[Closed] Zai, meet Chaodi. Chaodi, Zai.

[CDF]

The scene was chaos. Liquids in every direction, blood spewing near-endlessly onto the ground while yelling evolves into panicked shrieking. In all her years, Zai had never been so horrified and flustered. She didn't need it, but today she received certainty she made the right decision choosing never to have children.

"HEEEEELP, I'M DYING"
"HE'S DYIN, HE'S DYIN"
"I get his toys when he's gone, ok?"
"Ok but I want his shirt"

"MS. Z, HELP, I'M DYING AND THEY GONNA STEAL ALL MY STUFF"

Zai sighed arguably the heaviest sigh of her life. The sigh of a mundane person having to do a mundane thing despite not wanting to. How often did she have to do anything she didn't want to in her life? Well, every day now. Today was her second week in this village, and it wasn't getting any easier. Her body had not recovered enough for any physical work and she was not trusted yet to do much. In fact this gig was a lucky break, giving her a way to live in this community without depending on pure charity. But living was starting to feel over-rated.

The trio of siblings she was babysitting were..... active. Their energy was annoying enough, but they tended to direct that energy in the most harmful and inconvenient way possible. This time, the youngest child decided to test the hardness of the middle child's jaw with his head, though Zai knew it was likely the oldest child's idea. That little girl was bordering pure evil.

Never having been in a situation she couldn't overcome, however, Zai didn't bat an eye to these little manipulators. She knew this was drama, that she was being tested unconsciously by these children with this first major act of drama. She spoke as she knelt in front of the screaming, bleeding child. A bit of gauze already in her hand and moving to press it against his ever-fattening lip.
"Well, you're not going to need any of your stuff when you're dead, right?" She spoke with no apparent amusement, just stating facts like weather. The first time she pressed against the child's lip, he barely noticed out of the surprise. The second time she dabbed at it, he felt the full sensation of pain and jerked away while yelling, which of course made the pain worse.

"BUT. I. WANT. MY. STWUFF!" The boy stomped with each word, as if that had any power to it. And with each stomp, a little more blood shot forwards.
"haha big baby said stuff" The spawn of satan laughed from her favorite chair where she was no longer panicking and instead, seemed to just be enjoying the show now. Ignoring her, which drove her crazy, Zai continued.

"Well then I guess we should make sure you don't die then, huh." Having cleared enough blood to see the state of the damage, Zai stood again. As always, feeling not just pain but deep sadness as her body responded like the body of somebody far older. Her leg burnt like it was actively on fire and made creaking noises it had never made before. As if in sympathy, her right arm throbbed within its sling. "Kabu, come here and help me save your brother's life"

The youngest child looked up with giant eyes. He had also been watching with mostly amusement, not a hint of remorse or fear in his eyes. But now he looked immediately terrified and nervous. He was a quick kid and knew that this meant he would be dealing with blood, but not so quick that he couldn't fully tell she was joking about preventing death. So it was with great hesitancy and burden that the now silent boy inched his way towards Zai.

Pulling out an ointment from her pouch, she applied some to a new patch of gauze and handed it to the youngest. As she started speaking, she reached into her pouch again and pulled out a sharp needle with wire already attached to it. "You hit your brother with such force that it's split his lip open. See all that blood?" She didn't wait for his reply, knowing he was shaking his head in agreement. "We need to make that stop or the cut won't heal and your brother might run out of blood. So you need to press this against your brothers lip, with the ointment side down. It's going to hurt, but you need to keep pressing. Even though it's going to hurt your brother a lot, ok?" For once, Zai sounded like an actual supporting and caring adult as she made eye contact with the little brother.

The victim was not heartened by this at all "Um, ms. Z, what if um, like, we go to my parents because um I don't.. i don't want this" A slight grin appeared on her face. It wasn't cruel, but she was obviously amused. She had been mostly leaving them to their own devices, following the guidelines the villagers set for how to take care of their kids. 2 days in, however, she had enough of an understanding of what these children needed in order to shape-up. The first of which was loyalty to each other.

