《Naruto: The Time Looper》 Chapter 1 In a world where war was constantly happening, where it was a matter of when and not if. Even now, a war is happening inside the world, the people call it the third great shinobi world war. Inside a small country called the land of hot water, a camp of ninjas stood. They all carried headbands with a leaf symbol inscribed on them. And inside this camp of ninjas, was a small tent where a child of only twelve years of age. It was at this moment that the young kid woke up suddenly. *Huff* *Huff* Turning his head left and right, the young ninja looked at his surroundings in surprise. ''Where am I?'' He thought as he tried to make sense of his current location however he came up with a blank. At least until a few moments later when he felt the start of a major headache. It started slowly but after a few seconds, the headache ramped up almost overwhelming him completely, causing the ninja to hold his head in pain and gather himself almost in a ball from the pain he was experiencing. ''Im Kazuo? A gennin of the hidden leaf village?'' Kazuo questioned himself as if doubting what he was seeing as memories flashed through his mind. ''Im in the world of Naruto?'' Kazuo thought as shivers ran down his spine. ''No, no way. This is some prank, it has to be some kind of elaborate prank'' Kazuo thought as he quickly jumped from the bed, his headache practically forgotten at the piece of shocking news. Heading to the entrance of the tent, Kazuo almost ripped the fabric apart as he went outside to look at his surroundings. As soon as he was out of the tent, Kazuo stopped. His eyes grew wide, and shock and horror appeared in his expression. All around him stood tens upon tens of similar green tents, but that wasn''t what shocked Kazuo. It was the screams of people, the bloody smell in the air. ''It''s true'' Kazuo thought, his mind had turned into a mess as he looked around at the roaming ninjas. Their expressions looked grim as they walked, their clothes adorned with patches of blood and their hands almost completely scarred. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Some had even lost their eyes while others had deep scars that went through the entirety of their face. Quickly Kazuo turned around and headed back into his tent, his mind working on overdrive as he tried to adapt to the situation he had found himself in. Sitting back on his bed once more, Kazuo started thinking. ''I''m inside the world of Naruto, My name is Kazuo, and im a Gennin from the Gennin Corps of the Hidden Leaf, i failed my Jonin sensei exam last month and only a month later was sent to the frontline against the hidden cloud. It is currently the era of the third world war and Hiruzen is still the Hokage.'' Kazuo thought as he took everything in, analyzing the memories he had gained. ''I currently have low Gennin level chakra reserves and only know the three academy jutsu and even those are only at the basic level. How the fuck am I supposed to survive in this shithole? Where''s my damned cheat'' Kazuo thought as he pressed his temples in anger. It was at this moment that the entrance of his tent was opened and a young man came inside, he was about twenty years of age with brown spike hair that went all the way to his shoulders. "Kazuo, we''ve got a patrolling mission, get ready in ten minutes and come to the entrance of the camp." The man said before quickly turning around and heading off. ''That''s Kenji Ono, a Chunnin and the leader of my three-man patrolling team whilst im here in the frontline'' Kazuo thought before standing up and turning to look around his tent. Having the memories of the past owner of this body was great as he quickly found all of his combat gear and outfitted himself. Turning around, Kazuo found a mirror next to his belongings. Taking it into his hands, he looked at his new face. With black spiky hair that went down to his neck and completely black eyes, he looked like the typical Uchiha if he had to say so himself. Though his features were more average when compared to the clan members. ''Atleast i''m not ugly'' Kazuo thought to himself sarcasticlly before releasing a long winded sigh. Putting the mirror back into his backpack, Kazuo turned around and headed out of the tent, and started going toward the entrance of the camp where his team would be waiting for him. ''Kenji Ono, the leader of the group, a Chunnin level ninja with below standard chakra reserves for his rank. Overall he is only a chunnin because it is war time and in peace times he would have still been a gennin at most.'' Kazuo thought before starting to think about the last member of their group. It was another kid who had failed his Jonin sensei exam and been sent to the corps, where he had first met Kazuo. ''Yaso Arakawa, similarly to Kenji the guy is a civilian-birthed ninja with low to almost no accomplishments in the ninja academy. With short black hair and brown eyes, he was the typical cannon fodder.'' Kazuo thought as he walked through the camp. After a minute or so, Kazuo arrived at the camp''s entrance where he saw ninjas patrolling and on guard duty as well as others that kept coming in and out of the camp as they finished or started this mission just like Kazuo was about to start his own. Looking around, he quickly found his teammates and headed to them. "Hey!" "Hey, you''re right on time Kazuo, It''s just a simple patrolling mission so there''s not much to explain in mission details, let''s just get started immediately so we can complete this quickly," Kenji said as he waved at Kazuo whilst Yaso stood silent merely giving Kazuo a nod. _____________________________________________________________________________ I hope you guys liked the first chapter. The update schedule is 1 chapter a day, the usual chapter length is 1000 words. Chapter 2 Kazuo nodded at Kenji and the group started heading out of the ninja camp. As they ran out of the camp, Kenji and Yaso started jumping onto the trees and hopping from one tree to the other. This was an essential skill for all hidden leaf shinobi, it helped them immensely when they were in their own territory or when inside a forest when compared to ninjas from other great villages. Kazuo looked at the backs of his two teammates before quickly jumping onto a tree branch. Thankfully with the memories of this body, he could emulate and do whatever the past Kazuo had been able to. As the group ran in a triangle formation with Kenji at the front, they started this patrolling route. ''The route that the group usually goes on is about four kilometers from the camp entrance and from there, we complete a full circle around the perimeter after which we are done for the day and return back to the camp'' Kazuo thought as he followed behind his leader. The first twenty or so minutes of the patrol went calmly as the group concentrated and kept their guard up against any signs of danger. However, it seemed luck wasn''t on Kazuo''s side today as, at the twenty-first minute, something did happen. Suddenly as they were hopping from tree to tree, Kenji stopped on a tree branch abruptly. And in the tree branch where he had been about to jump to, tens of kunai had been embedded into merely a split second later. "Enemy attack" Kenji quickly said as he raised his guard up even further. Kazuo and Yaso stopped right behind him, each on a different tree branch as they started looking around for the attacker. ''It''s an ambush, all three of us are civilian ninjas so we don''t have any special methods of tracking, none of us are even sensors.'' Kazuo quickly thought as he looked around the trees before he noticed something heading towards them. "Explosive kunai!" Kazuo screamed before jumping away from the tree branch he was at currently. Kenji quickly followed and jumped away from the location, however, Yaso was too slow in his reaction speed. Kazuo saw the kunai with a paper tag attached to it fly directly to where Yaso was. The paper tag had already started burning and when Yaso tried to escape and jump away, it was already too late. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. *BOOM* With a loud booming sound, the explosive tag exploded, destroying everything in a five-meter radius, Yaso included. Kazuo saw it clearly, the face of his teammate as the explosion hit and ripped his body apart, as half of his body was erased from the explosion, blood splattering everywhere. ''Fuck'' Kazuo thought before he quickly turned to where the kunai had been launched from. "North, fifteen degrees toward the south." Kazuo quickly shouted out the direction from where he had seen the kunai being thrown from. Kenji nodded his head and quickly started running toward the location. Kazuo looked at the man for a moment before shaking his head. ''What the fuck are you doing? We''re only two people and you''re just going to go head in first?'' Kazuo thought to himself as thoughts of retreating alone immediately filled his head however he shook his head merely a moment later. ''I could be considered a deserter and killed immediately after'' Jumping from the tree branch, Kazuo quickly followed Kenji for a few hundred meters before he saw Kenji fall down to the grass below. Joining him on the ground, the two found themselves in a small clearing inside the forest. Looking around, Kazuo found nothing besides silence however that was a clear indicator that something was wrong. ''I can''t hear anything, this is a genjutsu'' Kazuo thought almost immediately. Putting his hands together, Kazui quickly disrupted his chakra system however nothing happened, and the silence still remained. ''Is my chakra control too low?'' Kazuo thought next as he looked at Kenji looking around for any sign of the attackers. Taking out a kunai from his backpack, Kazuo pierced his leg slightly. At that moment, he started hearing sounds once more, and there right before Kenji was a ninja. Kenji didn''t even notice the enemy who was right in front of him. However, even Kazuo had been too late in releasing the genjutsu. *Sslich* Pain erupted from Kazuo''s back and at the same time, he saw the ninja sever Kenji''s head, it falling down to the ground together with his body whilst blood erupted into the air, almost like a water fountain. He himself, saw the ground closing in as he fell down, turning his eyesight to the back he saw another ninja. It was a kid, someone who couldn''t be older and was maybe even younger than Kazuo himself. He had a scared look on his face as he held a kunai in his hands which were trembling as he looked at Kazuo who had fallen onto the ground. At this moment, another person appeared and started patting the young kid''s shoulder. "You did good Aoki," The man said, he was large with a muscular frame and short blond hair. A cloud village symbol adorned his headband. ''This fucker, im his first kill aren''t I?'' Kazuo thought however he could even talk out loud as blood filled his mouth and throat. "However next time you have to remember to finish the job, Aoki, this is war and all of these wretches are nothing but that, pieces of shit who deserve to die," The man said before taking out a short sword from his back and getting closer to Kazuo. Grabbing Kazuos hair, he held him up before giving him a bloody smile. "Any last words, tree hugger?" The man said as he held Kazuo up with one hand, whilst holding the short sword in the other. Kazuo looked at him as immense hatred radiated from his eyes. He was mad at the man, angered at the young ninja, and before all of that, he was furious at the whole situation, at having been reincarnated into this shitty world. Opening his mouth, blood leaked out as it dripped down all the way to Kazuos chin. "Your mother will miss me," Kazuo said before his expression turned into a smile and he spat onto the man''s face. This seemed to anger the cloud ninja as he raised his short sword and cleanly severed Kazuos head. _____________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 3 Darkness took over Kazuos sight as he felt an unbearable pain hit him for a split second as the sword severed his head. And Then it was all gone and he found himself in a completely different location. Looking around, Kazuo found that he was on a small wooden boat floating in a dark sea, it wasn''t just the sea in fact, it was everything around him. It looked like he was floating in the middle of the sea inside some kind of abyss. It was at this moment that Kazuo saw something. Behind him, there was someone who was rowing the boat. It was a large creature, more than three meters tall with a black robe covering his entire body and face. At that moment as Kazuo was looking at the creature, it spoke to him. "Why do you resent death so much, in here you shall forever be calm and sleep peacefully for all of eternity." The thing spoke with a gravelly deep voice. Kazuo looked at the creature for a moment before he furrowed his brows, anger overtaking his expression. "Fuck that" The creature seemed taken aback for a moment before it released a long-winded laugh, it was so eerie that it sent shivers down Kazuo''s spine. "You shall come back again, for it is your destiny." The thing spoke before Kazuo saw himself disappearing, his body turning into specs of light. Merely a few moments later, Kazuo disappeared completely. *Huff* *Huff* Inside a tent in the hidden leaf frontline camp, a young ninja was huffing as if he had just awoken from a terrible nightmare. It was Kazuo. ''What the fuck'' Kazuo thought as he looked around him. ''This is my tent at the camp? Wasn''t I just dead?'' Kazuo thought before something interrupted any further thoughts he might have had. [ Ding ] [ User has unlocked the Time Loop System ] The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. ''Time Loop system? Is this my cheat?'' Kazuo thought quickly as he read the text that had appeared in front of him on a holographic blue screen. A moment later, a new holographic panel appeared before Kazuo. [ Menu ] [ Stats ] [ Quests ] There were only two options in this menu screen, the Stats tab and the Quests tab. ''Is this just a weakened version of the gamer?'' Kazuo thought before opening his status tab. [ Stats ] [ Name: Kazuo ] [ Age: 12 ] [ Race: Human ] [ Strength: D- ] [ Endurance: D- ] [ Agility: D- ] [ Intelligence: B- ] [ Charisma: C ] [ Skills ] [ Time Loop ] [ Level 1 ] [ Academy Taijutsu ] [ Level 8/10 ] [ Academy Shurikenjutsu ] [ Level 9/10 ] [ Clone Jutsu ] [ Level 5/10 ] [ Substitution Jutsu ] [ Level 5/10 ] [ Transformation Jutsu ] [ Level 5/10 ] Looking over the information on his status screen, Kazuo was disappointed, to say the least. ''What the fuck are these shitty ass stats, did this guy just sleep the entire time in the academy?'' Kazuo thought. *Sigh* Releasing a long sigh, Kazuo quickly calmed his emotions down. ''So I have a time loop system which means that every time I die, I return to the start of that day. In less than an hour, I''ll be dead, having died at the hands of a wimpy bitch'' Kazuo thought as he remembered the young kid who had killed him whilst his hands shook. ''Fuck'' Kazuo thought as anger surged into his head every time he thought of the event. At this moment as Kazuo sat on his bed, he saw Kenji walk into the tent and inform him of the upcoming patrol mission. ''First let''s test out what will happen if I''m late to the mission, maybe that way I''ll be able to escape the encounter with the cloud ninjas, from what I saw that guy who severed my head is most likely a Jonin sensei, right now I have no way of actually killing him'' Kazuo thought as he stood up from his bed and started getting his combat outfit back on. Opening the next tab of the system whilst he did so. [ Quests ] [ Survive the first day ] [ Reward: C rank Elemenal Jutsu ] That was the only thing on the tab, reading over the quest Kazuo furrowed his brows. ''I gain a C rank jutsu if I complete it but if I don''t then I just die?'' Kazuo thought in frustration. There was no penalty shown on the quest but just by reading the name of the quest, you would know how the only way to fail this quest was. Dying. Dying in a ditch in the middle of some backwater country. Kazuo took his time as he got dressed up in his combat clothes instead of rushing like he had the previous turn. By the time he was done, ten minutes had already passed. Turning around, Kazuo started walking to the entrance of the camp at an extremely slow pace, as if he were a civilian with no chakra taking a stroll around the local park. *Sigh* Releasing a sigh as he walked Kazuo thought back to the last two hours. He had woken up in a world that he thought was only fiction and he had already died a gruesome death once. However Kazuo didn''t have time to contemplate or whine about his circumstances, he had no time to cry about what he had been thrust into. He either had to adapt and advance forward or lose his mind as he died over and over and the same day repeated itself. Death had already told him that it was his destiny however Kazuo had never believed that shit. ''My destiny? You know that sounds a lot like something Neji would say.'' Kazuo thought as a grin appeared on his face. Only to disappear a moment later as Kazuo got serious once more. ''I''ll survive, no matter what.'' _____________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 4 It was only twenty minutes after Kenji had told him about the mission that Kazuo arrived at the meetup point at the camp''s entrance. Kenji had a frown on his face as he gave a sharp look at Kazuo who simply waltzed in front of them, not even pretending to be hurried as he walked toward them. "What took you so long, im sure that I told you to come here in ten minutes, it''s been twenty Kazuo," Kenji said, his voice clearly showed his frustration, and Kazuo''s attitude didn''t seem to be helping either. "Ah sorry, I saw a black cat cross the road so I had to take a longer route," Kazuo said as he pretended to be embarrassed whilst scratching the back of his head. Kenji and Yaso simply looked at him whilst they judged him in their minds. "Never mind, you''re here now, let''s just get on with this mission and complete it quickly," Kenji said before he started running out of the camp with Yaso and Kazuo following quickly behind him. As they ran, Kazuo''s mind was filled with ways that he could halt the duo or just escape this mission. At that moment an idea flashed in Kazuo''s mind which he quickly decided to execute. As they were running, Kazuo acted as if he slipped from the tree branch, falling down onto the ground. As he fell, Kazuo put his leg forward in an awkward position. ''Hitting the ground like this will break my ankle, making it impossible for me to carry on with this mission.'' Kazuo thought as a small smile emerged on his face whilst the ground started getting closer and closer until finally he fell down onto the ground. Kenji and Yaso quickly stopped and jumped down, trying to see what had happened. Looking at Kazuo they quickly noticed his broken ankle which had a bone sticking out, it looked quite gruesome. Meanwhile, Kazuo was making a grimacing expression as he thought. ''Fuck, I didn''t think it would hurt this much. Dumb fucking plan'' "What happened, did someone attack you?" Kenji asked as he looked around them cautiously, his hand had already grasped a kunai from his small ninja tool bag that he had tied behind his back. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Slowly Kazuo shook his head. "No, I slipped." Those words caused both Kenji and Yaso to freeze. Silence overtook the two with the only sound being the grunts of Kazuo who tried to withstand the pain. ''Fucking bastards, help me get to a medical ninja already'' Kazuo thought as he looked at the two. It was only a few moments later that Kenji asked, his voice clearly showing his confusion. "You slipped?" The man asked, his face colored in disbelief as he looked at his subordinate. "Yes captain, now can you help get me back to the camp again and get some medical attention already? Breaking your ankle and being able to see your bones covered with blood isn''t very fun you know?" Kazuo finally said as he got fed up with the duo who weren''t doing anything. That seemed to bring the two out of their stupor as they crouched and both grabbed Kazuos arms, hoisting him up whilst they made sure not to touch his ankle or let it touch the ground so that it wouldn''t get damaged even further. Then with the two holding him, they started getting back to the camp. Thankfully they hadn''t run too far away so the camp was still quite close. Arriving five minutes later, the two went back in through the front gate whilst the guards looked at them weirdly. One of them even came up and asked if something had happened only to learn that Kazuo had slipped. ''My reputation in this camp is about to go to shit but who cares if im dead then reputation means nothing'' Kazuo thought as he bore the pain. A few moments later, he arrived at the medical tent where he was quickly laid down onto a stretcher and brought inside. Everywhere he looked inside the tent, Kazuo could see badly injured ninjas, some had lost their eyes, some had lost their legs or arms and some had even lost their ears or noses from what looked like explosions. Most of them however had gotten cut or wounded cleanly from the looks of it. ''Probably because of the inherent sharpness in lightning release jutsu and the fact that a lot of cloud ninjas use swords'' Kazuo thought before he saw a young kunoichi wearing a medical ninja outfit come close to him. She didn''t speak to him and merely took hold of his leg with her hands and then pushed the bones back into his body. A loud scream pierced out of Kazuo as he felt indescribable pain when the woman put his ankle bone back inside his body. ''What the fuck is this bitch doing'' Kazuo thought through the immense pain. A second later, he saw her hands glow green before she started healing him with what was most likely mystical palm medical jutsu. Lifting his head slightly so that he could see, Kazuo saw the wound in his ankle healing at a visible speed. ''Damned cheats. I want to do that too.'' Kazuo thought as he stared at the medical kunoichi hatefully for a split second before shaking his head. *Sigh* Releasing a sigh, Kazuo thought of what he would have to do next. ''Im getting too emotional, that needs to be something I check on constantly and learn to control better, this is a place where I can whine or get angry, I need to learn how to control my emotions perfectly so that others cant exploit me with them'' Kazuo thought as he saw the kunoichi turn toward him. "You''ll have a three-day break, Don''t do anything strenuous during these three days and you will be back in combat-ready condition." She said before turning around and heading to her next patient. Getting up from his bed, Kazuo headed outside of the medical tent. __________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 5 Walking around, Kazuo saw the ninjas around the camp as they went about their daily duties. Some were sparring against each other, some watched them, some went on about their duties of patrolling and some headed back to their tents to get some rest. It wasn''t a pretty sight. He saw hundreds upon hundreds of people, of men, women, and even what people called children in his world, preparing to fight others to the death for some deranged concept of helping out their country, of protecting their homes and friends. ''Protecting them, as if'' Kazuo sneered as he thought back to the Konoha leaders. Hiruzen was a disgrace of a Hokage, someone who was meant to be the strongest and more charismatic leader had been turned into a puppet by Danzo. ''That bastard can do anything he wants and he will never get punished, and then there''s this war, the Senju clan has all but disappeared because of those two old wretches, and now the world views Konoha as weak. If it wasn''t because of those two then things would have been completely different'' Kazuo thought as he headed back to his tent. Once inside, Kazuo started rummaging through his belongings once more, trying to find anything of use. A while later, he had put everything that he had found that he thought could be useful. And by everything, he meant one thing only. It was a blue scroll that held the knowledge of how to perform the C rank jutsu, Water Bullet. ''At least it''s better than not having anything'' Kazuo thought before he opened the scroll and started reading through it. Hours passed as Kazuo delved deeply into the scroll and night had almost fallen upon the world, the sun already setting as it cast its orange glow on the world. It was at this moment that Kazuo who had been reading the scroll heard a loud sound. It sounded like a ginormous explosion that shook the very ground. Quickly hopping onto his feet, Kazuo grabbed his weapon pack and jumped outside of the tent quickly. He saw it get engulfed in flames merely a second later after he had jumped. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. ''Fuck, what is this shitty luck'' Kazuo thought as he quickly looked around, trying to find out what the hell was happening. All around him, Kazuo saw ninjas fighting each other, explosions rocking the world, and flames erupting all around as tents caught on fire from either jutsus or the explosion tags. ''Those fucking cloud ninjas'' Kazuo thought before he quickly turned and started running to the edge of the camp. ''As if im going to fight when I have a broken ankle'' Kazuo thought however he was soon forced to stop in place as an enemy ninja appeared before him. It was the same guy, the same damned guy who had killed him the last turn when he was out on patrol. "What do we have here, a little tree hugger." The man said with that same annoying voice of his. ''So the reason why we met him so close to the camp was that they were getting rid of all patrols and making sure that the camp wasn''t ready for their ambush, does that mean that im doomed to fight him when im on patrol?'' Kazuo thought he didn''t even get a kunai out of his weapon bag. "Did you give up already? I always knew that the tree huggers were scared bitches" The man said with a short laugh before he started running toward Kazui with a smile on his face. As he came close, the man plunged his sword into Kazuo''s stomach. Sneering into Kazuo''s face, the man''s expression seemed to say that this was what he expected from him, nothing more. It was at this moment that Kazuo moved unexpectedly, grasping the man''s arms and bringing him closer. A large smile erupted on Kazuo''s face as he looked at the man. "Im afraid?" Kazuo said as the sword plunged even deeper into his stomach. The Jonin''s expression twisted as he looked at the crazed expression on Kazuo''s face. Alarm bells were ringing in his head however no matter what he tried, Kazuo wouldn''t let go of his arm. It was at this moment that he heard the young kid before him mutter a single but frightening word that sent shivers down his spine. "Kai" As dread erupted inside the Jonin''s mind, it was already too late. A thunderous explosion occurred as Kazuo''s body together with the jonin was devoured by it and almost erased from existence. Kazuo''s last thoughts were simple. ''Who''s scared now.'' And once more Kazuo found himself back inside his tent, his breath coming in harsh huffs as he looked like he had awoken from a bad nightmare. After a few moments, Kazuo managed to calm himself down and slowed down his breaths. "Being exploded really isn''t fun, that hurts more than having your head severed," Kazuo said as he rubbed his arms which were covered in goosebumps at the memory of the pain he had experienced in his last moments. And Kenji promptly appeared once more and told him about their patrol mission. "We have a..." Before he could finish, Kazuo interrupted him. "Patrol Mission, in ten minutes at the front entrance, I know" Kenji stopped and looked at him weirdly for a moment before nodding his head and heading out of the tent. Turning around, Kazuo wore his combat outfit for the third time before starting to head toward the front entrance of the camp once more. ''I''ll just have to push through the fight in the patrol and come back or I could even let these two guys become bait and survive myself so that I come back to the camp and tell them about the incoming ambush.'' Kazuo thought as he arrived at the front entrance of the ninja camp. "Hey!" Kenji said as he gave Kazuo a wave of his hand. And after a short talk, they headed out of the camp once more. _____________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 6 Hopping from tree to tree, Kazuo followed Kenji and Yaso from behind, his mind working on overdrive as he tried to come up with a solution. Seeing the tree branch where Yaso had died during the first turn, Kazuo immediately stopped causing the other two to stop almost at the same time. "What''s wrong Kazuo?" Kenji asked immediately as he turned to look at Kazuo. "There is an ambush up ahead, in the direction of northwest, they will attack us soon enough. We can''t beat them, they have a Jonin in their ranks." Kazuo said before turning to look in the direction he had just told them the ambushers were in. "How do you know that?" Yaso spoke for the first time since he had met him on the first turn. "I can sense their chakra, and that guy has more than triple of kenjis chakra." Kenji turned doubtful eyes toward Kazuo however after a moment of contemplation he nodded his head. "All right, we''ll go back to camp and report this quickly. Better to be safe than dead in some ditch" Kazuo and Yaso nodded their head, relief tore through Kazuo''s mind at seeing the captain make a smart decision. ''Good, this way the camp will know of the these guys however they won''t know that an ambush for the whole camp is going to happen near sunset.'' Kazuo thought to himself however he shook his head, deciding to see how this turn would end up. Turning around, the group started heading back to camp, and twenty minutes later they returned once more. The trio headed to the camp commander''s tent immediately. They got stopped at the tents entrance where a guard asked them what they needed. "We have to talk with the commander quickly, there was an enemy ambush less than four kilometers away from the camp," Kazuo spoke quickly before Kenji could even utter out any words. Seeing the urgency in Kazuo''s voice the man nodded his head quickly and let them through. Once inside the tent, Kazuo saw that it was much bigger than his own and even had a large wooden table in the middle with a huge map placed on top of it. Documents and files of all types were scattered around the tent and sitting on a chair behind the large wooden table was a man with black hair that was tied up in a ponytail. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Kazuo immediately knew what clan the ninja was from just from his looks. ''A Nara, if im not wrong then his name is Shikaru Nara'' Kazou thought before Kenji walked to the front of the group and started talking with Shikaru, explaining the situation to him. After a few moments of talk, the commander turned toward Kazou and looked at him intently for a few moments. "You''re a sensor?" The man asked as he stared at Kazou. "Yes sir, though my range is quite limited however the group was close enough that even I could sense them lying in ambush." "I see, I''ll send an anbu team to check up on the location, you will go with them and lead them to the destination," Shikaru said to Kazou, this wasn''t a request, it was an order. "Yes sir," Kazou said immediately. A thought whirred through Shikaru''s mind as he looked at the young shinobi before him. ''His reply was fast, almost too fast. And the fact that he managed to keep the fact that he was a sensor from everyone until now is suspicious, the village should have already known but there is nothing on his file about it. I''ll have to keep an eye out, I''ll tell the Anbu to observe him closely as well'' Shikaru thought as he looked at Kazou and nodded his head. At that moment, Shikaru started flaring his chakra in timed pulses, and merely a few seconds later five ninja wearing gray outfits and maks on their faces appeared before him. "Team Hawk, you will take this young ninja, he will lead you to a spot where it is suspected a group of cloud shinobi are lying in wait. Eliminate them all and come back." Shikaru said to the five who nodded their head and turned toward Kazou, motioning for him to follow them. Quickly Kazou nodded his head and started running after them, using chakra to enhance his speed but even then, he felt like a damned snail when compared to the anbu ahead of him. They weren''t even using shunshin anymore and he still couldn''t even come close to the five as they headed out of the camp and jumped from tree to tree. After fifteen minutes, with Kazou having slowed the team down significantly, the group arrived at the location where the ambush was once more. Kazou quickly pointed out the location of where he had met the enemy ninjas on the first turn. One of the anbu wearing a hawk mask came forward and nodded his head, quickly forming some hand seals with one hand. ''He''s communicating with the team using hand signs and not using a jutsu'' Kazuo quickly figured out as the rest of the anbu made sets of hand signs quickly before what looked like the captain nodded and disappeared from the location with two other anbu. Leaving Kazuo and two others back. ''I have to learn the shunshin, that jutsus useability is probably one of the highest if not the highest in the entire series.'' Kazou thought as he stared in the direction of the forest clearing. It was only a few seconds later when he heard the sounds of fighting. *Boom* *Klang* Booming sounds were heard as well as the sounds of blades clashing against one another, the forest lighting up on fire from the jutsus and spreading around quickly. One minute and forty seconds, that was how long Kazuo counted before he saw the Anbu come back once more. ''In one minute and forty seconds, they dispatched a jonin and at least two other gennin if not more. Is this what an anbu is capable of?'' Kazuo thought as he stared at the group, shivers running down his spine. _____________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 7 A short moment later, the Anbu motioned for Kazuo to follow them and they started returning back to the camp. Another fifteen minutes later which for Kazuo was hell, he could barely keep up with the anbu even when he ran as fast as he could, his physical stats were much lower than those of the anbu and it clearly showed. ''What the fuck was this kid doing, you live in a world where death is your next-door neighbor and you just live carefree?'' Kazuo thought to himself as he followed the group. Finally seeing the entrance of the camp, Kazou felt a sense of relief pour over him as he passed by the gates and into the camp. He didn''t have time to stop or take a breath however as he had to go directly to the commander''s camp together with the anbu team to report the end of the short mission. Arriving at the tent, the guard didn''t stop him this time, seeing that he was together with a team of Anbu and he merely gave the group a nod. Usually, he wouldn''t even see them however since Kazuo was with them, they had slowed down their speed by several stages. Once inside the commander''s tent, Kazuo saw the commander Shikaru Nara once more. Kazuo stood at the back of the group as the team leader of the anbu, the man with the hawk mask went ahead of the group and started explaining. "The information was true, there was a cloud Gennin team together with their jonin sensei lying in ambush at the spot where Gennin Kazuo mentioned they were. We quickly dispatched the group only leaving one Gennin alive before interrogating him quickly however we didn''t delve too deeply into his mind and quickly dispatched him as well before returning." The Anbu captain said before placing a scroll on the wooden table. "The bodies are in the scroll for the Yamanaka at the camp to investigate further and see if they can find anything further, though it is doubtful." The man said before taking a step back and awaiting the commander''s words. "Good job, you can go back to your post," Shikaru said, dismissing the anbu before turning to look at Kazuo and giving him a nod. "What you did today was of great help to us, you will be rewarded with a C-rank mission reward, you can take the resources after the war is over or if you go back to the village at the fund''s administration office inside the Hokage tower," Shikaru said, clearly dismissing Kazuo. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Kazuo nodded his head, and quickly turned around, heading back to his tent. Meanwhile, as soon as Kazuo went away, Shikaru made a hand motion and the Anbu captain appeared once more. "Did you find anything suspicious?" "No sir, he displayed normal behavior so nothing could be discerned, if you want we can send a Yamanaka to delve into his mind and investigate further." The anbu captain said in a formal tone as he addressed his commander. Shikaru seemed to think for a moment before shaking his head. "No, leave it for now. What information did you gain from your investigation" "We managed to gather information about a full brunt ambush on the camp, it''s planned to happen today during sunset, there will be around two hundred cloud ninjas coming to the ambush, we don''t have any information on how many Jonin or Chunnin will take part." The anbu captain said, his voice clearly deeper, saying what could possibly be the cause of the entire camp''s eradication. Shikaru lifted his hand and rubbed his temple. "What a drag..." For a few moments, silence remained before Shikaru lifted his head once more. "Gather all the anbu troops that are available and also inform all the team captains. Tell everyone in the camp to be combat-ready and to be on guard and available to enter combat at any second. Next, you and three other anbu teams will use earth jutsu and hide underground and hide yourself, when the enemy attacks wait for them to fully enter the camp before attacking their backs, this will make it so that they are the ones surrounded and not us. There''s nothing else we can do on such short notice." Shikaru said as he released a sigh. "Yes sir." The Anbu captain said before he quickly shunshined out of the tent. On the other side of the camp, Kazuo had entered the training area of the camp. Deciding that it was more worth training than simply waiting for the inevitable ambush. Kazuo didn''t start trying to learn the water bullet jutsu however. ''Trying to do that right now is simply a waste of chakra, i need that if I want to survive the ambush. If everything I did today still fails and I die then I should start concentrating on increasing my strength and proficiency of the jutsu every turn until I grow strong enough but let''s hope that it doesn''t have to come to that'' Kazuo thought before starting to make hand signs. However, he didn''t put any chakra in the motions, simply practicing the hand signs and trying to increase his familiarity with them. He could do everything that the old owner of this body could however there was still a small timeframe as his body executed the moves and Kazuo hoped to remove that as well as grow more familiar with the new body he was in. At first, he started with hand signs and then with taijutsu, shurikenjutsu and lastly, he did some stretches so that he was in top condition for when the ambush would start. And it was going to be anytime now. As he had taken a few hours practicing everything and the sun had already started to set. Looking at his ninja bag which he had tied to his waist. Kazuo thought. '' Five Kunai, Ten Shuriken, Three explosion tag Kunai, and five explosion tags. I also have two soldier pills that I could use to regenerate my chakra in the middle of combat. Overall it''s not bad however I''ll have to be careful of when I use them with my limited supply.'' At this moment as those thoughts occurred in Kazuos mind, an explosion erupted on the other side of the camp. ''It''s started'' _____________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 8 The moment the explosions happened, Kazuo quickly turned and looked in the direction of the entrance of the camp. There he could see flames engulfing tents and sounds of blades clashing against one another. Every few seconds, one would be able to see lightning flashes from the cloud ninjas'' jutsu. Kazuo didn''t rush to help and neither did he go directly to the edge of the camp, he knew that those were the most dangerous places. ''It''s likely that the entire camp is surrounded by enemy ninjas, there really is nowhere to hide'' Kazuo thought before taking out a kunai from his bag and entering a combat stance, he didn''t move from his spot at all. He was in the training grounds and quite a few ninjas were around him who quickly followed his actions and took their weapons out or simply assumed taijutsu stances. ''It''s always better to have meat shields'' Kazuo thought as a smile erupted on his face however it kept constantly twitching as he swore profanities at the situation he was in. It didn''t take long at all for the first enemy ninjas to appear. It was a group of roughly twenty ninjas who had come from the southern edge of the camp. With Kazuo included they had seventeen ninjas, giving the enemy a numerical advantage. Taking a deep breath, Kazui calmed his emotions as he stared at the enemy in the eyes. There was a moment of silence for but a second before chaos ensued. "Raagghhh" A hidden leaf ninja shouted at the top of his lungs before he charged at the enemy. Soon both groups charged at each other, the leaf kunai clashing with the cloud''s blades but a moment later. Kazuo had remained at the back however even he found his opponent soon enough. It was a kid of around twelve years of age, just like him. He had dark skin and dreaded white hair with a cloud headband tied to his shoulder and a short sword in his hand. The kid charged at Kazuo immediately, swinging his short sword toward his neck. Using the kunai, Kazuo quickly intercepted the strike only to find himself losing in a battle of power. