techniques name is some multi-universal constant, the name "Rasengan" springs to mind and she just goes with it.

She also noted the Ice Release on display and of course decided not to tell anyone about the snow cone guy's secret. She was taught by her Clan not to rat out Kiri Missing Nin if she ever found them. It was this whole loyalty and solidarity policy they practice after they got kicked out by Yagura, as only fellow Kiri exiles would understand their situation and thus need to look out for one another. She would simply say the Rasengan was her idea, take credit for inventing it so as to not blow his cover for whatever purpose this probably incredibly powerful jounin was hiding here for. That and if he's Kiri exile, her clan and the Kaguyas probably knows about him already (they don't) and are keeping him safe.

She watches a bit to make sure she remembers how the Rasengan looks, letting her incredible memory etch it into her mind for later, then she crawls back along the ceiling, back to where her basic clone was stepped into its place, dispelling both it and her own invisibility genjutsu at the same time to make it look like she had been listening the whole time.
"Yup, all those people are certainly corrupt and such I feel you, so unfair."
She says to make it sound as if she was listening to the rant she had tried to induce in Senko. She'd have to try this new technique later. Her sword while a valuable heirloom, kind of was a crutch for her in terms of chakra control and this technique could help her move beyond it at the very least.

[Rater202]

Jirou:
He is silent for a moment at her reaction. It is a sad day when a man admits to spying on a child and covering up multiple deaths and the person seeking justice for that says they're the one in the wrong as a result.
"....If this was a better world, none of this would've happened. In a better world, kekkei genkai and their effects on humans who inherit them would be studied openly, with better organizations to help deal them growing up with such abilities. I doubt Senko is the only example of a child whose life was ruined by this kind of thing when they had no support network to turn to. Support that is better than a bunch of warlike clans whose discipline comes at the cost of making them weapons for the state. After all, Senko's clan was mostly wiped out, seemingly long ago. If the clans didn't wage war, Senko's clan wouldn't be in their fallen state, and she'd have a family that would've made sure such an incident didn't occur.

I want to make a better world such as this. Or at least, make the first step towards it. You said you would swear your life to serve Senko. This is good. I am after all, going to become Otokage sooner or later and I won't be able to protect Senko myself forever. As an Otokage, I can at least make changes in this village, but I hope to do more. If you can help me do that- perhaps things can be made better, and perhaps even the Land of Iron could be apart of it. I plan on a world where minor nations like mine and yours get a voice rather than just being pawns in the five's game, a world where samurai do not seek to kill children to protect others. Can I count upon your aid in this?"

"...A world with no injustice is all I ever wanted. It was what I was raised from birth to believe I was working towards as a samurai of th eLand of Iron... Until my Lord, the general of the Land of Iron refused to hold justice against the shinobi that killed my seniors in an unprovoked attack and dared to say it was for the sake of maintaining neutrality when it was in fact showing favor to... I apologize, you do not need to hear my life story."

"I do not trust easily, Shinobi, not after learning that my life was a lie, but... If what you say about your goals is true then... If it is true, then you have my word that I will provide what assistance I can."

"...and, as an aside, I may have left my home but I still abide by the code of Bushido. If I am sworn to the... To Senko-san I will have to side with her unless or until I am given permission to disobey or unless she does something to sever my oath. So... Even if you are telling the truth, take care not to turn your ward into your enemy until such a time as my debt to her is repaid."

"...And unless Senko-san has desperate need of someone who can write calligraphy, perform multiple tea ceremonies, fold all nine of the tailed-beasts with a single sheet of standard folding paper each, and know exactly the correct angle to bow when greeting a kage versus greeting a shogun vs greeting a feudal lord, I will need my sword back before I can do anything for her or for you."

