Chapter 11: Intelligence and the Interview
Land of Fire, Hokage Tower
A report made its way through a thick haze of pipe smoke and was placed in the hands of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
The Konoha council was still debating the previous topic, but Hiruzen's mind had already begun to drift.
Now in the prime of his life, Hiruzen had been Hokage for several years. He had grown from fumbling uncertainty to masterful confidence, with a firm grip on the village's highest authority. The key advisory positions and other important posts were all filled by his own people. He had truly secured the position that the Second Hokage had entrusted to him in a time of crisis.
Coupled with the current era of peace, the village was flourishing in every aspect. The Third Hokage's supporters grew more numerous by the day. Some had even begun to call him the strongest Hokage in history. Hiruzen found it amusing whenever he heard it. Putting aside the god-like power of the First Hokage, Hiruzen knew he wasn't even a match for his own teacher, the Second.
But he never did anything to stop the rumors from spreading. As a result, the newest generation of students, indoctrinated with the Will of Fire, now genuinely believed that the Third Hokage was the most powerful leader Konoha had ever had.
Hiruzen tapped his pipe against the desk, knocking the ash onto the floor, and casually opened the report.
"The Hidden Cloud Village..." he murmured.
"Hiruzen, is there new intelligence?" asked his advisor, Koharu Utatane.
"The ANBU have received a report. The Cloud has been unusually active in the Land of Birds. They appear to be making contact with a small clan that possesses a Kekkei Genkai."
"The Land of Birds?" said Homura Mitokado. "Such a remote place... I don't recall there being any powerful bloodline clans there."
"It's likely not a very impressive Kekkei Genkai, or it wouldn't have remained unknown for so long. The question is, what is the Hidden Cloud's objective?"
"This report alone doesn't tell us much," Hiruzen said, setting the document aside. "On another matter, how has Lady Mito's health been lately?"
He was, of course, not referring to Homura Mitokado.
"Lady Mito is getting on in years," replied Koharu, who oversaw the village's medical division. "It's hard to say how much longer she has. We need to make preparations and select a candidate for the next Jinchuriki as soon as possible."
"Not to worry," Hiruzen said calmly. "A suitable candidate has already been found. She will be brought to the village soon."
"Oh? Why haven't we heard about this?" the other council members asked, a hint of displeasure in their voices.
"The matter of the Jinchuriki is of the utmost importance. I have been the only one privy to the details from the beginning. The candidate is a young girl from a surviving branch of the Uzumaki clan. An orphan. It's said she even shares a distant blood relation with Lady Mito. She is an excellent choice."
The council members nodded. The candidate was indeed a perfect fit. Danzo Shimura, also present, felt his mind begin to scheme, but he ultimately remained silent. Hiruzen would never allow him to get his hands on the Jinchuriki.
As he spoke, Hiruzen's mind suddenly connected the dots. He picked up the report about the Hidden Cloud's activities in the Land of Birds. "Come to think of it," he mused, "during our search for the next Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, we also detected traces of the Cloud. It seemed they were also searching for Uzumaki survivors. Could there be a connection?"
Hidden Cloud Village, Mission Assignment Desk
By now it was mid-morning, and the Mission Assignment Desk was packed with shinobi. Keiko had been delayed by the questionnaire and had missed the first wave of assignments. There were no suitable missions left for her, and she felt a headache coming on.
It wasn't that she would starve if she missed a day's work, but as a single mother, Keiko always felt a nagging sense of insecurity. She quietly resolved to take on extra missions in the coming days, even if the pay was low and the work was hard. Unfortunately, low-rank missions that were well-paid, easy, and close to home were a rarity. She could only hope for better luck tomorrow.
With no missions to take, all that was left was to hand in the questionnaire. It was probably for the best. She could go home early and spend more time with her daughter.
After asking a colleague for directions, Keiko was led to a small, private room inside the building.
The moment she entered, Keiko recognized the man sitting before her. It was Lord Dodai, one of the village's most famous elite Jonin and a trusted confidant of the Raikage. It was rumored he even possessed a special Kekkei Genkai, though the details were far beyond what a mere Genin like her would ever know.
Several other imposing figures stood behind Lord Dodai like bodyguards, each one of them radiating an aura of power far greater than her own.
Okay, that's not exactly a high bar, she thought wryly. I'm only a Genin.
Keiko felt an instinctive nervousness. For a civilian-born Genin who would have been nothing but cannon fodder in wartime, getting involved with an elite Jonin was never a good thing. She had long since given up any ambition of climbing the ninja ranks. All she wanted was to raise her daughter in peace, taking on harmless fetch-quests and cat-wrangling missions.
She feared this was a prelude to being assigned a dangerous, confidential mission.
Keiko made up her mind: if Lord Dodai tried to give her a dangerous assignment, she would refuse, even if it cost her everything.
Her mind was a chaotic mess until, after a few seconds, she noticed a child sitting next to Lord Dodai. He looked to be only a couple of years older than her own daughter, barely tall enough to see over the table. He was waving at her.
"Please, have a seat," the boy said. "You are Keiko Morita, correct? Please place your questionnaire here."
Keiko's head was spinning. She mechanically handed over the questionnaire, only realizing how strange the situation was after the paper had left her hand. Why is there a child here? When she sat down in the chair in the middle of the room, she finally understood. This was an interview. She was the interviewee, and the interviewers were Lord Dodai and... the little boy?
What in the world is going on?
"Keiko Morita, is that right?" the boy said, looking at a file. "Let's see your record... here it is. D-rank missions completed: 623. C-rank: 72. B-rank: 1. All others... zero. Hmm, it seems you're a cautious-type ninja."
A drop of cold sweat trickled down Keiko's back. The boy had a way with words. Cautious-type ninja. It was true. Her one and only B-rank mission had been when she was young, alongside her husband, and she hadn't been much help then, either. She had mostly just cheered him on from the back, completely smitten.
"It says here your... husband... was killed in action," the boy continued, his tone serious. "And you are currently raising your daughter alone. On behalf of the village, I would first like to thank you and your family for your service. Without your sacrifices, the village would not be what it is today."
Suddenly, the boy went from sitting on his chair to standing on it. Then, he bowed deeply to Keiko.
The sudden gesture surprised even Dodai. Keiko instinctively stood up, her eyes suddenly stinging with tears. "No," she stammered, "my skills are limited. I haven't made any real contribution to the village."
Dana sighed internally. The bond between the shinobi of this world and their village was both extreme and simple. Most of them loved their village more than their own lives. Whether it was the result of years of indoctrination or not, it was still an astonishingly powerful sentiment. He thought back to the corruption he knew existed in Konoha, yet countless ninja were still willing to die for it without a second thought. It couldn't just be dismissed as "Will of Fire" brainwashing. The emotions in this world were simply more extreme, more pure. The same was true for all those villains who wanted to make the world feel pain or create some new world order in their own image.
Watching Dana bow, Dodai felt a stir of emotion. This second son of the Raikage was full of surprises.
"Ms. Keiko Morita," Dana said, his voice now gentle. "I have a few questions for you. Please, tell me, as a single mother, do you find it difficult?"
Keiko froze. After such an emotional and formal gesture, he was asking such an ordinary, personal question? She had been bracing herself for a request to sacrifice her life for the village.