Looking back to the poor little victim, she gave a slight snap. "You children manage to hurt each other constantly without your parents around, why would you need them to deal with the wound? You're big kids, right?" They were, in fact, not big kids. Even the oldest was only 9, but none of them could resist the temptation to consider themselves big kids. Both of the boys silently considered her words while the slight pinging of blood onto the floor continued. Satisfied, Zai motioned for the little one to begin as she put her good hand on top of his head, holding it steady for what she knew would result In a flinch.

Immediately, the middle boy released profanities Zai was amusingly surprised he knew. He tried to jerk his head away from the pain, but Zai's hand kept him in place. The pain was too shocking for him to remember he had limbs that could be used, so instead he squirmed in place as Zai continued speaking. "Good, wipe up the blood around it and take a look at the wound. See how big it is? Make sure you're pressing the gauze against the whole wound. Don't press too tight or you'll just torture your brother, but if you don't press enough, you won't help.

The look of fear and guilt was deepening on the young boys face. His hands were getting bloodied and he seemed to share his brothers pain by association with each touch. Watching and deciding enough time had passed, Zai gently touched the young ones shoulder to pull him back. "Good, see, a lot less blood. Now watch careful- no, you stay there. " Zai snapped forcefully at the girl who was now curious and moving out of her seat.

"But i wanna help!" She cried out, indignantly.

"No, you want to be entertained. Like when you made this mess happen in the first place." Zai's tone was like she was reprimanding an adult subordinate. This little girl hadn't been checked her entire life, she needed a bit of shock treatment. "Stay there and watch how useless it feels when somebody you love gets hurt because of you and you can't fix it." Softening her glare, she turned back to the injured boy and leaned over, speaking as she began to sew the needle through the wound.

"Siblings shouldn't fight. When siblings fight, they get hurt. They bleed. They do things they regret." She let the words hang as the injured boy yelped with pain. Her needlework could have been painless, but she needed the message to sink in. "But you're siblings, you love each other. There's nobody else you can count on in this life." With that, she snipped her thread with two fingernails, a feat in and of itself done so casually, and quickly pulled the younger boy back, handing him another clean bit of gauze. She motioned for him to clean the blood surrounding the new stitched wound beneath the boy's lip. "We need to make this clean so we know if any more blood's coming out. Make sure not to touch the stitches and rip it open" She could practically hear the boys heartbeats thumping away.

"OH MY GOODNESS, WHAT HAPPENED?! MY POOR BABIES" Zai had to resist the urge to roll her eyes visibly. She had heard the parents footsteps coming up, but that never helped to dull the annoyance of their actual presence. Immediately, they were running to the injured boy to pick him up and baby him. And immediately, Zai raised her bad, blackened hand to motion for them to stop. As expected, the shock of seeing her arm out of its sling was enough to give them pause.

They were confused and shifting into furious, as Zai said nothing to them and just looked at the boys. The oldest girl started to get up and say something, but Zai shot her a stern look that may as well have been a slap, knocking her quietly back into her seat. The parents noticed and become visibly angrier and more uncomfortable. Breaking the silence finally, Zai first looked to the victim.

"So, are you still dying" the boy had tears in his eyes still, but his parents arrival made him want to be stoic and tough. He moved his lip slightly and poked at it tenderly before looking his parents in the eyes and smiling. This would have been enough to shock them silly, given that the boyhad a long history of crying hysterically over even the slightest sign of pain. But then the hits just kept coming. The youngest ran and hugged his brother, sobbing and holding on tight to thew very confused boy.

"WAAAAAAH I'M SOWWY, i didn't mean to make you leak, i didn't want to kill you. i don't want to hurt you! I don't want to hurt you!" Crying into his brothers shoulder, the youngest finally let go of the bloody gauze and just leaned in. His brother wordlessly hugged him back tightly, tears also coming to his eyes. "It was an accident, its ok! I'm ok! It's ok!" Zai could see tears already forming in the still stunned parents eyes, but before they regained their senses, Zai had one last move.