Kimiko, Snow-Cone Place:
....and this technique she was seeing down there was exactly that technique. The rotation fulfilled direction, power was needed to constantly spin things that fast, the simple spherical shape fulfilled the definition part of the components. Her eyes shine with discovery. It was so simple yet so......brilliant. The techniques she demonstrated with Usagi earlier were just applications of one aspect or another, but this technique had all three working as one. Why did no one discover this before? Perhaps it was because the environment of war naturally made people want to go for blades rather than spheres. What to call this technique...? Whether she just thinks similarly to Minato Namikaze, or whether this techniques name is some multi-universal constant, the name "Rasengan" springs to mind and she just goes with it.

She also noted the Ice Release on display and of course decided not to tell anyone about the snow cone guy's secret. She was taught by her Clan not to rat out Kiri Missing Nin if she ever found them. It was this whole loyalty and solidarity policy they practice after they got kicked out by Yagura, as only fellow Kiri exiles would understand their situation and thus need to look out for one another. She would simply say the Rasengan was her idea, take credit for inventing it so as to not blow his cover for whatever purpose this probably incredibly powerful jounin was hiding here for. That and if he's Kiri exile, her clan and the Kaguyas probably knows about him already (they don't) and are keeping him safe.

She watches a bit to make sure she remembers how the Rasengan looks, letting her incredible memory etch it into her mind for later, then she crawls back along the ceiling, back to where her basic clone was stepped into its place, dispelling both it and her own invisibility genjutsu at the same time to make it look like she had been listening the whole time.
"Yup, all those people are certainly corrupt and such I feel you, so unfair."
She says to make it sound as if she was listening to the rant she had tried to induce in Senko. She'd have to try this new technique later. Her sword while a valuable heirloom, kind of was a crutch for her in terms of chakra control and this technique could help her move beyond it at the very least.

"Yes then, glad you agree. Now, which nation's feudal lord shall we ritualistically slaughter, butcher, cook, and cannibalize in front of an audience of our followers to prove a point first?" Senko says with a completely straight face.

"What's this? Eating the rich?" someone else says as she enters the establishment.

In comes a teenager with ear-length red hair under a cap that serves as a sound village forehead protector. She's dressed in relatively standard attire for a sound ninja, except she doesn't have a flack jacket indicating that she's only a genin.

"You aren't actually eating those 'emergency snacks' are you?"

"No, Ichika-san, that label, like this comment, was a morbid joke. In this case, I was attempting to see if Kimiko-san was paying attention, she seemed a bit. Inattentive at the end there."

"Kimko-san, this is Ichika-san. She's a medic-nin who works at the hospital and is usually the one who delivers medical cadavers to the laboratory."

At this point, Fuyuki-san comes back with the ordered snowcones. Senko's usual seems to be the lemon-strawberry, which she pays for as it's given.

Ichika, the medic-nin, orders a triple berry, and the proprietor departs.

[Lord Raziere]

Jirou:
He nods
"Of course. This transition will take some time for you. I understand, and of course I just wanted to make sure where we stand before I hand you a dangerous weapon your trained in using."
A water clone of Jirou comes walking in with her blade and other confiscated equipment such as her actual clothes.
"I've had my clone go to retrieve your equipment while you were still drugged. If you were more hostile, holding your blade under my direct power would be useful for multiple purposes. Give it back to her."
The Jirou clone hands her the sword and other equipment then says
"My existence, to retrieve some weaponry how sa-"
Then Jirou makes a release hand seal and it bursts into water is sucked back into a storage scroll.
"Sorry about that, you allow them to exist for too long they start getting depressed. Anyways quick rundown: Welcome to Otogakure. you've already met Shimpi be careful around him, he is a scheming unknown agenda type, if you see a woman who summons cats and is constantly talking about strength and staying strong through conflict and war thats Ameoku the other of the Three Thunders, be careful around her she is my political opponent for Otokage, if you see a middle aged man in a kage hat that thats Nozojo our second and current Otokage, and anyone with blue hair and shark teeth like mine are my clan members which I am head of so they are my responsibility. I don't know if a samurai residing a shinobi village has ever happened before but I'd be surprised if this was the first time, but do remember: we're the Land of Rice's spy and asymmetrical warfare division, not other samurai. We're not going to play by the same rules. But don't worry, you have the odd fortune of swearing yourself to perhaps the least shinobi-like genin in existence. You'll get along with Senko just fine. Oh and there is a terrorist missing nin about called Futility-san about, nihilistic sort, can't miss him, targets genin kids when they're alone, you are authorized to use lethal force against him, and he is the number one threat to look out for when guarding Senko.