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ''Right, im in the body of a shitty kid'' Kazuo thought before he took out another kunai from his bag alongside an explosion tag. Crumpling up the tag, he hid it in his hand whilst clenching the kunai. Now with a weapon in both hands, Kazuo started swinging at the ninja however his experience with bladed weapons clearly was higher than Kazuo''s as he deflected each strike with his short sword before giving Kazuo a nasty slice on his abdomen. Taking a few jumps backward, Kazuo looked at his wound with the edges of his eyesight before turning to give a glare to the ninja once more. "Is that a kitchen knife? Do you cloud ninja not have enough money to even buy real swords?" Kazuo said with a grin as he faced the kid, trying to make him lose his cool. And in the next instant, the expression the kid showed quickly changed to one of rage. "You tree fucker" The kid screamed almost before rushing toward Kazuo once more. While Kazuo had looked as if he was angry on the outside, his thoughts were completely calm, knowing that this wasn''t truly a life-or-death situation for him had made it possible for him to control his emotions much more easily. ''He''s inexperienced, losing your cool against your enemy so easily.'' Kazuo thought as he tried his hardest to deflect the kid''s strikes however he still ended up with cuts all over his body merely a few seconds into the clash. "Is that all you have? I thought you cloud shinobi were great at swords, I guess it was just a lie after all" Kazuo said once more, angering the young shinobi even further. "I''ll kill you," The kid said as veins sprouted on his forehead, his swings growing even stronger and faster however he had already started to lose his form. ''If he struck with this much power and speed while maintaining his sword forms then I would have already been killed, I need to use both kunai to block his strikes now'' Kazuo thought and though the situation seemed grim for him, he didn''t feel despair, instead it was elation that he felt. Finally, after a few more strikes, the cloud ninja managed to bring Kazuo down onto the ground. Just as he was about to strike him, the cloud shinobi showed a large smile on his face as if what he was doing was true retribution. At that moment he saw something unexpected, the ninja under him, Kazuo had a wide smile on his face. "I knew you would save me, captain" His words caused the kid''s eyes to shrink back as he quickly jumped away in a hurry, turning to look backward only to find nothing, there was no enemy ninja. His anger clouded him even further as he turned his head around only to see Kazuo already up on his feet and close to him, running directly at him. The ninja quickly pulled his short sword in front of him as he stopped the kunai that Kazuo was swinging toward him in a vertical swing. *Klang* What he didn''t take into account for however was that Kazuo had used only one hand instead of two for the swing, his other hand was empty however and so he hadn''t put much mind to it, only to see Kazuo throw something in his face. When Kazuo had crumpled up the explosion tag, he had done so that the inscribed seals were on the inside and the adhesive was on the outside, thus when he threw it at the enemy ninja''s head, it managed to get caught in his hair. Quickly Kazuo fell backwards before making the rat hand seal. "Kai, Bitch!" At his shout, the explosion tag lit up before quickly exploding causing a shower of blood and brain matter to cover the ground. The headless body of the kid fell down to the ground with a thump. Looking at the body, the only thought in Kazuos mind was... ''Crumpling exploding ninja paper lessens its explosive power considerably.'' ____________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 9 Turning around Kazou quickly surveyed the situation around him before crouching down and taking the cloud ninja bag and quickly stealing anything he thought would be of use. ''Two paper tag kunai and three paper explosion tags as well as two more soldier pills'' Kazuo thought as he quickly bagged his loot and then took the ninjas short sword before turning around and heading to the next enemy. The situation was grim, four of the leaf shinobi had already been killed however the other side had similarly sustained injuries and deaths. In fact, five of their shinobi had been killed if Kazuo included the kid he had killed. Taking two explosion tags, Kazuo quickly turned them into crumpled balls as he had the previous time and held them in his left arm whilst he used his right dominant arm to hold the short sword before slowly and as sneakily as he could, he came closer to two cloud shinobi who were fighting a leaf ninja. It was clear from the battle that the leaf shinobi was stronger than each of the cloud ninjas however he couldn''t deal with both of them at the same time. In the chaos of the battle, even Kazuo''s sneaking abilities were enhanced just by the battlefield itself. Finally, the leaf shinobi seemed unable to hold on and was pushed back, one of his arms badly damaged by a lightning-release jutsu. The two cloud ninjas didn''t waste the opportunity and quickly jumped to the leaf shinobi so that they could finish the job. Kazuo had been waiting for this however and now he was close enough that he could finally act, taking out two kunai that had an explosion tag placed on them he flung them to the back of the two cloud ninjas before quickly throwing both of the crumpled ones right at the leaf shinobi. The cloud shinobi saw the two crumpled papers that quickly lit up, their expressions changing immediately as they took a backstep. *Bang* With a loud explosion sound the papers exploded, completely incinerating the downed leaf shinobi however the cloud ninjas were still fine as they looked through the black cloud of smoke, directly at Kazuo who had thrown them. A sinister expression took over their faces as they smiled. "You killed your own shinobi tree hugger" Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. "I always knew you bastards would even betray your comrades, so much for that shitty will of fire eh?" The other cloud shinobi sneered as he looked at Kazuo. "Yeah, who the fuck follows a shitty will," Kazuo said before making another rat seal. When the two cloud shinobi had backstepped they had arrived right next to the two exploding kunai. "Kai" The sneering expressions on the cloud ninjas'' faces quickly changed to ones of horror as they stared at Kazuo however it was much too late. With an explosion much larger than the one from the crumpled tags, both of them were completely incinerated as their limbs flew into the air, completely detached from their bodies. ''Shit, this is stressful'' Kazuo thought, not even taking a second look at the bodies and rather surveying the area once more, it seemed the battle had started to take a turn as the leaf shinobi used teamwork that surpassed the cloud to turn the tides of battle. ''I already killed three, what are you fuckers doing'' Kazuo thought before quickly running toward another ninja. This time his target was another kid who looked like he hadn''t even hit puberty yet. The kid was fighting another young Gennin from the leaf, it seemed that they had coordinated the attack so that the cloud young Gennin would fight the leaf Gennin. Kazuo didn''t plan anything this time as he quickly joined the battle, using the short sword he had gotten to swing at the cloud ninja''s nape. The leaf shinobi nodded at Kazuo before the two quickly joined forces and started teaming up on the kid from the cloud. "Just give up you adopted son of a bitch" Kazuo said as he started swearing profanities at the cloud ninja constantly. Sweat was dripping down his chin as he did so, Kazuos body shook after each strike he deflected however he didn''t give up. ''Compared to that fucker, you''re nothing'' Taking out a few shuriken from his bag, Kazuo used his shortsword and swung at the right side of the cloud ninja, causing him to dodge left however just before he had sidestepped, Kazuo had already thrown the shuriken where he had predicted the ninja would move to. *Shqlick* *Shqlick* *Shqlick* All three shuriken landed right on the young ninja''s face, one pierced his eye, the other went straight through his nose, and the last one into his mouth, spelling his doom. *Thump* ''Four down'' Kazuo thought before turning around and looking at his next target, however, it was at this moment when the battlefield changed entirely. It happened so suddenly that Kazuo didn''t know what was happening for a moment. Tens of three-pronged kunai fell all over the battlefield and in the very next instant, a yellow flash went all around the battlefield. 11 cloud ninjas were decapitated the very next second. Kazuo simply stood as he watched the bodies fall to the ground. He hadn''t even seen anything besides a yellow flash and suddenly the battle was over. It was so abrupt that it caused Kazuo to drop his sword in surprise. ''Minato Namikaze'' And then cheers erupted from every single ninja in the camp at the hero who had arrived on the battlefield. ''Just how strong are you? I guess seeing it in reality really is different'' Kazuo thought before releasing a long sigh. ''I did all that work to kill four of them and you just evaporated eleven of them in a fraction of a second. I guess this is what a shinobi with a flee-on-sight order looks like'' It took only a few seconds for the sounds of battle to completely stop around the camp and for silence to take over only to be overtaken by the cheers of the leaf shinobi. _____________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 10 Sitting down on the ground, Kazuo took deep breaths as he felt the stress of the battle crash into him all at once. He hadn''t noticed it while he was fighting however after finding himself safe enough, Kazuo felt like a ton of bricks fell onto his head. Kazuo stood there for a few moments before a shinobi came and gave him a hand to help him get up. It was the shinobi that he had helped defeat a cloud ninja. Taking his hand, Kazuo got back up onto his feet and gave the man a nod. "I just wanted to say thank you for saving me back there," The leaf Gennin said with a smile on his face. Kazuo shook his head. "It''s what every leaf ninja would have done" "Right," The Gennin said, his smile growing even brighter. ''As if you dumb fuck, if I didn''t help you then I could die if the cloud ninjas won the battle, I didn''t know the yellow flash was coming otherwise I would have stayed put and hidden instead of fighting.'' Kazuo thought inwardly as he sneered at the young shinobi. On the outside, however, Kazuo didn''t show any of those emotions, keeping a soft smile on his face. Quickly enough the ninjas gathered and headed to the commander''s tent to see what their next plan of action would be. As they walked through the camp, one could see tens upon tens of corpses, be they ninjas from the cloud or their leaf comrades. In the distance, Kazuo spotted two corpses that seemed to have been cut in half, their faces twisted in agony and tears dripping down their chins and onto the ground. It seemed they had died a miserable death. ''Yaso and Kenji huh, I guess it''s to be expected considering how one is weak as hell while the other is a dumbass who rushes into combat.'' Kazuo thought as he stared at what once were his teammate and captain. Before he turned his head around and continued walking to the commander''s tent. After a minute or so, Kazuo and the group arrived at the largest tent in the camp. It had been incinerated by the cloud ninjas and what remained now was nothing but ashes, thankfully the commander had survived the ambush and he now stood before the hundred or so survivors of the ambush, next to him stood another man. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. He had bright yellow hair with a hidden leaf headband tied to his forehead whilst he wore a jonnin jacket and blue pants that were tied up with white bandages at the knee. On his hip, three unique kunai were tied and a ninja bag was tied on the other side. It was the first time Kazuo had seen the man in real life however he knew him better than most people in this world, in fact, he knew things about him that he himself didn''t. ''Minato Namikaze, the yellow flash of the leaf and the future fourth Hokage. Father of the child of prophecy and the guy who becomes one of the strongest shinobi in history.'' Kazuo thought as he looked at the man who had a soft smile on his face. The shinobi around him stared at the man as some kind of idol, as some hero however Kazuo had a different perception of him. ''Dangerous, extremely so, his intellect is most definitely higher than mine, he might be on par with the Nara clan in that department, I need to be careful around him and everybody else for that matter. Hero to the leaf but a genocidal maniac to everyone else'' Kazuo thought before he naturally diverted his eyes from the man, hoping to not give the man even the slightest chance to notice him. Shikaru Nara walked forward before he started to give his statement. " I congratulate you, shinobi who have managed to survive this dire ordeal that befell upon us," Shikaru said first before taking a small break and continuing once more. "We found out about this elaborate ambush only a few hours before it happened and thus couldn''t plan thoroughly however all of us worked together and managed to get through it, we followed the will of fire as our ancestors did and managed to succeed in overthrowing those cloud scum," Shikaru said, causing the shinobi all around him to cheer as they laughed and swore at the cloud bastards who had dared to ambush their camp. Shikaru nodded before turning to Minato and giving him a light bow. "We must also thank Namikaze Minato for his help in this battle, he was an essential part of our victory" And once more, cheers erupted in the crowd, before Shikaru quickly held his hand so that they would stop. "However there is another person who made it possible for us to survive this encounter." At his words, confusion quickly spread amongst the crowd, all of them were confused except one twelve-year-old kid. Kazuo had a frown on his face which he quickly hid behind a poker face. ''I don''t need the fame god damn it, keep me out of this you bastard. It will just place a target on my back.'' Kazuo thought as his eyes sharpened, awaiting the next words of the commander. "Thanks to Kazuo, a civilian-birthed ninja who hasn''t even been out of the academy for more than two months, we managed to find out about the incoming Ambush and at least prepare enough to await for Minato''s arrival," Shikaru said, looking directly at Kazuo. The shinobi turned and looked at where Shikaru had his sights on, finding the young Kazuo and then they promptly cheered as they gave pats and words of thanks to the young ninja. "I''ll be taking him under my wing and helping him grow further," Shikaru said as a smile overtook his expression as he looked at Kazuo as if he was giving the ninja the opportunity of a lifetime. Everyone and even Minato smiled, happy for the young kid who had saved so many people. Kazuo meanwhile kept a large smile on his face however his thoughts differed from his outward look completely. ''This bastard just wants to keep me close so that he can monitor my actions better. And he''s probably doubtful of the fact that I sensed the ninjas and if he decides to check that out then im most likely dead. Fuck'' _____________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 11 The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Chapter 12 Kazuo gathered his thoughts for a few moments before eventually deciding that it was best to get a good night''s rest before waking up early tomorrow to try out his newly gained jutsu. Putting his head against what couldn''t even be called a pillow, Kazuo once more damned this world and finally slept. As the moon fell down and just before the sun could shine its first rays, Kazuo woke up once more. As soon as he woke up, he headed to the training grounds. He had slept in his combat gear, not trusting the safety of the camp at all. ''Removing my combat gear like that dumbass did when I took over his body isn''t a decision im going to make'' Kazuo thought as he walked to the training area he had used yesterday. It seemed that he wasn''t the only one who had woken up early to train as there were already a few people doing taijutsu katas or practicing their shurikenjutsu. Kazuo walked to a more secluded area before taking out an explosion tag from his bag before he stopped himself. ''If I inject chakra into this thing then it''s most likely going to explode, isn''t it. How do I bypass this so that I can make explosion tag shuriken?'' Kazuo thought before putting the tag back and deciding to use his other jutsu first. One hand sign, that was all it took before Kazuo felt the ground under him become softer and he fell underground. Because of the information and mastery he had gained of the jutsu from the system, he already knew how to navigate himself and the jutsu''s hand signs had been reduced to a minimum. Traveling under the earth for a couple of meters in front, Kazuo headed up and jumped out of the ground. ''It''s great, the speed at which im able to use it also makes it so that I can apply it to combat immediately and don''t have to train it until it becomes useable. Cheats really are the best'' Kazuo thought before he started the next part of his training. He didn''t have any regular paper on him at the moment so the shuriken jutsu would have to wait however he still had another jutsu to practice. The Water Bullet Jutsu. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Forming the hand signs as quickly as he could, Kazuo followed the instructions given in the scroll as he felt his chakra gather at the back of his mouth, manipulating this chakra was easy considering most of the work was done by the hand signs and so all he had to do was gather enough chakra at the back of his mouth and use the hand signs to transform that clump of chakra into a water bullet. After a few moments, Kazuo felt like his mouth was about to burst causing him to hurry up and perform the jutsu, trying to get the water bullet out of his mouth. He however was just a step too late. The water bullet exploded in his own mouth, completely exploding Kazuos head and causing a rain of blood and brain matter to spread around him before his body fell down to the floor with a thumping sound. *Huff* *Huff* Waking up startled, Kazuo found himself waking up once more just as he had done less than an hour ago in his tent, just before the sun had risen up on the horizon. ''I died from fucking up a C-rank jutsu?!'' Kazuo thought baffled at himself. This time he hadn''t even encountered an enemy and he had died, by his own hand at that. A shudder went through his body as he remembered the last sensations before his demise. ''Fuck, that wasn''t fun'' Kazuo thought before sighing and getting up from the bed once more, however instead of rushing to the training grounds this time he rummaged through his backpack before finding a small unused notebook which he took and then he headed to the training ground. Once there, he headed back to his secluded spot before deciding it was finally time to practice that shuriken jutsu. Taking a piece of paper out of the notebook, Kazuo started using chakra to fold the paper. The process was much faster than if he was going to do it with his hands, it felt like an instinctual move that he had been able to do all of his life. In a second, Kazuo had a sharp paper shuriken in his hand. Grabbing the shuriken, he threw it at a wooden log in front of him. The paper shurking pierced deeply into the wood though it didnt come out on the other side. ''It''s much sharper than even metal shuriken, it''s most likely because of the chakra that is enhancing the paper''s properties. This just was an original created by Konan, she also covered them in oil so that they would be destroyed by water, eliminating the jutsus main weakness.'' Kazuo thought before sitting down and starting to analyze the information he had gained from the jutsu. ''If I analyze the actual process instead of using the move instinctually then I''ll be able to understand the concept behind paper jutsu, basically granting me a kekkei genkai of sorts.'' Kazuo thought however as he delved into the information he had gained, he quickly found out a problem. ''My chakra control is way too low to do any of this, the only reason im even able to perform the shuriken is most likely because the system helped me do it by instinct.'' Kazuo thought before releasing a sigh and adding another objective to his list of what he had to train. Getting up from the ground, Kazuo performed the hand seals for the water bullet jutsu once more, trying to manage the chakra as carefully as he could this time. Bringing it to the back of his mouth and letting the hand signs guide his chakra to perform a nature change and turn it into water-release chakra. This time he progressed further into the process, however... *Bang* Another shower of brain matter occurred a second later. ____________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 13 Waking up once more, Kazuo felt like smashing everything around him. Taking deep slow breaths, Kazuo quickly calmed his emotions down. ''Chakra control training is on top of the list, those bastards at the corps didn''t even teach us water walking and even the tree walking is scuffed at best.'' Kazuo thought before getting up from the bed and heading to the training ground once more, deciding that today and every day after would be dedicated to chakra control training until he managed to at least have decent water walking down. Back at the training ground again, Kazuo quickly found a tree at the very edge of the area and started using tree walking. His footing could barely be called stable as he walked up and down the tree, one small push would likely mess it up and cause him to fall down to the ground. Kazou spent three hours just walking on the tree before he heard a bell-like notification. [ Ding! ] [ User has gained Tree Walking Skill ] [ Tree walking ] [ 5/10 ] It didn''t change much even after he gained it, his mastery remained the same as before the system gave him the notification. ''Gaining a skill through hard work doesn''t boost what you are trying to do and simply shows your current level of mastery, maybe in the future a quest could give me a skill upgrade skill point but even then it would be much more useful to try and use it on time looping than any other skill'' Kazuo thought before shaking his head and continuing his training. He continued for two more hours before he ran out of chakra and had to lay down on the grass to rest. The idea of killing himself passed through Kazuo''s mind however he quickly removed it from his mind. Dying was fun, in fact, it was horrifying and Kazuo didn''t want to put himself through that willingly, he had already died twice today because of his own mistakes. As he rested on a patch of grass under the tree he had been training on, he saw a shinobi come toward him. "Kazou, the commander has called for you." He said before turning around and heading away. ''That damned Shikaru, can''t he just leave me alone.'' Kazuo thought as he got up from the ground and started walking toward the commander''s tent. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. ''If I were him then I would have monitored myself as well, the village most likely has files on all of their shinobi about their abilities, and chakra sense is most definitely not on mine which would cause any commander with a decent head on their shoulders to become wary. However, he has decided not to eliminate me and instead use me as a way to motivate the camp and raise their morale while also having a good excuse to monitor me almost constantly.'' Thoughts whirred inside Kazuo''s head as he analyzed the situation he had found himself in. *Sigh* Releasing another sigh, Kazuo thought. ''Im really going to get gray hair at twelve years old aren''t I?'' A few minutes later, Kazuo appeared before the commander''s tent, seeing the same guard as before. "The commander called for me," Kazuo said and the guard didn''t stop him this time, in fact, Kazuo could see it in the ninja''s behavior, he was now respected by him. ''I killed a fellow leaf ninja but none of you saw it, I wonder what your expression would be then.'' Kazuo thought to himself jokingly before he entered the commander''s tent. Once inside he saw that it had been completely restored and looked almost exactly the same as before it had been incinerated to the ground. There was a new addition however, that addition was the presence of another man standing next to the commander. ''Minato Namikaze, what''s he still doing around here'' Kazuo thought before moving his gaze away naturally and looking at the commander. "You called, commander" Shikaru stood silent for but a moment before nodding his head. "That''s right, as I said before, I''ll be taking you under my wing so I want you to be next to me and observe everything I do from now on and try to learn as much as you can," Shikaru said before pointing to a chair that had been placed a few meters away from him. "I see, that would be an honor sir," Kazuo said giving a ninety-degree bow to the man and holding it until Shikaru told him to straighten up. Now Kazuo finally turned completely toward Minato, clearly showing his curiosity to the two shinobi. Minato seeing this gave Kazuo a warm smile and a wave. "Hey! Im Minato Namikaze, nice to meet you." Minato said before walking to Kazuo and offering a handshake. Kazuo looked at his hand for a split second before taking it and twisting his expression. The look on his face changed to that of admiration, almost as if his eyes were shining as he looked at Minato as though the man was some kind of god to him. "Im Kazuo sir, I''ve wanted to meet you for so long, you''re my idol," Kazuo said as he shook Minato''s hand quickly causing Minato''s smile to twitch. Scratching the back of his head, Minato gave a short laugh clearly embarrassed by the high praise. Meanwhile, Kazuo wanted to kill himself. ''I have to be a fangirl, building a good relationship with him is necessary even if it''s not going to happen right away, I need to leave a good impression. Im just an innocent cute little junior who idolizes him. Ah fuck I want to kill myself.'' Kazuo thought as he maintained his expression of idolization. Shikaru looked at the two for a moment before returning his gaze to the papers on his desk. Parting their handshake, Minato''s smile finally returned to normal before he turned to face Shikaru. "I''ll be heading off to different battlefields now, I wish you the best of luck Shikaru-san," Minato said causing Shikaru to lift his head and nod at Minato. Turning around once more, Minato took something out of his backpack and offered it to Kazuo. It was a three-pronged kunai. _____________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 14 Taking the kunai in his hands, Kazuo felt his heartbeat race. ''Ah, thank god my efforts paid off.'' Kazuo thought as he gave a ninety-degree bow to Minato. "Thank you so much sir, I''ll treasure it with my life," Kazuo said before straightening himself up. Minato looked at him for a moment before patting his shoulder. "If you''re ever in danger of losing your life just throw this kunai and send some chakra to the handle and I''ll try my best to come as fast as possible and save you," Minato said with a smile before leaving the tent. As he went, Kazuo''s thoughts immediately took a turn. The last words Minato had said to him. ''Why the hell would he offer something like that to me? Suspicious, suspicious as fuck'' Kazuo thought before taking the three-pronged kunai and tying it to his ninja bag. Turning toward the commander, Kazuo nodded before walking to his chair and sitting down. Hours passed with Shikaru doing nothing besides completing papers and looking at a map. In the afternoon, six shinobi came inside the tent. Just from the air around them alone, Kazuo could guess that they were in a high position, most likely the captains of the different shinobi divisions. "Come here, I''ll be explaining our attack plan for tomorrow," Shikaru said as he pointed at a map, causing all six shinobi to nod and head closer. Kazuo curiously stood up as well and went ahead to stand next to the commander. ''If im being used by you then it''s only right that I do the same isn''t it'' Kazuo thought as he took his position. By standing next to the commander, he was increasing his already good standing in the camp after the last battle even higher, though the danger would of course increase in proportion as well. If before Kazuo hadn''t have been a target for the cloud ninjas then now he would most likely be, after all, he had been turned into a hero of the camp, someone who brought the camp''s morale up. Shikaru gave him a glance before returning his sight to the map, the edges of his lips slightly raised. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. "We are here as you all know," The commander said as he pointed at a small clearing in the map, it was surrounded by forest, and further northeast stood a mountain range with a small clearing in the middle that allowed passage, on the other side of the clearing Kazuo could see what was marked as the Cloud ninjas base. "Tomorrow will be a full-blown war right in the middle of this passage from what I could predict, and so 90% of the camp combat forces will be going over there to fight, what I want is for one squadron to team up with the Anbu and set up explosives on the other side of this canyon-like passage," Shikaru said as he pointed at the entrance of the passage from the side of the cloud. If we manage to do this and detonate them successfully then I predict a loss of about thirty percent of the cloud ninja forces." Shikaru said before pointing at a location next to the passage. "That however will only be the start, the entire force will be hidden here at this spot and will wait for the explosions, as soon as the cloud ninjas retreat back then we will attack however that is not all. I will send our best anbu squad to directly attack their camp and eradicate any medical ninja they do have, lowering their chances of survival even further." Shikaru said as a smile overtook his expression. ''Crazy bastard'' Kazuo thought before a smile took over his expression as well, matching Shikarus. ''I like it. Actually can''t I use this to increase my standing even further?'' Kazuo thought for a moment as a plan started forming in my head. ''On the first turn, I''ll see how the tides turn, if we win the battle overwhelmingly then I can simply let it pass however if we take any damages because of miscalculations then I could simply kill myself and make it seem as if I thought of the possibility that the specific danger could exist, thus increasing my standing in the camp if what I said was correct. I don''t need to be as smart as you Shikaru, I''ll simply smash my way through to victory, no matter how many turns it takes.'' Kazuo thought inwardly, however despite his joy he didn''t change how he acted outwardly, appearing as though he was a calm lake, simply there to observe and to learn from his commander. "All right Shikaru, we''ll follow your orders, you have never failed us after all" A man with white eyes and long black hair wearing a black headband that he had tied to his forehead said. Kazuo turned to face the man, quickly identifying him. ''A hyuga of the branch family most likely since he is covering his forehead.'' Next a boisterous laugh erupted from the next captain. It was a woman with short spiky brown hair and two red fangs painted on her cheeks, her irises and pupils were thin almost looking like a cat instead of those a human would have. ''Inuzuka.'' The other four shinobi nodded their heads, they didn''t have any discernable traits that Kazuo could match with the famous clans of the hidden leaf village. ''They''re either civilian birth ninja or they''re from some small unknown clan.'' Kazuo thought turning his head to face Shikaru once more who nodded at the Captains and dismissed them. Shikaru turned to Kazuo and motioned with his hand, clearly dismissing him as well. "There''s nothing else to learn today, you can go back." Kazuo nodded his head politely and turned around, leaving the commander''s tent and heading straight to the training grounds once more. He had to increase his level of tree walking and quickly at that, it would be very useful in a place like a canyon and not being able to have full precision and mastery over it in such a place would be a massive decrease in potential combat power. _____________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 15 Heading back outside, Kazuo walked directly to the training grounds once more. As he had sat still whilst in the commander''s tent and hadn''t done anything, his chakra had already recovered and he was ready for another training session for his tree walking. ''I''ll try to get it to level six by the end of today and then give the water bullet jutsu another try, im very close to being able to actually use the jutsu, I just need to try it a few more times. This way even if I die which hopefully isn''t the case then I could get another day of training to bring tree walking to level seven and at that point, my chakra control should be good enough that I can do the water bullet jutsu.'' Kazuo thought to himself as he arrived at the secluded area once more and started his training of running and jumping around on the trees. He had even increased the level to standing simply on one leg so that it would be harder and require more chakra control. Hours passed and midnight was fast approaching, thankfully Kazuo hadn''t been bothered by anyone today. Being under Shikarus wing seemed to actually give a pretty great boon in the fact that he didnt have to go out on patrol missions or on guard duty. Checking his status menu one last time, Kazuo saw what he had tried so hard to achieve throughout the entire day. [ Tree Walking ] [ 6/10 ] Seeing the increased level confirmed the fact that he had indeed improved by doing his training. It was extremely rewarding to actually see the fruits of your labour, and Kazuo considered it a major benefit of the system, even though it didnt increase his capabilites and only showed him what his skill level was, it also gave him a way to motivate himself and push through whilst others treaded in the dark, not exactly knowing if they had improved or now. ''Time to test that water bullet jutsu once again, this time im more familiar with it considering i almost managed it before dying twice before and my chakra control should be better thought not by a large degree, it should still have an effect on the outcome.'' Kazuo thought before taking a deep breath and releasing it slowly. Looking at the tree stump before him which he had picked as his target, Kauzos eyes sharpened before he started making handsigns quickly. ''Tiger - Ox - Tiger - Rat'' Kazuo quickly finished the combination, transforming the chakra that he had gathered at the back of his mouth and changing it into water release. Then a slipt second later Kazuo opened his mouth and a water ball or bullet shot straight out of his mouth at high speeds, directly to the tree trunk he had aimed at. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. *Bang* The water bullet exploded as it hit the treetrunk, the sound of splashing water and cracking wood interjecting with eachother. A second later, Kazuo walked to his target and looked at the damage he had managed to do. The entire tree trunk had been cracked and split apart with a large ball-shaped hole at the point of impact. ''If i human is hit by that then thats definetly causing quite a bit of damage if not straight up death'' Kazuo thought with a large smile before he heard a bell like notification sound in his head. [ Ding! ] [ User has learned Water Style: Water Enhanced Bullet Jutsu ] [ Skills ] [ Water Style: Enhanced Water Bullet ] [ 4/10 ] Confusion quickly found its way into Kazuo''s mind as he stared at the new jutsu he had earned. ''Enhanced water bullet? When did I do that?'' Kazuo thought before he started thinking back to the entire process of learning the jutsu. ''The only thing that could have caused this is me not inferring correctly what some of the words in the jutsu scroll meant'' Kazuo thought before he quickly went back to his tent to look at the scroll once more. He wasn''t planning on doing any more training for the day either way. Once inside his tent, Kazuo quickly sat on his bed and took the scroll in his hands, reading it over again. When he arrived at the kanji words that he didn''t know the exact meaning of, Kazuo decided on a plan of action. ''I''ll write these down and go ask other people to see if they know the correct meaning'' Kazuo thought before nodding his head and taking the notebook that he had with him and starting to copy the Kanji down onto a page. Once done, Kazuo placed the notebook down and headed to sleep. He needed to be in his best condition for tomorrow otherwise death would be a highly likely possibility. And so after a few minutes Kazuo managed to lull himself to sleep, doing so until the beginning hours of the morning and waking up just before the first rays of the morning sun hit the ground, just like he had yesterday. Getting up, Kazuo started performing some stretches in the morning which he remembered from the past memories of his current body. They were taught in the ninja academy and were something most if not all the leaf shinobi used so that they could warm their bodies up and make them ready for combat. After about twenty minutes, Kazuo was done and headed outside, his first task of the day was to see what the kanji he hadn''t understood had actually meant. ''When i get back to konoha, ill need to buy books about this, Kanji are super important in this world as they are used for sealing jutsu aswell'' Kazuo thought before turning his head left and right and spotting a shinobi a few meters away from him. Walking up to the man, Kazuo quickly asked for his help. "Of course, If i can then I''ll help you out" The shinobi said, his eyes were practiclly shining as he looked at Kauzo who had turned into an overnight celebrity inside the camp. "Right, could you tell me about this Kanji and its meaning?" Kazuo said, nodding his head before showing the page in the notebook. The ninja made a thinking face for a moment before answering. "I think thats the kanji for stomach? Thats just the most common meaning however and it could have other more obscure meanings aswell" The shinobi asnwered causing Kazuo to give him a nod and a small thanks before heading away. ''I was supposed to knead the chakra in my damned stomach not in my mouth, god damned it'' _____________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 16 Releasing another sigh, Kazuo felt like it had already become a habit of his with how things seemed to be going in this world for him. Walking to the commander''s tent, Kazuo gave a nod to the guard who returned it before he entered inside. Shikaru was already awake and looking at the map. The plan was for everyone to be awake before the hour was up and to start marching toward the pass. "Good morning commander," Kazuo said as he gave the man a light bow before coming to stand at his side. Shikaru merely nodded, his full concentration on the map. "Is there anything wrong sir?" Kazuo asked the man curiously. "The main problem would be if the Cloud sends less than fifty percent of their forces to the pass which would allow them to isolate us who were lying in ambush from both sides, that could spell doom for us," Shikaru said as he pointed to the location where the battle was going to take place. Kazuo nodded his head whilst making a humming voice. "I don''t think they will do that unless we have a spy amongst us," Kazuo said causing Shikaru to give him a glance. ''Im not a fucking spy you bastard'' Kazuo thought however he didn''t show a change in his outward expression. "And why is that?" Shikaru asked as a small smile crept on his face. "It''s because it would be too risky if we went with a full frontal attack then the first group of cloud ninjas would be completely annihilated and thus they would subsequently lose the second battle as well, ending the entire conflict with a total annihilation of the Cloud forces," Kazuo said as he took what was a stick and pointed at locations on the map as he explained his reasoning. "You''re not dull, that''s the case however you have to always plan for spies when in times of war, that is the main reason why we planted the explosives so that we could reduce that small force even further into a small enough force that they would be annihilated in short notice," Shikaru said before turning around and heading to another area of the tent and grabbing what looked like his combat gear. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Kazuo looked at him surprised. "You''re going to participate in the battle as well? Isn''t that illogical? If we lose our commander then the troops won''t know who to follow and will thus suffer a massive morale drop." Kazuo asked Shikaru, he was genuinely curious about what the genius Nara clan member was thinking. "That''s true however we need to win this battle, the leaf is currently fighting on all sides and thus we have much fewer forces to work with, the only reason we are able to remain as the victors is because our high-end power is greater than the other villages," Shikaru said as he outfitted himself and fastened a ninja bag to his waist. "If that''s the case then I guess it makes sense, having you participate in the battle will give the troops a morale boost and allow them to follow your orders more closely in the case of an accident, as long as you don''t fall in battle then its actually an advantage," Kazuo mumbled before nodding his head at Shikaru. ''I don''t know if I would go to the battlefield if I was in your spot, at the end of the day the question turns into whether it would be more favorable for me to save my life or to win this battle at any cost'' Kazuo thought as he stood to the side, patiently awaiting Shikaru''s orders. "Go outside and tell the guard to inform the captains of all squads to get ready, we will start the attack in half an hour." ''Half an hour? When he clearly told everyone yesterday that it would be an hour from now, he''s trying to turn any information that could have possibly been leaked into something useless for the enemy?'' Kazuo thought before nodding his head and going outside to inform the shinobi guard who quickly nodded and headed off. Kazuo was already ready though he didn''t really have much in terms of supplies that he could get ready and that would be useful when the battle began. ''I''ve already made three crumpled explosion tags, and fifteen paper shuriken, I don''t have anything else to prepare, and gathering more supplies from the camp is hard considering the low supply they have, as a Gennin my rank in getting supplies is at the bottom of the barrel, at most I would be given normal kunai and shuriken.'' Kazuo thought as he stood inside the commander''s tent awaiting Shikaru. Moments later the Nara commander gave him a nod and together they headed out, the whole shinobi squadrons were already waiting for them, armed to the teeth. ''It''s time for another battle huh...'' Kazuo thought as he stared at the hundreds of leaf shinobi standing before him, they all had steeled expressions, ready to go into what could be the final battle of their lives. ''War is unforgiving to the weak'' Kazuo thought clenching his hand, his thoughts were more so meant for himself rather than the shinobi in front of him. ________________________________________________ Chapter 17 Shikaru went to the front and quickly gave his orders and in a matter of seconds, the entire shinobi army started running outside of the camp and toward the the passage through the mountains. Kazuo had seen that it was labeled as the Kiyotsu pass on the map. Other teams had already gone there before them in secret and planted the explosives and the anbu were already hidden around the area so that they could jump out and plow their way to the main camp of the Cloud in the event that the plan worked perfectly. However, Kazuo was doubtful. ''The chances of there being a spy or just some uncontrollable variable that we can''t do anything or don''t know about is just too high in a foreign country'' Kazuo thought as he ran next to Shikaru. The two were in the middle of the group surrounded on all sides by shinobi. It was the safest spot in the entire march, considering the enemy would have to face other shinobi first before getting to them no matter what side they chose for an ambush. The run took about one hour, they took no breaks and Kazuo clearly felt his inferiority in physical ability when he looked at the other shinobi. However, he couldn''t stop running and so he pushed through though his lungs felt like they were on fire and he was completely drenched in sweat from the high-speed run. Finally, at the Kiyotaka pass, the shinobi army quickly passed onto the other side. ''Everything seems to be going to plan for now'' Kazuo thought as the whole hundred shinobi quickly arrived at the place where they would be hiding and waiting for the signal. The signal in this case was the explosion of the entrance to the pass, it would make a loud enough sound that they would be able to hear it clearly. Minutes passed, and the stress of the shinobi of the leaf started rising quickly alongside it. Some had even started to pray before the battle, in hopes that god would save them during the upcoming battle. ''God is just a damn Alien whos obsessed with his kids, he won''t do jack'' Kazuo thought as he looked at the praying shinobi before releasing a huff of breath. At this moment as the whole army stood in absolute silence. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. They heard it, a deafening explosion before a large cloud of black smoke quickly rose up into the air. "Everyone, head forward into battle, eliminate any enemies that you see!" Shikaru commanded with a loud voice, likely enhanced by his chakra so that everyone could hear him clearly. At his words the shinboi quickly launched themselves onto the tree branches and started hopping from tree to tree, quickly closing in on the enemy location. It merely took them a minute to arrive, in front of them were the decimated forces of the cloud however strangely their numbers seemed low. Too low... ''That bastard actually predicted it'' Kazuo thought as a smile overtook his expression. "Quickly eliminate all of them, don''t leave a single one of those bastards alive!" Shikaru''s voice was once more heard before the leaf ninjas released loud battle cries and launched themselves directly into the face of the remaining ninjas. The cloud shinobi looking at the large number of enemies sported lifeless expressions. ''Being abandoned by your own village and used as nothing more than a distraction, they are all most likely just Gennin'' Kazuo thought with a sneer as he followed the shinobi and entered the fray himself. All around him clashes of swords and the sound of lighting erupted. The two forces had finally clashed with one another. Looking around quickly, Kazuo found his first target, it was a young cloud ninja who was being teamed up against by two-leaf shinobi. Forming one hand sign, Kazuo used his new technique. ''Earth Style: Hiding like a mole technique'' Kazuo thought inwardly, burrowing himself underground quickly before he started to move toward where the cloud ninja had been. His movement underground was quick, possibly even quicker than above it though he hadn''t tested it out yet. Arriving just behind the cloud ninja, Kazuo peeked his head above ground and saw that he was at the right spot. Extending his arms above ground, Kazuo caught the enemy by the foot. Surprise colored the cloud ninja''s face as he looked down and saw Kazuo giving him a grin. "See ya!" Kazuo said before he dragged his legs down and left him with only his upper body above ground. The leaf ninjas didn''t waste the opportunity and quickly reaped his life by launching dozens of kunai into his skull. Moving a bit sideways, Kazuo headed back aboveground. ''I have no idea why this jutsu and the decapitating just are even differentiated. You can do the same things just using this.'' Kazuo wondered for a split second before looking around to see if there were any enemies around him. There were none, the cloud ninjas were all fighting for their lives with others, and even then, the majority of their forces had already been incapacitated or killed. Crouching down, Kazuo quickly grabbed the cloud ninja''s bag and tied it to his own waist before heading to another corpse. He only stopped when he had five ninja bags tied to his waist, any more and they would lower his ability to move and slow him down. ''Ah they do say that war is the best time to earn money'' Kazuo thought to himself before looking around once more, there were no cloud ninjas left. The battle was over. But the war wasn''t as Kazuo looked to the north. There, hundreds of meters away, a huge army close to theirs in numbers wall running towards them. ''Couldn''t they just give up?'' Kazuo thought though he knew that this desire of his was but a pipe dream. Taking out a kunai from his bag, Kazui formed the academy stance, awaiting the enemy shinobi. This was going to be the real battle. _____________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 18 ''This is going to be quite a bit more bloodier than what just transpired'' Kazuo thought as sweat formed on his forehead. The clash between the two large shinobi armies was imminent. ''Just how strong was Madara if he faced a force more than one hundred times this size whilst still not even fully revived'' Kazuo thought to himself. *Bang!!