My New Life is Harder Than Expected(Naruto SI-Waifu Catalog) (Patreon)

Chapter 10

(Border of Kiri)

“Wha- What was that?” Mei asked once she shook her head to get rid of any dizziness at being teleported so abruptly.

“I transported us here.” I answered calmly showing her a tri pronged kunai for a moment making her blink her eyes in confusion for a second before she gasped and widened her eyes.

“The Yondaime Hokage’s jutsu!?”

“Technically it was developed by my ancestor Tobirama first before the Yondaime took it and refined it.” I said with a shrug.

“Huh? I never knew that it was actually the Senju Clan that developed it.” Mei said with a curious look on her face.

“My family developed lots of jutsu. There was a reason we were called the clan with a thousand skills.”

“Yes,” Mei nodded in agreement before shaking her head and taking a look at our surroundings and letting out a smile. “This is great~ You just managed to save us a couple of days of travel.”

“Shall we?” I asked signaling her for her to lead the way getting a nod from her before she finally released my arm from in-between her breasts.

“Follow me.”

The following hours were spent mostly in silence as we traversed the land with Mei asking me a few questions here and there about myself that I answered honestly. That is until the topic turned towards Izumi and Kushina.

“What are they to you?” Mei asked looking at me with an intense look in her face from the corner of her eye.

“They are my precious friends that I’ve known since childhood.” I said honestly but hiding the fact that those same friends would sleep in the same room as me and were technically my girlfriends in all but name now.

“Must be nice to be young…” Mei muttered quietly with a longing look on her face before she shook it off and came to a stop forcing me to stop as well. “We’ve arrived at the rendezvous point.”

I decided not to say anything about what she just said and just nodded my head as she created a water clone and sent it away.

‘You have nothing to worry about Mei. I’ll make sure that you won’t really become a Christmas Cake in the future.’ I thought while discreetly checking out the beautiful 28-year-old woman beside me.

A moment later her water clone returned along with two others who I immediately recognized even if they were a bit younger than I remembered.

“Mei-sama! I’m glad you made it back safely.” Ao said in relief while looking at me wearily, especially when he noticed my sleeves that had the Senju Clan symbol stitched on them.

“W-welcome b-back Mei-sama.” Chojuro spoke next while looking at me with a nervous look on his face.

Dismissing her clone Mei greeted her comrades with a smile. “Ao, Chojuro, I’m glad to see you both. As you can see, I was successful in my endeavor. Allow me to introduce the shinobi that will be helping us finally put an end to Yagura’s reign. Senju Akari!” She introduced me happily even resting her hand on my shoulder.

I just stayed silent and offered them a smile trying to appear as friendly as possible and was not surprised that it didn’t affect Ao at all.

“Mei-sama, are you sure his help will be enough to stop Yagura? He’s rather young from what I’ve heard and Yagura has perfect control of the three tails.” Ao asked looking doubtfully at me.

For some reason his words seemed to make freeze in place for a moment before a scowl formed on her face and she gave Ao a murderous glare.

“Ao, shut up or I’ll kill you!”

“R-right.” Ao stuttered in return with a nervous drop of sweat running down his face.

‘You poor Christmas Cake. There you go mistaking his words to mean something about being old or not being married yet.’ I thought in a deadpan.

=====

(A Day Later)

We currently found ourselves in a strategy meeting in an abandoned outpost after Mei had finally convinced her comrades to let me participate in said meeting.

“We need more supplies if we want to continue this campaign! We can barely feed ourselves as we are at the moment.”

“All the more reason to go on the offensive and hit their supply lines!”

“You’re both wrong! What we desperately need is more men! Yagura’s forces outnumber us 3 to 1!”

I let out a small sigh at having to endure all this back and forth for about 2 hours now without anyone coming to an agreement.

Discreetly looking at Mei across the table I saw that she was also about done with all their squabbling. I felt a little pity for her at this moment at the fact that she had to endure all this squabbling from those under her in order to pacify them and to not seem like a tyrant for not taking their concerns seriously.

It was all just a waste of time in my opinion but I guess this is just another reason for why I would never want to be in charge of a bunch of people unless they were completely loyal to me.

“Enough!” Mei finally declared in a strong voice putting a stop to the argument.