the lab's bathroom is over there if you want to change."

Kimiko, Snow cones:
She is caught off guard by the joke
"Uuuuh....."
As ichika-san comes her uuh becomes...
"Uuuuuhahahahaahaha! Yes funny joke! good one! I uuh...."
She eats some of her watermelon snowcone to buy her some time to think. What did eat the rich even mean!? Wasn't she technically rich? Or was she too fallen noble clan to count? Were they joking about eating her?
"....nice to meet you Ichika-san. I dunno Senko I always wanted to try some middle class myseeeelf?"
She tries to joke thinking it was about cannibalism in general.

[Rater202]

When Tomoe returns from changing, she asks, "and where can I find Senko now?"

Fuyuki-san's frozen confections.

Senko takes a bite of her snowcone...

Then deliberately breaks one of her own fingers while not breaking eye contact with Kimiko.

[Lord Raziere]

Jirou:
He says
"Oh right, she is probably her apartment last I checked. You can wait for her there if she isn't though, she'll have to return there sooner or later."
He gives her the address to Senko's apartment, as well as Otogakure tourist brochure with a map in case she needs that from a storage scroll.
"The maps accurate, but take any of the information aside from the location labels with a grain of salt. We intentionally put stuff in that so that tourists return to their home spreading rumors and misinformation about shinobi. As for why I have one prepared, safely and happily escorting tourists through the village without compromising our security is a common D-Rank mission throughout the nations, so I had to be prepared for that when I was a Genin and to give it out to Genin teams as apart of assigning or leading them for such a mission."
It also to keep an eye on said tourists to make sure they weren't spies trying to sneak in or anything, and Genin also prove to be great recommenders to make sure the tourist spends money at the village, thus helping the economy. Such tourists and thus such missions tend to increase in numbers around the time of the Chuunin Exams of course, and other genin teams are valid people to escort on such a mission. Take their money and whatever information you get out of them.

Kimiko:
She flinches and her eyes widen at this and she is silent for a moment.
"...."
She takes a bite of her snow cone, swallows then points to the broken finger.
"...Senko....why did you do something stupid and break your own finger? Don't be stupid."

[Rater202]

Tomoe takes the pamphlet and leaves with a bow.

Senko

Senko's broken finger slowly bends and curls back into place with a crack.

"Huh. That is convenient."

She looks at Kimiko. "Becuase a shock o the system from a sudden jolt of pain can free someone's see from Genjutsu." She produces a scalpel from her sleeve. "Now hold still, since I am not under a genjutsu that means that your strange behavior just now is because either you are under a genjutsu or because you are Futility-san under a transformation. Either way, the solution involves inflicting pain on you."

"...Senko-san? I'm a sensor type... you could just ask me to check?"

[Lord Raziere]

Kimiko:
Uh oh. This ain't good. If she doesn't think of something, she'll get stabbed. She dumps the remainder of the snowcone into her mouth, swallows then says.
"Oh you want proof that I'm not under a genjutsu or Futility-San? Okay if you can do it, so can I, Kimiko Ishikawa, Genius of Clan Ishikawa!"
She swiftly breaks her left pinkie finger. CRACK! Immediately she begins screaming while falling to the ground from the pain, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGH! OWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOOOOOOOW! WHY DID I DO THIS!? HOW DO YOU ENDURE THIS!? AGH! AND I THINK I'M GETTING BRAINFREEZE TO! AAAAAOOOOW....."
Lying to cover an ally of your clan and get a powerful new jutsu is painful.