* * Klang* The blades, the fire, and the lighting jutsus all clashed with each other as unprecedented chaos quickly ensued. Cries of fear and pain quickly resounded as shinobis from both sides started killing each other. Kazuo stood still for a moment, carefully surveying the battle. ''Heading into battle directly right now is dangerous, even if I kill one of them then two or three will take their spot.'' Kazuo thought, his hand slightly shaking. At that moment he saw a cloud ninja heading directly toward him, it was a young ninja much like Kazuo himself. ''Why do kids always want to die by my hand'' Kazuo thought before a large smile erupted on his face. Who was he to complain when a small fish came right into his mouth? The cloud ninja quickly started weaving hand signs before his chest expanded and he launched a lighting bolt out of his mouth, its speed was impressive as it headed directly to kazuos location. Only for it to pass right through him. "A clone?" The cloud ninja mumbled, quickly looking around, left and right trying to locate his enemy. At that moment, he felt something grab his feet before pulling half of his body underground. It was Kazuo who had deployed a clone as soon as the clash had happened and headed underground. "Tch" Releasing a frustrated sound the cloud ninja tried to get out as quickly as he could however he was too late. Kazuo didnt head above ground immediately to finish the ninja, he simply placed a sealing tag on his back before getting away from him instantly. That had been the right choice it seemed as the young cloud ninja quickly deployed electricity all around him, freeing himself from the earth release jutsu. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. At that moment, Kazuo headed back above ground. "I''ll kill you!" The cloud shinobi said, hatred seemed to be dripping out of his eyes as he looked at Kazuo. "Right, maybe next time," Kazuo said before forming the rat seal. The cloud kid''s eyes widened as he saw the hand seal, dread engulfing his mind. "Just kidding, you actually fell for it?" Kazuo said to him before laughing out loud. Veins erupted on the cloud ninja''s forehead as he screamed at Kazuo loudly before starting to rush at him. "You bastard!!" Kazuo simply smiled, still holding the rat seal. "Actually I wasn''t lying, Kai!" *Booom* With a loud explosion, the cloud ninja exploded into blood and organ matter that dripped all over the ground. Turning his head, Kazuo surveyed the battlefield however he didnt have to wait long, infact it was almost instant when another Cloud ninja came to him. This time it wasn''t a child but rather a large brown-skinned man who sported a very muscular build with brown hair that made his head similar to a pineapple. Kazuos eyes immediately sharpened before he made hand seals quickly. Four illusionary clones appear all around him. "Those wont work against me kid, I''ll make you pay for what you did to Hikari" The man said before he disappeared from Kazuos sight. It was instant, almost as if the man had teleported and the in the very next instant Kazuo saw the man merely inches from him. "Die, Konoha scum." The man said before he punched Kazuo in the stomach. What was strange to Kazuo however was that he wasn''t thrown back from the punch. He quickly found the reason, however. Looking down at his abdomen, Kazuo saw what the man had done to him. ''He pierced through my abdomen completely with his punch, who is this bastard.'' Kazuo thought as he looked at the man. The pain coursing through Kazuos mind was extreme, it was mind-warping however Kazuo didn''t lose his mind even for a split second as he stared at the man who had practically killed him. *Cough* Blood spewed from Kazuos mouth. "What''s your name?" "Ochiote, A jonnin of the proud cloud, remember my name well even in hell" The man said giving Kazuo a bloodthirsty smile. "How about you join me in there?" Kazuo said slowly, clearly feeling his life draining away from his body. At that moment Kazuos backpack lit up and a sizzling sound was heard. "Kai" Kazuo said with a smile however just as the explosions were about to go off, he saw the man dissapear just like before and reappear tens of meters away, his face sneering at Kazuo. ''Ah fuck'' *Booom* With a large explosion, Kazuos''s body disintegrated. *Huff* *Huff* It was once more the morning, just before the sun had risen up in the sky. Kazuo was back in the camp. "Ah that fucker, Choiote? Ochiote? Whatever the hell his name was, why''s a final-level boss going after me damned it" Kazuo said, his frustration clearly slipping into his voice. Taking a deep breath, Kazuo calmed himself back down. ''Don''t get emotional, simply improve and move forward'' Kazuo thought. It was at this moment as he was thinking that he heard a bell-like sound go off in his head. [ Ding! ] ''A system notification?'' Kazuo quickly thought as he stared at the system interface that had appeared in front of him abruptly. [ A quest has been generated! ] [ Quests ] [ Kill Ochioke, Jonnin of the Hidden Cloud ] [ Reward: Two minor stat upgrades, One B-Rank Random Jutsu ] Reading the new quest that he had been given, Kazuos felt like he had been slapped in the face. ''Shitty system, aren''t you asking too much god damn it.'' Kazuo thought, his emotions being triggered once more just a moment after he had managed to calm himself down. _____________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 19 Stopping for a moment to calm his emotions down once more, Kauzo started thinking as he stared at the new quest. ''I can just not do it however, I want the rewards, they would increase my chances of passing a large hurdle down the line by quite a lot considering that each jutsu gained by the system is already mastered, and with the two small stat upgrades I could get my chakra to chunin level which would increase my overall power by leaps and bounds.'' Kazuo thought as he quickly analyzed the situation he had fallen in. ''How do you kill someone that''s that damned fast though?'' Kazuo thought to himself before his eyes lit up a moment later. ''That kid was someone important, I could use him'' Kazuo thought before getting up from his bed and geared up before heading to the commander''s tent. Following everything he had done in the previous loop, Kazuo found himself back in the middle of the battlefield with a kid charging toward him with the intent to kill. Just like last time, Kazuo dragged half his body underground before however the difference was that Kazuo used every single explosion tag he had on the kid and stuck them to him in places neither he nor Ochioke would be able to see. Kazuo had even taken the explosion tags that were tied to kunai and used them. Finishing the job quickly, Kazuo headed back above ground before taking the short sword he had gained from killing the cloud ninja back at the leaf camp and severing the young kid''s arm from his shoulders. "Aarrghh" The cloud ninja released a loud scream as tears dropped from his eyes at the immense pain of having his arm cut. ''This is nothing you crybaby bastard'' Kazuo thought remembering his unfortunate turns for but a split second before he quickly jumped backward. In the next instant, Ochioke appeared next to the small kid. "Are you alright Hikari? It''s ok, we will bandage the wound and you won''t die" Ochioke said as he quickly ripped a part of the bandages that he had tied to his arm and offered them to Hikari. Kauzo didn''t stand still and simply watched them as he knew that after they were done, Ochioke would come and kill him instantly and so he started the second part of his plan. Taking out two crumpled explosion tags, Kazuo screamed at the cloud duo before throwing them. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. "Die you cloud scum," Kazuo said before making the rat seal and starting to activate the explosion tags. ''The problem with the ambush I had planned was that the tags make a sizzling sound just before exploding and thus to remove that weakness I''ll throw other tags at them to make them think that those are the only explosion tags.'' Kazuo thought and his plan worked. Perfectly at that Ochioke took Hikaru in his arms and jumped away, at that moment as they were running from the crumpled tags that didn''t hold much power. It happened. A large explosion was heard all over the battlefield, causing quite a couple of shinobi to turn their heads happened. *Boom* [ Ding! ] [ User has completed a Quest! ] Kazuo had a large bloodthirsty smile on his face as he saw the two charred bodies drop to the floor. And then Kazuo turned to the cloud shinobi before shouting in a loud voice. "Is that all you cloud scum, I, a mere Gennin of the leaf just killed your Jonnin, just go to hell you weak fuckers" Kazuo''s words reverberated even in the chaos that was on the battlefield, being heard clearly by each shinobi. For a moment there was no response before the entire cloud ninjas face turned to ones of rage as they shouted curses and profanity of all kinds toward Kazuo. Meanwhile, the leaf ninja felt invigorated, they felt like their spirits were about to burst. "Kill these weak bastards," Kazuo said once more with the same loud voice, almost as if he were the very commander of the battlefield. A moment after, loud cheers and battle cries were released out of the leaf shinobies mouths as they increased their assault on the cloud ninjas, putting them on the back foot. The situation looked grim for them. A moment later, Kazuo who had shouted saw three cloud ninjas heading toward him, venom clearly seen in their eyes. "Ah, sorry but I don''t want to fight, maybe another time?" Kazuo said with a smile before forming a single-hand sign and heading underground before running to the back of the leaf side of the battlefield and resurfacing once more above ground. Looking around, Kazuo saw that Shikaru was back here as well, giving constant commands to the shinobi. Turning his head to Kazuo, the man gave a nod before simply saying two words. "Good Job" And then he turned around once again. The fight continued on though the danger that Kazuo faced had lowered substantially and in the next minute or so, it became practically zero. Three teams of Konoha Anbu joined the fray, they had already completed their mission as the Hawk came to Shikaru to give his report. "We have eradicated everyone inside the cloud camp, these are the last shinobi remaining sir," Hawk said as he kneeled on one knee before the commander. "Good job, join the battle, and let''s end this quickly and return back to camp," Shikaru said as a smile overtook his expression at the good news. ''An overwhelming victory'' Kazuo thought as he looked at the battlefield after hearing Hawk''s words. ''Isn''t the leaf village just too busted damn it? They have the Uchiha, Senju, Hyuga, and Nara. Isn''t that just too much, just what was the author of Naruto smoking'' Kazuo thought however his smile only grew larger and larger. ''Ah, I have to milk them for as much as they are worth, everything they have, I won''t even leave crumbs behind so don''t disappoint me Konoha'' Kazuo thought. _____________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 20 The rest of the battle didn''t take longer than three minutes, with the Anbu which were all at least elite chunin level in power, the cloud really had no way of winning. Their morale had already dropped down and so had their numbers, and in three minutes, none remained alive. A complete and utter annihilation. ''And these are the men that are considered the good guys, the heroes. Don''t make me laugh, a killer is a killer, there''s no good in one'' Kazuo thought as he sneered inwardly at the scene before him. Kazuo had always been an avid reader and fan of the Naruto series however he had much preferred the light novels when in comparison with the manga and especially the anime. The process after defeating the group was swift, the leaf quickly headed to the Cloud main camp and looted everything inside whilst Shikaru took any valuable information that could be taken before the whole group turned around and headed back to the Leaf main camp. This time it would be more tiring and chakra intensive as they all had to climp up the steep mountain to get through to the other side as they had collapsed the passage. However, with everyone''s morale high and joy seeping through their bodies, the journey was considered light and not tiresome at all. They knew that with them having defeated the entire cloud, most of them would get a vacation to go back to the leaf for a week and maybe even 2 weeks if they were lucky. ''I don''t think that bastard Shikaru will just let me get out of his grasp however'' Kazuo thought as he looked at Shikaru who was walking in front of him. ''Should i just eleminate him and make it look like an anbu from the cloud did it?'' Kazuo thought for but a moment before showing a self loathing smile. ''As if I can even touch him, I would die before I could even see his face with all the anbu around to protect him.'' Kazuo thought. The journey took a while but before night had fallen upon the world, they returned to the camp once more. Sharing the great news with the other ninjas who had been left behind to protect the camp. That didnt mean that there was no sadness however as a lot of people had lost their comrades and would most likely shed tears tonight when they were alone in their tents. Stolen story; please report. War was never joyful for the weak, it was only a repeating cycle of pain and sadness that fueled hatred. Kazuo quickly excused himself from the others and headed back to his tent, he had something else to deal with. Once inside his tent, Kazuo quickly opened the system menu and clicked on the Quests tab. [ Quests ] [ Kill Ochioke, Jonnin of The Hidden Cloud ] [ Reward: Two Minor Stat Upgrades, One B-Rank Random Jutsu. ] [ Claim ] Quickly pressing the claim button at the bottom of the holographic page, Kazuo saw a new pop-up appear before his eyes. [ Quest Reward has been Claimed ] [ Rewards are being given out! ] [ 1%... 56%... 98%... 100% ] [ User has been given the B-Rank Jutsu ] [ Summoning: Lightning Flash Blade Creation ] ''What the hell is that?'' Kazuo thought before a flood of information was transferred directly into his mind, granting him another headache. A few minutes later, the pain going through his mind finally calmed itself down and he was able to reveiw the information he had been given. ''So its Sasuke''s technique that he used against itachi, by inscribing seals onto any paper or clothes then you can summon them instantly by placing your finger on then and using a small fraction of chakra, this allows the user to summon weapons instantly, its useful'' Kazuo thought as he analyzed the technique. ''Considering I could have gotten the shadow clone jutsu however, this does leave a bad taste'' Kazuo thought before releasing a long-winded sigh. Getting up from his bead, Kazuo headed outside of the tent. The moon was about to rise up on the horizon as the sun gave its lay rays of light. ''It''s almost been a week if you consider all the times that I''ve died'' Kazuo thought as he stared at the sky before lowering his head and looking around the camp. The shinobi were immersing themselves in the joy of a won battle as they ate some deer meat they had managed to hunt and cook. "Come join us, Kazuo!" One shinobi shouted as he waved at Kazuo who nodded his head and joined the group. Soon finding himself with a plate of deer meat in his hands. It was clear that they had given him more of a cut than the rest. Lifting his eyes, he saw everyone, tens of shinobi giving him a grin and a nod. "Dont worry about it, just enjoy it!" The man who had called him said before releasing a laugh and patting Kazuos back. "Right, thank you, everyone," Kazuo said as he looked at everyone and nodded. ''...'' Kazuo didn''t know what to think as he stuffed his mouth with deer meat. At times like this, he found it hard to think about betraying these people but these moments were short as Kazuo lightly shook his head. ''Don''t be dumb, if I want to survive in this hellish world then the only way is to get strong, if I can do that but I need to sacrifice everyone else then so be it. I don''t want to feel the pain of dying over and over again, not to mention that if I get stuck in Madaras infinite tsukynome then it''s just game over, even my time loop won''t save me from that.'' Kazuo thought before taking another piece of deer meat and stuffing it in his mouth. His gaze grew more chilling every moment as he reaffirmed his resolve to only care about himself. ''In this world, I am Alone'' _____________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 21 The night passed quickly under the joyous atmosphere around the camp after the hard-earned victory. Hours later, just before the sun could rise up over the horizion, Kazuo woke up sweating his breaths haggard and his eyes unfocused for a moment before they regained their clarity. A headache pierced his mind causing him to hold his forehead in his hands. "Ah fucking nightmares," Kazuo thought before turning around so that he could sit upright on the bed with his legs on the floor. *Sigh* Releasing a sigh for what felt like the thousandth time this week, Kazuo shook his head to regain his focus and immediately got up from his bed. Yesterday had been the first night that he hadnt slept in his combat gear since coming into this world, he had it cleaned and even washed his body before he had went to sleep. Taking the clean combat gear, Kazuo quickly wore it before taking out an ink brush he had obtained from one of the fellow leaf shinobi yesterday. Taking out two handguards, Kazuo quickly started trying out the new jutsu he had gained. He didn''t think and instead, simply let the instincts that the system had ingrained into him to do the work. Sealing jutsu was dangerous, he knew that for a fact. A simple mistake could result in an explosion causing him to die once more. The inscribing process of the seals didnt take more than a few seconds with his full mastery over the jutsu and when he was done, Kazuo quickly wore the arm guards and took out his ninja bag before placing his newly made papershuriken against the seal and using a small fraction of his chakra. *Poof* With a small smoke eruption which quickly disappeared, the shuriken was sealed inside the arm guards. ''This will allow me to have easier access to weapons whilst in battle and even hide them from the enemy until the last second allowing me to launch a surprise attack but most importantly since the leaf doesn''t know about this then I can use it to store items that I do not want them to find out that I actually own.'' Kazuo thought with a small smile, his headache almost forgotten in front of the excitement he felt about using a new jutsu he had earned after a hard-fought battle. With his preparations done for the moment, Kazuo headed out of his tent and went directly to the training grounds. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ''I need to know whether i can actually increase my base stats by simply training, if i cant do that then it means the only way for me to grow stronger is through quests. Lets just hope for the best. Ill give myself one month of time if none of my physical stats increase in that time frame then its confired that i can only gain strength through quests'' Kazuo thought as he arrived at what felt like his own special training ground in the camp. It was the same secluded spot where he had exploded his own head, more times than he would have liked. Forming a taijutsu stance, Kazuo started going through his katas for the morning. It was one of the best ways to increase both your fluidity of comabt aswell as to build the required muscles to perform the movements at a faster speed whilst giving the attacks at higher strength. This took about an hour and only stopped when the first rays of the sun hit the elemental continent. *Huff* *Huff* ''Shit, this is hard'' Kazuo thought, his breath haggard and sweat drenching his entire body. However, he didn''t stop and turned around to face the tree trunk that already looked half destroyed from his repeated use of Jutsu onto it. Taking four paper shurking from his ninja bag, Kazuo continued his training, this time his focus was on his shuriken jutsu. Instead of going to retrieve the shuriken, Kazuo had put a stack of paper in his bag and used his paper shuriken jutsu to make shuriken from the paper almost instantly before throwing them. ''By doing this, it allows me to have a much larger amount of projectile weapons whilst saving a ton of space as well as lowering the weight that I have to carry.'' Kazuo thought with a smile. His shuriken jutsu practice lasted for around half an hour before he headed to the tree trunk which was riddled with paper shuriken and quickly retrieved them. Using the shuriken jutsu he quickly turned the shuriken back into paper and put them into his bag. There was one last thing that he had to do before he was done with today''s training and had to head to the commander''s tent. Opening his status menu, Kazuo looked at the two small grade upgrade points and quickly thrust both into his chakra sat. [ Stats ] [ Name: Kazuo ] [ Age: 12 ] [ Race: Human ] [ Strength: D- ] [ Endurance: D- ] [ Agility: D- ] [ Intelligence: B- ] [ Charisma: C ] [ Chakra: C- ] [ Skills ] [ Time Loop ] [ Level 1 ] [ Academy Taijutsu ] [ Level 9/10 ] [ Academy ShurikenJutsu ] [ Level 9/10 ] [ Clone Jutsu ] [ Level 6/10 ] [ Substitution Jutsu ] [ Level 5/10 ] [ Transformation Jutsu ] [ Level 5/10 ] [ Hiding Like A Mole Jutsu ] [ Level 10/10 ] [ Paper Shuriken Jutsu ] [ Level 10/10 ] [ Water Style: Enhanced Water Bullet ] [ Level 4/10 ] [Chakra Control: Tree Walking ] [ Level 6/10 ] [ Chakra Control: Water Walking ] [Level 4/10 ] [ Summoning: Lighting Flash Blade Creation ] [ Level 10/10 ] A smile erupted onto Kazuos face as he felt energy start gathering at his stomach before it almost exploded and spread all over his body. Increasing his chakra levels by more than six times and bringing him to low Chunin level chakra reserves. However that wasn''t the only reason for Kazuo''s satisfaction, it was the fact that his training was actually bearing fruit. His Academy style Taijutsu and Shuriken Jutsu training had paid off and now he was just one rank away from complete mastery and he had managed to make the system recognize the water walking as a skill. ''If I were to fight myself in the body of this guy on the first day then I would obliterate him'' Kazuo thought with satisfaction. _____________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 22 Done with his training for the morning, Kazuo turned and started heading to the commander''s tent. Walking through the camp, the atmosphere was much less joyful than yesterday night, in fact, a lot of shinobi were mourning their comrades that they had lost during the last battle. It was a battle that they had won by a large margin, it could be considered a huge victory however the loss of comrades who had been eating and drinking with you for a long time was never a happy occasion. Arriving in front of the tent, the guard never stopped Kazuo anymore and simply gave him a respectful nod before allowing him inside. ''I couldn''t really use the last battle to add anything to the plan as a way to increase my standing, I did increase the people''s morale however so it''s better than not doing anything.'' Kazuo thought before heading inside. Inside the tent, Kazuo found both Shikaru and six of the sub-commanders. "If it isn''t the young commander," The Inuzuka said with a large grin on their face. "Hello," Kazuo said simply giving a light wave before walking to stand next to the commander. "What you did yesterday was impressive, defeating a Cloud Jonnin isn''t something just any Gennin could do." The Hyuga of the group said, his voice calm and gentle. ''He''s trying to curry favor with me? There''s no other reason for a hyuga to say that to someone like me. Does he think that im a good prospect to invest in?'' Kazuo thought before nodding his head, showing the man a light smile. This seemed to satisfy the hyuga who nodded his head awell. "So how did ya do it?" The crude Inuzuka asked, their eyes gleaming with curiosity. Kazuo stood silent for a moment before contemplating his next choice of words. "At first I was fighting against a cloud Gennin, around the same age as me. I used earth-release hiding-like a mole technique to bring him under the ground before implanting quite a bit of explosion tags onto his body. When I got out, I saw the Jonnin heading towards the genin and quickly saving him by pulling him out of the ground, I knew that he would be able to hear the explosion tags starting to explode so I caused a distraction by sending an explosion tag kunai his way, making him think that the noise was from the kunai and not the explosives planted on the young genin, this misjudgment on his part cost both of their lives" Kazuo said straightforwardly. ''It feels annoying to have to explain just how I did it however considering that Shikaru isn''t interrupting me means that he''s also curious, thankfully I didn''t use anything that is too out of proportion, merely a C rank jutsu and some explosion tags'' Kazuo thought before he heard the Inuzuka start laughing out loud like a mad man. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. ''Fucking dogs, can''t even control themselves in front of their commander'' Kazuo thought as he stared at them. "Are you sure that you''re not some Nara descendant? With that mind of yours, it''s pretty hard to believe you aren''t one." One of the other men said as he looked at Kazuo, his eyes filled with interest as he looked at Kazuo. Shaking his head, Kazuo replied with a smile. "Thank you for the compliment however it was simply a series of arrangements that worked out because of luck, i wouldn''t have had a chance to defeat a Jonin otherwise," Kazuo said, his voice gentle, clearly trying to appear humble. Shikaru made a noise with his mouth, gathering the attention of everyone in the room. "Since we are on this topic then I guess I''ll simply say it now," Shikaru said before turning to face Kazuo. "Gennin Kazuo, from now on you are promoted to the rank of Chunin," Shikaru said with a soft smile on his face. Kazuo meanwhile stood still, his face betraying his emotions for but a split second as his mouth hung open, however, he quickly regained his poker face as he looked at the man. ''What the fuck? Is this how easy ninjas get promoted during wartime?'' Kazuo thought as he looked at Shikaru before bowing at a ninety-degree angle to his commander. "I humbly accept," Kazuo said, he didn''t start questioning the man, and neither did he ask for a reason. Wasn''t the saying to not look a gift horse in the mouth? ''He most certainly has reasons for this promotion, I''d say that he wants to keep me closer, and by promoting me to chunin then I won''t be able to leave the battlefield as every Chunin is needed in the war whilst Gennin isn''t.'' Kazuo thought as he quickly analyzed the situation. ''I can''t be sure, however, the mind of a Nara far surpasses mine and almost everyone else''s, if I were to put it into stats then he is likely to be at S rank or maybe even higher in intelligence.'' Kazuo thought before he lifted his body and stood upright. A couple of claps and words of congratulations sounded in the room as the Inuzuka gave him an almost feral smile though it didn''t look hostile whilst the Hyuga simply gave him a congratulations with a light nod. "Now, let''s get back to the future plans. As you all know we have completely annihilated the enemy camp however this isn''t the end of our mission, next we will be pushing until the border with the land of the cloud where we expect to have another enemy camp waiting for us. This however will take a few weeks and a change of gennin will take place as most of them here have deserved a small vacation back to the village. As for anyone above Gennin rank, they will be staying here and participating in the battle, we can''t afford to lose too much power otherwise a single ambush could wipe us all out." Shikaru said as he looked at every single person inside the tent. His gaze stayed just a tad bit longer on Kazuo, and Kazuo didn''t miss it. ''This bastard, I was right'' Kazuo thought however made no outward reaction to the commander''s words. "Today, most of the Gennin will start heading back to the leaf, Inuzuka and Ijuru will accompany them back," Shikaru said turning to look at the two captains. "All right, I''ve been missing home for quite a while now," Inuzuka said whilst the man called Ijuru simply nodded his head. "With that out of the way, there''s not much else to talk about for now, you all are dismissed until tomorrow morning at seven when we will start planning on the road we will take for our advance to the border, Inuzuka and Ijuru can start planning when to get going on their own though I do suggest that you get going by tonight," Shikaru said before everyone nodded and started heading out. At least until Shikaru''s voice was heard again. "Kazuo, stay back, I''ve got something to talk about with you." ''Ah, what does this fucker want now. It''s always bad news with him, always.'' Kazuo thought inwardly before stopping and turning around whilst the others got out of the tent. _____________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 23 Once everyone besides Kazuo and Shikaru had left the Commander''s tent. Shikaru displayed a smile on his face whilst he said. "I hope my decision to keep you on the battlefield didn''t upset you." Kazuo looked at him calmly before replying. "No, in fact, it only brings me joy that I can further serve my village," Kazuo said, his face remaining extremely calm, unlike his internal emotions. ''What the fuck am I supposed to say? Oh yeah, im upset, you''re a real bastard for that you know?'' Kazuo thought inwardly, whilst he made sure not to show any of his real emotions outwardly. "You really are an idol to be followed by all Konoha shinobi," Shikaru said with a light laugh before motioning for Kauzo to come closer as he opened a map and placed it on the wooden table. Arriving to stand next to Shikaru, Kazuo looked over the map, it was a more detailed version of the map he had seen the commander use before, besides that it also looked like a newer version. It even showed the collapsed passage between the mountains. "An updated map?" Kazuo asked as he looked at Shikaru. Shikaru nodded. "Shinobi battles cause a lot of destruction and the terrain is constantly changing, this gives the need for maps to be updated often so that the commanders don''t use outdated information and bear the brunt of a misjudgment because of them," Shikaru said before he took out a pen of sorts and started making a line on the map. "This is the route that we will be taking during our journey to the border, what do you think" Shikaru said, putting the pen down once he was done and turning to look at Kazuo. ''Why is he showing me this? Isn''t this supposed to be confidential information that could cause a lot of trouble if leaked?'' Kazuo thought inwardly, remaining silent for a few moments before turning to look at the route Shikaru had outlined on the map. Instead of maneuvering around the mountains and going in a roundabout way so that they would be more hidden during their journey, Shikaru had opted for a direct approach using the most well-known route or at least it looked like the main road as Kazuo didn''t have much information on which route was the most used one. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. "I don''t think I can give an opinion without information as im unaware of the routes that lead to the border from here however from what im seeing this is the most used route to travel there by merchants and civilians?" Kazuo asked as he turned to face Shikaru who gave him a nod. "Why would we take this instead of going in a roundabout way so that our location and troops remain more hidden? If the enemy knows which route we are taking then we are likely to face an ambush and the losses could be large unless you are expecting the enemy to think that we will go through more obscure routes and to set up ambushes against those roads whilst they ignore the main one." Kazuo said as he quickly made a couple of theories as to why this would be the road they would be taking. *Clap* *Clap* Shikaru clapped his hands before nodding his head. "That would be fortuned if it did happen however you forgot one part of the reason as to why I chose this road," Shikaru said before lifting one finger. "We have the hyuga clan on our side, their vision allows them to see a couple kilometers away and they would be able to tell us about any ambush that could be prepared against us, allowing us to move more safely even if we are traversing by using the main road," Shikaru said before raising another finger. "And two, we won''t be the only ones going to the border as I''ve just been informed that two other camps will be joining us. Our forces when gathered together amass almost a thousand shinobi, and thus if we were to take the longer routes then the other two camps might be left to fend for themselves and we wouldn''t be able to arrive on time to help them." Shikaru said before lowering his fingers. "What I want you to start thinking about is not just our general situation alone, this is but a small camp of shinobi, you should think outside of your confines and about the whole direction of the war. And then use the situation we are in and my choices as a way to infer more information. If you had done that then it would have been possible to come up with a theory that matched my strategy even with the information that you have" Shikaru said before releasing a soft sigh. "Im tired, you can go back for today," Shikaru said, practically shooing Kazuo away. Kazuo had no thoughts on his mind for the first time in what felt like forever, his mind was entirely occupied by Shikaru''s words as he listened to them over and over inside his mind. ''He''s right, my thinking was too shallow, too confined to this small camp and its future, I also didn''t take into account every force that the camp has at its disposal.'' Kazuo thought as he walked back to his tent. A thought had been reoccurring for a few minutes now inside his head. ''Should I just kill myself so that I reset the day and give him the right answer?'' Kazuo thought over and over however he decided against it. ''The main reason is that I don''t want to keep killing myself, it''s going to start breaking down my mental resistance soon enough with the immense pain of each death. Lowering your mental strength in this world is a horrible idea considering all of the eye hacks that swirl around'' Kazuo thought before releasing a sigh and entering his tent. It was at that moment as he walked into it that a large explosion occurred and engulfed the whole tent as well as him into it. Incinerating his entire body into pieces. _____________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 24 *Huff* *Huff* His entire body covered in sweat, Kazuo woke up once more. It was the same day, again... His thoughts were in shambles from the pain he had just experienced, sometimes he felt like it was worse than if he had actually survived with deadly wounds all over his body. Then his mind wouldn''t be so confused every time he regressed back in time. ''I was ambushed?'' Kazuo thought as he remembered how the day had gone. Nothing had seemed out of place, Shikaru also wasn''t the one responsible for this, he didn''t need to hide his hand if he wanted to get rid of Kazuo. ''The cloud, there''s a spy in the camp'' Kazuo thought as his eyes sharpened, glinting in the darkness of his tent. ''You want to kill me? Then be prepared for hell you fucker'' Kazuo thought before quickly getting out of bed and gearing up. ''They came into the tent whilst I was out training or during the time that I was inside the commander''s tent. This means that they had at least a two-hour time span where they could implant the explosion tags whilst I was gone.'' Kazuo thought as he quickly analyzed the situation. ''The problem is that I don''t have a jutsu like a shadow clone which I can leave here, and I also don''t have any jutsu capable of setting traps that are triggered by intruders. However now that I know what that bastard is planning, I just need to look around carefully just before I head into the tent. That guy must be watching, ensuring that his plan works and that I die.'' Kazuo thought, quickly coming to a decision. Heading out of the tent, he followed everything he had done yesterday, the only thing he changed was when Shikaru asked him of what he thought about the plan. This time he did include the Hyuga in his theory however he left the other part out. Shikaru seemed much more pleased this time though he was still critical of his narrow thinking. Heading outside of the commander''s tent, Kazuo tightened his fists. His body and mind entered combat readiness as he walked toward his tent. Looking around as discreetly as he could, Kazuo saw five shinobi around his tent. ''Five suspects, five time loops.'' Kazuo thought before his face contored to show a somewhat deranged smile which he quickly hid behind a poker face. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ''You think ill let this shit slide, especially when I have something to profit from if I catch you? Hah,'' Kazuo sneered as he walked to the first shinobi. He looked just like any random leaf shinobi, if someone were to ask Kazuo what the stereotypical leaf ninja looked like then it would be this guy. With a large smile on his face, short light brown hair, and dark brown eyes with a leaf headband on his forehead. "Hey!" Kazuo said as he waved at the man. Turning around the guy gave Kazuo a large smile before returning the wave. "Could you come with me to my tent? I wanted to ask you some questions senior if it''s all right of course." Kazuo asked the man. "Of course, I would be glad to offer my help." The guy said with that same naive smile on his face. "Thank you, i was thinking of inviting everyone here, how about it" Kazuo said before raising his voice so that the four others could hear him. This plan had just formed inside Kazuos head and he had decided to put it into action immediately. Why go after the spy whilst dying each time to verify it when he could simply get all five at the same time, and when the spy was caught he would have four people to help him as well? The other four also gave words of affirmation and nods before all five followed Kazuo into his tent. ''It didn''t explode'' Kazuo thought with a small smile appearing on his face. His eyes grew even sharper as he looked at them. "Do you think I wouldn''t notice?" Kazuo asked, his tone firm as he looked at the five. "Notice what Kazuo?" The first shinobi asked Kazuo, his voice confused. "There is no use hiding it, Cloud spy," Kazuo said. "Cloud spy? What the hell are you on?" One of the men said his voice betraying his emotional turmoil at Kazuo''s words. "It is exactly what I said, I''ve already removed the explosion tags from here, I suggest you come forward before I kill you," Kazuo said, lifting his arms up and making a rat seal. This was a lie, Kazuo had no time or way to remove the explosion tags however bluffing was a major part of acting. His words as well as the seriousness that Kazuo carried at the moment seemed to shock the shinobi before they all quickly turned serious. *Haaah* The man who had seemed angry at Kazuo held his forehead whilst he shook his head. "I guess we did underestimate you," He said ''So it was you.'' Kazuo thought as he turned to face the man before he was taken aback. All five of the men gave him chilling smiles before they all made a hand sign simultaneously. "Kai" ''Ah, you fuckers'' Kazuo thought before a large explosion erupted once more. Incinerating both Kazuo and the other men, leaving nothing but their charred corpses behind. Outside of the tent which had caught on fire, shinobi quickly rushed to the location. "That''s Kazuos tent, an ambush," One of the shinobi said before he rushed and quickly made hand seals, a flood of water erupting from his mouth and dousing the fire that had started to spread. Shikaru and the other captains didn''t take long, merely a few seconds before they also arrived at the scene. "It looks like they wanted to get rid of him huh," Shikaru said, his voice calm as he looked at fire. "Those bastards" "Cloud scum, I swear ill kill them all and avenge Kazuo and the other fallen comrades," One of the shinobi said, his words ignited a fuse as every shinobi started getting engulfed in rage. "Aren''t you making my grave too quickly?" A voice said, causing everyone to turn their heads toward him. Shikaru similarly turned around and gave him a smile. It was Kazuo, he had no wounds on his body and he looked perfectly fine. _____________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 25 It was Kazuo, no wounds were on his body and he had a slight smile on his face as he walked to Shikaru, the surrounding ninjas were flabbergasted, weren''t they just saying that Kazuo had died? "So you survived?" One of the captains said, his eyes slightly widened though the anger had vanished from his gaze. "I knew something was wrong with them the moment that I talked with one of the ninjas surrounding my tent, deciding to be careful, I asked all of them to come with me inside my tent so that I could ask them, my seniors, some questions," Kazuo said before his slight smile widened slightly. "I entered my tent before them, causing them to not see me for a slight moment which I used to enter underground with the Hiding like a mole technique whilst using the clone technique to make a duplicate of me that engaged with them in conversation. I stayed near the ground so that I could hear what they said and once I saw the danger, I simply delved deep enough under the ground where the explosion wouldn''t affect me" Kazuo said as he turned to face the location where his tent had once stood. If he was being honest then Kazuo was quite angered, he had lost quite a lot of his supplies and belongings that he had in his tent however overall he had ended up being the winner. "You really are as cunning as Shikaru," The Hyuga captain said with a slight nod toward Kazuo. Kazuo shook his head. "No, Im simply afraid of death," Kazuo replied with a somber tone, his smile turning down and forming a thin line. "Isn''t everyone" Shikaru replied before every ninja turned to face him. "I congratulate you, Kazuo. You have managed to eliminate five cloud spies the very day that I gave you the Chunnin rank, keep up the good work." Shikaru said, his voice loud enough that everyone could hear. At that moment, the leaf shinobi around cheered as they walked and gave words of congratulations to Kazuo as well as pats on the back. "Thank you, everyone, ill make sure that I do the same going forward and work to my bones so that my comrades and the village remains safe," Kazuo said, deciding it was as good of a time as ever to speak some will of fire bullshit. Everyone laughed in good nature as they stared at Kazuo, their eyes had turned even more revering in a sense to Kazuo. He had managed to help the camp massively more than twice already, both when he found the ambush plan of the cloud, to raising the morale and defeating a cloud jonin in battle, and now to defeating five cloud spies at the same time. His reputation couldn''t be compared to the him of only a few days ago where he was simply an expendable Gennin that no one paid attention to. