Voice of Ninja [Mission]

Age : 32 Posts : 1495

Spoiler:

This was inevitable. There was no way avoiding the day when people would start asking questions. Questions that may shake the very foundations that the ninja system is based on, questions that imply that ninja may no longer be necessary at all, that they are a relic of the past. Only in Konohagakure there were numerous bloody events in the last month alone, more and more to add to that statistic every day. Mana herself has taken part in at least two bloodsheds in her own village, a place that was supposed to be the haven of safety and that’s just last month. It was just a matter of time that people would ask the question, “If ninja can’t protect themselves, their own villages, how can they possibly be trusted with the safety of the world”. Even more, most of the time the events just ended up in a bloodbath, just like that time with the bloody man, the one who killed about twenty people and eventually was killed by a teammate of Mana – no one to point fingers at or punish, just corpses. Events like this don’t really help with the public opinion of ninja as protectors of peace, just forms it like that of incompetent murderers.

And so, the inevitable convention of politicians and wise men from all around the world was called. It was supposed to make the powerful decide if ninja were a cause of global bloodsheds or just people who tried to help. One was just supposed to think that the completely unrelated events, that took lives of many, happened all around the world. Ninja villages were supposed to send their representatives to answer questions with the future of ninja depending on the answers. Surprisingly enough, the council requested not the cream of the ninja world, not the sannin or jounin, but ninja more fitting to represent “the common, average shinobi”. The council wished to question the average ninja who had only managed to reach the rank of chuunin or so, the content of the dull and grey crowd. When one thought about it, it kind of made sense – after all the genin haven’t seen much life as ninja, the world still pulls it’s punches on the young, the more experienced, however, do not really represent the common ninja, they’re prodigies, geniuses that are capable of pulling off tricks and lies that even the council may not be able to pick up on.

It was the greatest of honors for Nakotsumi Mana to represent Konoha, not just that, the whole ninja world. Together with representatives from the other ninja villages the girl would be one of the voices representing the old order. If Mana’s answers are able to please the council, maybe the ninja system will avoid any upgrades. The girl was almost sure that it was the expectation placed on her to make sure that her answers leave the system as it is. It was also the greatest of pressures, it often felt like Mana was somehow to blame and that the trial would be that of her own. Why did she have to be trialed for her beliefs and choice to use her magical gifts to help people? Was it something wrong? Was it not what the council wants from the ninja in the first place? Mana never killed anyone, of course, she sometimes was too weak to save someone, that often felt like exactly the same thing. Mana has been meditating on the topic for quite long time, every day, in fact. Still, she has not found an answer - is incompetence the same as murder, from the council’s point of view Mana believed it may have been so.

Even more, the girl was baffled by being chosen by the village. Was she really the average? Was there really nothing unusual about her? Was everything she experienced every day, every feeling, every dream, every thought really so usual that she was best fitted to represent a common ninja. Not only that, but also – was she really just average? There was this small thought in Mana’s head that being chosen as the representative of average was an offense to her as both an entertainer and as a ninja, even if offending her was definitely not the intention of the village. The girl was overwhelmed by the honor, as the village expected her to be, but she was also quite annoyed by the fact that she was considered average. Not just average, the most average of all. Mana had an idea why she was chosen, the supposedly secret motive. It was clear at the very first moment she was told. It was that Mana never killed, that she put her life on the line where possible, always watching out for the ordinary people, just how a protector of peace should. The village expected that Mana’s silly and childish ideals would confuse the council’s understanding of what being a ninja really meant. She was just a tool. No. Just her silly ideals were. Those very same ideals that made Guru Ayushi go mad, “Sure, what could go wrong here…” Mana thought as she was navigating the zigzags of the Roiyaru road.

Just as Mana approached the designated hotel four unidentified ninja appeared out of nowhere. “Nakotsumi Mana-san, please follow us.” The masked figures said in unison and started moving in a box like formation. “So that’s what they did to the cream of the crop, made them into bodyguards…” Mana thought, it felt somewhat warm inside to be so protected and honored that ninja squads were sent to pick her up. It seemed that the council viewed these “samples” of what ninja symbolized quite seriously, had one of them been lost on the way their process would’ve been incomplete. “Please, do not worry about the safety of you or the council, that is our job, you are but a precious voice. A witness of your own experiences.” One of the masked ninja explained, obviously it looked like something they had already told before to the other voices of ninja. “We will deal with protecting the summit, you just be our voice, Mana-san.” The man concluded.

