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This article, Hiatari Kinoshita, is an article to be used only by Rito-kun. |
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Hiatari Kinoshita | |||
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( 木下ひあたり, Kinoshita Hiatari) | |||
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Debut | |||
| Appears in | Novel | ||
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Personal | |||
| Birthdate |  October 29
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| Sex |  Male
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| Age | 18 | ||
| Status | Alive | ||
| Height | 168 cm | ||
| Weight | 60 kg | ||
| Bloodtype | AB | ||
| Kekkei Genkai |  Byakugan
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| Classification | Medical-nin Sensor Type | ||
| Occupation | Co-leader of Tsuba | ||
| Affiliation |  Hanagakure
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| Team | Team Boruso Tsuba Team Hiatari | ||
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Rank | |||
| Ninja Rank | Part I: Anbu Part II: Jōnin | ||
| Ninja Registration | 037-002 | ||
| Academy Grad. Age | 6 | ||
| Chūnin Prom. Age | 10 | ||
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Hiatari Kinoshita (木下ひあたり, Kinoshita Hiatari) is a shinobi from Hanagakure and a former Anbu who was under the Tsuba organisation, later rejoining and becoming the co-leader alongside Tsubomi Shimura as part of a mandatory appointment for his future one as Village Head. Through his father, he is the half-brother to Nibai Hariko who happens to be a member of his Genin team...
History[]
Prologue[]
Hiatari was born to a single mother whose husband had died during deployment. When he was 6, Hiatari was trained in many of his clan's hiden jutsu. He learned the two basic jutsu of his clan, which are part of a rite of passage. Hiatari was sent to the Academy shortly after this. There, he quickly rose to the top of the class and became a top student.
The boy flourished. During the same year, he was pushed a couple of grades and graduated from the institution by the end of the year. In four years, he rose through the ranks, participated in the Chūnin Exams, and became a Chūnin at the age of 10. His mother petitioned the Village Head to let her son enter the Chūnin Exams alone after his sensei had refused for years on end now, although the former was skeptical after reviewing the boy’s mission data and decided to approve the application and he’d be entered without his Jōnin leader’s permission. He’d later find out that Tsubomi had a hand in helping forge his documentation for the test. In the first round, the Genin group that year was made to answer a 100-page test and were informed if they answered even one question wrong their entire squad would fail.
Many of the applicants quit hearing this and decided to try again the following year but a handful stayed behind, having steeled their resolve beforehand with Hiatari being one of these people which led to them passing the exam before they wrote a word, despite this when the raw marks came in, he had scored the 4th highest in the test’s history. The second leg of the Chūnin exam was a race from the village square to Flower-Fruit Mountain, only the first 10 people to reach the finish would proceed to the 3rd round, any method to get there bar for killing was permitted...
This attracted the attention of a secret organisation named Tsuba, who approached the boy. A few months in, two masked individuals approached him and informed him that he was to join them.
However, his mother refused to hand over her son, reminding them that they did not have the authority to take him. Once they took him, he was subjected to harsh training intended to push his abilities to their limit. This was done by drugging him, forcing him to train for days at a time from dawn until nightfall, and suppressing all emotions to create the perfect shinobi. Even after the training and all he had endured, the boy never stopped thinking about his mother. He later became one of Tsuba's best close quarter fighters, able to defeat Jōnin tier shinobi in a fight with little to no difficulty.
The organisation's leader, Tsubomi Shimura, selected a group of children, including Hiatari, to undergo experimentation. These experiments included the forceful injection of the remains of shinobi who possessed Kekkei Genkai. Hiatari was part of the final group of children to be injected with the remains of a deceased Hyūga branch family member.
Out of a group of 17, Hiatari was one of the four who survived the procedure. At first, the boy showed no signs of change; however, he did complain about a constant pain in his eyes. After a few months, this pain was revealed to be the development of his Byakugan. Tsubomi as pleased with this development, as although the experimentation had resulted in many casualties, many of the survivors had obtained the transplanted ability.
These individuals were then assigned to a special team tasked with missions that would be impossible to complete under normal circumstances. These missions included eradicating the remains of the God Tree, which had been left over from the last great war, and dealing with opposing-nin who were Wood Release wielders, people who had implanted themselves with White Zetsu remains in a bid to awaken to it. So far, this division of Tsuba has been successful in stopping these threats, although the villagers do not know of their heroics; this division has played a crucial role in the protection of the village.
Although the division played a significant role within the village, once the Vllage Head found out how they came about producing said feats, the division was disbanded. However, as before, a few members remained who sought to recreate Tsuba. At the age of 13, Hiatari and the group of children were released and sent to the orphanage, as many of them had been kidnapped at birth. However, the boy instead returned to his mother. Once he arrived, he found the house empty, so he waited for his mother to return home. He waited for hours, but she never came.
The following day, his neighbor entered the house to clean it out. When he found Hiatari, he was overjoyed, as he had not seen the boy for years. While they caught up, Hiatari asked the man where his mother was since she had not come home the previous day. The man's expression changed to one of sadness, and after a few minutes of silence, he told the boy that his mother had committed suicide after the pain of losing him became too great a burden to bear. The man reported the details to the Village Head and after explaining the boy's past, the man requested to take Hiatari in and raise him as his own.
Once he did, he was placed in the regular forces where he demanded to be placed in the medical division. This was due to his wish to never let anyone die, just like his mother had. Although the Village Head found this absolutely ridiculous, he agreed to the young man's demands. In the medical corps, Hiatari proved to be surprisingly skilled, being compared to the likes of Tsunade, in terms of medical ninjutsu although he denies it. He spent 5 years working in this division and is currently working in the field as a medical-nin ninja to lend his aide.
Personality[]
Due to his childhood, Hiatari has always been close to his mother as a child. Instead of going into mourning he instead chose to help others, to make up for failing to save his mother as much as he knows there wasn’t much, he could have done. Partly due to his early graduation from the Academy, Hiatari can be a bit aloof when it comes to other people, often finding himself awkward or at a loss for words like when around Rongi or Machi. Despite this, he is a nice person as stated by the former who although had his misgivings about the teen was able to see his kindness through actions rather than his words. His social ineptness aside, he is rather warmed when people want to hang out with him as much as he may come across as moody.
Although when it comes to romantic affections not so much, being unable to pick up on Sumi’s interest in him or Machi’s for that matter, often thinking that they lash out at him because he did something wrong. Then again, he does seem to pick up on when men are interested in him, though he ironically mistakes this for romantic love like when sharing a room with Rongi. Perhaps not picking up on feelings isn’t quite his fault, as the girls interested aren’t forthcoming which is why he mistakes Rongi’s more straightforward personality for that. Showing that despite his spatial awareness, he isn’t quite there when it comes to the nuance of human emotion. Although he has shown enough understanding to ignore Sumi’s drunk confessions of love to him, noting that she was in hr right mind at the time but ironically not being able to tell those were her true feelings for him.
He is a thoughtful fellow, choosing to merely subdue his opponents rather than kill them when he can, this stems from his own desire of not wanting anyone around him to die rather than any hippocratic oath. Even when the option of killing would make his goals easier, like when going against the Suna terrorists, he dismisses the thought showing both his stubbornness and strong will. He is also rather empathetic to others, choosing to hear about Seiki’s past from the Ashina’s village chief despite knowing of it prior, showing that he is privy to other people’s emotions by letting the old man tell him from his own mouth. The same for Hanataro, instead of simply knocking him out he let him speak his mind despite the fact he could’ve just extracted it from the illusion he had placed him in.
Hiatari would later need to betray this self promise he made to himself after watching Haruka nearly get crushed to death, he would abandon all self restraint at the time to perform at optimal condition. Haruka alluded to him having a non-confrontational approach to fighting, instead choosing the path of least violence and avoiding unnecessary harm, however when backed into a corner he can break out of this mentality to live up to the oath it was based on in the first place; not letting anyone die on his watch. Although far from bloodthirsty he does have a rather brutal fighting style when like this, perhaps remnants from his path of least resistance mentality but now it was not to pacify but fell.
He does seem to have an empathetic side to him, paying additional attention to the student who failed his bell test challenge instead of merely starving them for lunch. Despite suspecting Haruka as a spy he treated her like a normal person although this was in part to impress the Village Head, it is later shown that he might care about her more than he let on even after finding out Haruka was a ruse and she Tsubomi all along, he told her that he was happy she was alive surprising her. He also kept tabs on Aiko and Nibai despite not being his primary concern at the time, even going out to look for Aiko during the heavy weather on Jintai Island and showing relief when she was safe, and reassuring Nibai of his worth throughout the mission by assigning him posts that he felt could really help people with the effort paying on him in the end. He also took note of the deep affection the two had for each other, despite the former not making it as obvious, often coming across as unfeeling or sarcastic. This connection between the two, along withe Village Head’s apparent trust for her to monitor him and Tsubomi’s own trust, led him to sealing Saiken in the girl.
