Chapter 23: Pale Powder Keg

So, there are both the abrasive Shogo and the sickly Benishi Wutarui in a small, heated room, rigged to explode should any of the small papers that decorated every inch of the room get damaged a tiny bit. Benishi is completely relaxed; sitting on a plush bed with an abundance of pillows and blankets; dressed in a loose robe with silk undershirt and baggy linen pants.

While in contrast, Shogo is fidgeting slightly where he stands, clearly in a state of absolute panic. His eyes sometimes dart around the room clearly looking for a way out of this situation. Shogo had unknowingly walked into this trap on his quest to determine if the Wutarui family were threats to Kirigakure. Now he is at the mercy of the youngest member of that very family.

However, all is not lost as Benishi seems very keen on walking out alive from this confrontation as the resulting blast would no doubt incinerate him as well.

Shogo POV

'If I kill him now maybe I'll be able to avoid being blown to smithereens! To hell with Byakuren's mission!' 

Clearly seeing the change in my demeanor, Benishi responds by jerking up the front of his undershirt to display his chest to me. Right on top of where his heart would be there is a weird spiral tattoo and some other symbols, I can't make heads or tails of.

"Just so you know Shinobi-san, should my heart stop…all the explosives will trigger themselves. A rather sinister failsafe was put in place by the Uzumaki sealmaster at my parents' behest."

All the murderous intent dissipates from my mind at that bullshit news.

Benishi chuckles seeing my response pissing me off quite a bit, so I snap,

"What the fuck is so funny about any of this?!"

Benishi calms down responds with a smile,

"I'm sorry if I offended you Shinobi-san, but it's just that while I can't see your face, your eyes are so expressive. Your immediate drop in morale at the heart mechanism put in place was so dramatic it was hard for me to keep my composure. You should really work more on concealing your emotions better, seems like a rather important skill for a ninja."

Immediately I clench my teeth and glare at the fucking bedridden skeleton that dared give me advice on how to fucking do my damn job.

Benishi waves off my anger,

"Let's get back on track here, Shinobi-san. Since we're both trying to leave this room alive, I have to ask you a few questions before we get to my proposal-"

*cough! *

I watch Benishi cough for a bit before I nod in confirmation that would answer his questions.

He nods back,

"Alright first question...Are you here to kill me?"

I shake my head,

"No, I was going to ransom you in hopes of drawing your parents back to the country."

Benishi smirks at my answer,

"A simple no would have sufficed there was no need to give me all that extra information, but moving on; are you planning to kill my parents?"

At that question, I wince because I don't know if I must kill them or not. That is entirely based on if the Wutarui couple can be persuaded to remain in Water Country and not go against Byakuren's vision.

"I was ordered to assess your parent's threat level to my employer's plans."

I answer simply hoping not to give away too much.

Benishi chuckles at my answer clearly amused,

"Haha...that response was much better this time. You didn't really give me an answer, but I can infer more than enough from your body language. You're lucky I don't really care if you were planning to kill my parents or not, otherwise I would have had to blow us sky high."

'Fuck!'

It's getting annoying having him lecture me and shit,

"Fuck do you mean?! How could you not care if your parents are killed or not?"

I reply trying to get a rise out of this ghoulish dude in front of me. But Benishi continues to stare back at me unflinchingly with that unnerving smile on his face,

"Well Shinobi-san, before I divulge any information about my own plans, I need you to agree to a deal. First, your intel is wrong; my parents are actually still in the country, and I can give you their exact location. However, in exchange, I would like to commission your skills in order to dispatch some roadblocks in the way of my future."

My eyebrows probably touch my hairline at the news of his parents still being in the country. My anticipation starts to build up as the job I set out on has just gotten a whole lot easier if this skinny dork is telling the truth.

"How many of these roadblocks do you need dispatched, and do you know where they are exactly?"

"Only two, Shinobi-san. And yes, I do know where they both are, but I'll only give you their names and whereabouts if you agree to this contra-"

*cough! * *cough!*

"Sorry about that, this contract right here."

