Naruto: Kage of Kages

The announcement was a formality.

All of them already knew which team they would be in charge of and who would be on it but that was before they saw Shiki in action.

Young prodigies of Shiki’s caliber tended to be extremely hard to handle.

‘But maybe that’s why this woman was chosen . . .’

‘But maybe that’s why THE Yamanaka Inori was chosen . . .’

Uchiha Go and Sarutobi Dokko thought simultaneously.

The nineteen year old beauty was the best sensor in the village as far as they knew, second best if Mito was included.

Inori had developed a whole array of sensory jutsu that few people could fathom, even the most powerful Byakugan fell short in various ways.

Beyond this was her impressive array of genjutsu that complemented her Yin Release Yamanaka Hidden Jutsu.

Her physical ability and taijutsu were comparatively inferior but still on the level of a regular jonin. It was her specialized skill set that got her promoted to Elite status.

Infiltration, assassination, disruption, interrogation, seduction, espionage.

Yamaka Inori was one of Konoha Anbu’s best.

Officially, she was pulled out of the Anbu because her intel got leaked and she became notorious around the world, making long term espionage missions impossible but those in the know were aware that for someone of Inori’s caliber . . .

She could effortlessly dance around her infamy issues.

No . . . For her special role in the Anbu, Inori needed to be well versed in psychology, reading other people, understand them, manipulate them, even without resorting to jutsu.

It were these particular skills that made the Third Hokage select her to be Shiki’s squad leader.

The other Jonin Sensei seemed to think the Third merely wanted someone to properly guide a troublesome prodigy, even if Inori was a bit overkill to them.

Hiruzen’s real goal was to “make Shiki more amenable” to his cause.

Additionally, she could also keep the Aburame Girl Danzo sent into his team, thinking he would not notice.

If she could influence Uchiha Mei in the process, even better. An Uchiha child, ostracized in her clan but boasting high status and position? Was there a better target in the world?

However, was it really that simple?

Only time would tell.

“Leave this young prodigy to me, Hokage-sama! I’ll make sure to properly guide him into becoming an exemplary Konoha shinobi.” Inori declared with confidence, her voice warm, calm and relaxing, invoking the images of flowers.

Go and Dokko both looked down and away. The Yamanka’s voice and appearance were a weapon in and of themselves, weapons the kunoichi had put time and effort into honing.

Few men could stand in her presence for long and while most women could last a little longer, the difference wasn’t that big.

“Everyone loves beautiful things do they not?” Was one of Inori’s favorite sentences.

With a wave of his hand, Hiruzen dismissed the two men before they could make fools of themselves, much to their relief.

Now it was just the two of them in the room and the real conversation could start.

For all his poor showings against the Sexy Jutsu in the series, The Third Hokage had a will of steel that such moves could not shake. Reality did not care much for those kinds of gags after all.

Dropping his more amenable public persona, Hiruzen stood straight and spoke with majesty and power in his voice.

“What is your assessment of the boy so far?” He questioned.

Yamanaka Inori also dropped her calm and warm persona and adopted a colder, more ruthless expression.

“Hard to say.” The kunoichi actually sounded doubtful.

“Normally, it would be safe to assume the boy is just showing off his talents without a care, a demonstration of childish pride. His age being significantly lower than his peers lending credence to that theory.” Inori spoke in a measured way.

Hiruzen had come to the same conclusion. Maybe the boy was hiding a couple of jutsu Mito had taught him but his ability should be what he showed and not much more.

“But?” The Third bade his trusted subordinate to continue with her counter theory.

“It feels hollow.” Inori spoke but her expression showed her dissatisfaction, she could not quite word the feeling Shiki gave her.

“You mean the boy faking his attitude?” The Hokage questioned, granted this was not his specialty but for him to be completely fooled by a four year old’s acting, it was a bit unbearable.

“No, it was real but had no real weight behind it.” The kunoichi tried to better explain what she felt.

“Like he wanted to show off, to earn admiration and was pleased when he succeeded but he could toss it all away on a whim without it mentally affecting him.” Inori felt like she had gotten decently close to what she wanted to explain.

“So while he desires acknowledgement, the boy does not truly care for it . . .” Hiruzen pondered.

‘Makes the boy harder to “guide” but once he is brought to our side, that sort of mentality will only make his loyalty firmer. Shinobi who care not for fame and fortune, if properly directed, can achieve far more than their peers.’ The Third Hokage thought to himself.

Inori made a doubtful expression, it seemed her point did not get fully across.

‘But saying what I really got from that child out loud would sound incredibly stupid.’ She thought to herself.

‘Who would believe a four year old boy had the ability to completely sever any emotional bonds at will?’

‘It was a different and truly frightening form of heartlessness. The boy can form bonds, make friends, even fall deeply in love when he grows up but at any moment, for any reason, he has the ability to turn all of those real and intense feelings into utter indifference.’

Yamanaka Inori was deeply empathetic, she had to be in order to understand people and manipulate or extract information from them, but she was ruthless enough that such empathy would not impede her duties as a kunoichi.

But even then, such a degree of heartlessness sent a chill through her body and made her feel as if her very heart was being grasped by the cold hand of death.

Turning deep love into burning hatred was easy, doing it the other way around, while far harder, was also plenty possible but turning either of those into utter indifference at the drop of a hat?

It should be humanly impossible.

‘I can even place myself in the role of a psychopath, utterly incapable of feeling true love but . . . To know such intense emotion and sever it all.’

No matter how she worded it or tried to internally explain it, Yamanaka Inori could not stop the creeping fear.

However, even if she could not share her true feelings with her superiors out of fear that they would doubt her mental capacity and wellbeing, even if the boy frightened her to no end, she was a kunoichi of Konoha and would do her duty as commanded.

It was clear to her that Shiki was someone that needed to be tightly watched and evaluated.

Firming her resolve, Yamanaka Inori prepared a team exercise to officialize the creation of her Team 6 the following day.

*

Unaware his Jonin Sensei was already getting a very good read on him and planning an extremely cautious approach, Shiki was just about to reach Mito’s residence while mentally patting himself on the back for his perfect performance.

Shame that a man so paranoid that he was already planning on acting despite not noticing anything suspicious and a woman so sensitive to others’ minds that it was almost a kekkei genkai, were already onto him.

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Hey, Author here!

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I’m trying to become a full time Author now and I’m not going to be starting any new novels just so I can make sure this one is properly completed.

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