228. Catching up with friends
Having finished watching the recording, Tomoka's thoughts began to wander a bit. She realized that both clones were acting differently. It was then that she remembered something troublesome. Clones without souls tend to generate their own after a while. Her phantoms had been in charge of preventing that from happening. Unfortunately, they were no more so chances were, the clones had developed souls.
“Well, that could be interesting.” Hearing Tomoka’s mumble, both girls looked at her with questioning eyes.
“Uh… so you know how those two are clones right? I just thought that they might have developed souls of their own.” She would be sure about her guess once she met them herself or sent phantoms to check.
“You should tell Naruko and Satsuki.” After a while of thinking Hinata was the one to give her opinion. Nozomi nodded in agreement with Hinata.
“I will.” While saying that Tomoka decided to stretch a bit before getting out of bed. As comfortable as it was being naked with her girls there were other things to do. Like getting something to eat. She felt like a ravenous beast. Taking into consideration she hasn’t eaten anything, besides her girls, after waking up it was understandable that she would be famished.
After a while the trio was ready to go get themselves something to eat. Tomoka could have asked for room service but she didn’t feel like it. She wanted to see what had changed. And so the trio began walking towards the teleportation station, their destination, Niflheim.
It was as they walked that Tomoka got to see the first changes. For starters, the abundance of people with animal characteristics. Anything from kemonomimi to straight up furry. Cat girls and boys to a dude that looked like an anthropomorphised wolf. Hell there were some that… weren’t human? They looked more like animals that began walking on two legs.
Seeing Tomoka’s particular expresion Hinata and Nozomi began giggling by her side. They could understand why she was so surprised seeing as they had been no different when this had started. Having had their laugh Nozomi was the one to tell Tomoka what had happened.
“You see, someone approached Orochimaru having become curious about Kurama since she has ears and tails-” There was something else about that statement that attracted Tomoka’s attention but she would ask about that later, or even better, she would see with her own eyes.
“One thing led to another and Orochimaru took interest in human, animal DNA crossing. Funnily enough, the modification to Satsuki’s mark you made helped her crack the code-” Once again another statement that made Tomoka curious.
“Around one fifth of Yggdrasil residents went for it, some going deeper than others. The modifications are beneficial in quite a few ways like the enhancement of senses and so on. Of course Orochimaru figured out how to do some of them without the secondary traits like tails and ears but some people actually preferred getting the secondary traits.”
With the explanation over, Tomoka couldn’t help but shake her head. She wouldn’t be taking any responsibility for the appearance of furries in this world. Nozomi’s explanation however, didn’t explain the presence of the walking animals because by now Tomoka was sure that their base isn’t human. So, she asked about them.
“Oh, that is Orochimaru’s doing as well. See, she wondered if she could do it the other way around as well, give human characteristics to animals.” Hinata was the one to answer with a light shrug. She had gotten used to all the weird things that tend to happen around Tomoka.
Tomoka for her part couldn’t help but laugh internally. Putting Orochimaru’s doings out of her mind she continued observing her surroundings. She noticed that the population within Ygg had increased by a lot. Not enough to make overpopulation a problem, not by a long shot.
A while later the trio reached an eatery. Her main had been guiding her and she decided to listen without sending an inquiry for why. It was really weird differentiating herself from… herself but unfortunately that is how it worked as long as she wanted to remain within ordered reality.
Once inside the first thing to catch Tomoka’s eye was a busty nine tailed fox woman that fit the word milf to a tee. The woman was currently laughing while drinking sake with another three women, one of which was seated on her lap. Who else could this be but Kurama herself.
“Kurama!” Tomoka called from afar while waving her arm in the air. To her immense delight Kurama's face morphed into one of horrified resignation. The closer Tomoka got to Kurama’s table the more resigned the fox woman looked. With a sigh Kurama was the first to talk once Tomoka and the girls stood in front of her.