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. "Alright, someone helps Kazuo put up a tent for himself again, as for the rest go back to your tents for some rest. We will be marching forward again tomorrow, I need everyone well-rested for the journey." Shikaru said as he shooed everyone away from the location. Kazuo meanwhile found himself surrounded by quite a bit of shinobi who helped him construct a tent quickly before they gave their goodbyes and left to their own devices. *Sigh* ''Why couldn''t I have just been reborn in a time of peace but I have to go through this bullshit'' Kazuo thought to himself before entering his tent. His plan was simple, take a rest for the night before going ahead and getting some supplies tomorrow from the commander and starting to prepare some supplies for the trek they were going on. Sleep overtook Kazuo strangely fast, his dreams marred with bloodshed and fire causing him to wake up in the morning with sweat drenching him completely and rough breath. *Huff* *Huff* ''This is becoming the norm, and I don''t particularly find it entertaining.'' Kazuo thought with furrowed brows before he quickly got out of his makeshift bed and headed out of the tent. Arriving at a large tent close to the commander one, he entered inside. It was where the supply administrators were located, any shinobi could come here if they were in need of supplies. Behind a small makeshift counter, stood a young woman with dark brown hair and blue eyes. "Hello, I''d like to request some supplies," Kazuo said straightforwardly. The young kunoichi gave him a look before nodding her head, she wasn''t one for words it seemed. Turning around she quickly received a ninja bag which she handed over to Kazuo. "These are the standard supplies, if you want more then you have to send a request to the commander and then come back here," She said before paying no more attention to Kazuo. Nodding his head, Kazuo walked out and returned to his tent. Quickly opening the bag, he found a selection of items. Ten Kunai. Twenty Shuriken. Five Explosion Tags. Three Explosion tag Kunai. Three Soldier Pills. ''This is quite good, in fact, I didn''t expect to get this much, it''s most likely because im a chunin now so I''ll be receiving more supplies.'' Kazuo thought before taking out five kunai and placing them inside his seal, together with all the explosion tag kunai and the five explosion tags. The rest of the supplies he simply put in his ninja bag. ''Allright with this, i have enough combat gear for the moment'' Kazuo thought before starting to pack up his tent. It took a few minutes but the tent was folded up and placed inside a designed sealing scroll that was given to each shinobi for it. It didn''t have a large size however and it could only hold the tent itself but it was rather useful considering it was quite small in size and could be placed inside someone''s ninja bag. With his work finished, Kazuo headed to the commander''s tent where he saw Shikaru going out. "Is it time sir?" Kazuo asked as he looked at the Nara. A nod from Shikaru was all the confirmation he needed. The next hour or so was filled with the ninja packing their tents up before they all lined up before Shikaru. The Gennin had already departed yesterday, so the camp was only filled with Chunnin and Jonnin. Before Addressing the shinobi, Shikaru handed something to Kazuo. It was a jutsu scroll. "Take this and learn it as quickly as possible, I don''t want you to slow our advance by too much," Shikaru said before he turned around and started addressing the shinobi gathered in front of him. Kazuo meanwhile opened the scroll and quickly looked it over. A smile erupted on his face the very next instant. ''The Body Flicker Jutsu'' Kazuo thought, his joy palpable. _____________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 26 Shikaru concluded his speech to the leaf shinobi quickly and soon enough the entire camp full of ninja started moving toward their next location. Their route? The most frequented one by merchants. A daring choice by Shikaru Nara, the commander of the leaf camp. As the ninjas ran, they maintained a steady speed, none of them got tired, a side effect of chakra running through their bodies aswell as training those very bodies to the bone since a young age. At least all but one weren''t tired. Kazuo was having sweat falling from his forehead as he ran behind the ninja, he had to keep a steady pace otherwise he would be left behind, doing so would completely ruin the reputation of a genius that he had so painstakingly created over the last few days. ''If only i had enough time to learn the body flicker, with my chakra being in the chunnin levels already as compared to my other physical stats which are barely at the low gennin level, i would have been able to use the jutsu intermittedly so that i wouldnt get as tired and kept up the pace much more easily.'' Kazuo thought as he ran, the further away they got the more drenched his back became in sweat. Thankfully the sweat didnt show up on his back however he already knew that some people had noticed simply by his face which was covered in sweat. ''Ah fuck'' Kazuo thought before running faster until he arrived next to Shikaru who looked at him with a slight smile. ''This bastard is enjoying this shit, that''s the reason he gave me the jutsu so damn late wasn''t it.'' Kazuo thought before voicing out a question. "How long will we have to run without rest commander?" Kazuo asked. "Until nightfall, we dont have time to slow down. If you cant go on anymore then get someone to carry you." Shikaru said to him before turning his head to face infront once more. Kazuo started thinking deeply about what choice to make. He could ask someone to carry him just as Shikaru had proposed however that would completley ruin his reputation that he had made until now, just as he had thought. ''He wants me to become less of a distinguished figure inside the camp.'' Kazuo immideatly realized as he stared at Shikarus back. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ''Well, how about no?'' Kazuo thought as a deranged grin took over his face. Slowing his pace down until he was almost at the back of the group, Kazuo took out a kunai from his ninja bag. It was an explosion kunai. His hand shook as he held the weapon. ''Ah, killing yourself is so much fucking harder than just getting killed.'' Kazuo thought before he closed his eyes and with bated breath circulated his chakra to his hand and activated the explosion tag tied to the kunai. The sound it made immediately alerted the nearby shinobi who turned to look at Kazuo, their eyes widening quickly. "Ah, fuck you Shikaru." Kazuo said out loud before plunging the kunai into his abdomen. *Boom* With a loud booming sound, Kazuo''s body exploded as his limbs scattered around in the air. *Huff* *Huff* Opening his eyes, Kazuo found himself back in his tent. ''I have to learn that damned jutsu'' Kazuo thought as he got up immediately. He had managed to memorize the entire scroll quickly, the jutsu itself wasn''t difficult to understand, but that didn''t mean that it was easy to master. The D-rank Jutsu, Body Flicker had one of the highest skill ceilings of any Jutsu ever created. It could be as weak as a D-rank jutsu in the hands of the unskilled or as strong as an S-rank jutsu in the hands of someone like Shisui Uchiha or Minato Namikaze. Quickly making his tent, Kazuo headed to the training grounds. He had around an hour at the most to learn the jutsu, if he couldnt then he would have to die again. The prospect frightened Kazuo, death was never pleasent afterall but if he wanted to actually survive and achieve a good life in this world then it was a necessary part for him who was a Time looping Gamer. ''The Body Flicker jutsu only requires the user to make the tiger seal and at higher levels it becomes a sealless jutsu. It basically uses chakra to vitalize the user''s body allowing it to move at extreme speeds, causing it to look as if the user has teleported. The difficulty in mastering the jutsu is in the user''s ability to actually control himself at that extreme speed, if you use the jutsu wrongly then it can even result in severe injuries or death if you were to run directly into an obstacle at such high speeds.'' Kazuo thought as he quickly summed up the jutsu and without waiting for any more time, he made the tiger seal. Circulating his chakra whilst he maintained the tiger seal in the method showed inside the jutsu scroll, Kazuo aimed his body at a clearing instead of at any trees or obstacles and only used the smallest ammount of chakra that he could manage. *Poof* A bunch of smoke erupted where he had been and his sight blurred. When his eyes refocused, Kazuo found himself two meters in front of where he had previously stood. ''Good, now all that i need to do is quantify how much chakra is needed per meter and this should allow me to for a pseudo mastery of the jutsu. I wont be able to use it on instinct like most ninjas who have mastered it can however ill be able to reach a close levels to them, atleast in accuracy though the speed at which i utilise the jutsu will fall but thats a disatvantage im willing to take for the moment.'' Kazuo thought before he started his experimenting. His chakra reserves had thankfully grown leagues since he had been reincarnated into this world and the jutsu itself didnt use much so he could use it repeateadly over and over. _____________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 27 Kazuo continued repeating the same movement and Jutsu over and over, it was only when someone came to tell him to head to the center of the camp that Kazuo stopped. ''Not enough time, the system hasn''t even recognized it as a skill yet, this way all ill do is get the same result as last time, I need to at least achieve a level four in the Jutsu if I want to maintain my status as a prodigy.'' Kazuo thought as he headed to the center of the camp. He wasn''t going to simply kill himself immediately however, he still had hours of available time to practice, until just before midnight when he would kill himself and return back to the early hours of the morning. Arriving at the center, Shikaru was talking to the troops just like the previous turn. He turned toward Kazuo and gave him the same scroll and soon enough the troops started their run toward the border. Kazuo held the jutsu scroll in his hands for around ten minutes as he ran alongside the shinobi before he put it away and made the tiger hand sign. *Poof* The smoke was reduced by leagues and bounds from the first time that he had used the jutsu and the amount of chakra wasted was also lowered, that didn''t mean that he had achieved a high mastery however, he was still only in the beginning phases of the technique. Kazuo appeared a dozen meters in front of where he had previously been and continued running again, he had managed to make the jutsu useable, though not combat-ready. ''Im still far, too far away.'' Kazuo thought. However, the sight of him simply looking at a jutsu scroll for a few minutes and then performing said jutsu was astonishing to the surrounding shinobi who looked at Kazuo with wide eyes. "Did he just?" One of the shinobi questioned, his words blurting out on their own as he stared at Kazuo. Another next to him nodded his head slowly, his mouth slightly agape as well as they looked at Kazuo. The Body Flicker wasn''t a hard jutsu to pull off and most if not all chunnin already had decent mastery of it however being able to use the jutsu immediately and have at least some mastery over it so that you didn''t crash was huge. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. It was something in the realm of geniuses, whilst it wasn''t something so extraordinary like what that hatake kakashi seemed to be able to do, it was in a realm above the normal still. Shikaru who had been looking at Kazuo for a while now had his eyes slightly widen as well before a small smile appeared on his face. ''Not bad kid, it seems like it will take more than just that to bring you down a peg.'' Shikaru thought as he turned around. The run continued well into the die and just like the previous turn, Kazuo quickly found himself dead tired with his back covered in sweat however it was even worse this time. Even his chakra reserves were on the verge of running out because of the continued use of the body flicker jutsu. The shocked gazes of the shinobi around him had subsided some time ago and turned into confused stares instead. Where was the genius talent that he showed? Did it just evaporate into thin air? *Sigh* Releasing a long-winded sigh, Kazuo thought. ''It''s time, ah I want to kill you so bad Shikaru, I hope you remain a virgin your entire life you damned ugly bastard.'' Kazuo thought as he took an explosion kunai from his ninja bag and plunged it into his abdomen just like the last turn. *Boom* With a loud explosion sound, Kazuo exploded and his body parts flew all around and fell to the forest floor. *Huff* *Huff* Waking up once more, Kazuo quickly got up, not having any thoughts in his mind, and headed to the training ground again. It had been a while of just... Using the body flicker again and again, over and over. Going to the center of the camp, getting the scroll, and then running into the forest until he had to kill himself once more. Each time, Kazuo managed to last a few minutes longer, managed to conserve his chakra and stamina more and more. However, this jutsu wasn''t as easy as he had assumed it would be, in fact, it was so hard that Kazuo felt like killing himself, ironic considering the reason of the fact that the jutsu was causing him to die so many times and that he was doing it out of his own volition. Was it three times? Five? Ten? Fifteen? ''Twenty-seven'' Kazuo thought, his mind had already lost a part of itself however if nothing else Kazuo was stubborn, it was a fact that had carried him through both in his wretched past life and in this even more harrowing new one. He had long achieved level four of the shunshin jutsu and had it recognized by the system however even that hadn''t been enough. His physical attributes were simply too low and no matter how many turns passed they didn''t increase. ''If I trained the jutsu for this long without the loops then I would have achieved higher mastery however all the bodily mastery, the instinct that gets ingrained through continuous practice is lost every single time that I use the time loop, causing my progress to be much slower than what it could have been.'' Kazuo thought as he walked toward the center of the camp. His already stoic face had turned even more into what people would call a perfect poker face. Arriving to stand close to Shikaru, Kazuo listened to him giving the speech for what felt like the hundredth time. ''I didn''t practice the shunshin jutsu this turn, this way no one would have been able to see me using it until after I read the scroll'' Kazuo thought as he took the shunshin jutsu scroll for the 28th time. _____________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 28 Opening the Shunin no jutsu Scroll that Shikaru gave him, Kazuo gave it a quick lookover, making it seem like he was reading it. Before he nodded his head and put the jutsu away. His quick actions caused a shinobi to turn and ask him. "Aren''t you going to read it? It will be helpful in the journey." The man said, clearly trying to help Kazuo. Kazuo turned toward the man and gave him a smile. This was the thirteenth time that he had said the same thing to Kazuo. "It''s fine, it looked easy enough," Kazuo said with a calm voice, no fluctuations in his tone whatsoever as he answered the man. "All right if you say so." The ninja said before turning his gaze aside and listening to Shikaru''s speech once more. This small conversation however was heard by quite a few shinobi who gave secretive glances at Kazuo. Most of them looked at Kauzo with pity, they all knew that the jutsu looked easy however mastery over it wasn''t something easily accomplished, and even making the jutsu useable would take a lot of hard work. A while later, the shinobi all started running away from the camp. The march to the border had officially started. For Kazuo however, it had started almost a whole month ago, this very painful day. All because a certain Nara had decided that he had gained too much status in the camp. ''That bastard'' Kazuo thought to himself before a soft smile appeared on his face as he ran alongside the rest of the leaf shinobi. He didn''t want to show a soft smile, Kazuo wanted to give a large grin and laugh in Shikaru''s face. However, he had to calm himself down and maintain his facade of a calm and amiable comrade, someone who was a genius beyond comprehension, both in the shinobi arts as well as strategy. And the first step to truly cement this notion of a genius was right in front of Kazuo, no... It was already in the palm of his hand. Kazuo didn''t make a single hand sign, one moment he was running alongside a caramel-haired ninja, and the next, he was beside Shikaru Nara. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. The shinobi took a moment to realize what had happened. Kazuo hadn''t made a single hand seal, there had been no smoke. He had simply disappeared from his previous location and appeared tens of meters ahead. A single word crashed into their minds at the same time. ''Shunshin'' It was something they would have found hard to believe however they had no choice, they had just seen Shikaru give Kazuo the scroll not even an hour ago and now he had already mastered it beyond what most of them could achieve. In merely an hour, he had simply looked at the scroll once and done it. Wasn''t this too outrageous? The ninja thought however instead of feeling jealousy, envy, or enmity, they felt exhilaration. This was someone who was going to accompany them to the battlefield, a genius shinobi who would protect their backs. The Ninja''s eyes gleamed with joy as they witnessed Kazuo''s instant mastery achievement. Kazuo meanwhile was looking at a holographic screen at the corner of his vision discreetly. [ Stats ] [ Name: Kazuo ] [ Age: 12 ] [ Race: Human ] [ Strength: D- ] [ Endurance: D- ] [ Agility: D- ] [ Intelligence: B- ] [ Charisma: C ] [ Chakra: C- ] [ Skills ] [ Time Loop ] [ Level 1 ] [ Academy Taijutsu ] [ Level 9/10 ] [ Academy ShurikenJutsu ] [ Level 9/10 ] [ Clone Jutsu ] [ Level 6/10 ] [ Substitution Jutsu ] [ Level 5/10 ] [ Transformation Jutsu ] [ Level 5/10 ] [ Hiding Like A Mole Jutsu ] [ Level 10/10 ] [ Paper Shuriken Jutsu ] [ Level 10/10 ] [ Water Style: Enhanced Water Bullet ] [ Level 4/10 ] [Chakra Control: Tree Walking ] [ Level 10/10 ] [ Chakra Control: Water Walking ] [Level 7/10 ] [ Summoning: Lighting Flash Blade Creation ] [ Level 10/10 ] [ Shunshin ] [ Level 8/10 ] Whilst he had practiced the Shunshin jutsu, Kazuo had noticed that his chakra control was getting better and better, and this was reflected in his tree walking and water walking skills. The tree walking had reached the maxed level around the fifteenth turn whilst the water walking was still lagging behind. Glancing at Shikaru, Kazuo saw the man looking at him with surprise for a brief moment before his face regained his usual stoic calmness. ''You didn''t expect that did you fucker? Just like how your mother didn''t expect my...'' Kazuo continued spouting various profanities at Shikaru inside his mind whilst he kept up the soft smile on his lips. "You''re good. Seems like I still underestimated you." Shikaru said as he ran alongside Kazuo. "I don''t know what you mean sir," Kazuo said, his acting almost perfect as his voice carried a tone of sincere confusion at what Shikaru had meant. Shikaru gave him a glance before releasing a few quiet chuckles. "Are you sure you''re not part of my clan, or maybe the Uchiha would fit you better," Shikaru said as he looked at Kazuo with some kind of glint in his eyes. "I''m just an orphan sir, i was raised in the Fire orphanage inside the hidden leaf, im sure that neither clan would have left me in there if I was a part of any of them," Kazuo said as he explained his past to Shikaru though he knew well that Shikaru most likely knew about it better than he did himself. Shikaru stared at Kazuo for a split moment longer before turning his head and nodding. The journey continued, and this time, Kazuo didn''t feel any fatigue, he could use Shunshin most of the time and maintain a steady pace without worrying about his physical condition. As Kazuo got further behind the group, Shikaru made a handseal and almost immediately an anbu arrived beside him. "Tell the root to search their database for a child called Kazuo, twelve years of age. He was in our orphanage, we should have records about him." Shikaru said, his black eyes somehow growing darker, appearing as if they were an endless abyss. _____________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 29 Until now Shikaru had merely seen the official leaf villages database about Kazuo. ''Twelve years of age with a medium to low amount of talent for the ninja arts, closed to himself and with almost no friends, nothing substantial that would show the amount of talent that he is currently displaying, nowhere near it fact. Not in intelligence and not in ninja arts. However, there should be something that the root managed to glimpse during his childhood.'' Shikaru thought to himself as the anbu disappeared after a nod of his head. Hours passed by and soon enough night fell upon the elemental nations, Shikaru ordered the shinobi forces under his command to stop and form their camp of the night. They had already covered more than half the distance to their destination, they would be stopping here for the night, and then early tomorrow they would cover another stretch and meet up with the other camps. The next battlefield would be much more harrowing than the one they had experienced until now. They would be fighting with the main forces of the Cloud, there was even the possibility of the jinchuriki or the Raikage himself showing up, causing utter decimation in the Leaf''s troops. ''Thankfully it seems like lord Orochimaru will soon be dispatched here to help us otherwise this would simply become a suicide mission.'' Shikaru thought as he surveyed his troops. His eyes landed on Kazuo once more. The young boy was sitting by himself in front of the tent he had already set up. ''You''re intriguing Kazuo, just how deep are you hiding? Is this all that you have to show or is there more?'' Shikaru thought as his eyes gained a glint, his curiosity peaked at the mystery that was the young shinobi. Kazuo meanwhile was catching his breath as he sat on a tree stump he had placed in front of his makeshift tent. ''I need to increase my physical attributes, even though I can use chakra to increase them to a certain degree, there is a limit to it, at least with the amount of chakra control that I currently possess.'' Kazuo thought to himself. At that moment a bell-like sound rang in his head. [ Ding! ] [ A Quest has been generated! ] Looking at the pop-up in front of him, Kazuo felt his heart fall, quests usually meant rewards but they also meant that a large hurdle was coming toward him. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. [ The Root has taken notice of the User. ] [ Join the Root ] [ Reward: 2 Minor Stat Upgrades ] [ Decline the Root ] [ Reward: 1 Minor Stat Upgrade, ??? ] Reading the Quest that had been generated for him by the system. Kazuo felt an incoming headache as he held his head. ''Fucking damn it, am I the fucking main character or something, can''t I at least have one day to myself.'' Kazuo thought as he stared at the first mission he had gained that had two paths he could choose. ''Joining the root is immediately disqualified.'' Kazuo thought before his mind quickly skidded to a halt. ''Wait... why can''t I just do them both?'' Kazuo thought to himself as a smile started showing on his face, his lips curled upwards. ''I can just join them and then kill myself, gaining the reward however the question remains whether the quest will disappear or if it will remain and allow me to get both rewards.'' Kazuo thought before deciding that he had nothing to lose. ''All right, it''s decided then'' Kazuo thought as he released a soft sigh and headed back into his tent. It was likely that the root would come to him during the middle of the night or whenever he was alone so Kazuo decided to make their job easier by heading inside his tent. Laying down on the ground, Kazuo closed his eyes and waited. Hours passed by and soon midnight passed as well, most of the camp was already asleep besides the guards and patrols who were still awake and keeping a perimeter around the camp against any enemy attackers. The job of these guards had been left to the Hyuga, though they didn''t have many of the clansmen inside the camp, there was enough so that every guard team could at least have one with them, allowing for much better surveillance. As Kazuo stood silent, his breath calm and his eyes closed. He noticed a slight change in the wind inside his tent. Immediately Kazuo''s eyes snapped open and his body released a puff as a log of wood took his place. Appearing two meters away, Kazuo quickly saw what had changed. There was an anbu inside his tent. "Kazuo, I''m from the root division of the Anbu corps, our leader would like to extend an invitation to join our ranks so that you could be of better use to the leaf village." The anbu said, his mask was blank, not showing any kind of animal face painting. ''When did Shikaru inform them about me and your leader? Are you saying that Danzo already has his sights on me?'' Kazuo thought as he furrowed his brows. "I can''t simply accept when I don''t even know if you are the real person, if the root is really a thing then I''ll have to ask my commander to confirm," Kazuo said as he looked at the anbu. The anbu maintained silence for a few moments before nodding his head. "You can accept now, and confirm it with your commander tomorrow. We won''t be taking you anywhere tonight either way." The anbu responded. ''So Shikaru is a part of Root as well, isn''t he? Otherwise considering how most of Root was against almost every shinobi in the original series then they wouldn''t have allowed me to tell anyone else that I was joining the Root.'' Kazuo thought quickly before nodding his head a moment later. "If what you say is true and I can be of better help to the village then I accept," Kazuo said, at this moment he heard a ring sound inside his mind. [ Ding ] [ Quest has been accomplished. ] As soon as Kazuo heard the notification, he saw the Anbu before him nod his head and disappear. He placed two fingers on his wrist guard and injected a light amount of chakra. Kazuo pulled out two explosion tags. ''It still hurts just as much as the first time.'' Kazuo thought, before injecting his chakra into the paper tags. *Booom* _____________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 30 This time, Kazuo didn''t wake up from slumber when the time loop happened. He simply had his eyes closed and he was lying down on his bed. This was the shortest time loop he had done since the first one when he had died against the cloud Jonin on his patrol mission. There was around one hour left before the anbu would come inside the tent. Opening his eyes slightly, Kazuo opened his quest menu. [ Quests ] [ The Root has taken notice of the User. ] [ Join the Root ] [ Reward: 2 Minor Stat Upgrades ] [ Claim! ] [ Decline the Root Invitation ] [ Reward: 1 Minor Stat Upgrade, ??? ] Thinking of clicking the button, Kazuo saw it light up slightly before it appeared to be pressed on its own and a new pop-up appeared in front of Kazuo''s face. [ User has been granted 2 Minor Stat Upgrades ] Another difference that took place was that the first part of the quest where it told him to join the root was now greyed out whilst the decline option was still written in a golden color. ''That means I can still do it, getting double the rewards from the same quest.'' Kazuo thought as he felt exhilaration and joy course through his body at the notion. Opening his status screen, Kazuo looked at his stats and didn''t hesitate even for a second. [ Endurance: D ] [ Agility: D ] ''Strength has much less importance at this low of a level, at least until you reach levels similar to Might Guy or Rock Lee, then strength isn''t really the best, this is best demonstrated by Minato Namikaze, he doesn''t have the raw strength of many cloud ninjas or someone like Tsunade however he could run circles around them and simply slice their neck apart before they even knew what was happening. Strength can also be compensated easily by the usage of chakra techniques like Tsunades strength.'' Kazuo thought before closing the status menu. When he had put in the stat upgrades he had felt a warm current pass through his body however he had noticed no other changes, he would have to test it out to see just how much faster and durable he had gotten tomorrow. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Closing his eyes once more, Kazuo remained in pure silence as he awaited for the root anbu. The moment that he felt the slight shift in the air, Kazuo quickly substituted himself away as he had in the previous loop. This wasn''t simply to protect himself but to also show off that he was always on guard and couldn''t be sneaked up on. If you wanted to leave the impression of a genius ninja then you had to act out even the smallest of details otherwise the whole image could crumble away at the slightest blow of wind. "Kazuo, I''m from the root division of the Anbu corps, our leader would like to extend an invitation to join our ranks so that you could be of better use to the leaf village." The anbu said as he stood at the other side of the tent from Kazuo''s position. "I decline," Kazuo said as he shook his head. The anbu seemed taken aback by his swift rejection and seemed to want to question Kazuo''s choice. This was easily discernable by his body language and so Kazuo didn''t even wait for him to ask as he answered. "The leaf village is made of two parts, the leaves, and tree that showers in the light and brightness of the world as well as the roots that are under the ground and nourish the tree, and as much as I respect the fact that you the Anbu do the brunt of the behind the scenes missions for the village, that isn''t a place where I want to be in," Kazuo said, using Danzo''s own words against the man''s minion. "How do you know about that, how do you know that saying?" The anbu questioned almost instantly after Kazuo finished his speech. "I simply made a guess from the name of your organization, it was simply an assumption, turns out that I was correct," Kazuo said as he took a step closer to the anbu. "I do not wish to be under the ground, for I wish to be the brightest fire in the leaf, a fire that protects all of those around it however if I am put under the leaf then I might just accidentally burn the tree itself because of my intensity," Kazuo said with a light smile. "I''ve tried, not gaining attention, following the middle and even bottom of the barrel however it simply wasn''t for me. My very existence burns when I remember the fact that I was invisible. Never again." Kazuo said as a fire seemed to be ignited behind his eyes. "I thank your commander for the offer however as I just explained, I wish to be a part of the light," Kazuo said before sitting down on the ground and awaiting the anbus decision. Kazuo didn''t fear the man, he feared pain however he wasn''t a slave to it and thus if he wanted something, he would get it. Death? That had lost its meaning quite a couple of turns back. Why be scared of death if it basically doesn''t exist? The anbu stood silent for a few moments before nodding his head. "I shall relay your words to the commander." The man or woman said as they disappeared from sight. ''His Shunshin Jutsu is around the same mastery as mine.'' Kazuo thought before lying down fully on the ground. Unlike what he had just shown, unlike the vigor and passion that had been carried through his voice merely seconds ago, Kazuo''s mind was calm as a lake. ''Become the light? Fuck me if I give a shit about that, I simply don''t want to become your fucking slave. If there was enough benefit to it then I would have considered it however there is none.'' Kazuo thought. At this moment, Kazuo heard the jingle of a bell inside his mind. [ Ding! ] [ User has accomplished a quest! ] [ The Root has taken notice of the User. ] [ Decline the Root ] [ Reward: 1 Minor Stat Upgrade, 0.1% Bloodline Activation ] [ Claim ] Reading the second reward, Kazuo felt his eyes open impossibly wide from the shock. _____________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 31 Quickly Kazuo thought of claiming the reward and in the next second he saw the button light up before another pop-up appeared before him. [ Quest rewards have been claimed! ] [ 0.1% of the User''s bloodline has been activated! ] Kazuo thought he would feel something however there was nothing, no new pop-up giving him a new skill. Actually, there was a minor change, his chakra had increased slightly however it wasn''t a big enough increase that it would show up in his status menu. ''Just what is my bloodline to begin with?'' Kazuo asked himself however he had no answer to give, there just was no information about it at all and he hadn''t even known that he had the possibility of a bloodline until now. ''I would have been more understanding if it said that it would give me a bloodline rather than whatever this awakening is.'' Kazuo thought before releasing a sigh and deciding that he wouldn''t think about it for now. An increase of 0.1% was extremely low, it was one a thousandth of the full bloodline. ''It will likely take me years and a lot of dying as well as pain if I wish to have it fully activated, that''s the most likely scenario.'' Kazuo thought before he closed his eyes once more and finally fell asleep. Waking up in the morning, Kazuo quickly got out of bed and headed outside, unfortunately, he wouldn''t be able to train his jutsu as he would need the chakra for later during the march however he still could do stretches to heat his body up. After around half an hour of doing stretches and taijutsu kata, Kazuo was done with his morning routine and packed his tent up into a scroll once more. Minutes later, Shikaru ordered the entire camp to start marching once more. During a march like this, there was no time for them to make food or anything of the sort and so the shinobi relied on medical pills and soldier pills to gain the nutrients that they needed. This wasn''t good for them in the long term however desperate times required desperate measures and war was certainly a desperate enough time. Simply knowing that you could happen upon someone like a jinchuriki or the raikage himself at any time was enough motivation for the group to not waste a single second of the day. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. As the march began, Kazuo quickly came beside Shikaru. "Yesterday night, someone infiltrated my tent and called himself a root anbu of the leaf, is that an actual organization, or was it an enemy?" Kazuo asked Shikaru who turned his sights onto him. A moment later, the man nodded his head. "It''s a real leaf organization, Don''t tell anyone about them however as they are supposed to be hidden from sight, im surprised that you got invited so quickly. Did you join?" Shikaru asked, he already knew the answer however he wanted to hear it from Kazuo. Kazuo stood silent for a few moments as he gazed at Shikaru before shaking his head. "I like the light," Kazuo said before slowing down his speed so that he fell to the back of the group. This place was more dangerous than the middle where Shikaru was located however at the same time it could be considered less endangering as well. Shikaru was with the root, Kazuo had a strong belief of this and in his mind, someone from the root posed a much greater danger than any random shinobi that could ambush them, of course besides some big shots who Kazuo stood no chance against. The journey continued onwards and as the sun started to set, Kazuo finally saw something in the distance. It was a large clearing that had been made from the destruction of countless trees. ''Likely with the usage of Jutsu, I''d guess wind style however that is quite rare in the leaf, so maybe earth style was used to uproot them and then fire style to either incinerate them or they simply carried them somewhere to be used for the camp.'' Kazuo thought as he saw Shikaru head to the front of the group. On the other side of the clearing, a large number of shinobi were similarly coming toward them. They all carried the symbol of the hidden leaf in their headbands. The troops on both sides stopped and only Shikaru and two of the captains headed to the middle. On the other side, their people walked to the middle as well. ''Those must be the other camp leaders.'' Kazuo thought as he stared at the men. As his gaze swept past the troops, he felt a chill. ''Did I see that wrongly?'' Kazuo thought as his gaze returned to a previous spot that he had glanced over. In the middle of the troops on the other side of the camp, there was a small small kid, his age appeared to be similar to Kazuos, being only twelve years old. ''Didn''t every Gennin get sent back? Is there another genius?'' Kazuo thought before quickly shaking his head. ''No, they wouldn''t just raise someone''s rank that easily, they raised mine mainly because Shikaru wanted to keep a close eye on me. There is a small chance that these guys...'' Kazuo''s thoughts stopped at that moment as he saw Shikaru. Or rather he saw Shikaru''s head fly up into the air, cleanly detached from his body. Blood splashed all over the grass and the rest of his body from the neck down falling onto the ground. There was silence for a few short moments though to the Leaf shinobi, it felt like an eternity. "Kill them!" The man in the middle of the clearing roared as he pointed to the leaf ninja and rushed forward. The next instant the entire troops in front of Kazuo and the leaf started rushing toward them with large bloodthirsty smiles and jeers as they came closer to them. To engage in combat and utterly annihilate the leaf camp. This seemed to bring the leaf ninjas'' minds back from the shock as they quickly made combat stances. Kazuo meanwhile stood silent, not moving a single inch from his spot. ''What''s next? The Raikage himself coming to kill me?'' Kazuo wondered. _____________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 32 Seeing the rushing enemies, Kazuo remained calm. Objectively he had no need to be afraid, he wouldn''t die or lose anything no matter what. ''What do I do? Do I simply run away? Or do I stay and fight?'' Kazuo thought for a split second before his mind whirred into action. Placing his hand on his wrist guard, Kazuo quickly took a weapon out. It was a strange kunai, with three prongs and a piece of letter tied to the handle. On the paper, a set of seals were inscribed. ''You said that you would come, don''t fucking disappoint me now, Minato.'' Kazuo thought to himself before throwing the kunai at the ground. However mintao didn''t appear, Kazuo had even made sure to inject chakra into the seals however nothing had happened. The yellow flash of the leaf hadn''t come to the rescue like before. [ Ding! ] [ Quest has been generated! ] [ Survive ] [ Reward: 2 Minor Stat Upgrades ] Looking at the quest, Kazuo released a sigh before releasing a kunai from the seal on his wrist. Making a one handed seal, Kazuo quickly found the earth undearneath him softening and in a matter of moments, he was underground, running to the back of the battlefield. ''I just have to survive, fuck attacking, I don''t give a shit about that.'' Kazuo thought as he ran away from the battlefield. There was nothing he could do, Kazuo knew it. If there was then he would have accepted death and gone back in time to warn Shikaru and the others. ''I would simply be treated as a spy and tortured, there really is nothing I could possibly do to tell the others about this. This battle was doomed from the start'' Kazuo thought as he got further and further away from the battlefield. After he had made a wide enough gap, Kazuo headed above ground where he started using the bodyflicker jutsu to head further away. Its speed was much higher than the hiding like a mole jutsu. Stolen novel; please report. Sounds of weapons clashing, jutsu being unleashed, and explosions erupting sounded behind him, all of those sounds being melded together by the screams of dying shinobi. Kazuo didn''t turn back even once however, his only goal was his own survival. Minutes passed by as Kazuo headed further and further away from the battlefield. He had gained enough distance that he didn''t hear a single sound from the battle anymore. Kazuo still didn''t stop, however, as he continued to run. Minutes turned into hours and finally, when the morning hours of the next day arrived, Kazuo finally stopped. *Huff* *Huff* Releasing harsh puffs of breath, Kazuo held his knees, his entire back was drenched in sweat and his overall condition wasn''t good at all. He was tired beyond belief, he had been tired for hours now but he hadn''t dared to stop. ''Thankfully i memorized the map, i should be close to the border of the land of fire now, my travelling speed was much faster than when i traveled to the lightning border however my chakra is completley drained.'' Kazuo thought. Taking out a small dark brown pill from his ninja bag, Kazuo quickly threw it into his mouth, it dissolved almost instantly leaving a horrific taste in his mouth. However, it did what it was supposed to do. Kazuo felt his chakra become invigorated and start regenerating at abnormal speeds. He estimated that in around five minutes, his entire chakra reserves would be filled once more. Sitting down on the grass, Kazuo looked around. He was in the middle of a forest with dense foliage, a sign that he was close to the land of fire. ''What do I tell them when I arrive there? That I just ran?'' Kazuo thought before shaking his head. ''I have two options, either i tell the truth which will likely ruin my reputation completley however there is a chance that i will survive and they wont do anything to me besides sending me to another battlefield, or i could say that Shikaru ordered me to head back and report if anything were to go amiss so that the leaf wouldnt be operating on old intel.'' Kazuo thought before nodding his head. ''Ill try lying first, if i get found out then i could simply die and retry and tell the truth or something else until i find a way to survive the act of deserting the battlefield.'' Kazuo thought before releasing a sigh and getting back up on his feet. His chakra had already fully recovered and he needed to head back to the leaf village as quickly as possible. ''I need to arrive there before the aftereffects of the soldier pill hit me, that would leave me incapacitated in enemy territory, it is basically a death sentence.'' Kazuo thought as he used the body flicker jutsu once more and disappeared from his location. Already tens of meters away. Hours passed as Kazuo traversed the elemental nations, he had already entered the land of fire, he was now close to the hidden leaf and the chances that he would meet a leaf patroll were increasing by the second. Finally, around the end of the afternoon, Kazuo arrived at the front of the leaf village gates. He had met a patrol earlier however after showing his ninja id and a code that all leaf ninja had, he managed to get passed them. Stopping at the gates, Kazuo saw a shinobi who was controlling every person who was heading into the village. Using body flicker, Kazuo arrived at the shinobi almost instantly. "Who are you?" The leaf ninja asked immediately as he took a guarded stance. "Chunin of the Leaf, Kazuo. Here on a mission to give an emergency report to Lord Hokage by Shikaru Nara." Kazuo said, his tone urgent as he looked at the man. The ninja seeing the urgency, nodded his head and headed inside a small cabin to the left of the gates. He didnt take more than two minutes to verify everything before he told Kazuo that he was free to head inside. ''God damn, I should have been a Hollywood star in my past life.'' _____________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 33 Walking into the hidden leaf for the first time since he had transmigrated felt like a surreal experience to Kazuo. It was like he was still in a dream, rather it would be more appropriate to call it a nightmare at the moment. Using the body flicker, Kazuo used the memories of this body to find his way toward the Hokage building. Heading inside, Kazuo quickly went to the receptionist. "I have an emergency report for the Hokage from Shikaru Nara," Kazuo said as he looked at the woman behind the desk, his eyes faintly shaking as he tried to express his emotions better. The woman looked at Kazuo startled for a brief moment before nodding her head and heading up to the Hokage office immediately. Merely seconds later, Kazuo received the seal of approval and headed up the stairs to the Hokage office. He was now merely seconds away from meeting the Hokage. Sarutobi Hiruzen who was considered as the second god of shinobi, was a ninja that had mastered all five chakra natures and countless jutsu which gave him the title of professor. And Kazuo, a mere genin in the clothes of a Chunnin was going to be meeting him, and trying to lie directly to his face and then get away with it. The hurdle in front of Kazuo was hard, impossibly so however Kazuo had no other option besides going Rogue which he didn''t really wish upon himself, it would slow down his training speed immensely and he would lose access to getting jutsu from the leaf, having to rely on his system completely. As he came to the third floor of the building and walked for what was only a few meters, Kazuo came face to face with a large wooden door. On the right side of it, there was a golden plate with only a single word inscribed upon it. ''Hokage'' Reading the sign, Kazuo took a deep breath before steeling his will and resolve. *Knock* *Knock* There was a moment of silence before Kauzo heard a voice call him in. "Come in" Nodding to himself, Kazuo opened the door and headed inside, making sure to close it after him. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Walking to the middle of the room, Kazuo knelt down on one knee and loudly announced. "It is a pleasure to know that Lord Hokage is in good health, i have an emergent report to make about the battlefield on the border of the Hot Waters and the Cloud," Kauzo said all at once. He wanted to get this done as quickly as possible whilst also being as polite as he could. He had yet to even glance at the Hiruzen''s face, fearing that the old monstrous ninja would be able to tell something wrong in an instant. "Rise up, Kazuo," Hirzuen said after a moment of silence. ''He already read my file whilst I was coming here, making sure to know at least my name and some of my backstory so that he could use it in the conversation and garner more respect and love from me about him as a leader and the leaf itself.'' Kazuo quickly thought once he heard the man call him by name. He had never talked to Hiruzen in this life and neither had the previous owner of this body so any other explanation was illogical besides the one that clearly tells you he''s trying to use manipulation tactics. Getting up and straightening his body, Kazuo finally lifted his head to look up at the Hokage of the Hidden Leaf. Not looking at the military leader now would be extremely strange and would be a cause for suspicion. The man looked different from how he had in the anime and manga that Kazuo had watched and read in his past life. He had brown spiky hair with almost no wrinkles on his face. It was clear that he wasn''t young as his skin had started to deteriorate however he still looked like a man in his prime. ''This guy''s still in his fucking prime isn''t he?'' Kazuo thought as he looked at Hiruzen. Kazuo had a lot of respect for Hiruzen and Danzo, whilst he hated the two to death, one more than the other. Kazuo could give his respect to them. They were shinobi without cheats, shinobi who had trained their ass off in order to achieve the amount of power that they had, they had studied, trained, and used every single thing at their disposal to arrive at where they were now. And to Kazuo, that was something respectable. Someone who Kazuo hated even more than the two would be Nagato, a man who had been given the Rinnegan but had achieved almost nothing in the end. "Give your report Kazuo." Hiruzen finally said as he nodded his head. "Yes sir!" Kazuo almost shouted before taking a deep breath and starting to spew his string of lies interwoven with truths. "We were ambushed when we arrived at the meeting location with the three other camps. The enemy had killed the other camps and had been wearing disguises to pretend that they were hidden leaf shinobi, Shikaru noticed something wrong almost immediately and told me to be ready to flee back and report to the leaf so I stood on guard as Shikaru headed to the middle of the clearing to talk to the other three camp leaders." Kazuo said before he took a shaking breath. "And then they severed his head and all hell went loose sir, I didn''t see anything else as I followed Shikaru''s orders and ran to the leaf as fast as I could without looking back even once," Kazuo said as his eyes started tearing up, his voice getting clogged up, as he continued. "Im sorry, I was a coward, Lord Hokage," Kazuo said as he fell down onto his knees, his head hanging low. ''You better believe me you old perverted fuck, I pulled an entire skit here just for this shit.'' Kazuo thought to himself as he sat on the ground, his eyes looking at the ground as tears dropped from his eyes from staying open for too long and looking at the same spot. _____________________________________________________________________________ Here''s the extra chapter for hitting the PowerStone Goal. Thanks for reading and I hope you are enjoying the fanfic. If you want to read 10 chapters ahead and help support me further then check out my Patreon at: Patreon.com/NarutoAuthor Lots of Love Naruto Author Chapter 34 For a few moments, absolute silence reigned in the room before Hiruzen broke that silence with his stern voice. "You ran from the battlefield Chunnin Kazuo." "I was given a mission to..." Kazuo started before he saw Hiruzen lift his hand up to stop him from talking further. "You were not given a mission. Minato here can attest to that." Hiruzen said as he nodded to a corner of the room. Turning his head, Kazuo saw the yellow flash of the leaf looking at him in what looked like disappointment. ''This...'' Kazuo felt shock go through his mind. Minato had actually responded to the kunai being thrown and had arrived in time for the battlefield. That meant that the whole journey had been pointless. In fact, he had lost everything he had built up so far simply because of this bullshit. Kazuo felt furious, furious at himself for his own error. *Sigh* "What happens now, lord Hokage?" Kazuo asked as he turned to look at Hiruzen. The previous look of grief and subservience was completely gone from his face. "You will face jail time, you will first get interrogated and tortured before you either get executed or work for the rest of your life in the mines or somewhere similar," Hiruzen answered, his words stern as he looked at Kazuo. "I see, well I don''t agree with that," Kazuo said as a small smile appeared on his face. Hiruzen looked at the young shinobi with a surprised face, this wasn''t what he was expecting in terms of a reaction. Not at all. "You think that you can escape from here? In front of me, the Hokage and Mintao Namikaze?" Hiruzen questioned, his tone appearing genuinely curious about Kazuo''s next move. Kazuo stared at him for a while before nodding his head with a light smile. "Of course I can you old mother fucker." Kazuo said with a light laugh. His words caused the expression on Hiruzens and Mintao''s faces to crumble slightly. At this moment, in the silence, a slight sound was heard. *zzztttt* Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. It was the sound of explosion tags about to go off. The Hokages and Mintao''s expressions quickly changed once more as Minato teleported to Kazuo and proceeded to teleport him away. Kazuo''s last moments were him looking at a random field before he exploded. ''Fucking hax'' Kazuo thought. *Booom* The scenery quickly changed once more as Kazuo found himself back at the border of the land of Hot Waters and the land of fire once more. ''I am royally fucked.'' Kazuo thought to himself as he sat down on a large stone in the middle of the forest. ''Think, think you dumbass, how do I fix this.'' Kazuo thought to himself however at the moment no plans went through his mind. *Sigh* ''I can try returning to the camp once more and fabricate some lie that I was put under a Genjutsu and kidnapped.'' Kazuo thought before nodding his head. There wasn''t much he could do besides give it a try, there was nothing to lose and everything to gain at this point in time. ''If only I could return farther back in time.'' Kazuo thought to himself before shaking his head. ''Let''s just do this.'' Turning around Kazuo used the bodyflicker to run at incredibly high speeds through the dense forest. If before he had cared to not use a lot of chakra then now he didn''t at all. His most important task was to arrive as quickly as he could back to the camp. The faster he did come back the more chances there were of his lie actually working. It had taken him almost the entire night to arrive where he had been however with him using his entire chakra reserves like a reckless man, Kazuo managed to shorten that time significantly. Arriving at the location where the battle had taken place, Kazuo saw that completely destroyed forest. It didn''t resemble what it had once been even slightly. Signs of jutsu use were all around him however most importantly, there was no leaf camp here. ''They must have continued on toward the border.'' Kazuo thought before taking out his last soldier pill and popping it inside his mouth. ''When these wear off, im going to go on my damned death bed.'' Kazuo thought however he didn''t care at the moment. Using Shunshin again, he disappeared from his previous spot. It took four hours however he could finally hear the sound of shinobi using the body flicker jutsu. Arriving close to them, He quickly saw the group stop. It was the leaf ninja. As they observed him, shock went through their minds. Kazuo looked completely ruined, his body covered in blood and dust with countless scratches and slices covering his body. ''I had to fucking do this to myself so I don''t seem suspicious.'' Kazuo thought to himself as he Shunshined into the middle of the group. No one stopped him as he arrived next to Shikaru. "Im back commander," Kazuo said as he bowed lightly to the man. "Where have you been? I heard that you deserted us at the start of the battle." Shikaru said as he looked at Kazuo, his facial expression was furrowed as he looked at the twelve-year-old ninja. "I don''t dare desert the leaf, I was dragged away using a Genjutsu and had to fight my way back, it was a team of young Gennin from the cloud," Kazuo answered, his breath rough as he kept his head down. "I live and breathe for the leaf sir, I would give my life for it gladly. I could have run away however despite these injuries I wanted to come back and help inside the battle as soon as I could, it seems that I was too late however." Kazuo announced loudly as lifted his head and turned to look around him. "Im sorry my fellow comrades!" Kazuo practically screamed his apology out as he looked at the shinobi all around him. For a moment silence engulfed the forest before almost the entire shinobi camp started giving words of encouragement to Kazuo, telling him that it was all right and that he had already done enough for them. Kazuo''s words of patriotism had lit a fuse in them, and his obviously damaged condition gave them something to feel sorry about, his image as a kid only intensifying this fact. Meanwhile, Kazuos lips curled upwards slightly. _____________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 35 "We''ll be having a talk after we get to our destination, now get back in line." Shikaru said before he ordered the shinobi forces under him to restart their march toward the border. It was only an hour or so left before they arrived at their destination. That hour passed by in a blink and soon the leaf forces arrived at a clearing where they quickly started setting up camp. Putting up his tent, Kazuo thought about his next actions. ''I''ll be under much higher scrutiny than before, there is no way that Shikaru completely believes me, there is even the chance of him asking a Yamanaka to look through my memories, at that point the only way out that I''ll have is to go completely rogue.'' Kazuo thought as he finished setting his tent up. At that moment, a shinobi came to stand next to Kazuo. "Kazuo, the commander is looking for you, he''s in his tent." The man said before patting Kazuo''s back. "Im glad that you''re alive, for a moment we thought we lost you, kid." The man said afterward with a relieved smile on his face. Kazuo nodded his head and responded with his own smile. "Before all those cloud bastards give their last breath I am not dying." Walking off by leaving those words, Kazuo saw the man''s expression erupt into a large smile. Walking through the camp, Kazuo observed everything and quickly came up with an idea about the overall losses. ''Around thirty percent are gone, that means Minato came quickly however he still took a little time, I''d guess around two minutes.'' Kazuo thought before arriving in front of the large commander''s tent. The guard as always let him inside without any questions, at this point, it was well known that Kazuo was Shikaru''s apprentice of sorts. "Im here commander," Kazuo said as he headed inside. Shikaru was inside the tent, sitting on a chair behind that same old wooden desk that he seemed to carry around everywhere he went. ''Sealing scrolls really are useful.'' Kazuo thought as he stood in front of the man. "You said that you were taken by enemy forces is that correct?" Shikaru asked Kazuo directly, it seemed they would not be doing the beating around the bush tactic this time. "That''s right sir," Kazuo answered immediately. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "Do you have any proof of the encounter?" Shikaru asked as he put his hands forward on the desk and held his chin. "I do not, I wasn''t really trying to gather evidence, my main priority was survival," Kazuo answered, his tone was even and his facial expressions didn''t show anything. "I see, well it''s good that you survived and also that you managed to get treatment from the medical staff on time," Shikaru replied, his gaze still didn''t leave Kazuo''s face. Kazuo had been given medical attention almost as soon as he had joined the group, with the help of medical jutsu, the slices, and scratches that he had inflicted on himself were healed almost instantly. "Im very thankful to our medical team, though they did say that I needed at least two days of rest after the effect of the soldier pills wears off," Kazuo told Shikaru who raised one of his eyebrows. "Two days? The aftereffects only last a few hours, how many did you use?" Shikaru asked his tone showed a hint of his confusion. "I used three sir." His words caused Shikaru''s eyes to widen as he looked at Kazuo. "Three? What the hell are you doing here then? I was sure to tell Takuma to only call you here if you were in good condition." Shikaru said, his voice clearly alarmed as he stood up from his chair. "It''s all right sir, you can call me anytime if it''s for the leaf," Kazuo answered as he thought a devoted ninja of the leaf would. His words caused Shikaru''s brows to furrow further before he uttered his next words. "You are really interesting Kazuo, you''re becoming more and more of a mystery by the day. I just hope that my suspicions were unfounded, I''ll let you go this time however the next time something similar happens, I''ll need better proof than you just showing up sliced up like a salad." Shikaru said before releasing a sigh. "I''ll trust you because of that overdose of soldier pills which is hard to fake. If it wasn''t for that then I would be sending you to a yamanaka right at this second." Shikaru said, for the first time clearly showing his pure suspicion of Kazuo. "Thank you for your trust, I''ll make sure not to betray it. I rather not have my mind raped by a yamanaka." Kazuo answered, his face finally scrunching up lightly at the mention of the clan. With a soft chuckle from Shikaru later, Kazuo was dismissed and told not to show up in front of Shikaru for at least three days and to rest fully as they had some harrowing battles ahead of them. Back in his tent, Kazuo laid down on the makeshift bed that he had made on the ground and opened his status menu. The quest for survival had been completed the moment Shikaru had said that he would trust Kazuo this time. [ Ding! ] [ Quest has been completed ] [ User has gained 2 Minor Grade Upgrade Points ] Looking at his stats, Kazuo started thinking once more about what his next investment should be. [ Stats ] [ Name: Kazuo ] [ Age: 12 ] [ Race: Human ] [ Strength: D- ] [ Endurance: D ] [ Agility: D ] [ Intelligence: B- ] [ Charisma: C ] [ Chakra: C- ] [ Upgrade Points: 3 ] ''I could bring my chakra up to Jonin levels instantly or I could raise my other stats.'' Kazuo thought, his mind whirring into action as he tried to think of every use for each stat and which would bring the most benefit both in the moment and down the line. ''Charisma is most definitely the most useful long term, it would make gaining trust from shinobi much easier however the problem is that I do not have enough time to raise my physical stats with normal training, and at my current strength ill most definitely die on the battlefield.'' *Slap* Slapping his own face, Kazuo gritted his teeth. ''Fuck it, I can reverse time damn it, let''s go with it.'' Kazuo thought before investing every single point into Charisma. ''This way I''ll have an easier time managing Shikaru''s suspicion as well as have an easier time gathering meat shields around me.'' Kazuo thought. [ Charisma: B ] _____________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 36 It was at that moment that Kazuo invested all of his points into charisma. *Boom* It felt like an explosion had occurred inside his mind. Every single memory of his, both in his past life as well as in this new one of his started playing into his mind. It was as if he was watching his entire life from a third perspective, whilst it was playing on a thousand times the speed. It was only an hour later that Kazuo finally managed to bring himself together and the influx of memories stopped. *Huff* *Huff* Releasing harsh breaths, Kazuo was covered in sweat from head to toe. ''What the fuck.'' Kazuo thought to himself as his mind wandered to what had just transpired. He had seen every single memory of his and gained a new deeper perspective into it. It was like he could finally understand what he had outright missed before. The way his mother had looked at him whilst he remained oblivious. The way his friends had seen him, how they had reacted to his stories, his life, and everything he had done. How everyone around him in his past life had perceived him. Kazuo could finally understand that and so much more. As for the memories of this life, Kazuo felt even deeper surprise than from his old world memories. This body was an orphan, growing up inside the hidden leaf village, the only pillars of support he had back then were the caretakers. The old Kazuo and even the Kazuo of merely an hour ago had thought of them as naive good people who wanted to help children. ''Those bastards didn''t give a damn about us, if you connect that kind of behavior with my knowledge of this world then the likeliness of that being a root orphanage is almost one hundred percent.'' Kazuo thought as he furrowed his brows. He didn''t try to get up from his bed however, he had noticed that his body refused to move. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. It was as if it had achieved its true limits and now a deep sated tiredness had settled in, making movement almost impossible. ''These should be the aftereffects of the soldier pills.'' Kazuo thought before releasing a sigh. ''Shikaru was deeply suspicious of me from the very start, I knew that but with this new perspective, I know it for sure. The guys back then, that hawk team was looking into me whilst they dispatched the ambushers at the patrol route.'' Kazuo thought before nodding his head, finding his assumption to be close if not the very truth of the situation. ''This was a good choice.'' Kazuo thought before his brows furrowed even further and his fist clenched hard enough to tear the skin, blood dripped out and hit the ground however Kazuo didn''t remove the force he was applying until a few moments later. ''Still, it''s annoying to know just how others looked and thought of you, if only I could get back there again somehow, I''d rip those bastards to shreds.'' Kazuo thought as faces swirled in his mind. An old woman with graying hair, a young blonde guy, and a young girl with luscious black hair that went to her waist. ''I''d kill you all, every single one of you.'' Kazuo thought to himself before taking in a deep breath and releasing it slowly. ''That shit doesn''t matter either way, why the fuck am I wasting my time thinking about them.'' Kazuo thought finally as he turned on his side with difficulty and closed his eyes. When Kazuo woke up, he felt almost completely rejuvenated. His body felt much better than it had in weeks, his mind was clear as well. Getting up from the ground, Kazuo saw that the effects of the soldier pills had completely subsided. ''I slept for two days didn''t I?'' Kazuo thought as he considered the fact that he had been told the aftereffects would last at least two days. Getting out of his tent, Kazuo felt bright sunlight hit his eyes causing him to close them for a few moments until they adapted to the light. Finally having the ability to have a good look around, Kazuo saw that most shinobi were training or gathered in a circle with their team members as they shared stories and jokes with each other. Walking to one of the teams, Kazuo sat down next to them without even asking for permission. The others turned to look at who had joined them, finding out quickly that it was Kazuo. "Ey Kiddo, you finally awake?" A large man with a rotund belly said as he ate a pack of what looked like dried meat. "Yeah, how long was I asleep for?" Kazuo asked the man, speaking out for the first time since he had raised his charisma, Kazuo was surprised at himself. His voice carried a strange sound making it more confident, more warm, and charismatic if Kauzo had to say so himself, though it still clearly sounded like Kazuo himself and the voices were identical. ''Strange'' Kazuo thought before turning his attention to the man once more, awaiting his reply. With a loud chuckle, the man replied. "It''s been two and a half days, for a moment we thought you had died or something but when the medical team checked up on you they simply said that you were experiencing the aftereffects of three soldier pills and were in dire need of rest." The man said with a smile. After he finished his words, Kazuo saw someone extend their arm toward him and place it around his shoulders. "Yeah kid, you really weren''t lying when you said you ran as fast as you could to get back into the fight. I wish I could have your courage you know?" It was a woman with purple hair that went all the way down to her bosom. "Im not brave, I simply think that everything has a value and my comrades and my village hold a greater position than myself," Kazuo answered, his voice almost melodious as he answered the woman. _____________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 37 "Ah, the commander told us to inform you to head to his tent as soon as you woke up, almost forgot for a moment." The woman said as she scratched her head. ''She looks like a dumbass.'' Kazuo thought to himself as he glanced at the woman before smiling at her. "Ah I see, well then I''ll be heading off, don''t want to let the commander wait. I''ll see you guys later!" Kazuo said as he waved at the group who reciprocated his warm goodbye with one of their own. Walking off from the gathering, Kazuo''s expression turned into a poker face quickly. Compared to normal shinobi who Kazuo didn''t have to worry much about, Shikaru was a whole other monster. The man would notice even the slightest slip-ups and then use them to strangle Kazuo to death. His mind whirred back to his ability to return in time after dying. ''My tolerance to death had gotten higher over the turns, it''s like im starting to become numb to the feeling and fear of it however the pain is still a major problem, if I want to truly use this ability of mine constantly then I need to find a way to die instantly without any pain.'' Kazuo thought, countless ideas springing up in his mind as he walked to the largest tent in the camp. Whilst the shinobi around him appeared joyous because of the recent victory streaks, that was only the surface. Now with an increased Charisma stat, Kazuo could perceive the pain, sorrow, confusion, rage, and hatred that permeated deep into the crevices of every shinobis heart around him better than ever. ''I could use that to my own benefit, the more hatred they grow, the more pain they go through, the more they will hail their savior as a great figure, as someone impossibly good.'' Kazuo thought as a soft smile surfaced on his face. If Kazuo''s random bouts of smiling had looked creepy to most before, now they looked soft and charismatic. He had tried multiple times to control these random facial expressions however Kazuo had yet to completely master his acting and facial muscles to the level that everything remained under his control at all times. Arriving in front of the tent, Kazuo headed inside and was met with Shikaru behind the wooden desk as usual as well as five of the head captains of the camp forces. The Hyuga, The Inuzuka who had returned from the leaf as well as what looked like an Akimchi, someone who Kazuo couldn''t figure out from his outward appearance which most likely meant a civilian born and finally someone new. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ''That has to be an uchiha.'' Kazuo thought as he looked at the pale man with long black hair and completely black eyes, the man was much more handsome than the rest of the shinobi Kazuo had met until now around the camp. Walking closer to them, Kazuo stopped only once he was merely one meter away from the group. Giving them all a shallow bow. "Greetings, I was informed to come and meet Commander Shikaru as soon as I woke up. Sorry for the intrusion." Kazuo said before straightening up his body. "Is this really that little kiddo? What did you do Shikaru?" The Inazuka woman asked brashly as she walked to Kazuo and ruffled his hair. Kazuo didn''t even move a single inch as the woman got close to him and ruffled his hair. ''Get the fuck away, you damned insane woman.'' Kazuo thought inwardly however his face remained a soft smile throughout not even twitching lightly. "It is me Captain Inuzuka," Kazuo said after a moment of deliberation on whether he should even engage in conversation with the woman. ''It''s better to have a good relationship with her, my annoyance with her be damned.'' Kazuo thought as he lightly turned his face to give her a smile. The smile on the Inuzuka woman turned somehow feral and mischievous at the same time as she said to Kazuo in a teasing manner. "Do you want me to go out with you or something? I wouldn''t mind however you''ll have to wait for a few years." Kazuo turned his head away, his fist clenching slightly. Shikaru who was behind his desk looked at the interaction with a slight smile. Seeing his expression Kazuo felt his annoyance rise up and almost devour him completely. ''This bastard is watching me suffer as if he''s watching a clown in a circus, this fucker.'' Kazuo thought to himself, before focusing his gaze on Shikaru openly. Clearly showing his curiosity on why Shikaru had called him. "It had been unofficial but from now on, You will be my assistant officially Kazuo, that was the reason why I wanted you to come here when you woke up," Shikaru said, his tone light as if he was mentioning the good weather. The eyes of the captains inside the tent widened slightly with only the Hyuga and Uchiha maintaining a more composed expression. "This kid is now higher up than me?" Inuzuka woman asked, doubting what she had heard. "It was a decision that I made and then asked the shinobi around the camp, and they all agreed that the kid deserves the spot. Aoki Hyuga, Joji Akimichi, and Tensaki also agreed that it was a good decision." Shikaru said in response to the Inazuka''s question. The Hyuga captain who Kazuo now knew was called Aoki, as well as the Akimichi and civillian-born captain nodded their heads in affirmation. "I don''t think im strong enough for the spot Commander, While im glad that you all hold me so highly I''m afraid that my capabilities won''t be able to meet the standards," Kazuo said as he lowered his head slightly in a shallow bow. "It''s fine, I didn''t take you for your strength. You have managed to defeat opponents multiple times stronger than you multiple times now only using your mind, that is enough for me to determine that you have what it takes to offer suggestions whilst I form the battle strategies, im not expecting much either." Shikaru answered as he lightly waved his hand. Kazuo stood silent for a moment before nodding his head. "In that case, I''ll try my best to offer as much help as I possibly can Commander." ''There has to be some underlying meaning here, I just can''t figure it out right now.'' Kazuo thought to himself. _____________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 38 *Sigh* Sighing inwardly, Kazuo maintained his soft smile, which had become his signature look in this world, and walked to stand in his usual spot next to Shikaru. "Alright with that out of the way, I''ll be showing you all my battle plan for the next battle tomorrow," Shikaru said as he took out a map from a sealing scroll and laid it out onto the wooden table. ''Tomorrow?'' Kazuo thought as his eyes slightly widened before quickly returning to normal. "This time sadly we won''t be able to launch any ambushes or place any traps, it will be a head-on bloody battle. We are similar in terms of military power as well." Shikaru said as he circled a large clearing to their northeast where the large-scale battle would take place. "Why can''t we place traps? Seems like the perfect location to place underground explosion tags." Kazuo asked as he looked at Shikaru. ''You want me to be your assistant? Fine, then I''ll make you doubt every single decision.'' Kazuo thought, in a way, he would be helping himself and the camp itself by questioning every decision however Kazuo was sure he would be able to milk some knowledge out of the sinister Nara during the process as well. "Because there will be scouts around, there is no way for us to place the explosives without them noticing movement," Shikaru answered as he looked at Kazuo. "How? They don''t have a byakugan and we could use the hiding like a mole technique to hide ourselves whilst we do it." Kazuo asked once more, his brows furrowed in confusion. His words caused a silence to envelop the tent. "You''re saying that you can use the hiding like a mole technique to plant explosives underground, on such a wide area?" Aoki Hyuga asked, his eyebrow raised. Kazuo turned to look at the man before nodding his head. "Yes, it''s quite easy, I''ve already done it multiple times in combat," Kazuo answered. ''I fucked up, of course, normal people wouldn''t be able to do what I can with a fully mastered jutsu given by the system.'' Kazuo thought to himself however the words had already left his mouth and so he decided to see where this line of actions led him. "Show me how you use the jutsu," Shikaru spoke up as he asked Kazuo. Turning to face the Nara, Kazuo nodded before forming a single-handed hand sign and slowly starting to head underground. After a few seconds, Kazuo jumped back above ground and canceled the jutsu. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. "You can use it with a single hand seal and then continue using the jutsu without maintaining the hand seal at all once it is cast?" Inuzuka asked, her voice raised and shock clearly displayed all throughout it. "Yeah, it''s easy. You simply have to maintain a constant control of the chakra and follow the predetermined path that the hand sign started." Kazuo said, still acting as if he didn''t know what he had done was extremely abnormal. "Fucking geniuses, I hate this shitty world." The Inuzuka woman spouted constant profanities out of her mouth as she stomped around for a few seconds. Kazuo meanwhile was observing the woman closely, memorizing everything about her, her habits, the way she walked, the way she walked, her ticks, every single thing that made her, her. ''The Inuzuka clan sure does have a short temper, they are also brash and crude, and they don''t have any sophistication anywhere in their personality, is this a clan trait? Was it genetic based or is it just because of the way they were raised? It would be an interesting experiment to kidnap an Inuzuka and try to raise him to be the complete opposite of his roots.'' Kazuo thought before turning his head toward Shikaru once more, stashing the thought into the back of his mind for potential later use. "Seem''s like you will be of use very soon Kazuo, in fact on this very night," Shikaru said as he gave Kazuo a light smile, his dark eyes seemed to glint as they gazed at him. ''This bastard is he excited? Im fucking straight ok you fucker.'' Kazuo thought before nodding his head. "Yes sir, I''ll be going on a solo mission or with a hyuga member to the battlefield location and planting as many explosion tags into designated locations before returning to the camp. No, I''d say staying there would be a better decision as I would be able to activate the seals at the right time, but the activation could cause complications if I went together with everyone tomorrow." Kazuo said as he took a small pencil that was laid on top of the map and quickly circled five locations. "Im guessing this is where the explosions will be placed?" Kazuo asked as he turned toward Shikaru once more, the man had stayed silent throughout Kazuo''s entire explanation. A light chuckle erupted from the man, whilst the captains were eerily silent. "You really have improved Kazuo, in fact, it''s such a huge improvement that it''s almost monstrous, thankfully you did make a mistake," Shikaru said with a slight smile, which to Kazuo looked mocking more than anything else. Taking a stick, Shikaru tapped one of the circles that Kazuo had marked as a place where he would plant the explosives. "This part here is painted a slightly darker shade of green which means that the earth here is of a higher density, lowering the explosion power however even that could be forgiven but the fact is that it is a bit too far away from the central part of the battlefield, even if the explosives do activate then they will at most claim a measly sum of lives," Shikaru said before taking the pen that Kazuo had placed back down onto the map and circling a new location. It was in a weird location, placed at the far right of the battlefield, it looked as if it was even worse than where Kazuo had decided to place the explosives. "This part may look worse however that is only if you do not take into account the reaction of the cloud ninja, when the explosions occur, they will be backtracking immediately and with the highest number of explosions happening in the left as well as the fact that their camp is located in this direction, they will come here where you will then launch a second set of explosives for another decisive blow," Shikaru said before placing the pen down and laying back down on the chair. "I see," Kazuo said with a smile before raising his hand. "May I go outside for a moment?" Kazuo asked, and before Shikaru even gave him permission, Kazuo walked to the front of the tent and made a single-hand seal. "Kai" *Booom* _____________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 39 With a large explosion that engulfed most of the tent, Kazuos''s body was incinerated and blown to pieces. *Huff* *Huff* Waking up once more, Kazuo got up and headed to the group of ninjas outside once more until the woman told him that Shikaru had called for him. Replicating his actions perfectly Kazuo arrived at the same point in time where he was explaining the strategy. This time, however, Kazuo did as Shikaru had and even explained the reason that Shikaru had given whilst integrating it with his speech. The room was silent as they looked at the twelve-year-old ninja. A Shinobi who didn''t have more than three months out of the academy was capable of thinking up strategies at a level that only an experienced Nara was capable of. *Clap* *Clap* Shikaru clapped his hands as he kept a light smile on his face. "Excellent, seems like my decision of making you my assistant wasn''t wrong, in fact I feel like it will be quite a drag to think about what to teach you," Shikaru said whilst the Hyuga and Akimichi captains nodded their heads, clearly pleased that they had chosen a good prospect shinobi to stand behind. "Since you already made the entire operation then I''ll leave it in your hands Kazuo," Shikaru said before standing up and walking a few meters to the back of the tent and coming back with two sealing scrolls which he placed on the table. "Take five hundred explosion tags and place them evenly on all spots, each of these scrolls can hold two hundred and fifty tags at a time. Go to the supply tent and get them before heading off immediately." Shikaru ordered as he looked at Kazuo with a stern commanding look on his face. This wasn''t the man who played mental games and set up traps for Kazuo to fall in anymore. This was Shikaru Nara, an elite Jonnin of the leaf and the Commander of the entire North Cloud front. Nodding his head, Kazuo took the two scrolls and tied them to his back, turning to the captains and the commander, he gave a light bow before using the body flicker jutsu and disappearing from the tent. "Monster" The civilian captain uttered as he stared at the location where Kazuo had stood at. Shikaru chuckled before shaking his head. "I guess you can say that though I have this strange feeling about him," Shikaru said before shaking his head once more. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. "Never mind, let''s start planning about the next portion of the battle after Kazuo finishes his job, there will be people left alive even if the plan goes perfectly. Our job is to annihilate those remains." Shikaru said, his eyes glinting as his mind whirred into action. The Cloud forces wouldn''t be having a nice time tomorrow, that was for sure. Meanwhile, on the other side of the camp, Kazuo appeared in front of the large supply tent and headed in immediately. The same woman as before was behind the desk however unlike before she had a long scar that ran through almost the entirety of her face, considering how red it looked then Kazuo guessed it was quite recent. Taking his sight off of the scar, Kazuo gave the woman a soft smile before saying. "Im here to gather supplies for a special mission, I need five hundred explosion tags," Kazuo said, his voice light as if his request was the same as asking for a basic supply of ten kunai. The woman nodded her head before freezing on the spot merely a second later. "Five hundred explosion tags?" The woman questioned, her eyes widening as she looked at Kazuo. "That''s right, here is the letter of permission written by the Commander," Kazuo said as he placed a letter Shikaru had written whilst he had tied the scrolls to his back. Reading through it quickly, the woman nodded once she saw the seal at the end of the paper sheet. "All right, please wait a moment, I''ll bring them shortly." She said before heading to the back of the tent at some wooden crates where she started taking out the explosion seals. After a few minutes and a thorough count, she placed all five hundred tags onto the desk and pushed them toward Kazuo. Kazuo simply nodded his head before placing the two scrolls on the ground and opening them up. Kazuo placed half of the tags on each scroll and made a single-hand seal. "Seal" And with a puff of smoke, the explosion tags disappeared inside the scrolls. Rolling them up once more and mounting them on his back. Kazuo nodded and disappeared with another use of his body flicker jutsu. This time his destination wasn''t inside the camp but rather to the clearing where the battle would take place tomorrow. ''Should I have just stood silent?'' Kazuo thought to himself as he flickered out of the camp and then proceeded to get farther and farther away from it. Meanwhile, inside the Commander''s tent, the captains had already left, and Shikaru had a pensive expression on his face. ''His file didn''t show that he had any elemental affinity yet and it also didn''t mention the fact that he knew the hiding like a mole technique, whilst he did use it on the battlefield previously, I never imagined that he had perfectly mastered the jutsu to such a degree.'' Shikaru thought as the scene of Kazuo explaining his strategy flashed through his mind. ''It''s like every time I meet him, he shows me something new about himself that I didn''t expect at all, at first it''s a new jutsu, and then his strategic abilities have grown leagues beyond what they were merely a few days ago.'' Shikaru thought before releasing a long sigh. "You really are a damn drag to deal with Kazuo," Shikaru mumbled to himself before laying back down fully on his chair and looking at the top of the tent. ''You''re suspicious, extremely so however as long as you are of use, then I''ll leave you alone. At least until this war is over.'' As Shikaru''s thoughts ended, something unexpected to him happened yet again. *Fshh* With the sound of the wind moving, an anbu appeared inside the tent. The anbu had a white mask with no painting on it at all. "Master has told us to eliminate Chunnin Kazuo when the war stars dying down. He''s a danger to the stability of the village." _____________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 40 Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Chapter 41 Kazuo had to wait for another twenty minutes before he felt the very ground shaking. Hundreds of ninjas were about to come into this very clearing, their eyes blazing with fury and hatred as they would look at the other party. ''The greatest motivator of humankind, hatred.'' Kazuo thought to himself before showing a light smirk on his face. ''I wonder how many people will curse me to death by the end of today.'' Kazuo wondered to himself. 2 explosions rocked the ground, shaking even Kazuo who was twenty meters underground. ''The signal'' Kazuo thought as he looked at the white paper string in his hand. Before he had left, Kazuo had told Shikaru to cause two large explosions above a specific spot in the clearing where he would be hiding as a signal for Kazuo to launch the explosives. Looking at the paper for a moment longer, Kazuo felt slight doubt appear on his face before it was quickly squashed by his mind. ''They would have done worse if they could.'' Kazuo thought before channeling his chakra into his hand and into the paper string. It traveled at immense speeds though it had lost the majority of its energy. The explosion tags thankfully only needed a sliver of chakra to activate as they were made from extremely chakra-sensitive seals. For a moment, Kazuo thought he had failed as nothing happened. And in the next second, Kazuo finally felt it. The very earth shook as if a nuke had been dropped, causing Kazuo to smash onto the earth around him as if he were a ping-pong ball for a few seconds. After that, the rocking of the earth stopped and silence overtook the place once more. Quickly Kazuo made a handseal and using the Hiding like a mole technique, he brought himself above ground. Looking around Kazuo quickly spotted Shikaru who was looking at him with a certain glint in his eyes. No, it wasn''t just Shikaru, it was the entire leaf camp. Turning to face the other direction, where the explosions had taken off, Kazuo couldn''t see anything because of the dust that had covered the entire clearing. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Thankfully, Aoki Hyuga came forward and after making four seals quickly, he inhaled a large amount of air and then blew it out, completely clearing the dust on the battlefield. ''Wind Style: Great Breakthrough Jutsu'' Kazuo thought as he quickly analyzed what the man had used. ''A wind jutsu is said to have the potential of being an S-ranked jutsu if the user has enough chakra to supply it.'' Kazuo thought before quickly turning his gaze back onto the enemy lines. At that moment, Kazuo finally understood the expressions of his leaf comrades. His own eyes grew wider and his mouth hung slightly ajar. There was nothing left, no enemy. They were gone and in their spots, only charred remains of limbs, organs, and blood remained. *Gulp* ''Am I actually strong?'' Kazuo thought to himself jokingly for a moment before turning to look at Shikaru, the man didn''t smile at him, still holding that strange look on his face. The rest of the shinobi seemed to come to their minds once more as they quickly roared in triumph, hundreds of curse words spouted out of their minds as they looked at the dead cloud ninja. Tens of the shinobi even rushed to Kazuo and started giving him words of encouragement and pats on the back. Kazuo however still felt a bad premotion. ''Something isn''t right.'' Kazuo thought before shaking his head a moment later. ''They are dead, the thing is that this big of a loss won''t be accepted easily.'' Kazuo thought as he gazed at the enemy side of the battlefield. His eyes focused as he observed everything. At that moment, he saw it. Lightning flashed from far in the distance, The lightning looked as if it had a mind of its own as it flew threw the air. ''Its...'' ''It''s coming toward us!'' Kazuo thought as his mind immediately started thinking of possibilities and thankfully he found the answer quickly. The answer he had gleaned however was grim. ''The lightning jutsu that the cloud uses to transport supplies over long distances, what if it can be used to carry a person.'' Kazuo thought as his body started shivering. Quickly his head turned toward Shikaru. "RUN!" Kazuo screamed as he immediately used the bodyflicker jutsu and disappeared from his location. There was no time to think about dealing with that guy, with their strength it was like a bug trying to kill a human. It was possible however you needed thousands of bugs to sacrifice themselves and they clearly didn''t have thousands of shinobi on their side. As Kazuo thought of this, using his jutsu to get further and further away. He saw the world tilt. The Ground and Sky switching places. ''Genjutsu?'' Kazuo thought before realizing it wasn''t merely a moment later. A large Burly man with dark skin and a tattoo on his right shoulder was next to a headless body. ''It''s me'' Kazuo realized as his head fell on the floor and rolled for a few moments. Silence had overtaken the clearing whilst the dark-skinned man turned to face the Leaf ninjas. *Gulp* Tens of gulps were heard, as the eyes of the shinobi shook whilst looking at the man. Finally, he opened his mouth and said with a deep gruff voice that sounded so furious, they felt like he would spontaneously erupt into lightning. "That bastard kid actually killed hundreds of my shinobi, you fucking tree huggers always spawning geniuses as if they are grass found on the roadside." The man said before disappearing from the shinobi''s eyes. A moment later, screams erupted all around the clearing. *** *Huff* *Huff* Releasing deep harsh breaths, Kazuo found himself back at the tree with a paper string inside his palm. ''I fucking Jinxed it didn''t I?'' Kazuo thought as annoyance coursed through his mind. ''Just you wait, ill fucking make your life hell.'' Kazuo thought to himself as he remembered the cocky furious look on the Raikage''s face. _____________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 42 ''Making his life a hell aside, how the hell do I survive this shit?'' Kazuo thought as his mind whirred into action. ''I don''t have the three-pronged Kunai from Minato anymore so I can''t summon him to the battlefield like some Pokemon, I''ll need to figure something out.'' Kazuo thought before releasing a long-winded sigh. ''Let''s just gather more information first, I''ll stay underground for longer this time, if I stay under ten meters underground then even the Raikage won''t be able to pinpoint and kill me that easily if at all.'' Kazuo thought as he waited for the right time once more. Just like in the previous turn, Kazuo headed underground and after getting the signal some time later, exploded the explosion tags. This time, however, Kazuo didn''t rush to head above ground and only started heading to the backlines of the leaf forces without actually going above ground. He had already mapped out the location and knew how long he needed to head to arrive at his destination. With him being underground, he couldnt really discern where he was however he had calculated the speed that he traveled whilst using the hiding like a mole thechnique and then calculated how many seconds it would take him to arrive at a specific location. This was the method he had used to plant the explosion tags as well. Counting only the distance wouldn''t have worked considering Kazuo couldn''t see whilst underground however he could predict the amount of time it would take him to arrive at destinations he had previously scouted out. Arriving at the back of the leaf shinobi forces, Kazuo stood still as he awaited the arrival of the Raikage. One second, two seconds, three... After forty-seven seconds, Kazuo finally felt it. The very earth shook as explosions started rocking the ground above him. An intense battle was being fought whilst he hid underground. *** Above ground, Shikaru Nara was looking at the menacing figure of the fourth Raikage, a grim expression on his face. "At this rate, we will face complete annihilation, we need to quickly get Minato here, do you have it?" Shikaru asked as he looked at the anbu on his left. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "Yes, sir" The anbu quickly responded as he took a kunai from his bag. It was a three-pronged kunai with a seal inscribed on its handle. Shikaru nodded as he injected a faint amount of chakra into the seal and threw it into the ground. Nothing happened, however. "We have to hold out until Minato arrives, it will take at most five minutes," Shikaru said toward the Anbu and Captains around him. "Five minutes? I don''t think we can handle that Commander." The civilian captain said as his mouth twitched. *Sigh* Releasing a shallow sigh, Shikaru closed his eyes for a moment before snapping them open a moment later. A glint appeared in his eyes as his mind started thinking at incredible speeds. "The only way is to deter him with suicidal attacks," Shikaru said before turning his head toward a small group of ninjas who had yet to rush toward the Raikage. All of the ninjas in the specific group Shikaru was looking at had poker faces on and no discernable emotions showing. "It''s your time, use anything, your life included to stop and slow him down for at least five minutes," Shikaru commanded, his voice stern as he looked at the shinobi who turned to face him and nodded their head. No emotions showed even after Shikaru had practically signed their death certificate. "The root huh..." Aoki mumbled as he looked at the shinobi rushing toward the Raikage and falling one after the other. "Where''s the kid?" The Inuzuka woman asked as she looked around however she couldn''t catch sight of him. Hearing her question, Aoki quickly made a single hand seal and the veins around his eyes bulged. His pupilless white eyes seemed to gain a small fractured ring in the middle that somewhat resembled a pupil. Looking around, the man quickly nodded toward the ground. "He''s underground, he must have already sensed the Raikage and chosen to stay hidden instead. It''s a smart move considering that the Raikage would undoubtedly have chased after him first." Aoki answered once more before closing his Byakugan. "So the little kid is a coward eh?" Inuzuka said though her tone clearly displayed that it was merely a joke on her side. "He''s already finished his part of the mission, the rest is left to us." The civilian ninja said in response to her words. He had felt the need to protect Kazuo''s reputation even in these circumstances, Kazuo was after all a genius Civilian ninja who could help the Civilian council later on. Even if he died, Kazuo couldn''t fall down in this battle. Hearing his words, Shikaru turned his sight to the man for a slight second before releasing a light hum. ''Sadly Lord Danzo already has his sights on him, he won''t survive this war even if he does survive this battle.'' With those thoughts, Shikaru turned his gaze toward the ongoing battle once more. The Raikage was plowing through the shinobi of the leaf as if they were merely wheat and potatoes whilst he was the farmer. "It''s time for us to join the battle as well," Aoki said before activating his Byakugan once more and using shunshin to head closer to the lightning monster. ''One minute left'' Shikaru thought as he watched the rest of the captains follow Aoki, he however made no move. ''That kid really resembles me sometimes'' Shikaru thought as a light smile appeared in his expression. The smile however was shallow and clearly showed the amount of stress that Shikaru had at the moment. *** ''The fighting still hasn''t stopped, if it doesn''t for another three minutes then I''ll have to leave otherwise I risk using all my chakra.'' Kazuo thought as he closed his eyes and focused on his hearing only, trying to discern the situation above ground though his efforts proved futile. _____________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 43 Explosions continued to shake the entire ground as Kazuo lay hidden underground. He counted every second in his mind, he needed to be precise otherwise any mistake could lead him into an even worse situation. After counting to seventy seconds, The ground finally stopped shaking. ''Either everyone is dead or Minato has arrived, I don''t see any other solution as to how the battle ended.'' Kazuo thought, he had tried to think of countless ways that the leaf could win the battle however he had only come up with one. Shikaru had taken the three-pronged kunai that he had dropped and used it to summon Minato. *Sigh* ''Worst comes to worst, I''ll just die and go back to the start of the loop.'' Kazuo thought before slowly heading above ground. As his head and then torso appeared above the ground, Kazuo quickly looked around. Hundreds of corpses were scattered, most of them entirely missing the upper part of their bodies, as if they had been punched by an immense force. ''The Raikage really is fucking strong.'' Kazuo thought as he quickly caught sight of the man. The Raikage was around one hundred meters away from Kazuo, with a large muscly build and a lightning aura around him. His blonde hair had gone up in spikes and he had a furious expression on his face. Before him stood a single man with bright yellow hair wearing a Jonnin flak and blue ninja pants. ''So you have arrived Minato Namikaze.'' Kazuo thought as he looked at the legendary ninjas staring at each other. At that moment the Raikage''s eyes turned toward Kazuo who had just fully emerged from the ground. "So it was you kid." The man said, his voice being clearly heard, likely enhanced by his chakra. "Me? No, im just a Chunnin sir, how could I?" Kazuo asked with a light smile. He hadn''t used chakra to reinforce his voice however the Raikage still heard him. "You fucking leaf ninja, always spawning geniuses as if they''re mushrooms." The Raikage said before disappearing from Kazuo''s view. In the next second, Kazuo saw the Raikage once more. He was right in front of him, his fist already heading toward his face. Stolen story; please report. *Boom* The punch however landed on the ground rather than on Kauzo. Looking around, Kazuo found himself next to Shikaru, he had been teleported more than two hundred meters away from his previous location in an instant. Meanwhile, Minato once more stood before the Raikage. "Head back to the village, there''s nothing more you can do here, the mission is accomplished," Minato said with a loud voice whilst starting directly at the Raikage. Shikaru nodded and quickly turned to address the remaining shinobi who had managed to somehow survive the rampage of the Fourth Raikage. "Follow me, we''re leaving here," Shikaru said before quickly using the body flicker jutsu and starting to run in the direction of the land of fire. Kazuo didn''t hesitate as he immediately followed the man. Even a slight hesitation in a place like this would lead to his own demise. As Kazuo headed further and further away, arriving at around four hundred meters away from the Raikage he stopped. Turned around and with a large toothy grin on his face he looked directly at the man. "I fucking killed ''em all, what are you going to do about it huh? Tell every woman in the cloud that their Daddy did it." Kazuo practically screamed to make sure the Raikage heard him clearly. For a moment after, silence engulfed the entire clearing, the only thing being heard was the lightning flashing around the Raikages body. The surviving leaf ninjas turned to look at Kazuo as if he were some kind of madman. Kazuo however only gave one last smile before using the body flicker and disappearing from his location. Behind him, Kazuo heard an enraged roar however he didn''t turn or stop, merely continuing to run away. ''With that, every ninja should know that it was me who caused the devastation, this way Shikaru or anyone else won''t be able to steal my achievements, this also increases my standing inside the hidden leaf and further cements my standing as a prodigy.'' Kazuo thought as he ran away. Minutes passed and they soon turned into hours as the ninjas continued running through the forests and clearings along the way. Finally, they were returning to their home, the hidden leaf village, the greatest of all military forces in the elemental nations. Seeing that the danger had mostly passed, the shinobi turned to Kazuo and asked with wide surprised eyes. "You planted the explosives that killed the cloud forces?" One of them asked, his voice clearly tinged with disbelief. Kazuo smiled and answered the man. "I did, it was dangerous however I wanted nothing more than to take revenge for our fallen comrades. Those cloud bastards got what they deserved." Kazuo said, his voice sounding slightly furious. His words combined with his newly gained charisma and acomplishments seemed to resonate with the entire remaining leaf forces as their eyes gazed at Kazuo. They didn''t utter words of praise, Kazuo had already surpassed what all of them put together had achieved in their battles. He had risen up further in their minds, becoming someone who couldn''t be touched, merely idolized. The situation also made it so that jealousy didn''t plant its seed, only leaving admiration behind. Shikaru who witnessed everything had a slight gleam in his eyes. ''Sadly you won''t get to enjoy this for long Kazuo, the orders of the root must be carried out.'' Shikaru thought as he ordered the ninjas to camp out at the small clearing they were in for the night. The hundreds of shinobi had dwindled down to a measly force of seventy. Quickly the Ninja stopped and set up camp using the sealed tents that they had in their scrolls. Unlike before, the guarding unit which used to consist of only twenty ninjas turned into fifty, they couldn''t afford to be ambushed with such a small force, if they did then they could be facing complete annihilation. Hours passed and soon midnight arrived. Four ninjas rose up from their beds and geared up quickly. Their mission? Don''t let the Target wake up to see the morning. _____________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 44 In the dead of the night, four ninjas rose up from their beds. Their mission? The elimination of the target before the sun rose up. Quickly getting geared and secretly heading out of their tents, the four ninjas met up. Each was wearing gray shinobi gear and had a blank white mask on their faces. They were the root shinobi, directly under the command of leaf advisor Danzo Shimura, an S-ranked ninja. "Has the target been confirmed to be asleep?" One of them asked, his voice wasnt heard as the question had been asked using hand signs. One of the three other root ninjas quickly signed a few hand seals, confirming that he had indeed checked up on the target and found that he was asleep deeply. "All right commence the operation." These were the words one of the root men said using hand seals. The other three quickly nodded and immediately after the four of them disappeared at the same time. Appearing around a hundred meters north in front of a small green tent. The Target is inside, one of the ninjas said using hand seals. The other three nodded their heads, confirming that they had seen what the man had tried to convey. They didn''t waste any more time before they stealthily headed into the tent. Inside, was a kid, his eyes open as he laid down on the ground, he didn''t look to be older than twelve. ''This kid really killed more than two hundred cloud ninjas?'' One of the root shinobi wondered as he looked at Kazuo who was laid onto the ground. What are you doing? Do it already! Another Shinobi said with hand seals as he looked at his companion. The man who had thought Kazuo looked like a kid quickly focused his gaze and took out a kunai which was dripping with some unknown substance though considering the act he was about to do, it was most likely poison.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. *Swoosh* With the sound of the air being sliced apart, the ninja swung the kunai toward Kazuo''s neck. *Thunk* The kunai however seemed to hit something hard causing it to stop. This immediately alerted the shinobi. It wasnt just the hard stop to the swing that had alerted them, the kunai had sliced through Kazuo too easily, as if he wasnt even there. And as if the world wanted to prove their guesses, merely a moment later the Kazuo on the ground vanished as if he was merely an illusion. Five meters underground, Kazuo was looking up. ''Seems like they destroyed my clone as my chakra connection with it was just lost, sadly I don''t get the information feedback otherwise I would have learned more about the enemy. If only they attacked slightly later into the night.'' Kazuo thought as he continued placing explosion tags on top of his head. Right, he had been planting them since he had first found that someone was going to kill him. How had he found out? ''Those bastards already killed me six times, and each time I only have around a minute before dying and they are so fucking fast that I can''t even do anything before i find myself dead.'' Kazuo thought as a bloodthirsty smile appeared on his face. The attack had happened right after midnight, causing him to only be able to return around one and a half minutes back in time after each death. The first time he had woken up with a sword impaled in his throat, the second time he had died after two minutes of fighting before one of the anbu had sliced his head off. The third to sixth times he had died by one of them using an earth release jutsu and closing the earth around him once he was underground. Before he had come up with a strategy, by leaving a illusionary clone up there and ordering it too keep its eyes open, causing a slight delay in the enemy attack which gave him the time needed to head underground and place the explosion tags. ''I couldn''t fuck up the Raikage but I most certainly can fuck you up.'' Kazuo thought as he once more used the hiding-like-a-mole technique and headed deeper under the ground, finding the direction to be easier to move in than the others which would lower the time he needed to get to a safe location and launch the explosive tags. After repeated use, Kazuo had learned that as long as he stood less than around twenty-five meters away or so, Kazuo could launch the explosion tags, if the distance was wider then the chances of success would start lowering dramatically with each meter added. Finally, at a safe enough distance from the explosives, Kazuo made a tiger hand seal. ''Kai'' *Booom* With a large booming sound the whole clearing that the leaf ninjas had chosen to camp in shook, quickly waking up any of the sleeping shinobi whilst alarming the ones that were awake to quickly start heading to the explosion site. Above Kazuo, his entire tent had vanished from the face of the earth with only a large fire remaining, two of the root ninjas had died from the explosion, one was severely wounded whilst the last one which had given the most orders appeared to be fine. At the last second when he felt the explosion heading toward him, he made a split-second decision and grabbed the other root ninja and used him as a meatshield, causing the other man to die and for him to survive without any wounds besides some minor burns next to his elbows. Kazuo who was underground quickly used his earth-release jutsu once more and headed above ground. Looking at the two dead corpses and the two alive shinobi, a thought flashed in Kazuo''s mind quickly. ''The root has started targeting me fully? Does that mean that Shikaru no longer considers me valuable but rather like an obstacle to him and the root? It could also be because I refused to join them.'' Kazuo thought quickly as he placed two fingers on his wrist guard and summoned a kunai. His ninja bag had been left in the tent as he hadn''t had the time to grab it with him the first time the incident had happened however this turn he had left it there himself. Inside the bag had been a couple of explosion tags which had helped further enhance the explosion''s power once it reached above ground. The root shinobi looked at him for a moment before the still-healthy one turned to the severely injured ninja and made two hand seals and used a lightning jutsu. A moment later, the man wasn''t severely injured anymore. He was dead. The lightning had passed throught the Anbu''s body and headed straight toward Kazuo, however a quick use of bodyflicker and Kazuo managed to avoid the jutsu. This didnt give any shock to Kazuo who looked at the scene, infact he felt like it was the right decison on the side of the root ninja. A severly wounded ally wasnt an ally any longer, at that point they had become an enemy trap, a burden which could hold you back at a crucial point and cause your death. Chapter 45 No longer than a few moments later, Kazuo and the Root ninja were surrounded by twenty or so shinobi, including all of the remaining captains. "What''s going on here Kazuo?" Aoki Hyuga asked as he used body flicker to appear next to Kazuo, the ninja he had decided to support. "I was asleep when I felt a group of people appearing closeby with intent to kill, thankfully that seemed to wake me up, a moment later four shinobi wearing blank masks appeared inside the tent and tried to eliminate me, thankfully I had placed traps inside there or I would have already lost my life." Kazuo quickly explained, his gaze never leaving the root ninja. ''This guy wont give up this easily, thats not how the root operates.'' This thought falshed through both Kazuo''s and Aoki''s mind at the same time. As if determined to prove both of them right, the ninja quickly used body flicker to close the distance with Kazuo, an anbu shortsword in his hand. ''This fucker won''t give up even when found out, and if he manages to succeed then they can''t get any information from him because of the tongue seal and Danzo will surely say that they were just spies trying to instill chaos inside the village, he won''t face any repercussions and even then it''s better for me to simply forget this ever happened, currently im much too weak to go against someone like him.'' Kazuo thought. Aoki quickly got in front of Kazuo and made a defensive stance whilst launching a palm strike toward the solar plexus of the root shinobi. The palm hit however instead of launching the ninja backward, he simply vanished. ''A clone'' Aoki thought immediately as he used his Byakugan to look around, quickly finding the ninja materializing behind Kazuo and swinging his short sword. This didn''t cause any distress to Aoki however instead a small smile appeared on his face. The short sword passed right through Kazuo, just like his palm strike had passed through the root ninja. Instead, an unknown shinobi which had been a few feet behind Kazuo rushed up to the root ninja, his chest seemed to increase in size and so did his mouth, a split second later, a compressed water bullet launched out of his mouth heading toward the root ninja at extreme speeds. At this close of a range, it wasn''t something that could be avoided by a random root. *Bang* The enhanced water bullet hit the shinobi''s back, causing him to be launched more than ten meters away from the impact, and his back to become a complete bloody mess. It was Kazuo.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. He had used the transformation Jutsu to change his appearance. ''Three more turns, fucking son of a bitch.'' Kazuo thought to himself, as he looked at the downed ninja. He had died three more times whilst trying to find a way to juke the root ninja and finally had landed on his current plan. Whilst underground use another clone jutsu and give it a set command to say what had happened, making it so that even Aoki wouldn''t think it was a clone considering it wasn''t possible for the clone to actually possess intelligence it could only do what the user had commanded it to, this was a way of using the clone jutsu that only someone like Kazuo could accomplish. Then appear a few feet behind the clone whilst maintaining his stealth and just when the root appears behind his clone to quickly make the hand signs and use the water bullet jutsu. This plan had almost worked during the last turn however he had misjudged the amount of time that it took him to release the enhanced water bullet, causing his demise a split second later when the root detected him. ''Why can''t I just be fighting Gennin like I should be.'' Kazuo thought to himself in annoyance however he still was feeling the rush of excitement from having outsmarted a root anbu team. "Seems like I was concerned for nothing," Aoki said, his stoic face displaying a slight smile as he looked at Kazuo. "No, I couldn''t have done it without you, sir," Kazuo said, staying humble in front of the man, who seemed to become even more pleased at his words. ''The Hyuga really have something up their ass, that makes the easiest way to get close to them being giving them shitty praises every time.'' Kazuo thought as he arrived to stand next to the man. A moment later, Shikaru and the Inuzuka Captain appeared at the same time. Looking at the dead bodies and the destruction at the site, Shikaru''s eyes seemed to gleam as his eyebrows slightly furrowed. "Damn, this is the second time isn''t it kiddo?" The Inuzuka woman said before laughing out loud. "You really are strong, we should spar sometime. Come to my clan grounds when we get back to the leaf, I''ll show you a good time." The woman said, her face becoming the definition of what people would call a predator. Kazuo merely gazed at the woman before giving her a smile and a nod. "Im afraid that I won''t have much time captain, I''ll be asking the corps to send me back to the battlefield again as soon as they can," Kazuo said, his voice slightly too loud if he simply wanted the woman to hear him. His words caused the smile on the woman''s face to widen even more as the emotion in her eyes intensified. "I really am starting to like you more and more y''know? Sadly you''re still so young." ''As if you care about that, control your expression you fucking mutt.'' Kazuo thought to himself inwardly, the profanities spewed in his mind had only increased as the stress of multiple deaths in a short interval had. He however didn''t have a choice but to smother the woman and everyone else with kind words. The higher he stood up, the more people liked him, the more he stood a chance in this village at gaining rewards. Of course, the higher that standing was, the more danger there would be as well however danger brought chances and delicious fruits as well. It was only a matter of whether he was capable enough to pick those fruits. ''A connection with the Hyuga is more beneficial however this guy is only a branch member, I''ll have to see if he can introduce me to the main branch if not then I''ll go and pursue a connection with the Inuzuka.'' Kazuo thought, his gaze never leaving Shikaru''s face. "Quickly clear these bodies and bring a Yamanaka to see if anything can be found in their brains, if not then discard their bodies. Since everyone is already up, we will start heading to the leaf once more." Shikaru said as he quickly ordered the ninjas around him. After which he started walking toward his tent once more, as he passed Kazuo, he merely gave him a nod. Kazuo replied with a bright smile. ''Ah, the joy of ruining your plans, it frankly knows no bounds right now.'' Chapter 46 ''As if the Yamanaka will be able to find anything.'' Kazuo thought, his expression had quickly turned calm, only a light charismatic smile resting on his face. Kazuo headed to the remains of what was once his tent, looking around he found nothing of use. The explosion had evaporated anything he had. ''Thankfully I keep everything of use in my wrist guards otherwise I would have incurred quite a loss to my already meager supplies.'' Kazuo thought his gaze wandering toward Shikaru. ''And with how things are going, I''m rather sure that refunding me with what I had wouldn''t have happened.'' Turning around once more, Kazuo headed toward Shikaru this time. "It''s good that they showed themselves, wouldn''t want the village to be infiltrated," Kazuo said as he looked at the man, his eyes showing a sharp glean, the atmosphere around the two quickly deteriorating as tension took hold. Shikaru however wasn''t flustered in the least as he nodded with a grateful smile toward Kazuo. "That''s right, I''ll make sure to tell the hokage about your accomplishments," Shikaru said his voice light as he spoke to Kazuo. ''If I didn''t know who they really were then I might have actually believed you. You Nara''s really are more frightening than almost any clan out there.'' Kazuo thought as he nodded his head. "Im grateful commander, though my time under you is getting cut rather short because of that damned Raikage, ill forever remember you as my first real master," Kazuo said as he looked deeply into the Nara''s eyes. His voice and expression showed gratitude however his eyes told a completley different story. ''Do you think im afraid of you? No, Shikaru Nara, I am not afraid. I''ve already died more times than I can count, you and Danzo have chosen to be my enemies, well then, let''s see who the last one standing will be.'' Kazuo thought before giving Shikaru another nod and turning around, heading toward the supply team tent. He didn''t have more than three minutes to get some supplies from them before they completely packed up and got ready for the road. Using the body flicker jutsu, Kazuo quickly arrived and asked a man for some simple supplies. Thankfully the man knew who Kazuo was and gave him the supplies easily. ''It would be an anomaly if people didn''t know about me by now.'' Kazuo thought to himself as he mingled with the shinobi as they got ready to start their march once more.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. They only had around thirteen hours of traveling left before they would arrive at the hidden leaf. ''This is as good of a time as any.'' Kazuo thought as he talked with the shinobi who clearly had raised Kazuo up in their minds and hearts. By going around the camp and asking everyone how they were and building at least a shallow relationship with them, Kazuo strived to give another prefix to himself. Humble. ''Orochimaru failed in the end because he was unapproachable, people couldn''t bear to ask someone like him to help them. His standing was as high as a mountain but he was just that, a lone mountain.'' Kazuo thought as he saw the last of the shinobi get ready. Finally, less than five minutes after Shikaru had given the order, the entire ninja camp was back on the road once more. Or rather the trees as they hopped from one branch to the other. To Kazuo it was a rather funny sight, seeing tens upon tens of people jumping from one tree branch to the other. Like this, hours passed and soon the night gave way to the morning and the afternoon. After thirteen hours of traveling, he finally saw the familiar sight once more. The giant gates of the leaf, with a long row of what appeared to be merchants at the door, getting their identification checked and then slowly passing through the gates and into the large military village. Shikaru didn''t waste time as he quickly headed to the front and in less than a minute, the gates fully opened, letting the entire camp forces inside. Immediately after their entry, the roads cleared up as the villagers lined themselves close to the edges and gave the shinobi way, their eyes filled with emotion as they looked at the bloodied group of ninjas. "Mommy is the war over?" A kid asked what looked to be his mother. The woman didn''t answer the kid besides giving him a shallow smile and a rub on the head. At this moment, a shinobi walked close to the kid. It was a young shinobi with chin-length black hair and black eyes, with a soft smile on his face. The young ninja crouched down to the kid''s level and ruffled his hair. "Don''t worry, even if the war isn''t over, we will protect you and your momma, so be strong kid." His words seemed to encourage the kid as his eyes gleamed in excitement as he gazed at the handsome ninja. "Thank you!" The woman said immediately as she gave a bow to Kazuo who had come to reassure her son. The Villagers around them who had heard his words also seemed to get better moods as they looked at the young ninja with pride. Pride that they were part of this village and had ninja-like Kazuo to protect them. After a small nod, Kazuo straightened up and headed back to the march of ninjas who were heading to the Hokage tower. When such a large amount of ninjas came back at the same time, they had to first assemble before the Hokage tower where the Hokage would come out and personally give them a speech. ''A speech so that he can make sure the manipulation is as ingrained into everyone as it can be.'' Kazuo thought inwardly with distaste though he held up his smile and kept giving waves to any kid he found on the road looking at them. ''Kids are the most easily influenced, its easier to spread my image amongst them, however they also forget faster, so ill have to keep surpassing expectations and continue to increase my fame if i want the next generation to remember me.'' Kazuo thought, his smile slightly widening. ''Soon enough, I just need a few years and then we shall see whose side the village takes, Danzo.'' Kazuo thought as images of a rebellion flashed through his mind. _____________________________________________________________________________ Volume 1 [ Destiny ] End : Chapter 47 If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Chapter 48 *Huff* *Huff* Releasing harsh breaths, Kazuo woke up with his back drenched in sweat, the broken bed creaking underneath him. Looking around quickly, he remembered that he was back inside the leaf village. Using one hand to clean off the sweat that had covered his forehead, Kazuo got up whilst releasing a sigh. No thoughts passed through his head as he headed to the small kitchen on the left side of the apartment, opened the fridge, and found nothing besides rotten food with so many cockroaches that Kazuo wondered if they had made a nest inside the fridge. ''Fucking hell, what a great way to start the day.'' Kazuo thought as he released a long sigh and headed to the door, he had quite a lot to do for these two weeks. His plans were to train until he completely mastered water walking, bringing his chakra control to higher levels which would help in maintaining his reserves in combat. He would also be training every other technique at his disposal until they reached the highest degree of mastery, this wouldn''t be that hard considering he had the time loop. Most important however was the fact that he had to increase his physical stats, to do that he needed a good diet as well as a set of weights that he could wear constantly during the two weeks. His physical stats couldn''t be trained using the time loop, so they had become a point of weakness to Kazuo. Once outside of the apartment, Kazuo used the body flicker jutsu to quickly arrive at the Hokage tower, inside of which was a special office where ninjas could get their monthly paycheck. With him having become a Chunnin, his pay would be much higher than it had been as a Gennin. "Im here to receive my monthly pay," Kazuo said as he stood in front of a wooden oak counter, behind which an old woman stood. "Could I get your ninja ID please?" The woman asked as she extended her hand and Kazuo didn''t dally at all as he extended the small card toward the woman. Thankfully he had stored it inside his wrist guards otherwise he would have had to go through the process of acquiring another one, lowering the time he had to train even further. "Everything checks out, this is your monthly pay as a Chunnin." The woman said as she gave him back his ninja ID as well as a small brown bag. Kazuo nodded before putting the ninja ID back in his ninja bag and tying the small brown bag to his waist, after which he headed outside and used the body flicker to directly head toward the shopping district of Konoha.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. The streets were made of dirt with wooden buildings all around, a complete contrast to the asphalt and concrete that Kazuo was used to back in his old world. Hundreds of villagers passed through the street, creating the image of a bustling and well-off village, the faces and expressions of these people were soft, some even had calm and happy expressions as they went about their day. Standing still, Kazuo looked at them for a moment before releasing a light chuckle and heading toward what looked like a ninja shop, considering the sign on top of it was a kunai and a shuriken. Heading inside, he quickly found that he was quite wrong, the shop was a noodle shop, turning around Kazuo tried a few more stores before finding what he was looking for. Once inside, Kazuo found hundreds of different weapons, be it kunai, shuriken, senbon needles, ninja thread, and even giant Fuma Shuriken. "Welcome to our small shop, what might I help you with today kid?" An old man with a large beard that almost went down to his waist said from behind a wooden counter. "I was looking for some training weights, do you have any?" Kazuo asked as he looked at the man who nodded his head almost immediately. "We do, I''ll bring out the types we have in just a moment." The old man said as he turned around and headed into another room behind the counter, coming back a minute or so later whilst holding three items in his hands. Putting them on the counter, he pointed to each item and gave a short description. "We have three different types of weights." The old man said before pointing to the one on the far left. "These ones are the cheapest but they do the job, they have physical weights placed inside of them so their limit is only at one hundred kilograms." The man said before pointing to the next item. "These ones are seal-based weights, they can increase and decrease the weight based on a certain mechanism though I don''t understand clearly how they are made, what I do know is that they can go up to three hundred kilograms." The man said before turning his hand to the last item on the counter. ''Those look like the seals that Rock Lee used to use.'' Kazuo thought as he stared at the familiar-looking weights. "These are the best ones we''ve got, they are also seal-based however they can go up to one ton in weight." The man said before giving Kazuo a price for each item. "I''ll take the cheapest ones, im quite short on money for now uncle," Kazuo said as he gave the man a smile and pointed to the cheapest non-seal-based weights. "All right, I''ll prepare them for you right away." The old man said with a smile, as he removed the two other seal-based weights quickly grabbed what looked like a bag, and placed the physical weights inside together with sixteen iron rods. "Here, two ankle weights and two wrist weights. I also placed all the different weight rods inside, they''re included for the same price." The man said and Kazuo quickly handed over the money, took the bag, and headed outside. ''This is fucking heavy'' Kazuo thought as he used both hands to hold the bag that weighed one hundred kilograms. Once outside of the shop, Kazuo quickly used the bodyflicker, his next destination was a place called Yakiniku-Q, a famous place for barbeque which would be the source of his food for the next two weeks. _____________________________________________________________________________ Here''s the daily chapter as well as the first chapter of the second volume. If you want to read 10 chapters ahead and help support me further then check out my Patreon at: Patreon.com/NarutoAuthor Thanks a lot for the support and for reading. Lots of Love Naruto Author Chapter 49 ''A restaurant owned by the Akimichi clan, they serve the best meat in the entire village, this will be the main part of my diet for the next two weeks, though my reserves of money will most certainly be taking a large blow by the end of the training. As for the other part of the diet, I''ll just grab vegetables and fruits from random stalls in the market district of the village.'' Kazuo thought as he headed inside Yakiniku-q. ''These two weeks will be hellish.'' Kazuo thought to himself as he got seated at a table. Looking around the restaurant, Kazuo found that it wasn''t as filled with people as he had thought it would be. ''Most likely because of the war, the village doesn''t have many ninjas stationed inside the village considering that Konoha is fighting on so many battle fronts.'' Kazuo thought before a waitress arrived and took his order. A while later, having finished his food, Kazuo headed to the counter, paid for his food and headed out. The day was still young, he decided that there was no better time to start training than now. Jumping on top of a building, Kazuo used the body flicker to quickly traverse the distance and in less than two minutes, he arrived at the training grounds. Specifically, Training Ground One which was the largest training ground in the hidden leaf. It was open to everyone however it was mostly used by the reserve Gennin Corps. Looking around, Kazuo found not more than six people using the training ground, an extremely low number considering this body remembered training here with hundreds of others at the same time. ''The war is at its climax, soon enough the kanabi bridge battle will take place.'' Kazuo thought as he turned his gaze away from the Genin and used the body flicker to head deep into the training ground. After finding a suitable spot next to a small stream of water, Kazuo stopped. ''Let''s get started right away.'' Kazuo took out the weights from the bag and put them on before taking one metallic rod and slotting it into each weight strap. ''One rod is about twenty five kilograms.'' Kazuo thought as he moved his limbs around, the weight was quite uncomftorable and his movements had clearly suffered because of them. ''I''ll have to get used to them and quickly.'' Kazuo thought before taking off his ninja sandals and stepping onto the stream of water and started performing taijutsu kata whilst maintaining his balance and chakra control on the water. Whilst he did the taijutsu katas, Kazuo opened his status menu.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. [ Stats ] [ Name: Kazuo ] [ Age: 12 ] [ Race: Human ] [ Strength: D- ] [ Endurance: D ] [ Agility: D ] [ Intelligence: B- ] [ Charisma: B ] [ Chakra: C- ] *** [ Skills ] [ Time Loop ] [ Level 1 ] [ Academy Taijutsu ] [ Level 9/10 ] [ Academy ShurikenJutsu ] [ Level 9/10 ] [ Clone Jutsu ] [ Level 6/10 ] [ Substitution Jutsu ] [ Level 5/10 ] [ Transformation Jutsu ] [ Level 5/10 ] [ Hiding Like A Mole Jutsu ] [ Level 10/10 ] [ Paper Shuriken Jutsu ] [ Level 10/10 ] [ Water Style: Enhanced Water Bullet ] [ Level 4/10 ] [Chakra Control: Tree Walking ] [ Level 10/10 ] [ Chakra Control: Water Walking ] [Level 7/10 ] [ Summoning: Lighting Flash Blade Creation ] [ Level 10/10 ] [ Shunshin ] [ Level 8/10 ] Maintaining the taijutsu Katas whilst water walking and reading his status menu appeared to be beyond Kazuo''s current capabilities as his legs got submerged into the stream of water, his water walking failing. ''I was wondering how to increase the speed of my water walking, this could work.'' Kazuo thought as a small smirk appeared on his expression. Hopping on top of the water and activating his water walking once more, Kazuo started his training once more. Minutes turned into Hours. Hours turned into days and soon enough it was day thirteen. Waking up on the broken bed, Kazuo quickly got up and headed to the kitchen, took out a premade salad and quickly had his fill before heading out of the apartment, his destination was training ground one. This had been his daily regime for the last thirteen days, wake up get your fill of food, and head to the training ground until noon after which he would go to Yakiniku-q and then back to the training grounds until late at night before heading to yakiniku once more and then going to bed in his small apartment. As he arrived next to the stream he had used for his water walking practice, Kazuo looked around. Trees had been toppled, the earth had deep holes here and there and even the trees that were still standing had hundreds of holes and slashes on them. ''Status'' Kazuo thought before the screen appeared in front of him once more. [ Stats ] [ Name: Kazuo ] [ Age: 13 ] [ Race: Human ] [ Strength: C- ] [ Endurance: C ] [ Agility: C ] [ Intelligence: B- ] [ Charisma: B ] [ Chakra: C- ] [ Skills ] [ Time Loop ] [ Level 1 ] [ Academy Taijutsu ] [ Level 10/10 ] [ Academy ShurikenJutsu ] [ Level 10/10 ] [ Clone Jutsu ] [ Level 8/10 ] [ Substitution Jutsu ] [ Level 8/10 ] [ Transformation Jutsu ] [ Level 8/10 ] [ Hiding Like A Mole Jutsu ] [ Level 10/10 ] [ Paper Shuriken Jutsu ] [ Level 10/10 ] [ Water Style: Enhanced Water Bullet ] [ Level 6/10 ] [Chakra Control: Tree Walking ] [ Level 10/10 ] [ Chakra Control: Water Walking ] [Level 10/10 ] [ Chakra Control: Chakra Thread ] [ Level 4/10 ] [ Summoning: Lighting Flash Blade Creation ] [ Level 10/10 ] [ Shunshin ] [ Level 8/10 ] ''There''s been a lot of progress during the last two weeks, especially in my physical stats however the mastery of techniques isnt going as quickly as i would like, it seems like ineveitably ill have to resort to using the time loop.'' Kazuo thought as he released a soft sigh. During these two weeks of training, Kazuo had brought his academy taijutsu and shuriken jutsu to the limit aswell as mastered Water walking, after which he had devised a new chakra control technique. By using his chakra to form threads and then try to make a rope of sorts with those chakra extensions, the difficulty was in making sure that the threads didnt combine with eachother, this had proved to be quite the difficult task however and even now Kazuo failed more than he succseded, only last night was he able to make the system recognize the chakra thread training. _____________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 50 ''I''ve also increased my mastery of all academy jutsu, the only thing that I practiced but couldn''t get higher was my body flicker, which will take a while to bring to perfect mastery.'' Kazuo thought before his mind switched to what he had been thinking during the entire two weeks. ''A way to kill myself painlessly, I''ll have to see if it actually works but this should be painless and quick.'' Kazuo thought. He had thought of using poison, using the water bullet technique wrongly again as well however in the end he ended up with his current idea. By sending an exorbitant amount of chakra into his brain forcefully, causing the brain to explode and kill him instantly. Taking a deep breath, Kazuo readied himself mentally and steeled his will. ''Three'' ''Two'' Before he even counted to zero, Kazuo rushed his entire chakra reserves into his head, specifically his brain. The overload happened instantly and... *Thump* Kazuo fell down face first into the ground. Opening his eyes, Kazuo found himself back inside his apartment, the day had restarted once more and he was back on his broken bed. *Inhale* Taking a long deep breath and exhaling it slowly, Kazuo stood up from the bed and walked to the kitchen to prepare his eat his morning meal once more. ''Let''s get this grinding started for real.'' Kazuo thought as he finished his meal and headed to the training grounds. Time continued to repeat, the same day over and over. Day thirteen of the vacation for the tenth time. Day thirteen of the vacation for the twenty-fifth time. Day thirteen of the vacation for the sixtieth time... Death had become a mundane part of Kazuo''s life. When it no longer hurt, when you didn''t even notice it and the only change was that you found yourself back in time. However, that didn''t mean that it was easy. Eating the exact same food one hundred and twelve times in a row. Practicing the same jutsu over and over but no matter how much he tried, no matter how much he sweated, bled, and cursed, his body remained the same with only a number in a holographic screen going up every once in a while.