Tales of a Ninja Magician: Of Where We Come From

Loop Tightens!

Tanshu, Howoku, and Haoru were dashing through numerous halls trying to catch up with the Mizukage who had gained significant distance over them. Each of them had different thoughts on the matter, each of them harbored quite different feelings but were somewhat unified with the desire to stop that woman and while none of them exactly knew what she had planned, having her goals in mind it couldn't have been good. A hall just like countless others flashed through the eyes of the rushing men, they took no time to examine those halls or marvel at their well-preserved beauty having the age of the structure in mind.

Howoku was kept moving just by his desire to eliminate Mizukage Shirona. She was a woman who not only threatened his established status quo of peace between the five villages but also she loved the idea that she did. She was a woman who thought that nations were supposed to be fighting and that such was their natural state as villages training ninja. Howoku had met many people like that, people who thought that the only way for ninja villages to stay relevant was to stay in warring state with all the other villages. Those people had an ounce of truth in their beliefs, ninja were warriors, assassins who should have always stayed ready for combat. Still, these people sentenced many young and unprepared ninja to death, ninja who could've grown up and excelled in their fields. Flowers that had not yet bloomed had no meaning in their wilting.

Tanshu wanted to stop Shirona but he had quite different, much simpler motives. She was a woman who stepped out of line, she dragged all of the other ninja villages by their hair and pissed them off. If she did not bite the dust that meant that any arrogant idiot with followers could do as they pleased. Shirona was a lot like God-Eyes, a figure from his past. A person who had a lot of influence and power that they couldn't really back up, pathetic figures of war who were just icons and had no purpose or right to exist. Even more, she had indirectly hurt his friend who was also a parent of his student's. Tanshu owed it to Mana and her father to stick it to the lady. Also, he had to admit, he was a bit worried about the well-being of Misu. He just upped and disappeared in the middle of the Summit, guys like him couldn't have died against just Barrier Corps, what was he doing? Where was he?

To Haoru this was as simple as it ever got - he just had a justification to break loose and kill some ninja and be on the right. The old man never really liked the kind, they acted like they were all that just because they had no moral codes and because the Lords liked them more. Of course, Lords would have preferred ninja over samurai, samurai had rules, they had standards and principles. Samurai would've never stricken down a child, an unarmed person or a woman who was not a warrior, they would've never raised their swords against anyone who was not a threat to their Lord. Ninja were beyond all that and Shirona of all people was a living embodiment of that. She was a woman who knew what she wanted and had the nerve to step over everyone else and reach out for it. Warriors had no right to be ambitious, they surrendered their ambition to their Lords after accepting servitude. Haoru just wanted to cut that bitch down. It may have been a brutal and rude way of saying it but that was the kind of man Haoru was - primal and rude but to the point.

Finally, they entered the hall where on a platform on the third floor stood their blond, well-endowed nemesis. The woman spread her arms and smiled arrogantly, her face did not twitch nor did it display any emotion or fear. She just merely welcomed them in catching up to her.

"Let's get her talking, catch our breaths before we engage her, survey our surroundings. She lured us into here so she has an ace she is willing to throw down at the last second." Tanshu whispered and the two men to the side nodded.

"We're here, Shirona-san, there's no need to run, there's no need for any more words. We shall settle it all here but before we do I want to know... What did you do it for and was it worth it? You killed many men in preparation for this, you had to piss all of us off to have this Summit called, you played all of us making us think we were in control, you killed even more in this Summit, good men and women and good ninja. Good and loyal ninja you as potential Ninja Empress lost. So I ask you, Shirona, was it worth it?" Howoku started his attempt to get Shirona talking. The woman crossed her arms over her chest.