Chapter 11: Mother Never Changes, Part 3

Baifong Sarutobi Huang-Chan was a good man at heart.

And like any other man, he had done many things he regretted.

Letting his Sensei face all of the elite Kaintrou force of the Lightning Village by himself was the first one. He did not know why, but this seemed unfair for him to do. And it showed what kind of Sensei really was: Despite having seen men die and been wounded, still, he could forget that such deeds were ever possible.

His second biggest regret came in the form of willingly allowing the Yang Lifen clan's downfall. If he had sent reinforcements then, their own municipality would've suffered. But, instead, for the sake of his Nation, he let their oldest allies sink down their dooms.

His third biggest regret is never being a parent to his own son, Asuma and his youngest daughter Mui.

Fourth came in when he let his father kill off the Kayu house.

The fifth was not being by his wife's side during her final moments.

Sixth was letting his younger brother die–where he believed he should have been the one to die in his place.

All these regrets, the mistakes he made, perhaps, might be atoned in the end.

But the thing he had done now. He knew the deed he had committed for the good of his Imperial Fire Nation; he knew he was now a sinner. He was no longer redeemable.

What had he done that he considered himself irredeemable, you ask?

He had spat in the faces of his successor and his wife's last wishes. He had discarded all the promises he had made. Disregarded a dying mother's pleading. Disregarded a weeping father's request.

He had disregarded them, all for the sake of the good of the Imperial Fire Nation.

He had made a young girl's life hell willingly. Turned his head away when his old spymaster had leaked the information of that said girl being the monster's container to the entire city. Had watched impassively as the girl was thrown on the streets, ate from the garbage, lived on the streets, and suffered the unjust from the citizens on a daily basis.

All because he wanted her complete loyalty. It was simple psychology, really. When you have lived the entirety of your life alone, suffering from the hate of others, you will latch onto the first person that shows you kindness. They will become the world for you. You would feel indebted to them for saving you from that dark place.

The same thing happened with the girl's mother. She had been alone. No one to look after her. After her clan got massacred, she was even lonelier. So, from the shadows, he had devised a plan. A plan to earn the girl's complete loyalty to the Imperial Fire Nation. In return, he gave her a better living, a peaceful existence, a place in this new land where they could live without being harassed or chased around like animals. He thought of everything and made it happen.

So really, can you blame him? Truly? He was the Imperial Fire Empire, after all. He was not Baifong Sarutobi Huang-Chan while he wore this hat; he was the leader of the Imperial Fire Nation in the Land of Fire. The supreme ruler of the population.

At the end of the day, one's happiness didn't outweigh thousands under his rule. So yes, while he knew what he was doing was irredeemable, he was not opposed to it.

His Sensei, Tobirama Senju, was a militaristic person. Nothing was too far for him as long as it benefited the Nation. Really, if the man can devise a sword spell to bring people back from their eternal rests for his own convenience as burning zombies, doesn't that speak volumes for what he was willing to do?

However, the problem is that you never know how you would act in similar circumstances. You have no idea whether you would be capable of such great feats. You may have done horrible things just like him and think, "oh, I'd have done the right thing." Still, we have no way of knowing that for sure unless there are records of us going through life's situations and coming out alive and unharmed on the other side. As with everyone else, the best thing one could do is to try and find ways to avoid making mistakes by taking action to prevent them.

Naturally, a person like that wouldn't be well-liked by the population. So Baifong chose to be like his Sensei's brother, Hashirama Senju, outwardly. While dumb in military affairs, he was the kind of person everyone in the Nation loved.

While he inherited his ideals from his Sensei, he chose to be like his Sensei's brother. Thus, he was well-liked by the population.

It wasn't like anything he did was an act. No. He genuinely loved his people and the Fire Nation. Everyone living in it was his family. A family he had to protect. It was his duty, after all.

Everything he did, no matter how barbaric it may be, it was for the good of his Nation, after all.

The only thing that separated him from his old teammate was: that he was NOT power-hungry. He would never put his self-interest above the Nation. And without any hesitation, he would lay his life down for the Nation like his father and his brothers before and after.

 

His father, who died protecting the empire. The emperor, whose death set off the current civil war and started this whole mess in the first place; his two older brothers, whom he ordered killed in order to secure a stable succession for his own child (and yet they still got a hero's burial); then his younger sister who even though she is married to a peasant, became empress with no issue because of her ability to bear children so as not to cause another war. All these things were done at his orders with no hesitation whatsoever.