Hiatari can be indecisive at times, struggling to make heads or tails on Tsubomi’s letter and seeking outside help to make a decision without making one; rather than tell the Village Head or go to Tsubomi, he tried to get as much information as possible to quell his doubts. Even after the fact, getting the truth from out her mouth, he still couldn’t reach one until weeks after. Although his cautiousness does help him stategise at times when it most matters, Sumi postulates that when it comes to decision of the self, half the time he has already made up his mind but needs outside reassurance from others.
Appearance[]
Abilities[]
Hiatari was a strong ninja before being recruited by Tsuba as an Anbu. He was a standout at the Academy, rising through many grades to graduate in just one year. Once part of Tsuba, he endured rigorous training and experimentation, resulting in the injection of foreign Kekkei Genkai. As one of the few survivors, he gained the Byakugan and an enhanced chakra capacity. He is also strong enough that he can fend off many enemies, sometimes within the double digits, without breaking a sweat. This is later shown to be well into the triple digits when he makes quick work of the Borabora Troupe.
Ninjutsu[]
After the loss of his mother, he trained in medical ninjutsu so no one would die while he was around. He can also produce a shadow clone, and later shown to be able to create up to 4 at a time. He also seems to have a deep knowledge on Water Release but whether or not he has it is up for speculation.
Medical Ninjutsu[]
Hiatari’s refined chakra control lets him perform complex medical ninjutsu, being able to repair a shattered ankle within minutes and heal a broad slash across his chest in moments. His ability to heal has been compared to Tsunade herself, despite he himself deeming his inferior. He is able to change the properties of his chakra through the Chakra Congealment Technique and place it on wounds, this acts as a substitute for the lost flesh, ‘closing’ the wound without actually healing it. This is used as a stop gap measure by him or to buy him more time when operating on patients, this has increased the medical efficacy of his village by a mile, being able to replace and repair entire limbs due to the increase in time. This also works to halt any pain that was experienced before the jutsu application. This congealed chakra can also be used to reduce blunt force trauma upon the point of impact by distributing the force evenly across its surface, this shortens healing time since there’s less damage to heal; the same applies to cutting attacks but efficiency against these is greatly reduced.
Genjutsu[]
The young man can couple his genjutsu ability with his Byakugan to cast far-reaching illusions. By utilising his 360º vision, he can cast genjutsu without requiring direct eye contact, which allows him to target multiple enemies to trap them in realistic illusions, leaving them vulnerable to attack. He can also seemingly extract information through these. He can also cast genjutsu through direct physical contact as seen with Genzō whereby he couldn’t properly utilise his dōjutsu due to the chakra-dampening rain still being on his clothes and needed a higher output for it.
Byakugan[]
With his dōjutsu, obtained through the transplanted remains of a Hyūga Clan member, Hiatari wields the Byakugan, granting him remarkable visual abilities. This power allows him to see a near-360º field of vision, perceive the chakra pathway system, and detect hidden enemies and traps. Hiatari skillfully combines these abilities with his taijutsu. Thanks to the implanted DNA, he can utilise the Byakugan effectively, despite not being a clansman. He can also use the Byakugan to see over vast distances, being able to see all Anbu across his village and cross reference their chakra signatures to identify imposters. Later on was able to pick out a single chakra signature over a vast distance, his maximum range is known to be up to 1 km.
Sensory Perception[]
Aside from his Byakugan, he himself has great talent with sensory abilities however it does seem less accurate, being unable to accurately detect targets even nearby instead he’s just able to know they’re in the area just not who they are. He can somewhat get around this if he memorised their chakra signatures beforehand which make picking out the individuals much easier. From afar he can also tell the general direction in which large bodies of chakra are located, this is thought to be since the chakra is denser it's easier to detect as seen when tracking down Saiken and the Jiganku Company.
Taijutsu[]
This is one of Hiatari's main forms of fighting as such he is quite skilled in it. His fighting style revolves around blunt force to force the enemy into a corner and end them there using his Tantō. This form of fighting may seem flawed, but it has won him many battles against tough opponents such as multiple Wood Release users, however, theirs paled in comparison to their predecessor. His raw strength is seemingly enough that he considers disemboweling Suna-nin to be an option, and later again shown when he shatters an Anbu member’s sword with one swing of his own.
He mainly specialises in various forms of martial arts such as Judo and the Gentle Fist. He uses these in unison to achieve a unique effect. By combining this he has made a fighting style that centers around using the force of punches, kicks, stabs, enabling him to transfer hitting force into other objects causing damage. This also allows him to absorb and repel the enemy's attacks, however Hiatari can boost this effect by using it hand-in-hand with his clan's Hiden. He also possesses enough skill with taijutsu that he’s able to momentarily take on about 100 shadow clones.
Even with much of his ninjutsu suppressed, Hiatari can still fend off 10 pirates, empowered by chakra gathered from Jintai Island’s people and atmosphere by siphoning it off the rain, and stand more or less on equal footing for a set amount of time, although he did escape after a bit. After he lets go of his usual reservation towards killing people, he is more than able to take out all 10 and then some, totalling somewhere around 143 pirates on that day in total, with the latter half being taken out atop speed boats during an intense rainstorm and crashing waves within mere seconds of each other with the combined fights being over a few minutes. Through his Eight Trigrams Guard Palm he can form high-output chakra shields that can defend against and somewhat nullify incoming ninjutsu, although according to him striking the chakra points in ninjutsu this way is less accurate.
Kenjutsu[]
Hiatari is highly skilled in kenjutsu being able to fend off two swordsmen without much difficulty whilst not trying to kill them. He employs targeted strikes to neutralise opponents efficiently without killing them unless necessary. He seemingly has enough strength to shatter enemy swords with his own when he wants to settle things quickly.
He mainly focuses on his own self made Hyakuri Tōryū which involves him coating his sword in chakra to not only strengthen it but to also extend it up to 100 metres, something that he once used this swordplay to cut down about 100 shadow clones and then some. The upper limit was later shown to be 1 km when paired with the Rokurokubi sword of the Ashina Clan. His precision with it also lets him target things from about 10 metres away, effortlessly extending and retracting his chakra blade to pierce enemies without missing, the further the object is the less accurate his strikes tend to be although this applies to smaller objects primarily. For greater fluidity he can change the flexibility of the chakra to let him manipulate the blade as if it were a whip.
By wielding this with a shadow clone, he can use the Hyakuri Nito-ryu. This simple trick increases his damage potential twofold and lets him contend with a small army of 25 empowered by an entire island population’s worth of chakra, managing to wipe out 15 of them and later 6 more. The kenjutsu was also strong enough cut through multiple Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique even with a weakened output and later when the output was increased he was able to slice through Water Release: Open Cloud Rainfall, albeit weakened severely by a seal. These skills would later culminate in him cutting a Tailed Beast Ball in half to save an island village, not only changing the trajectory of both halves away from the island but also slashing the beast right across the face.
Fūinjutsu[]
Through his lineage, Hiatari was taught many Kinoshita Family (木下一家, Kinoshita Ikka) fūinjutsu which was the main reason he was approached by Tsuba as a child aside from his prodigous talent, they wanted the hiden jutsu introduced into the organisation. His understanding of sealing jutsu is so advanced that he was able to overwrite that of four different individuals who were utilising a collaboration ninjutsu to restrain while it was taking full effect, showing impeccable chakra control and decoding knowledge on his part, and turned it back on the casters.
Aside from overwriting others’ seals he also utilises prayer beads to cast a powerful Hiden clan jutsu named Sealing Technique: Kanju which is able to seal away Water Release ninjutsu of B-rank and lower. A testament to his own individual skill is being able to mostly seal away A-rank jutsu and contain the rest with ease, further cementing his talent for it. He would later create the Juzu Seal within an hour, basing its architecture off an old jutsu of the Kinoshita, to seal Saiken within his student Aiko Kuroishi, with the plan going off without so much of a hitch aside from her passing out from the strain.
Jujutsu[]
Hiatari possesses some skill in Jujutsu being able to create a cursed straw doll that shares the pain it experiences with whatever person’s blood that has been applied to it through the Curse Technique: Pain Resonance Possessed Blood. The jutsu takes a varying amount of chakra depending on the target, however even after fighting the equivalent of a small war Hiatari was able to knock out able Saiken and still be conscious despite his severely depleted chakra reserves.
Intelligence[]
Hiatari is known for his sharp situational awareness and tactical adaptability. His Byakugan grants him the ability to perceive chakra pathways and analyse enemy movements, which he uses to anticipate attacks and identify vulnerabilities in his opponents' defenses. He’s also able to deduce how jutsu works after just a short time of knowing them like with the Anti-Genjutsu Technique.
