45. The Challenge Redux: Demand Satisfaction 2, Fight for Supremacy!

“So nice of you to join us for dinner!” Hinata says as she serves Anko a heaping helping of fried rice and hamburger steak. The Tokubetsu Jonin (or Tokujō) with a ponytail of spiky violet hair is wearing her mesh armor blouse, overcoat, and skirt.

“Thanks for having me!” Anko says before shoveling the plateful of food into her mouth with a pair of chopsticks.

Karin adjusts her glasses nervously, obviously uncomfortable to be sharing a meal with this uninvited guest. She whispers to me, “Her chakra is sweet and sharp like a caltrop coated with honey.”

The message is a clear warning to me. Try to eat this treat, and I might choke.

Anko ignores the comment and looks around. “Cozy little place you have here.” She spots the futons pushed together on the living room floor. “Having a sleepover?”

“No, we’re sleeping together,” Hinata says. “Oh, I mean that as in ‘having sex.’”

I do a spit take with the tea I’m drinking when she says that.

The young Jonin giggles at Hinata’s innocent bluntness. “I like her; she’s cute.” Anko turns to meet Tenten’s steely gaze. “I can see why you were so quick to claim her.”

I raise an eyebrow in confusion. Why is Anko talking to Tenten like that?

Tenten clears her throat. “What makes you think this isn’t a casual affair, senpai?”

I’m impressed by her subtle dig implying Anko isn’t on the level of our teams’ senseis.

“Seriously? Did you think you could grab all the talented kunoichi of a generation without anyone noticing? Believe me, the clans were expecting to divvy up the five of you between their male scions.”

Damn, she isn’t wrong. It’d be one thing if I’d formed my harem with civilians. Instead, I chose the most eligible bachelorettes in Konoha. Of course, the clans will notice when their sons’ dating pool shrinks to a shallow puddle!

“I can’t help but notice you’re housing two presumed-dead Genin. I suppose you smuggled these illegal immigrants out of the Forest of Death?”

Fuck, I had my fingers crossed, but I knew she’d notice them! It’d been too late to hide Karin and Kin, who were just reemerging as the Yamanakas left, when Anko arrived.

Karin sweats, and her glasses fog while Kin squirms in her seat. I’m sure our catgirl maid is getting some stimulation from the butt-plug, which explains why her expression seems torn between scared and horny.

Then Anko turns to me.

“And you’re responsible for the ‘Holy Maiden’ incidents.”

Fuck!

“W-what makes you say t-that?”

“I know my body well enough to tell when I’m being affected by weak genjutsu. I got this same heat in my core and heightened sense of touch when I entered this apartment as when I visited the hot springs on the trail of the ‘Holy Maiden’s’ recent appearance. Your technique is probably scent-based, though I can’t smell it. Something insect-related, knowing your clan’s specialty. You didn’t mean for the first event to happen and got cocky today after not being caught until now.”

She has me pegged perfectly, even knowing next to nothing! Of course, my heavy use of Pheromones in this apartment over the recent weeks must have soaked into the walls…

“Why are you here?” Tenten says with remarkable restraint given our situation.

Anko smiles, puts her elbows on the table, steeples her fingers, and rests her chin on the bridge. “You have a lot of problems. So many problems. What if I could make them all disappear?”

“What do you want, then?”

“You have such a lovely harem… Perhaps I could join you?”

“Hurray!” Hinata claps excitedly at the prospect.

“You want to join the harem?” I question, intrigued. Anko is a great candidate in my book. She has style and the skills to back it up.

“Well… when I say join,” Anko says, “I mean take over.”

I narrow my eyes. “You expect us to make you our new leader because you made a few threats?”

“No.” Anko grins. “I’m here to issue a challenge for dominance.”

Dojoyaburi! Dojo storming!

“How about it, Tenten-chan?”

Eh?

Oh, Anko thinks Tenten is the head of the harem! This is because I let Tenten defend Hinata from Anko’s seduction, isn’t it?

As far as Anko’s logic goes, I was Tenten’s first girl, followed by my teammate Hinata. Then Ino started attending Team 8’s training sessions under senpai Tenten… For all Anko knows, Tenten could’ve picked up Sakura, Karin, and Kin in the Forest of Death. Then Tenten reveals she has a special cursed bloodline. Hold on…

Is Tenten the real main character???

Wait, no, I’ve got the dick.

“The loser becomes the winner’s bitch,” Anko finishes.

Then I have an idea. A terrible, wonderful, awful idea. I catch Tenten’s gaze with mine and give the subtlest nod I can muster.

Tenten glances at me, smiles, and replies to Anko.

“You’re on.”

