Losing Face

")Good morning, Sunshine!(" said a familiar female voice. Obviously, she was entirely too cheerful.

Batman opened his eyes to find that he was tied to a chair, wearing nothing but his boxers, cape, and mask. When he looked up, he saw Harley Quinn.

")Me-oh-my!(" Harley said, continuing. ")We ought to make a bat stir-fry! But seriously, Joker's in charge of your interrogation. That doesn't mean that I don't get to talk to you like an irrational being. Or was that rational being? I can never remember which.("

Batman made no response. He looked around the room without moving his head. One door, two chairs (one of which was occupied by himself, the other by Harley), a metal table, a single light bulb overhead, an off television set hanging in a corner, and at least two security cameras, one in each of the visible corners. Batman guessed (correctly) that there were two more cameras in the corners behind him.

Harley continued speaking again. ")Why do you always have to try and break up our happy little family, huh? Twelve, almost thirteen, years ago, my honey and I stole a portal from that crazy computer that Supe's people let loose. When we activated it, it spat out a little blonde child. We decided to adopt him.("

Batman's mind raced. They adopted a child? What? Where did they keep him? Why did they adopt him? Why hadn't he died early on?

")And then, when he was a little older than six, we decided to leave, but not without letting you track down the portal room. I suppose you know better than we do what happened after that in your world. But here, we were hired as ninja, and we've been happy ever since. And you tried to take that away... You tried to destroy our family! YOU'RE THE MONSTER HERE! Mad enough to track us down across dimensions... I should have fed you to those piranhas when I had the chance!!("

Crying, she gave Batman a standing boot to the head, knocking him over. She then stormed out of the room, slamming the door.

Batman blinked, and then the door opened again. Joker walked in, closing the door behind him. The clown had a clipboard and a wistful look upon his face while looking at where Harley had left the room. The man sighed before turning his attention to Batman, righting his chair once he noticed it was on the floor.

Rather than breaking out into a full grin or laughing maniacally like Bruce had predicted, Joker simply smirked. Immediately, his blood ran cold.

")You know Bats, I have you at my mercy. I've wanted to have you be in this position for a long time so that I could finally kill you. But no. Instead, we're just going to torture you before sending you home. And no, we don't want information. We just want to send a message.("

Finally, Batman spoke.

")You're an imposter.("

It was then that Joker threw his head back and laughed.

Ibiki monitored Joker and Batman on the security feeds. He turned his head to another screen to watch as Anko interrogated the dark-skinned man with the energy ring. Joker had been adamant about removing the ring but also not letting anyone else wear it.

R&D had scanned it and found it to be high in various energies, none of which were chakra, so it was quite possible that the thing was booby-trapped in case someone other than the ring's owner put it on.

Anko slapped the man awake.

John felt a sharp pain on the right side of his face where he had no doubt been slapped.

"Wake up!" Anko said sharply.

")What?("

"Nani?"

"Anko-san," said Ibiki's voice over the intercom. ")Mr. J( said that they don't speak the same language as us."

"Oh. Yeah. I forgot."

")Who was that? What did he say about the Joker?("

"Looks like I'll have to go with the universal language then."

")What?("

Anko then pulled out a scalpel from the briefcase sitting on the metal table.

"I'd tell you how much this is going to hurt, but you wouldn't understand a word I'd say."

")What are you doing?("

The snake mistress walked up to John in a sultry manner, and began to inscribe kanji and kana on his right arm using the scalpel.

John screamed in agony as Anko wrote the phrase "For a good time call Anko in Konoha at..."

Ibiki shook his head. He then checked on Joker and Batman. So far, all that )Mr. J( had done was talk and laugh. The man in the cape hadn't said much. Ibiki turned to another monitor where the green man was being held in stasis via a network of seals. The man was finally conscious and being interrogated by an ANBU who was an expert Katon user, in case he broke free. Joker had said that fire and lightning jutsu would be the only attacks able to hit the man, aside from the Uzumaki Clan jutsu.

His interrogation was going well. The green man was already begging for an end to the pain from the electrical wiring he was hooked up to. Odd that he was able to speak their language.

Ibiki directed his attention to another monitor where Harley was interrogating the final prisoner.

")Wakey wakey! Eggs n' bac-y!("

Dick groaned. His head and back still hurt. He opened his eyes to see an extremely familiar face smiling at him. He was suddenly very alert, and sat up, ramrod straight, in his chair. His eyes were almost panicked, and his muscles creaked under the tension he put them through.