This was possibly the first time Mana was held as someone honorable or important and it felt strange. She had no reason to be, she had no significant achievements or strength. Mana wasn’t a clan prodigy or a genius so she really felt kind of strange when being treated with such honor, then again, that was the point of it all…

Age : 32 Posts : 1495

The ninja squad, formed into a box, lead Mana to the eastern wing of the building. The fact that the formation of eight ninja managed to fit into the thin and long corridors of the remote hotel was impressive by itself. The choice of location was rather odd, that much Mana had to admit. The council could’ve just as easily gathered on a ninja village or some fancy palace or maybe a shrine, one of many all over the world. The council probably wanted to remain neutral from any ties with the ninja villages except for the contact with the chosen voices. Had they chosen to gather in one of the ninja villages, they would’ve had a certain sense of comfort and sympathy for the ninja that hosted them, such feelings are out of the question for the council. Also, the rising trend of breakouts of violent events within ninja villages was definitely a factor as well, had the council gathered inside a village they may have ended up being either a target or collateral victims of such event, if it was to happen. Mana saw the doors in the eastern wing to be marked with the village symbols, without a doubt so that the voices themselves and the staff could determine which rooms belonged to which voices.

“Are you not worried that the voices can try to pull something funny?” Mana asked, the girl did not know how much liberty of voice she had, if she had the option of asking questions or to give orders. “I mean, surely putting ninja representatives from Konoha, Kirigakure and Kumogakure is a little dangerous, ninja villages will always have their little quarrels.” This was not an empty question, ninja from Kirigakure injured Mana’s father during an ambush, even if Mana did not admit it, she still had a certain distaste for the Mist. Mana considered herself peaceful, there may have been ninja here who were less civilized than she was and held even more past grievances. Putting warriors, trained to follow orders and fight for whatever purpose they are given, nearby each other like children in boarding schools could’ve been another way to spell “trouble”. “We do not believe that the voices would be so unwise, we are here to judge their wisdom and behavior, to cause trouble here would not only bring shame to their villages but also severely impact the Council’s decision. They would be avenging their minor squabbles, sure, but they would also spell doom not just for their village but the entire ninja system, hardly worth the trade, don’t you think, Mana-san?”

The magician was completely convinced by the answer, she was a little ashamed for raising such a question in the first place. It may have seemed like a sign of immaturity and youth, not a trait that should be associated with a ninja. “Well, anyways, settle in, Mana-san. You have utter and complete freedom to explore this building and nature beyond, if you feel like it’s for the better you can even leave and go back to your village – there is nothing but your own sense of duty and, most likely, your mission objective keeping you here. Feel free to talk to any of the other voices and socialize, friends in other villages could be useful. If ninja won’t be abolished, that is…” the man joked and laughed from his own words. There was nothing Mana considered funny in his suggestion. The girl did not know if she wanted to socialize with the others, so far all experience with the foreigners left her disappointed. Kirigakure ninja left her father burnt and unable to continue his career as a ninja, an Allied ninja from Kumogakure left her alone in a dangerous situation, broke his promise and lied about caring about the villagers they were saving. No, there was nothing Mana wanted from the foreigners and she was sure that they felt the same way about her.

Just as Mana settled in and crossed her legs to meditate she heard the door open, immediately snapping the girl out. It was a young man with Kirigakure headband that entered her room, his eyes looked like he was more afraid of aggression from her than meant it himself. Of course, when the young man saw that the voice from Konoha was even younger than he was Mana could see fear leave his eyes. “Ummm… Hi, my name is Jagaimo, I’m from Kirigakure. I am a voice as well. I’m not interrupting something important am I?” Mana sensed the boy’s chakra, it flowed calmly, it wasn’t too great and had no specific color or feel to it, it literally said “average”. “I’ve greeted the voice from Kumo as well but that guy is scary, he’s huge and doesn’t speak too much and there’s nothing to do until the morning…” the youth started explaining himself, Mana felt that her lack of response suggested the boy that she felt threatened but, to tell the truth, she just wanted to make the boy choke on his own shoulder long grey hair. Mana had no idea where all of this anger came from, to be honest she thought she’d have forgiven the Kirigakure ninja already. “It’s OK, I’m Mana from Konohagakure.” Mana tried to fake a soft and nice introductory tone but she didn’t think that the young man bought it. Mana was surprised when her door opened again, another ninja entered her room. “Good afternoon, Voice of Konoha, my name is Kyuri, I am the voice of Kumogakure.” The shinobi of Kumo said.

