Kyuubi no Taiyo no Megami

Knife in the Dark

New Life Arc

Chapter 4 - Knife in the Dark

"Normal Speaking"

"Thinking"

"Amaterasu"

"Amaterasu Telepathy"

"Summon/Jutsu"

Previously. . .

Amaterasu and Nobunaga had finally arrived at the palace of the Daimyo of Tetsu no Kuni. The Daimyo allowed them to stay in the palace and called his daughter, Kimiko, to befriend Ammy to help her out of the memories of her past. Ammy and Kimiko bonded well and now consider themselves close sisters. However, with this asylum in the palace of Tetsu no Kuni, the Daimyo also risks bringing an end to the neutrality that the nation has enjoyed for so many years.

It had been a week or so since Ammy and Nobunaga had arrived at the palace. So far, everything was going very well. Kimiko and herself had grown ever closer as time went onward. Truly, if one could see how they acted with each other and not notice the obvious physical differences one would be convinced they were the closest sisters one had ever the privilege to see with their own two eyes.

The two were undoubtedly inseparable. If Kimiko wasn't showing and telling Ammy about the ins and outs of being the princess of Tetsu no Kuni or Ammy about the powers she knew about from either Amaterasu or her memories as the Kyuubi, they were playing games or resting with each other. Their cheeriness had led to a rising in the spirit of Tetsu no Kuni's palace and soon they were the subject of many pleasant conversations within the palace.

Ammy had even gotten the privilege of meeting Kimiko's older and younger brothers. Her older brother was a young man of around sixteen, who according to Kimiko is only her half-brother due to her own mother not being the Daimyo's first wife, named Daisuke. Her younger brother, who was younger than Ammy, was a four year old named Kenshin. Ammy's appearance drew interest from Daisuke and only brought about innocent, childish wonder from Kenshin.

After Daisuke heard about her treatment in the past he commented, "Fools, to do this to a child and a female child at that. Trust me in this, Ammy-nee, that I will not allow those mongrels to touch even a hair on your head."

Kenshin was only mystified by Ammy's appearance and spent a good half an hour trying to grab a hold of Ammy's tails. Needless to say, the scene they observed from this action was something that both Kimiko and Daisuke agreed was the most amusing thing they had ever scene.

Another occurrence that had happened due to Ammy's time in the palace was the sudden boost in spirit among the residence of the palace. People within were quick to learn who she was, what she was, and why she was there to begin with. Her sudden cheerful attitude along with her tragic past led to a rise in the spirit of the palace's residents and soon the bond between Ammy and Kimiko became one of the primary subjects talked about by servants and soldiers alike.

However, there was an underlying tone of worry and concern being thrown around the palace as well. Ammy's presence within the palace was certainly a reason to worry as she was, at one point, a resident of Konoha, and not just any resident, but it's jinchuuriki. It was no secret of the balance in power among the Five Great Nations, as well as Takigakure, one of the strongest, minor nations, was highly based upon their jinchuuriki with Kumo having eight and two, Suna having one, Iwa having four and five, Kiri having three and six, Taki having seven, and Konoha having nine.

Now, however, Konoha was at a significant disadvantage. Their only jinchuuriki, the jinchuuriki of the strongest biju at that, was now gone and the balance of power had shifted out of Konoha's favor. True they had many powerful shinobi but a jinchuuriki was a major source of strength in both the military and political sides of the world. Konoha need that advantage back and there were only two ways they could do it: either kidnap and return the jinchuuriki to Konoha or kill the jinchuuriki and create a new one.