She turned and looked to the girl who was frozen stiff in her seat. AT first because of fear, but now because of guilt. She saw Zai's piercing, wordless gaze and every part of her knew what came next. "Was it just an accident?" Was all Zai said, but it was all she had to say. The usually brave, strong and bossy girl was now streaking tears down her face as she sprinted to tightly embrace both her parents.

"I'M SORRY MOMMA, IT WAS ME. I TOLD HIM TO DO IT, I WANTED TO SEE. I'M SORRY I'M SORRY, I'LL NEVER HURT MY BROTHERS AGAIN"

While still utterly confused and overwhelmed, parental instincts kicked in and they both embraced her back, calling to the other two who were now watching with red eyes as well. Triumphant, Zai watched the family embracing in a way she knew they never had before. It felt silly to feel pride of such a situation, having been the kind of shinobi that manipulated the leaders of nations. But she was taking all positive feelings she could get these days. She wasn't going to be here long, and its not like her work will stick with these children if not reinforced, but maybe it helped.

More importantly, however, it would serve to cement her budding reputation as a mysterious, skilled and tough-as-nails woman who could be trusted.

"I'll be here same time tomorrow to take care of them, I think tonight is probably a good night for family time, don't you?" She winked at the parents that were looking at her through teary eyes while still embracing their children. Before they could speak or discuss how unbelievably this progress in their kids was, Zai was limping out the door.

[CDF]

"Good morning Ms. Zee!"

Zai smiled sweetly and shuffled on. Her limp was exaggerated, but she welcomed the slight relief the exaggeration brought. It was like a single ice cube on a hot summer day. Pointless, but nice.

"Good morning, Miss Zee"

She did not smile sweetly. She suspected this one was a lecher from the jump, but just his good morning was a confirmation. She wore layers, and yet she knew he saw her body beneath it. His eyes gleamed with what he surely thought was disguised lust. If he asks me about the time: he's really asking about sex. If he says good morning: he's really talking about sex. Her pattern recognition for this archetype had become so refined and confirmed that she no longer questioned it.

She never had to deal with it, being one footstomp away from ending a man's reproductive career. Now, however, she wasn't looking to draw attention. Sure she could end the genetic future of a few villages before she was hunted down, even in her state. That would not be productive, however. So she grit her teeth and continued on what she knew was a necessary journey. The hard way. The right way.

She had almost ended her life twice over impatience, she wouldn't make the same mistake when less able to defend herself.

So she resisted the urge to end his life with a throat-punch, saving his wife years of disappointment and all women here a deserved present. She just walked past and continued through the village's main road. Mostly folks were shutting down for the night, saying goodnight to her had become a sort of a ritual in the short time she'd been here. As she greeted some and ignored othersl, she added this village to her running mental list. It was now going to be a source of stories about her being cold, lesbian, man-hating, mysterious, etc. Most of which she was glad for.

Her reputation was supposed to build. In this nation of feeble-spined victims; she was here as the tough correcting mother. She had not yet chosen a true name, but she could see the persona already. An aging woman that sets order to chaos and dispenses not just advice, but divine wisdom about what it takes to become strong. Powerful. Self-reliant and free.

"I KNOW, RIGHT?" Zai half-shouted with a glee-ful voice. The baby straddled to the shop-keepers back was immediately stunned. With her, the nearby folks as well, as the baby had been screaming far beyond science's estimation of baby lung capacity. No dancing or shuffling soothed the babe, but it never did, so the mother gave up spending time on trying and committed to finishing quickly. "Oh no, please sister, keep on." Assuaging the shopkeeper, who immediately understood the relief and relished it while continuing her work. Looking the baby dead in the eye, Zai continued from the street. "Why do you have to work, right? The sun's out, it's uncomfortable, there's noises. Things were soooo much nicer a few months ago, honestly. But, you know, " here, she picked up her tone, added a silly face and exaggerated. "whaaadddya gunna do, mleh" Zai stuck out her tongue in a camel-like lip lick.

