The Real Operation

Quietly Ryuko made her way into the hospital room with none of the usual prompt and circumstance that such a visit would warrant. Today she wasn’t here to make the rounds as a doctor or to visit the patients to improve their morale but to receive an operation of her own, a fact that she wanted to keep as low key as possible.

It wasn’t that she doubted Renny’s skills as a medical practitioner but there was always an element of risk involved in such things that could never really be removed to make them 100% guaranteed full proof. If nothing else she would be vulnerable during the procedure and she didn’t want any of her enemies both from without and within to get any funny ideas.

She wasn’t dressed up for the occasion, wearing nothing more than a typical hospital gown rather than her usual armor or dress which would simply get in the way. Walking into the room just in time to catch Renny taking a sip of his alcohol.

“I didn't think you were the type to drink to steady the nerves Doctor.” she said jokingly feeling slightly jealous since she’d refrained from eating or drinking anything but water for the last 24 hours to make sure her system was clear of any substances that might impede Renny’s work.

She took a quick moment to inspect the package. While she wasn’t quite at Renny’s level as a physician she had some experience with the nature clan thanks to her friend Akame and her rival Raijn. One glance was enough to tell her that it was authentic, just seeing it was enough to bring a huge grin to her face. After all this time searching for the final key she needed to unlock her full potential was finally within her hands.


“To be honest Renny, I didn’t really think you’d be able to locate a nature clan implant for me let alone so soon. Color me impressed, with this you’ve paid off your debt to me and then-some.” Ryuko commented. Only a greedy fool would still demand their money back from him at this point. As far as she was concerned it was perhaps the best investment she had ever made.

The nature clan were an elusive people. She’d gone to the trouble of building a clan district for them but it remained empty to this day. Despite her extensive intelligence network at the Raikage she only knew of two aforementioned individuals. One of which was too dangerous to approach considering the last time she’d seen him she’d lost her fight with him.

As for the other individual she was too sickly. Despite being a woman of the cloth Ryuko was still a ninja and as such had what some people would consider to be somewhat loose morals, yet despite her need for more power even she would never think of performing such a ghoulish act on someone she considered as a friend.


“I hope you don’t mind but I invited some of my...well I suppose you could call them my family to attend and assist. They are fairly experienced doctors having done at least one implant operation already, but I was hoping they might be able to learn from seeing a master at work.” she explained in hopes that their presence wouldn’t offend the good doctor.

[1]

Control fight preparation post 6, 560 words

Now at 5,580 out of 8000

Yui and Yua made their way toward a location given to them by Ryuko, it seemed she needed their help and they gladly helped one of their favorite people. However, they were late so many church duties as she even dawned the high priestess robe still making her way to where the pair needed to go. As they finally made it to the location the pair would step inside with Yui giving a slight bow and Yua smirking and smiling at Ryuko.

"Hey babe I see you need our help, you know we are more than happy to help you Ryuko, so who is this sissy-looking dude over there. Is he tryin to get handsy with you if he is I can make him suffer a painful death ya know?"

Yui would smack her brother in the back of the head and sigh, he was always this way it was like dealing with a horny rage-induced teenager. He had been with so many girls yet this was still how he behaved, she really could not hate on him after all the church was full of this type of lustful behavior along with the adopted clan.

"So I am guessing you need us for medical reasons, glad to see you again Ryuko the last time may have startled you. Do not worry no coma it was us having a chat with the little beast inside, it's about time we deal with him, he's becoming quite demanding these days. So I figure fair trade we help you with this and you try to help us quell the beast only seems like a fair trade."

Yui would grin at the other man, her aura she had was quite odd like an aura of holiness about her yet that darkness inside her was frightening. She seemed polite and kind but anyone that could feel things would know she was a monster in sheep's clothing.

"Hey to you two, nice to meet you. I could help you with any seal matters," said Renny politely. Wearing a kind smile, Renny's assured that he could give the strongest seals a person might need. Because there's no way to know how the twins might act, Renny's just going to focus on building some basic comradery.

"You can watch me use Cell Activation first, it'll help improve Ryuko's chances for our agenda today," said Renny. All that Renny knows about comes from journals and sciences, like Team Medical Dragon for surgical cooperation. Renny's weak, so he always likes to start his bases off of others. Now that there's enough of an audience, Renny's ready to start his operation with Ryuko.