Hiatari possesses a keen insight into human behavior and psychology, allowing him to manipulate his opponents effectively. During a confrontation with two enemy Anbu, he demonstrated his strategic prowess by feigning vulnerability and subtly casting genjutsu to mislead his foes into underestimating him. He has a preference for psychological approaches in combat, oftentimes misleading and incapacitating his enemies without direct confrontation.
Hiatari's tactical acumen is not confined to just fighting, as he applies his analytical mind to political situations and complex village affairs. When he observed suspicious Anbu visiting his former teammate Hanataro, Hiatari opted to monitor their interactions rather than engage directly. Through careful planning and subtle genjutsu, he extracted crucial information while avoiding unnecessary conflict, choosing to not sully their somewhat repaired friendship with Sunagakure with suspicions of lying. Instead choosing to report his suspicions of Tsuba remnants being involved to his Village Head.
He also seems to have a firm grasp of people's strengths, quickly deducing that Machi's Earth Release: Dokuga wouldn't be enough to defeat Seiki. Anticipating the possibility of Seiki breaking free, he had already prepared a clone that no one else was aware of and had it hide away just in case.
He also seems to be rather good at coding and decoding seals, being able to figure out the precise formulae of a binding seal that was in full effect threatening to crush the life out of his body and reverse engineer his seal to match the right sequence to not only overwrite said binding formulae but turn it around on its caster. At first glance this may not seem as impressive but the fact that the casters themselves were unable to do this themselves before being crushed to death highlights his own mental capacity for that sort of thing.
New Era[]
A Bud That Guards Arc[]
Sometime later while away a letter would find itsef on his doorstep, Hiatari would find it on returning from a mission he had a week prior. Before being settled, he reads the letter and is stunned to find out that it was from the former leader of Tsuba, Tsubomi who was asking to meet to discuss a private affair but with no location written down. He was of course skeptical and wanted to consult the Village Head first, but the letter spoke of his deceased mother and Tsuba in the same sentence.
The teen scrunched the paper in his hand, with tears welling up, and went out to go speak with some old friends. Hiatari meets up with Hanataro and Sumi, both former Tsuba members. They catch up before getting down to business, Hiatari asks the two just how much the two knew about their old Tsuba leader. Hanataro is startled, while Sumi begrudgingly admits as much as she hates to dig up the past she doesn’t remember meeting her.
Hanataro stays quiet which prompts Hiatari to beg him to say something which Sumi reprimands him for before apologising on his behalf. Frustrated, Hiatari goes on his way, not before spitting that they all went through the training together, so Hanataro has no right to act as if he went through worse. Sumi shouts at him before he leaves, Hanataro tells Sumi it's alright but wonders what brought this question on.
Two days go by before Hiatari is summoned to the Village Head’s office where he’s given a surveillance mission, being ordered to watch a meeting between their village dignateries on route to host trade negotiations with the Land of Wind. He’s teamed up with four other Anbu and sent to infiltrate Sunagakure to monitor the meeting. It goes off without a hitch but just as the dignateries are about to close a deal, a loud boom is heard in the distance which disrupts the meeting and turns the Suna-nin a on their dignateries, thinking them to be responsible.
Three Anbu from the team go investigate while Hiatari throws a smokescreen, guiding the officials out the building while the remaining Anbu lends support on the rear front. Mistaking them for enemies the Suna-nin attack but are quickly dispatched by the boy who leads them away from his fellow Anbu, who flees with the dignateries. Hiatari muses that he’d rather tend to the injured before dispatching 16 ninjas, taking care not to kill them.
The ninja are frightened, shouting their disbelief that an Anbu from a minor country would be so strong. More ninja rush at him but unlike the other ones he’s unable to strike them down, quickly deducing that they were puppets. Hiatari activates his Byakugan from behind his mask to locate the puppeteers, noticing they were hiding on a rooftop he withdraws his sword and cuts down the puppets. The other ninja catch on and try to stop him but he crushes their kneecaps and hops to the rooftop where he stabs the puppeteers, incapaciting them.
The boy ties up the puppeteers and ninja to a streetlight before healing them. He decides to go help the 3 Anbu who left the group earlier. When he gets to the scene, he finds the Anbu cooperating with the Suna Anbu to fend off 2 terrorists who were sent to assassinate the Suna-officials in attendance of the trade negotiations. His fellow Anbu greet Hiatari who then tells him that they have been fighting conservatively as they try to create a window to get the officials to safety.
Hiatari recommends they place the terrorists under genjutsu to better the chances of taking them alive, surmising they are now it would be easier to deal with them. The Suna Anbu assure him they would if they could, but the terrorists had anti-genjutsu countermeasures in the form of giant helmets with seemingly no openings other than for breathing and sight.
Hiatari goes in to fight them in close quarter combat notes that their taijutsu is good before withdrawing his sword and going in for a stab, only for his sword to fail to penetrate one’s chest before the other tried slashing him across the back only to counter with a Gentle Fist. He tries to cast a sight-based genjutsu on him as he falls back but just as he’s about to the terrorist’s eyeball rolls back in its socket as he kicks him away.
The Anbu throws up a smokescreen and pulls Hiatari out but just as they are about to flee the terrorists cut them off. The Suna Anbu try casting a scent-based genjutsu but it seems to not affect the terrorists as they press on, he deduces that they must have a kind of air-filtration system built-in. His fellow Anbu contemplates fleeing as negotiations had already fallen through and at this rate were in danger of being felled. Hiatari tells them he thinks he knows how to fell the two and tells them to get the Suna officials away from there, his fellow Anbu and that of Suna hesitate but seeing his conviction decide to believe him.
Hiatari takes on the two terrorists, being roughly a match for the two. He tries casting a genjutsu a few times but the two counter each time. The teen thinks of disemboweling at least one of them so he has less to worry about fighting but casts aside the idea as it goes his nindō. Hiarati lets himself get slashed and goes down. The terrorist remark he accomplished nothing but become a martyr. However, as they give chase they notice the place around becoming brighter as the sun is replaced by a Byakugan.
Back in reality, Hiarati heals his injured chest and notes that getting slashed down gave him a window of opportunity where he cast genjutsu through his Byakugan while still having them look at him so he could target their eyes with his 360° field of vision without making eye contact. His hunch had worked, the anti-genjutsu jutsu for visual prowess only activated through eye contact, he figured keeping something like that up 24 hrs would be too taxing so it had to have specific activation requirements.
The Suna-nin would take in the two into custody and interrogate them for information, however just as they did their minds would be rendered mute as a juinjutsu placed directly on their brains triggered. Unable to make heads or tails on the debacle, the trade negotiations were deemed a failure. Unbeknownst to them, Hiatari had already extracted the information through his genjutsu and reported his findings to his Village Head, suspecting Tsuba remnants to be involved.
A few days go by, Hiatari, now calm, goes to apologise to Hanataro but just as he walks up to his apartment, he notices 3 Anbu walking out. The teen hides behind a corner and activates his Byakugan to get a better read. Using the eye, he’d identify all Anbu in the village and cross reference their chakra signatures with these 3, and just as he’d suspected; they didn’t belong to any of those registered in their village. 2 matched this, the 3rd however had one that matched Hanataro.
Unbeknownst to him, the other Anbu had noticed him and swapped themselves out with shadow clones. Deactivating his Byakugan the boy turned around to an attack from their real bodies, quickly withdrawing his sword to match them. Anbu 1 would try to attack him from his rear view, whilst Anbu 2 from his front. Hiatari deduced from these two front attacks they knew of his Byakugan, and were probably hoping to keep him from reactivating it.
To the two Anbu’s befuddlement, Hiatari was keeping up just fine with them despite it being a 2 on 1. Unknown to them, the teen had indeed noticed them swapping themselves out with clones and figured they wouldn’t attack if he didn’t deactivate his Byakugan. Not wanting to draw things out, he cast a simple genjutsu that made it seem as if he did, and it worked by the looks of it. The boy went on to shatter Anbu 1’s sword before dodging Anbu 2’s and then knocking them both out with Gentle Fist.
Dispelling the illusion, Hiatari went to follow Hanataro. He soon caught up, with the former having waited for him after seeing both Anbu’s clones dispel. The boy confronts his friend telling him he’d only ask once more what he knew for the sake of their old kinship. Hanataro denies this and throws many shuriken his way which he easily deflects using his sword. Hanataro then follows this with a sword swing which he deflects, the sound of steel meshing against each other resonates through the woods.
Throwing up a smokescreen, he emerges from a tree behind his old friend, stabbing him from the back. He tells Hiatari that he’d grown soft, as if he had his Byakgun activated he would have been able to attack. He ponders that with the minerals laced in the smokescreen that wouldn’t be viable anyway. Tears trickle down his face while he remnisces, laying Hiatari on his nap as he coughs blood. The latter asks why Hanataro chastises him for asking even now.