Benishi puts the candle holder in his other hand then uses his unoccupied hand to grab a scroll off his nightstand. He then unfurls the scroll in front of him on the bed and beckons me to look at its contents.

I cautiously walk closer, going extra slowly to not trigger any of the explosive tags on the floor. When I get close, I scan the open scroll only to be instantly confused by all the ink scribbles like that on the tags.

"Ah don't feel bad that you can't decipher it, Shinobi-san. Few outsides of the Uzumaki clan can decipher their sealing language. This contract was a last-minute commission I had the seal master cook up for the purpose of making this deal, without my parents' knowledge of course. In order to agree to this contract, I only need you to press a drop of your blood with a thumb to the inside the circle in the middle of the scribbles-"

*cough! *

All of this sounds super sketchy. I really don't want to sign off on anything I can't fucking read, but the payoff for doing this mission for Benishi is too great for me to ignore. It didn't help that Benishi seems like a slimy bastard.

"I can see your reluctance Shinobi-san, don't worry as a show of good faith, I'll sign the contract first…"

Benishi then lightly bites his left thumb and presses the drawn blood to the middle of the circle. I see the black scribbles flash red briefly then they begin to move to my horror. The ink creeps toward Benishi's hand and continues by slithering up his arm on his skin.

When the scribbles vacate the entirety of one side of the scroll, the ink settles around Benishi's wrist and glows red again. Benishi winces lightly as there is a slight hissing coming from the red ink before it settles down into a lifeless black tattoo.

Benishi lifts his left hand from the scroll and pulls down the sleeve of the robe to show off the fresh ink sleeve on the entirety of his arm.

Never in my life had I seen anything like it. I had known from Hana's lessons that there were many different applications of chakra all around the world. The few elemental jutsus that I have seen so far only scratch the surface of what some of the ninja on this planet are capable of.

My apprehension has not waned in the slightest, however, after seeing Benishi complete his signing of the contract.

"Tell me what this seal does, otherwise, I ain't going anywhere near it!"

Benishi's smirk doesn't waver although I see a hint of annoyance in his face,

"This is a seal of correspondence. It is a contract between two or more people that ensures positive progress towards the same goal. Sabotage or abandonment of the goal is met with consequence for the at fault party. Regardless of if it is the person purchasing the service or the person carrying out the service."

My ears perk up at the vagueness of "consequence",

"And what is the consequence?"

Benishi's smirk finally twitches a bit, showing me even he is weary of the seal's penalties.

"If the goal can still be completed then only a jolt of pain will flare from the tattoo in response to any minor attempts at sabotage. However, if the goal becomes impossible to complete within the allotted time period, then the guilty party's heart will be stopped by the seal."

"You've got to be fucking insane if you think I'm agreeing to that!?"

I loudly exclaim my refusal to go anywhere near the death scroll, pointing the sand blade at Benishi to emphasize my stance.

Benishi's eyes widen, and he puts both his hands up in a placating manner, his smile again never leaving his very punchable face.

"Peace, peace! Shinobi-san, I completely understand your concern in agreeing to such a risky contract, but please, I ask you to truly gauge your options in this current situation before you make any hasty decisions!"

My blade lowers a bit as I continue listening to Benishi's words,

"This contract is also a large risk to me as the seal was fully capable of killing me if my request was deemed impossible during my signing of it. However, this scroll is the only way I can guarantee your cooperation in my request as it might conflict with your primary mission. I'm sure the information I have will greatly aid you but isn't it only fair that I get something in return."

Benishi closes his eyes and lets loose a long sigh, both his hands drop to his sides. He reopens them showing me an intensity that wasn't previously there.

"The alternative, however, will be you can continue to try and force me to be a pawn in whatever scheme the Samurai Killer has concocted. And as a result, I detonate these bombs right now potentially killing everyone on this floating death trap set by my "loving parents"."

Benishi stops addressing me and simply stares into my eyes waiting for me to come to a decision with a grim look on his face void of any of the warmth he was trying to portray before he told me the final option.

'Fuck!'

