Naruto: The Blind Swordsman

Chapter 205: Punishment, Tears and Debts

__________ POV Narration __________

Tosho grasped at his shoulder, his lack of arm had been quite annoying to get used to.

He was thankfully not currently in active duty, and they weren't really in hard times. But losing an arm was never pleasant.

At the very least Ken had promised him that they would find a prosthetic of some sorts for him.

With the technology in Saburo's laboratory even regrowing his arm in a vat and attaching it to him wasn't out of the question.

'In the end, her greatest crime is not against me, but against the Brotherhood itself...'

Under normal circumstances, he would have suggested capital punishment. To betray the Brotherhood was to betray Ken. And in Tosho's eyes such a crime would always be deserving of death.

It was the main reason why he didn't hesitate for one second to go after Saburo when believing he had betrayed them all during the war. Well, he also hated the Strawman quite a bit, but that was besides the point.

But when seeing the repentant girl crying in front of him and apologizing he didn't feel comfortable with it. He felt that death was not a good punishment.

His missing arm could be fixed easily, and he didn't really have it in him to kill one of the children he had helped raise.

'She still has so much potential... Lord Ken is right, this can be a good way for her to learn.'

Tosho took a deep breath, as all eyes in the room settled on him(Ken's senses included).

"As the one tasked with deciding your punishment... I herby banish you from the Dark Brotherhood."

For a moment, Yue's breath hitched still, her heartbeat seemingly standing in place as she felt the world around her collapsing.

The Brotherhood. The place that had enabled her dream. The place that had essentially given her everything she cherished...

She was being thrown out of it.

And yet, she couldn't bring herself to feel that it was an unfair punishment's. She knew the price of betraying her Master's trust was usually much steeper.

"I-I guess I'm getting off easy, huh..." Even as she said that, tears filled her eyes.

She didn't want that. She didn't want something like that at all. And with a resolute look in her eyes, her fingernails became covered in chakra, and dug into her right arm.

"I don't want to leave... I'll give you my right arm instead!"

"Yue don't!" Her father shouted, but his words couldn't reach her. Rather, she was not willing to listen to him.

The Brotherhood was her life at that point. She truly didn't know what to do if she left.

The many friends she had made there, even if she didn't always treat them right, they had been there for her, protecting her.

She wanted to spend more time with them, to properly get to know them. She wanted to stay there.

And if an arm was going to be the cost of that, then she was willing to pay it.

Just as her fingers dug deeper and she was about to completely rip her arm off, the iron bars of her cell were cut to pieces in an instant, as Mifune's blade danced the moment his eyes saw her blood spilling.

He wanted to step forward to stop her, but a figure moved faster than he did...

And that was Tosho.

His left arm gripped Yue's, yanking it out of her right shoulder with force and raising it upwards, all the way until he was holding up the princess by it.

"An eye for an eye, huh? Quite the devotion. What do you think, Master?"

Tosho turned his masked face towards Ken, who was in the process of rubbing his chin in a conflicted demeanor.

"... She was certainly going to rip her own arm out, there is no question about it." The Blind Monster confirmed her intent, and he could feel her honesty... And despair.

As she was being held up, her mind had already lost hope. She figured that she had done something presumptuous again. She had tried to decide her own punishment.

But she had also failed, miserably at that. The pain was not enough to make her shed tears anymore, but the tears she shed were of sadness.

And Ken could tell. After a few seconds, with Mifune and Yuichi both looking horrified at their beloved daughter/granddaughter.

The Blind Assassin then turned his head towards Tosho, and nodded.

"Very well then. You are allowed to remain in the Brotherhood..."

In an instant, Yue's head shot up, her reddened blue eyes widening as she almost couldn't believe her ears.

"On the condition that you are to relearn all of the core tenets of the Brotherhood. An incident like this is not to be repeated ever again, do you understand?"

Tosho then let go of the girl's arm, allowing her to land on the ground on her ass, as she still stared up at him with confusion and disbelief.