Seeing as how he was on his deathbed, Hanataro indulged him. Hiatari learned that his mother, a healer and Tsuba instructor, secretly cared for the organisation's children, risking punishment by tending to their wounds and offering comfort. She feared her son might be targeted for recruitment, and her hidden kindness toward Tsuba's children was an attempt to shield him from their influence. However, as retaliation for her defiance, Tsuba forcibly recruited him. After he was taken, despair and guilt over her inability to protect him overcame her in the end.
Tears flow down the dying boy’s face, Hiatari asks him how that has anything to do with now. Hanataro chuckles weakly, saying that he’d just remembered he never answered him when Sumi was around. He goes on to elaborate that Hiatari’s mother had placed a juinjutsu inside the Tsuba children she healed which would force them to spill all the beans on the organisation’s past actions upon turning 18, as well as erasing the cursed seal placed on their tongue.
They had only recently found out about this countermeasure after a former Tsuba member, who had been captured, disemboweled themselves to stop themselves from spilling village secrets. He goes on to say that with Tsubomi Shimura hoping to bring back the organisation, such a thing was a threat as the Village Head could find out about everything they had done and arrest the higher ups. Hanataro believes aligning with her would keep the village safe and keep the former Tsuba children from going out like their former comrade.
He gets up, laying Hiatari on the tree branch they stood before lowering his sword onto his old friend and bidding him farewell. But as he did that, reality seemed to reset as he was back where he was before the fight started. Realising he’d been placed under genjutsu he tries to grab his sword, only to be knocked down by Hiatari who’d already disarmed him. When asked Hiatari reveals he’d trapped him in a genjutsu from the minute he first activated his Byakugan back at the apartment, saying he used the 360° field of vision to trap all three of them, just before Hanataro passes out.
After this, Hiatari ties up all three and leaves them in Sumi’s care. She tells him she won’t ask many questions but asks him to stay safe, to which he promises he will. He also tells her that if anything seems off, she should leave the apartment and go to the Village Head. Hiatari strolls around the village and pulls out a letter from days prior. He realises the writing is a cipher, which he decodes with some difficulty, revealing a meeting place for later that day. Annoyed, he wonders if he would have missed it had he not thought to check for a cipher sooner.
Around sunset, he seeks out Tsubomi for answers. The letter he’d read told him he’d find her near the village's Entertainment District. He walked around aimlessly for a few minutes, thinking that perhaps he’d deciphered the letter wrong, before bumping into a woman. She fell to the ground with him apoligising and offering his hand, she looked beautiful. She was more on the older side looking in her late 30s to early 40s. Helping her up he’d compliment her dress, much to her amusement, before going on his merry way.
Or he would’ve if she didn’t grab a hold of his sleeve and say it was nice to meet her subordinate after all these years. Hiatari quickly put two and two together but just before he could reach for his sword, he would be chastised by Tsubomi for wanting to fight on such a busy street. She recommended they dine out first and talk this over before resorting to barbarity. The teen wanted to refuse but he noticed the crowd staring and opted to keep a low profile.
They find a Yakiniku place and decide to eat there. Upon settling Tsubomi tries to make small talk which Hiarati shuts down and demands to know why she sent the letter. He follows up by asking just what she intended to have Hanataro and the two Anbu he took down earlier do, the latter being the Jidoka Brothers who were former high-ranking Tsuba lieutenants. Tsubomi seems a bit disconcerted by this but smiles and answers; she wanted his help in disabling the juinjutsu his mother had placed on the Tsuba subordinates.
Hiatari lets her know he already knows about his mother and the juinjutsu, something that surprises Tsubomi as she realises Hanataro and the two Anbu she’d assigned him were felled. Tsubomi praises him for being willing to cut down allies, but the teen corrects her and says he merely knocked them out with Gentle Fist. She muses that Hiatari may be stronger than she gave him credit for, earning a weak chuckle. Tsubomi makes him an offer and says if they join hands he can lead the reformed Tsuba right by her side, something she thinks would be beneficial in keeping her in check, mentioning the Suna debacle, and earning the Village Head’s trust. Hiarati had already suspected Tsubomi’s involvement, having noticed similarities between Tsuba’s juinjutsu and that placed on the terrorists’ brains. She gives him time to think about it and leaves.
Ashina Sword Recovery Arc[]
A few weeks go by as Hiatari mulls over Tsubomi's offer. Shortly after that night, he had gone to Sumi’s place to wipe the two Anbu and Hanataro’s memories before letting them go. He told her about the offer and asked for advice. Sumi admitted that she wouldn’t know what to say since she was the type to listen to authority, asking if he’d told the Village Head which he denies. She encourages him to think it over and surmises he’d already reached a decision but was actually looking for validation for that decision which she says he won’t get from her. Back to the present, Hiatari makes his way to the Village Head’s office where he’s assigned to an A-rank mission to recover a stolen sword that was forged by the Ashina Clan for a foreign daimyō. He mentions that it’ll be a joint operation with Sunagakure and Hiarati was set to meet up with their ninja near the village gate.
His adoptive father and Sumi would see him off, the latter of which would remind him to trust his judgement, letting him go with a hug. At the gate he’d meet with two shinobi, one lanky fellow and a woman, who introduced themselves as Rongi and Machi respectively. Rongi suggested they share favourite foods to become more acquainted with one another, something Machi calls lame but much to her shock Hiatari responds with ‘grilled pork chops’.
The three go on their way toward Ashina Village where their client would be waiting for them. Hiatari asks why Suna-nin were teaming up with him given what happened just weeks ago. Machi mentions that they had no real choice since the Ashina Village is within his clan’s jurisdiction and on top of that Hiarati had left a real impression on the Suna Council. Hiatari is shocked by her honesty to which she smiles and says that they are teammates after all so keeping secrets was useless if they were to trust each for this mission. Rongi agrees.
En route, the group is attacked by the Borabora Troupe, regional bandits who rob passersby for a living. Machi takes on their leader head-on, who names himself as Seiki, leaving Hiatari annoyed that he’d need to take on the grants. He withdraws his sword and engages them, much to his surprise the bandits weren’t as amateurish as he’d thought, giving him some difficulty. What surprised him most was that despite their large numbers they all appeared to have roughly the same competence.
Hiatari activates the Byakugan when they try swarming him from his blind spot. He admits he’d heard about them but he never thought they were this skilled nor that they numbered in the hundreds. He admits they probably won’t win this fight and so he cuts down a few Borabora Troupe members and makes a beeline for Machi. To his surprise, he finds that Machi is doing rather well against the group leader, manipulating a strange soil to crush the men. The trouble was though the troupe members had been trying to cut her down too, mixing in shadow clones along with actual people to throw her off.
Seeing that she was not making any headway, he throws up a smokescreen and escapes with her. Machi complains but Rongi agrees with the decision. Hiatari is shocked and lets it slip that he forgot he was there to which he responds that he is glad for the concern, making Hiatari feel awkward. Rongi had escaped the mound of Borabora Troupe men by using Water Release: Beating Earth Drum to repel and wash them away.
Hiatari blushes being in awe of his teammates, to which Rongi asks if he’s a pervert by chance. The teen snapped out his entrancement asking why he’d insinuate such a thing, with Rongi playfully pointing at Machi, who Hiatari had mistakenly wrapped his arm around her chest. Machi jokes that she doesn’t mind, which leads to him falling off a tree branch and Machi having to carry him the rest of the way.
Upon reaching Ashina Village, the village chief greeted them and showed them to their rooms. Despite being given separate rooms Rongi insisted on staying with Hiatari, much to his chagrin. That’s not to say Machi didn’t but she was denied on account of her being a girl. Hiatari wondered if he was going through his ‘popular phase’ although he didn’t quite think he’d attract a guy too. Rongi laughs as he thinks aloud, which causes Hiatari to blush.
Rongi notes that Hiatari doesn’t seem like someone who gets to laugh a lot which he agrees with on account of his Anbu duties. Hiatari does mention he was moved to the regular forces a few years back but found himself wrapped in some old Anbu duties thanks to his Village Head. He does question how he knew this though to which Rongi simply states that the Village Head had passed on the information when the Suna Council requested they be teamed with the Anbu who saved them and defeated the terrorists.
In the morning they split up, with Rongi going alongside an Ashina Clan member while Machi and Hiatari go together. The latter two make small talk as they leave the village and go in search of the bandits noting they couldn’t have gotten too far. Hiatari notes that from what he heard about the Ashina Clan, all their weapons are sealed with a fuinjutsu only the buyer is given the code for so chances are they’d still be nearby hoping to snatch it from the village chief.