"The operation won't be difficult. If you have any needs after this, like enchanting, just let me know," whispered Renny to Ryuko. Walking to the side of the Raikage, Renny's content on acting like a nurse, and making small talk can help downplay restless patients as Ryuko might know. Generally, Renny is curious if Ryuko has any other goals to be completed.

"I've got no anesthetic. On the bright side, the operation's a guaranteed success, I could even do it out of a hospital with success. I can easily deal with any permanent activation if needed. Since it's a kidney, you won't need it at all times either," noted Renny. On his walk, Renny makes a hand seal, and creates a Shadow Clone to match the twins.

Trying to place a real hand behind Ryuko's head, Renny pushes to gently rest Ryuko onto the operation table, while Renny kneels down a little. Once Ryuko's lying down and ready, Renny's clone also kneels at the operation table. Both Renny and his clone do hand seals under the table, charging their chakra beforehand as well. Without anesthetic, Renny's clone places both hands on Ryuko's head to keep them still if he can. At the stomach, the real Renny tries resting his palms on Ryuko after unveiling the surgery site.

"Ready to begin? We're both here for you," said Renny after everything else. Nodding toward the twins, Renny waits for words.

Shadow Clone jutsu used

Ryuko had been expecting to see Seigi the Nidaime  Raikage to show up and help with the surgery only for her favorite pair of twins whom she thought to be in a coma to show up instead.    A most pleasant surprise to be sure.  She would have run over to hug them if it wasn’t for the fact that she was currently clad in a thin hospital gown.

She was as happy as could be until Yua uttered the kind of  words that she never would have expected to hear coming out of his mouth.   She was so used to being addressed like “Milady” or “Madem” that being called something as disrespectful as babe shook her to her core.  It was only the fact that she considered him to be a family member that saved him from being thrown in the stockade overnight  to think about what he’d done.   She might not lock him up but she would have given him a swift smack on the head if his own sister hadn’t done it for her.

“Please don’t go hurting my court physician, he’s quite a valuable member of my retinue.”  she said pleadingly Ryuko was the type to seek all sorts of talent for her kingdom.  Losing someone as promising as Renny would be a major blow to her long term plans for the country.

Yui’s explanation about them spacing out because they where speaking to the bijuu inside them made sense.  Ryuko knew that sometimes she could get lost in her own inner world when she held long conversations with Rafaela.   “Sounds like a deal to me, but please know that I would have helped you regardless.”   said the queen before moving on to keep things going.  

“Allow me to introduce you.  These are the twins Yui and Yua Chinoike, two of my very finest Jounin.”  Ryuko said as she gestured towards the pair that had gracefully chosen to join them and offer their assistance.   “And This is Renny, the best doctor in all the land.”  she said as she gestured towards the physician.  She was talking him up a little perhaps but even so it wasn’t much exaggeration to say that he had few equals in the field.

“Actually I do have some gauntlets for Tsumi that need to be enchanted but we can save those for another day.”  The particular spell she wanted placed on them involved the fire element so they would need a practitioner that wasn’t on hand in order to cast it.    Besides she wanted to take care of the surgary first before they tackled any other business.

“Good, I want to be conscious for this in order to provide additional assistance should you require any.”  said Ryuko in response to not being administered any aesthetic.  She was a tough cookie and could withstand the pain. Considering she'd been shot by an arrow and run through with a sword before this was nothing in comparison.   With her level of coordination she could keep absolutely still around the area being operated on while moving other parts of her body.    

Operating on yourself was a little on the unusual side but with her wide range of skills not impossible, especially as she had her two hydra summons Irah and Ngova to act as her hands should that prove necessary.  Channeling chakra into the crystal on her neck caused purple glyphs to appear on the floor of the operating room from which the aforementioned three headed creatures rose out of.  

“I’m as ready as I”ll ever be.  Please begin.” She asked her face the very picture of serenity. If she was nervous she was doing a pretty darn good job hiding it.

[2]
Jutsu used
-40 Summoning Irah and Ngova (1 post out of 8 )
280/320 chakra remaining

Control fight preparation post 7, 579 words

Now at 6159 out of 8000

Ryuko was feeling a little nervous as she waited for the operation to begin though you wouldn’t know it from looking at her face which was perfectly placid.  You didn’t get to be in her position without being very good at concealing your real feelings for the world at large.  Suddenly without warning she heard a thud from behind her as Renny crumpled to the ground unconscious.

