chuunin_archive | Jinraiden CHAPTER 2 SUMMARY

On 2 November, Akira Higashiyama's novel JINRAIDEN was released. Sasuke is the main character and the story is set in the period after his battle with Itachi.

I've summarized chapter 2 this time (Here's chapter 1). It turned out quite long XD

CHAPTER 2 SUMMARY

Sasuke sets off to Howling Wolf Village. After walking south for 8 days, he reaches the sea. His head aches, but his eyes feel better, although he sees white flashes from time to time. He figures it's because he's still getting used to the Mangekyou Sharingan. To prevent himself from thinking about Itachi, he asks the people he passes about Howling Wolf Village. It seems the village really did declare neutrality a couple of years ago.

Sasuke gets on a ferryboat. The boatman talks about Howling Wolf Village. It's situated on Howling Wolf Mountain, which is part of a 3 mountain range. The mountain is full of medicine plants. There's a legend that a beast called Rouen used to live there and attacked the village. It was 50 meters high and was covered in silver fur. It had the head of a wolf, the body of a tiger and walked on two legs. The Kodon Clan got rid of it about 10 years ago. The Village's blue fire powder couldn't beat it but Tenma, the former Kodon Clan Head, defeated it with a hypnotism-like medicine technique ("saigenzai"). Nobody knows what happened exactly. By the time everyone awoke, the beast was gone and Tenma was dead.

Sasuke gets off the boat. He's now near Howling Wolf Mountain. It's been 13 days since he left Tobi's hideout. Eighteen red torii (Shino shrine archways) are lined up on the mountain. If he passes under them, he'll reach Howling Wolf Village. The mountain is filled with plants, flowers and animals. It's full of both medicine and poisonous plants. He walks deeper into the mountain's forest. The trees cut off the sun and he loses track of time. A torii is like a boundary between the secular world and sacred ground. That's what Sasuke was taught in the Academy.

Direct translation: "Those who visit this village have to shed the secular world each time they pass under a torii. Did Itachi also pass under these torii? I absently thought about such things. Why couldn't Itachi shed the secular world called Hidden Leaf Village? This question which will never be answered forces me to take step after step. I push forward. No matter how much I hurry, I will never catch up to Itachi. No matter how far I stretch out my hands, I can never reach him. The only thing I can do is move. If I do so, I can fool myself into thinking that I'm moving forward. If I don't, how else could I outrun the rain --- the rain that poured down on Itachi's corpse?"

Sasuke reaches the last torii and sees the sun set. When he reaches the end of the stairs, the forest ends. The village is surrounded by high walls and you have to pass under a big gate to enter the village. The left gate door has the character 薬 (medicine) on it and the right 毒 (poison). There are many stalls lined up alongside the road to the village. Saleclerks are try to sell all kinds of medicine to the visitors. The place is really lively. One salesclerk calls out to him, calls him too pale and tries to sell him something. Sasuke ignores the guy's chats, shows him the receipt he got from Itachi and asks where the shop on the receipt is. The salesclerk recognizes the shop - apparently it's called Rengyoudou - but doesn't answer Sasuke's question. Sasuke asks again but the salesclerk remains silent, looks uncomfortable and then runs away to bug other customers. Sasuke is left confused. Then another salesclerk grabs his arm, a woman this time, and again says he looks pale.

Sasuke: "Do I really look that pale?"
Salesclerk: "Beyond pale! It looks like you haven't slept in years!"
Sasuke: "…."

She tries to sell him some stuff. Sasuke asks after Rengyoudou again. She looks uncomfortable and asks why he would want to go there. He says he wants to pick up a medicine there. She turns red and looks like she's about to hit him. She glares at him, returns to her stall and glares at him some more. Sasuke asks three more people; they all react the same. One of them whispers into his ear that he shouldn't mention that shop. Sasuke asks why, but the man simply says "please don't get in the way of business" and drives him off.

There's some kind of police station next to the main gate. An official calls out to Sasuke to hand over his sword because weapons aren't allowed inside the village. Sasuke refuses, gives him a look and says the official will have to take it by force if he wants it. The official throws a fuss. Sasuke responds: "I go where I want to go. I take instructions from no one. Besides, this type of weapons-hunt is pointless. If you guys are strong enough to take this sword from me, there's no need for you to fear one sword. On the other hand, if you can't take it from me, I could crush this village with my bare hands, sword or no sword." The official flinches, clicks his tongue and asks why Sasuke came to Howling Wolf Village. Sasuke responds he came to get medicine. The official asks how long he'll be staying and to which shop he's heading. Sasuke answers he'll stay two or three days and that he's heading to Rengyoudou. The official glares at him and says "You too?". The official assumes Sasuke is interested in "saigenzai". He complains youngsters treat it as a toy and he says it got banned a year ago. The official explains that saigenzai throws off your vision, hearing and balance. Once it's in your body, you're a dead man. It's known under many names, such as Shoutengan, Gokurakuko, Jiaigan and Youshingan. Sasuke now understands why the salesclerks glared at him. They thought he was some kind of addict looking for saigenzai. Even so, Sasuke asks where the shop is again. The official warns him some more - apparently possession of saigenzai is a capital crime in the village – but then tells Sasuke that the shop is located behind the Kodon Shrine.