The child was intrigued, and then amused, but the final vocal flick and the derp expression got a genuine giggle out of her. Siezing on this, Zai utilized her master of facial muscles while waving her hand in front of her face, entertaining the baby with various faces. She laughed endlessly, pausing only when Zai added less funny faces and sometimes scary ones that got surprised faces in return from the baby. The laughter felt like audible medicine in the street. Everyone was tired from the screaming, but some had begun getting unpleasant about it, forgetting what it is to be a baby or a mother.

Finally, Zai stopped and walked forward when the shopkeep had finished sweeping. Getting approval through body language from the mother, she placed a palm on the baby's head.

She actually applied chakra now, layering a visible coat of energy onto the baby's scalp. In reality, it wasn't doing anything, not even penetrating. But what really mattered here was placebo and the stories it would generate. "It's gonna be ok little one, don't cry about it ok?" With a smile and a bow to the shopkeep, Zai moved on.

Leaving a now whispering crowd and a quiet baby behind, she smiled to herself and continued towards the edge of town.

It might just be that she was enjoying this.

[CDF]

Reaching the village gate, she turned just before leaving and headed to her barn. The village-people were mostly horrified she insisted on sleeping out there. She had been offered a bed multiple times, but she made a point to humbly reject the offers and sleep amongst the animals. To them, it made her more mystical and magical. A woman of the land who comes out of nowhere to contribute, asking for the bare minimum for survival and dispensing wisdoms and help.

For Zai, it was a matter or preservation. She she was new to this country of Chaodi, and she was more vulnerable than she had been since she was a child. She needed to regain her strength and understand this country, as she was slowlg becoming certain it would be the first stage of her plans. Beyond ensuring she doesn't get comfortable in a home she has no defenses in, Zai also refused to pamper herself.

After leaving the rift she had accidentally imprisoned herself in, she found herself full of self-pity. She was weak in mind and body and constantly did whatever she could to relieve the insidious pain that rocked her every second, emanating from her withered arm and leg. She was angry with the world, with herself. She had no sight of the future, only stuck on a loop thinking about the past.

After some time, she finally shaped up and moved out of Juu no Kuni. She had a base there, created long ago, although rather recent to her, and had been holed up all alone. Slowly, images of her ambition came back to her and she embraced the fact that she couldn't stay still, that she had to move even if she didn't know where. So she moved, making her way to this continent, which she had identified as a potential homeland while doing world research a while back.

At first her priority was to rest and gather information, and still that's the main goal. But after just a week in Chaodi, it was clear that this country was prime for a strong leader to come in and take it. From what she could tell, even in her crippled form, Zai could probably manhandle this country into submission with a month's time. But it would be chaotic, messy and newsworthy, she would be too exposed for old enemies and future plans. So her main priority continued.

She would form a persona here, a living pseudonym under which she can rally fighters and political supporters for when she's ready to make an actual move.

Grimacing at the intensifying inferno in her leg, she moved into position to lay on the ground and give her body some rest. She may have decided to not pamper herself, to lean-in to the discomfort and grow stronger from it, but that didn't mean she had become a masochist. It all hurt and she did not at all enjoy it.

[CDF]

"Miss Zee, I'm sorry, please wake up. We have to hur-" The panic and fear had prevented the farmer from realizing the lump on the straw bed was not the mysterious old lady that had shown up recently, but instead, clumped up straw roughly in the shape of a human. Then his heart nearly came out of every orifice in peaces as the old lady appeared to just materialize behind him. He heard nothing, saw nothing. He could have sworn this room was empty

Zai had been awake the moment the group entered town. That many footbeats moving relatively in-sync was unheard of in this village. The fear in the air immediately after was too. So she prepared her weapons, put on her old lady layerings, confirmed her old lady makeup, prepared a fake body in the bed just in case and waited to see whose sneaky steps were coming towards her.

"What's going on?" Zai asked almost sweetly. Her complete lack of apparent awareness shocked him even more than he was already shocked. Taking a moment, the farmer stammered speechlessly before replying and remembering his situation. "W-w-w-we got t-t to go now!" As he said it, the urgency returned with full force. He reached, equally well-intentioned and naively, for her hand to pull her along. To which he received a swift dodge and a sweet smile.