“Tomoka, these are Mina, Hana and Roxane…” It was obvious that Kurama swallowed what she was going to say next. However, it looked like the others would have none of it.
“What she isn’t saying is that we are all her lovers.” Mina, the one sitting on Kurama’s lap added with a cheeky smile while showing her left hand which had a silver band on her ring finger.
At that moment Tomoka felt intense glares on her back. Mina had played her cards right. She had both embarrassed Kurama while also placing Tomoka in a precarious position. Tomoka as the fast thinker she is quickly turned around giving quick kisses to her girls to pacify them.
“So that is where Kurama learned it from.” This time it was Roxane the one to comment. The woman looked well built with lithe muscles. Her pixie cut of ginger hair alongside her clothes made her look like a boy. Tomoka couldn’t help but give an internal nod seeing Kurama’s selection.
Mina being a girly girl with a lovable cheerful and cheeky personality. Then there was Roxan the tomboy and finally Hana… Giving Hana a good look, Tomoka couldn’t help but notice a few things. The way she nervously looked around as if hiding something. How she clenched her skirt pulling it downwards. Her lack of a bust. Not only that but her facial structure is more androgynous than a female. With all these clues, how could Tomoka not figure it out?
“Well, for all that it's worth, I am proud of you Kurama. Though next time you should pay a little more attention to Hana, look how nervous she is.” Tomoka had to actively contain the mad cackle that bubbled up her throat seeing everyone’s expresion. Kurama, Roxane and Mina all froze while Hana looked white. Even better was the slight confusion on Nozomi and Hinata.
“Though I will admit she is quite cute. Good catch there Kurama.” By this point Kurama was sweating buckets of cold sweat. Hana for her part didn’t know if to feel terrified of being found out or shy for being complimented. With a cough Kurama decided to try and change the topic.
“R-right-” She began looking around desperately to try and distract Tomoka and it just so happened that she found something or rather someone perfect for the job.
“-By the way, have you met my sister Matatabi? She is over there.” Kurama sighed with relief seeing Tomoka’s eyes light up when her eyes landed on Matatabi. Like Kurama Matatabi got herself a human body. Unlike her however…
“Damn she is ripped.” Nozomi who had looked in the same direction commented while looking at the blue haired cat girl. A good two meters tall with powerful yet lithe physique. Her blue hair is the color of efficient combustion with black stripes like those of a tiger. A pair of feline tails leisurely swinging back and forth.
“Oi! Matatabi, come say hi!” Kurama quickly called her sister hoping her presence would be enough to keep Tomoka away from the previous conversation. Matatabi, hearing the call, looked around to see Hinata, Nozomi and an unknown girl who she guessed to be Tomoka.
“Sup.” Having walked over, Matatabi took a swig from the bottle she had been drinking from. One of her favorite things to do with her new body was drinking alcohol.
“Matatabi, this is Tomoka, Tomoka, this is Matatabi.” Kurama quickly introduced each other although it wasn’t all that necessary. Tomoka for her part began thinking about a few things she would like to ask. So she did just that.
“A pleasure to meet you, say, what happened to Yugito?” The question was directed both to Matatabi and her girls. She had been informed about Matatabi being brought to Yggdrasil but not much else.
“Oh, nothing much. She was knocked out the whole time she was here.” Hinata was the one to answer followed by Matatabi's own comment.
“They separated me from her. Then through some processes I don’t understand placing a good portion of my chakra without my will inside the seal before taking her back to Kumogakure.” Nodding along Tomoka expected something like this. Either that or Yugito joining Yggdrasil and a clone taking her place.
“Well, it's good to hear that things went well. By the way, how have you liked Yggdrasil so far?” At that Matatabi’s relaxed grin grew as she began telling about some of her activities here. Yet, she was interrupted by Kurama.
“What she is not telling is that she and Wrath have this friendly rivalry. The two would fight it out almost daily until Pride put a stop to it. Now they can only fight once a week. Not like that stops them from competing in other areas.” Having been able to relax again Kurama began drinking once again.