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Finally, however, it was over. *** 13th day of vacation for the 113th time. Inside Training Ground One, a young ninja was sitting on the ground, a large toothy grin on his face, his entire body drenched in sweat. ''I fucking did it.'' Kazuo thought as he stared at a holographic screen in front of him. [ Stats ] [ Name: Kazuo ] [ Age: 13 ] [ Race: Human ] [ Strength: C- ] [ Endurance: C ] [ Agility: C ] [ Intelligence: B- ] [ Charisma: B ] [ Chakra: C- ] *** [ Skills ] [ Time Loop ] [ Level 1 ] [ Academy Taijutsu ] [ Level 10/10 ] [ Academy ShurikenJutsu ] [ Level 10/10 ] [ Clone Jutsu ] [ Level 10/10 ] [ Substitution Jutsu ] [ Level 10/10 ] [ Transformation Jutsu ] [ Level 10/10 ] [ Hiding Like A Mole Jutsu ] [ Level 10/10 ] [ Paper Shuriken Jutsu ] [ Level 10/10 ] [ Water Style: Enhanced Water Bullet ] [ Level 9/10 ] [Chakra Control: Tree Walking ] [ Level 10/10 ] [ Chakra Control: Water Walking ] [Level 10/10 ] [ Chakra Control: Chakra Thread ] [ Level 10/10 ] [ Summoning: Lighting Flash Blade Creation ] [ Level 10/10 ] [ Shunshin ] [ Level 10/10 ] ''Every single jutsu that I know is now perfectly mastered besides the enhanced water bullet however from what I''ve seen the only way to increase that to max mastery is by gaining water elemental chakra affinity training, which doesn''t carry over during the time loop for some reason.'' Kazuo thought as he stared at the status screen and with a smile on his face, he got up from the ground and for the first time in 113 days, he was finally leaving this damned training ground. Once outside, Kazuo decided that there was no better way to end this last day of his vacation than to go for a hearty meal at Yakiniku Q. Without making any hand signs at all, and with no smoke appearing, Kazuo vanished from his spot as he moved at tremendous speeds using the body flicker jutsu. ''I''ve mastered the jutsu however I still can only use it in short bursts to locations that are within my sight, my visual prowess simply isn''t good enough to allow me to use it how Shisui managed to, at that point I wouldn''t consider his jutsu even the Body flicker anymore.'' Kazuo thought to himself as he arrived in front of the Yakiniku Q restaurant. Heading inside, the waitress greeted him with a smile, by now every worker in the restaurant knew the boy who came back every day to eat at the restaurant. That wasn''t the only reason that they knew who Kazuo was, however. Two weeks had passed and Kazuo''s accomplishments on the battlefield had spread to every corner of the village. The handsome young ninja defeated an entire army of enemy shinobi using only his mind and a handful of explosion tags. And that was one of the less farfetched stories being said around the village. There were some that told about how Kazuo had faced the Raikage one one-on-one and managed to get a draw whilst cursing the Raikage''s mother at the same time. Just thinking about the crazy stories that were swirling around about him made Kazuo smile. ''Good, the more extreme the stories get, the more famous I''ll become though the downside is that my bounty will likely get higher and soon enough enemies will start targeting me when im on the battlefield. I also can''t use the fact that im a child to trick them into letting their guard down anymore.'' Kazuo thought before releasing a shallow sigh. Sitting down on a corner of the restaurant, Kazuo awaited his order. At that moment, however, Kazuo heard a loud voice arguing with someone. Lifting his head, Kazuo saw someone he hadn''t been expecting. ''Team 7 huh...'' Kazuo thought as he gazed at what could be called one of if not the most legendary team to have ever existed coming close to even the Team Seven of the future. ''Besides Rin, each of these guys becomes a legend in their own right. Minato the fourth Hokage, Kakashi the sixth Hokage, and of course Obito, a man who becomes the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki.'' Kazuo thought before a large smile appeared on his face. ''You shouldn''t have forgotten about me right Minato senpai?'' Kazuo thought, his lips curling upward. Chapter 51 ¡®You shouldn¡¯t have forgotten me right? Minato Senapi.¡¯ Kazuo thought as his lips curled upwards. Team Seven looked around trying to find a table, at that moment Minato¡¯s gaze landed on Kazuo who was looking at him with shining eyes and a soft smile on his lips. Minato felt uncomfortable however he decided to head closer to the young ninja that idolized him so much. ¡°We meet again, Kazuo right?¡± Minato asked as he smiled at Kazuo. Kakashi, Obito, and Rin who were behind him were showing confused looks before Obito made an exclamation as if he had just remembered something. ¡°I¡¯m honored that Minato Senpai remembered me. Do you want to join me for some dinner? You guys too.¡± Kazuo said as he showed an expression of joy as if Minato remembering him was one of the greatest things that could have happened to him today. Kakashi made an expression as if he was already bored with this conversation whilst Obito seemed to nod, Rin remained still, not showing an expression of rejection or acceptance, clearly leaving it to Minato''s decision. Minato seemed to think about it for a second or two before he nodded his head. ¡°Alright then we¡¯ll join you for dinner tonight, hope we aren¡¯t intruding Kazuo,¡± Minato said with a light smile. ¡°Not at all Senpai, it''s a pleasure that I can eat together with a shinobi like you,¡± Kazuo said, his words made Minato¡¯s smile twitch however his students showed different expressions, Obito and Kakashi looked especially proud as if Kazuo was praising them instead of Minato. The group settled down around the table and soon enough the waitress came to take their order, Kazuo decided to take a second serving of food as a way to congratulate himself for having completed his training. As soon as the waitress went away, Obito turned toward Kazuo and asked, his expression showing that he was extremely curious. ¡°So are the rumors that you defeated more than one hundred cloud ninjas at the same time by yourself true?¡± Obito asked, his eyes practically shining. His question clearly piqued the interest of the rest of them as they turned toward face Kazuo curiously. Kazuo simply shook his head and gave a light chuckle. ¡°I¡¯m afraid that most of the rumors are quite exaggerated, sure I did technically eliminate more than a hundred cloud ninjas however it was because of a plan that I and the camp commander came up with,¡± Kazuo said, however his words instead of lowering Obito¡¯s and the others curiosity interested increased it by leaps and bounds.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Even Kakashi¡¯s eyes sharpened as he looked at Kazuo. ¡°What did you do?¡± Minato decided to ask himself. Kazuo turned toward the man and replied, explaining the strategy that he had come up with and then executed on the battlefield. ¡°So you used the hiding-like-a-mole technique and planted hundreds of explosion tags under the ground? Your mastery over earth elemental jutsu must be high.¡± Minato replied, his eyes clearly showing that he was thinking of ways he could have countered the strategy. ¡°How did you manage to use the hiding-like-a-mole technique and plant the bombs simultaneously? And even then how did you manage to explode all of the tags at the same time when the distance was that large?¡± Kakashi finally talked for the first time since he had sat down, his gaze clearly showed that he doubted if what Kazuo had said was true. Kazuo gave the young ninja a sidelong glance before nodding and starting his explanation. ¡°I have enough mastery over the jutsu where I only need to use a single hand seal to start the jutsu and after that, I can simply copy and continue the path of chakra movement indefinitely, this makes it so that the jutsu can be maintained even when I¡¯m not holding the hand seal. As for how I managed to launch all of the explosives at the same time? I¡¯m afraid that it¡¯s a secret.¡± Kazuo said as he winked at the youngest Jonin of the leaf. ¡°That¡¯s impressive, I thought you simply had high levels of earth chakra manipulation however that comes close to perfect mastery over a jutsu, I¡¯d say that you¡¯re quite close to perfect mastery, which should remove that last hand sign for the jutsu as well,¡± Minato said as he nodded his head. Rin simply remained silent as she listened to the group, clearly deciding that she didn¡¯t have enough knowledge to add anything to the conversation. ¡®She¡¯s going to die soon enough either way.¡¯ Kazuo thought as he gave her a minute glance before completely ignoring her as if she wasn¡¯t even part of the group, though he was doing it secretly so that he wouldn¡¯t offend the others at the table. The food quickly came and the shinobi started eating, the conversation coming to a close for a while. ¡°You¡¯re group gets sent back to the battlefield tomorrow if I recall correctly?¡± Minato questioned as he finished eating his meal. Kazuo gulped down the rest of the food still in his mouth and nodded as he patted the edges of his mouth with a white cloth. ¡°That¡¯s right Minato Senpai, I¡¯m unsure where I will be sent to however, I just hope it''s not to the battlefield with the mist, my earth style would be suppressed quite heavily when there is no ground underneath our feet,¡± Kazuo said. Kakashi nodded his head, as he added on. ¡°Right, Earth-style users do have a large disadvantage in that battlefield, it can be even worse than the disadvantage fire users have when fighting a water-style user simply because the amount of Jutsu that requires contact with the Earth for Earth-style jutsu is quite high.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, however even if I get orders to head to the Mist, I won''t object, anything for the greater good of the village and I¡¯m sure the Hokage knows better than me either way,¡± Kazuo replied with a soft radiant smile. Minato stood silent for a few moments before finally asking Kazuo a question. ¡°Would you like to join my team, I won''t be able to be with them in the next mission so they would be a member short,¡± Minato asked as he turned to look at Kakashi, asking with his eyes if the boy had any objections. Kakashi simply nodded his head showing no objection to the addition of Kazuo. Chapter 52 Hearing Minato''s offer, Kazuo''s lips curled upward slightly more than his usual soft smile. "I''m afraid that I would hold you down, my best trait is my strategies not my raw power Minato Senpai," Kazuo said as he shook his head lightly. "Don''t worry, you would be a great addition to the team!" Obito practically screamed as he looked at Kazuo. "If you really think so then it would be my pleasure to join a team like yours, it''s like a dream coming true," Kazuo said, his eyes shining as he looked at Minato. "Right, yeah you would be a great addition. Welcome to the team, Kazuo" Minato replied with a slightly awkward smile on his lips. "Yeaahh!!" Obito screamed as he practically jumped next to Kazuo to ask him questions about his time on the battlefield. Kazuo explained everything from when he had first been reborn in this world all the way up to his last battle. ''When will i get a better chance to boast in front of the hokage.'' Kazuo thought to himself, feeling the urge to chuckle as he looked at Obito. ''How the hell did Madara turn this dumbass into the legendary ninja of the fourth world war? Seems like Madara''s talents were even more impressive as a Sensei and trainer than as a shinobi.'' Kazuo thought to himself before turning toward Minato. "So when is the mission?" Kazuo asked, his smile barely noticebal as his aura changed from carefree to one of seriousness. Minato and Kakashi immediately noticed the change whilst Rin and Obito seemed completely oblivious. "Tomorrow actually, meet up with us infront of the village gates, i can''t tell you more than that before the mission officially starts." Minato answered as he looked at Kazuo. "All right Senpai, I''ll have to get going now then, i have some matters to take care of in the village before I join you tomorrow. Do I go and register myself with you in the shinobi office as well?" Kazuo asked as he stood up. Minato nodded as he stood up as well, politely sending Kazuo off. After heading out of Yakiniku-Q, Kazuo headed straight toward the Hokage Tower. Inside most of the shinobi-related offices were. The office that Kazuo was currently heading to was the Personnel and Operations shinobi office, it was also the office with the most influence from the Hokage who could almost be said to personally manage it.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Once inside of the Hokage Tower, Kazuo took a left turn and after climbing up a pair of stairs and arriving on the second floor, he took another right and finally arrived at the office. "Hello, im here to tell that im part of Minato Namikaze''s team for his next mission." Kazuo said as he looked at a middle aged man behind the counter. "Minato Namikaze''s team? We will have to confirm it, please wait a moment." The man said before heading behind a door to his back. After around three minutes, he returned. "The Hokage has called you, he''s waiting for you right now." The man said as he pointed to a pair of stairs to the left. Nodding his head, Kazuo started walking toward the stairs. ''I knew that it wouldn''t be so easy, if im correct than the mission Team 7 will be doing is the Kanabi Bridge one, which could be said to be the most important mission in the entire village right now.'' Kazuo thought as he headed up the stairs and followed the path he had used in a previous turn to arrive before the door of the Hokage Office. *Knock* *Knock* "Come in," A voice said from the other side of the door. Opening the door, Kazuo headed inside after which he closed the door gently and walked to the middle of the office. In front of him was the Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen also known as the God of Shinobi. ''I don''t need to lie this time so hopefully this will turn out better than the last time we met, Hiruzen'' Kazuo thought before he kneeled down on one knee. Only got up once Hirzuen told him to. "Kazuo, you''re joining Minato''s team?" Hiruzen said, in comparison to the cold authoritative voice that Kazuo had heard in his previous turn, this Hiruzen spoke with a soft almost grandfatherly voice as he looked at Kazuo. "Yes sir, Minato offered me to join his team for the next mission so I accepted since I had no current mission at the time, I would only be coming back out of vacation tomorrow," Kazuo replied, his voice as respectful and polite as he could make it. "I see, well then you can join his team." Hiruzen said with a smile as his eyes scanned over Kazuo''s body. ''He''s looking to see if im lying? Could there be a technique for that? If there is then the possibility that he knows it is extremely high, he was named The Professor for a reason.'' Kazuo thought before he gave the man a bow. "I see, well then I''ll get going Hokage-Sama if you excuse me." "One moment Kazuo, I''ve heard of your contributions in the last battle and I wanted to reward you. It''s good that we get to finally meet like this." Hiruzen said, a soft grandfatherly smile still on his face. ''You''re two fucking weeks late you fucking bastard.'' Kazuo thought to himself as he looked at the man, however, his outward appearance remained the same if not growing softer and slightly showing his joy. "I''ll give you a B-Rank jutsu, You can go check them out at the ninja library and chose one, simply use this when you plan to take one of them out." Hiruzen said as he quickly took a piece of paper and a brush to the side before inscribing some type of seal on it and raising it toward Kazuo. Taking the paper carefully, Kazuo bowed once more before he was dismissed. ''Next location, the ninja library.'' Kazuo thought with a wide grin once he was outside of the library, still, he dared not say or utter anything even in his mind. The Hokage tower was filled with hidden Anbu, a single wrong move or expression could land him back inside the Hokage Office. And he wouldn''t be rewarded for a second time. ''Unless I was a Masochist.'' Kazuo thought to himself jokingly. Chapter 53 A few minutes later, Kazuo arrived in front of a building near the Hokage Tower. It was a large building with multiple stories, built from wood that had been painted red. Heading inside, Kazuo found himself surrounded by hundreds of books and scrolls. To the left, there was a small counter, behind which an old lady was sitting and reading a book. Heading toward her, Kazuo gave a shallow bow of his head before speaking. "Hello, i''ve been allowed by the hokage to pick a B-Rank jutsu from the library, where do i go?" Kazuo questioned, his tone polite as he faced the old woman. Lifting her head from her book, she merely nodded and pointed toward a staircase at the end of the room that lead to the second floor. "Thank you," Kazuo said before heading toward the staircase. Once on the second floor of the building he saw a similar layout to the first however this time there were no books, only scrolls, and to the right, there was a similar counter as before however the one seated behind it was a young man wearing a chunnin vest. "Hello, I was sent by lord Hokage to pick a B-ranked jutsu." Kazuo said to the man before showing him the small seal that the Hokage had given him. "Head to the next floor, the staircase is at the end of the room to the left." The man said as he pointed in the staircase''s direcion. Nodding his head, Kazuo headed to the next floor once more. This time however once he arrived at the third floor, three shinobi were already waiting at the top of the staircase. "Here''s the seal Lord Hokage gave me so that I can pick a B-Rank Jutsu," Kazuo said as he showed the shinobi the seal. Looking at the seal closely and using a few handseals, the shinobi nodded their head and allowed Kazuo through. Looking around, Kazuo saw that the quantity of the scrolls had lowered massively, the room looked barren in comparison to the previous floors. Heading toward the counter, behind which a shinobi was seated, most likely a Jonin. Quickly telling him what he was there for, the man said to look around and bring the scroll he wanted back to him.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Nodding his head, Kazuo finally turned around and started looking through the jutsu section. He already knew what he would be picking, however. ''The Shadow Clone Jutsu'' Kazuo thought as his smile grew larger and larger. ''As well as every other jutsu in this place.'' Kazuo thought his lips curling even further. Looking around, he found tens of B-rank jutsu, be they elemental or simply normal chakra-based jutsu. Ranging from Jutsu like: Fire Style: Great Annihilation Jutsu Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death Earth Release: Earth Spear Water Release: Water Gun And finally... The Shadow Clone Technique. Each of the scroll techniques gave a brief description of the jutsu however they didnt tell the person how to do the jutsu. Taking the Shadow Clone Jutsu, Kazuo turned around and headed to the counter once more. Giving the man both the scroll and the Hokage''s seal, he was given a different purple-colored scroll in return. Opening it quickly, Kazuo found the shadow clone technique inside, this time explained in full detail. "Thank you," Kazuo said as he gave a shallow bow to the man. "It''s nothing, remember to destroy the scroll after you are done with it." The man said before quickly shooing Kazuo away. "No problem, goodbye." Kazuo said before turning around and heading toward the exit of the building. Once outside, Kazuo quickly used the body flicker technique to head toward training ground one. Once he was back in his training spot once more, Kazuo opened the scroll and started reading it. ''The technique works by dividing the user''s chakra in half and making a clone that is physical as well as can transfer back memories to the user, because of the usage of so much chakra, it is considered one of the more dangerous B-ranked Jutsu.'' Kazuo read before quickly arriving at the part where it described how to use the technique. ''Seems fairly simple, it uses the tiger seal instead of the cross seal that Naruto uses for the multi-shadow clone technique.'' Kazuo thought as he memorized the entire scroll and finally decided to put the technique into practice. Making the tiger seal, Kazuo followed the instructions on how to move the chakra through his chakra coils and performed the technique. With a large puff of smoke, a clone appeared next to him, it looked completely identical. ''A success'' Kazuo thought before sensing his chakra reserves. ''Extremely low, if I had Gennin chakra then I would have most definitely lost consciousness or maybe even died if I used this technique.'' Kazuo thought before shaking his head and dismissing the clone. Around sixty percent of the chakra used was returned to him once more. ''The higher the mastery of the technique, the less chakra is lost however even then this technique is useless for combat for the me of right now, i lose too much chakra and cant use any other techniques after i use it.'' Kazuo thought in slight annoyance before his mouth curled up into a smile once more. ''Alright, shall we check out the other techniques now?'' Kazuo thought as he sent almost his entire chakra reserves into his brain. *Thump* Opening his eyes the next second, Kazuo found himself back in his broken bed, the time having looped back. Getting up from his bed, Kazuo followed his actions that he had done yesterday almost completley, the only difference being that he started practicing the shadow clone technique aswell. Met with Minato later and joined his team and then headed to the Hokage tower before being granted the ninjutsu reward and arriving at the third floor of the Ninja library again. ''All right, what should I pick next?'' Kazuo thought with a large smile on his face, his eyes practically sparkling as he looked at the ninjutsu scrolls around him. Chapter 54 After scouring each Jutsu in the building, Kazuo quickly came to a realization that not all of the techniques could be used by him even if he knew it, and even then not all of the ones he could actually try and learn would be useful for him. An example would be the Summoning Amplification Jutsu. ''It allows me to grant my summoned creatures special abilities however the method of use is described as extremely hard to perform and the amount of chakra needed is extreme as well, that''s the main reason why the jutsu was lowered to the B-Rank, it''s practically unusable unless you have Uzumaki or Senju blood.'' Kazuo thought before putting the scroll back, he had already grabbed the scroll once and killed himself after finding its conditions of use. The next class was the jutsus which were practically useless for him. ''There''s a lot of fire style attacks however they aren''t that useful, theyr simply variations of the normal fireball while they are more unpredictable, they aren''t that useful and even then i still dont know if i have an affinity for fire release yet, still ill memorize atleast this.'' Kazuo thought as his hand landed on a specific Fire style jutsu. Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation. ''The Jutsu''s power increases the more chakra the user pours into it, someone like Madara was able to turn it into an S rank fire jutsu during the fourth great ninja war. Its what i would call a jutsu that evolves with the user.'' Kazuo thought as he grabbed the jutsu and checked out at the counter before heading to training ground one and memorizing it completley. Once again after that he killed himself and repeated the day, arriving at the third floor of the building. ''Water style is something that I should have an affinity for, me learning and even improving the Water style: Water bullet technique is proof.'' Kazuo thought as he scoured all the water-release jutsu, landing on two water-style techniques. Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave Water Release: Water Formation Wall The first was a method of attacking in a wide range with water, similar to The Fire Release: Great Annihilation technique whilst the second was a better version of the jutsu: Water Release: Water Wall, simply for the fact that the user could hypercharge it with chakra and increase its durabiliy and range. ''With this, ill have a single target and wide target water style jutsu aswell as a defensive water style jutsu.'' Kazuo thought as he spent the next three turns completley memorizing the jutsus, in this process the Shadow Clone had been a large boon for saving time.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ''Next up is earth style, wind style, and lightning style.'' Kazuo thought before quickly spending the next turns memorizing the following Jutsu. Earth Release: Iron Skin Earth Release: Sandwich Technique Wind Release: Pressure Damage Lightning Release: Lightning Great Ball Lightning Release: Shock Release ''Wind style has the lowest amount of jutsu when compared to the other techniques, im guessing the reason is because of the low quantity of wind style users in Konoha.'' Kazuo thought as he finally finished memorizing the last of the jutsu he had picked. *Sigh* Killing himself one more time, Kazuo went back and picked the shadow clone technique once more and burned it after reading it once inside Training Ground One. ''This way, I''ll be able to use Shadow Clones without fearing that they might think something went wrong.'' Kazuo thought as he finally headed back inside his house. Tomorrow would be the start of his next mission, a mission that might even be harder than surviving in the hellish landscape that had been the previous battlefield he had been in. ''Madara will be messing with the team, specificlly to ''Kill'' Obito so that he can take him under his wing, as long as i dont interfiere with that in any way then my survival chances are much better.'' Kazuo thought as he laid down onto his bed. Suddenly as he was about to close his eyes, Kazuo heard a notification-like sound inside his mind. [ Ding! ] [ A mission has been generated! ] [ Survive the Kanabi Bridge Mission ] [ Reward: Bloodline Awakening 0.9%, 1 Minor Stat Upgrade. ] Looking at the holographic panel that had appeared in front of him, Kazuo felt as if a whole ton of bricks had crashed on top of his head. ''This is basically confirming to me that I''ll be dying a fuck ton in the next mission isn''t it?'' Kazuo thought in annoyance before sighing and closing his eyes once more. Hours passed and soon enough Kazuo''s eyes snapped back open once more. ''It''s time that I head off'' Kazuo thought to himself inwardly as he quickly got up from his bed, went to his kitchen and ate a quick hearty meal for the last time in what would most likely be a while, and then geared himself up. The sun had yet to rise completley when Kazuo opened the door of his apartment and used the bodyflicker technique to arrive at the front gates of the hidden leaf village. The time was five in the morning, and the time Minato had told him to be at the gates was six however Kazuo would rather be early and wait for the others so that he could build a better reputation in their eyes rather than be late like a well-known Uchiha. Minutes passed as Kazuo stood with his back against a wall near the gates, waiting for the team to arrive. In the distance he saw the first member arriving, it was a young kid with spike gray hair wearing a mask that covered half of his face and a shortsword on his back. ''Kakashi Hatake, The Future Sixth Hokage, a man with many nicknames, Sharingan Kakashi, Kakashi the copy ninja as well as Kakashi the Kin killer.'' Kazuo thought as he stared at the young kid who had yet to earn any of those nicknames. That didn''t mean that he was weak, not at all. This young Kakashi could be said to be the most talented young ninja that had ever appeared in this time and age, it would become uncertain once Itachi entered the picture however even then, Kakashi Hatake had been the youngest Chunnin and Jonin that the leaf had ever produced. Chapter 55 Kakashi walked to Kazuo and nodded his head in greeting. Kazuo returned his greeting with a shallow bow of his own and a soft smile. Minutes later, Nohara Rin also showed up, greeting both Kakashi and Kazuo with a large smile. After which as soon as the time for the mission arrived, Minato Namikaze appeared instantly. "Hello everyone!" Minato said, giving a light wave and showing a smiling expression. "Obito still isn''t here sensei," Rin said as she shook her head whilst showing an uncomfortable expression, her gaze turning to Kazuo sometimes. ''She''s uncomfortable because Obito is showing a bad image in front of me?'' Kazuo thought as he felt the urge to laugh. ''Sure, the current Obito is a useless bastard but he''s still more useful than anyone here besides Minato.'' Kazuo thought as he remembered the boy''s motto. ''He''s the perfect sacrificial meat shield there is, right after Naruto.'' Kazuo thought as his lips curled upward. It was at this moment that they heard someone running toward them. Turning his head toward the village, Kazuo saw that it was Obito, he was still wearing his jacket as he ran toward them. It was clear that they had overslept and had to run all the way to the gate. ''Why isn''t he using the bodyflicker?'' Kazuo thought as he looked at the boy strangely. "Im sorry that im late, I couldn''t sleep last night because of the excitement and then I overslept this morning!" Obito immediately said as soon as he arrived as he gave a bow toward Minato and then even gave an apologetic look to Kazuo. ''Does he see me as some renowned shinobi?'' Kazuo thought as his mind whirred into action. ''I can use that.'' Kazuo thought a moment later, but his thoughts were interrupted by Minato asking the group to gather around him. "Place your hand on me, I''ll be teleporting us there, this is an important mission and we have no time to waste," Minato said and everyone immediately followed his words, putting their hands on his back and arms. Minato simply made a hand sign and in an instant, the group disappeared from the leaf gates.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. *Fsh* Hundreds of miles away in a small clearing with forests surrounding them, the group appeared once more. "We''re here, this is close to the border with Iwagakure," Minato said as he turned to face the group. "I have other matters to attend to so this will be the first mission that you will fully lead, Jonin Kakashi," Minato said as he smiled at Kakashi. At his words, Obito''s and Rin''s eyes widened as they turned to look at the white-haired kid. He had actually become a Jonin, an elite in the entire village, and all of that at the age of twelve. "You bastard Kakashi, just wait, I''ll become the Hokage soon and surpass you!!" Obito practically screamed as he pointed at Kakashi with his index finger and made a pose. ''This is really weird to see in real life.'' Kazuo thought as he looked at the eccentric kid. *Sigh* "Don''t scream Obito, either way, Kakashi as I said you will be the leader of this mission, I suggest you listen to any advice Kazuo has however as he is known to be a good strategist," Minato said as he pointed at Kazuo. Kakashi nodded his head, his expression serious as he looked at his sensei. ''Im known for being a good strategist?'' Kazuo thought before his lips which were in a flat line curled up once more. ''Seems like my reputation has spread even further.'' "All right sensei, what''s the mission?" Kakashi asked immediately after. Minato simply gave him a white scroll as well as one of his three-pronged kunai. "Inside are the mission details, if you face any danger that you can''t overcome then throw the kunai, and I''ll be there in an instant to help you out," Minato said as he nodded his head and gave his goodbyes before disappearing from the clearing. Kazuo turned to Kakashi and motioned for him to read the scroll with his head. Kakashi nodded before starting to read the mission out loud. "We will be attacking the Kanabi Bridge, this is a crucial bridge in this war, Iwagakure uses it to connect with Kusagakure as their relief point, by destroying this bridge we are effectively shutting down one of their resupply zones. The mission must be carried out at all costs." Kakashi said as his already serious eyes turned sharp, his conviction almost being released in an aura around him. "The Kanabi bridge is a really useful passage for the Iwa ninjas, I can see why this mission was so important and why we couldn''t be told the details until we actually started the mission. It''s best that we don''t delay." Kazuo immediately agreed as he nodded his head at Kakashi who replied in kind. Immediately after the group started their march toward the Kanabi Bridge, it would take them around one and a half days to arrive there. Hours passed like this before they experienced an attack. It was sudden, one moment the group was running and the very next, Nohara Rin was knocked unconscious and taken away by an invisible foe whilst Kakashi''s left eye was sliced by an invisible blade. ''It''s already started'' Kazuo thought as he observed the series of events. He made no move to run toward the kidnapper and save Rin, it wasn''t good to interfere in Madara''s plans, at most he would make sure that he himself remained safe and untouched. ''All right then Obito, let''s see that sharingan of yours.'' Kazuo thought as he saw Kakashi clutch his bleeding eye. Obito was looking at the scene with a shocked expression on his face before looking around himself. Kazuo himself had already taken out two kunai and had gotten into a combat stance. "Be careful, the enemy is invisible, he has the advantage however as soon as one of us gets attacked then both of the others will jump into attack as well, for now simply maintain a defensive stance," Kazuo said as he kept looking around himself whilst he walked backward until he was next to Obito and Kakashi who had yet to regain his form. Chapter 56 Obtio and Kazuo kept looking around as they tried to find any signs of the shinobi however they couldn''t discern where the invisible enemy was at all. ''If I wanted to win this myself then I would simply memorize his attack pattern as he attacked me, even if I did die then I could simply repeat it and then preemptively counterattack when he thinks that I don''t know where he is.'' Kazuo thought as his eyes swerved left and right. Finally, merely a moment later, Kazuo saw Obito swing his kunai and blood drip from it. He had hit the enemy. ''Did he?'' Kazuo thought as he turned to look at him, and surely enough Obito''s eyes had turned blood red with two black tomoe swirling around a black pupil. ''So this is the start of your meteoric rise in power Obito.'' Kazuo thought as he saw the kid clutching the kunai tightly whilst the enemy dropped onto the floor. Kazuo didn''t hesitate, immediately he appeared next to Obito and launched two kunai, one piercing the enemy''s heart whilst the other pierced his brain. Obtio turned to look at him. "In a battlefield, you have to always make sure that the enemy is truly dead, you never know when you might get attacked in the back by a shinobi that you thought was already dead," Kazuo said before turning around to face Kakashi. "Obito, your eyes..." Kakashi thought as he straightened himself, still holding his bleeding eye socket with one hand. "My eyes?" Obtio asked confused before Kazuo pressed two fingers against his wrist guards and summoned a mirror and showed it to Obito. "I unlocked my sharingan!" Obtio said, his voice both sounding excited and showing his disbelief. Merely a second later, however, the excited expression disappeared from Obito''s face. "We have to go and save Rin as quickly as possible!" Obtio practically screamed as he looked at Kakashi. "We can''t Obito, we must complete the mission," Kakashi said as his eyes furrowed. To Kazuo, it was clear as day that Kakashi himself felt unsure about his decision. "What do you mean we have to do the mission, Rin takes priority over something like that!" Obito said as fury took over his expression.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. "No it does not Obito, Shinobi who abandon their mission are scum, we can not abandon our mission," Kakashi said, his tone growing graver as he ordered Obtio to abandon Rin and continue the mission. Kazuo remained silent before a thought passed through his head. ''Isn''t this the perfect moment?'' Kazuo thought before turning toward Kakashi. "How about this Kakashi, I''ll complete the mission on my own whilst you two head off and save Rin before joining me. Just make sure the be quick with it." Kazuo''s words made Obtio and Kakashi turn their attention toward him. "After all..." Kazuo said as his lips curled upwards, his facial muscles contorting to show a sorrowful expression. "Those who abandon the mission are scum but those who abandon their teammates are even worse than scum," Kazuo said, his words resonating in both Kakashi''s and Obito''s ears. "This..." Obtio felt almost on the verge of tears from relief as he looked at Kazuo who was supporting him. "We don''t have time Kakashi, give me the mission scroll and go," Kazuo said as he extended his hand toward the white-haired kid. After a moment where Kakashi looked to be deliberating something, he finally gave up and took a scroll out of his ninja bag and handed it to Kazuo. "Go, I''ll meet you guys and Rin later, don''t be late," Kazuo said before using the bodyflicker jutsu and disappearing. His speed far surpasses what he had shown during the run with Team Seven. Looking at him disappear almost instantly, Obito felt his eyes widen. "It seems like he was holding back quite a lot, that''s a relief. Let''s go now Obito." Kakashi said as his eyes sharpened. Merely a moment later, the two started hopping from tree to tree as they followed the kidnapper''s tracks. One used his Sharingan to see any changes in the environment whilst the other summoned a dog and used both his and the summoning''s sense of smell to track the target. Hundreds of meters away from the two, Kazuo continued to use to bodyflicker as he flashed through the forest at immense speeds. He had conserved his chakra until now when he decided to use his full reserves to arrive at the mission location as quickly as possible. ''Perfect time to both further ingrain me in Obito''s and Kakashi''s memory as well as to hog all of the mission rewards myself.'' Kazuo thought as he imagined his name spreading even further in the ninja world. Body Flicker after body flicker, Kazuo felt his chakra slowly but surely draining before it reached a point where he had to take out one of his soldier pills. ''I only have one more after this, I''ll have to conserve my chakra from now, the mission location isn''t that far either way.'' Kazuo thought as he opened the map. ''I should be able to arrive in less than twenty minutes at the pace that im going at. After that, I''ll have to unseal all of the explosion tags inside the mission scroll and place them in strategic spots before blowing the entire bridge up.'' Kazuo thought as he put the map inside of his wrist guards and continued. Nineteen minutes later, Kazuo finally arrived at his destination. Further ahead he could see the large bridge that would be able to hold tons of supplies for Iwagakure. ''Time to get to work.'' Kazuo thought as he quickly made a hand seal and burrowed himself underground before starting to head in the bridge''s direction. Arriving at the first leg of the bridge, Kazuo appeared above ground and finally unlocked the explosion tags. Immediately a large amount of tags appeared before him which he quickly sealed back into his wrist guards before taking out only one hundred and getting to work. ''Why does it feel that since I''ve come to this world, I''ve become someone Deidara would be proud of?'' Chapter 57 Kazuo continued placing explosion tags on strategic locations under the bridge whilst still trying his utmost to maintain his stealth so that he wouldn''t be detected by anyone nearby. He placed each explosion tag in spots where they wouldn''t be noticed even if someone was trying to look for any changes. ''This should be good enough'' Kazuo thought as he nodded with a smile on his face before quickly using the hiding-like-a-mole technique and heading away, after around two hundred meters, he finally headed back above ground. In his hand, he held a long piece of paper that he had created using part of the concept of the paper shuriken jutsu. ''During that training, I tried to gain more insight into the Jutsu but I only managed to get a breakthrough once I read through all those jutsu from the library, and even then I''m still far from being able to make different paper jutsu.'' Kazuo thought before making a hand sign with one hand whilst holding the paper string. ''Kai'' Kazuo thought as channeled his chakra to the paper string and through it, he sent it directly to the explosion tags. And he waited. One second. Two seconds. Three seconds... Four seconds... Nothing, no explosion. ''What?'' Kazuo thought as his guard immediately went up and he started looking around. ''Either the paper tore or someone stopped it.'' Kazuo thought before heading toward the bridge once more. Arriving there in one body flicker, Kazuo finally saw the reason. Countless shinobi were before him, hundreds of them, as well as a long line of supply carriages, could be seen at the back. ''Oh,'' Kazuo thought as he stood out in the open. The enemy had already seen him. Looking around he quickly found the reason as to why the explosions had failed. Whenever he used the hiding-like-a-mole technique a small amount of chakra would be left behind in the earth however to discern it one would have to be an extremely proficient earth-style user. And the enemy was Iwagakure, a village known for their earth release. ''They used something to reinforce the ground or something similar, expecting people to be hiding underneath and for them to be crushed? While they were wrong in their assumption, they still managed to foil my plan.'' Kazuo thought as he stared at the large quantity of shinobi who were facing him.