Game of Shadows by Adrian King1

Chapter 77

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor The Gamer. I own nothing, really.

Cover Art: Kissuli.

Chapter 77

Eiji's first meeting with Tsunade was... Not what he'd expected.

Instead, she had thrown so many questions at him as she could manage without him missing something because she was going too fast. It didn't help that he'd had to turn off Iron Will. It had done its job and offered him some calm while he took the System's screens and such, but he couldn't very well act like Tailed Beast chakra poisoning was something he could shrug off.

On second thought, maybe he should have seen that coming when dealing with a medic in the condition he was in.

After that came Hiruzen and Jiraiya. The first of which Eiji would admit he wasn't too thrilled to meet. Fortunately, the old man wasn't insulted, even apologizing for being unable to keep him out of this situation. Eiji appreciated the sentiment, but that didn't really help.

"Eiji," Hachi warned him and he let out a breath, half wanting to calm himself and half exasperated. Tsuchigumo was young though, so it was understandable that she had a hard time keeping her calm. Especially if she was influenced by his emotions.

'Here's hoping that'll pass soon enough,' He thought tiredly. He liked Tsuchigumo, he really did, but this was probably one of the worst times to have to watch how he felt. 'Thank God for Hachi and Kage. Who knows how things would go if they weren't there to warn me?'

Leaning back against the pillow, he thought back to his chat with the Hokage and the Toad Sannin.

Annoyingly, he'd been told that he wouldn't be able to meet with anyone from the group, not even Naruto, and they wouldn't even know that he was safe until he was considered actually safe to be around. Understandable, of course, since he was more of a ticking bomb than a Jinchuriki, what with how he had a Chakra Beast inside him but without the proper seal. It was still annoying, especially at a time when he could really use some friendly faces.

That wasn't even considering that they probably weren't sure he was really Eiji himself.

Thus, he was by himself.

He debated whether to go back to the Mindscape or not. On the one hand, he could just do that and enjoy the company of Tsuchigumo and the Orochimaru Shards. It would probably be for the best, he supposed.

On the other hand, he could just stay out after so long out of commission. It was... a strange experience. That was as best as he could describe it. The Mindscape was, obviously, very different from reality. Even though he'd done his best to avoid abusing his absolute control of his mind while he had to stay there, it was something that he knew he could do anyway and that was enough to skewer his sense of reality, he supposed. That, most of all, was why he was reluctant to go back just yet.

"I'm surprised that you decided to stay awake," He heard then. Eiji turned his head through the pain to see Tsunade standing against the doorframe to his room. "I'm guessing that your mind trick helps against the pain, so why not do that?"

"I'm all powerful in there," He replied, not seeing any trouble with that and also because he was eager to talk about anything. Maybe that would distract him a little. "While that's nice for shorts periods of time-"

"It messes you up in longer doses," She finished for him. Eiji nodded with a grimace. "Hm..." She hummed then, looking at him with a slight frown. He was just about to ask what was the matter when she spoke again. "I saw Orochimaru not so long ago," She admitted and he blinked at the sudden topic change. "I feel like I should thank you. He's really terrified of whatever it was that you did to him."