“Do we have any leads on the whereabouts of Yagura?” Mei asked Ao once everyone had quieted down.

“Same as before. He’s holed himself up in the village center and only comes out for important matters.” Ao responded with a shake of his head.

“Guess that means the Konoha brat will be useless.” Someone muttered under their breath in slight contempt.

I didn’t comment on what was said and even stayed quiet as other voices whispered their own backhanded remarks.

“That will be all for today.” Mei spoke up interrupting them. “Ao, please see to it that we have enough food for everyone or if would need to hit a supply depot.”

“At once ma’am.” Ao said with a bow of his head.

“Good. You’re all dismissed, I need to have a word with our new comrade.” Mei said now looking at me asking me to stay behind.

Almost everyone seemed to dislike that idea but didn’t question her about it and slowly left the room while throwing scowls or glares my way as they did so.

Once we were finally alone Mei slumped in her seat in apparent exhaustion and let out a sigh.

“Sorry about that. Everyone seems to be on edge lately since we haven’t been able to make any progress for months now.” Mei apologized with a slight bow of her head.

“Think nothing of it.” I waved away her concerns with a wave of my hand before looking at her for a moment and then pulling out a medium sized scroll from a seal on my hand and setting it down on the table.

“Hmm what do you have there?” Mei asked curiously looking down at the scroll not seeming concerned about what I had sealed.

“About 3 months’ worth of food.” I said making an apple appear from the scroll as proof with a puff of smoke. “You can have it.”

I had been taking advantage of the Sweet Home’s handy feature to automatically restock any and all food taken after a while. Before the food restocked, I would empty out all food from the place and stored it into my inventory or into scrolls like these in case of circumstances like this where I didn’t want to show my Inventory to others.

“That…would really help us out but why didn’t you bring it up at the meeting?” Mei said in surprise now looking at me curiously.

“Tempers were too high.” I said with a shrug and slid the scroll across the table at her.

“Haah very well. What do you want in return?” Mei asked picking up the scroll from her desk and putting it away.

“Wait, I still have something more to give you.” I said raising my hand and putting another scroll on the table.

“Oh, and what do you have there? A gift for me perhaps?” Mei asked teasingly giving me a sultry smile.

“Yes.” I smiled and nodded my head getting Mei to blink in surprise.

“Really?”

“Of course. You see a few months ago I came upon someone you might know and he had something in his possession that I think you might want back.” I explained with my smile turning into a small smirk and sliding the scroll across to her.

Raising an eyebrow at my words, Mei unrolled the scroll before applying some chakra to it and unsealed its contents. When the puff of smoke disappeared, she let out a gasp before looking up at me in surprise.

“The Kiba blades…So you ran into Raiga then?”

“Yep. He was terrorizing a small town when I found him so I took him out. I hope that won’t be a problem?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Of course not.” Mei said immediately shaking her head. “But why are you giving these to me? Aren’t you a swordsman yourself? The Kiba are very good weapons as you know.”

I shrugged in response not looking interested in the slightest. And why should I? When I had already analyzed the blades thanks to Rimuru’s powers. I could now make my own Kiba blades whenever I wanted to as long as I had good chakra metal.

Besides the Kiba while powerful, were fucking weak compared to the swords I got from Satou’s template and even the katana I had now was stronger than it.

“I’m content with my own blade.” I said when it seemed Mei wouldn’t let the matter drop.

“If that’s your answer then you have my heartfelt thanks. The food and the Kiba especially will do a great deal to raise everyone’s morale.” Mei said giving me a small bow in thanks before looking at me seriously.

“That brings us to my previous question again. What do you want in return?” Mei asked.

“Two things.” I said raising my hand with two fingers raised. “First let me handle Yagura alone. All this waiting around is pointless. With my abilities I could reach Yagura undetected and then transport him to a designated area where I won’t have to worry about collateral damage.”

“That’s…rather arrogant of you don’t you think?” Mei asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Not at all.” I said with a shake of my head before tilting my head and looking at her with a small smirk. “Are you a sensor Mei-san?”

“A sensor? No, I can’t say that I am. Why?”

“Hmm, I suppose there is no harm in telling you since our villages are set to become allies after this mess.” I said pretending to think for a moment before looking back at Mei with a smile. “I have the ability to completely erase my presence from everyone, even the best of sensors.”