")Harley!("

")Thaaaat's me!(" said the insane woman in a cheery tone. ")How nice of you to join us among the living - though you'll probably wish we had killed you once we're through.("

")You're... not going to kill me? What about the others?("

")Nope. They'll live. But their ability to come back and hurt us will be compromised.("

")What!?("

")You heard me right, Batsy! It's not about revennnnge...("

Bruce was suddenly very worried about what was going to happen to him and his teammates. Joker NOT trying to kill him was totally out of character - or at least he thought so.

")... it's about sending a message: mess with Konoha, you'll get burned. Badly,(" said the clown. After a moment, he continued. ")And maybe stabbed in the spine and left in a ditch.("

")Message?(" asked Dick.

")Yes. Batsy will have a message of his own to carry, but you'll carry a different one: before dismantling the portal, the Justice League must allow whatever Gotham criminals a one-way ticket to Konoha that want to, as well as send the two ninja that we're sending out back to our fine Hidden Village.("

")... what?("

")Well, sure! I mean, why did most of them turn to crime anyway?(" asked the female clown as she began to sharpen a kunai.

")They're insane,(" responded Nightwing, clothed in only his mask and boxers.

")No, silly! They were rejected by society at large. Sure, some of them would turn to crime regardless, but for the most part, most of them were wronged or shunned by the people around them, or other criminals took advantage of them. Take Killer Croc, for example: I seriously doubt that he'd have turned to crime if he wasn't rejected based solely on appearance.("

")I think you've overly romanticized your fellow villains.("

")Perhaps. But if they get uppity after coming here, we can always just kill them and use their bodies for research.("

")You're-("

")Twisted? We're ninja. Our honor is only to our Hidden Village; in this case it's Konoha. If anything threatens Konoha, we eliminate it as quickly and efficiently as possible.("

")And you haven't killed us because... ?("

")Killing any of you would bring the Justice League into this world. We want to be left alone. That is the message Batsy will carry.("

Before Nightwing could respond, the television monitor in one of the upper corners of the room suddenly turned on. On the screen was Batman's cell (via the security feeds). Joker was in there as well.

")Hey, Honey!(" called out Joker. ")I thought you'd like to see who's under Mask Number One!"

")Certainly! And I'll show you who's under Mask Number Two!("

Dick began to sweat as Joker grabbed one of the ears on Batman's mask. With a quick flick of the wrist, the cape and cowl were removed and tossed upon the table.

Joker stared for a moment. Harley looked shocked. But then the clown duo simply laughed.

")Hahaha... Batman is *snicker* Bruce Wayne! *snort* Whatsa matter, Batsy? Did you have a really bad day the night momma and poppa died? AAAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!!("

Bruce's face went beet red, and his visage twisted into a mask of rage - but he was as stoic as ever. However, Joker could tell that his psyche was straining. Dick could also tell that Batman was struggling internally, simply from his long association with the man.

Obviously, the Bat had compartmentalized his persona into "Bruce" and "Batman", with the latter being the dominant "original" - which said a lot for the man's mental state. He was almost as bad as Harvey Dent! Now that he was exposed to his worst nemesis, his brain was twisting into knots trying to figure out if he was supposed to be the Dark Knight or the Dashing Billionaire.

Joker got in his face, his own completely serious - probably for the first time in his life.

")I'm so sorry, Richie Rich, I just have a hard time believing that the billionaire playboy is the BAT!("

Bruce opened his mouth for a reply, but Joker shoved a sock into his mouth to gag him.

")Shush.("

Confused, Batman's eyes narrowed.

")I have a rhetorical, philosophical question for you, before we find out who Nightwing is.(" Joker's tone was no longer like he was on the edge of sanity, taking what Bruce knew about the clown and throwing it into a wood chipper prior to urinating on it. And then dropping napalm on it.

The sock was removed.

")The one thing which puzzled me, and kept me coming back to Gotham, is quite complex. What has perplexed me the most is what was most obvious. Everyone knows. You wear your shame like a badge, but refuse to wear one like the boys in blue do.(" Joker then grabbed Batman's mask and held it in front of his face. ")Just look at this! You are desperate to be perceived as a monster, draped in black, and yet...(" Joker's fingers slipped through the hole at the bottom of the mask, and he wiggled them around in the cavity. ")You left this little window, a small glimpse of the chiseled-good looks of your alter-ego - not the jaw of a fiend but of a human being... why?("

Bruce blinked. He didn't have an answer. Because he didn't know why.