Kyuri was a huge fellow, just like Jagaimo described, in fact he was an absolute opposite of Jagaimo: a tall and muscular fellow, looked like he was well in his late twenties and had a fair share of scars all over his body. He wore a sleeveless black shirt so his scar-ridden arms were exposed. “So, since the big guys are busy with their hunting until the morning, maybe we should get to know each other… I don’t suppose you guys are into gambling too much?” Jagaimo started to throw out words in quite an impressive rate. He looked like quite a jester, Mana would’ve never suspected him to be a ninja with that scrawny build he had and almost less than average supply of chakra. He looked much more like a homeless orphan who wasn’t able to transition to a pickpocket and instead spent his days joking about the irony of life. Mana was almost sure her guess wasn’t that far off. “Why of course I am…” she replied “Why don’t we make it a bet?” she continued stretching out her tricky magician fingers. This Kirigakure brat looked almost too miserable not to cheat him out of his underwear for the duration of his stay. "Now there's an underage gambled I can vouch for..." Jagaimo laughed out, he looked confident but he had no idea what he was in for, Mana was making card movement impossible to follow since she was almost an infant...

Age : 32 Posts : 1495

“Goddamn it!” Jagaimo cursed as Mana pulled another ace, she didn’t care that it looked a little too suspicious that she pulled all four aces five times in a row, she did it without cheating, it was boy’s own fault in letting Mana shuffle the deck every time. “Beaten by a thirteen year old girl…” Jagaimo looked quite miserable as he uttered these words, Mana smiled “Don’t beat yourself too much, I’m turning fourteen pretty soon.” To be honest, Jagaimo would’ve looked a lot more miserable if Mana asked him to cash all of his debt out, she did keep the tab on how much he owed her by now but didn’t ask him to shake his pockets. “Don’t worry, no need to pay up. It’s not gambling if no one loses any money and I don’t think that underage gambling is a testament of my maturity and wisdom per se.” Jagaimo shrugged “Lesson learnt, don’t gamble with women in strange outfits, what’s the deal with that anyway?” “It’s a magician’s outfit.” Kyuri replied, despite not looking too interested in what was going on the large man still stayed and watched Mana beat Jagaimo at cards for an hour. Mana was surprised that Kyuri knew that, she didn’t really consider the uniform that widely spread, the girl's attire was modeled after what she'd only seen in posters when she was a child. “We can still play dice if you want, Jagaimo-san” Mana said in a somewhat sarcastic tone. “Even I’m not that much into dominance… You’ll get it when you grow older…” Jagaimo added as he realized that Mana didn't get his bad jokes.

There was something strange in this game of cards Mana had, as if by seeing the Kirigakure youth in a different light she’d grown somewhat more tolerant of them. She no longer had that strange hatred for the young man that made her crush him as hard as possible in cards. While Mana did start feeling a little bit more tolerant towards Jagaimo, she didn’t really know what to think about the voice from Kumogakure – he didn’t speak all that much, he just sat with them occasionally saying something when asked or just grunting, observing the game of cards with a cold emotionless expression on his face, only smiling for a brief moment when Mana pulled the usual four aces hand trick. The magician did not know if she could really trust the man as he displayed very few emotions, it is natural to consider a man who is so cold to be an arrogant and proud person who thinks himself above descending to the level of his conversant. Mana looked curiously at Kyuri with a questioning look, trying to deduce how did he know about the specifics of her attire, the man closed his eyes and replied “A guest from Konoha once told us about you, when we told him that he should stay in our village and he replied that his children adored a little magician girl too much, he said that the girl wears the strangest clothes he’d ever seen, the rest was simple deduction…” Kyuri replied, this was probably the most words he’s said that evening.

“So the bodyguard ninja told me that one of the reasons for this summit is some chain of events around the ninja world, what happened in your villages? Back in Kirigakure some fellow decided that he’s had enough shit in his life and just started cutting people down in a middle of day, I presume something equally stupid happened in your places too?” Jagaimo asked with a somewhat sly tone, even if the boy reminded Mana much of a man-rat hybrid it still sounded far much more like it was a question of curiosity. “A very powerful and respected ninja decided to use his quite destructive lightning jutsu in the center of the village, several hundred people died that day.” Kyuri replied with a somewhat casual tone, it seemed as if he was telling a simple everyday story and not about how his village lost several hundred innocent lives. “Well there was that time when a mystery man covered in blood attacked our village all by himself and managed to kill at least twenty people all by himself, my teammate managed to kill him but because he’s dead we couldn’t really extract information from him so nothing gained from it but casualties. Then there was that other time that a monster started rampaging through our city tearing sewer workers to bits, causing urban legends, several more people died from him when local bouncers tried to engage him in battle…” Mana told her side of the story. Those events were pretty much all of the bloody events she knew. After a brief conversation the voices from other village decided to leave as they started feeling sleepy. Mana also decided that resting was the best for her seeing how important tomorrow was.