“Just to be clear,” I begin, “You’re consenting to whatever sexy times happen after this?”

Anko laughs. “‘Becoming the winner’s bitch’ basically implies submitting to whatever sexual depravity ensues, doesn’t it? What kind of a sore loser initiates a harem challenge and then complains when they end up subbing? Trust me, if I have an issue with some kink, I’ll speak up.”

“And you’re sure you don’t want to make this a sex contest?” I hopefully bat my lashes as if that will sway her opinion.

“No. This match should be decided by power; the harem’s head leads and protects. Since we’re all kunoichi, that includes subterfuge.”

“Like forcing us to accept your challenge or else you’ll report us to the Hokage?”

“Exactly.”

Mitarashi Anko leads all eight of us into the forest outside town. It’s after dark, so she has to use her status to get us past the nightguards without raising an alarm. Tenten takes the opportunity to put on her Ice Leech while I distract Anko with conversation.

When we’re deep enough into the woods for privacy, the six of us form a ring around Anko and Tenten. My first girlfriend, not even a Chunin yet, stands against a senior two ranks higher than her without an ounce of fear.

Anko takes a fighting stance. “You’re thinking your Ice Release Kekkei Genkai can bridge the gap. Let me make this clear. Our ‘match’ is a formality. I’m a Tokubetsu Jonin for a reason.”

“I assure you, senpai, this match is no formality.”

Hinata raises her hand, then swings it down. “Start!”

“Ice Release: Crystal Ice Mirrors!”

Tenten forms the proper seals and creates three ice mirrors surrounding Anko. The violet-haired Tokujo throws an incredibly fast kunai at Tenten, which bounces off the mirror’s surface to land at Anko’s feet.

“Tch.”

“You didn’t think it’d be that easy, did you senpai?” Tenten appears in all three mirrors and throws three shuriken almost in unison. Once she’s entered the Crystal Ice Mirrors, she can teleport between them a near-lightspeed, making it appear as if she’s in every mirror at once. By throwing in rapid succession from multiple angles, it almost seems like she’s attacking from each mirror simultaneously. However, Anko easily blocks each projectile with another kunai in hand.

The violet-haired girl gives a narrow-eyed smile. “Let me explain something. Kekkei Genkai are fine, but power is the final arbiter.” She inhales, puffing up her cheeks.

“Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique!”

Anko spits a concentrated stream of flame at one of the ice mirrors that explodes spectacularly on impact. The differences between this and the puny fireball Sasuke shot at Haku once upon a time are night and day. While Ice can beat Fire on even ground, the gap in ninjutsu strength between Genin and Jonin is enormous. All the harem members retreat to avoid the roaring flames that shatter the mirror into melting fragments.

“Strength isn’t everything in a battle between ninjas,” Tenten says from a fourth mirror that appears beneath Anko as she slams a kunai into the Tokujo’s leg.

“You do know I watched your fight with Temari-chan, right?” Instead of bleeding from the wound, Anko bursts into a cloud of smoke. Then a snake falls from the smoke onto Tenten’s arm, binding the brown-haired girl to prevent her from retreating into the mirror.

“Snake clone?!?”

“You were right, though. Subtlety is often the deciding factor in a ninja battle,” Anko says, her voice coming from somewhere nearby. Then the kunai Anko threw at the start of the fight bursts in a cloud of smoke to reveal the violet-haired kunoichi unharmed in Tenten’s blind spot. Simple misdirection and the Transformation jutsu.

“Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!”

This jutsu summons five vipers the size of pythons that dart from Anko’s sleeve to wrap around Tenten’s neck, arm, and torso. The violet-haired Tokujo uses these tethers to pull Tenten from the mirror, lift her into the air, and slam her onto the ground. Anko then pins Tenten flat with a knee to the chest. “I win.”

“Not yet,” I say as I tackle Anko away from Tenten.

The Tokubetsu Jonin kicks off of me midair and backflips onto her feet. “Shino-chan, why are you interfering with our duel?”

“What duel? You issued a challenge for dominance.”

“Isn’t that the same thing?”

“Nope, and didn’t you say subterfuge is allowed? You haven’t even been fighting the right person. I’m the true head of this harem! If you want to dominate us, you’ll have to defeat all the girls loyal to me. You know what they say, ‘All’s fair in love, war, and especially ninja battles.’”

My girls ready their fighting stances and close the circle around Anko while Tenten stands and recovers.

“Tch. Fine,” Anko says, repeating the snake hands technique with her other sleeve. Her human arms then reach for kunai as she prepares for a tougher fight.

