I, Your Father, Carry a Big Stick

Chapter 86: I, Your Father, am Tenacious

Returning to the estate, followed closely by Tayuya, a common sight in the Senju Clan Compound, Wu made his way over to the in-house clinic Tsunade had constructed to teach the girls. When he entered inside, he found the buxom blonde sporting a pair of red-frame glasses, her nose buried deep in a medical text while Sakura napped nearby with her head on the table.

“I see the two of you are working hard, as usual…”

Exhaling a sigh, Tsunade removed her glasses before spinning around in her chair to ask, “Where are you going this time?”

Though it wasn’t unusual for Wu to visit her, the only times he interrupted her research or training was when he wanted ‘permission’ for something. More often than not, this meant traveling outside the village, so Tsunade wanted to know where he was going and for how long. Whether or not he went was entirely up to him.

Holding up his Bingo Book, a cheeky smile developed across Wu’s face as he said, “I’m going to go make us a quick thirty-million. I’m starting to feel bad for the hospital, what with you stea—I mean, borrowing their supplies and equipment.”

Snorting through her nose, Tsunade argued, “I’m letting them make use of my research and providing capable Medic-nin to lend them a hand. If they want to complain, they can talk to my fist.”

Adopting a faint smile, Wu added, “I shouldn’t be gone more than a week or two. As for my destination, it should be fairly obvious that I’m heading to Iwa.”

Getting to the heart of the matter, Tsunade asked, “Finally going for the Tsuchikage’s Granddaughter?”

Nodding his head, Wu answered, “You know my plans. If this can prevent future wars, I believe it’s worth a shot.”

Rolling her eyes, Tsunade standoffishly replied, “Yeah, yeah. Just don’t go dying someplace I can’t reach you. I’d like to bring you back with the Edo Tensei so I can beat you to death a few times myself…”

Exhaling a light chuckle, Wu’s expression morphed into an affectionate smile as he whispered, “I’ll be back soon, Tsunade…” before shifting his gaze to Sakura and giving her a playful wink. She had awoken as soon as he entered the room, so he added, “Take care of her for me. She’s a lot-”

Before Wu could say anything to embarrass her, Tsunade tossed the text she was reading at his face. He effortlessly caught it and, upon returning it to her care, gave the busty blonde a kiss before waving Sakura over to administer the same…

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After bidding farewell to everyone that mattered, Wu, now alone, flew out of Konoha, his destination Iwagakure, the Village Hidden by Stone. It was situated 3108km to the Northwest of Konoha, but with his ever-increasing speed and strength, Wu could reach it in less than three hours, assuming he didn’t get distracted along the way.

As the name implied, Iwagakure was located within a vast rocky mountain range, making it a natural stronghold similar to Kumogakure. Unlike Kumo, however, Iwa took their affiliation with Earth and stone very seriously, so much so that their infrastructure was entirely centered around it. Most of their buildings were stone towers or similar structures bridged together by narrow pathways that could be extended or collapsed at any moment by the village’s thousands of Earth Release specialists.

Located at the center of Iwa, nearly twice as high and much broader than any other building in the village, was the Tsuchikage’s residence. It had a cone-shaped roof bearing the Kanji for Earth, several turrets, and a series of ramparts that permitted the Tsuchikage and his advisors a full view of the village.

Flying over the perilous mountain barrier Iwa was so proud of, Wu took a moment to admire the stepped structure of the village’s buildings and the various flora they used to populate their roofs. He was a little confused by the presence of waterfalls from the sides and near the peaks of a several mountains towering over the village but decided to investigate them later. For now, he had business with a pseudo-legendary figure rumored to be older than Hiruzen but shorter than the average ten-year-old.

Having learned his lesson back in Kumo, Wu created numerous clones to spread throughout the village while he, now capable of shrinking down to the size of a flea, made his way to the massive tower at the center of the village.

Sensing several powerful auras inside, Wu made his way toward the most prominent among them. However, instead of an ancient man rumored to be able to fly through the sky and erase small mountains with a single use of his infamous Kekkei Tota, Dust Release, he found a massive, kappa-like man wearing crimson armor covered in brown robes. There was a metallic sedge cap adorning his head and a crimson mask covering the lower half of his face, but the thing that stood out the most, at least to Wu, was the fact his Chakra appeared to be ‘boiling.’

Realizing the man was very likely one of Iwa’s Jinchuriki, Wu had to resist the urge to pick a fight. Fortunately, the man either wasn’t a sensor, or his affinity with his Tailed Beast was so shitty it didn’t bother to inform him of Wu’s presence. As a result, the latter was able to leave behind the sauna-like chamber the man was seated in, making his way to what appeared to be a private dining room, the location of three prominent and one decent Chakra signature.

Upon entering the room, Wu immediately spotted a ‘very’ short old man with a triangular beard and impressively pointy mustache. The top of his head was completely bald, but Wu wasn’t sure if that was due to his age or if it was intentional, as he had a traditional ‘chonmage’ bun at the back of his head. He also had a bulbous, bright red nose covered in bumps, a pair of beady circular eyes, and green robes divided into four sections with yellow trimming and a bright red collar.