[Rater202]

Kimiko:
Uh oh. This ain't good. If she doesn't think of something, she'll get stabbed. She dumps the remainder of the snowcone into her mouth, swallows then says.
"Oh you want proof that I'm not under a genjutsu or Futility-San? Okay if you can do it, so can I, Kimiko Ishikawa, Genius of Clan Ishikawa!"
She swiftly breaks her left pinkie finger. CRACK! Immediately she begins screaming while falling to the ground from the pain, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGH! OWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOOOOOOOW! WHY DID I DO THIS!? HOW DO YOU ENDURE THIS!? AGH! AND I THINK I'M GETTING BRAINFREEZE TO! AAAAAOOOOW....."
Lying to cover an ally of your clan and get a powerful new jutsu is painful.

It's at this point that Fuyuki-san returns wit Ichika's ordered snow cone.

"...What the Hell?"

"It seems that Senko-san's friend started acting strangely and Senko began to suspect that she'd either been replaced with an imposter or subjected to a genjutsu... So she broke her finger to prove she was neither."

Ichika kneels down by Kimiko. "C'mon, I'm a medic. Let me see your hand."

If Kimiko lets Ichika see her hand, Ichika sets the broken bone and uses the Mystic Palm technique to start repairing the damage... While putting pressure on Kimiko's wrist that makes the entire hand go numb.

[Lord Raziere]

Jirou:
Not long after showing the ronin the way, he has an idea and travels to Kikenna's apartment. She was clearly packing up much of her stuff for their marriage to come sooner or later and thus move into the Ishikawa Estate.
"Yeah, what is it?" She says answering the door.
They make the safety hand signs to confirm it is each other.
"I have a third plan to defeat Futility-San that you can help with. The first plan as you know is not politically advisable and the second plan well...has its dangers. But this third plan could work to prevent me having to use the second."
"Okay, write it down and then lets burn it. Don't want it being overheard, yes?"
He nods and proceeds to do so.

Kimiko:
She dutifully allows Ichika to do this, staring intently at the mystical palm technique. When its done she will say to Senko.
"Ugh....Look I promise to tell you what was up with all that later okay? There is a good reason for it."
She certainly didn't want to spill it in the presence of Fuyuki-san, who was clearly a high-level undercover missing nin jounin of the Kiri Rebels that she was lucky to have evaded the notice of. Let that secret get out and who knows what might break out? Its safer for everyone this way. Look how he acts surprised at shinobi breaking their fingers to get out of genjutsu, only a master actor could fake surprise that authentic!

[Rater202]

Senko just stares at Kimiko for a moment. She finishes her snowcone and leaves.

[Lord Raziere]

Kimiko:
Her eyes will widen, not sure if she hurt Senko's feelings or not. She will follow Senko. She just needed to make sure she didn't reveal she had knowledge of the technique Fuyuki had used, not make her leave entirely! Did she see through it? She probably saw right through it, how was she so perceptive!? She will try to catch up with Senko, trying to come up with something to tell her. Could Senko be trusted with knowing Fuyuki's background? Senko might insist on getting him protection from Futility-san which would only blow Fuyuki's cover, or taking genetics from him which might be dangerous to Senko, given that he (she assumes) is a ninja. Perhaps she could just say she was preoccupied having a new idea for a jutsu and that Senko was overreacting. Would she buy that? Ugh! This lying thing was harder than she thought. Maybe she should tell the truth and make her promise to keep the secret, her family doesn't need to know, right? Her thoughts swim as she tries to catch up.

[Rater202]

Senko makes her way back to her apartment at a brisk pace.

It's honestly not that far of a walk... Though, there does seem to be a commotion outside the building.