The Queens vision seemed to turn black from the sight.  As a trained medic one glance was enough to tell her what was going on.  Renny had succumbed to the plague coma.  True there were less victims these days then there used to be to the point where the disease was considered a minor concern overall, but that didn’t mean it had vanished entirely.  

The main point of concern and the reason for her despair was the few unlucky few who were afflicted rarely woke up again.  They wouldn’t die, but they weren’t living either in the truest sense of the world.    The chances of recovery were slim at best meaning they had no way to proceed with the surgery.

She finally had the final key she needed for her control battle but it was like being unable to put it into the lock.  It wasn’t that she didn’t trust the twins otherwise she wouldn’t have brought them onboard to assist, the simple fact was they were ill suited to be the lead physician on such an important operation.

It was always going to be a roll of the dice but Ryuko had done everything in her power to tilt the odds in her favor.   Now things were too risky to proceed until they found another gifted surgeon they could trust.   Well not that she’d entirely trusted Renny to begin with, half the reason she’d brought in the Twins was as a precaution to insure he didn’t try anything funny.  Still she had leant him a considerable sum of money and he had secured the transplant for her instead of running off which counted for a lot.

One again she was reminded of her shortcomings but well what else was new?  No matter how powerful she had become there would always be things she couldn't do and that was never going to change.   She could try leaning on others for what she lacked but each time never seemed to go well in the long run.  It was like a long trail of devastation left in her wake as people she grew close to either died, fell into a coma or retired from active duty.

“You wouldn’t happen to know a talented surgeon would you?” she asked the Twins as she got off the operation table. If it had just been her and Yui she would have had no reservations about changing on the spot but with Yua present she thought better of that idea and slipped behind a partition screen first.  

For a brief moment the name of Kara Darhk flashed across her mind but to be frank Ryuko wasn’t quite sure where she stood with that woman or how far she could trust her.   How much did Kara blame her for Damian’s death?  If she was anything like her brother…. The idea was enough to make Ryuko shudder, especially as she thought about what Tamwyn might have had to say to his sister since he had been furious at the Queen for Yenn’s death.    

She let out a deep sigh. She hadn’t ever met Kara directly yet and already their relationship was so complicated that just speaking to her felt like it would be like navigating a bed of thorns or perhaps a Gordian knot. It was a difficult problem to solve and she would likely need a good intermediary to even begin untangling things.  The fact that Kara and her corporation the Eclipse foundation had more wealth than most countries wasn’t helping matters much either.

To be honest now that one of the few people that she trusted unconditionally as retired the Queen was starting to wonder if perhaps she was starting to get a little bit too paranoid.  She was worried about the fact that she was starting to double and even triple guess the motivations of all but a select few of her closest confidants.  

She’d been holed up in the castle most of the time for so long crafting things that she was starting to feel out of touch with the people.  Perhaps it was time to begin expanding the sphere of people she interacted with.   If she could make even one new friend or find a reliable retainer it might do wonders for her state of mind.

Stepping out from behind the partition now fully dressed and equipped she stepped over to Renny’s crumpled form and began searching him for anything useful.  Sure it was rude but it wasn’t like Renny was in any position to be making use of his ryo and equipment anytime soon.  In the first place she had lent him the money to buy it in the first place so she had to do what she could to recoup her loss.   If  nothing else he had a selection of chemical poisons on him that would prove useful for her to analyze given that she might be able to reproduce them when her sage mode was activated.

Now that she’d stripped him of everything of worth the question was what to do about the man himself.   He wasn’t a citizen which meant he was taking up valuable resources and space if she kept him in the hospital.   If only she knew where he had been from she could have shipped him off to his home, in retrospect it seemed kind of insane that she had placed so much trust in somebody with such a mysterious past.  

With so many unknowns about him the safest thing to do would be to put him to rest. All she had to do was cast the Body Elimination technique and all traces of him would be eliminated from existence removing even the need to hold a funeral.   Then again he had accomplished the feat of bringing back a nature clan kidney for her.  It would be rather ungrateful to write him off completely so quickly.  

