Chapter 46
Utakata didn't like what he saw. It was some kind of heart disease, not a common disease either. It was impossible to say what it was exactly. He needed to examine and test Ringo further over a period of time. Only then could he begin to plan how to heal her body. It was more complicated than Utakata thought, but he was confident that he could heal her.
"What is the verdict?" Ringo asked after Utakata took his hands from her back.
"What did the medics in the village say?" Utakata asked in return.
"Bullshit," Ringo replied, but Utakata didn't have it and waited for her to continue. "It was a terminal illness. That is what they said. I would die, and there was nothing to be done."
"Bullshit, indeed," Utakata had to agree with Ringo's assessment. "I need at least two weeks to get to the bottom of it. I will make some medicine that should help with pain and symptoms in the meantime. There is no such thing as an incurable disease; we only need to find a method that wasn't yet discovered."
"You changed," Ringo said suddenly. "I didn't realize it before, but now I can see."
"What? What can you see?"
"I will keep that to me," Ringo smiled, probably trying to annoy him. "And it seems that they had come."
Utakata sensed them a while ago. Mei and Ao were gone to gather their people. Utakata helped Ringo to her feet and left the room. Mei still wasn't very happy with Utakata's presence, but she had begun to tolerate him. Ao was still suspicious of Utakata and his words and always kept his eyes on him. Utakata didn't mind.
"Thirty-seven," Utakata counted the shinobi gathered at Mei's house. "I don't know if I should be disappointed or impressed."
"That as many people ready to fight the current regime as we could find," Mei replied. "Every single one of them is ready to lay their lives for a better future for the village."
"I am sure they are," Utakata said as he scanned them all. "Do they know the plan?"
"They know what they will have to do."
Utakata didn't say anything about their strength. They weren't particularly strong, but he couldn't say they were weak either. As long as they did what they had to, it didn't matter much. Still, Utakata wasn't going to put too much confidence in them. He will probably have to rely on himself and Mei for the plan to work.
In the end, they only needed to worry about Yagura and Mangetsu Hozuki. Utakata didn't know anything about his other forces, but it would be an ambush, so Yagura wouldn't even bring most of his forces. And they had Mei. She was by far the strongest in the room and comparable to Utakata in strength. So, as long as they worked together, Utakata didn't think they would lose.
"If everything is prepared, I will have to make a move."
"One last thing," Mei said as she gave Utakata ten thick rings. "I remembered you using wires as a weapon. I don't know why you are so confident about facing Yagura without your sword, but you need a weapon. I don't care if you die, but I will not let any of my people suffer because of your arrogance."
Utakata looked at the rings, and seeing Mei's expression, he put them on. The rings were filled with thin string—thinner than the wires he used to use. It would be hard to capture anyone with them, as the strings would be easier to break, but he could feel how sharp they were. And that made Utakata hesitate to use them. It would be so easy for him to cut people to pieces with these strings. But he might need them.
"What about me, master?" Utakata sighed as he looked at Kimimaro.
"Stay near Ringo and support her as much as you can, but under no circumstances try to fight anyone head-on. You are not ready for that."
Utakata looked at Ringo and pleaded with his eyes for her to stay and not interfere, as it would keep Kimimaro safe, too, but all he received was a feral smile. She wasn't one to stay out of a fight. And even though she didn't care about Mei and the rest, Ringo seemed to dislike Yagura even more. Utakata could only sigh and promise himself to look after her. He couldn't let her die.
…
The old house was left alone over the years. Utakata didn't know if it was out of respect towards Harusame or simply that no one cared to move in after it was abandoned. Dust piled up quite a lot on the floor and furniture. It was almost impossible to see through the windows, as they were too dirty. But aside from the dust, the house was left as Utakata remembered it.
It didn't take long for Utakata to sense the shinobi approaching the house. But he was still surprised by how long it took them to act. It seems Yagura wasn't running the village as tightly as he wanted. Utakata was sure to reveal himself as he walked to the house, so he expected his appearance to be reported to Yagura a long time ago. Maybe it took time to recognize him, and that is why it took some time for Yagura to come.
But Utakata still couldn't sense Yagura. Did he really think that a dozen or so shinobi would be able to capture or kill him? Utakata doubted Yagura was so stupid, even when he was under genjutsu. No, he was only trying to test Utakata to see if he was the real deal. And Yagura probably suspected that something was up since Utakata showed himself so openly.
Yet even knowing it, Yagura would come himself sooner rather than later. He wasn't a man who would leave unfished business. And Utakata was someone that Yagura would want to take care of himself. It wasn't like Utakata would give him another choice, though. Anyone else wouldn't be able to do anything to him.
"So? Are you going to watch, or will you ask?" Utakata asked the shinobi hiding under the windows of the house. "I am the real deal if you were wondering. The Six-tails jinchuriki. One of the Seven Swordsmen."