I was not even talking about my Information and Trace Defense either. When I had fought Raiga, I had obviously run into Ranmaru as well and had stolen his Dojutsu gaining its abilities. I could now not only see from great distances but also hear as well. Additionally, I could now read minds and most importantly mask my own chakra pathway system making me practically invisible to anyone.

“What!?” Mei asked widening her eyes in shock as she correctly realized what devastation I could cause with such an ability.

After all, a ninja’s bread and butter were the ability to remain hidden. Something that became increasingly difficult for those who had massive chakra reserves like me and her.

“I can prove it to you later if still doubt me. I’m sure Ao could confirm what I just said.” I said with another shrug.

Shaking her head to rid herself of such thoughts for now Mei let out a small sigh and slumped slightly in her seat. “Alright. If what you said is true then I will support your plan. Now what is the second thing that you want?”

Knowing that my passive Lures were already at work here, I decided to also use Alluring Whisper making my voice supernaturally alluring.

“I want a date with you of course.” I said with my best attempt at an innocent smile.

As expected of the Christmas Cake, as soon as the word ‘date’ left my mouth, a full body blush sprung on Mei’s face as she opened her mouth in shock.

“W-w-wha?”

=====

(3 Days Later)

“Are we ready then?” I asked to seemingly no one as I stood alone on the roof of our current base of operations looking down at all the activity below.

“Yes, as soon as you take Yagura away from the village and give us the signal, we will commence our attack on the village to make sure Yagura receives no reinforcements.” Mei said as she walked up to me and stood at my side.

“How did your men take it?” I asked curiously looking at her from the corner of my eye.

“They accepted begrudgingly. After you offered to spar with them and then kicked their butts, most of them were somewhat placated from what I could see.” Mei said letting out a cute chuckle.

“That’s good. What about you, are you ready?” I asked turning my head to best look at her.

Mei just nodded her head silently before turning to look at me with a serious look on her face. “I want to join you in the fight against Yagura.”

“I’m sorry but that’s not a good idea.” I said with a shake of my head getting Mei to narrow her eyes. “It’s not because I doubt your strength or anything I assure you. It’s just that my jutsu cause too much destruction and I won’t be able to fight properly if I have to worry about not hitting you as well.”

“Is the Mokuton really that destructive?” Mei asked looking doubtful at my words.

“It is. We would also be fighting in the enclosed space of the Four Red Yang Formation (Shisekiyōjin) after I teleport Yagura there with my Hiraishin.” I further explained.

“Haah I still don’t like it. I at least want to contribute in taking down Yagura. Ever since you arrived, you have been of a great help to us even returning the Kiba blades which you could have kept and have asked for nothing outrageous in return. If I don’t help you in this, I would feel useless as a leader.” Mei revealed with a downcast loon on her face.

“You are not useless.” I said strongly making her raise her head and look at me to see the frown on my face. “You are the strongest among you and you will be needed in the attack. The rebellion looks up to you, your leadership and strength will be needed in order to reduce the casualties as much as possible.”

Blinking at my words, Mei took a moment to process what I said before sighing and nodding her head. “Your make a good point.”

“Of course, I do.” I said with a nod.

“Haaah…Fine. You win.” Mei finally agreed giving me a small shove with her shoulder. “In return you have to come back alive, got it?” she asked sternly turning fully to face me and looking up at me with narrowed eyes.

“Of course.” I said turning to her and offering her a smile.

“B-by the way…” Mei’s demeanor suddenly turned shy with a small blush growing on her cheeks. “Were you telling the truth?”

“Hmm,” Immediately knowing what she was asking, I decided to tease her a little so I tilted my head and adopted a confused look. “What do you mean?”

“Y-y-you know what I mean! About going on a d-d-date.” Mei stuttered out in embarrassment with her blush growing in size.

I pretended to think about it for a bit longer making her squirm cutely in place before finally letting out a smile and nodding my head. “Of course, I’m serious.”

“O-oh. G-good.” Mei said closing her eyes and nodding her head looking immensely pleased even if she tried to hide it by turning away from me.

‘Yep. As expected of a Christmas Cake.’ I thought in amusement.

It was not long after out talk that the operation started.

It was time to see how much I had grown in the past two years.