Pushing Through the Limit Chapter 42: Quid Pro Quo (Patreon)

I awoke with a jolt. My eyes darted around the room and I began to prepare myself for an attack before relaxing. I was still getting used to my surroundings.

“Right,” I muttered to myself. “I’m in Kumo.”

Staying in Kumo had been different from what I was used to. I’d already ventured out into the village a few times with Mabui as my escort, the civilians regarded me with interest. The Shinobi on the other hand were more wary of my presence, knowing that I am a foreign Jinchuriki.

I relaxed into my pillow. It was still fairly early, so I should be able to get a little more sleep in before I needed to get up. Closing my eyes, I slowly began to drift off again, before a loud thumping noise disturbed my attempt to sleep.

Someone was knocking on my door.

Getting up, I made my way to the lounge.  This was the first time someone had knocked on my door so early, which likely meant one of two things. Someone was at the wrong apartment or the Raikage had send for me.

Opening my door, It seemed that it was the latter as a familiar blonde stood right outside of my apartment, looking tired.

“Samui, right? Mabui mentioned that you were away on a mission,” I said slightly groggily.

“I apologize for that. It’s my duty to guide you around Kumo, but unfortunately I was unable to do so as I was out on a mission and have only just returned,” Samui explained “Raikage-sama has requested that you meet with him within the hour, he has something important that he wished to discuss with you. I was ordered to inform you and make sure that you’re ready for it.”

“An hour, huh… I suppose that gives me more than enough time,” I muttered to myself. “Why don’t you come in so long? There’s something that I want to talk to you about before heading out.”

Samui nodded and followed me into my apartment.

I created a clone to handle making the tea and sat at the kitchen counter, gesturing for Samui to sit in the opposing chair.

“What was it that you wanted to talk about?”

“Something that Mabui mentioned to me,” I replied. “I… heard that you volunteered for this mission because you feel responsible for the tensions between our villages due to the incident in the Land of the Sea.”

Samui nodded slowly. “It was my mission and my… team that aggravated the situation.”

“And it was the Akatsuki’s plan,” I added. “They wanted our nations to go to war with one another. The blame for the tension between our villages lies solely on their shoulders.”

“And my own,” Samui said. “The Akatsuki merely made sure that we would meet. It was my brother who escalated the situation. I failed as an older sister and as a Jonin by not reigning him in. If I had, none of us would have fought and the Demon Island would still exist. It was due to my failures that the next Shinobi world war almost broke out.”

“Well I think you could also put some of the blame on Bee and me. We were, after all the ones that destroyed the Island.” My clone places the cups of tea on the table. “You shouldn’t feel so responsible for what happened.”

Samui nodded her thanks to my clone, before taking a sip of her tea. “Tell me, do you know what would have happened if our Kage’s hadn’t decided to meet and had rather chose to be more antagonistic with each other?”

“We would have gone to war,” I shrugged.

“That is one option,” Samui replied. “The other one was that the guilty party would be killed and their bodies offered to the offended village as a means to keep the peace. Kumo was the guilty party in the incident and it was my brother who escalated the situation. He would have been the one used to appease Konoha.”

So it was a reverse Hyuga incident then, except Samui wouldn’t have had the chance to offer up herself as it was her brothers’ fault and we had all seen it. If there had been no witnesses then she likely could have gotten away with it.

“Hearing that Konoha was open to discussing peace had been a massive relief to me. When the alliance was announced, I swore that I would make sure that nothing threatens it… I volunteered my services to ensure that things run smoothly.”

“For your brother,” I noted with a smile on my face.

“And my village,” Samui nodded. “Much like how you are here fulfilling Konoha’s end of the deal, ensuring that the alliance isn’t broken.”

“I can’t imagine that your brother is pleased by the arrangement,” I replied. “He didn’t really seem that fond of me and my team.”

Samui shook her head. “No, he isn’t, but he has other things to worry about. Due to the way he conducted himself, he was demoted and berated for his actions. I made it clear to him just how close he came to being executed!”

Ouch. If I recalled correctly, he’d been recently promoted and was proud of that fact. Having that all taken away from him right after he’d gotten it… He was probably pissed.

“Should I be worried about him trying to start a fight?”