"Don't be afraid, everything'll be fine" She gave a reassuring smile to the man who was beginning to feel shocked at how much shock he was experiencing. She was at the door before he collected himself and rushed after her. "No, Miss Zee! If they know you're here, they'll think we've been pulling a fast one on them and their taxation. It's family based. They'll punish you and everyone else!"

His fear made him damn-near eloquent, it was a relief after all that obnoxious stumbling. Zai had been moving quick, despite the fact that she was increasing how much her leg hindered her, setting the bar low from the start. So it was that kind of situation, she'd actually have to play the sweet old lady and not kill everyone that annoyed her. Great.

Nodding at the terrified bordering on frustrated farmer, she turned and ran left instead of right towards the village center. Nobody saw her except him, and to him it seemed like she smartened up and went to hide outside the village edge. Relieved, the farmer made his way back while Zai completed the hand seals on her invisibility jutsu and walked back in.

She trailed him for a while, sticking closer than she would have normally. She maintained her exaggerated limp, mostly because it helped the act if you committed and, admittedly, because it brought a tiny bit of pain relief from the usual walk. Still, she maintained a good speed and easily stuck to the farmer. If there was anybody with heightened awareness, maybe they could be confused by her drafting maneuver.

The streets were dead and nobody was looking out their windows. As far as Zai could tell, they were all either lying on the ground or huddled in corners in rooms, for there were no shadows behind windows or walls of curious or prepared people. Instead, there was quiet except for the dead center of the village square, where a group of 20 or so villagers were kneeling on the ground with a group of 10 men standing above them, all armed with some weapon.

This would be easy. Or.. well, maybe not. She couldn't just wipe them out, it brought too much attention to this village that showed her kindness. There could be retribution or infamy. Not that she wasn't already planning to profit from the infamy aspect of destroying this group before her. Where there were arrogant, jeering, lustful and excited men, she saw soon-to-be corpses.

She'd figure it out. For now, she watched the abuse. The threats, the increasing demands and the pathetic pleading. It had been a long time, quite long technically, since she had felt such repressed anger. But she was a professional, and the anger soon cooled and grew thicker and sharper.

Getting their pound of flesh, the group loaded everything onto their carriages and prepared to leave. Just before leaving, however, they grabbed two of the women that were there. Laughing and sprinting off with them, like teenagers stealing from a store they knew would never catch them. It was here that Zai stopped being angry as the inevitability of their deaths before they could do anything to those women washed over her.

Sprinting as fast as she could with her damaged leg, she ignored the fierce pain coursing upward through her body with every step and even on release. But even with her past speed being almost halved, she was more than quick enough to keep up with a couple of carriages. She elected not to jump on any of them yet, lest she indicate her presence and change their behavior. They couldn't be running, they had to feel safe.

Their carriages weren't big enough to raid another village. They were either going to go to a rest-stop or homebase, either way they were bound to stay a night or two and spend their loot and formally enslave their women. Homebase would be good, but either one would work. Unfortunately, she didn't know much about the area. This was all theoretical land to her, only now starting to become real. Still, she had made a point to learn from the villagers and knew the direction and distance of the nearest villages. They could be heading in the direction of two of them, but neither would be ideal for resting or partying. So maybe headquarters after all.

She had to get rid of the women, they would be too obnoxious a weight on her conscience. Plus, the rate they were moving on this underdeveloped road made catching up a simple matter with her hearing. So she started by running behind the carriage, matching speed and just hovering her hands on the back wheels. She was careful to apply friction and slow down the wheels at a slow enough rate that there was no jerking or obvious loss in speed. She waited for bends and hills until the first carriage was out of sight.

Then she just waited for a relatively treacherous spot, when they were making a sharp turn over a hill. At which point she ran alongside the carriage and threw two senbon at the horses asses and then simply dove through the tiny window headfirst, flipping and deactivating her invisibility temporarily as she entered. Wood shattered and confusion erupted within while the horses neighed loudly and immediately started picking up speed, feeling the pain of a senbon to the ass. The two women and one captor were beyond confused, while the two up top barely registered what happened while trying to bring the horses to heel, though clearly something was up.