Machi praises his intellect and states that only the village chief and the buyer have the code. Hiatari is surprised since that’d mean the sword was stolen mid-transit which she confirms, stating that the sword was actually ordered by the wind daimyō. The boy surmises that to be hired for a job like this the daimyō must have been among the group he helped which she confirms, saying that his sister was in attendance on the day and was awestruck by Hiatari.
Hiatari activates his Byakugan to widen the search, locating a strange chakra southwest of them. Machi confirms this as Hiatari notices that she had thrown chakra-rich soil around the area, perhaps it acted as some kind of way to widen her sensing range like his dōjutsu. The two head in that direction and uncover an old shrine.
As they near the shrine door they notice a seal has been placed there, just as Machi reaches out the Ashina Clan guide comes up from behind them, scaring them both. Well, Machi more than him since she jumped into Hiatari’s arms who teased her for being awfully comfortable who in turn teased him for being a panty peeper which caused Hiatari to drop her. Not realising it was a jest as she was wearing shorts underneath her dress.
The Ashina Guide laughs in amusement and introduces himself, walking towards the shrine door. He explains that this place was known as Mūbaki Shrine and was a place used as a storehouse for swords and other tools they didn’t consider up to standard. Machi retorts that its like a junkyard to which Hiatari shuts her mouth apologising to the clansmen who assure them it's alright. It would be in this talk that Hiatari would come to learn that the clan uses a special forging method that made use of their chakra in crafting the blades which is what helped make the weapons they produced so strong.
Hiatari got the idea to use his Byakugan to cross-reference the chakra signatures coming from the weapons inside the storehouse with anything inside of his 1 km field of vision. The guide had told them this was one of many storehouses so any weapon being alone was most likely the stolen daimyō sword. Lo and behold he found a match within minutes. Alerting the two he was told the shrine in that direction was the Jinpachi Shrine that the clan had cleared out years prior and it should be empty, confirming Hiatari’s suspicions.
They regroup with Rongi, and once they do Hiatari reveals that the chakra he sensed near Jinpachi Shrine wasn’t just the weapon but that of the bandits from yesterday. Machi says she figured out a way to deal with their excess numbers to which Ringi nods his head too, seeming to know what she had in mind. She tells Hiatari that he and Rongi are going to have to do their best to keep the bandits within one place, and to both their surprise Hiatari calmly says it is possible.
The three head out the next day and go straight there while Machi stays behind a few meters before getting there to prepare her jutsu. Rongi and Hiatari sneak into the shrine where they knock out a few bandit guards outside before making it to the entrance. The former kicks the door down and uses Water Release: Water Butterflies to swarm the gang inside. This causes a commotion that lets Hiatari sneak in and toss some butterflies at the daimyō’s sword.
The bandits catch wind of this and use the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique to flood open and destroy the shrine. Rongi escapes by using his water butterflies with the sword shouting that Hiatari needs to buy them time.
The bandit leader mocks the boy for letting himself be abandoned that way, which Hiatari shrugs off and tries to use genjutsu on the attacking bandits but due to the sheer number and the fact there were clones mixed in quickly signals it was not a viable method.
Hiatari would go on to sheath his sword and go for a more frontal fight, using quick but precise taijutsu hits to target their kneecaps, ribs and skulls in a bid to knock out as many as possible. The ones who didn’t poof were hit further on their tenketsu points, making sure they wouldn’t create any more clones. Despite this, there seemed to be more clones than people and with their changing formations it was hard to figure out which was which.
Hiatari made peace with the fact he was likely to get overwhelmed before hearing Machi shout out to him something that would change his life, something he’d never heard before, not in that tone at least; live Hiatari, live. This triggered something in the boy which caused him to stop holding back, his sword shooting past 100 hundred metres to cut down a majority of the clones that came at him before retracting his chakra-coated sword and this time shooting it by just 10 metres as he stabbed each of the bandits that rushed towards him. His last hit connected with the bandit leader’s shoulders as he slammed him into the ground.
Hiatari shortened his sword and went to finish him with a Gentle Fist but when his hit connected the man poofed. Hiatari grits his teeth as the man emerges from behind him, stabbing him through the spine and seemingly killing him. Rongi comes rushing from the forest attacking him with water butterflies before he’s cut down too. Seiki laughs at the two and states that’s what they get for trusting so easily in others before finishing him. However, as he does this both corpses disappear in a light burst. Leaving him deeply confused.
He then spots both Hiatari and Rongi on a tree branch, realising he’d been caught in a genjutsu he quickly tries to escape the area only to fall through the ground as a mountain of soils starts to pile on him. He tries creating hundreds of more clones but that only makes him sink faster, Seiki curses Hiatari and asks him how he knew, confusing Rongi.
Hiatari reveals that Seiki has a kekkei genkai which lets him transfer his spiritual and bodily energies between his clones, essentially shifting which body had the real him inside. He’s able to do this when he’s near death too which is why he thought he had real people mixed when in fact the Borabora Troupe was just him.
Rongi is astonished by this as Hiatari goes on to clarify he had purposefully made it seem like he’d abandoned all defence so that he could lure out the real Seiki and trap him in a genjutsu, effectively cancelling out all shadow clones so even if he made more he could not escape from Machi’s jutsu. Seiki curses Hiatari as he’s buried alive.
Machi meets back up with him and confirms the sword’s retrieval, with all three of them sharing a high five. Just as they’re about to leave the ground shakes beneath them, and an eruption of smoke bursts forth. Hiatari quickly deduces Seiki must’ve been an excess of clones underground and poofed them, using the resulting to unearth himself. The man emerges from the smoke trying to cut down Rongi, but a second Hiatari comes out right after him and shuts down his tenketsu with Sixteen Palms. Rongi falls back in relief, with Machi running over to him. She asks just how Hiatari acted so quickly, to which he replies that he’d already suspected he’d be able to break out whatever jutsu she made so he had prepared a clone prior. Still confused, he elaborates that he’s able to release chakra from all his tenketsu so he had the clone do just that to protect it from the crushing pressure of her jutsu and burst out when Seiki managed to free himself.
Rongi finds it disheartening that despite all their bonding he still doesn’t trust them which upsets Hiatari but Machi corrects him by saying that it is because he trusted them that Hiatari let them proceed with their plan instead of ending the fight when he caught Seiki in a genjutsu. Rongi smiles, crying tears of joy which scares Hiatari while Machi kisses his clone on the cheek which poofs at that moment. This causes him to blush right after.
He goes to heal Seiki right after but traps him in a genjutsu so they can carry him back. Machi recommends just killing him but Hiatari says he doesn’t have the stomach for that so he’ll just take him back to his village to trial. Rongi says he’s too kind which confuses him, but he goes on to say that it's a good thing given his nature as an Anbu. Machi concurs and says she’s glad to be friends with him.
After confirming the sword’s safety they return to Ashina Village where they depart. Rongi says they’ll pass on news of his performance to the wind daimyō, and Machi reminds him to not be so pervy when they next meet, which leads to the Ashina to whisper behind his back, making him cry more. Waving each other goodbye, Hiatari stays behind for a few days where he learns that Seiki used to be a disciple of Ashina Village but was betrayed by his Ashina mentor who defected and left him for dead to throw them off his trail.
The village chief had tried to take him back to the village but due to his mistrust he repeatedly refused the offer, he pondered if stealing the sword was a cry for help rather than a malevolent wish. Hiatari hearing this says it confirms everything he saw in his mind. The elder wonders if he knew what happened and why he’d let him continue and smiles, calling Hiatari kind. He tells him to wait and goes inside his office, coming out with a sword which he gifts to the boy.
Overwhelmed he doesn’t know what to say, to which the village chief says there’s nothing to be said. He says that the sword was meant for his son, but with him gone now he has no use for it. He also asks Hiatari to be merciful to Seiki, to which the boy says he can’t promise anything but the elder smiles knowing he’d do everything in his power to make sure of it. He bids them farewell as he returns to his own village.
Upon returning he debriefs the Village Head and asks that Seiki be taken in, the former is surprised by this request and grants it, knowing that Hiatari didn’t often call in favors for anyone; meaning he must have seen great potential in Seiki. Waking up, Seiki is told he won’t be arrested but instead, he’ll be put to work in the village which shocks him, he thinks about how he’s still alive when Hiatari could’ve killed him causing him to cry. Wondering if this was what trust felt like.
Hiatari reflects on the mission and wonders if he could make Tsuba a place where everyone smiles and forgives just like the team and enemies he faced. Satisfied with this thought process he lets Tsubomi know he’ll accept her offer as he goes out to town with Sumi and Hanataro, introducing Seiki to them who welcome him rather warmly. They spend the night out at a karaoke spot eating barbeque and drinking sake all the way through.
Jiganku Company Arc[]
Seeing as how Hiatari’s last mission had brought back a shine to the boy his former teammates had not seen in years, the Village Head decided to put him in charge of a Genin team so he got a better taste of what normal fieldwork was like. Although he’d switched to the general forces years ago, his skill as an Anbu often found the village pairing him up with them thanks to his compatibility and medical prowess.