“No,” Samui answered immediately. “He understands that if he tries anything, it’ll be seen as a sign of treason and he’ll be locked up.”

Well that was a bit of a relief. I hadn’t wanted to have to deal with another revenge stricken brother. One Sasuke was more than enough for me.

“So you’re going to be showing me around Kumo,” I said, changing the topic. “Mabui  has already been showing me around and Bee seems eager to hang out. Are you sure that you need to escort me around the village?”

“My job isn’t just to show you around, it’s to ensure that nothing happens to you while you’re in Kumo,” Samui replied. “If anyone tries to attack you, then it will be my job to protect you and report what happened to the Raikage.”

Meaning that she was going to be following me around permanently, regardless of how familiar I became with Kumo. I guess I was just going to have to get used to her, it shouldn’t be too bad, she seemed to have a laid back personality and had reason to want the alliance to work out. Everything should be fine so long as I don’t get punched by Karui again.

…PTL…

I arrived in the meeting room with Samui standing at my side. There was a large U shaped table that sat in the center of the room and a wall sized window overlooking the village where Ay stood, his gaze locked onto his village and his hands clasped behind his back.

“You called for me, Raikage-sama?” I asked.

“Come stand next to me,” Ay grunted.

Shrugging, I moved to stand next to him and stared out onto the village. From here, I could see a majority of the village.

“It’s a Kage’s duty to watch over and protect their village, just as it is the Shinobi’s duty to serve their village. Starting today, you will be doing your part in assisting me with my duty, I trust that you know what that means.”

“Yes,” I replied. I was here to ensure that there weren’t any infiltrators.

“Good,” Ay nodded. “There is a meeting that is going to be taking place today. Part of the Daimyo’s court is going to be here. We are going to be discussing the alliance with Konoha… During the meeting, I would like for you to keep quiet unless of course you find something.”

“And if they directly ask me something?” I asked.

“I will handle it,” Ay replied. “The court will respect silence more than they would a wrong answer.”

In other words, shut the hell up and don’t say anything stupid! I could do that.

“This… Daimyo court... what exactly is it that they do?”

Clenching his hand, a scowl crossed Ay’s face.

“They act in the Daimyo’s stead, handling meetings outside of his palace,” Ay explained gruffly. “They are meeting with me today in order to discuss funding and how… best those funds can be used.”

So they had no actual say over how Kumo can be run as that power belonged to the Raikage. What they could do however was threaten to remove their funding if they don’t get their way.

‘You ready to look for some white Zetsu?’

“And waiting,” Kurama replied in a bored tone. “The sooner we get this done, the sooner I can do something less boring.”

I continued to stare out the window as the Daimyo’s court arrived. It didn’t take long for the entire table to be filled with Ay standing at the head.

“It seems that Ay has cause for concern. One of the members is a Zetsu,” Kurama hummed.

‘Which one?’

“I’ll point him out to you when they talk. For now, let’s see what happens.”

“Shall we resume where our last meeting left off?” Ay asked. “I believe we were discussing the alliance with Konoha!”

“In a moment, Raikage-sama,” A dark skinned man with dreadlocks interrupted. “Before we begin, I would like to know who the Shinobi standing by the window is and why the guard to the room is inside,” The man gestured to Samui.

“The man standing by the window is Uzumaki Naruto, the Kyuubi Jinchuriki and a Konoha Shinobi,” Ay explained. “And he will be joining this and all future meetings. I hope that answers your question, councilor Ikioi.”

I turned around and found myself on the receiving end of stunned looks which quickly morphed into anger.

“You can’t be serious!” One of the other councilors yelled. “To bring a foreigner into a council meeting is an insult to the Daimyo!”

“This is simply Konoha performing their part of the alliance,” Ay explained calmly.

“And how will Kumo perform their part in the alliance,” Another councilor spat. “Will they allow one of our Shinobi to sit in on such an important meeting? I think not!”

“In turn, Kumo has agreed to assist in train Konoha’s Jinchuriki,” Ay replied calmly. “Both the Kyuubi and the Nanabi.”

“Konoha has attained the Nanabi?!” A councilor said in disbelief. “And you plan to help train them?!”

