[Chapter Size: 1700 Words.]
Third Person POV
The Land of Water.
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...
"You should have taken me along..." Naruto heard Akame as he went out to get something to eat the next morning.
"I know... but I wanted to do it quickly... though I realized later that you would have helped me save time getting here..." Naruto admitted calmly.
They ended up sitting in front of their tents while eating together. "I hope you didn't hit Jill as soon as she told you," he commented after a while.
"I wouldn't hit her for that..." she said with a dissatisfied tone, but Naruto knew she would do exactly that when receiving news of Naruto going out alone.
"Anyway... I won't stay here for long." Naruto said, and before Akame could respond, a ninja approached them.
"Naruto Uzumaki... Commander Mei is requesting your presence at the command tent," the ninja said, and Naruto nodded.
"I'm going there, we'll talk later," Naruto said to Akame and headed towards the center of the camp.
"You're here...!" Jill appeared in front of the tent, showing her shark teeth.
"You look well," Naruto observed.
"Yes, but your girlfriend almost wanted to kill me. She even changed her eyes!! You know I could have died from those damn eyes, don't you?!" she exclaimed, stomping her foot on the ground.
"You know Akame wouldn't kill you," Naruto mocked.
"You don't understand how a woman can become irrational!" she exclaimed.
"Can you two stop arguing out there, if you're going to enter, do it quickly!" A voice came from inside the command tent, as Mei seemed displeased with them talking about trivial matters. Naruto showed no expression while Jill quickly covered her mouth with her hand.
"Let's go," Naruto said, starting to enter with Jill behind him.
The place was filled with rebel leaders, as they watched Naruto arrive. Ao, Mei, and her personal guard, one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, were in the middle, while the surroundings were full of old men, and even Utakata was there as the jinchuuriki.
There was the head of that white thing in the middle of the table, as they seemed to be discussing what Naruto reported to Mei that night.
"If it isn't the Executioner's Blade, I thought this meeting was only for the command, not for hired mercenaries..." One of the old men mocked as soon as he saw Naruto.
"You speak as if you've done more for this camp than this mercenary, you fool," another mocked.
Some didn't like Naruto, either for being a mercenary and foreigner, or because they still distrusted him. While some even saw value in his actions, being supporters of Naruto for a few months.
"I called him here, do you think he isn't one of the people who contributes the most to the resistance, Lord Kerao?" Mei mocked the one who mocked Naruto.
Usually, those who openly antagonized Naruto were Hozuki Seijun or this Kerao, and this time it was the latter while the former remained silent.
"Welcome, once again, Naruto Uzumaki... We've heard about your success in finding and rescuing the hostages after eliminating an entire Kiri base," one of Naruto's supporters commented with a smile while he nodded.
"But that doesn't change the fact that he might have put the entire camp at the mercy of an attack from our Mizukage," Hozuki Seijun finally spoke with disdain for Naruto.
"It seems you didn't hear me, Lord Seijun. Naruto didn't bring anyone since he reported that our refugees might be infected by this thing," Mei said and pointed to the head of the Zetsu on the table.
"If that's the case... We can't let them in!!!" one of the men said.
"It's not that simple, we can't leave people out there to be slaughtered!" another immediately disagreed.
"Do you think the camp is more important than a few dozen refugees?!" a third shouted.
"Do you really believe this will be limited to just these refugees and ex-prisoners?" Naruto decided to speak, capturing everyone's attention, and he continued, "No one can sense this thing... even I still can't sense this type of infected fungus in the body. Today it's prisoners, tomorrow it could be ninjas returning from a patrol. I don't believe there's any way to hide our location for much longer," Naruto said while the others pondered his words.
"Commander Mei said you were the one who cut off the head. Can you tell us what these things are? We had never heard of them, even though some here participated in the Second Great Ninja War," one of the men asked Naruto to share his experience.
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"I first encountered these things when something like this entered me. It seems to feed on chakra," Naruto said, also thinking that with him, this thing didn't seem to last long due to his nonexistent chakra. "They can multiply and even manifest in people, coming from their own bodies. They can also move underground, and as you can see, they are invisible to sensors," Naruto explained.