Hiatari would be at a bar complaining about just this to his friends. It had been months after Seiki joined them and they had gotten quite close, well Hanataro and him anyway. Sumi had been grumpy ever since he joined much to his bafflement, however, when he told her about his recent genin squad assignment she lightened up. For some reason, she thought it would be good for him. Hanataro joked that he was surprised Hiatari even knew what one looked like considering how long ago he graduated. Seiki asks if he graduated early or something which Hiatari sheepishly replies that he was out of the academy by 6, and he would’ve been a chūnin sooner if his former sensei wasn’t so jealous.
Seiki is surprised by this which Hanataro says is why Hiatari is such a stick in the mud, as the whole group laughs. Hiatari is flustered as he goes out, Sumi comes along with him saying he has something to discuss with him. Outside they talk casually about Hiatari’s recent hiatus from the Medical Corps, to which he replies that he’s just been assigned to a lot more combat-orientated missions nowadays which is a bummer, after all keeping himself out of the limelight was always going to be a drag looking back at it.
Sumi laughs and asks if he’s met anyone interesting in his missions, to which he responds with the tales of his last mission something causes her to smile solemnly. Hiatari asks if something’s wrong to which she teases him for having a secret mistress away from the Academy. Hearing this the teen blushes replying no in an almost scarily quick manner. Sumi laughs at this and says she figured as much before he could ask what she meant, Sumi bids him goodbye.
This scene amuses Tsubomi who had been watching the interaction from afar. Hiatari is annoyed by this as he’s reminded about her offer to which he reminds her that he’s still building up trust with the Village Head. The woman insists that he already has enough to which he disagrees. After this, he heads off but the Shimura reminds him that his inaction will lead to more involuntary intel leaks by his former Tsuba teammates, something that poses a threat to the village and its security.
During the next few weeks, Hiatari would be introduced to his genin squad which was composed of Nibai Hariko, Aiko Kuroishi, and Haruka Yukihime, all genin who had graduated months prior. Their sensei had perished in a solo mission leaving the team without a leader, Hiatari surmises that the Village Head forced this upon him to monitor him, he doubted that the squad was a ruse but there was sure to be one spy amongst them. Finding this to be an utter headache he decided to do the best he could on this mission. To strengthen their bond he held a mini bell test for them, albeit without the clause of returning them to the Academy as would usually be done, he would instead punish the loser with additional training for the following weeks.
The squad did better than he first thought they would, with Aiko being a cut above the rest. The one to not get a bell would be Haruka, being the one punished with the additional training weeks, he was somewhat surprised based on their Academy data causing him to keep a closer eye on her meaning the additional training could be used to monitor her more. If he could show her that he was working for the benefit of the village, then perhaps she could report the same data to the Head. During this time he noticed that she had a way of putting her own spin on whatever he taught her, much to his chagrin, being a big thorn in his side.
The following day he’s summoned to the Village Head’s office, who assigns him on an escort mission to the Land of Waves. He was to escort a doctor delivering relief to an island village where a flood had recently struck. He’s also informed that this will be his genin squad’s first D-rank mission and informed of rumors attaining to the giant slug that had been spotted near the area along with pirate activity, the Village Head says there’s no way to check the validity of these rumors but if the mission ranking should change they should pull out. Hiatari wonders if that’s why he was specifically chosen as the sensei for this mission, from what information he gathered from his contacts beforehand this specific escort mission had been on hold for two months now.
As they head to the Land of Waves, Hiatari appoints Aoki to take the lead on the mission, using this as a cover to keep an eye on Haruka. The person they were escorting was named Genzō and apparently, he was a famous doctor in their own country but he had been seeking protection so he could travel to his wife’s home country who just so happened to be a shipwright. The genin team reassures the man that they’ll keep him safe until they can reunite, with Hiatari questioning in his mind just what kind of escort mission requires a high-ranking ninja like him.
The team reaches a small island in the Land of Waves in a couple of days, named Jintai Island. As soon as they arrive on the island they’re met with waves crashing violently along the coastline and heavy rain that had not been present on their way there, based on its relative position to the sea Hiatari immediately dismisses it as being a natural occurrence. Many of the island’s coastal villages seemed to have been washed away with nothing but a few planks and scaffolding left. Aiko suggests that perhaps the islanders had moved further inwards with Genzō agreeing with that rationale, the team goes further into the island and lo and behold the missing islanders had set up emergency camps inside the island's cave systems for the time being.
After delivering Genzō to offer aid, Hiatari decides to go check out the rest of the island while his team protects their escortee. Haruka disagrees and insists that only one of them needs to stay behind while the other two help out their sensei, Hiatari tries to disagree but he’s quickly shut down by Nibai offering to stay behind while the rest search for anyone left stranded in this weather, and begrudgingly agrees. The Jōnin activates the Byakugan once he’s out of sight, scouting the island to identify the chakra wielders from the non-chakra wielders and to his surprise there were at least 25 located on the coast alone while 3 were in the cave system they left behind, confirming his suspicions that the reports of pirate activity were not that far fetched although he wondered where those about the giant slug came from. Just as we were consumed in thought, Haruka jumped from behind him, teasing her sensei for not being more alert, shocking him more than anything. His eyes had not detected her or had he switched them off, touching his temples he could no longer feel his veins.
Why had his dōjutsu turned off he wondered but before he could finish that thought, the girl once again questioned her sensei on whether or not he’d picked it up yet with Hiatari confirming, saying that there were at least 3 enemy combatants in the emergency camps. He questioned how she knew that but found it more important to send her back to support but she resisted and insisted that she and her sensei go to the coast to deal with the chakra signatures there and before he could deny her she told him that Aiko had already gone there herself. This caused him to grit his teeth before going there himself, telling Haruka to head back and support Nibai. Arriving at the coast he did not see Haruka anywhere but noticed a ship loading ninja tools, he figured that this must be where he detected the chakra signatures from. Before he could figure out a plan he gets ambushed by a team of 10, he’d concealed his chakra coming there so he had no idea what was going on, then hit him. The mysterious weather around the island must operate as a medium for a kind of chakra interference jutsu.
Judging from the fact it was weakest when he activated his Byakugan, then the jutsu must operate like a chakra-dampening signal rather than cancellation. With this in mind, he tried to hone in on kenjutsu, and kept a constant chakra flow to his blade despite the high chakra cost, the jutsu must operate within a certain spectrum with what it can dampen effectively so high output or sudden chakra bursts could somewhat cancel it out. Despite being outnumbered he kept up relatively well, what surprised him was that all 10 of his opponents were much tougher than he first thought. He began switching to defending after it was clear that they could still utilise ninjutsu with no effort, if anything the chakra he read earlier did not correspond to the level of ninjutsu they were casting at the moment, blasting him with Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique.
Without the Byakugan he couldn’t detect the jutsu’s weak points and was just getting assaulted from all sides, barely hanging on by a thread by slicing through the jutsu with a less effective Hyakuri Tōryū that instead of letting the jutsu pass by him, detonated the water dragons before they could near him, still causing damage but much less than if it connected. Hiatari decided to cut his losses and escape, casting a simple genjutsu where his body disbursed into light but this too was stopped in its tracks, the rainstorm again interfering with his jutsu. He figured another factor must be that the rain was somehow redistributing the chakra dispelled from jutsu to empower the enemies.
He decided that prolonged exposure to the rainfall was not worth the rest and activated the Byakugan to cast a stronger genjutsu now managing to escape fully. It was then that he detected a gargantuan chakra off the coast along with smaller chakras warring on boats, the shape somewhat resembled a giant slug and it was then that he understood just what was going on. The reports about pirates trying to catch a giant sea creature weren’t too far off, but whatever they were trying to capture was not biological, it was a giant chakra conglomerate that by his estimates could pose a significant threat to Hanagakure.
As he headed back to the cave he could feel his body getting sluggish, the rain was getting to him. Considering he had sensed Aiko’s chakra back at the cave earlier it either meant that she had gone back to the cave or that Haruka had lied to him. When he reached the cave he found Genzō tied up while Nibai healed a bleeding old man. The teenager demanded to know what happened with Aiko mentioning that in his absence the man had tried to sneak out with the elder and when confronted about it he lashed out after which Nibai dealt with him and informed Aiko who circled back to assist. Hiatari, feeling left in the dark about things asks where Haruka is but the two say she has not returned, with this in mind he decides to cast an information extraction genjutsu through his hand.
