>>6104875“… Uzumaki Naori-taichō,” the speaker, an older man with a prosthetic right leg and a patch over his right eye, realizes. His rather dour and conservative clothing says wealthy corporate executive, particularly the rather tall matching hat, but his body language screams shinobi.
“Taichō?” you muse.
“None of the Allied Shinobi Forces who saw you back then could possibly have forgotten your appearance,” he insists. “Nor the unique accompanying sensation that was equal parts hope and terror.”
“So yeah,” you reply calmly, “you have me at a disadvantage here, Victor-han.”
“In what sense?”
“In the sense that I don’t remember you in the slightest.”
“It isn’t surprising,” he admits. “At the time I did not yet understand what true power even looked like. I had yet to comprehend my own weakness.”
“Is that so.”
“You sound unsurprised.”
“Of course,” you shrug. “Many strong shinobi – not all, but many – had a similar moment. For me, the loss of my team to one of the Seven Swords. For my mentor, the destruction of the original Akatsuki. For Naruto-kun, failing to stop Sasuke-kun from leaving Konoha.”
“But yeah, so which reanimated shinobi did you in?”
“Excuse me?”
“Yeah no, I figured you probably got beaten pretty badly by someone,” you observe. “Least that’s where I figured the story was going before I interrupted. Was I wrong?”
Victor shakes his head. “No, you were not mistaken. If you must know, it was one of Orochimaru’s old subordinates – Kimimaro of the Kaguya.”
You nod in comprehension. “You drew a nasty one.”
>Why don’t you call out Deepa from wherever it is he’s hiding. Let’s all have a nice little chat.>So, since you’re clearly in the mood to talk, why the hell do you have a fake God Tree down here?>A guy as experienced as you must know what comes next. Why don’t we cut the crap already?>Other? 