Mana slept quite well that night, in fact, she’d forgotten when she’d slept so well in the past several months. Of course, the monster she’d told the voices of other villages about had much to do with that insomnia. This was supposed to be a new chapter for her, one where her mind felt more relaxed, unburdened by an unknown responsibility that Mana placed upon herself. Still depending on the answers of her and two other ninja hung the future of the entire ninja system, there simply could not have been a greater responsibility. Mana woke up as someone knocked hard on her door, a familiar voice of the ninja protecting the event reached her through the wooden door, “Mana-san, it would be wise to get up now if you want to have a bath in private, the bathroom nearby is empty, the summit starts at midday.” The girl felt grateful that she was woken up, she really did wish to wash herself in private so getting up now was a good idea, also girls took some more time getting ready in the morning than the guys did. The girl jumped up from her bed, slipped into her clothes and went off to the bathroom. Preparations had to be done before one of the most important days in her life.

As the midday came a loud bell tolled, Mana wasn’t really sure where it was stuffed or for what purpose it was used normally, the bell signaled that it was time for the summit to begin. The magician rushed into the main hall leaving her ninja kit behind, taking her weapons with her would’ve been really dumb when her main assignment was being a voice of ninja and standing a trial representing ninja around the world. As Mana descended down the masked ninja surrounded her again and lead the girl all the way to her seat. After the hall was filled Mana finally got a look at the council, there was literally no other people there but the protecting ninja, the voices and the council. The voices and the council were seated around a round table while the protecting ninja stood behind them. One of the council members cleared his throat, “Well then, shall we begin?” Despite not being in any danger Mana was probably afraid the most she’s ever been in her life…

Age : 32 Posts : 1495

Mana could not understand or control her quivering legs, luckily they were concealed under the fancy round table. From the looks of it, Jagaimo was quite worried as well, his eyes definitely did show some signs of the boy being troubled, the voice of Kumo still looked indifferent to everything around him. The same speaker that announced the beginning of the summit took a scroll and unsealed it. His eyes quickly ran over it as if confirming that the information within was indeed the one he was looking for. The man’s eyes looked soft, warm and understanding, the man looked like he was in his sixties but with that playful full moustache he couldn’t have been taken too seriously. His eyes focused on the young grey haired man from Kirigakure, his voice echoed throughout the hall being slightly muffled by his moustache. “So to begin this, the council would like to get to know you as people, your personalities and motivations. This could help us understand just what kind of people decide to be ninja.” The man said, “We have requested your villages to supply all information we considered relevant about you, just so that you do not feel any injustice we will open it up on you so you have a chance to explain some things or correct them if, by any chance, it is wrong.”

“Let’s begin with the voice of Kirigakure. It says here that you are an orphan and there is nothing written about a constant abode, could you explain that?” the warm and authoritative voice of the councilman asked the sly looking young man. “It’s all like it says in the books, chief, I don’t have any family or supervisors to answer to, besides the obvious. I’ve been on the street for as long as I remember it, I sometimes keep asking myself about how I survived my early years… So yes, I don’t have any home, I guess you could say I’m a man on the lam, hiding from people I’ve scorned or owe money to, job as a ninja gives me an opportunity to hide in other countries or get paid for jobs that would be too dirty for your average fancy fat-ass… Lying, killing, cheating, gambling I can do, and have done it all.” the youth replied with his usual joking and sarcastic tone, his shaking voice still betrayed that he was indeed affected by the weight of things happening here. “So you remember no parent figures or temporary home that you could relate to?” the man asked to specify something he considered important. “Nah, it’s not like that, there were people, there were homes. It’s just that they died so long ago that I do not remember what I’m supposed to feel about them, the more I think about it the more I realize the streets are my home. If you really need a specific line to put in those papers of yours, chief, put in “streets of Kirigakure”, ain’t getting any more correct than that.”

“Voice of Konoha, what can you tell us about your home and parents?” the man quickly jumped to Mana, the unexpectedness of the target switch almost made the girl jump. It felt so similar to how Mana felt in the Academy, how when she was asked questions that were quite simple and she knew answers to, the questions looked so simple that for a second Mana doubted if the answers were really the correct ones. “I have a warm home and loving parents, I do not know what more I could tell you. My life story isn’t as dramatic as that of the voice of Kirigakure.” Mana replied, trying to be honest, she did not think that there was too much of a point in trying to answer in a way that seemed “correct” and fit her goals in keeping the ninja system. The girl’s decision was to just let the council do it’s job. “Your father was a ninja, wasn’t he? Did that impact your choice of career? Maybe he pressured you or forced you to become a kunoichi and follow his footsteps?” the councilman specified his question. “No, my father had little to do with my choice. Of course I felt honored to have a father who devoted his life to duty for his village but ultimately the choice was my own. It was my desire to use my magical gifts of willpower and chakra control for the good of ordinary people and preserve the magical balance of life that made me become who I am.” Mana answered, she saw the councilman being quite stumped by her answer but another councilman on his right twisted his finger in the air showing him not to go too deep into it.