At this moment the mission nature changed to that of an S-rank as Hiatari stumbled back slightly shocked. Genzō was part of a pirate crew named Jingaku Company, who terrorised the seas for some years stealing cargo and attacking enemy vessels, causing them to come into conflict with Kirigakure for some time now but here was the kicker, they had been losing their footing due to the Land of Waves and the Land of the Sea strengthening their stability which better equipped them to fend them off along with Kiri which has reduced their numbers. To reclaim their power they were now after the Six Tails, Saiken, and had learned that the beast frequented Jintai Island nowadays, not only that but there was a person on the island who knew of a sealing jutsu powerful restrain it. They had hoped to launch an attack on the island and sneak amongst the villagers to capture the man while their guard was down but did not want to let the bigger nations catch wind of the conspiracy so they hired Hanagakure to help them sneak in but the mission had been delayed for months now.
Hiatari wondered if their Village Head had suspected something and launched his own investigations into it before approving the mission, judging from what he had seen earlier the pirates may have moved independently from Genzō and started the attack earlier, launching the island into an early disaster which consequently made finding the Six-Tails Fūinjutsu Elder much harder as they’d fled to a hidden cave system. Hiatari considers sending a message back to Hana while they prepare for an island wild evacuation, Aoki and Nibai are alarmed hearing this wondering just what kind of information he had discovered scoping his mind with him telling them to lead the islander’s to the western port where they came through.
Just as they’re about to leave Hiatari quickly uses the Eight Trigrams Sixteen Palms to subdue the three pirates hidden amongst the common folk, despite being unable to utilise his Byakugan thanks to rainfall residue on his clothing he could still somewhat detect their distinct chakra due to the sheer amount they had. The first hit didn’t quite connect but the following hits quickly connected and knocked out the three after he adjusted his chakra output and got momentarily serious. This strength left Aiko in awe who noted that she thought she had gotten a good read on his power herself despite being a sensor type too. Nibai would tell the girl to stop gawking as they escorted the islanders to the West Port with Hiatari laughing nervously, asking her to keep what she saw to a minimum since it was classified, with both agreeing.
While they did as instructed, Hiatari went out in search of his student Haruka finding her sitting on a pile of defeated pirates as the weather worsened. Hiatari told her she was in a world of trouble for lying to him about Aiko’s location but that it didn’t matter much, he was calling off the mission and leading an island-wide rescue. Much to his surprise she wasn’t shocked as she replied that he was right to do so since the fighting with Saiken would be pretty bad now that it was agitated as the ground shook beneath them. With that Hiatari confirmed his suspicions, noting to her that if the Village Head wanted him on this mission he should have been transparent instead of tagging him along with a team of Genin. Haruka however knew nothing of the sort and retorted that one of the pirates she took down had said they had blocked all the ports around the island aside from the western one so they could corner some monster named Saiken inland.
This information eluded him, coming to the island they should have wondered why that port wasn’t closed off while all others were. At first, he thought it was just the weather and the tides but with the information he had now it should have been obvious the pirates were pushing Saiken closer and closer so they could trap it inland for some kind of land advantage. Worse off he had sent the islanders and his students in that direction. Haruka would ask if there was a problem and insisted that they take out all the pirates before they focus on the islanders, after all, there would be no islanders to protect if they let Jingaku Company have their way. She also teases her sensei for being protected by his Genin than the other way around, noting that they’ve kept calmer heads and been less indecisive in this mission.
This irritates Hiatari who notes if it weren’t for him having to monitor his Genin he’d be in a better place she refuted this saying that she didn’t mean it in a bad way but his decisions in the mission didn’t quite scream teamwork as much as him letting them do their own thing. With him begrudgingly agreeing as they head off to the West Port. There they find Nibai, Aiko, and the islanders held hostage by the pirates. Nibai and Aiko looked pretty roughed up, there were 4 pirates lying lifeless on the floor too, no doubt their work. He smiled at their hard work in defending the islanders as he’d ordered.
However, looking in the crowd he couldn’t find the Six-Tails Fūinjutsu Elder. Focusing on his inherent sensory abilities he detects the old man’s chakra signature flaring up just off the coast. There was no mistake they were attempting to seal the Tailed Beast, he figured that that was why the weather had gone haywire as the Jiganku Company gathered more chakra to aid in the sealing and why they were holding the islanders hostage, using them as chakra batteries. He cursed the state of affairs and mulled over a strategy while Haruka rushed in to attack the pirates. He tried to stop her but before he could they were spotted, and she was attacked by one of the ninja crushing her into the ground with a joint Water Release: Waterfall Technique. This badly injured the prisoners in their possession, this is when Haruka’s words repeated in his mind repeatedly until he snapped and cut clean through one of the pirates, severing him in half.
The pirates sweat bullets at this point and rush him but keep getting cut down as he walks straight forward, merely covering the distance with Hyakuri Tōryū, and picks up the injured Haruka. sensing that she was barely hanging on a thread. He apologises for not going at it with all his might and that’s why they were in the situation they were in, if he had unsuppressed his power from the start he could have forced the mission in the most optimal direction. The pirates try to launch a three-pronged Water Dragon from each side but just as it seemed to connect, all three along with their casters were cut in half as three Hiataris emerged from the mist, two utilising the Hyakuri Tōryū to form the Hyakuri Nitto-ryū while the third took Haruka aside to heal her.
What happened after was a pure massacre as the two clones used high output in their Hyakuri Nitto-ryū to resist the chakra-dampening rainfall, cutting through the empowered Water Release jutsu they were sending his way. This sends large floods the way of the islanders and his Genin which he defends against with shockwave walls that push those same waves back whence they came. He managed to take down 14 pirates before one flickered behind one of his clones and held that down before body slamming them into the ground, simultaneously initiating a Water Release: Beating Earth Drum while the remaining 10 launched a collaboration Water Release: Open Cloud Rainfall. This alarms the 3rd and 4th Hiatari clones who utilise the Eight Trigrams Guard Palm to form barriers between themselves and the incoming water crash, fearing that their central body may give out partway through they poured what they had into these barriers even if there was a risk of poofing early.
The giant flood engulfed much of the West Port, washing away whatever buildings remained and changing the environment completely, as the Hiatari clones held on for dear life protecting the islanders and his Genin team. The water flow would cease and seemingly reverse in on itself much to the disbelief of the Jiganku Company pirates who were quickly thrown aside as the water accumulated in one central spot before 100 metre swords shot out from the water sphere. Both slicing through it and the Jiganku company men in half with only four managing to escape as they used the Four-Corner Chain Binding along with Lightning Release, to forcibly trigger the seal’s effects and with the rainfall and remnants of the Open Cloud Rainfall the battle was done; at least that’s what they thought.
The group could feel the chains growing tighter and tighter before they stopped and they were instead the ones restrained in place, with the chains unwrapping around him and going across their bodies instead. As they struggled, the chains grew tighter and tighter before they popped like balloons. Hiatari had ran his own sealing jutsu through the chains to overwrite the formulae and flip it on them. He huffed and puffed as the accumulation of the earlier jutsu were finally beginning to take a toll on him. His clones poofed as he funneled back the split chakra to his main body to regain some footing, using the chakra to heal himself and to close wounds that were not as immediate.
He would heal his students with Nibai and Aiko taking precedence, having healed Haruka through his clone earlier. Once they could walk the Jōnin would advise them to take the East Port, as with the defeat of the pirates here the chakra dampening properties of the rain had been cancelled. Nibai thanks their sensei for saving them with Hiatari begrudgingly accepting, saying that they were making him sound as if he wasn’t doing anything before this. Aiko also apologises but when Hiatari questions she merely pushes aside her hair, revealing an Anbu tattoo on her neck which shocks the teen, he had been under the impression Haruka had been the spy but it seems like he was mistaken. He reassures her that it's okay and advises that she alongside her male teammate, Nibai, accompany the islanders towards the West Port, this time creating a clone to accompany them and carry Haruka.
The ground would shake beneath them as he caught sight of Saiken approaching the port wrapped in a multitude of Four-Corner Chain Binding, thrashing about and whipping up waves that hit the shore violently. Hiatari surmised that if this kept up the island would be destroyed. He had done what needed to be done but just as he was about to flee that idiot Jiganku Company shocked Saiken to get it to submit while they tried sealing it, which angered the beast enough for it to charge up a Tailed Beast Ball. He didn’t quite know what it was but based off of the stupendously large amount of chakra it was pouring into the sphere he was sure the blast radius would be so big that it would wipe out both him and the islanders.
Hiatari got ready to utilised a long range Eight Trigrams Guard Palm but whether or not he could deflect it was something he was unsure of. Just as he began pouring his chakra a flood of memories he never had flooded into his mind, it was Haruka and the other Genin telling him not to worry about them and do what needed to be done, along with the islanders. Cursing under his breath that they were troublesome brat he let out a smile, before being cut off by chakra-enhanced arrows being shot from the boats surrounding Saiken, he figured many of them had sunk due to detecting less chakra signatures which annoyed him. He had no time to appeal to reason so he rushed forward, deflecting the incoming arrows with Gentle Fist blows, now being able to activate his Byakugan he was able to quicken his pace without worry, tearing through the coast before jumping on one of the enemy vessels and knocking of the ninja mounting the crossbows.