I can't fucking afford not to sign this bullshit contract! The last thing I need is for this pale jerk to die in a fiery explosion because even if I did survive the blast somehow, the entire country is going to assume it was an assassination by water ninja and turn against Kirigakure which is what old scar face sent me to prevent.

He'll probably come to decapitate me himself if I fuck up the mission that bad.

I clench my teeth and glare at the slimy Wutarui scion in front of me as I lower the sand blade.

Benishi continues to make eye contact as he pushes the scroll slightly forward.

I look down at the scroll between the two of us in disgust.

"Goddess damn it!"

I yell to no one before I slowly stride toward the edge of the lavious bed, mindful of the exploding paper underneath the soles of my sandals.

After ruthlessly stabbing the sand blade through the mattress of Benishi's bed to free up my only serviceable hand, I quickly chomp down on the tip of my right thumb.

Blood flows out of the fresh wound as I stamp my bloody thumb to my side of the contract all the while glaring hatefully at the highly manipulative teen who is smiling amusedly in my face.

Despite my frustration at being made a fool of by a sickly weakling, my concentration in trying to kill the bastard with my thoughts is interrupted by a burning sensation.

Even though I had watched the same process before only minutes prior, the visual of black ink crawling up my right arm sprouts a muted terror in my heart.

A second later, the black ink on my arm burns a vibrant red. The burning sensation isn't painful enough to make me bat an eye, but to know that the sizzling is coming from my arm is what forms an uneasy quiver in the pit of my stomach.

After what feels like an eternity, the sizzling ceases and the blood red ink goes back to a sickening pitch-black ink.

I shakily remove my thumb from the now empty scroll, not even the blood from my hand remained, and lock eyes with an annoyingly satisfied looking Benishi.

"There! I signed your creepy ass contract! Now tell me who you want dead and where the damn targets are right now!"

The smirk drops from Benishi's face as he finally gets serious,

"The targets' names are Hideki and Yoko Watarui, both can be found in an underground bunker 10 kilometers below their publishing company on my home island. You'll need to move fast if you want to intercept them before they can begin putting their plans in motion."

My eyes widen at the revelation.

'You've got to be fucking kidding me! Those sneaky motherfuckers were under my nose the entire damn time! Wait-'

"Plans? What are they planning that they need a secret underground bunker?"

Benishi face becomes grimmer at my question before he starts to answer,

"They are planning to use their social influence to strategically build a narrative against ninjas around the world. Their goal is to slow and eventually prevent the total supremacy of chakra powered warriors in our world. They want to save our current economy."

*cough!*

"Granted ninja and samurai who use chakra have been at the top of the proverbial food chain for centuries now, but lack of money and war both stilled any overarching supremacy that could come from being able to wield chakra as a weapon."

Man, this guy loves to hear himself talk. I guess I brought this on myself by asking about the plans of those fucking eggheads.

What good is an economy if you can blow shit up with a few hand signs? Money has done jack shit for me besides get me some sharp stuff to slice people in half with.

Power is everything and this kid is beyond naive if he doesn't get that by now.

"As long as chakra powered warriors remained killers for hire and neglected to build lasting foundations for themselves, there could be a balance as those with little to no ability to use chakra were allowed to build foundations to make vast amounts of money if they were fortunate enough to survive the crossfire of the endless small wars."

I can't help but roll my eyes at this "status quo" that the Wutarui couple are apparently trying to uphold. Didn't they know even the wealthiest man in Water country was no match for Byakuren?

*cough!* *cough!*

Benishi slowly moves to the left side of his bed and turns his body to face the side wall. His spindly pale legs dangle over the side before he slips on a pair of ornate sandals on both feet. Then he looks back at me, 

"I see you don't fully subscribe to the civilian way of thinking Shinobi-san. I guess that is a given as you are one of the apex predators on our planet. It must baffle you to think like a gatherer."

I suck my teeth at his assumption.

"You have no idea what I come from and what I've been through to cultivate the power that I currently wield. That pitiful way of thinking ignores personal strength entirely and puts you at the mercy of those stronger than you when they finally take notice."

