Naruto: Tango with Death

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[Sukaina's POV]

Sendai, the capital of the Land of Fire. It was even larger than Konoha, although it did not look like a giant fortress.

Konoha was surrounded by large ramparts, and used the forests as natural defences. Sendai, on the other hand, did not have any such defences. It was the economical and cultural capital of the Land of Fire, and wasn't made to be defended in a war.

Even the army, led by General Tsubasa, wasn't stationed in Sendai, but nearby instead. Of course, it didn't mean the capital was defenceless.

First, for a large army to even get anywhere near it, they would need to either pass next to Konoha or the Army's Garrison. And even if someone managed to do it, the Army was close enough to reach the city in under 30 minutes, and even though Konoha was farther away, Shinobis were on average much faster than the numbers of the army, and thus would reach it about as fast as them, if not faster.

For example, it only took me a couple of minutes to cross the distance between the village and the capital, but I guess I'm not the best example to take, considering I'm probably in the top 5 fastest people in the world.

I mean, Minato, Raikage… Damn, maybe Top 3 then, as I only see those two being faster than me. Even Shisui, who was extremely fast, was now slower than me. In base mode I was already quite close to him, if I abused the Body Flicker, which he did anyway, and if I open the 5th Gate, then I leave him in the dust.

Back to my point, the capital wasn't defenceless either. The Guardian Twelve, the 12 Jonin level guards that always kept close to the Daimyo. They were a force to be reckoned with, as it was said that if they worked together, then few would even stand a chance of keeping their lives.

But that didn't really matter in the end. Sendai did have a battlefield, but it wasn't one fought with fists.

As I arrived in the city, I took a quick look around the city to familiarize myself with it, before heading to the Shogun's Residence. My residence.

As I dropped down to the ground, in front of the large mansion, I saw two servants standing in front of the door, guarding it. They looked like butlers, but I recognized them as two members of Anbu.

They tensed a little when I suddenly appeared in front of them, but they relaxed seeing my face. Our eyes crossed, and they opened the door, greeting, "Welcome, Lady Shogun. You have a guest expecting your arrival."

I nodded, and walked in. The inside was surprisingly sober, which was to my taste, I didn't really like having gold all around, didn't really need it.

There could only be two reasons to get such decoration. Vanity, and command respect. For the first, it comes from powerless people who feel the need to show off the only thing they have for them, money, but that's quite useless to me when I have something much better than money.

As for the second one, my role did not ask for me to get such decorations. My men were Shinobis, and wealth did not represent anything good to us. It was within the three forbidden things for Shinobis after all.

So it was good for the residence to be sober.

Walking deeper into the mansion, I quickly arrived at the back of the house, where there was a beautiful garden. And there, sitting right before it, was someone I knew quite well.

It was Takashi, the son of the Daimyo, the Crown Prince of the Land of Fire.

He had grown quite a bit since we last saw each other, it looks like he went through a growth spurt as he was slightly taller than me, and he looked more manly than before, though he did not lose his princely air.

He was sitting on a chair, looking at the garden a little absent-mindedly, while two men stood at the door, watching their surroundings with attention.

Lowering my presence a little, I walked straight for Takashi, and as I arrived in his back, passing by the two guards, I tapped on his shoulder, saying, "You've grown."

The two guards, who had not seen me, abruptedly wiped their heads my way, each looking at me with wide eyes. Poor guys, I used my Stealth Technique to the max, so I didn't just bend sound, I also bent light around myself to make myself harder to see.

Coupled with my presence lowering skills, unless they looked directly at me, they couldn't see me, and as it turned out, they were looking around the garden, and not directly at Takashi.

Meanwhile, Takashi himself turned his head a little more slowly, a little confused at first, before a large smile spread on his lips. Getting up from his chair, he was indeed a little higher than me, probably standing at 6 feet.

He was already 15, and with the nurturing of chakra, he was turning into a man.

Takashi took the hand that I had tapped his shoulder with and exclaimed, "You've grown even more beautiful since we last saw each other!"

I smiled at the praise and said, "People tend to care more about my dangerousness." As I said that, I eyed his two bodyguards, who were sweating lightly.

Seeing this, Takashi said, "Ah, yes, you never met. Those are Asuma and Kazuma. They both used to be Konoha's Jonins."

Asuma, of course I knew him. He was in the show after all. As for Kazuma, whether he was in the manga or not, I didn't remember him. He had a rather forgettable face anyway.

Asuma let go of his blade, and scratched the back of his head as he said, "You really deserve your reputation, Lady Shogun, I did not feel you in the slightest, despite walking right past me."

I smiled and replied, "Asuma… Sarutobi, right? I heard great things about you too. You are one of the foremost experts on nature transformation I believe?"

That was actually something I had heard. And Asuma looked surprised as he nodded, "My name is Sarutobi, but as for being a foremost expert…"

I nodded in understanding, and looked at the other, Kazuma. He stood a little straighter as my eyes passed on him, and after a moment, I saw his weapon, and commented, "Not many people use claws. Chakra enhanced, I believe?"

His weapon was a metal claw, made of three blade that joined at the base to make for a single weapon. He too looked surprised as he asked, "Yes, how could you tell?"

I looked at him in the eye and replied, "I've seen enough weapons to distinguish between one made of normal steel and one that is chakra enhanced."

With that said, I looked back at Takashi, and asked, "So, what are you doing here? You can't have come only to say hello, right?"

Takashi nodded, and looked at the visible Grand Palace, where the Daimyo resided, and said, "Part of it is that, but indeed, I have a purpose. Sorry for not leaving you the time to settle in…"

"But duty calls, huh?"

Takashi nodded, and I shrugged, "Well, I didn't come here for a vacation anyway. Lead the way then."