Specifically, Menko is rapidly punching the ronin, Tomoe Kurogane, in the chest while yelling "yatatatatatatata" over and over again.

Even the most incompetently trained ninja ever can tell that the summoned creature does not know how to throw a punch. The ronin in question seems to be trying to ignore her.

[Lord Raziere]

Kimiko:
Anything she was going say to Senko instantly dies in her throat when she sees Kurogane. Why is she here?
"Got a lot of nerve to come here, ronin."
Her hand goes to her sword hilt, gripping it, tense.
"What, you still want to harass Senko even after all that? Don't you have some cats to save from trees for a couple of ryo somewhere? Or is killing random bandits for pocket change not as profitable as it once was anymore?"

[Rater202]

Kimiko:
Anything she was going say to Senko instantly dies in her throat when she sees Kurogane. Why is she here?
"Got a lot of nerve to come here, ronin."
Her hand goes to her sword hilt, gripping it, tense.
"What, you still want to harass Senko even after all that? Don't you have some cats to save from trees for a couple of ryo somewhere? Or is killing random bandits for pocket change not as profitable as it once was anymore?"

This close, it's easy to see that the ronin has a fresh black eye.

"I come in peace, Ishikawa. Now, unless you wish to test your paper mache pigsticker against real steel, I suggest you leave me to my business.

The ronin backs up, walks around the summon that she's been ignoring the punches of this entire time...

And falls to her knees in a swift fluid motion at Senko's feet.

"I have verified your story, and in doing so learned that I have committed a grievous crime against you. By my honor, I swear to serve you with my sword and my life until such a time as my debt to you is repaid."

"...So, how well can you pull off a maid uniform?"

Senko... Stammers. "I... I... I am not permitted roommates, subletters, or domestic servants under the terms of my current lease!"

[Lord Raziere]

Kimiko:
Her eyes widen and she gets angry. She can't very well tell secrets with a foreign ronin about, especially one as honest and upright as Kurogane. Can you really trust someone like that to keep your dark ninja secrets instead of ratting them out to the nearest authority figure because its the "right thing to do"? She thought not.
"WHAT!? First of all, this "paper mache pig stickler" is capable of more things than your mere piece of metal ever will be.

Second of all, I call shenanigans on that Oath! You've just set yourself up for conflicting loyalties between the Land of Iron and Senko who is with the Land of Rice! You screwed yourself over for being trusted by either nation! Because last time I checked, you are still in some way loyal to your homeland even if you disagree with their stance on foreign policy, is that correct? Or are you so cold that your throwing away all the people you know for this new life of service to someone you just met?

Third, even if you have your reasons, Senko, there are multiple this does not work! You just stated one, and furthermore, what this bodyguard going to do while we're on missions? Is she just apart of the team now, because that won't work, she lacks many of the skills and training necessary to do our missions, we're already pushing the ideal number of shinobi on mission by having five, and having another person who kill people is not going to make much difference in our effectiveness combat-wise, and potentially be a detriment in many other ways. How is this going to work!?"

[Rater202]

"My oath to the Shogun of the Land of Iron was severed when he actively refused to investigate the unprovoked attack upon my squad and the homicide of my entire squad, Ishikawa, and dared to say that demanding justice or permission to investigate from the bordering nation from whom the Shinobi in question crossed our borders from would violate our neutrality. In doing so, th eShogun violated the oaths that the entire Samurai corp is obligated to swear and follow. I was effectively exiled when I left my resignation from the Samurai corp, and everyone in the Land of Iron who still deserves my loyalty is dead. Unless Senko-sama needs for me to return to the land of Iron, there is no conflict on my end."

"Though I suppose that I am asking too much, expecting a young shinobi to understand the nuances of a samurai's oaths of fealty."

"And if you have an issue with my oath, I would take it up with... Well, I am not sure how you're related to Jirou Ishikawa, but I assume that you are. He is the one who verified Senko-sama's story and he approved of my intent to make amends by swearing to her service. I understand he is set to become the next leader of this village."

