I felt quite fortunate and extremely satisfied with my decision to uncouthly demand the [Shadow Clone] technique. There hasn't been a moment since where I'd consider my rather insensitive behaviour towards Konoha in its time of terror or even taking advantage of my own unsolicited aid, the wrong move.
I had no regrets. The ability to stand in multiple places at once allowed me to begin chewing through the backlog of concerns I had as Mizukage and frankly, I had quite a ton of those.
Water tumbled out the mouths of Turtle Island's statues, spilling and filling the pond I sat atop. I waited patiently for Utakata, my most pressing concern at the moment among many others. Kumo, Midoriwara, the Daimyo, Akatsuki…I tried more than once to organize these by which mattered the most but each bore a fair deal of consequence with them I ended up having most share the same rank. In the end, I chose to deal with the issues that caused me most stress personally while my clones addressed the others as they saw fit.
The Six-Tail's security was currently the main stressor that kept me from returning to my bed, but if I were being honest, Junichi's absence made returning to the Estate more difficult than it needed to be. He'd grown to be competent in his role, so much so that I'd already fired that fat-cheeked Chuunin and two others for their failure to meet up. They just keep asking questions, stupid questions.
Uncle understood my dissatisfaction but all the same couldn't offer any solid solution to my lack of a trusty personal aide. In normal circumstances my other councillors would jump at the opportunity to press a hand into mine but those cronies were far too concerned with winning Midoriwara.
They had a week to prepare their representatives, train them in the art as best as they could for one game is all they would be spared. No second chances. I felt some pity for Lord Funato, outside of himself and perhaps his son, I couldn't name any of his clan that were good enough at shogi to perform well against Uncle Aoto and I knew Zabuza was in no way patient enough to have learned at any point. To begin with, shogi was a game of the privileged in this world and Zabuza was anything but.
Demon of the Mist…I had plans for you. I'd seen some success bringing him closer during the war but since then, I'd been far too distracted for either him or even Mangetsu, especially Mangetsu. I'm fortunate the child is a prodigy, Lady Megumi wouldn't tolerate my neglect otherwise.
I let out a sigh, breathing a consistent stream of improvised Sage Chakra into the pond. Yin Chakra remained elusive as ever but two heads are better than one and practice makes perfect. The [Shadow Clone] jutsu was ever a blessing, with it I'd progressed not only my sensitivity to the Nature Energies but my ability to mix and mould the two in tandem with Isobu's chakra, all while balancing the volatile power with my chakra reserves, strained as they were from Konoha.
The effects of my progress were evident as I sensed Utakata first set foot on Turtle Island half an hour before he finally reached the temple. Such an increased Sensory Range was mostly due to how much chakra any Jinchuriki walked around with, we were stars in an ocean of lanterns, it would be difficult not to sense Utakata approach.
"Yagura-sama," he greeted, knelt at the edge of the pond with his head bowed.
I opened my eyes and bothered seeing through them for the first time since I began meditating five hours ago. I was surrounded by sea life, Isobu's chakra mixed with Nature Energies encouraged growth at a sporadic rate but the sea creatures I'd birthed wouldn't live much longer than a day or two without more chakra. I'd yet to reach the peak Hashirama Senju achieved all on his own.
No pressure. I smiled at Utakata and beckoned him closer, "You know why you're here, yes?"
"The Six-Tails still hasn't spoken to me, it just…stares." The young shinobi said, going straight to the point. He had a look of guilt painting his features as he curled his feet in a meditative pose opposite me, "I can still take its chakra and it still puts up a fight for it but it doesn't listen to anything I say."
The last time we'd sat together as Jinchuriki I'd ended up introducing Utakata to Isobu, it was a brief meeting within my mindscape and one I could only accomplish thanks to my bond with Isobu. Utakata, unfortunately, didn't share such a bond with Saiken just yet, as such, he couldn't bring me into his mindscape as I did with him.
"You did mention all Isobu mentioned to you, right?"
A look of mild frustration crossed his face, "Yes, well, he did react when I said he was a Child of Hagaromo but all that did was make it more difficult to take his chakra during training."
"Hmm…" I trailed off into my mindscape, Isobu lounged within his ocean world.
"Saiken has never been the most…outspoken. He might merely be considering the validity of our words but perhaps most of all, if you, the Mizukage are merely another manipulating force."
I could see that. If it weren't for the spectre of old Yagura I might've still been struggling to bond with Isobu. From the Six-Tails perspective, I am not a Jinchuriki but the Kage of the shinobi village that has kept him trapped for generations. I wore the hat that symbolised his entrapment and every word out of my mouth, truthful or not, was coloured by that image. I was more Jailer than Utakata was.
How do we get through to him then? This can't turn out like it did with Kurama, we need Saiken wary, ready and willing to protect Utakata from the Akatsuki.
While Ao was a strong and competent Jounin, I couldn't relax with him as the last line of defence should Utakata ever come across the Akatsuki out in the wild, and he surely would. A not insignificant part of me entertained the idea of keeping him in Kirigakure, forbidding him from leaving the village under any circumstances but that wouldn't do anything other than make it certain where he could be found at all times.
Nagato would relish destroying Kirigakure just to find him. To find us. I thought, reminding myself once again that I was as much a target as Utakata, but a much more stubborn one.
"There is one thing we can try but whether it works depends entirely on Saiken, not Utakata." Isobu said.
What is it?
"I will attempt to meet Saiken in the middle, a temporary connection outside our Mindscapes. The both of you have to channel our chakra and let it meet, Saiken and I will do the rest."
I nodded and returned my attention to the real world where Utakata patiently waited for my focus, occupying himself by bubbling the flowers that grew out of the pond. "What did he say?" he asked, quickly putting away his pipe.
"Channel some of Saiken's chakra here," I said, holding out a bubbling chakra cloaked fist for him.
He did as asked, though it took a seconds longer for his chakra to bubble up through the surface and onto his arm. I bumped his fist with a smile and said, "Now, we wait."