“When we saw the initial alliance agreement, we accepted it because it benefited Kumo. The Kyuubi Jinchuriki that was gaining power would be separated from his village, giving us leverage over Konoha. Not so that you could train our enemies to be better.”

“Wait,” A portly councilor interrupted. “Maybe this is a good thing. Instead of limiting Konoha, perhaps we should strive for a true alliance. Kiri is currently in a civil war and depending on which side wins, we could be looking at a future war with them. Suna has proven to be treacherous by attacking their ally and I’ve heard rumors that Iwa is stockpiling weapons and preparing for a war. If the next Shinobi world war is to break out, perhaps it will be better to ally with Konoha that has proven itself strong, patient and trustworthy.”

“That is a good point,” a councilor muttered. “Konoha could prove to be a worthwhile ally if the fourth Shinobi world war begins.”

“I’ve heard that the civil war in Kiri is an attempt to genocide bloodlines. They would quickly turn their eyes to us when their war ends!”

“A drawn out war with Iwa should be avoided. Under the might of four Jinchuriki, their village would be crushed!”

“No one can trust Suna now. They’ve attacked their closest and longest standing ally and they’ve only ended up weakening themselves. Although Konoha lost their Kage, their new one seems strong and sure of herself in her choices. That bodes well!”

“What do you think councilor Ikioi?”

The man was calm under all the pressure, never once raising his voice, watching how everything played out.

“I think,” Ikioi began. “That I would like to know more about Uzumaki Naruto before I give my opinion.”

“Ah, yes, that would be best,” The councilor nodded. “Tell us about yourself, young man.”

I was unable to hide my amusement at that. Not even five minutes ago, they were calling out for my removal from the room and screaming for blood and now they’re practically sucking up to me. It seemed that politicians would remain the same, regardless of what universe they belonged to.

“I believe that I could answer a few questions on his behalf,” Ay interrupted. “Uzumaki Naruto is a Jonin level Shinobi from Konoha that can control a reasonable amount of the Kyuubi’s Chakra. He has mastered the five basic elements and he has inherited his fathers Jutsu.”

“Father?”

“Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage.”

“That would mean…”

“The Rasengan and the Hiraishin,” Ikioi nodded. “Both very powerful Jutsu.”

“Distance and positioning will no longer be an issue in warfare. With that an entire village would fall even without the Jinchuriki. Tired and wounded Shinobi could be brought back from the battlefield and immediately be replaced by fresh Shinobi.”

“See, the answer to our future problems is standing right in front of us,” The portly councilor announced. “We won’t have to worry about future issues. In fact, we can solve them right now! We can pressure Iwa into standing down and involve ourselves in Kiri, ending their civil war.”

“Why stop there? With the combined power of our two villages, we could simply crush Iwa and take over Kiri! Ending two major villages, giving our nations more resources.”

“And remove Suna!”

Alright, I’ve heard just about enough. Clearing my throat, I stepped forward. “Well, this has been an… enlightening meeting. You see, I’ve never been to a meeting like this before.”

“Then I’m glad that this is your first meeting, young man,” The portly councilor replied. “With your help, our nations are going to change the world.”

“Oh, I agree,” I replied, stepping forward. I held my hand out to the councilor and he took it, smiling all the way. “Except, it’s not going to be the way you want it.”

Tugging him forward, I pulled him over the table, my hand latched tightly around his neck.

“Hello, Zetsu,” I grinned at the struggling man.

“WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!?”

“RESTRAIN THAT SHINOBI!”

“THE DAIMYO’S GOING TO BE FURIOUS.”

Channeling a small amount of Yang Style Chakra to my hand, the councilors body began to shift and became thin, its skin turned chalk white, the hair turned green and soon I was holding the body of a white Zetsu that was dressed in councilor clothing.

Squeezing my hand, there was a snap and Zetsu’s body went limp.

“So there was one here after all,” Ay muttered as he inspected the Zetsu.

“What did he do to councilor Goui?!”

“Nothing, because that’s not councilor Goui,” Ikioi replied, seemingly unfazed. “It’s a spy.”

“What nonsense,” One councilor spat. “I’ve been with him all week. There was barely a moment where he was alone. Do you really think that a Shinobi would have time to take his place and would be capable of perfectly imitating him? He knew things that only the real Goui could know.”