Benishi nods at my answer,

"Yes, until recently you ninja only really concerned yourselves with those on par with their level of power and those that possessed even greater strength. But now since personal strength is no longer going to be enough to get ahead in the ninja world, the strongest of you warriors are now gathering manpower and are quickly making the wealth of us mundane persons obsolete. As I am sure you've seen with the Samurai Killer basically usurping the Water Daimyo. "

I nod as I think back to the shock of the daimyo being kicked out of his palace all those months ago.

"Similar scenes will soon play out across the world. The wealthy but underpowered will be mere pawns in the schemes of the most powerful warriors, who are all plotting to establish their new world order."

Benishi stands from the edge of his bed slowly, using the bed to steady his struggling body. He is at least a foot taller than me, standing at maybe six feet even.

"The resulting wars will be larger and more horrific than this planet has ever seen. And when the dust finally settles, who knows if there will be a single human being left standing."

I watch silently as Benishi labors toward the door behind me with heavy but careful steps. My anxiety reaches a new plateau every time I see the bottom of his sandals touch the explosive paper.

Benishi finally reaches the door, and he leans against it clearly out of breath. It takes a moment before Benishi gathers himself and he turns around to face me.

"That's what I believe to be the worst-case scenario as a result of this drastic world shift, but my parents believe that to be an inevitable future as they view your chakra wielding warriors to be little more than mindless savages."

I clench my teeth at the slight to my intelligence,

"Yeah, I see you disagree with my parents' opinion as well, Shinobi-san. I think it is a fatal mistake to underestimate anyone like my parents so often do, as you can never be sure what someone has done, is doing or will do unless you're clairvoyant of course."

Benishi grabs the door handle and pulls the door open revealing the dark hallway behind it. Gestures with his hand for me to follow as he steps out of the room.

"Come now, Shinobi-san. We must make haste if we want to catch your targets before they leave their bunker and become infinitely harder for you to catch."

With a grunt, I nod my head and grab the hilt of the sand blade and yank it out of the bed before carefully tiptoeing out of the steam room and following my contractor.

As we are making our way to the ladder at the other end of the hall, Benishi suddenly halts his progress right in front of me.

A scowl forms on my face,

"Why'd you stop?"

Benishi turns to me with a troubled look on his face.

"It's going to be freezing on the open water at night, isn't it? I should get an extra robe and a blanket. Wait here Shinobi-san, I'll be right back."

With that the pale teen slips past me and hurriedly shuffles back toward the room literally rigged to explode. My mouth is agape at the absurdity of it all.

Moments later Benishi comes back out of the room with a new robe on and a blanket neatly folded under his right arm. When he gets to me, he holds out the blanket for me to take. I can only blankly stare at him, with my rage simmering below the surface.

Snatching the blanket from Benishi, I stomp down the hall and launch the folded blanket to the top of the ladder.

Benishi gasps, obliviously appalled at my handling of his dumbass blanket.

"Well, I never! Even if we are in a rush, it doesn't mean I have to be cold!"

I growl in response; his voice is starting to make me want to grind my fucking teeth.

Benishi scoffs at my irritation,

"Fine, but when I get up there, I'm going to look for my blanket!"

With that he storms past me and begins feebly trying to climb the ladder. All I can do is sigh in response.

'I can already tell this "Partnership" is going to suck for me…'

Benishi seemingly gives up on struggling up the ladder and looks back at me,

"A little help would be appreciated…"

I roll my eyes,

"You have to be fucking kidding me…"

 

A/N: Happy New Year Everyone! 

2021 went by in a blur for me, but it was pretty cool. Graduated from college and started a big boy insurance job. Been trying to upload somewhat consistently, safe to say I failed tho lol. 100k words in this story is a huge milestone for me! One I hope to improve on greatly in the coming year.

2022 I want to upload at least a chapter a week! And I want to finally start working on some of these other fanfic ideas I have. I literally have a huge list! My mind is always churning out stuff but it's just hard as hell to put on paper. Let's change that though! 

Thank you so much for reading and I wish all of you reading this, the best in the coming year!