As a benevolent Queen perhaps she should be displaying her magnanimity here.   Sparring him could be considered both kindness or cruelty depending on your point of view and she could only hope he would view it as the former in the event he ever woke up even if it might be years or decades from now.

With Renny out of the picture she realized just how close she had come to dying herself. If he had fallen into a coma in the middle of the operation she would have been as good as done for.   She had tried to do her best to settle her affairs beforehand as a precaution in case the worst had happened but there were still lots of issues left, the main ones being who would take over as her successor.

She wasn’t worried about the church of Hakkin.  They would lose their living saint but the Arch Priest and the other Vestal would be able to pick up the slack.   Even the next King or Queen, Or Daimyo would be only a minor issue.  Ultimately they need only be a figurehead even if they held little actual authority.    Supposedly Damian had been working on something in that regard as a failsafe should anything happen to her and even though he was gone she trusted his work would get the job done since he’d never let her down before.

The biggest issue was who would be the next kage.  She never had meant the job to be tied to the monarchy forever.   Too much authority tied to one figure was rife for abuse.  It would be all too easy for someone to become a tyrannical dictator down the line if things were kept the way they were now. There was a reason those two positions were usually kept separate, a separation of power was in order to safeguard things.  

If nothing else, if the next Raikage was in place she wouldn’t have to worry if something went wrong with her control trail. Live or die the village would still be secure.   The last thing she wanted was things to devolve into a nasty battle of succession where people fought over the title.  They had lost enough during the recent war, the last thing the country needed was more infighting.

If she was being fully honest she hadn’t been in the right headspace for someone who was expected to be leading a military and hadn’t been for the last long while.  The fact that her closest disciple had chewed her out had weighed heavily on her mind and until now she had been focusing more on her failures than her successes.   It had left her wondering if she was doing a good job and if she was making her sensei and predecessor Nariko proud.   If she was going to proced forward with her plan to challenge her god for more power there was no room left for doubt in her heart if she was going to succeed.

The only question was if someone else was going to be the next Raikage then was who was fit for the job? She had been grooming Tamwny for the role but he had turned his back on her. Even if he returned to the fold she wouldn’t be able to trust him with so much responsibility anymore.  Shimiko would have been the most logical next choice if she hadn’t retired.   Who did that even leave that she could trust?    Her student Tsumi was far from being able to take on such a roll even if he was in good health.

Perhaps Seid could take over for her.  He had done an adequate job running things during her absence.  It had always been hard on her to tell what was on his mind but she kind of got the feeling he didn’t really want the job. Who could really blame him with all the responsibilities involved.   Heck half the reason Ryuko wanted someone else to take over was so that she could grant herself more freedom to operate.  The title of Raikage was like a shackle around her legs, tying her to the village unable to leave without tremendous amounts of preparation.

She needed someone she could trust, Someone with enough power to be a credit to the title of kage but ideally not so much that they could push her around.  There was little point to appointing someone else as kage if that new kage turned around and tried to stifle her.   Ryuko would still be around to help out in a crisis like a bijuu attack but beyond that she wanted to be left to her own devices as much as possible.  

As she thought about it the answer became obvious really there was only one person, or technically two who fit the job description.  Locking eyes on the twins, Ryuko gave them a kind smile. “Tis looks like I’ll be quite busy looking for a new doctor. How would you guys feel about taking over for me as the next Raikage?” she asked as if it was the most casual question in the world.  

[3]

Control fight preparation post 8, 1903 words

Now at 8,062 out of 8000

Calming the following from Renny
330,585 ryo
1 Liquid Version: Decay, Diminish, Fade, Dum-Dum, Wither
1 Solid Version (Death Concentrate): Decay, Diminish, Vertigo, Fade, Dum-Dum, Slow, Wither
Military Ration Pills (14 remain)
Xeno Chocolate Bar
2 Cheap Liquor
3 Cannabis
2 silver Sweetsilk Coat enchanted with Injection (25 uses remain)
Sealed Nature Clan kidney

The twins had been ready to assist but it seemed the surgeon had fallen ill to something they knew all too well. This disease still existed despite their best efforts to cure it, sadly they had no way to do this surgery without help. They simply were not skilled enough to perform such a thing. It was sad for Yua that Ryuko slid behind the screen to dress, but he understood, he was the type of man to look after all. When she was done changing she began to look lost in thought, she had a lot on her mind, likely how close she could have been to death. If the surgery had gone on and he collapsed the twins would have had a hard time saving her life.