“Voice of Kumogakure, how about you? Maybe your home environment had a more significant role in you becoming a ninja?” the councilman passed the question to Kyuri. “All men in my household served their time as ninja, I did what was expected of me as a man of my clan and applied to become a ninja.” The councilman tried to rephrase the answer asking if the man meant that his older clan members or the home environment pressured him directly, tried to establish a more clear motivation but Kyuri remained silent, when directly asked to answer the man simply uttered in a strict tone “I’ve answered what I was asked, I see no need in repeating myself.” Mana was a little shocked to see the rudeness and indifference of that man, he definitely looked like he didn’t think that much about the events transpiring here. He showed more emotion during Mana’s game of cards yesterday than he did answering the question. “Alright then. Correct me if I’m wrong, voice of Kumogakure, you became a ninja because such was expected of you as an able bodied male of your clan. You simply did it because your father, your grandfather and uncles – all males of your clan did so. Seeing how you do not correct me, I shall treat this answer as accepted by your side…” the councilman finished. He actually looked a little annoyed by Kyuri’s behavior but in a more benign way, more like how a man gets annoyed when an insect gets into a room than how he gets annoyed when he is offended.

“I realize that all three of you are actually bound to answering questions by an objective of so called “missions” you ninja do. I see nothing wrong in telling you our impressions seeing how you will be likely forced to tell your experiences by your villages, it is quite important for the paper flippers to know that they will maintain their positions…” the councilman laughed in a harmless and warm manner, despite his sometimes harsh and strict manner of speech Mana took him for a quite civilized, wise and warm man. “I think the council's verdict is that you three could not be more different origins-wise. We believe that the environment a child hails from does not have a significant enough impact to one’s choice to become a ninja, not one we can prove, anyways. Therefore we think that it is more a combination of past experiences tied to one’s own personal character or, in case of voice of Kirigakure, convenience to their ideal scenario. In conclusion no need to change anything related to the way children are raised in a ninja village will be necessary. That is what we would like to tell your superiors when you return in regards to this question.” The man finished with a smile. Another one opened his mouth, a councilman sitting on his right – a much colder vibe having fellow. His face was strict, his lips looked like he forced them to be locked hard, they were short and shut. His eyes signaled hatred and emitted a cold stare. His voice was like what a pit viper would sound like if given voice “I believe it is now my turn to continue the interrogation, Eigo-san?” “By all means, but I prefer the term “sharing experiences” Mamushi-san.” the previous councilman replied with a smile.

Age : 32 Posts : 1495

Councilman Mamushi ran through some scrolls after being handed the turn to continue the session. He wanted to make sure that his questions are precise and useful, that nothing he assumes or asks can be taken from the information handed for them from the villages. “Voice of Kirigakure, it is mentioned here that you cost your village quite a large sum of money. It says here you constantly waste village funds on gambling, there were multiple occasions that you spent all the money given for you for mission purposes on cards… Before the council makes any faulty assumptions we’d like to give you a chance to explain yourself…” the councilman said with his voice sounding like a hissing snake. Just hearing his voice made Mana feel dirty and wish to wipe the feeling off. “Awww shucks, chief, you know me better than my own old hag did… See what I did there?” the slick young man looked around trying to see if anyone got his joke. “I brought my mommy in even though, as far as I’m concerned, I may have come from the cabbage-field… You guys ain’t too sharp with the humor…” Jagaimo giggled from his own silly joke, even after he explained it Mana didn’t seem to understand it.

“So you do not deny the claim that you waste village funds to fuel your own addictions?” Mamushi kept interrogating, his manner of speech definitely reminded much more of interrogation than it did an exchange of experience. “Not fuel - satisfy. Also now that you put it like that… I almost feel like a criminal or something…” Jagaimo laughed the accusation off, “And how did you see it before I explained it to you?” the councilman asked. “I prefered the term “smooth operator of village finances”.” Jagaimo laughed, he appeared to display absolutely no regret for confirming the council’s accusation about him wasting funds on gambling, something that was definitely not the best testimony for a person who’d wish to keep the ninja system alive. “Where exactly are you going with this, Mamushi-san?” the previous councilman asked, it seemed that all of the councilman’s questions were supposed to portray a point of some sort, as if all councilmen were some sort of different sides in a trial. “I will get there shortly, Eigo-san.” Councilman Mamushi replied making a rude gesture with his palm towards the bald councilman.

