The Zero Tails Jinchuriki #25

Disclaimer - I don’t own anything. As the corporations say these days, you will own nothing & be happy. I don't, and have never claimed to, own Naruto or any of its characters. With that out of the way, let’s goooo!

Konoha, Land of Fire

–Kenta Senju–

The difference in wealth between even elite shinobi and the Daimyo became clearer the more time he spent beside the convoy of the Daimyo. For one, his chakra senses could easily pick up on little traces of seals on absolutely everything. The convoy, for one, was littered with high level Fuinjutsu seals for protection against most stuff and knowing how expensive any protection seals were for something that moved, he knew that the Daimyo had spared no expense in making sure that his seat of power, during movement, was safe and secure.

Then came the Convoy itself. He never really understood why the Daimyo had the whole Twelve Guardian Ninja thing instead of just having the Kage send in the absolute strongest shinobi they could muster for the Daimyo’s safety during peacetimes. 

He had a hunch that it must be that the strongest shinobi all had their own quirks and would probably not be able to tolerate the stuffy nobles and the atmosphere of the courts and that might still be a factor but the real reason probably was that no elite shinobi would ever take this treatment.

He eyed the way the twelve Shinobi guards took their turns, fighting back visible signs of discomfort as they poured chakra into a seal matrix that powered the entire convoy.

From the safety seals on the carriage, its wheels and its driver seats. It also powered the comfort seals in the carriage, providing a crisp, cool climate for the Daimyo sitting inside, along with his attendant. It also worked as an inertial dampener, so that the hard roads are not felt by the royalty sitting inside.

The seat matrix powered the hoof seals on the horses, allowing them to maintain grip over slippery terrain as well as maintain an even pace, whilst also reducing the overall strain on the horses. The seals on the saddles, the seals for cooling the horses so that they don’t overheat because of the continuous nature of their journey, and probably many more that he missed.

It had been over a day since they began their journey from Konoha and already, he was feeling oddly out of place with this convoy of people, capable of killing men with their bare arms, fawning over someone who would likely never see actual battle in their entire lives.

It was just so…odd. To be detached from the ongoings of the shinobi world for over a decade really gave him a different perspective on all things. He just couldn’t decide if that made him cursed or blessed, to have that other perspective.

So far, they had stopped a grand total of five times, with two times being the mandatory breaks to recharge the Seal matrix using the chakra from the Twelve Guardian Ninjas and the rest three because the Daimyo wanted to stretch his legs.

He sighed as he rested on top of a tree branch, the dust kicked up from the convoy barely visible to him as he watched the entire convoy move once more after the Seal matrix was charged, as if a well oiled machine. Reluctant machine, sure but it was clear that everyone involved had been trained and held themselves to a high standard.

At the pace they were going, even with horses bred for this, with a propensity to use chakra in minimal amounts to maintain speed, it would take them another day to finally reach the Capitol. That, along with the delay for the State Funeral, meant that Orochimaru had about 10 days of free reign on the border with Kumo.

At this point, he had no idea if there was even a point to him going all the way there since Orochimaru was probably long gone and if Kumo had not yet launched an invasion, they would not do so for a few more days. He probably could have properly settled the matter with Tsunade, instead of spending most of his days like this, sleeping on tree branches whilst keeping track of the convoy using his Sage Mode.

“I suppose I could deter Kumo for a while, and introduce myself, even though most of them would have probable heard from their spies by now,” He muttered to himself as he stretched out of habit, stilling a moment, regaining his Sage Mode and then jumped as his enhanced senses came roaring back, pinpointing the location of the highest concentration of chakra in his vicinity, with the seals jumping brightly in his sensory range.

To think that Jiraiya, a Fuinjutsu Grandmaster, had to undertake a S-class mission every year or two to go and perform maintenance on this convoy since the original seals were laid down by the Uzumaki and the only person alive currently who could do maintenance for them was Jiraiya. 

The Yondaime could do that as well but it would be a cold day in hell when the Hokage himself would go to the Capital just to perform maintenance on the Daimyo’s carriage. He thought it was a travesty to have even Jiraiya do it but apparently, keeping the Daimyo happy worked out for Konoha so they were willing to have an indispensable asset like Jiraiya do fucking manual labour for the Daimyo.

Plus, the maintenance was preemptive as well since the Daimyo could not be told to wait if his ride did not work.

Taking a deep breath, he landed on a tree a bit further ahead of the convoy and settled down, waiting for the convoy to catch up and then exit his sensory range. More than once, he had sensed the shinobi in the convoy looking for him, as if they were suspicious of him running away, which led to him appearing in their vision for just a moment before disappearing.

It scared the weaker ones in the beginning but after the first couple of times, they were convinced that he was with them, just not in their sight which was good because if an enemy attack happened– which was supremely unlikely, they might as well just run screaming at the Konoha walls, hoping to get in–he could take them out with an element of surprise.

He was….not happy with the Daimyo. No, that would be inaccurate. He was not happy with the whole system and with that single thing occupying such a large space in his mind meant he could not risk facing the Daimyo….plus he did not really want to, so there’s that to keep in mind.

He was certain that once he established contact with the convoy, he would be called in to meet the Daimyo and it would just be a stuffy conversation that he would much rather avoid. Spending years in isolation really made one prefer their own company over anyone else’s.

…..

….

And so the day went, stopping for breaks, watching them cook and eat food, whilst he kept a watchful eye on their surroundings. The sight of them eating and drinking so regularly reminded him of another way he had changed so much over the last 15 years.

Sage Mode, coupled with the Zero Tails inside of him meant he needed much less in terms of sustenance compared to other shinobi, almost to the point of civilians really. Shinobi really needed their food and compared to civilians, even the ones who did back breaking labour everyday, shinobi could eat up to 10 times more than their civilian counterparts. 

Of course, that problem was solved years ago, in the form of ration pills. Tasted shitty but were enough to fulfill their goal of providing just enough fuel for their bodies to move once more.

Ofcourse, he avoided that stuff like the plague. He would much rather eat something he cooked than the pills and his situation allowed for that to occur, a luxury not many shinobi shared.

So, he just watched as the convoy hunted, cooked, ate, and then began the journey, only stopping one more time as the Daimyo came out to admire the clear sky, which was just wasting his time.

The next day, the sun was shining especially hot, making its effect known on all the members of the convoy, save for the carriage master, who looked like he was in a cool breeze because he was in one. Apparently, the Daimyo’s carriage also had seals that constantly circulated a breeze of cold air around the carriage itself, just in case the Daimyo stepped out and had to deal with the hot air.

Consequently, the Carriage Master also got to enjoy the breeze, and so did the horses. Also, because of that, the seal matrix had to be brought out sooner, and that was when he chose to step in.

With a shake of his head, he jumped from his branch and landed in the middle of the convoy, light as a feather, already warning everyone to stay quiet. The shinobi did not hand over the matrix when he gestured at it so he just took it and held it in his hand, examining the seals for a moment.

His eyebrows rose as he realised these things could also take in Nature Energy of all things but that was the extent of his knowledge. He did not know what the end result would be or if that would increase the wear and tear, prompting Jiriaya to drop his important work to come to the Capital. 

So, he just injected regular chakra into the thing and being a Jinchuriki, he didn’t even notice the drain as the matrix was full after a minute or so. Everyone else was looking at him as if they had seen a ghost as he handed the matrix to the nearest shinobi and jumped, heading back into the woods, to remain hidden until they reached the Capital.

Hopefully, with the matrix full, they would not have to make any stops, well, save for the stretching the legs stops.

Those were mandatory.