")I see...(" Joker sighed, idly tossing the mask back onto the table before continuing to speak. ")It would be one thing if you did it simply to mock me, but seriously!(" His usual almost-sane tone had returned, worrying Bruce with how comforting it sounded to him. ")Oh well! I have my answer, but you don't yet bear the message, so you are not yet free to return home!(" Ruffling Bruce's hair, Joker turned and looked at the monitor where he could see Harley. ")I have a feeling that it will be disappointing to see who the Bird is, but I would like to know!("

Kind of shocked at how sober her husband had sounded, Harley, like a zombie, robotically slid the mask off of Nightwing's face to reveal Dick Grayson.

")The circus orphan? Talk about anti-climatic!(" Joker ran his gloved digits through his hair. ")You know what, Batsy? I need a drink. I'll leave you to your thoughts for the rest of today.("

"Joker? Honey? Are you feeling okay?"

"No; I can't believe I just did that! Forced myself temporarily SANE just to screw with Batman's mind! Get the formaldehyde - I wanna get drunk."

She slowly opened her eyes. She still hurt, but she knew that the internal bleeding had stopped.

"Shhh," whispered a familiar voice. "Don't worry about a thing! I got someone to help you out, but you won't be able to use your chakra for awhile. You should be able to do so once the Finals start."

"N-Naruto?"

"Yes, Hinata-chan. It's me. I'm sorry that Neji was more powerful than we anticipated, but you'll still be able to prove them all wrong soon!"

"B-but I failed..."

"Nonsense! You simply had a bad day! Rest now, and bide your time."

Naruto walked away a bit, and Hinata closed her eyes. Before Naruto left the room however, he did have one final thing to say.

"You know, my dad said that it only took one bad day to make him so powerful... I hope you can become more powerful too!"

As Hinata drifted back to slumber, she dwelled on the idea of embracing chaos and laughter. Of smiles and screams. Of her one bad day...

"Why would you ask me to help you with torture?"

"Well, the usual methods don't seem to be cracking a couple of them," lied Joker. "I thought maybe you could help us out with some experimental torture."

"Breaking bones is experimental?"

"Er... no. We've already tried that. No, we want your unique... speeches. Talk about what you usually talk about when you try to get the troops moving. We want to go for... uh... intimidation."

"Yosh! I'll do it! I'll strike fear into their most unyouthful hearts by telling them about the Flames of Youth and the glories of Konoha!!"

"Perfect!" said the clown with a wide grin, clasping his hands.

")A... child!?(" John was confused (understatement of the century).

")Yup,(" replied Naruto. ")You are about to be interrogated by a child! How does that make you feel?("

")... this world is f***ed-up!("

Naruto grinned, and John suddenly realized that this was the boy who summoned that freakish hyena, and that this blonde boy was connected to the Joker.

")I'm in deep sh**, aren't I?("

The boy just grinned wider as he picked up a sheet of paper and a bottle of lemon juice.

"So, you understand what your mission will be, correct?" the Hokage asked two of his ANBU who he knew weren't loyal to the ROOT.

"Hai. That is why we allowed ourselves to be subjected to a genjutsu designed as a rapid language course for this... Eego... )English( language."

"Good. You remember who to look for?"

"Hai," replied the other. "A woman called )Poison Ivy(, a short man with a monocle named )Penguin(, a disfigured man named )Two-Face(, a large grey man called )Killer Croc(, a shapeshifter named )Clayface(, a scientist called )Scarecrow(, a genius in a green suit called )Riddler(, a female thief named )Catwoman(, and a very short man wearing a top hat called )the Mad Hatter(. We are to avoid the large man called )Bane(, the ice-user )Mr. Freeze(, and any other freaks as well as the authorities."

"Very good. Be ready, for you will leave as soon as Uzumaki Joker says go. Dismissed."

It took nearly two more days before Batman was almost ready to crack. Joker could have caused him to crack much sooner, but would give him a couple hours of rest every once in a while, just to make it worse for the rich boy. The medic-nins had to keep on bringing the prisoners back from the brink of death, but they made sure that the wounds would scar when they healed them.