He was the Imperial Fire Emperor of the Land of Fire, but what does the word 'emperor' mean?

It means that you will kill anyone that stands in your way if that is needed for the good of the Nation.

But even he had his limits in what he was willing to do. Some things were too much to stomach even for him.

But manipulation, he was not above it. That was why he knew exactly when he could say he didn't mind being manipulated himself. There are certain things that one should simply not have to suffer through by themselves. He'd seen enough of it in his past.

The people who were bowing to him and greeting him respectfully as he walked through the streets of his capital city hated the girl with a passion.

Initially, it was not what he wanted. His younger brother Toa wanted his daughter to be seen as a hero, but even he knew that was just a desperate attempt on Toa's part to convince himself that his daughter would not be hated and he could die with some internal peace. But Danzo had made sure that would not happen.

It was a catastrophic day in the history of the Imperial Fire Nation; thousands of thousands of lives were lost. Countless of the houses and cities were destroyed. Numerous families were left torn apart. People were sad. They were angry. They needed something. Something to put their blame on. A scapegoat, if you will, or else the Nation would not have recovered. No one would've been able to look past their grief if the things continued like that. It might lead to more problems down the road.

And so they turned to the only target available: Tao's daughter, his niece. Narumi Yang Lifen.

Danzo had leaked that information willingly for that purpose. To get their Nation back on its feet. It had worked. Everyone started blaming the month-old babe for everything that had happened.

Of course, if he so wanted, he could have quelled everything. Nipped the problem from the bud. It was well within his power. His word was the law, after all. But he hadn't. Instead, he passed a law that no one would speak of what the girl contained. Just that. Everything else they can do.

All within his plan, of course. If the girl knows true pain and suffers from soul-shattering loneliness, then the young child can learn to be compassionate to others once she is saved from that. She could become truly kind. An endless well of forgiveness. But of course, she could go down the wrong path too, but that was why he was here for. To guide her to the right path.

Initially, his plan was to let the girl live on the streets for a longer duration. But unforeseen events had happened, and he had been forced to intervene earlier. A pair of children had helped the girl. A girl and boy... That… did not sit well with his plan. Even the smallest of things can leave a lasting impression, so he had intervened quickly, lest the girl dwelled on that strange pair more than necessary. But sometimes plans are derailed by other things going around as well. The two kids have kept seeing Narumi every day since... The boy forcing the girl to his house every day for food refused to let the girl starve. The boy was vocal about the treatment of Narumi, and he had to resist laughing when a six-year-old, a fucking six-year-old, got grown adults to cry. It only took a week for it to happen.

Naturally, Baifong knew what would happen when they got together: They became fast friends.

And in his heart, he couldn't do a thing about it. He didn't want to because his niece was finally happy.

Of course, he still had his suspicions, even after all this time. It wasn't until his niece was at an age that she could reason out the situation for herself.

And so, after years of observing them closely, he found the one way he could use the situation to his advantage without making anyone suffer too much: Let the children see how cruel life can be for some people so that when they grow up, they can learn to be kind themselves instead of falling into self-interest like the rest of the world was doing

Or just maybe he can just watch the show and see what Gazei's character will do. And if he turns out to be nice, then let him live happily.

---

Narumi Yang Lifen could finally say she was happy for once in her life.

The reason, you ask? She finally had a roof over her head!

She was given a a pet by her savior. ON her birthday! NO one has EVER given her something on that day she used to hate!! A pet fox...

Yue.

It means 'cloud'. The perfect choice for a cloudy person, really. She liked it immediately. It was cute and cuddly.

Not only that, but it made good company. She felt close with the little thing. Yue was there for her when the boy didn't come to visit her when he helped his family with farming.

That boy also gave her a bed! She finally had a warm bed to sleep in again! The mattress was a so soft and silky! She loves it! And this bed was all hers! No mean adults or bullies coming in and taking away all her belongings! She would stay in this bed forever now!

Yes, she slept better than she ever did since she was born!

She was finally able to take a proper bath! With soap! Can you believe it? She certainly couldn't! The bath had hot water! Not like before when the nuns had to carry her to the bathroom to wash her off. They were too old to do that any longer and even if they could, they had to let their hair down as well.

There was a nice kitchen too! But sadly, she didn't know how to cook. Only the boy knows how to cook for her. She was given a few cookbooks to learn cooking, but, well… she couldn't read them. So the kitchen was basically useless to her.