Utakata winced as they broke through the windows and surrounded him. They didn't have to break them; it wasn't like they would have caught him off guard at this point. Well, the house will probably be destroyed soon enough anyway, so it didn't matter. Even if Utakata felt a bit sad that he would destroy the house, he didn't think Harusame would mind it.
"Oh, the sword?" Utakata asked as he noticed how they were looking for the Sewing Needle. "It is in a safe place. Well, I guess now you can't kill me since you would want to know where it is. But I guessed you wouldn't want to kill a jinchuriki inside the village anyway. Are you going to stay silent all the time? Fine, I will show you then."
Utakata pulled his hair back and tied it into a ponytail. Now, his face wasn't obscured anymore, but they still only stared at him without making a move. So, Utakata could only sigh and use a bit of his tailed beast chakra to turn his pale golden eyes into slithered red ones. That was enough for them to react and take Utakata seriously.
A dozen of them were surrounding him. Utakata let them do as they wished. They weren't his targets, and he didn't see any point in wasting his energy on them before Yagura showed up. Utakata could tell they were nobody but soldiers hidden under the masks and keeping silent. With no face or voice of their own, they could only rely on Yagura to make their decisions.
What a sad existence it was. These were the weapons that Yagura probably forged himself, just like he wanted to make Utakata. They deserved Utakata's pity, as he knew that every single one of them was just a broken man and woman who were reforged to Yagura's liking. But that wasn't the reason why Utakata would spare their lives; it was only an excuse he would use for Mei.
"You don't want to wait until Yagura comes?" Utakata asked as he sensed someone sending a message to someone, probably Yagura, while the others were getting closer and preparing to attack. "Come at me then. I will take care of all of you before he shows up."
They didn't need to hear it twice as they pounced at him. Against anyone else, they might have had a chance. But even though he had neglected his fighting skills of late, he never forgot them. It wasn't easy to forget the days he spent in the academy learning the taijutsu styles and how to kill someone most efficiently.
Even if he was a bit rusty, his perfect chakra control let him cover his limbs in chakra to block most attacks. And even if some managed to hurt him, his tailed beast chakra would heal him soon enough. So, catching their swords with his hands wasn't difficult, at least not as difficult as it was to block his fist. Utakata didn't want to kill anyone, but that didn't mean he wouldn't break some bones of his foes.
They fought with the same brutal style he had learned in the academy—brutal and without any sense of preserving themselves from harm. That is why, when Utakata blocked their swords with his bare skin, they could only cross their hands at the last moment to take a punch from Utakata. It sent them through the house, and Utakata could feel the crunch of their bones as they were met with his fist.
That was also why they would not back off even when Utakata caught their wrists and twisted them until they faced another direction. They would still try to kick him when he broke their arms or headbutt him when he caught their swords. They didn't know the meaning of giving up, so Utakata kicked or threw them out of the house one by one.
Of course, they would have come back and continued their attacks until they were dead, but mercifully, they didn't need to as the main forces finally arrived. Two hundred shinobi surrounded Harusame's house. Utakata could sense them everywhere. But he focused only on one shinobi. Yagura, as he slowly walked to the house.
It was probably rare for Yagura to show himself in the village, as every single shinobi surrounding Utakata was stoned-faced and waiting for Yagura's orders. Yagura himself didn't seem to be any different from what Utakata had remembered of him—still short and still having a child-like appearance.
"Utakata of Blood Waters," Yagura began as his pink eyes stared at Utakata's pale gold ones. "I will not waste time and tell you to surrender."
"You should know that's not why I came back," Utakata replied as he looked at Mei and Ao present among the shinobi.
"I never expected you to reappear in the village, Utakata of Blood Waters." Utakata was starting to dislike his nickname, especially when it came from Yagura's mouth. "But I guess you wanted to finish what you have started."
From the way Ao's eyes widened as he looked at Yagura, Utakata could tell that he realized that Yagura was indeed under a genjutsu. Utakata himself could feel the strange and dangerous foreign chakra inside Yagura. It has gotten even worse since the last time Utakata laid his eyes on him.
Before Yagura ordered his shinobi to attack Utakata, Mei made her move. Even though her forces were smaller than Yagura's and more would soon come to support him, she took the initiative to attack the closest shinobi to Yagura. Before everyone else could comprehend what was going on, the rest of Yagura's forces suffered a big blow.
Before Yagura could join his forces and lead them, Utakata captured him with his strings. Of course, the Fourth Mizukage wasn't an easy opponent, and he blocked Utakata's strings with his hook weapon. But Utakata was aiming for that, and once the strings wrapped around his weapon, Utakata pulled Yagura to himself. This was a fight between the two of them