Recovering from his shock of seeing a ‘grown man’ sitting on a booster seat, Wu eyed the remaining three people in the room. Two were ‘very’ tall, almost as if they were trying to spite the old man they were seated with, while one was a young girl with short black hair and mesmerizingly pink eyes. She had sharp, oval-shaped eyes with prominent lashes at the corners, an athletic frame, and commendable Chakra reserves, but the thing that stood out the most about her was undoubtedly her eyes…

After staring at the young woman for several seconds, Wu returned his attention to the two men. Both were at least 200cm tall and possessed large, almost round noses. They also had prominently round faces, round ears, and sharp, beady black eyes that resembled the Tsuchikage’s. They were also notably portly, so Wu assumed they were either father and son or very closely related.

With the group just making idle chatter as they ate their meal, Wu decided he may as well pop out, hand raised in a gesture of greeting as he offered his usual, “Yo.”

Though there was a momentary delay, everyone at the table eventually leaped up, the old man literally flying from his seat to form a cube-shaped ‘light’ between his palms as he shouted, “You dare trespass the residence of the Tsuchikage!?”

Narrowing his eyes, Wu replied, “I might.” before immediately dodging to the side as the old man expanded the cube in his hands, causing a large chunk of the floor to ‘disappear’ as the cube instantaneously filled with a disintegrating light.

Shrinking down before the old man could get a bead on him, Wu created several more clones, spreading them around the room as he flew over the group’s heads and perched himself atop the black-haired girl’s shoulder. As he did so, one of his clones made its presence known, raising its hand in a similar gesture and offering a second, “Yo.”

After seeing the intruder dodge his attack, disappear, and reappear in an instant, the Tsuchikage’s, Onoki’s brows furrowed as he remarked, “I see. You must be Saiko Dadi…or perhaps I should call you Senju Wu? Tell me, Shinobi of the Leaf Village. Why have you come here?”

Holding up his copy of the Bingo Book, Wu’s clone replied, “30,000,000 Ryo, Alive Only. Since I’ve brought the person you’ve requested, I intend to collect the bounty.”

Realizing he hadn’t retracted or modified Wu’s bounty, Onoki’s left eye twitched a bit as he replied, “You can’t seriously expect me to pay you for showing up. Our request may not have explicitly listed it, but it’s a bounty for your capture. I don’t see you in chains or bindings…”

Extending his fists, wrists pointed upward, Wu’s clone playfully mused, “For thirty million, I don’t mind a bit of rope and confinement play. Just make sure to prepare the reward so I can collect it on my way out.”

Narrowing his eyes further, Onoki remarked, “Arrogance…even if you are powerful beyond your years, you cannot simply trespass the heart of an enemy nation with impunity. Do you intend to start a war?”

Raising his right brow, Wu retorted, “Quite the opposite. I’m bringing an end to all wars, at least for the duration of my lifespan. You’re free to try and wage one, but you won’t like the outcome. There’s a reason I dare to ‘waltz’ into the center of Kumo, Suna, and now Iwa without fear…”

Speaking out for the first time, the shorter and younger of the two half-giants remarked, “Wow, and I thought Kurotsuchi was brazen…”

Annoyed by the slightly older boy’s words, Kurotsuchi growled, “Don’t make me punch you in the middle of a stand-off…”

Ignoring the chatter of his young protege and Granddaughter, Onoki maintained eye contact with Wu as he asked, “And how, precisely, do you intend to bring an end to all war? By suppressing and slaughtering all who oppose you? If that’s the case, Iwa will go down fighting. We do not-”

Silencing the old man, Wu’s clone began to pick his ear, a disinterested expression on his face as he remarked, “Your ability to gather information could use some work. If I was the type to go around slaughtering people, why would I spare Kumo’s and Suna’s Jinchuriki and treat the Raikage’s injuries? My objective is to ensure there are as many powerful people as possible in the world, not destroy them. So, go ahead. Give me your best shot. I might beat you half to death, but I promise to patch you up once I’m done.”

Without any hesitation, Onoki created a cone-shaped light between his hands, unleashing it toward the clone at blinding speeds. Its velocity was so swift it managed to pierce through and leave a large hole in the clone’s chest, but the latter just laughed it off before dispersing.

Replacing the defeated clone, several others popped up around the room, each standing with their arms crossed as they chorused, “We can do this all day…”

As he couldn’t sense so much as a trace of Chakra coming from any of Wu’s clones, Onoki snorted through his nose, remarking, “So that’s how it is. Some kind of advanced Clone Jutsu? And here I thought-”

Interrupting Onoki’s speech, one of the Wu clones aimed his staff at the old man’s face, extending it in an instant. Onoki expected it to just phase through him, so he didn’t even try to dodge. As a result, he found himself greeting the end of Wu’s staff with his bulbous nose before crashing into and through the wall behind him…

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(A/N: Wu is about to teach an old dog some new tricks, whether he wants to learn or not xD…)