Suddenly she came in with a question they never expected, she wanted them to be Kage, Yui did not at all like this. She had a hard enough time running the church yet alone an entire nation Yua however seemed to think this was fine.

"I know sis you are thinking there is no way you can run a church and nation, that's where I come in. I will be the actual Kage and you will be deputy Kage in case I try to do something dumb to veto my choices. I think we can handle this Ryuko and if it is your wish we both would love to help you. We care about you like a sister and would never tarnish your name and legacy."

Yui would sigh, this could work but she was still worried, they would need a Jounin commander they could trust and only Seid's name came to mind. With his backup and support they felt this could certainly work, the three of them made a very strong power in Kumo alone. This also made sure the Jashin church was held in check she knew Yua would not let her walk all over him, in fact, if he was accepting this he would be very diligent and responsible.

A look of relief washed over Ryuko’s face upon hearing Yua’s answer and the sheer resolution in his unwavering voice. Clearly she had chosen the right person for the job, with him at the helm as the 5th Raikage she would be able to rest easy. The village would be protected even if something happened to her and it would give her the room she needed to focus on the bigger picture.

She smiled ruefully at the idea that the Twins saw her as a sister. Considering that she had a sibling relation with Shimiko who was their adopted mom shouldn’t she be their Aunt? Talk about an interesting family dynamic. Eh whatever she thought with a mental shrug, given their relative ages maybe sister was better given how close where. She could certainly live with that without complaints.

“Thank you very much, you guys are the best.” Ryuko said, praising them from the bottom of her heart. She was blessed to have such a wonderful family. They had spent enough time around her that she wouldn’t have to waste time explaining to them what would be expected of Yua as Raiakge. Now all they had to do was negotiate a few things about the last couple things the twins needed to do for this to become official and how Ryuko would be treated after the transfer of power.

Normally she’d take them back to the palace for such a sensitive discussion but currently an entire wing of the hospital had been reserved so that her operation could be done in absolute privacy so as not to worry the public or invite attention from those that might take advantage of her being out of the picture temporarily.

“Our first order of business will be for you to take control over your Bijuu. That’s the minimum level of power you’ll need on hand for the other Kage to take you seriously.” Ryuko explained. She hadn’t managed to meet the other current kage despite her attempt at the Heavenly Emporium but she knew second hand information on them to not take them lightly.

“What Can I do to help you prepare?” Ryuko asked. In this matter the Twins had her full support. It was ironic since she hadn’t managed to finish the preparations for her own control battle yet thanks to Renny being knocked out of the picture. Then again even without that the Queen was still a formidable warrior thanks to her plethora of top tier equipment and sage mode.

With the budget available to them from the village equipment shouldn’t be a problem. Ryuko wasn’t sure if Kara liked her much or not but the business woman shouldn’t have any real reason to dislike the twins. THe biggest issue there was how far back in the Que their order would be.

Should she offer to teach them her sage mode? You needed to be a medic to make proper use of the Dokuton. They were at least good enough doctors to serve as assistants in the operation even if they couldn’t take the lead. That meant they had the minimum qualifications even if they wouldn’t be able to make the most use of being a sage. As far as enchanced states went it wasn't the one that would compliment them the best so she wasn't sure they would even want it.

“Secondly, how shall I be treated going forward as the former Raikage and current Queen?” Customarily a former Kage that was still alive like Seigi retained full security clearance, regular intelligence briefings and a measure of financial support from the village. Ryuko had for the most part avoided taking a salary as the kage but the village did pay for the upkeep of her palace and the Royal guards. Even with the kind of money she had as an individual she would have a hard time of things if she had to start paying for all that herself.

Frankly speaking she wanted to be mostly hands off. Unless the Twins directly asked for her assistance or it was a big emergency she would only be getting in their way if she interfered too much. She’d be pretty happy as long as she maintained a few royal prerogatives like the ability to pardon someone or being able to appoint someone with a ceremonial knighthood. Most important would be the ability to travel internationally freely. She didn’t want to stop to have to ask permission to go outside the village the same way that say your average gennin would have.

[4]