")Today's the big day, Bats. You finally get to go home, but not before I give you a choice. When I send you back, you will have to choose which of your egos will die. Whether the rich ladies' man known as Bruce Wayne suddenly disappears without a trace or the dark and mysterious knight known as Batman will cease to hunt down criminals. This will be a difficult choice for you. If you chose to kill Bruce Wayne, Batman will become suspect, especially since he will be cut off from his money. If Bruce Wayne lives on as a broken victim of the Joker, Batman will have to vanish.("

Bruce's voice was raspy, especially because he screamed himself hoarse, but it still carried a hint of defiance.

")What... makes you think... *cough* I'll choose either?("

")This!(" said the Joker, as he pulled a kunai out of his kunai pouch. ")I just wanted to see you smile; always have! But you never did... So, I'll just have to put a smile on your face!("

With one hand, the clown grabbed the bat's head and held it in place. The other hand slowly and carefully placed the kunai inside Bruce's mouth.

")LET'S PUT A SMILE ON THAT FACE!!!("

"AAAAAAAAAAAGH!"

"Formaldehyde again?"

"Yeah, with cyanide-whiskey mixed in." He took several swallows before continuing. "I've done worse things to enemy spies, but... I actually liked doing it! This time... no humor in it. No fun."

"Probably the reason why you never really took care of him like that before."

"... how do you figure?"

"You loved to obsess over him, but in your mind he would always be there, and always be so difficult to get rid of, that you counted on it as the one constant in your chaotic life. Now that you've broken him and killed half of him, and so easily I might add, you no longer have that to look forward to."

"... Is that psycho-babble bullsh** you're feeding me or do you actually believe in it?"

"Psychiatrists are ninety percent bullsh**, you know."

"I love you, Harley!" With that, he took another swig of his deadly drink.

")Yeah, so you'll have to let them know that we have the Kryptonite that Batman normally carries in his belt here in Konoha.("

One of the... what was it called? ANBU? Yeah, one of the ANBU was talking to him. He felt terrible, especially when they brought that blonde child they had seen earlier to help with the torture sessions. These were terrible people, but they were powerful.

John could understand why they reacted so violently, but he hoped he could make the others see that. They were simply defending their colleague and wished to send a message to the rest of the Justice League! John was going to destroy the portal as soon as possible - but not before the two ANBU returned to Konoha with whatever criminals they had recruited from Gotham.

They had returned his costume to him, and, after he was dressed, bound his arms again. Then, they took a small yellow bag, put his power ring into it, and used a safety pin to attach it to his suit.

J'onn... J'onn looked horrible. They said that the symbols had been tattooed onto him, permanently stripping him of most of his powers. Bruce... he had that horrible smile carved on his mouth. Dick had a smiley face tattooed on his forehead, as well as a phrase in English on his back that said: "Eat Ichiraku Ramen: Feel Great!" Still, he seemed to have been the only one not really broken by the torture.

What that crazy snake lady did to him though... still made him shudder. She had brought in that fluorescent ink and tattooed his... organ to look like a snake!

And then two of the ANBU, including the one who was talking to him, were going to return with them to the Watchtower.

The only truly unsettling thing was that he could hear Harley in another room, singing the song "Don't Worry, Be Happy". That song seemed to really stress out Bruce. The man's almost vacant eyes were actually swelling with tears!

"Hey, Erosennin!"

Jiraiya put his spyglass down, annoyed that the progeny of his student was interrupting his "research" but smart enough to not complain about it, and turned to the boy, who had a blue balloon... wait... blue? Had he managed to pop the red one? Or did he figure out how to change the color of it? Either way... the kid was a genius!

"Yeah, Gaki?" (gaki = brat)

"I figured out how to pop it!" He held up the balloon. "At first, I tried to just spin it, but it went like this -" The balloon flattened out before Naruto released it. "- and with one hand I couldn't get it to go more than three or four directions -" Again, he demonstrated, the water inside sloshing around but not really straining the balloon. "- but then I figured: why not use both hands to start it?" And he brought his other hand to the side of the balloon, causing the water inside to go wild, popping it within a fraction of a second.

Jiraiya was open-mouthed. Only eight days since learning what the first stage was and he already found his own way to solve it! The old ninja then clamped his mouth shut into a grin.

"Very good, Gaki! Here." Jiraiya handed him a box of rubber balls. "Stage Two is much more difficult - instead of water, it is air, which is harder to control, and the object is to pour enough power into it to pop the ball, which is much thicker than any balloon. The objective is to pop the ball within a second of starting - took your old man a year to do it, but it also took him a year and a half to figure out the first stage and do it."