“Voice of Kumogakure, it says here that you have this tendency of denying stealth and fighting head-on at all times, your missions also display a huge tendency of colossal body count, even those where such murderous display is not needed, is this true?” the councilman changed his target to Kyuri, the bulky Kumo shinobi nodded, “I believe that every man must be given a chance to fight for his life and that there is no other way to end a fight but for one of the combatants to die. A battle is a way for the nature to determine the stronger side, I have no interest to toy around with that by sparring or leaving my enemies alive, I fight only with full intent to kill. Also killing someone in stealth is unfair to this system, it does not allow the natural order of strength and survival to play it’s role.” Mana was shocked to learn that, she liked Kyuri a lot more than Jagaimo prior to knowledge of this fact. In a way the man was much like Mana, he took fighting very seriously and did not understand the meaning of fighting as a mean of game but his reason was a complete opposite to Mana’s beliefs. “Just to remind you, Mamushi-san, the council is still waiting for your point…” councilman Eigo reminded.

“It would be easier to get to it without your pestering interference, Eigo-san.” councilman Mamushi replied rudely, “Voice of Konoha, you are a complete opposite of voice of Kumogakure, you do not kill even if that is your objective and you are more than willing to abandon your objective in order to save people’s lives which have nothing to do with your mission objective? Do you perhaps mistake your profession as an overly heroic one? Please explain this further.” Mamushi made the transition to question Mana. Now that he addressed the girl directly it made her feeling of disgust for the man become even larger, somehow it made Mana feel even more dirty than usual. “It is true that I do not kill, even if my objective would require so I would not take a life. My superiors are aware of my beliefs and are smart enough not to send a kunoichi who does not kill to do a killer’s job. As of saving people’s lives, I believe that whatever objective I have can wait until everyone within my power to be saved are safe. I do not take all ninja as heroes, ninja are what the person behind the title is. Isn’t this the point of this whole summit, to find out what ninja are? I think, honored council, that one of your councilmen already knows the answer so perhaps we can consider hearing him out and ending this early…” Mana did not know why she replied so rudely. It may have been because of how creepy councilman Mamushi felt or how offensive he was.

“The nerve of this…!” Mamushi tried to shout something offensive before being stopped by a councilwoman on his right, “Before you make some rude and unjustified offenses towards this girl consider that her remark was well placed and your question highly untactical. Get to your point and pass the turn to another council member already.” The woman outshouted the enraged councilman. “My point is that these so called ninja are no tools of their superiors as they should be. They do not follow their orders and have no trouble admitting that, they also have the nerve to offend their superiors as clearly shown by this…” the man tried to find a non offensive way of expressing himself but after failing just continued “immature brat. Ninja are supposed to be tools of the sovereign, they are supposed to answer to their superiors who answer to the feudal lord. These however follow some sort of moral code that they themselves invented and do not follow orders how tools should but instead act as they think it is needed. These tools display the tendency to think, which is an unnecessary and even malicious thing for a tool to have.”

Mana could take no more of that filthy poison dripping out of that man’s mouth, “If I may be given a chance to defend myself from a direct offense on my side?” she raised her hand, the councilwoman who stopped Mamushi before nodded. “If you wish tools to accomplish your objective, honored councilman, you use tools. If you wish to murder a man you have an option of taking a blade and driving it into his heart or hiring a ninja who can do it properly. Ninja are not tools, they are men and women who use tools properly, thinking on their feet is what makes a ninja and a sword different. Ninja can adapt, make the hard split-second decisions on the fly. A good ninja is a ninja who can adapt to the situation, who can rise up to the challenge and overcome all unexpected obstacles through improvisation and adapting. Ninja is not a tool, a ninja is one who survives, tools are blunt and lifeless which is why they break under pressure. Ninja adapt, which is why they survive. That is what Hokage-sensei taught me…” Mana finished her speech. She found out that day that speaking from the heart came much easier than speaking with a clear goal in her mind. Whether the council bought her reply, or accusations of councilman Mamushi was yet to be seen as her speech made the council scratch their cheeks and consult with the councilmen nearby them, Mana's words and the point councilman Mamushi tried to make made the councilmen think quite hard it seemed.