“You assume that he’s only recently been replaced,” Ikioi retorted, interlocking his fingers. “He’s likely been replaced for years at this point.”

“We would have noticed if he’d been replaced,” Another councilor argued. “His wife and children would have noticed.”

“Perhaps,” Ikioi hummed. “But again, you’re assuming that he was replaced recently. Can any of you think back to a time when his personality changed? Maybe when his youngest son died?”

“You think…”

“He had blackmail material on you… all of you, that’s why you were all so quick to listen to him,” Ikioi accused the rest of his fellow councilors. “He had the perfect opportunity after his son died. He gained the sympathy of the court and any personality changes could be chalked up to grief that he was experiencing due to the loss of his son.”

“It makes sense from a Shinobi’s perspective too,” Ay added. “These things can perfectly mimic a person, from their Chakra to their body. It’s extremely difficult to detect them. This one probably killed the real Goui, took his place and then killed his son to mask what he was unable to hide until everyone grew comfortable with his new personality.”

“Then if he really was replaced. That could mean any one of us could have also been replaced,” one of the councilors realized.

“He was the only one,” I answered. “The rest of you are human.”

“I can see why he’s going to be joining in on future meetings, Raikage-sama,” Ikioi hummed. “You have my full support in this matter and this alliance.”

Well that was just wonderful. Hopefully I these meetings weren’t going to take too long in the future. I’d nearly lost my patience when they were all discussing the optimal way to use me… Then again, the rest of the councilors seemed subdued now that I’d seemingly killed one of their members in front of them… Maybe next time they’ll learn to be more respectful.

The meeting drew to an early close on the excuse of the Daimyo for the Land of Lightning needing to be informed of the infiltration. That had been the excuse given by the remaining councilors that had been shaken up by the events of this meeting.

“You know, if you had been a member of Kumo, I would have requested that you be brought on as a part of the Daimyo’s protection,” Ikioi said.

“And I likely would have declined,” I replied easily. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I would probably end up breaking a few bones if I had to deal with this on a daily bases.”

“That is half the job,” Ikioi chuckled. “There are times when I too have to practice restraint, especially when dealing with the court. I will look forward to our next meeting to see if anyone else has been replaced.”

“Hopefully not.”

“That would be a pity. It would be cathartic seeing one of the other members snapped in half,” Ikioi hummed before waving his goodbye.

Well, that had been interesting… And exhausting. Suddenly the Raikage’s near constant anger made sense. I’d be pissed off too if I had to deal with that group. Worst yet, Ay ran a village filled with assassins and yet he wasn’t allowed to kill any of the court.

“How long ago did that councilors’ son die?” I asked suddenly.

“Several years… nearly a decade ago,” Ay grunted. “I don’t have the exact date. Why?”

“I just wanted to know what else Zetsu could have been up to,” I hummed. “What else he has managed to influence.”

The more chaotic the world was, the easier it would be for the Akatsuki to collect the Jinchuriki. The last major incident between Kumo and Konoha was the Hyuga incident… an event that should by all accounts have ended in a war between Konoha and Kumo.

It was Hizashi’s sacrifice that averted that potential war.

For a long while, I’d thought that Hiruzen made a mistake when it came to the Hyuga incident, but now it seemed that he did the best he could in a bad situation.

…PTL…

I let out a yawn as the air rushed past me. I was traveling towards Bee’s training ground with Samui in tow. Why didn’t I just use the Hiraishin to travel there instantly? I wanted to get some fresh air, Being stuck inside of a room filled with councilors had been a mentally draining endeavor.

Landing in Bee’s training ground, I found that it was empty. “Any idea when Bee will get here?”

“It’s about eleven now, so he’s probably gone to get something to eat,” Samui replied. “I can’t say for certain when he’ll arrive, he and I aren’t exactly close… If I were to guess, I’d say that he will be back in an hour.”

That left the question of what to do in the meantime. “Then why don’t we look around,” I suggested. There were still several parts of Bee’s training ground that I’d yet to visit.

Samui didn’t see an issue with that, so I began to explore Bee’s training ground.