[Lord Raziere]

Kimiko:
"One: I'm his little sister. Two: How convenient anyone who you could trust to verify your story is dead. Sure its plausible in a post-war environment, but that is also the reason why some people can plausibly use the story to gain sympathy and infiltrate places. But fine, if Jirou approves....well. I don't. You still tried to kill my friend! I'll be keeping an eye on you."
She will walk away, eyes narrowed while making "I'm watching you" gestures with her fingers, then when at the door she will stick out her tongue and go
"Nyeeeeh!"
Like the child she is and then go walking off to practice the Rasengan on her own.

Jirou:
After done detailing the plan he will arrange the time for Senko's announcement over the radio.
"Helllo everyone this is Jirou Ishikawa, here to introduce you to Senko, a genin you may not be familiar with. I was assigned to give her a special education to bring out her potential that the academy was considered ill-equipped to do and we now feel its time to introduce you to her, Senko, take it away."

[Rater202]

Kimiko:
"One: I'm his little sister. Two: How convenient anyone who you could trust to verify your story is dead. Sure its plausible in a post-war environment, but that is also the reason why some people can plausibly use the story to gain sympathy and infiltrate places. But fine, if Jirou approves....well. I don't. You still tried to kill my friend! I'll be keeping an eye on you."
She will walk away, eyes narrowed while making "I'm watching you" gestures with her fingers, then when at the door she will stick out her tongue and go
"Nyeeeeh!"
Like the child she is and then go walking off to practice the Rasengan on her own.

"She insists that she doesn't trust me... And then leaves me alone with you. Ninja are weird."

Jirou:
After done detailing the plan he will arrange the time for Senko's announcement over the radio.
"Helllo everyone this is Jirou Ishikawa, here to introduce you to Senko, a genin you may not be familiar with. I was assigned to give her a special education to bring out her potential that the academy was considered ill-equipped to do and we now feel its time to introduce you to her, Senko, take it away."

"Yes, I am Senko. I am ten years of age, and I have been here in the Sound village for a few years. I am... techncially a clan ninja in that I come from a family with a Kekkei Genkai, though, personally, I rather dislike the term as the difference between an advanced bloodline and a hidden technique can be arbitrary, but my family is scattered across the continent and does not have a proper surname."

"I have recently received evidence that my family might be a splinter from the Senju Clan originating two generations prior to the end of the warring clans period, but I have no way of verifying this at this time."

"My bloodline has some... disadvantages and trying to find ways to manage them lead me to the study of the science of biology, chakra formation, and how one influences the other and vice versa. Most of my time has involved some form of research on one or both subjects at the village's research laboratories."

"I am also the currently recognized Hebisennin, or Snake Sage, having stolen the Snake Summoning contract right out from the leaf village's noses. I never would have been able to do it without Ishikawa-sensei's tutelage."

[Lord Raziere]

Kimiko:
She will ask Yuyuyu later:
"How much to keep an eye on the ronin?"
"I'll need ryo to pay the academy student I got recruited into my network so they can get candy. Of course, all my kohais are one year younger, so it'll be one year before at least some of my network are genin and some are dropouts, then they will pay will increase. They'll be making their own ryo by then, and they'll be more trained so their services will be more valuable, even if they're dropouts their services will be valuable."
"Year won't be necessary. I'll pay you to get a kohai to spy on the ronin for a month."
"You think eleven year old spies will find anything that indicates she's just playing us?"
"I think any real infiltrator can't keep up their lie forever. Eventually she'd make a mistake. If she's genuine, they won't find anything and get candy money for an easy job and what is essentially training for recon missions."
"That'll work. Send it in the mail, and I'll get someone to tail her for a month."
What? She doesn't have time to do it herself, Kimiko has training, missions, inventions and such to do.

