Prelude to War

It was morning and, just as Hinata had told Tenten, Shiki was around to see the Hyuga sisters' progress but, for the Team 3 kunoichi, this was her opportunity to grasp the strength she, oh so eagerly, desired.

"Shiki-san! Please train me!" Tenten bowed before Shiki as she humbly made her request.

Hinata seemed to be okay with what was happening bu the young Hanabi was not pleased in the slightest. Still, the decision was her Shiki-nii-sama's to make and, no matter what his choice would turn out to be, Hanabi would still support it.

This mindset was Hinata's as well be without the initial reluctance. She was content to just wait for Shiki's decision and would never second guess him or think it would be better in another way.

"Ah, yes! I've heard you faced of with a member of Mugetsu." Shiki said instead on directly answering.

"Yes, someone called Chiryu." Tenten replied.

"Chiryu . . . A user of the Ketsuryugan. Your loss wasn't unjustified." Shiki commented.

"Ketsuryugan?" Hanabi asked from the side but both Hinata and Tenten were curious about it as well.

"A doujutsu with powers said to be equal to that of the Sharingan" Shiki explained, shocking the girls.

"Enhanced perception, powerful genjutsu casting capabilities along with the ability to manipulate blood in various ways. It's reputation is not wholly underserved." He continued.

"I've never heard of such a doujutsu." Hinata commented.

"It's natural. The Chinoike that possessed it was suppressed by the Uchiha clan a long time ago in a war. After that, the clan declined and, in the end, perished due to internal conflict." Shiki finished his explanation.

"She told us you had beaten her before." Tenten declared.

"So I want to train with you." She concluded.

'Chino is giving way too much information!' Shiki complained in his mind.

'I'll need to have a talk with her on, information control in the future.' He thought.

"Yes I've beaten her. But that doesn't mean I can train you to beat her." Shiki countered.

'With all the upgrades she got just for being a member of Mugetsu, Chino's advantages are quite significant, not to mention her kekkei genkai.' He evaluated in his mind.

"I'll I want to know, is if Shiki-san is willing to train me." Tenten insisted.

"Hmm . . ." Shiki started thinking before he turned to Hinata.

"Hinata!" He called out to her.

"Yes, Shiki-san?" She responded.

"From now on, you'll be in charge of Tenten's training." Shiki announced.

""What!?"" Both girls shouted with surprise.

"Tenten, if you want my training . . . All you need to do, is show good enough results after training with Hinata." Shiki declared.

"I've been training her since we were both just freshman in the Academy so she's good, much better than any other chunin with the exceptions of my other two trainees." He praised his students and vouched for Hinata's abilities which made her very happy and fulfilled.

"Fine! I'll do it. But You better keep word afterwards." Tenten relented.

"I always do." Shiki simply replied.

"What about you Hinata? Are you okay with this arrangement?" He asked.

"Don't worry Shiki-san! I won't let you down!" The girl exclaimed with resolve.

"You never do." Shiki said, making the Hyuga blush.

"Well then, since things are settled, I'll be on my way." Shiki said.

And so, in a flash of white light, he disappeared into thin air with his Flying Raijin Jutsu.

As this happened, he thought to himself.

'This ought to be a good learning experience for Hinata and I'll also be able to avoid teaching the basics and only give her the advanced program which is where the fun really starts.'

'I better figure out how to maximize the power of Tenten's talents though . . .'

Although at first, training was just a way for Shiki to get capable people he could entrust tasks to in the future, or a way for him to hit on beauties he was interested in, he had to admit it felt relaxing to him now and it was something he enjoyed doing.

Seeing someone change and improve due to his instruction was quite rewarding and having the power to mold another to your design was quite thrilling to him. That was why he kept it up despite supposedly being on his much deserved holidays.

Meanwhile, in Mugetsu, another interesting event occurred. It was like the world was just waiting for Shiki to go on vacation to make these things happen.

It was the first serious clash between Mugetsu and the Akatsuki.

Although competition was inevitable, it was the first time they had directly clashed with one side of a conflict hiring Mugetsu and the other hiring the Akatsuki.

This had far more meaning than a normal mission, it would determine how the world would evaluate the two organizations. The winner would become much more vied for than the looser and thus would be able to earn more influence and contracts.