The man began to move towards her, but Zai had already rotated and squatted. She used her damaged left hand to grab the back of his head and tilt it down and towards her. Meanwhile, her right hand grabbed at his shirt and lifted him up while her left hand pulled his head harder down. When his angled head met the ceiling, there was a clear an audible snap as he died.

The woman, tired of screaming and recognizing good fortune when it came, just sat there stunned. Winking, Zai motioned for them to stay and positioned herself, crawling out of the window she burst through and swinging, once again invisible onto the carriage roof. The driver was paying attention to the difficult road, taking frequent looks back and down to try and catch a glimpse of what was happening. The passenger was yelling constantly, trying to get information and attempting to look while dodging the rocks they often narrowly road past.

Crouching on all fours, she watched and timed it right. He was preparing to swing into the carriage himself while it was moving, though from his balance she doubted he could pull it off, though the world would never know. As he did a final check and went to pull back his head, Zai reached out and just gave him a push, touching the part of his body that was in the driver's blindspot so there wouldn't be an obvious force. just looked like he slipped, unfortunately, right when they passed a hagged rock at uncontrollable horse speed.

Swearing incessantly, the driver continued to plead and pull at the horses, but Zai was already back inside. She put one on her back and grabbed the other in her arms, cradled. The one on her back opened the door and they lept out, all wordlessly. Zai put them down and was gone again, sprinting after the carriage that was now considerably harder to catch up to on a damaged leg.

But catch up she did, and once again, she waited until there was a curve. This time, she used all of her good arm's strength to push the carriage at the wide portion of the turn. It threw the balance completely off and the horses could only try and keep moving forward against the sideways force. But immediately after, she closed the distance and kicked at the hub of the wheel , shattering it and flipping back from the force.

As planned, the carriage careened off the cliff. She almost saved the horses, but it needed to be convincing. The man may survive, hopefully not, but he saw and understood nothing. This was enough for now.

They were only a 30-50 minute walk from the village and the women hadn't been injured, they didn't need her help. She approached them and spoke curtly, mysteriously. "I did not save you. You never saw me. Ever. The horses went out of control, you jumped out of the carriage, the others died in the crash." and without waiting for a confirmation, she was gone.

When they arrived an hour and a half later, exhausted and scared, they told their practiced fake story to everyone to the village's great relief. Though everyone was tense, of course now they'd be back to blame them.

This wasn't really going how she planned it, now that she got a good look at the state of things. She was rusty, but it was coming along nonetheless. Either way, the fun part was coming. She could feel it.

[CDF]

By the two women had arrived back in town, Zai was already back to her feeble old woman persona and waiting patiently in the barn she was granted housing in. She could hear the shamed and fearful buzzing around the village as they reeled from the attack, their dignity injured most of all. And then with curiosity, relief and more fear when the two returned.

The first carriage, having lost track of the second one, backtracked and found the mess, but having not seen them grab the two women on the way out, they had no reason to suspect it was anything other than an accident. Especially an hour later when they found the mangled but still living corpse of the driver who had no other information to indicate something was amiss.

Still, as expected, they came back to the village and did light questioning, using the opportunity to intimidate the village eout of some more drinks and food to compensate their trouble, and then they were off again.

The whole time, Zai kept quiet and still. She knew it'd be pointless to ask questions, these people would either know nothing or know nothing she wasn't going to find out later. She also knew her time in this village was done. They would be back after hitting other villages, and nothing will have changed. She needed to collect more information.

So as the carriage left the village, Zai walked into the crowd of villagers and addressed them all "One day, you will have the opportunity to break free and seize your own freedom. Remember me and my words when that day comes, and fight." Explaining no further, and just smiling at the crowd and winking at the two women she rescued, Zai left. To everyone looking, it seemed like she completely disappeared once she reached the village outskirts.

To them, she had. She was going to follow this group of bandits and see how big the problem was. Either she'd wipe them out or root out the rest of the organization like she did in Juu no Kuni, this time will just have to be more subtle.