Jirou:
He will chuckle a little and say
"You flatter me, my student. Everything I taught, I learned from the village around me, thanks to everyone's hard work and Nozojo's leadership. And like any ninja in the Sound village, your mind and heart are more important than blood, your research and recent efforts on the mission proves that. But now that you have the Snake Contract, what do you plan doing from here? Hebisennin is quite a prestigious position, one could say puts you on the path or at least the expectation of achieving Jounin- or more! Surely you have something in mind for what the village can expect from you in the future?"

[Rater202]

Jirou:
He will chuckle a little and say
"You flatter me, my student. Everything I taught, I learned from the village around me, thanks to everyone's hard work and Nozojo's leadership. And like any ninja in the Sound village, your mind and heart are more important than blood, your research and recent efforts on the mission proves that. But now that you have the Snake Contract, what do you plan doing from here? Hebisennin is quite a prestigious position, one could say puts you on the path or at least the expectation of achieving Jounin- or more! Surely you have something in mind for what the village can expect from you in the future?"

"That is a rather complicated question, is it not? Let us start by looking at what a Jonin is."

"A jonin is a skilled and experienced ninja who has proven themselves a capable leader, who ha surpassed a certain level of raw power, and who ha mastered a wide variety of skills including a certain degree of proficiency at Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, and Taijutsu."

"At this time, I do not think I am suited for a leadership role. Furthermore, while the exact quirks of my bloodline mean that I will never want for power, they also mean that I am naturally predisposed toward a taijutsu specialization with other abilities being supplemental and my natural affinity is for Yang Release, which is very rare and consists almost entirely of hidden techniques and medical ninjutsu."

"While I am not restricted to only following my natural talents, a complication of my bloodline's powers makes that rather difficult. Currently, I am practicing with water release nature transformation, which alongside earth release is the next most common affinity in my family beside yang, but progress is slow so far."

"My clan are, however, naturally adept at Senjutsu. We are among the rare few who can use senjutsu without entering Sage Mode, mostly in terms pf physical enhancement and, in conjunction with other aspects of our bloodline, physiological adaptation: Strictly speaking, every part of my body can become a weapon at will. We even have our own form of sage mode."

"I suppose you can say that my current goals are to improve my chakra control to the point that I can master my Clan's senjutsu and achieve and master my Clan's Sage mode, and then do the same with the Snake's Sage Mode. I feel like I am close to a breakthrough.."

"Which brings us to the Snakes. The techniques known to the snakes consist mostly of Genjutsu and reincarnation techniques, in addition to summoning variations obviously. Melee combat, supplemental control, and personal enhancement. Maybe medical techniques."

"With what comes most natural to me and what I have access to... I might be better as a supplemental actor than as a leader, at least until I am much older."

"Besides, I mostly see myself continuing to work as a researcher. The snakes of Ruchi Cave have a vast library of scientific knowledge, occult lore, history, and techniques created and collected by themselves and by previous snake sages. I'm sure it will be quite a boon in the years to come."

"There are also the chunin exams to consider. If I can improve my skills enough it might be worthwhile to consider sending me as part of the Sound Village's representation, though I am not sure I would want to deprive someone who came through the system the normal way of an opportunity. I do not believe I am ready for the responsibility of being a chunin just yet, but my understanding is that the purpose of the exams is more for the villages to show off the talent of their youngest members and to network with people from other villages and nations in order to attract clients, investors, and allies as much it is to give a genin a shot at promotion."

Tomoe

Over the next few days, Yuyuyu's spies note that Tomoe frequently visits Senko's apartment, but only when Senko is there and only for a few hours tops. The rest of the time, she seems to be looking for work and/or someplace to stay... From brief looks, she seems to have an almost implausible amount of cash on her, but...

In evenings, she sleeps in a tree in the park.

Around the time that Senko is conducting her radio interview, tomoe purchases incense from a shop and seems to be performing some kind of ritual or ceremony in a secluded place with a look of sorrow on her face.