It was fairly standard. There was an area that seemed to be marked for spars, a few training dummies here and there, some had Kunai imbedded into them while others had scorch marks and slashed. There was one part of the training ground that caught my attention.

There were several sets of large weights near the center of the training ground, looking very similar to the one that I’d seen Ay using when I arrived in Kumo. So long as I didn’t damage them, Bee shouldn’t mind.

Walking towards the large dumbbells, I grabbed them and tried to lift, only to find that they remained on the ground, only shifting slightly. Putting more force into it, I heaved was able to lift them slightly. Straining all my muscles, I was able to stand up, barely holding onto the weights at my side.

“Having fun?” Bee asked.

Losing my focus, I nearly dropped the weights and only just managed to keep them from dragging me down.

“Yeah,” I grunted. “These are insanely heavy.”

“Nah, these old things are light,” Bee grinned. Grabbing one of the dumbbells I was holding, Bee easily lifted it with a single hand and tossed it into the air, before catching it. “See.”

I became violently unbalanced and was tugged to the side. The weight hit the floor and the entire area shook.

“It seems you’ve still got a long way to go if you can’t hold a weight like that,” Bee chuckled as he balanced the dumbbell on a single finger.

Pushing myself up, I entered the initial Jinchuriki state and lifted the dumbbell again. It was still insanely heavy, but I was now able to hold onto it without having to worry about accidentally dropping it. Bringing it up, I strained to complete a single curl.

“Impressive,” Bee hummed. “But that’s not you lifting the weight, it’s your Biju helping you lift it. If you want to be stronger, you’ll need to learn how to do that on your own.”

“I’m not just using this state to be able to lift the weight,” I replied. “I’m doing it so I heal faster. It removes the need to recover from exercise.”

Bee nodded. “So long as you don’t think all that strength is your own! Being a Jinchuriki is a partnership. You’ve got to bring something to the table too, or it’ll be one sided.”

Placing the weight back on the floor, I took a breath and let the Jinchuriki state fade. “Do you think that you could help me learn how to use these properly? I’m not used to using weights.”

“Then what did you use before?”

“An earth style Jutsu to increase my bodies weight! I ran through basic drills… pushups, squats, running, Taijutsu… you know, the basics.”

“Use it on me,” Bee requested.

Shrugging, I molded a large amount of earth style Chakra and increased the weight of Bee’s body as much as I possibly could. It didn’t appear to have much of an effect on him as he simply stood there, idly holding the dumbbell in his hand.

Throwing it into the air, Bee caught it again, before humming and nodding. “I’ll tell you what. I’ll show you how to use these and help you, but you’ve also got to help me.”

“Sure.” That seemed like a good deal. “What do you need?”

“I need you to use this Jutsu on my students. They’re… not ready to handle any of these weights, so this Jutsu of yours will work as a good replacement… Although, it will need to be a lot lighter, you can control the weight, right?”

“Yeah. You’re actually experiencing the heaviest that I can make a person right now,” I explained. “That’s the level that I’m currently using for my training.”

“You’ll need to use about a quarter of this weight on my students… Make that a tenth, we can slowly increase the weight as they grow stronger,” Bee replied, before holding the weight out to me. “For now, let me show you how to use these weights.”

Taking the dumbbell with both hands, I struggled to hold it in place without using some of Kurama’s Chakra. “What do we do first?”

“First pick up the other one and then I’ll show you how to do a curl properly.”

Entering the initial Jinchuriki state once again, I grabbed the other weight and held it at my side.

“Alright, first, you’re going to want to keep your arms straight. Lift one arm at a time, but don’t move your bicep. Your forearm is the one that needs to be raised up.”

“Got it,” I grunted as I lifted the weight, following Bee’s instructions to the letter.

…PTL…

I flashed back to my apartment alongside Samui who stumbled slightly as she regained her footing. Stepping forward, I fell onto one of my kitchen chairs, resting my head on the table. The weight training that I’d done with Bee had been absolutely exhausting.

Even with Kurama’s Chakra healing my body, I still felt a few aches and pains. If I didn’t know the Hiraishin, Samui would have had to either carry me back to my apartment or we would have had to camp out in Bee’s training ground for the night.

 There was a wooden thump as something was placed in front of me. Looking up, I raised an eyebrow when I found a steaming cup of tea sitting in front of me.