"How can something like this exist!" they exclaimed, a bit scared.
"The only disadvantage of these things is that they are strangely humorous and odd, as well as quite weak... but they are a great way to collect information for the enemy, who is working with the one controlling the Mizukage." The presence of those things was certainly a sign that the masked man was behind the Kage's control.
"What are we going to do?" another spoke.
"Do we have a choice? We must prepare for battle!" Seijun himself said. Despite being power-hungry, he also knew how to think.
"Yes... I don't think this will happen immediately, but the forces around the hideout have increased, trying to ambush us. Therefore, we will have to take extreme measures and prepare for full-scale battle," Mei said, as most agreed with this thought. After all, since the battle was inevitable, they had to at least prepare for it.
"Let's end the meeting and start organizing things. Jill, I want reports on the entire inventory of the camp. Naruto, bring the people here. And the rest of you, organize your areas and the people you command. We will close the rebel camp and prepare for this fight," Mei said.
"I believe this is also an opportunity... We can launch a direct attack on Kiri... We have the excuse of a counterattack..." Naruto said, seeing this as an opportunity to respond to the Mizukage's aggression.
"I have to agree with him," Seijun also agreed with Naruto's line of reasoning, as he was in favor of advancing against the hidden village and ending the Mizukage once and for all. Now they had Utakata to fight the Kage.
"We'll decide on that later," Mei said, postponing the decision but not dismissing it. Many there also saw an opportunity in this.
"Now let's end the meeting and everyone to their tasks," Mei said, and everyone began to leave shortly after.
Naruto went straight out of the camp without warning as soon as he left, found the group, and finally brought them to the camp in the next few hours. Mei met them at the entrance and asked Ao to start organizing a place for the refugees.
"Can you walk with me?" she said to Naruto once they were alone, and Naruto nodded. "Here is your scroll with that head." She handed it to him, and he stored it away.
Naruto walked with her back to the camp. "I know it's strange for me to say something like this..." she began. "Do you really believe we will succeed? That we can defend the camp and finally end this war with an attack on Kiri and overthrow our Kage?" she asked.
"It's hard to say there will be a guaranteed victory, Mei. But we can't say defeat is certain either. You know I will do everything to ensure we come out victorious," Naruto said.
"In that case... I doubt you will remain just a mercenary who gained citizenship in Kiri," she commented with a smile, but with more confidence after hearing that from Naruto.
"As long as you keep the promises we made after this war," Naruto said. After all, he had some extra conditions with Mei that could change this country forever.
"I remember them well and intend to keep them," Mei said, and Naruto nodded.
They continued talking for a while as they walked through the camp. The place was busier than usual due to the leaders pressuring everyone to start organizing the entire camp and intensify the training of the ninjas so they could be prepared for what was to come.
They stopped in a spot where Naruto saw that boy who came to talk to him last time. He was throwing kunai at a tree in a corner of the camp, training alone.
"Is there no one to help him?" Naruto asked.
"He's doing it on his own. No one who just arrived starts training immediately; they have two weeks to get used to the camp and its routine," Mei said.
"The boy has a thirst to become stronger... So it shouldn't be a hard sight to see... should it?" Naruto said.
"You're right... I think I'll help him. After all, someone is watching us all the time," Mei murmured, while Akame was at a distance. Naruto sighed before turning to go to her.
"Naruto!!!!" Naruto heard Lola's voice and smiled as the little girl started walking towards him cheerfully.
"You're here... Then come with me." Naruto gave the girl a small smile and started walking towards Akame, who seemed to be a bit jealous of Mei.
Meanwhile, Mei herself decided to talk to the boy again, while she helped him train.
Naruto spent the rest of the time with Akame and Lola. They joined Kimimaro later, who was sorting out some things in the camp, and met in the evening to gather the group, including Utakata and his apprentice.
The next day, Naruto was alone on one of the camp's edges, thinking. After all, he wanted to improve his strength for the upcoming months. 'I have to enhance my Observation Haki... I'll be able to detect that white thing if I start sensing emotions... like I sensed that dark thing only because of how black it was.' Naruto thought, realizing it was time for him to further increase his strength.
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