Two small countries were locked in warfare. It was nothing on the scale of a Great Ninja War though. The two sides had been hiring random rogue ninja to bolster their ranks but the war had no end in sight and both sides were getting desperate.

One side, in the interest of finally ending the war, resigned to spend a considerable sum to hire the Akatsuki which drove the other side to flusteredly search for someone that could match them as they decimated their forces.

In the end, Mugetsu was their only choice and due to their desperation, the country literally sold itself to Mugetsu's rule, with nothing but a few concessions, should they be victorious in the conflict.

As for the opposing country, it would obviously belong to Mugetsu as well. This was one of the most obvious differences between the two underworld organizations.

The Akatsuki was still acting as a purely mercenary organization but Mugetsu was gathering territory and expanding into several profitable underworld businesses, gathering wealth and influence at a rate the Akatsuki simply could not match.

Still, as an older and more active organization on the battlefield, the Akatsuki still had a superior reputation in the matters of war. Now though, Mugetsu had an opportunity to subvert the world's expectations and take that throne from the rival Akatsuki.

In the current state of affairs, the country that hired Mugetsu had been pushed back and lost about half of their territory.

While the enemy country had hired the Akatsuki, they did not want them to just eliminate the enemy forces and thus steal the perceived glory from the country's samurai. As such, they were hired to spearhead the army and pacify the harshest resistance before the army moved in.

Alas, it was precisely this stupid mindset that allowed their opponents to hire Mugetsu before all was lost. An opportunity they would not have if their enemy had just allowed the Akatsuki to annihilate the forces and leadership of the enemy.

Now, as the army massed for another assault spearheaded by the Akatsuki two man cell that was dispatched, a pair of Mugetsu kunoichi was also ready to face their opponents.

Not only that, the country's armies had been bolstered by Mugetsu automatons, thus giving them a crushing advantage against their opponents.

Haku and Guren, the two Mugetsu had dispatched, only had to deal with the Akatsuki team and merely keep them busy as the automatons slaughtered their employers' armies.

"Maybe this time, I can actually have some fun with our current opponents." Guren said to Haku.

"I for one, don't really mind the easy jobs. So long as Shiki isn't disappointed, I'm perfectly fine." Haku replied.

"True! But shouldn't we still love the chance to fully use the power Shiki-sama gave us?" Guren asked.

"You have a point Guren-san. Not to mention Shiki-san will be pleased if we can suppress the Akatsuki and steal their halo of being the mightiest mercenary organization." Haku agreed.

"Right! Better to not get to embroiled in the fun and mess up." Guren got more serious.

The last thing she wanted was to mess with Shiki's plans by stumbling on their first battle against the Akatsuki.

Meanwhile, on the other side, the AKatsuki pair was also conversing.

"Shit Kakuzu! I'm bored, let's just go ahead and kill all the infidels ourselves!" One said.

"You know we've only been hired to spearhead the army's offensive Hidan." Kakuzu admonished.

"Yeah but should we listen to these pansies?" Hidan countered.

"Because they're paying. Now shut up before I kill you Hidan!" Kakuzu shouted.

"You know that's impossible Kakuzu. And I don't support killing for money. It goes against my beliefs." Hidan complained.

"As if I care. Money makes the world spin Hidan, it's time you realized that." Kakuzu declared.

"Whatever, the enemy is to weak for me to stave off my boredom anyways." Hidan gave up.

"Maybe not this time." Kakuzu countered.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Hidan asked.

"I've heard that our targets have hired Mugetsu to deal with us." Kakuzu explained.

"Mugetsu? What the hell is that?" Hidan uncaringly replied.

"They have quite the reputation Hidan. You better be careful or you'll die." Kakuzu said.

"Like I've said . . . You know that's impossible Kakuzu!"

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P.a.t.r.e.o.n is officially up!

The link is: https://www.p.a.t.r.e.o.n.com/lusoba without the extra dots of course.

You'll get to read up to FOUR week ahead, a full month, but I'll still post here.

There's also my other novel Archon of DanMachi, do check it out!

I would greatly appreciate any support since this is going to be my breadwinner.