“What…”

“You made a cup of tea for me this morning… I thought it was fair that I return the favor,” Samui said, sliding into the seat in front of me.

“Thanks,” I hummed and forced myself to sit up.

We sat in a comfortable silence for several moments, enjoying the tea.

 Hearing Samui say something, I looked up. “What was that?” I asked, taking a sip of my tea.

“You kept a pretty cool head,” Samui repeated. “Back in the council meeting… You remained calm while the Daimyo’s court was outraged at your presence and screaming for your removal… And again when they were discussing on how best to use you for their wars, you didn’t seem worried or angry, just… cool headed.”

“I suppose it looks that way from the outside, but on the inside I was really annoyed at how they were acting.”

“But you didn’t let it get to you,” Samui pressed. “Even back in the Land of the Sea, you didn’t seem overly worried.”

“I’m not really sure what you’re getting at, Samui.”

“I just… want to know how you do it,” Samui replied. “We’re both partially responsible for ensuring that this alliance works out… if either of us fail, there’s a good chance our villages will be going to war. How do you stay so calm? How can I stay that calm?”

“You’re putting too much pressure on yourself,” I realized. “You’re focusing all your attention on making sure that this alliance works and you’re trying to do it all by yourself.”

“I am responsible for you while you are in Kumo.” Samui stated. “And you’re a major part of this alliance.”

“The reason why I’m able to remain calm and not dwell on things is because I’ve got faith in my friends,” I replied. “My Hokage, my teachers, my teammates and my village, I’ve placed my faith in them and not only myself. If I fall, they’ll be there to help me.”

Samui let out a sigh as she swirled her tea.

“Is that really all there is to it?”

“Well… I suppose I’ve also benefited from going through several highly stressful situations,” I hummed in thought. “In the past year, I found out that I’m a Jinchuriki, been promoted to Jonin, have fought off an invasion, come face to face with several Biju, killed Orochimaru and have been in two… no, three fights with the Akatsuki. A room full of self important councilors doesn’t really bother me, especially when they were acting like bratty children.”

There was also the fact that I knew what the Akatsuki’s goals were and was actively planning against them. I suppose that I was a little desensitized to stressful situations on the virtue of being through so many already.

“I don’t think you should be worried though… It’s literally your first day and sure it was stressful, but that’s because we had to deal with a meeting that involved a bunch of idiots. Tomorrow should be easier.”

Samui nodded and finished her tea. “I should probably get going. As you’ve just said, tomorrow is a whole new day… I’ll be better prepared for it.”

“That’s not exactly what I meant.”

“I realize that,” Samui replied. “But I also realize that tomorrow could be just as stressful.” Standing up, Samui stretched lightly and walked towards the door, before pausing. “Oh… thank you for the conversation, it was helpful.”

“No… problem?” I said as Samui left. I’d only really conversed with two Kumo Kunoichi, but from what I’d gathered, they cut straight to the point and were very professional... Unlike Karui who was loud and a little short tempered… I guess that’s why Bee picked her as his student.

Getting up, I found that the pain in my muscles had been replaced with a feeling of stiffness, as if I hadn’t moved in a week. The feeling would probably pass by tomorrow, but that left me with the question of what I was going to do right now.

“You could always check in with Tsunade,” Kurama suggested.

‘We’re six hours ahead here,’ I thought back and glanced at the clock. ‘It’s around lunch time in Konoha, we’re going to have to wait until… three in the morning before Tsunade is done with her work.’

That was kind of crap. Even though distance was no longer a problem, it seemed that the different time zones were an issue.

‘You think that you could wake me up at three?’

“I’m not an alarm clock,” Kurama deadpanned. “Why not just wait a few hours and check if she’s finished with her work early.”

I suppose that was a good enough suggestion. In the mean time, I could get a few things done. The training had left me in desperate need of a shower and I still needed to eat supper… I could also probably take a nap for an hour. Any longer than that and I’ll probably be unable to wake myself up.

“That still leaves you with a few hours of waiting.”

It did, but, so long as I woke myself up enough, I could simply repeat the process and get another nap in.

A certain pink cartoon dog came to mind and I let out a short chuckle.

“The things I do for love.”