He’d leap from boat to boat, knocking out each and every pirate before throwing them all the way to the coast, only ever spending a couple of seconds on each boat. Despite the massive waves being generated by Saiken he merely blew past them by releasing highly concentrated blasts of the Water Release: Open Cloud Rainfall he’d sealed earlier through the Sealing Technique Release: Manju. He managed to clear 34 of the 39 boats, defeating around 134 pirates and deliver the Six Tails Fūinjutsu Elder with a current back to shore in the span of a few minutes but before he could reach Saiken, the Six Tails fired its Tailed Beast Ball at the coast. Releasing the entirety of the prayer beads’ content washed away the remaining boats as he raced against the ball towards the coast before poofing, cursing that his main body would have to handle things after all.
Hidden by amongst the defeated pirates on the beach Hiatari rose up from the sand, clasping his hands together as drew he summoned the sword the Ashina Clan had gifted him, Rokurokubi, and quickly unsheathed it, extending his sword to a grand total of 1 km, cleaving the incoming Tailed Beast Ball before reaching the coast. With the velocity behind it the two half would carry on forward albeit in different directions with the sword’s cutting changing its trajectory. The two halves detonated on opposite ends away from the West Port, shaking the ground beneath them as the islanders saw two massive pillars of light off of the North and South ends of the island, sending waves crashing into the coastline.
The extended Rokurokubi would go on to cut Saiken across the face causing the creature to fly into a rage. However, the battle was over by this point, freeing up one of his hands he’d summon a small straw doll before slamming it into the ground and retracting the 1 km sword while Saiken freaked out and expelled Wisdom Wolf Decay at the coast. Using his chakra he carried along the blood he’d drew from the Six Tails and stabbed the doll with his blood soaked nodachi triggering the Curse Technique: Pain Resonance Possessed Blood, knocking Saiken out in one blow as it felt the pain of a giant sword stab right into it, thus ending it rampage.
Hiatari would nearly collapse from the chakra expenditure from the last few minutes, not being able to defend himself from the Wisdom Wolf Decay he resigned himself to death, smiling that he’d finally get to meet his mother, but a Earth Release Barrier: Earth Prison Dome of Magnificent Nothingness would form around him with its absorption properties reversed. He’d look up and see that Haruka had circled back to assist him, chuckling that he’d at last shown her his true worth. The girl would morph into a taller older woman who he recognised, Haruka had been Tsubomi the whole time.
She would apologise for the deceit but she could not have Kinoshita take his usual reserved approach for this mission so she engineered things so non-confrontation would be impossible. Hiatari wanted to curse her, he wanted to scream at her but he found himself saying something he never thought he’d utter; he was happy she was alive. This also caught Tsubomi off guard, who blushed at the comment before remaining silent for a few minutes while the Wolf Decay subsided, opening up the dome right after. The West Port had been disintegrated. Tsubomi would take on her Haruka disguise as she carried him out the dome, noting that they should do something about the Six Tails. Just as she was about to make a suggestion Aiko emerged on the scene along with Nibai who alerted them that the islanders were making their off and they should do the same.
Nibai was in awe of the giant slug floating along the coast while Aiko looked worried, asking if it was really down with Haruka cheerfully declaring that Hiatari had taken it down which greatly surprised his Genin. Nibai admits that he thought Hiatari was a softy due to his policies on doing the least amount of damage as possible to win a fight with Aiko and Haruka agreeing, much to his chagrin. The Jōnin thinks of sealing the beast within a storage container for the time being but Haruka interjects that currently they have no storage formulae large enough to account for Saiken and they should just seal it in one of them, with Aiko volunteering right off the bat.
With everything that had occurred, Hiatari figured that sealing the beast in Aiko and Haruka, well Tsubomi, had no qualms about it so he decided to reconfigure an old sealing jutsu of his family to create the Juzu Seal within an hour. The sealing went off without a hitch and Aiko became the new Jinchūriki of Saiken albeit passing out in the process, noticing that Nibai was down Hiatari would joke if he would much rather have had him seal the slug inside him with the boy refuting the statement and reiterating that he just wished he could’ve been more help on the mission. Haruka surprisingly consoles him and commends him on his efforts healing all the sick and injured islanders when and after they got there and fighting off the pirates until Hiatari got there, comparing the two greatly with Hiatari being flustered this time around.
Hiatari praised his pupil as well saying that his new mission is to help Aiko from now on in whatever way he could, and that it was fine if he could not fight all the big battles himself so long as he was right there beside her. Hiatari had picked up weeks back that the boy had a “crush” on her, the word itself would be an understatement but it was clear his affection ran deep for her and although she didn’t admit it herself the fact that she prioritised him throughout even if subconsciously reassured him that he’d be a fine right-hand for her. That and it would be to his benefit to further win her trust and therefore that of the Village Head.
In the following days, they would help the islanders move to temporary camps made from Haruka’s Earth Release, while the others went over to inner towns that had survived to fetch supplies to rebuild the coastal villages. As thanks the islanders named the newly reestablished village, Hiatari Village, much to his embarrassment and his Genin students’ amusement. The four would round up the remaining Jiganku Company pirates and transport them to Hanagakure for sentencing, something the islanders more than welcomed. Before that however Hiatari would use his Byakugan to survey what looked to be the fleet commander’s mind, sifting through his memories to find info on their leader.
Upon returning to Hanagakure, Hiatari would dismiss the Genin, with Aiko finally up she followed him to the Village Head’s office. Nibai spent his time crying out loud while Haruka just chuckled, unnerving Hiatari somewhat. Following the debriefing as well as informing their leader of the Jinchūriki acquisition and the crushing defeat of the Jiganku Company, the Head would inform him of his reasoning for placing him on the mission. Stating Aiko had been there to monitor where his loyalties lied, whether he’d attempt to collude with the pirates after finding out what a Tailed Beast was, throw his teammates under the bus or abandon the mission if things got tough. This angers the teen who states he could have been transparent about his reasonings and maybe the mission could have gone smoother, the Village Head confirms it may have been easier however the fact no one died despite Hiatari had to shoulder the burden of the entire village made it clear his choice was the correct one.
On the spot, Hiatari would be appointed as co-leader of Tsuba, with the Village Head telling him to be careful around Tsubomi but also saying that according to Aiko he had also been a good influence on her during this mission with her surprisngly saving him much to his shock. He’s a bit spooked by the revelation they knew all along with the Village Head saying that Tsubomi was the one who had presented this test to him to clear his doubts, and cleared they were and then some. He states that Hiatari is most likely the strongest person in their village at the time and that his seat as Village Head is all but confirmed at this point in time but he’d like to have him work under Tsuba to reform it for the time being.
Hiatari is honored by this a thought crosses his mind, asking if Aiko was Anbu and Haruka being Tsubomi then was Nibai one as well. The Village Head merely alerts him to read the file on the table as he and Aiko leave the office so that the Sealing Corps can take a look at her seal to ensure no structural flaws were present. Meanwhile the teen reading the document would come to find out that Nibai was in fact a regular run of the mill Genin with pretty much normal grades in the Academy but what he read following that shook him; his father had in fact survived years ago but lost his memories and was adopted into Hariko Family who take care of him as if their own child and that he and their eldest daughter had a child who just so happened to Nibai.
Founding Roots Arc[]
Leaving the office he’d have a lot on his mind. A few weeks would go by of minor C-rank missions, it would be on his way back home after one of these he caught sight of his friends Sumi, Hanataro and Seiki, with all three going to a bar to cheer him up. None of them asked him about what happened but they seemed to have already known which bugs Hiatari but he understands that the Village Head probably ordered them to keep their mouths shut until he revealed the information himself. The four drank well into the night. When the time came for goodbyes Seiki and Hanataro left stumbling, with Seiki hilariously using shadow clones to carry him back which were also intoxicated making him look like a band of bumbling quintuplets. Hiatari on the other hand escorted Sumi back to her apartment, making sure that she didn’t fall over on the way.
He’d leave her at the door as he waved goodbye, he left with a blush on his. Sumi having professed her feelings for him repeatedly on the way back and making moves on him made him feel warm inside but her being intoxicated made the whole unbelievable to him, so he just dismissed them, not knowing that that was in fact her true feelings. At his apartment, he’d be greeted by his adoptive father already asleep and a bowl of cold miso ramen in the fridge, in his living room he’d be greeted by Tsubomi with a wide smile on her face congratulating him on his appointment as co-leader of Tsuba...
Quotes[]
Trivia[]
- "Hiatari", when written as (日当たり), literally means "sunlight" (日当たり), and “Kinoshita” (木下) means "beneath the tree".