Tales of a Ninja Magician: Of What Defines Us

This is so Meta!

Mana feasted her eyes at the oversized base, seven hundred and fifty meters long and one-third of that wide. Covered with smaller buildings, office complexes and metal domes. Eden looked much more like a military base than a prison complex. Further in the distance, two main spherical shaped buildings with large rotund roofs stood out – likely the bulk of the imprisoned population was held there as well as the prison administration.

The massive steel gate closed behind duo's backs making the magician feel strangely locked in for a moment but once her eyes gazed upon the massiveness of the prison complex in front of her she somehow felt much freer and epically overwhelmed inside the massive deforested containment base than she ever did in the endless forests of the Fire Country outside of it.

Hooded figures in capes and metal masks with red visors gazed at the two visitors from the top of the steel wall that separated the void of trees from the cradle of industry and civilization – almost a small village or a large settlement by itself. Mana breathed in and out looking around. She didn't see that many uniformed or restrained prisoners walking around – mostly just ninja in typical ninja attires and body vests.

Usually, ninja put their own spin on their attires, some wore additional clothing under the chuunin vest. Some acquired their own unique models of the same vest as it wasn't that strictly regulated. People in the prison dressed exactly the same, strictly abiding the uniform rules which made Mana feel like a standout. Honestly, even her companion who actually worked in the place stood out quite decently.

"Well... Are you going to gawk about or are we going to see him?" Yanagi wondered teasing Mana's overwhelmed reaction to seeing the inside of Eden. Honestly, the place didn't look like much of a prison. The magician voiced that impression right after being spoken to.

"Oh, it isn't a prison by the strict definition, it's more like a "detainment community". The reason why this place looks like a militarized settlement is because it is – it has its own laws, administration, and sort of its own military but those contained here aren't technically threats to the village. Some of its most precious prisoners are actually not here to protect everyone from them but for the exact opposite reason." Yanagi shrugged looking around with some pride and a warm smile, emoting was not something Aburame did often so seeing the man acknowledge the size and uniqueness of this place was just as priceless as the place itself.

"So I've heard... Two Jinchuuriki?" Mana mumbled to herself almost as if afraid she was going to be heard. Sugemi told her that much right before being taken away.

"Yeah... Look, getting to your friend is going to be a pain in the ass, plenty of check-ups and stuff like that. For the size of this place it has a very strict "go here if you want to go there" ruleset to it – if you want anything done this century we may want to move onto the check-ups right there, besides the staff accommodation area." Yanagi pointed at a greenish metal tinted dome surrounded by simpler block buildings that supposedly housed the ninja watching and running the prison complex for the duration of their stay.

Mana nodded and the two passed on and through the door. Yanagi wasn't kidding. The magician had to register all of her weapons and tools and it was becoming so bothersome that she simply opted to leave her jacket and all of the spring mechanisms of her uniform by the checkup rather than having to go through the confusing and tedious trouble to register her weapons. She also dumped all of her cards since registering each custom placed seal on each card would've taken an eternity, especially if each check-up would have to happen multiple times as multiple areas had increasing levels of security and something that would've been allowed to have in one area was forbidden at the other.

"I'm surprised to see how easy it is for you to disarm... Most ninja would greatly fear to abandon their weapons." Yanagi noted after Mana rubbed her elbows and her shoulders as walking around in a sleeveless shirt alone was a bit too chilly for her.