“I’ll sit this one out,” Ino says, standing back. “I’m actually hoping she kicks your ass. Then maybe I can get above Shino-chan in rank and have her whenever I want… heh heh.”

“Disloyal harlot!” Karin says.

Ino scoffs at the insult. “She’s practically a Jonin, the same as our senseis. We can’t possibly win, so she might as well take over.”

“No one can replace Shino-chan!” Hinata says as she charges the Tokubetsu Jonin. Sakura, Karin, Kin, and I fight by her side with kunai while Tenten uses the three remaining ice mirrors to throw shuriken from multiple directions.

Despite being vastly outnumbered, Anko’s snake hands technique evens the playing field with two snakes for each of us. It’s like each of us is fighting a separate taijutsu-only Jonin. The striking snakes deflect shuriken, block blows, and menace my girls with their fangs to keep anyone from getting close.

No one said Tokujo were pushovers!

However, battles of attrition are my specialty.

“Parasitic Insects?!?” Anko says as she looks down at her clothes and arms. Tiny beetles swarm over her exposed skin.

“That’s right, I snuck a ton of bugs onto you during that tackle! You won’t last long with them stealing your chakra.”

Hinata holds her own against the snakes, which are wary of her since they don’t want to let her seal their tenketsu (chakra pathways). Tenten summons more weapons to throw but can’t get through the net of snakes to land a hit. This is getting out of hand! I activate my eyes to match the speed of my snake opponents by increasing my reaction time and battlefield perception. Sakura, Karin, and Kin, however, struggle to stand their ground against the faster and stronger snake hands.

“Then let’s not drag this out…” Anko surges forward at Kin. Our catgirl maid tries to dodge, but the Tokujo’s speed is overwhelming. Anko grabs Kin’s free hand in her own to form a seal and says, “Twin Snakes Mutual Bondage Technique!”

I recognize it as a modified version of the suicide jutsu she used against Orochimaru in the Anime.

Completing this ninjutsu using the target’s hand allows Anko to instantly ensnare Kin along with herself in a tangle of snakes that tie the two kunoichi together. The catgirl can’t budge an inch while bound by those coils, but only Anko’s arm is trapped in the knot—letting her continue to fight unbothered. With that done, the Tokujo’s ‘snake hands’ have fewer enemies to split their focus, so Hinata and I each must deal with an additional snake. Now, neither of us can make a move without being bitten.

We’re forced to watch helplessly as Anko grabs Karin next, using the same jutsu to capture the redhead. Although both of Anko’s human arms are caught in a tangle of reptilian coils, her Tokujo strength allows her to carry both girls while chasing us down. The two snakes freed from occupying Karin go after Sakura this time. With four snakes to contend with, Sakura doesn’t last more than a second. Two snakes constrict around her arms and legs to completely immobilize her.

Four snakes strike at me this time! My dojutsus barely allow me to avoid a similar fate, but I don’t know if I can keep this up much longer.

Then Tenten lunges from an ice mirror beneath Anko to grab the Tokujo’s legs and screams, “Now!”

I release my kunai to grapple all four snake hands attacking me and the two that were blocking Tenten’s projectiles. I’ll be entangled in a moment but, for now, they’re all in my grasp. The remaining snake hands are occupied with keeping Hinata at bay.

“Mind Body Switch Technique!” Ino says, loyal to me after all.

Since that jutsu acts like an invisible projectile, the target has to be immobilized to ensure a hit. With Anko’s Jonin reflexes and speed, that’d be impossible… Unless her arms, legs, and snake hands were all restrained!

Anko’s head bows, going limp, then straightens to shout, “I can’t hold her for more than a few seconds! Do it, Hinata!”

Without Anko’s guidance, the snakes don’t release their prey, but they’re easier to get around without a strategic mind guiding them. I command all my insects to swarm Anko. Meanwhile, Hinata darts into range of Anko’s torso.

“Eight Trigrams: Two Palms! Four Palms! Eight Palms! Sixteen Palms! Thirty-two Palms!”

Hinata’s repeatedly strikes Anko’s tenketsu while beetles cover the areas she doesn’t hit.

In a testament to the Tokujo’s prowess, Anko breaks free of Ino’s jutsu, causing the blond girl to collapse. Anko leaps free of Tenten’s grip and shakes me off. Then she dismisses her snake bondage jutsu on Kin and Karin before trying to scrape away the insects with her snakes.

However, with thirty-two of her tenketsu sealed and her body covered in chakra-eating bugs, the battle is over. Ten seconds later, the snakes all unsummon in a puff of smoke, and we surround her.

“You lost.” I state the obvious as Anko kneels before me.

She nods, reluctant, but obedient.

“I’m your bitch.”