III

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Arc III Chapter 7

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Asami grinned. ” I think I have a solution for our little problem.”

“And that would be?” Naritomo raised his eyebrow.

“To avoid costly house to house fighting, I recommend levelling the playing field, in the literal sense of the word.”

“What do you mean?” Naritomo had a hunch, but he feared the answer. She wouldn't.

“I don’t plan to clear every position, every house, every floor, every basement. Instead, we should just flatten the entire area with massive firepower. We will level the entire city.” Asami sparkled with childish glee.

Naritomo stiffened.

“What’s the matter?” Asami. Naritomo stared at her together with everyone else. He paled as if they had seen a ghost.

Naritomo hesitated. “I don't want to question your authority, but do you understand the implications of your actions?”

“I can’t follow.” Asami tilted her head in confusion. She didn’t understand where she had lost Naritomo. She merely practised the concept of complete and indiscriminate destruction.

“Thousands of innocent civilians will die, don’t you see that?” Naritomo protested, but his accusations didn't bother Asami in the slightest. The village council gave her free rein. Civilians were considered acceptable collateral damage.

“I beg to differ, Nartiomo, thousands are hardly a realistic estimate. I expect something between fifteen and thirty thousand civilian casualties, but why do you care?”

“A few thousand dead civilians are completely normal for a little operation like ours. They perish in the flames of war and nobody cares.“

“Otherwise, we can also request further reinforcements and feed their corpses to the meat grinder. We can crush them by the sheer weight of number if that is what you wish for, but I doubt you do so, Naritomo.” Asami shook her head in disappointment.

Awkward silence befell the tent. Nobody uttered a word.

Naritomo regained a semblance of composure. “But how are we supposed to level Shimabara? We neither have the numbers nor the firepower to raze the city.”

Asami chuckled. ”I am glad you ask. I am currently developing a new jutsu, a little personal project of mine. The jutsu isn’t completed yet, but the results so far look promising. The prototype is ready for use, ready to eliminate any opposition.”

Her words surprised Naritomo. The girl developed her own personalised jutsu at such a young age, an incredible feat. Was she one of these famed geniuses?

Naritomo took a better look at the girl. Her attire seemed familiar. Her black kimono and the sword holstered on her hip caught his attention.

Realisation struck him. Naritomo realised who she was. Her identity dawned on him.

The Black Princess stood before him, Konoha’s most dangerous kunoichi, a girl who could kill them all and call it a warm-up. Naritomo heard of her. Her reputation preceded her and so did the rumours.

Asami presented her jutsu. She worked on her project for the last five years, but little progress was made until recently. Her mangekyou sharingan enhanced her chakra control. They made the impossible possible.

Asami extended her arm and produced a nucleus of purple chakra in her palm. Swirling spheres surrounded her beloved creation. ”First step, create a sphere of concentrated chakra. The sphere forms the basis.”

“Now the second step. As you might know, there exists a direct correlation between chakra and the potency of your jutsu.“

“The more chakra you use, the stronger your Katon, the stronger your Raiton, the stronger your Suiton, the stronger your Futon. The potency increases.“

“The same principle applies to my sphere.” Asami's sphere expanded.

“The more chakra I mobilise, the more my sphere will expand.“

“In theory, chakra is supposed to be massless, but that's not the case. Chakra clearly exhibits physical properties, volume, density, concentration.“

“Third step, I combine my chakra with my elemental affinities. Katon and Raiton, to generate even more power.”

Her elements enriched her sphere. Naritomo and his men felt the raw unrestrained energy. Her concentrated chakra radiated immense power. Her sphere was dangerous.

“The last step, compress the chakra.“ Asami clenched her fist. In a fraction of a second, the sphere imploded and contracted, forming a nucleus of pure purple chakra, a grain of vibrating chakra.

Asami maintained the pressure. She needed to be careful. A single lapse of concentration and her creation would rip the whole tent apart.

“And then boom.” Asami raised her palm and blew her little child away. Her chakra dispersed into fine purple mist.

Naritomo started sweating. The girl was serious. She would raze Shimabara to the ground. ”And how strong do you expect the explosion to be?”

Asami folded her hands. ”I have no idea. The theoretical yield ranges from nothing to significant depending on the amount of chakra used. I can't gauge its strength. To be honest, I don't know whether the jutsu even works.”

Naritomo gaped. ” So you are telling us your brilliant jutsu doesn’t even work?”

Asami tilted her head and smirked. “Don't worry, it will. I will make it work, even if by brute force.”

“But before we level Shimabara, we should try a more civilised approach, diplomacy.” Asami rose from her chair.

Naritomo blinked. ”Diplomacy?”

Asami offered a mischievous smile. ”Indeed, diplomacy.”

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