by Shimiko Chinoike Sun Feb 09, 2020 1:36 pm
Shimiko was pissed.
She had just received an intelligence report from ANBU that Neko-sama had gone off the rails. The Cat Kage had announced the formation of a new Empire. The political entity seemed to be based around cats and if that wasn't inflammatory enough, she had taken the additional step of branding Akihiro Uchiha a Nuke-Nin. Now Shimiko wasn't privy to Konoha's internal state of affairs. It could be that Neko-sama's reasons for doing so were in fact valid. But judging from what Shimiko knew of both the cat and the Uchiha, that was simply not likely. Akihiro was a bit of a weird kid, but she did not get treasonous vibes from him. Of course, being an experience intelligence officer he could have been hiding his true intentions from her yet Shimiko liked to think of herself as a good judge of character. Akihiro was awkward but not evil. Neko-sama on the other hand, was erratic and wild. Shimiko's ploy with Raijin shouldn't have worked. She didn't really expect it to. She assumed that she'd have to get violent and attack Konoha in order for them to begin working against the Society in earnest. Much to her surprise, Neko-sama had given her everything that she could have wanted and more. It made her a useful asset but that in turn, also made her an unreliable and ill-fitted leader. Kimiko was right to have called her Kage out then and there. It was a raw deal and the chaotic minded Neko couldn't see it for what it was.
Shimiko came to the conclusion that this crisis had somehow driven her strategic partner to madness. If Neko-sama had been thinking clearly, she'd have never made an enemy of Akihiro. The boy was probably quite strong and if one of his kin was missing, then he'd have all the reason in the world to help them get Rin back. Rather than taking advantage of this fact, Neko-sama had alienated him and branded him a criminal. The creature wanted to fight a war on two fronts. The Society, who had kidnapped both of her Nin and apparently looted the village of its money and exclusives, and now Akihiro Uchiha whose crimes were vague and ill-defined. Akihiro was too competent to be credibly accused of such trivialities so either Neko-sama was lying or she had gone off the deep end. All of this made the blonde Chinoike's job extremely difficult. Konoha was too busy going through political upheaval to help rescue Rin. She hadn't heard from Tatsu, Nariko, or Hana. The Kage were useless it seemed and time was ticking away. To make matters worse, Konoha had been robbed the Society for all of its resources. This didn't really bother Shimiko as she didn't care about the well-being of a foreign village, but it did mean that the Society's power had exponentially increased. There was no telling how the organization would take full advantage of this victory. Shimiko worked tirelessly in the forge, channeling her frustration and rage into action as she considered the myriad of possibilities.
But the world wasn't done with her yet.
Shimiko turned on the news to see Nozomi's broadcast to the world of ninja. The Nuke-Nin boldly stated that her organization was benevolent, or at least not as bad as the shinobi villages. Shimiko stopped working altogether as she stared at Nozomi's face through the television. With each passing second she grew more and more wroth at her enemy. Nozomi said that the Blood Prison was an evil place and that the villages were the true threat to global peace and stability. Shimiko took the lecture quite personally. Her Clan had been instrumental in founding one of the major hidden villages. Kumogakure was the product of an alliance primarily between the Inazuma and Chinoike. For Nozomi to smear the village governance structure, was to smear everyone she cared about who had given their all to uphold it. Nariko. Seigi. Two people who were irreplaceable and unmatched in their dedication to preserving the most stable system known to man. Before the villages there was nothing but chaos and war. The Chinoike were primarily a lost and forgotten tribe of cavemen prior to the advent of Kumogakure. The Church was an underground blood cult and not the majestic institution that it was today. It was all thanks to the shinobi villages that such a thing was possible, and now Nozomi wanted to tear it all down.
Nozomi complained about being trained to be a ruthless killer. Was that supposed to be a bad thing? The words made Shimiko activate her Ketsurygan. Killing in the name of God and Country is the highest calling any person can aspire to. You'd throw it all away and for what? . Nozomi went on to tell the story of Akeno Tatsuda. Shimiko didn't care about this random Iwa-Nin turned terrorist. She wanted to turn off the TV and get back to work, but somehow she couldn't. Seeing Nozomi filled her with rage and hatred, and Shimiko had learned to thrive off of such emotions. She kept a facade of pleasantness and sweetness wherever she went, but there were times when she had that mask crack. What was once a rare phenomenon was happening with increasing regularity and one could say that the Himitsu was partially to blame for this.
Finally, Nozomi closed by issuing a challenge to the ninja villages of the world. She threatened them with destruction if they continued to operate outside of the bounds of what she deemed acceptable. She had marked Konoha and Kiri for retribution and had stated that Kumo and Suna were not far off. Shimiko wasn't moved. Let her come...I'm dying for a rematch. Shimiko's fist tightened as Nozomi stated what her organization's purpose was.
It appeared that the Society had finally revealed what she had long suspected. It was an anarchist group. A band of anti-village terrorists who sought to break the hegemony of the civilized world and return it to the ages past. They beleived themselves to be noble crusaders, but what they really wanted was endless war and violence. Nozomi had said it herself, she loved to fight and what better way to ensure a steady supply of opponents than to return the world to the Warring States Era.
"Not on my watch"
Akihiro shared her concerns. That much was obvious given that he had attempted to assasniate Nozomi. He had failed but presumably had lived to tell the tale which meant he was just as strong as Shimiko suspected. Far from being the enemy that the Hokage had cast him as, Shimiko saw him as a new ally. She had warmed on him after hearing that he had landed a girlfriend as sweet, vicious, and intelligent as Kimiko. She was now impressed by his valor against a terrorist than even she would have died to back at the World Tournament. She'd need to get in touch with him ASAP.
Shimiko shut off the TV. She didn't need to hear anymore. Her ANBU would get the rest and analyze it before giving her a report. Shimiko made a few shadow clones and they began ferrying information from her office to her forge. They'd read and draft plans while she finished up Valris's sword. When Yui had finally arrived, Shimiko had had a chance to calm down. The Chinoke replied as she looked up from her work. The heat and soot of the forge had mussed up her makeup.
"Foolish is an understatement!" She tossed a workman's knife at a newspaper clipping attached to the board. "Your cousin is dead. She branded Akihiro a Nuke-Nin and for no good reason based on what I can tell. If he's strong enough to attack Nozomi and live, then he's probably strong enough to kill her. I'm not sure what Nariko-sama and the new Mizukage are up to, but I haven't heard anything from them. Their probably dealing with Neko-sama's madness which means that its up to us to save Rin. Time is short but luckily I've spoken to one of my best ANBU and I think we have a plan that we can put in place. Its risky, but as you said there isn't much time. We're leaving tomorrow so that we can get to the rendezvous before its too late."