[T/N: For those not familiar with Japanese culture: imagine the torii pathway to look something like this, but with much more space between each torii.]

Sasuke heads west towards the Kodon Shrine. It's already dusk and he nears a river. A crowd has gathered there. There are 3 corpses on the riverbed. They look dried up, like withered branches. Sasuke thinks their chakra might've been sucked out. A guy in the crowd approached Sasuke. He has a scar, from his right eye to his cheek. The guy offers Sasuke some saigenzai. Sasuke asks for the best one. The guy says that the best are the ones from Rengyoudou. This peeks Sasuke's interest and he buys one. The guy hands him a small bag. There are 3 pills inside. The guy slips back into the crowd. Sasuke sees the character 仙 (sen, "hermit") dyed on the back of the guy's clothes.

The crowd chats some more about who could've murdered those people. They speculate it might've been an outsider or one of the saigenzai sellers. Sasuke scoffs them in his thoughts. They're obviously shinobi. The boatman earlier told him that Howling Wolf Village used to be a Hidden Village. The village can now support itself with the medicine profits. There's no need to put the village and its people into further danger. But what happens to the shinobi? Some of them can enter the village's defense force, but what about the others?

[direct translation]
There's nothing more troublesome than a shinobi that has lost his occupation.
Unable to display his power or to make a living.
In a village that stresses business, the ones who have the money are celebrated. Shinobi will be chased to the outskirts of the village. They'll get treated like dogs, the hands which were tainted for the village's sake will be glared at. They'll start selling saigenzai.
Who can be sure that Leaf Village won't end up like that?
That thought made me laugh.
Someday, Leaf Village should end up like that too. Someone should make some incredible invention, or dig up some precious resources and…
In that case the society where shinobi rule would collapse immediately. The city's guardian deity would no longer be the Hokage but would be money. Guys like Naruto would spend a lifetime ignored.
A Naruto that wouldn't be heard by anyone? …That's funny. I laughed. Shinobi truly have no more worth than that.
Taking advantage of the fact that there was no one around, I laughed aloud. A dog, startled by the noise, barked in the distance somewhere. As long as the shinobi system continues, a second and third generation Itachi will appear. Under the banner of justice, someone else will be forced to sacrifice himself.
Is Leaf Village worth the sacrifice?
In the end, how do Leaf Village's and Tobi's methods even differ?
[/end]

Sasuke continues on his way to the Kodon Shrine. He passes a mother and daughter. The girl points to him and says, "Hey, mama, that boy, he looks in pain… I wonder if he's hurt somewhere." The mother takes one look at him and quickly scurries off. Sasuke is confused why he would look in pain. He's thinking about Leaf Village's destruction. That means he should look happy, right? He stops and stares at his shadow. He muses that his hatred towards Leaf Village still isn't strong enough.

Sasuke reaches the Kodon Clan Shrine. The shrine hasn't been taken care of, it's run-down. Behind it, down the stone stairs, lies the Rengyoudou Shop. It also looks run-down. It's already midnight, so Sasuke returns to the shrine. There's a stone monument with the images of a wolf and a tiger on it. Sasuke kicks in the shrine's door, enters and lays down. Part of the roof is gone. He looks up to the moon, feels a dangerous presence and jumps back up. But it's just a small white snake. Sasuke lays back down.

Sasuke remembers Itachi's "hate me, and live!" speech. He had accepted those words without questioning them. He hadn't noticed the pain behind those words. Then, he remembers Tobi's words. Is he, again, not going to question what he's being told? No, he should pay close attention.

He feels a dangerous presence again. This time it's serious. He sees three shadows jump across the sky. Sasuke jumps outside onto the roof and hides his presence. The three head towards the shop. There's a flash and two explosions. The shop has been set on fire. Sasuke sees two people try to stop the fire with water. Seeing the shop burn angers him. It's like the flames are insulting Itachi's memory. He slams a Chidori into the ground and the shockwaves put out the flames (and leaves quite some destruction).