Age : 32 Posts : 1495

The creepy councilman from before made some gestures with his palm signaling that he has no more things to ask. The councilwoman who was the last to critique his speech spoke next, “I believe that it is now my turn to ask questions.” She was a rather lovely old lady, she looked like the helpful everybody’s grandmother who bakes cookies and does gardening throughout her day. It was hard to imagine her as someone of high political power. “I have no significant points to make, I will not accuse you of anything, there are just things from your history that I want to talk about. There are many ways that they can be interpreted and I wish to hear your own opinion about them. I would like to remind my fellow council members that this is no trial and these voices are not criminals, there is no need to treat them as such…” the woman spoke, despite looking like a nice old lady she did have this strange tone of strictness in her voice at times. “I will try not to expand myself seeing how there isn’t that much time left and quite many more councilmen left without their say in this…”

“So, all of you are quite known in your village. It just seemed a little odd for me and I asked all of the villages to give the separate opinion of their villagers as well as your histories. Voice of Kumogakure, your villagers know and respect you for one of your more famous missions, the Tsuki no Kuni inferno. Your objective was to extract a famous figure of nobility from a ship of rebels whom she associated herself with and bring her home, could you tell us what you did?” the woman asked, Kyuri sat with his eyes closed for a while. It looked like he remembered that mission well but had rather bad memories about it, then suddenly his eyes shot open and he started speaking, “I killed every single one of the rebel leaders and blew up their ship, I only left the noble woman alive and brought her back home as I was ordered.” He replied. “You told your superiors that you blew up the entire ship because you were too lazy to fight all of the rebels in one on one battle like they all wanted to, you wanted to just take them all out at once…” Kyuri nodded to the woman’s words, she continued “Are you aware that your actions caused a fire in a small settlement in Tsuki no Kuni? Many people died that day, people unrelated to the accident.” The woman concluded her main point of addressing Kyuri. “Yes, that was an unfortunate turn of events, I feel sorry for all those who died, I did not intend to cause harm to them. Still… Sometimes events take turn for the worst, I’ve learned to move on and forget it when they do, as voice of Konoha said before – “Ninja are those that survive”.” Kyuri replied. The woman nodded slightly and wrote something down, “Please do not think that I’m accusing you of something, you are remembered as a hero in your village for your strength and bravery in ending the rebellion that threatened the power balance of the entire world with your own hands, I am not trying to question your honor or strength…” she concluded.

“Now, voice of Kirigakure, quite a lot of villagers were asked about you… Many of them said they hear it for the first time that you’re a ninja and that you owe them money, the amount of people you owe to is… almost impressive. They also called you “a dangerous alcoholic” and one young lady said “He’ll probably be tipsy when he’ll be questioned…” I cannot say that I am unfazed by this.” The woman asked Jagaimo, Mana fought with the instinct to laugh the entire time that he was addressed, while the young man definitely looked like the definition of the wrong kind of crowd he did have that strange “bad boy” vibe to him. “Well, to be honest I’m a little surprised they didn’t mention that I’ve been getting my drink on since I’ve become 18… Literally, like whole life beyond that – one big drinking session… They used to throw that one around a lot.” Jagaimo replied. The councilwoman looked a little stunned for a while, “I don’t see how that helps your point and image…” she uttered a little confused. “Well then let me throw this card around: “OK, I am an alcoholic and a gambling addict, but I get things done and you can’t argue with results.” that’s what my supervisors say when people want to kick me out of the village.” The councilwoman did look a little less confused but she still looked a little stumped as to why would any village send this guy as their representative. To Mana it still looked as if Jagaimo was a different man, he just tried to put on a careless mask or just didn’t take the situation nearly seriously enough.

“Voice of Konoha, you seem to be some sort of celebrity in your village. A lot of people that were spoken to knew about you or at the very least heard about your stage name. I’m a little worried about how a ninja can be an entertainer, it would seem to me that ninja is supposed to be mysterious, unknown, to be a warrior of the shadows. Maybe you could convince me that your life choice was more fitting than I’d thought?” the councilwoman asked Mana. She seemed to change her voice quite significantly when speaking to Mana, as if she took the girl for a child. There may have been a reason for that – Mana more than five years younger than every single one of the voices. “It is true, sometimes I get in trouble because I’m known around the village, working undercover is really hard for me when most people, even the criminal underworld had at the very least heard about me. I am definitely an unconventional ninja, if you took me for the classical definition of a ninja that works in the shadows and remains unseen I am a pathetic excuse for a ninja, however I believe that I owe the villagers my gifts of skill in magic and just my dream of being a ninja will not get in the way of that. Also ninja have long since moved past the stealthy unseen warrior, best ninja are capable of leveling landscapes with their techniques and destroying entire villages, that is the best testimony to my point. Do not view ninja just for what they used to be but instead look at them for what they are now.” The councilwoman looked pleased with the girl’s answer, she nodded and wrote something down. “I’ve got no further questions or points to make, I suggest we move on.” The councilwoman finished her part in the summit.