The First Blade didn't interact with her any longer, he merely stepped out of the cell, and nodded towards Ken.

"Saburo, if you will." The Blind Assassin motioned for the Second Blade's clone to heal the young woman. And the Strawman did so without any response.

Yue's wide eyes were filling with tears once again, this time emotions of relief and happiness overwhelmed her.

"W-what..." Yuichi stepped towards his daughter, his eyes filling with tears. "What was in your mind?!? How could you do such a thing!?"

In an instant, all of the repressed anger he had was unleashed. Anger both at his daughter's actions towards others, and towards herself.

Yue, unlike before, didn't do anything to attempt to manipulate her father. She didn't try to soften the blow in any way.

She knew what she had done. She felt that it was a miracle that she was being forgiven in the first place... It was still hard to believe even.

"We should give the two of them some time to talk..." Ken tapped Mifune on the shoulder, and the old samurai nodded.

The Saburo clone also stepped away after bandaging Yue's arm properly and applying first aid.

Mifune sighed as he walked down the hallways of that dungeon.

"I was not expecting her to actually act according to your plans..." The Old Samurai gave a rather fearful look towards the Blind Monster, but that fear was mixed with a very deep level of respect that the two warriors shared.

"She's always been more unpredictable, true. But after her mind finally settled down, and she realized what she was doing, she became a normal girl once more."

Ken sighed as he slowly rolled his shoulders. He had already thought of several ways that Yue could respond to the situation and her punishment.

The decision was indeed on Tosho on whether to go with his plan or punish her in a different way.

But, were it up to the First Blade, Yue likely would not have been punished at all.

In this way, they tested her dedication to the Brotherhood, as well as her willingness to repent with honesty.

'It feels weird, but after all these years... She's finally grown.'

The Blind Assassin heaved a sigh of relief, as one of the primary worries in his mind finally lifted.

"That scene of her trying to rip her arm off... It scared me a bit." Mifune muttered, his eyes filling with conflicted emotions.

He was a seasoned veteran, he didn't feel fear at the sight of blood, nor did he fear dismemberment. Hell he was known as the Beheading General for a reason.

But what scared him was the willingness and determination in her eyes as she did so.

"Hmm, I think 'unnerving' would be the right word there, Mifune.

But that is just the type of person Yue is. She is someone I can identify with as well in certain situations..."

Ken shook his head and 'looked' at some of the prisoners and people trapped within that dungeon.

'We really need to clean up some of the rabble here...'

Meanwhile, Mifune studied him for a moment as well.

'If I didn't know any better... I'd think that Ken brainwashed her in some way...'

But he wouldn't ever put such accusations on Ken's name. He knew better than many, just how good a friend Ken could be, and how the children all saw him.

He, and the Land of Iron, had all been kept up to date with the way that the Brotherhood treated its recruits.

Yue's actions just reflected her own mindset, and how willing she was to go to extremes.

But at the very least, she was starting to behave better, to understand more.

And with time, maybe Mifune would get the chance to know her better as well. After all, even with all of the heartache she caused him, she was still his one and only granddaughter.

"The Land of Iron truly owes you a lot, Lord Ken..." Mifune blurted out, his head shaking a bit at the mere thought of ever being able to repay the Blind Assassin.

"There is no such thing as a debt among friends, Mifune." Ken also shook his head, but for the exact opposite reason.

'The Land of Iron has already done a lot for me and the Brotherhood. What's the point in talking about debts?'

The General and the Assassin continued to talk in that hallway whislt the Father and Daughter Duo spent some time catching up and having a serious talk.

Eventually, a Saburo Clone interrupted Ken and Mifune, with a rather hurried step.

"Lord Ken! We have received an urgent letter from the Raikage! I believe this concerns you as well, Lord Mifune..."

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Heyoo, finally managed to write a chapter out! My bad for the wait again.

Don't want to focus on the original story too much and neglect this one, but it kinda happens since I'm really excited about it an all that.

I'll try to split my focus more for this story too, since I also like writing it

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