Oh, do you know, the mighty Nine-Tails is also illiterate? Yeah, a real shocker!

I'm not illiterate, brat, don't put me in the same category as someone who is brain dead as you. I simply didn't deem your worthless species' language worthy enough of a mighty being such as I, to spend any effort on it." The titanic vixen sniffed in vain from the confines of her mind.

A look of visible confusion came on her face. "Then how do you know how to speak it?" She paused, then snapped. "And I am NOT brain-dead, furball!"

The Nine-Tails licked her lips. It was an expression of hunger and contentment rolled into one. "You're just stupid." She took out her notebook and wrote something down: 'Stupid.'

The vixen clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Isn't that obvious, you dumb brat? I have lived for nearly a thousand years now, I will certainly know how to speak the same language as your pathetic species. Though you worthless meatbags continued to change it bit-by-bit, I was able to adapt to it easily since I am vastly superior to your race."

Oh. That made sense. She has lived for so long, she will know how to speak. A vein pulsed on her forehead not a moment later. "Why do you keep lumping me as the same as everyone? Aren't I different from them?"

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"Because they are all lesser beings compared to me," replied the Nine-Tails casually, tapping a claw on the table where the book rested. Since she broke the seal the fox demand that she created books in her mind for her to read.

Yue looked up at the fox's paw with curiosity.

"How is that little vixen able to hear me inside your mind?" The nine tails asked she had never encountered such a thing before. Her paws felt like little hands were pushing themselves through walls of stone. There wasn't a much physical sensation of anything happening. She didn't even feel the Nine Tails' weight on the table or her tail resting on it.

"And no brat!" The Tailed-Beast inside her scoffed. "You meatbags are all the same. Greedy and pathetic. None of you are different."

"You mean none except you." Narumi pointed out and added. "I'm sure you're smarter than most people here." The girl mocked her vixen.

The vixen glared at her with narrowed eyes, then looked away, blushing furiously.

"And I am different from them. I unlocked the seal unlike the previous containers, you said so yourself that no one ever did that before. That would definitely make me different then everyone else for you!"

"Should, you dumb brat, not would." The vixen corrected her in a superior tone. Further proving -in her mind- how superior she was to this brat of pathetic species in intellect by correcting her in her own language. Conveniently ignoring the fact that she was talking to a six-year-old child who nobody ever took the time to teach anything.

Her cheeks burned and she huffed in annoyance. "Just answer me, furball! Am I not different from everyone else?"

"No. You're not. You're the same as the rest. " Her booming voice was cold. Very harsh in its nature.

And it stung. The words hurt Narumi. "B-Bu-But I unlocked the se—"

"You only unlocked the seal because I offered you a deal. You unlocked the seal because opening it proved beneficial to you, in the end." The sealed demon monster inside her snorted in derision. "Whether it be consciously or subconsciously, you meatbags only do things that further benefits you. Because you meatbags are selfish. Utterly greedy at your base. No one of your pathetic species acts selflessly. So every single thing you meatbags do is only to further benefit yourselves in one way or another."

The vixen shook her head in utter disappointment. "I have lived for SO long and never have I ever met someone who is truly selfless. Heh. I doubt there would EVER be someone like that, considering how utterly selfish you pathetic monkeys are."

"I-I am not… selfish…" tears stung at the corner of her eyes at hearing her tenant's harsh words. The Nine-Tails snarled, shaking her paw threateningly at the girl.

"If not," she continued without pause. "Then why did I help you? Why did I listen all those times when no one else did?

"IF what you say is true... THEN why did Gazei helped me!?" Narumi glared at the Tailed-Beast in frustration, anger welling up within her as defending the one person who dared to help her.

A wicked grin stretched across the fox's face. "Because he didn't know better, dumbass! Or maybe because I made him an offer too tempting to refuse! And yet..." She shrugged carelessly. "It doesn't matter now."

Narumi blinked, unsure if this was really the truth or a lie.

"Awwww. Did I hurt the poor little girl's feelings? Sorry, not fucking sorry." The Nine-Tailed vixen sneered, lips curling back in disgust. "That's another thing about you insolent beings that I utterly loathe. Always so quick to judge someone. So quick to put a label of some identity on someone. Judging, judging, always judging! You pathetic creatures probably judge more than the Death God judges dead people's souls! Filled with SUCH arrogance. Who gives you worthless mortals the right to judge someone, huh?"