"Huh," replied Naruto. "How long did it take him to do Stage Three?"

"Six months. Took him three years in total to create the Rasengan, and even now, it still isn't finished."

"So I should be able to get this done in five or six days and mastered the third stage by the Finals, eh?"

"At the rate you're going, I wouldn't be surprised."

Eight days after sending the four intruders and two cat-masked ANBU to that other universe (another fifteen days before the start of the exams, for those who are counting), the two ANBU exited a glowing portal at the rendezvous point in Training Ground 80, right on schedule. Joker, Harley, the Sandaime, and four full squads of ANBU, including Yamato's squad, were there to greet them.

"Password?" asked Harley.

"Shave and a hair-cut," replied the two cat-masked ANBU in unison.

"Two bits!" sang the Joker.

One of the two cat-masked ANBU then stuck his arm back through the portal, presumably to give the people on the other side a thumbs-up.

A man wearing all green with a top-hat and cane and a question mark motif on his suit jacket exited the portal, dragging a suitcase followed by a lanky man wearing a burlap mask dragging another suitcase and a trolley with several tanks of some gas or other behind him. Attached to the other end of the trolley, pushing it along, was a large grey man with sharp teeth and scaly skin, carrying two trunks with his other hand. Following him was a large, flesh-colored monster that looked ready to melt, carrying four trunks on his own - either he had a lot of stuff, or he was helping someone else. After he came through the portal, a red-haired bombshell of a woman armed with a small crossbow exited. Following her was a large... plant-thing that walked with it's exposed roots, and in it's vines it carried a number of flowerpots and a large crate filled with seed boxes and another with bags of fertilizer.

Yamato cocked his head to one side at the woman and her plant-pet-thingy.

After they all were through the portal, it closed and they all set their things down, except the plant.

"ANBU, report!" commanded the Sandaime.

"Mostly successful, Hokage-sama," began one of the ANBU.

"Only five recruits from )Gotham(, but -" continued the other.

"- the )Justice League( will never bother us again."

"Four of the recruits already knew our language -"

"- and )Killer Croc( let us put him under the genjutsu to learn it already."

The man in green stepped forward. "The Hokage, I presume?" At the old man's nod, the younger man bowed. "Greetings. I am known as the )Riddler(, or Edward Nigma, but I suppose I'll take the name Gimonfu." (Question Mark)

"Well, Gimonfu, assuming you pass our psych evaluation - standards are pretty lax - we can start your training if you wish to become a ninja."

Gimonfu bowed graciously at this. The Hokage turned to the man in the burlap mask.

"And you would be the )Scarecrow(, correct?"

"Precisely," replied the lanky man as he bowed. "I was also known as Dr. Johnathan Crane, and I studied the effects of fear on the human psyche. I would like the name Osore, as I hear that the name 'Kakashi' is already taken." (Fear)

"A bit pretentious for a name, but it would work. Like Gimonfu, you'll have to pass the evaluation. You'll probably end up helping in our Torture and Interrogation department - there will be plenty of test subjects for your fear experiments, in any case." Osore grinned at this.

The Hokage turned to the large gray man. "And you would be?"

In response the man bowed. "Lemme introduce meself. I was known as ')Killer Croc(' in the otha' world, original name was Waylon Jones, but I s'pose you could just call me Croc. I would like ta become a ninja, howevah."

"Assuming you pass the test, that would be permissible. Also, it is possible that your condition could be passed on to your children, making it a kekkei genkai. If it is, and even if it isn't, you will be quite-respected in our society and valued as a soldier."

Bowing again, Croc thanked the Hokage.

The old man then turned to the flesh-colored monster. "The shape-shifter, )Clayface(, I presume?"

"Exactly, though I'll be going by Domen around here," replied the thing, bowing as he did so (Domen = Clay Mask). "I would like to learn more about this 'chakra' energy, because from what I can tell... it's how I manage to move about. And if I can use it to repel water... In any case, assuming I pass your psych evaluation, I can help you figure out if you have any moles in your ranks as I used to be an actor named Matthew Hagen."

Last, but not least, the Hokage turned towards the woman, who was looking at the various vegetation and the expanses of forest around her before realizing that she was next for introductions. She bowed to the Hokage, actually revealing an ample amount of her cleavage, causing the old man to inwardly smirk. Yamato discretely hid his small nosebleed.