Age : 32 Posts : 1495

The councilman in the middle, who was the first to question the voices stood up and spoke again, “My fellow councilmen and councilwomen, I’m afraid the day is not so generous to give us all time we need to question the voices. Most of us are important figures of the world with high and important ranking status in their respective countries, we do not have the luxury of taking another day in this summit. If any of you have any important questions that are so important they can impact our decision and absolutely must be asked, please do it now without queue, just raise your hands before you speak.” He said with his warm and loud voice filling the main summit hall. The councilmen started stroking their chins even harder, as time pressed them to the wall they had to filter their questions, they couldn’t afford being out of duty for a whole day. “I bet they’re really regretting spending yesterday hunting…” Jagaimo whispered leaning on Mana. “I’m surprised I don’t smell alcohol on you, voice of Kiri.” Mana replied rudely slightly offended by the closeness that the Kirigakure ninja allowed himself. The young man laughed out loud, disturbing the council for a short while.

“Yes, I’ve got a question for the voice of Konoha… You’re the only voice here with direct connection to both of the horrific bloody events that transpired in your village last month, is that true?” a councilman on the far right asked raising his hand. Mana cleared her throat, “Yes, that’s true, I’m a witness of both of them, one could go as far as to claim I helped to deal with both of them.” The girl replied. While her role in the attack of the bloody man may have been questionable as she barely dealt any damage to the man but as far as Honda incident went the girl was the one who captured the monster alive, something no one believed was possible. After Mana admitted her part in the events, many more councilmen wanted to ask her questions. “Voice of Konoha, is it true that Konohagakure has no idea who was behind the bloody man / Voice of Konoha, how powerful was the bloody man, was he really not a ninja? How did he gain such power? / Honored voice, is it true that you had previous experience with this “Honda creature” ? / Girl, weren’t you the one who guarded Guru Ayushi prior to his disappearance? Would you please comment that? / Mana-san, is it true that you captured this Honda-thing alive? How did you do that?” Questions spilled from every side.

The girl didn’t know where to start answering all of them, it was her mission objective to answer any and every question that the council might have and mission objective was something Mana took very seriously. “Well… Yes, as far as I’ve heard the village has no idea who was behind that attack, the bloody man was quite strong, he displayed lethal arsenal of jutsu that no one had seen before in the village but I think the official version is that he may have been a rogue ninja. Yes I did have previous experience with Honda and I’ve protected Ayushi before he went missing. Ayushi-san was overwhelmed by my ideas and my moral code and he decided to uphold it himself however as far as I’ve seen he twisted it and made his own demented version of it. Honda was his creation, I’ve seen it in his sleeping state before. As to how I captured it alive, I’m not really sure, I guess I overloaded the healing factor that Guru Ayushi gave it and tore it’s limbs off, I don’t know what is happening with Honda currently, I believe that the village is utilizing its chance to study the creature, maybe even cure him. I’d be rather disappointed in my own superiors if they murdered the creature after I’ve went through so much trouble to capture it alive…” Mana stopped speaking to catch her breath. The crowd of councilmen seemed to be silent after she answered the first flow of questions.

“Thank you for your answers, voices.” The first councilman said loudly, his strong but warm voice overpowered any still going discussions between the council. “I believe you are no longer needed, you are excused. Your duty as voices of ninja has been fulfilled marvelously, the council will have to reach their decision without your presence but we will send your villages the note that you’ve performed well. Hopefully we’ll reach a verdict of what to do until the end of the day and part our ways as well. As far as you are concerned, honored voices, this is a farewell. You may leave the hall now, the questioning process is over.” The bell that signaled the beginning of the summit tolled again, the ninja watching over the summit formed a tunnel and lead Mana and the other voices outside the hall and split into two groups: six ninja remained at the hall while four followed the voices to their chambers to wait until they are ready. It didn’t take that long for Mana to gather her things, the girl was glad that it was all over even if she did think that things may have gone smoother with the council. After Mana left the chambers she must’ve looked rather worried since one of the ninja watching the voices put his hand on her shoulder and softly said “Don’t worry, you did well. I don't think that those lazy-asses will decide to do something stupid... They need us” The girl couldn’t tell if it was the same bodyguard that spoke to her before or the one who woke her up, they all looked and sounded the same.

Mana looked back at the hotel and at the other voices who turned their separate ways as well, Kyuri just set off without saying his farewells or looking back. It all just looked like an ordinary job for him. Mana hoped that she would never become anything remotely resembling that man, Jagaimo on the other hand cracked a grin “Well, find me when you come to Kirigakure, I’d wish to pull my dignity out of the dirt by beating you in cards. With the amount of losing I’ve been doing the odds say that I should get lucky already, at least once… I mean… Right?” Those were the last words of that strange young man that Mana heard as the two parted ways with the guarding ninja following them with their eyes. Mana looked over the Roiyaru road, she couldn’t wait to get back, fall down to her bed and just sleep this experience off…