“Yeah, even then they still get in trouble. There was that one time when they broke one of Ygg’s walls.” This time it was Roxane the one to make the comment. The next moment, killing intent began leaking out of Tomoka as she stared Matatabi down. As she was about to speak another voice interrupted her.
“Relax mom, it wasn’t serious and I made sure they learnt their lesson.” Turning around Tomoka was met by the visage of her daughter’s avatar. Ygg stood there with a calm smile and Tomoka couldn't help the warmth that spread from her heart. Ygg had grown a lot throughout last year. Her avatar that used to look like an eight year old girl now looked twelve.
“Oh? I would like to hear how it happened.” Hearing Tomoka words made Matatabi cringe. It had been an awful experience for her.
“Sure. The two began doing some sort of spitting context. It quickly went out of control and they made a hole on one of my exterior walls. So I decided to put them in their place.” As Yggdrasil explained, Matatabi's expression fell.
“I was surprised that a little kid appeared out of nowhere and began berating me-” Matatabi continued the story with a tinge of bitterness.
“I… uh, didn’t take it well and shouted right back at her.” At that, Ygg giggled. To Tomoka it sounded like an angel’s laugh. For Matatabi however, it sounded like the cackling of a devil.
“So I beat her up!” Hearing Ygg, Matatabi sighed remembering how the walls, floor and roof came alive and attacked her. No matter what she did or how hot she made her flames she could do nothing to fight Ygg. It couldn’t even be considered a fight.
“After that I just threw her and Wrath out the same hole the two idiots made.” Fortunately for the duo, they had been in midgard at the time so they weren’t thrown into the planet's burning magma. Instead they had to fall from quite high into the ocean below.
“She didn’t let us in for the rest of the day.” Matatabi finished the story with a depressed sigh before chugging down her drink. As a biju she had always felt like she was one of the most powerful beings out there. That completely changed when she got here.
“Well, that's what you get for messing with my cute Ygg. Afterall, she is the second strongest here.” Hearing that Matatabi couldn’t help but wonder who could be stronger than Ygg seeing as after the incident she had got to learn who Ygg is.
“Who is the first?” Tomoka just smiled and didn’t answer. Of course it was her. Sure, Ygg could be considered the most powerful being on the planet if Tomoka isn’t included. It's not a fair comparison anyway.
“Anyway, have any other of your siblings joined or nah?” Tomoka asked both the fox and tiger out of curiosity.
“No, Pride didn’t let anyone from Yugure go after the others. Something about your plan getting messed up if they did.” Tomoka nodded along to Kurama’s explanation. Sure, her plans could get messed up if they had. In the end it didn’t matter all that much but at least now she could participate.
“Good, though I must ask, who are the current members of Yugure?” At that Hinata and Nozomi grinned before they performed a hand sign. Instantly their clothes changed to the Yugure uniform.
“Us, Minato and Kushina joined too. Temari and Karin are another team as well as Rin and Kabuto.” Hearing Nozomi’s answer, Tomoka smiled. That was quite the powerful set. Sure, Temari and Karin weren’t super powerful, at least the last time she met them. The same could be said for Rin and Kabuto. Understanding what Tomoka was thinking Hinata contributed with her own comment.
“Temari and Karin use power armors. Rin for her part has become rather powerful in her own right. Her knowledge of medicine makes her frightening with the amount of poisons she carries. Not only that but she managed to learn Tsunade's chakra infused strength technique. Kabuto for his part also uses power armor when he needs to fight.”
Nodding along Tomoka felt like everything was going well. As such, she of course decided to have some fun for herself. Quickly looking up some info in her Womp revealed a few interesting things. For starters, the Satsuki clone hadn’t left Konoha, even though she had prepared things to go like in canon beforehand.
Why not infiltrate Konoha and have some more fun there?