"I am Pamela Isley, otherwise known as )Poison Ivy(, though I will take the name of Quinn Ivy, as Quinn was Harley's 'maiden' name and she's like a sister to me. I just love the forests around here! And I feel that the plants around here are content!"

Joker started nudging Yamato with his elbow.

Later, in the Hokage's office...

"So, only five?"

"Well, Hokage-sama, some did not wish to leave -"

"- such as )Two-Face(, as the man does not trust Joker-san."

")Penguin( actually had quite the information and financial network going -"

"- that we agreed with him that leaving it to start again from scratch would just be stupid."

"Let's see... )Mad Hatter(? His technology was very delicate, or so he claimed -"

"- and it probably wouldn't survive the rigors of a ninja lifestyle -"

"- so he declined on the basis that he felt he'd be quite useless to us."

"Joker-san advised us that )Catwoman( probably knew that )Batman('s alter-ego was )Bruce Wayne( -"

"- because he knew that )Selena Kyle( -"

"- )Catwoman('s real name -"

"- dated )Bruce Wayne( for a bit -"

"- so we did the responsible thing and told her what we did to the man."

"She wasn't happy and refused to come with us -"

"- we assume that she probably still loves the man and either wanted to stay to comfort him -"

"- or didn't want to see Joker-san at all after what he did to him -"

"- or both. All others we avoided -"

"- like a plague."

The Hokage took a long drag from his pipe as he mulled that over in his head. "Yeah, I'd be upset if I were her. You did the right thing. What happened with the )Justice League(?"

"Well, the one in the red cape was furious -"

"- that we tortured his buddies, but with the urging of the dark-skinned man we tortured -"

"- as well as the guy in the gold mask, a woman in a red bodice and blue panties, and this woman with bird wings, among others -"

"- he relented and let us do what we went to do."

"Their reluctance crumbled once they learned that practically all of us here had 'super' powers -"

"- what with the sheer numbers involved and all. Then, we promised to invade their world -"

"- if they did not let us recruit some of )Gotham('s criminals to work for us -"

"- prior to returning us to our own world."

Another puff on the pipe. "And they fell for the bluff?"

"After proving that we can break the dimensional boundaries on our own -"

"- by summoning one of our nin-cats -"

"- which really freaked out the man with the gold mask -"

"- yeah. They fell for it."

The Hokage smiled. "Thank you for completing your mission. You will both receive a bonus in your next paycheck."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama!" they replied in unison.

"You are to return to your surveillance of ROOT members. Dismissed."

"Hai, Hokage-sama!" they chimed at the same time prior to disappearing in twin smokeclouds.

The Hokage leaned back, continuing to smoke his pipe. Hiruzen liked the Neko Brothers - very diplomatic when the situation called for it, and very vicious when necessary. They also had a good sense of humor and each seemed to know what the other was thinking, like twins typically are fabled to have. Considering that they were identical twins from a non-clan family who had happened upon a minor summoning contract - the Housecat Contract - the fact that they tested into ANBU from the rank of Genin. The only other to do so was Uchiha Itachi, though they were much older when they did so. Still, they were excellent ANBU, and decidedly loyal to the Hokage, proven by consistently giving accurate intelligence on Danzou, head of ANBU Ne, otherwise known as ROOT.

Predictably, Croc, Gimonfu, and Osore had immense difficulty with accessing their chakra. Still, Gimonfu made an excellent amount of progress once he viewed the ability to use chakra as a challenging puzzle at Joker's suggestion. He was still a far cry from actually using it, but he had begun to feel it within himself.

Croc didn't care much for chakra, so he trained with Might Guy every morning instead, figuring he could just condition his body further to be much more useful to Konoha.

Osore hadn't yet gotten the hang of it, but Joker and Ibiki reported even higher success rates in interrogation with the presence and techniques Osore used when assisting in the torture of prisoners. What was most likely was that Osore would never be a combat ninja, but he was still useful to Konoha.

What Domen had predicted about himself was completely true - he did use chakra simply to move around and change shape, making it really easy for him to learn how ninja controlled it themselves. He quickly learned as much about water-repelling jutsu and chakra-exercises as he could.

With Harley's help, Ivy soon realized that her control over her plants was really a form of chakra technique, much like Harley's hammerspace had been. Considering her abilities with flora, she was considered a Mokuton user. Yamato, the only other Mokuton user, started hanging out with Ivy when his squad (which still followed Joker around) was off-duty.