A boy tries to attack him, but Sasuke avoids him. The boy has pointy hair and is wearing some kind of mask. The boy, which vaguely reminds him of the old Naruto, angrily asks: "Are you from the Sendou Clan too!? Did you come to steal the Kotarou too!?" The boy sloppily throws kunai at him. Sasuke says he didn't start the fire. The boy doesn't believe him and keeps attacking. The sloppy attacks remind Sasuke of the old Naruto, too. Sasuke flicks the boy's forehead. The boy falls back and glares at him. This too reminds Sasuke of "that usuratonkachi". Another guy calls the boy off. The guy has long hair which has been tied back and he's wearing a light purple kimono. The boy refuses. The guy points out that Sasuke has the Uchiha Clan crest on his back, not the Sendou's. This makes the boy change his tune. He asks Sasuke: "That means you're Itachi-san's brother?"

The man introduces himself as Reishi, the owner of the Rengyoudou Shop. The boy is called Kina. Sasuke asks: "You know… Itachi?" Reishi nods, apparently Itachi was one of his customers.

The scene changes to the trio having breakfast. Kina now has the mask tied to back of his head. He explains it used to belong to his father; it's an Anbu mask. Sasuke notices it's a hawk mask and he feels he's seen it before but can't remember clearly. Reishi says "let's eat" but Sasuke says he's not hungry. Reishi assures him there's no poison in the breakfast or anything. Sasuke says he's not so stupid to eat what a stranger gives him. Kina snubs him because apparently Kina had gone out of his way to make Itachi's favorite (rice balls). Kina snubs him some more ("fine, don't eat!") and Sasuke, who desperately tries to keep his stomach from growling because he is hungry, responds that although he might not be hungry, eating while you can is also part of being a shinobi.

So in the end Sasuke starts eating and Reishi and Kina smile at each other. Sasuke thinks the food is quite tasty but says: "It's not bad. ..Considering it was prepared by a brat, anyway." He muses it's been a long time since he had a warm meal. There's also some konbu. Kina notices Sasuke staring at it and asks: "Rice balls with konbu were Itachi's favorites. Do you like them too?" Sasuke is a bit shaken. He averts his face and answers he prefers rice balls with okaka. He looks at the two brothers; they reminds him of himself and Itachi. A young brother who admires his brother and an older brother who acts like a parent. They look like they could overcome any hardship. And that's why he can't understand why they'd make bad drugs like saigenzai.

Sasuke shows the saigenzai he bought and says the seller called it "Rengyoudou Shop's Kotarou". Kina throws a fit. He steals the bag, throws it onto the ground and tramples it. Kina yells: "So you were just after saigenzai! Did you come to steal it like the others!?" He also bad-mouths Itachi, speculating that Itachi was only after the saigenzai too. Reishi disagrees ("Itachi-san wasn't like that") and tries to calm Kina down. Kina yells some more. Apparently Kotarou can only be made by Reishi inside his body so you can't steal it.

Sasuke looks straight at Kina and says, "Itachi… died." That makes Kina shut up. Reishi apologizes for his little brother's behavior. Sasuke says it's fine, he understands why Kina would doubt him. Sasuke explains he just bought the drug to test the shop's reputation. Reishi explains the drug which Sasuke bought is a fake. The prescription for Kotarou is written in the blood of Kodon Clan members. Sasuke asks if it's a Bloodline Limit Jutsu. Reishi says it's not. The ingredients are simple, they grow on the mountains in the area, but the ingredients are then "processed" inside his body. You can't steal it even though many think they can. Reishi says being able to steal Kotarou is "a rumor without root or leaf." Sasuke stays silent, confused. Reishi explains the rumor is groundless (literally "rootless" in Japanese, in other words, he made a really bad pun.) Kina picks on Reishi for his failed pun. Reishi covers his embarrassment with a cough and turns the conversation back on track. Sasuke says he bought the fake Kotarou near a big bridge. Reishi calls it Suikazura Bridge.

Sasuke asks whether Itachi got his medicine from the Rengyoudou Shop. Reishi affirms this. If you mix Kotarou with other medicine, it becomes a powerful painkiller. Sasuke shows Itachi's receipt to Reishi and asks why it has 下品 written on it. Reishi explains that 上品 have a weak effect but no side effects. 中品 leaves no permanent damage if you use them for a little while. But下品 have strong effects but also very strong side effects. Reishi explains that, for example, Itachi's eye drops can leads to temporary blindness. Sasuke now understands why he was having white flashes (he also took some drops).

Sasuke then asks after the 七 ("seven") written on the back of the receipt. It looks like Itachi wrote it himself. Reishi looks at it and get visibly upset so Sasuke decides to change the subject and asks: "Can you tell me anything about Itachi?" Kina suddenly stands up and apologizes to Sasuke for earlier. Sasuke says it's fine and that Kina shouldn't go easy on people who harm his family. Kina nods.