A short, angry breath -that would have upheaved several trees!- left past her gritted teeth. Another long exhale calmed the vixen's anger. Titanic shoulders rolled into a shrug. But I suppose I can't blame you for calling me a monster. After all, if Narumi had been inside the seal, she would've bore witness to the nightmare-inducing, absolutely bone-chilling, menacing grin on the gigantic vixen's face. I AM a monster.

Her entire titanic body shook–deep, rich, cruel laughter exploded past her lips. Shaking the entire mindscape within Narumi with the intensity of it.

Her laugh scared her. It terrified her! A deep, primal fear rattled the very bones in her body. She was reminded again why she had called the entity inside her a monster then. Still! She forced the fear down. Bit-by-bit, it abated. Because now, "...ot a monster."

Her laughter ceased. Rabbit-like ears perking up. What was that, brat?

"I said," Narumi steeled herself, small fingers balling up in tight fists. "You're not a monster. Not anymore, to me, atleast. I have... No, we have friends now... So we are not monsters anymore! "

"Ho? What am I then?" The vixen's voice dripped with amusement. As if she was getting told a hilarious joke and she couldn't wait to hear the punch line.

"A friend. And a good one at that!" Narumi smiled back, and patted Yue's cheek gently. "Thank you, Yue. Thank you for being my friend and for making the deal with me"

Yue's tail wagged and she giggled.

"Apes who beat your butt!" Narumi giggled. And I'll kick your ass if you insult my Gazei again!" She warned the vixen.

The Nine-Tails growled and glared down at the two girls. "You think you're gonna win against me, you fat monkey-brat!"

Narumi's eyes widened and she gasped, her mouth dropping open in shock. Her gaze darted around, looking for support and finding none. She stared down at her lap, eyes wide.

Yue smiled sweetly and nodded her head. "We will." Narumi answered.

"Well then. Let us see what happens when you try." The vixen smirked, baring her fangs. "Prepare yourselves, meatballs."

---

── It was a really thick wooden blade.

It was shaved to the point that it would at least look like a sword in shape, but it was so thick that if a grown man were to hold it, he wouldn’t be able to touch his thumb and index fingers together. I have been dangling that wooden sword non-stop for about an hour.

The strength of my grip had already been long gone for quite some time. At the moment, I was barely holding the sword using only the power of my fingers.

I gathered up the last part of his last strength and threw the wooden sword forcefully, then, THEN I fell to the ground face down.

I completed my day-to-day training. Practiced about 2,000 fucking swings.

"I-I’m dying…"

Those words slipped out of my mouth. I didn’t know how many times I’d said those words up until this point, looking up at the sky as I gasped for breath. But now they seemed to have run their course: "Oh! Oh! Uh-huh!" I moaned in pain... Why did I get such treatment? AGAIN!!

I thought to myself. Even throughout this whole continent, his mother maiden Imperial Fire Nation, the Xiaolong House must be the only one that made a six year old child swing a wooden scabbardfish around until he couldn’t move any more.

Fuck! I knew some other children that were nobles like him. They were introduced to him through his mother’s connections. Right now, they’d likely be receiving lessons from their private tutor, or they’d be receiving training that would feel like a light game at best.

"I see see, you’re dying. You really had a short life, my son…… stay in good health in the other world too."

"That’s not something a mother would say! Damn it!"

A spear descended from the sky like an arrow. Gazei twisted and barely dodged it. The spear pierced into the earth, sinking deep into the ground.

Seeing that, my survival instinct commanded him to stand up.

That attack would surely give me a lethal wound if I didn’t dodge. I gritted his teeth and gave an angry shout as he felt something cold on his back.

"Jo, Mum! Are you trying to kill me!?

"What’s this, you can actually still move. It’s not good to slack off, even though you’re still young."

"I would’ve died if I didn’t move back there!" I snapped. Just wondering how the hell did I get another crazy ass mother like this.

I thought in this life, my mother would not be crazy, but NOPE my luck is just terrible.

"Come on! What’s wrong? I’m going to be coming at you without holding back, so you better quickly take your stance, you know?" My mother told me as she picked up her spear.

"Is this because I made friends with Narumi?"

"That has nothing to do with it. If you want to have a harem, then go ahead!"

My mother advanced toward me with spear in hand. She looked very much like someone who wished to kill me, but why should I be afraid of her?

Because mother's never change! They all are crazy!

"You have no shame, you know?"

She laughed loudly. Her laughter rang out and filled my ears.

"Now, I will show you just what sort of woman I am!"

---

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