Reishi says Itachi would buy medicine once or twice a year. Itachi had told him, "If my little brother visits the shop… that means I am probably no longer alive." Itachi had said he wanted to live a little longer because there was something he needed to do. He didn't care what would happen to him afterwards. So Reishi gave Itachi the strongest下品 (gebon) he had. Sasuke muses that it's just like Itachi to say that. "Always perfect, always foreseeing, always…. sad."

Reishi asks whether Itachi suffered. Sasuke remembers the way Itachi had clutched his chest and coughed up blood after summoning Susanoo. He says: "Itachi's body was… already beyond repair, right?" Reishi averts his eyes and apologizes. Sasuke says there's no need to apologize.

Kina says Itachi was always quiet and calm, but also incredibly strong and would always help them when the Sendou Clan bugged them. Itachi would also spend the night in the shrine when waiting for his medicine to be prepared. Kina would sometimes enter and give Itachi rice balls with konbu. At first, Itachi would always remain silent no matter what Kina asked. But Itachi slowly started opening up and mentioned he had a little brother. When Kina asked Itachi what Sasuke was like, Itachi smiled happily. With a distant look in his eyes, Itachi answered: "He's honest like you, Kina, but he's hopelessly bad at showing it on the outside. That's why I have to keep a close eye on him." Kina interrupts his story to ask: "…Are you crying, Sasuke-san?". Sasuke blames it on his eyes, averts his face and changes the topic to the Sendou Clan.

Kina says the Sendou Clan are failed shinobi and run the saigenzai scene. Reishi explains that the shinobi that failed to get new jobs after the Neutrality Declaration, formed a clique and started selling bad saigenzai. A shinobi called Sendou Jiryuu is the boss. Apparently, Kotarou was the saigenzai that Reishi's father used to defeat Rouen (the wolf/tiger beast). Sendou Jiryuu wants to get his hands on it to make some fast money: many shinobi are still not used to neutrality and use saigenzai to escape the cruel reality of their lives.

Kina yells that he doesn't care what happens to the village. Apparently, the villagers are now saying that his father used Rouen to attack the village. Sasuke gets a déjà vu (i.e. the Nine Tales attack on Leaf Village.) Reishi scolds Kina not to bother other people with their problems. Reishi says the attack just now destroyed all the medicine pots. It would take time to make new medicine. He asks Sasuke to come back again later, in the future. Sasuke says he'll wait. Reishi again stresses it'll take a while (it sounds like he's trying to get Sasuke to leave). Sasuke says he won't cause them any trouble, he gets up, leaves the shop and says that he'll be staying at the shrine.

Kina visits Sasuke the same day, in the evening. Sasuke is sitting on the nearby stairs, staring at the fireflies. Kina is wearing his mask, Sasuke asks why. Kina doesn't answer so Sasuke just removes the mask. Kina's face is covered with bruises and scratches. Sasuke asks what happened. Kina just hands him some rice balls with okaka. They eat in silence for a while before Kina admits the village people gave him those wounds. They sit in silence for a little longer. Kina asks, "Aren't you going to ask why?". Sasuke responds, "You don't have to talk if you don't want to." Kina looks at Sasuke in surprise and mentions that Itachi once told him the same thing.

Kina talks about Rouen. The beast could live forever as long as he sucked up people's chakra. His father defeated Rouen ten years ago but died in the process. Reishi raised Kina. Kina is 11 years old.

Sasuke asks why Kina hates the village. Kina says the villagers are saying that his father released Rouen's seal. At the time, the village was about to decide whether to declare neutrality or not. The Kumanoi Clan, who had invented the blue fire powder were pro-neutrality, his father was anti. And then Rouen appeared. The blue fire powder, which explodes when it comes into contact with water, couldn't do a thing. Kina's father defeated Rouen, but the Kumanoi Clan started saying that Kina's father had released Rouen's seal to make the pro-neutrality factions look bad. After getting neutrality, the Kumanoi Clan used the money they got from selling the powder and left.

But Kina is convinced the recent series of murders poses a chance for his clan, the Kodon Clan. Kina wants to capture the murderer, and then the villagers will change their opinion of the Kodon Clan.

[direct translation]
"So?" I stared at Kina. "Did you come here to ask my help?"
"You won't…?"
"Why would I have to do something like that? I just came here to buy medicine."
Kina dropped his head.
"I'm a shinobi. If you want my help, you need to prepare the proper compensation."
"C-compensation..?"
"Yeah… " I tried telling him clearly. "Starting tomorrow, bring me rice balls with okaka each day."
Watching Kina dancing for joy, I heaved a sigh on the inside. He's an moron. If he thinks I'm going to put much effort into looking for the culprit, he's as much an idiot as Naruto.
[/end]

End chapter 2.

(Please credit me if you post this elsewhere)