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "Look, it''s a tree hugger!" One of them screamed as he pointed at Kazuo. "Be on your guard, he could be bait." Someone else said, and soon enough the entire shinobi force was looking at Kazuo warily. A single shinobi appearing in front of a whole army either meant that he was bait or that the shinobi was a kage. Of course, those were the two options if the enemy was sane of mind, he could just as well be an insane bastard who didn''t think at all. "You''re not coming?" Kazuo asked, his voice amplified by his chakra which he had used to reinforce his vocal cords. It was a pretty simple technique if one knew what to enhance. "Well then, I''ll come to you," Kazuo said before he made a single-hand sign. *Poof* With a release of smoke, an identical clone of Kazuo appeared next to him. The clone instantly began running toward the shinobi whilst Kazuo himself immediately used the bodyflicker jutsu. This left the enemy slightly confused before one of them pointed out. "He''s just an insane bastard, kill him. We just sensed and there are no enemies in a ten-kilometer radius." Kazuo''s shadow clone continued running until he arrived at the middle of the bridge where he gave the enemy a large smile whilst making a single hand seal. It was the tiger seal. "Bye~!" ''Kai'' Merely a split second later, the ground shook as loud thunderous explosions occurred at each of the bridge''s supports. Instantly the bridge started crashing down whilst the shadow clone popped out of existence. Kazuo already two kilometers away, heard the sound clearly and a large smile sprouted on his face. ''Still, this doesn''t mean that I''m out of danger, they will most certainly be following me.'' Kazuo thought as he checked on his chakra reserves. They were almost entirely empty. Taking out his last soldier pill and popping it into his mouth, Kazuo continued his run through the forest. Thankfully leaf shinobi were much more proficient in traversing through forests when compared to other villages, so he had the advantage of speed. ''Will my reserves hold out?'' Kazuo thought as he continued heading to the location he had told Kakashi and Obito that they would meet up at. ''I can''t just leave them either, Kakashi plays a major role in saving this world later on, he''s useful, I can''t let him die.'' Kazuo thought as he started pushing himself further and further. His speed continued to increase however an aftereffect of it was that his vision blurred even more than before. He couldn''t discern anything around him or in front of him whilst using the bodyflicker anymore. Finally, after around half an hour, just when Kazuo''s reserves were about to bottom out once again, Kazuo arrived at the location. *Swish* Appearing in the middle of the small hidden clearing, Kazuo saw two people in front of him. Both of their eyes were red and they looked like they had gone through an immense struggle. "Kakashi, you managed to save Rin," Kazuo said before turning his head left and right. "Where''s Obito? We have to get going and quickly, do you have any soldier pills?" Kazuo asked, his voice sounded hurried. Kakashi simply took out a pill from his ninja bag and threw it at Kazuo who took it and popped it into his mouth. "Obito''s dead" Rin said with a small voice. "I see, I''m sorry but we have to get going right now," Kazuo said. His urgent response seemed to finally get Kakashi''s attention as he turned to look at Kazuo seriously. His left eye still looked rather ravaged but clearly better than when he had last seen him. "A force of around one thousand Iwagakure shinobi is after me right now," Kazuo said as if he were talking about his morning breakfast. Kakashi''s and Rin''s eyes widened as they looked at him. At that moment, Kazuo felt an immense pain spurt in his right chest. Looking down, Kazuo saw a large rock piercing through his body, it had gone into his back and appeared on the other side, completely piercing him. ''Ah Fuck'' _____________________________________________________________________________ Here''s the chapter for Naruto: Time Loop, I hope you enjoyed reading it. I took a few days to relax and stay with family, back on the grind once more, Expect Daily chapters again. If you want to read 10 chapters ahead and help support me further then check out my Patreon at: Patreon.com/NarutoAuthor Lots of Love NarutoAuthor Chapter 58 *Huff* *Huff* Waking up back at the Kanabi Bridge, just before he had started placing the explosion tags, Kazuo stood silent. It had been a while since he had died such a painful death. ''Fuck, think about what I can do.'' Kazuo thought as his mind immediately went into action, even though he had died less than a minute ago, he continued not looking back or contemplating his death. ''The enemy is less than five minutes away, I need to finish this as quickly as possible. The problem is that I don''t know if I can escape them. Just go for now.'' Kazuo thought as he quickly headed under the bridge and placed explosion tags. Unlike last time, Kazuo focused his efforts on placing tags only at locations with the highest probability of caving the bridge when destroyed. As soon as he was done, merely two and a half minutes later, Kazuo went above ground and created a shadow clone before quickly popping a soldier pill in his mouth. Immediately afterward, he started running at his highest speed toward the preselected location where he would meet with team seven. The Shadowclone meanwhile walked to the middle of the bridge and immediately launched the explosion tags, causing the collapse of the Kanabi Bridge. After which the clone got dispelled and a small amount of chakra returned to Kazuo, it wasn''t much however it was better than nothing. The soldier pill had already started doing its job and now his regeneration of chakra would be quicker than his expenditure at least for the next minute or so. Body flicker after body flicker, Kazuo finally arrived at the small clearing in the woods. It had taken around twenty-seven minutes when compared to the thirty of the last turn, simply because he knew the terrain better. Looking into the clearing, Kazuo saw both Rin and Kakashi. Rin was using the mystical palm technique to heal Kakashi further whilst he sat on the ground silent. *Fsh* With the sound of the wind, Kazuo appeared in the clearing. "Get up now. We have to run, an entire army of Iwagakure ninjas is following me." Kazuo said as he quickly took Kakashi by the shoulders and lifted him up.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. His words immediately put Kakashi and Rin on their guard. "All right, did you finish the mission?" Kakashi asked as his eyes narrowed. "Yes, the Kanabi Bridge is broken," Kazuo said immediately before asking for a soldier pill which he was given a split second later and popped into his mouth. "Do you have Minato Senpai''s kunai?" Kazuo asked as he swirled around and dodged to the right. A large earth spear of sorts was now at the location where he had been. ''Even with this speed, they still caught up to me.'' Kazuo thought as he looked at tens of ninjas appear on the other side of the clearing and completely surround them. Rin looked to be on the verge of tears as fear took hold of her. *Sigh* Releasing a Sigh, Kazuo placed two of his fingers on his wrist and a split second later, he was holding a kunai in each hand. "Get a hold of yourself, this isn''t a battle we can survive if we let fear take hold of our minds," Kazuo said, his voice extremely calm when compared to the situation the three of them were in. Kakashi nodded and immediately took out a three-pronged kunai and plunged it into the ground. "It will take a while before Minato sensei arrives," Kakashi said as he took out the short sword from his back. It was a weapon given to him by the white fang of Konoha, Sakumo Hatake. "I don''t think we can survive this..." Rin mumbled as she looked around at the shinobi forces that were only getting bigger and bigger. It was at this moment that Kazuo heard a notification-like sound in his mind. [ Ding! ] [ A mission has been generated! ] [ Time Trial ] [ Survive the Iwagakure forces for three minutes ] [ Reward: 1% Bloodline Activation, 1 Random Hidden A-Rank Jutsu ] ''As if I give a fuck about that right now.'' Kazuo thought as he looked at the now hundreds of shinobi around him. "Survive three minutes," Kazuo said before he started walking toward the enemy shinobi. "Can you use the shadow clone Kakashi?" "Yes" "How many?" "Three at most and I''d have almost reduced my chakra to zero by then," Kakashi replied as he continued surveying the surroundings. At that moment, a voice was heard. "If it isn''t the geniuses of Konoha, The son of the White Fang, Kakashi Hatake, and the monstrous genius who faced the Raikage and didn''t die. Kazuo of the Leaf." One Iwagakure shinobi said as he walked into the clearing. It was obvious by the air around him alone that this guy wasn''t your run-of-the-mill cannon fodder. "And you are?" Kazuo asked, his voice still as calm as ever. "It''s surprising, being able to remain this calm in a situation like this. My name is Kuro, an Elite Jonin of the great stone village." The man, now known to be Kuro said as he raised his head high, the ego and pride could almost be felt as it oozed off of him. "The Great Iwa? I don''t think I''ve ever seen anyone call the stone that before." Kazuo said as a chuckle escaped from his lips. Immediately the whole shinobi forces turned their attention toward him. "You see, people say that there are five great villages in this world," Kazuo said as he came closer to the man, now he was less than five feet away. Looking at the man in the eyes, Kazuo practically spat out his next words. "Konoha is the only village that deserves to be called great. If we hadn¡¯t created the village system, you stone monkeys would still be tearing each other apart in endless war to this day." Kazuo said as he gave the man a large smile. _____________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 59 ''One and a half minutes left'' Kazuo thought as he stared at the enraged faces of the iwagakure ninjas. ''How the fuck do I get more time.'' Kazuo thought before immediately raising his hands in the air. "I give up." Kazuo practically shouted as he looked at the shinobi in front of him. At his words, silence emerged in the surroundings as the Iwagakure shinobi looked at him, their faces befuddled. "You give up?" The head Iwagakure ninja that Kazuo had been talking to asked, his voice showing his confusion. Immediately after, the rage came back. This time it was even fiercer than before. ''Fifty seconds.'' Kazuo thought as he looked at the man. "Of course, I give up, do you expect me to fight a thousand shinobi on my own?" Kazuo asked as he looked at the ninjas as if he was a dumbass. Kakashi and Rin who were behind him were looking at the situation with a completely bewildered look. ''Is this what Minato Sensei meant?'' Kakashi wondered as he thought of the time they needed to make. If it was him then he would have gone into combat immideatly and hoped that he would somehow survive until minato sensei came back. "Do you actually think that we will spare you tree fuckers after what you said and did!?" The man shouted as he looked at Kazuo, saliva dripping out of his mouth from the force he was using to shout. The man was beyond enraged at Kazuo and it was apparent. "I mean I haven''t killed even one of you guys?" Kazuo asked, his voice lowering as if he was a small child. "Kill this son of a bitch!!" The head ninja shouted and immediately the shinobi ran toward Kazuo, however contrary to what he thought, he was swarmed by a hundred of them. There were four shinobi coming toward each of them. Four attacking Kazuo, Four attacking Kakashi and Four attacking Rin. ''It makes sense if more of them were to jump in then they would simply hinder each other.'' Kazuo thought before quickly making a hand seal with one hand.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Looking at him doing so, the head iwagakure ninja''s eyes widened imperceptibly. "Damned Konoha geniuses, you will die here, there will be no time for you to flourish." At his words, a large smile appeared on Kazuo''s face. It immideatly caused the four ninjas heading toward him at immense speeds to stop and take a few steps back in fear of an unknown attack. "Who says that i havn''t flourished yet?" Kazuo said as he immideatly used the bodyflicker jutsu and headed toward the weakest point of the barrier that the Iwagkaure ninjas had created around them with their own bodies. "Stop the bastard!" ''Thirty seconds.'' Kazuo thought as he watched the shinobi in front of him make hand signs quickly. ''What jutsu is that!!'' Kazuo thought before he saw the ground in front of him spike up and impale him through the middle. *Cough* Blood dripped out of Kazuo''s mouth once more as he looked at the enemy with bloodshot eyes. "I will live," Kazuo said before his conciouss left him. Once more he appeared back where he had been at. Following the actions of his previous turn, with a single difference in his speed in doing them, Kazuo arrived in front of Kakashi. "Give me the kunai minato gave you, now!" Kazuo said, his voice clearly urgent causing Kakashi to not dwadle and hand it over to him. Using a sliver of Chakra that he sent into the seal at the Kunai''s handle, Kazuo threw it into the ground. Turning around to face the two, Kazuo immediately ordered. "A thousand enemy ninja are coming here, we have to hold out for two minutes and fifty five seconds from now, dont say anything and let me do the talking. Be ready for combat." Kazuo said before turning around to face the woods once more. Two kunai had already appeared in his hands. And Iwagakure didn''t disappoint as they soon appeared. Immitting what he had done the previous turn, Kazuo arrived back at the point where he was running to the edge of the encirclement. The enemy before him was already making hand signs. ''Ten seconds left'' Kazuo thought as he looked at the enemy finish the hand signs. Just before the earth below him could rise up into a spike and impale him, Kazuo jumped up high using the bodyflicker jutsu as a way to increase his speed. He had arrived at around fifty meters in the air. ''When i fall down, my legs will break.'' Kazuo thought however he didnt even think of the injuries for a split second longer. In his arms, One hundred explosion tags had appeared. ''It''s now or never Kazuo thought as he bunched every single tag together, their sticky underside working well to hold the tags together as he made a large around thirty-centimeter-in diameter ball of explosion tags. ''Take this you fuckers.'' Kazuo thought as he continued falling down, he was almost at the bottom now, merely ten meters above the ground. Dropping the ball, Kazuo brought his fist back quickly and used almost his entire chakra reserves to enhance his arm. This would cause immense damage to his nerves however Kazuo didn''t mind in the least. *Bang* Punching the ball, he sent it directly into the enemy lines, the tags had already started sizzling when the chakra around his fist had hit them. *Boom!!* With a loud explosion sound, the ground shook as hundreds of charred limbs flew into the air. The smell of burnt flesh immediately permeated the surroundings. It was at this moment as Kazuo was about to fall onto the ground, as he closed his eyes for a brief moment, hoping to lower the pain somehow that he heard a notification-like sound in his mind. [ Ding! ] The pain didn''t come. He didn''t feel his legs get crushed on the ground below him. Opening his eyes quickly, Kazuo saw devastation. [ User has completed two missions. ] Chapter 60 Snapping his eyes open, Kazuo saw himself standing more than a hundred meters away from his previous location. All around him hundreds of shinobi lay on the ground whilst a yellow flash continued moving through the battlefield. Looking to his left, Kazuo found Kakashi and Rin looking at the scene with wide eyes as well. They had known what their Sensei was capable of, they had heard of his nickname and reputation. However, this was on a completely different level. ''One thousand shinobi, dead just like that.'' Kazuo thought as he saw the light dissipating from an Iwagakure shinobi in front of him. Tearing his eyes away from the man''s hateful gaze, Kazuo inwardly thought. ''Missions.'' And a holographic screen, that only he could see appeared in front of his sight immediately after. [ Missions ] [ Survive the Kanabi Bridge Mission ] [ Reward: Bloodline Awakening 0.9%, 1 Minor Stat Upgrade. ] [ Claim ] *** [ Time Trial ] [ Survive the Iwagakure forces for three minutes ] [ Reward: 1% Bloodline Activation, 1 Random Hidden A-Rank Jutsu ] [ Claim ] Without waiting for a second longer, Kazuo quickly claimed both of the rewards. [ Claimed ] [ Claimed ] [ User''s bloodline has been activated by 1.9%, Total activation of 2% reached! ] Though it said that his bloodline had been activated even further, Kazuo noticed no changes besides his chakra increasing minutely, it was such a small increase that it was inconsequential. Immediately afterward, Kazuo opened his status menu, he had already thought of the Stats that he would be increasing. [ Stats ]Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. [ Name: Kazuo ] [ Age: 13 ] [ Race: Human ] [ Strength: C- ] [ Endurance: C ] [ Agility: C ] [ Intelligence: B- ] [ Charisma: B ] [ Chakra: C- ] [ One Minor Grade Upgrade Available. ] Immediately, Kazuo pressed on the Intelligence Stat. [ Intelligence Stat has been Upgraded! ] [ Intelligence: B ] Jack didn''t notice any changes in his perception of the world or his thoughts, unlike the big change that he had noticed as soon as Charisma had been upgraded. ''It wasn''t that big of an increase, however with this, I will be in Jonin levels of Intelligence if I take it as D being Gennin rank, C being Chunnin, B being Jonnin, A being Elite Jonin, and S being Kage levels.'' Kazuo thought. It was at this moment that he noticed the change that had transpired with this upgrade. ''My thoughts are occurring at much higher speeds, it hasn''t even been five seconds on the outside world.'' Kazuo thought as he continued standing still, simply watching the carnage that the ''Hero'' was causing on the Iwagakure ninjas. After a while, Kazuo saw Minato appear in front of the three of them instantly. ''Two minutes and fifty-seven seconds, that''s all it took him to defeat the entire Iwakagure forces.'' Kazuo thought as he gazed at the man before him, the man who appeared harmless on the outside, who always showed a smile as he walked through the streets of the hidden leaf village. ''Even more dangerous than Danzo.'' Kazuo thought to himself as he heard Minato ask. "Where''s Obito?" Rin didn''t speak, her eyes merely clouded as tears finally streamed down her face. "He sacrificed himself to save me," Kakashi said, his voice sounding cold, and detached from the world itself. "I see," Minato said his gaze showing his sorrow however he quickly hid it, now wasn''t the time nor place to think about such matters. "Is the mission finished?" Minato questioned. Kakashi merely nodded toward Kazuo. "The mission is completed, I destroyed the Kanabi Bridge, that was the reason why the Iwagakure forces were after me," Kazuo replied as he looked at Minato. "Good" Minato nodded before turning toward the three again. "I''ll be taking everyone back to the village now, place your hand on me," Minato said. "Won''t that take a lot of Chakra Senpai? Aren''t you needed elsewhere on the battlefield?" Kazuo questioned. Minato turned toward him and shook his head. "What happened here needs to be reported to the Hokage, this will give me a day or so of vacation as well, which should be enough for my Chakra reserves to recover," Minato replied. Nodding his head, Kazuo walked to the man and grabbed his shoulder, similarly Kakashi and Rin followed suit, placing their hands on either his shoulder or his back. A moment later, the four of them disappeared. Leaving behind a field filled with blood and corpses as well as a three-pronged kunai that was falling to the ground as it spun in the air. *Thump* *Fshh* Immediately after, hundreds of kilometers away, inside the Hidden Leaf Village, right in front of the Hokage Tower, four people appeared. "We have to go report to the Hokage immediately, since this matter is urgent, we will be doing a vocal report instead of a written one," Minato said as he walked inside the large Hokage Tower. Following him inside, Kakashi and Rin looked miserable, it didn''t look like they would be recovering anytime soon. ''He sacrificed himself for you and you''re just going to waste that shit?'' Kazuo wondered to himself as he looked at the two depressed youths. ''I would have jumped in joy if someone did that for me. I might just be the crazy one though.'' Kazuo thought to himself as he headed up the stairs toward the Hokage office. After a few moments, the four of them were told that they could head. Opening the large wooden door, Minato, Kakashi, Rin, and Kazuo found themselves face-to-face with two men. Sarutobi Hiruzen aswell as the Hokage Advisor. The Roots of the Hidden Leaf Village. The Darkness. The Uchiha Hater. ( A/N I couldn''t stop myself. ) Hokage Advisor, Shimura Danzo. Chapter 61 "Minato, you''re back," Hiruzen said as he looked at Minato. Shimura Danzo meanwhile simply stood by the side, not even giving a glance toward the young man and the kids behind him. "Yes sir, I''m here to report about the completion of the Kanabi Bridge mission," Minato replied as he gave a bow toward the Hokage. The three behind him, Kazuo included followed suit as they gave a respectful bow toward their leader. "I see, well then What''s the report," Hiruzen asked. Danzo still didn''t make any move to get out of the room, clearly showing his intent on listening to the report. Hiruzen didn''t tell him off either. It was Kakashi who stepped up as Minato turned to give him a glance. "Yes sir, the Kanabi mission faced some challenges however it was completed successfully, My team however had to split into two parts during the mid-section of the mission so I will only be able to give the first half of the report. The second half will be given by Chunnin Kazuo." Kakashi said, his turbulent emotions already under his control as he faced the military leader. "I see, you may continue," Hiruzen replied as he gave a shallow nod of his head. Kakashi followed with a nod of his own before starting his report. "We were transported to a location close enough to the Kanabi Bridge by Minato Namikaze, after which my team consisting of Nohara Rin, Chunnin Kazuo as well as Uchiha Obito departed toward the Kanabi Bridge. After a while, we encountered enemy Iwagakure ninjas, one of which managed to kidnap our teammate Nohara Rin, after Uchiha Obito, Chunnin Kazuo and I eliminated the other, we decided to split off the team." Kakashi said before taking a short breath of air and continuing once more. "Uchiha Obito and I would be going to save Nohara Rin from the kidnapper whilst Chunnin Kazuo would continue the official Kanabi bridge mission on his own. Uchiha Obito and I quickly traced the kidnapper using my summoned ninken and his Sharingan. After an intense fight, the Iwagakure ninja caused a collapse of the cave where we were in, this led to Uchiha Obtio''s death as well as him giving me a parting gift." Kakashi said as he finally opened his left eye. It was a stark contrast from his right eye which was pure black. This eye was blood red with two tomoe swirling around a black pupil in the middle. It was the Sharingan of the Uchiha Clan. It was at this moment that the atmosphere in the office changed drastically.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Hiruzen''s and Danzo''s eyes immediately tightened as they gazed at Kakashi. Minato meanwhile bore a shocked look that he quickly concealed a moment later. "You''re saying that Uchiha Obtio was fatally injured and gave you his Sharingan as a parting gift?" Danzo finally spoke up for the first time since the team had come inside the office. Kakashi turned to face the man and gave a light nod. "My eye was slashed during the previous encounter when Nohara Rin was kidnapped, Uchiha Obtio told us that he wanted him to continue seeing the world through me during his death," Kakashi replied, his voice becoming stone cold. It was clear that this was a hard matter to talk about for Kakashi who had lost his teammate merely hours ago however it had to be done. "I see. Well, then we will have to talk about this later on." Hiruzen said as he nodded his head toward Kazuo. Walking toward the front whilst Kakashi headed to the back of the office once more. Kazuo felt slightly dizzy, the situation was tense, especially after the reveal of the Sharingan. "I Chunnin Kazuo will now begin reporting the second half of the Kanabi bridge mission," Kazuo said whilst giving Hiruzen a shallow bow of his head. "After parting with team seven, I headed directly toward the Kanabi Bridge at the highest possible speed I could achieve, after arriving there I used the hiding-like-a-mole technique to set up explosion tags at strategic locations," Kazuo said as he described the scene clearly, his words concise and his expression a calm poker face. "However during this time, I found out about a large army of Iwagakure ninjas heading toward the bridge, deciding that I didn''t have time to stick around for long, I made a shadow clone jutsu and used it as both a distraction and a means to activate the explosion tags whilst I headed back toward the location Kakashi and I had decided to meet after the completion of the mission." Kakashi who was at the back nodded his head. "After arriving at the location, I quickly asked Kakashi to signal Minato Namikaze that we were in dire need of help, with around a thousand enemy shinobi chasing after us, we had no way to run and thus I decided to bait for time. Engaging the Iwagakure shinobi into a heated discussion and enraging most of them, I managed to procure enough time to where there was only around a proximate twenty or so seconds before I thought Minato Senpai would appear." Kazuo said before his poker face cracked slightly. It showed his stress as he talked about the situation however his fierce look told the story that he wouldn''t bow down to the stress and would move on quickly. This was an act from Kazuo. He was indeed under immense stress at facing both of Konoha''s old foxes at the same time however he had good enough control to keep up the poker face if he wanted to. ''I need to take more credit, even more.'' Kazuo thought as he continued his speech. "Using the body flicker jutsu, I jumped high into the air after seeing the enemy making hand seals and as they were Iwagakure ninjas, I determined that the most likely path for the danger to come from was the ground. Once in the air, I used the explosion tags that I had saved once I figured out about the enemy ninja, i made a large makeshift explosion ball of sorts which I used to defeat a decent amount of ninjas, i was going to use this as both a distraction as well as a means to create an escape if Minato Namikaze didn''t show up on time. However before I even hit the ground, Minato Namikaze did show up and the rest can be given in report form from him." Kazuo said as he finished his report and gave a bow toward the two high-ranking officials of the leaf, before straightening up his body once again and having his expression change. Now it clearly displayed the stress and uneasiness that Kazuo was feeling. "I would also like to add on that the idea of saving Nohara Rin was mine, and I take full responsibility for that choice. I felt like making someone sacrifice a leaf comrade for a mission wasn''t what the village was made for. I stand by this decision of mine." Chapter 62 Silence engulfed the office for a brief moment before Kakashi spoke up. "I was the captain of the team, I decided to follow Kazuo''s suggestion, it is my responsibility to bear the aftermath of it," Kakashi said as he took a step forward. Danzo''s face had scrunched up slightly as he looked at the two young shinobi. Hiruzen finally changed his blank expression. His lips curled upwards as he gave Kazuo a smile that almost seemed to reflect sadness. "I am glad to see that we have shinobi who follow the ideals of the first Hokage. What happened on the battlefield to Obito Uchiha was a misfortunate event however you made the right choice and im sure he too would agree to my words." Hiruzen said as he got up from his chair. ''Did I become a potential chess piece in his eyes?'' Kazuo wondered inside as he watched the man come to stand in front of him and pat his shoulder. "What you did was what every shinobi in the leaf should do, you are doing the mission for your village, for your comrades so that you can keep them safe. The life of someone like that is always more important. I am very pleased with your choice Chunnin Kazuo." Hiruzen said giving Kazuo a soft pat on the shoulder. Kazuo''s expression changed as he looked at the man, it clearly showed the hesitance and pain that he was experiencing as well as the relief at hearing those words. Of course, it was all fake, Kazuo however had replicated it to such a perfection that no one would be able to notice. The combination of having B rank on both intelligence and Charisma allowed for Kazuo to become one of the best actors to exist. "Thank you, lord Hokage," Kazuo said as he lifted his head which he had lowered in shame to gaze at the man, his eyes shining as if clearly displaying the newly ignited hope that Hiruzen had instilled in him. Seeing his reaction, Hiruzen nodded his head, the smile still on his lips. Clearly pleased at Kazuo''s reaction. "With that, the entire report is finished." Minato Namikaze interjected as he said politely. "I see, the others besides Minato are dismissed. Make sure to take a good rest." Nodding their heads, the three kids, Kazuo included gave their goodbyes politely before excusing themselves out of the office.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Once outside, the expressions of Kakashi and Rin immediately got much worse, it was clear that as every second passed, the death of Obito was only becoming more real, more tangible than it had been, his missing presence growing larger in their minds. It was at this moment that Kakashi turned to face Kazuo. "You had no need to do that." "It was only right, It was my suggestion and I have to stand by what I did. If there is anyone was to suffer for that decision then it is me." Kazuo said as he gave the gray-haired kid a small smile. Kakashi merely looked at him for a moment before nodding his head, muttering a single word. "Thank you." Kazuo didn''t respond merely giving both him and Nohara Rin a wave and heading toward the stairs. It was at this moment that he heard Kakashi say something else. Something quite pleasing to hear. "You completed the mission, I''ll make sure Minato Sensei makes it so that you get the appropriate recognition and rewards." "It''s all for the village," Kazuo replied as his figure disappeared from view. Inside the Hokage office, the three men had yet to utter a single word. They had been clearly listening to the conversation right outside of the office door. "That kid''s got a good heart," Hiruzen uttered as he took out a smoking pipe and lit it up before taking a slow puff of the tobacco. "He does, he''s been quite the center of attention recently, let''s hope that this doesn''t affect him badly," Minato replied with a smile as he thought back to the kid who he had met inside a commander''s tent in the front lines. "He''s suspicious," Danzo said as he gave a light sneer. His words caused Minato and Hiruzen to turn their heads to face the man. "His records show nothing of his combat prowess or his intelligence, it''s quite similar to an undercover spy," Danzo said. "Do you think I wouldn''t have already searched his background thoroughly before allowing him to head into such an important mission Danzo?" Hiruzen asked as his eyes narrowed, his aura immediately flared up as he looked at the man who had practically challenged his intelligence. Danzo immediately took a step back before stopping himself. "Im just telling my own observations." Hiruzen turned his head away from the man to face Minato once more. "It is suspicious how he managed to pass through his entire life until now hidden, his talents undiscovered by either the academy or the orphanage. That''s why as a last measure of probing, I''ll be putting him under your direct command Minato." Hiruzen said as he took another puff of the tobacco, releasing it out and filling the room with its smokey fragrance. Minato nodded his head immediately, his expression serious as he faced the Hokage. "Yes sir, I''ll make sure to keep a close eye on him and if he isn''t what Danzo suspects him to be then I''ll raise him to be a pillar of the village," Minato announced. "That would be preferable. Now onto other matters..." Hiruzen said changing the direction of the conversation. *** Outside of the Hokage tower, Kazuo channeled his chakra and instantly disappeared. Using the Body Flicker Jutsu, Kazuo arrived at his run-down apartment and headed inside. It was time for a good rest, the last two days hadn''t been easy on his mind or body. His expression however didn''t show tiredness, in fact, it displayed a smile. ''Closer, I''ve managed to get closer to the Hokage faction even if only slightly, with this my chances of rising higher are increased tremendously. Soon enough, I''ll manage to get my hands on that A-rank Library.'' Kazuo thought. Chapter 63 He lay down on the broken bed after closing the door using the kunai method that he had practically mastered after doing it for so many times. Kazuo opened his mission menu. There was still one last reward that had yet to be claimed and sure enough, immediately a pop-up appeared before him. He had ignored it during the stress of the moment however now it was time for him to see. ''A random hidden A rank Jutsu.'' Kazuo thought as he read the pop-up up in front of him. [ User has gained 1 Random Hidden A-Rank Jutsu ] [ Ding!! ] [ User has gained the Paper person of god technique!! ] Kazuo''s eyes immediately widened, he knew this jutsu. It was at that moment that the expected headache came, however this time, it was much worse. It was so much information that he felt like his head was about to burst open. It continued for around three minutes before Kazuo felt the headache subside and give him clarity once more. ''Paper Person of God Technique is a jutsu created by Konan of the Akatsuki to be used specifically against Madara Uchiha, who is in actuality Obito Uchiha in disguise. The Jutsu relies heavily on an extreme quantity of explosion tags which is a huge limiter for me even if you do not take into account the amount of chakra needed to use all of those explosion tags at the same time or the amount of preparation needed to launch the jutsu.'' Kazuo thought however contrary to these thoughts, Kazuo had a wide smile on his face. In fact, he felt excited enough that he wanted to head to training ground one immediately. ''The useful part of this jutsu is the fact that it gives me the knowledge on how to perfectly camouflage my paper jutsu as well as explosion tags. It is such sophisticated camouflage that even the Mangekyou Sharingan of Obtio couldn''t notice the hidden explosion tags.'' Kazuo thought to himself before quickly getting up from his bed and heading to a small drawer on the other side of the room. Inside of which, large stacks of white paper were stored. Taking out one paper sheet, Kazuo immediately performed his first paper jutsu. The white paper converged into itself and it continued folding upon itself until what remained in Kazuo''s hand was no longer a large sheet of paper but rather a white paper shuriken.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it ''Now, let''s see.'' Kazuo thought as he tried replicating only a small part of the Paper God Technique. Thankfully, he had used and even researched the paper shuriken technique for a while, and he was now able to at least manage this much. With all of the information inside his head, Kazuo performed it. The Shuriken in his hand disappeared. It was as if it had folded into the air itself however Kazuo could still clearly feel the light weight in his palm. ''With this, my ranged attacks have become much more deadly, however, it will still be useless against a hyuga or Uchiha sadly.'' Kazuo thought as he released a shallow sigh, the smile on his face didn''t droop, however. ''The paper shuriken still carry traces of chakra which can be seen by dojutsu users however to everyone else, they won''t be visible unless they are some extreme type of chakra sensors.'' Kazuo thought as he shifted his hand made a proper shurikenjutsu stance and threw the invisible shuriken toward his wall. *Thunk* A tearing sound after, Kazuo saw the wall pierced and the camouflage over the shuriken failing as it reappeared before his eyes. ''Good, this is good enough for now. Next in line is to completely master the jutsu that I stole from the library.'' Kazuo thought as his mind went back to the large amount of Jutsu he had stolen from the B-rank Ninja Library. ''That will sadly have to wait until tomorrow.'' Kazuo thought as he headed back to his bed. His eyes already felt heavy, sleep was going to be quick. And it was, as always however it wasn''t a peaceful embrace. Running through a forest, hundreds of ninjas behind him, death occurring over and over only for it to be overcome and then for Kazuo to find himself inside a jail cell. Danzo''s face sneered at him as what appeared to be a Yamanaka came closer, just as the man''s hand was about to touch Kazuo''s head. The dream shattered and Kazuo woke up. *Huff* *Huff* Releasing harsh breaths, Kazuo quickly calmed himself down and lifted his body up from the broken bed. It had become a usual routine. The dream had been rougher than usual however still within expectations. Eating his morning breakfast quickly, Kazuo headed toward the door, his next destination. Training ground one, or at least it was supposed to be training ground one. As soon as Kazuo opened the door, he found Minato with Kakashi and Rin standing behind their sensei. Minato''s hand was held up as if he was just about to knock. "Hello? Minato Senpai, what brings you here?" Kazuo questioned as he looked at the yellow-haired man. Minato gave an awkward smile as gave a light wave. "Hello Kazuo, We came here to tell you that the Hokage has assigned you to team seven permanently. You were supposed to be told later this week however we decided to do some training and I wondered if you wanted to join in?" Minato said as he lifted his hand and rubbed the back of his head. Kazuo felt like the world had turned upside down. ''Me? Team seven? What is that old bag of bones thinking? Was my impression that good? No, there''s no way it was good enough to warrant this, however, if you think about this from another perspective.'' Kazuo thought as he gave Minato an excited nod. "Ok Minato Sensei, just give me a moment please," Kazuo said as he turned around and headed inside quickly. It wasn''t that he needed to prepare, he already was prepared for training. He simply wanted a brief moment to sort his thoughts. ''He''s using Minato as both a reward as well as a way to closely monitor me, when compared to Shikaru who couldn''t keep an eye on me at all times, Minato''s much more dangerous.'' Kazuo thought as he felt an incoming headache. Chapter 64 *Sigh* Releasing a long-winded sigh, Kazuo turned around and headed to the door before swinging it open. "Im ready Minato Senpai or should I call you Sensei now?" Kazuo said as he gave Minato his shining fanboy eyes. It clearly made the man uncomfortable, however, it was a good way to increase his familiarity in Minato''s eyes as well. ''Or he might just as well be faking his expression entirely, it is quite likely at that. A shinobi like him becoming uncomfortable that easily? Yeah quite hard to believe.'' Kazuo thought as he gave the trio in front of him a soft smile. Minato returned it with a twitching smile of his own before nodding his head. "All right Kazuo, then let''s get going." Immediately after the four shinobi used the body flicker jutsu to disappear from their location. Even though they were moving at high speeds, it was still clear. The difference between Minato Namikaze and Kazuo. ''I''ve already mastered the Body Flicker however his speed is much higher than mine, so it''s clear that he is holding back. Does it relate to his overall physical status?'' Kazuo wondered as he gazed at Kakashi who was slightly behind him and Rin who was clearly lagging behind the others. ''She still needs hand signs to perform the Jutsu, Kakashi doesn''t however his mastery is still ways away from actual mastery.'' Kazuo thought as the scenery around them quickly changed. From the bustling streets of the hidden village to a green forest filled with trees. It was at this moment that Minato jumped into a clearing in the middle of his forest. A moment later Kazuo landed behind him, followed by Kakashi and lastly Nohara Rin. Turning around, Minato gave Kazuo a soft smile as he said. "This is Training Ground Seven, it has been reserved for us for around a week, it is one of the safer training grounds when compared to others around the village, thus it is mainly used by newly graduated Gennin teams. Specifically team seven." Minato said as he explained whilst motioning to their surroundings with one hand. Nodding his head, Kazuo replied.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. "I see, It''s much better than the training ground one which I usually use, that one has barely any privacy at all," Kazuo said as he rubbed his cheek. Kazuo had been trying to increase the amount of body language used during his acting, this way he could pose as a more believable thirteen-year-old who was completely loyal to the village. The action could be as small as rubbing his cheek to display slight nervousness or scratching the back of his head to look embarrassed. It was small actions like these that made an actor. "Now then, how about we start this with a spar to get us started? And I also need to gauge at just what level you are Kazuo." Minato said with a smile as he turned toward Kakashi. "What do you think Kakashi?" Hatake Kakashi, the young gray-haired ninja simply nodded his head, no words leaving his mouth, though Kazuo wouldn''t have been able to notice the movement of his mouth even if he had spoken, it being covered by a mask. "What about you Kazuo?" Minato questioned as he turned his gaze towards him. Nodding his head quickly, Kazuo appeared excited as he replied. "I would be more than happy too, I haven''t really had a lot of sparring partners before, and I wanted to see just how strong Kakashi was too," Kazuo said, his voice light as he turned toward Kakashi. Rin quickly made distance as she backpedaled to their cut tree stumps and sat down on the grass. "All right then, I''ll be here to stop you if anything dangerous occurs, no lethal moves are allowed, besides that everything else is," Minato said as he held up his left hand. Kakashi and Kazuo immediately changed their stances. Both twisted their bodies as they entered their combat stance. Immediately a large disparity was noticed. Kakashi had a completely unknown stance to Kazuo, while Kazuo''s basic academy taijutsu stance was completely clear in front of Kakashi''s eyes. ''I can''t use my explosion tags and even if I could, it''s a waste to use them against Kakashi in a spar.'' Kazuo thought as his eyes grew focused. A glint appeared in them for a brief moment before Minato''s raised hand fell down and the Sparring match officially began. *Fsh* *Fshh* Immediately, both of the young shinobi created distance with one another using the body flicker jutsu. The short distance of only a few meters had now widened to over thirty. Instantly as soon as Kazuo stopped the bodyflicker, his hand moved toward his ninja bag and he quickly took out four shuriken which he threw toward Kakashi. Their aim was perfect however none of them hit the target. Kakashi had taken his short sword out and made a swirling motion, quickly stopping every single shuriken and rebounding them back toward the ground. ''It won''t be easy'' Kazuo thought as he saw Kakashi quickly making hand signs, the speed of their execution was clearly leagues above his own. The Jutsu was completed in less than a second. Immediately, Kazuo saw the ground before him start to extend. He knew this jutsu very well. He had already died from it after all. Without using any hand signs, Kazuo quickly performed the substitution jutsu and replaced himself with a log that he found nearby. *Puff* *Thunk* With the release of smoke, the stone spears that should have pierced Kazuo''s body instead went through a log of wood. Kazuo didn''t hesitate for a moment as he made a single tiger hand seal. *Puff* A clone appeared instantly and ran toward Kakashi, hoping to divert his attention whilst Kazuo headed underground using the hiding-like-a-mole technique. Kakashi who was on the other side of the field saw Kazuo charging toward him. Immediately he changed his posture and ran toward Kazuo as well, his short sword in his hand. The Shadow clone had a kunai in his hand, and a moment later the blades of their weapons clashed. *Klang!* Chapter 65 A moment later, the blades of the Kunai clashed. *Klang!!* With a loud resounding sound and sparks flying up in the air, the two Kunati battled against each other. Kakashi and Kazuo''s shadow clone trying to come out on top, however, it was quickly decided that Kazuo was in no way near close to Kakashi''s physical abilities, much less his shadow clone. *Puff!* With a cloud of smoke, the shadow clone dispersed, however, it had done its job. Kazuo appeared under Kakashi and quickly dragged him under the ground, leaving only his head exposed and in the next moment, Kazuo rose above the ground and took out a kunai and directed it toward Kakashi. It was at this moment that he felt another sensation, however. A cold blade pointed touching the back of his neck. ''I lose?'' Kazuo thought bewildered as he dropped his own kunai and watched the Kakashi in front of him that had been dragged into the ground explode in a puff of white smoke. Turning his head around, Kazuo saw the real Kakashi, his face didn''t have a single bead of sweat and he looked as calm as ever. "Match over, Kakashi wins!" Minato said as he raised his hand up, officially ending the sparring match. "You weren''t bad," Kakashi said before turning around toward Minato. Looking at the kid in front of him, Kazuo felt the urge to slap an explosion tag on Kakashi''s face and be done with it. "I think it''s because you were holding back too much Kazuo," Minato said as he came closer to the two. His words caused Rin''s and Kakashi''s eyes to widen slightly. "Holding back?" Kakashi questioned as he turned to face Kazuo. Kazuo merely nodded his head, a somber expression on his face. "It''s not that I was holding back but rather that I couldn''t use most of my arsenal," Kazuo replied as he looked toward Minato. "I learned how to fight on the battlefield, every single moment out there I thought of how I could cut a Cloud or Iwa ninja jugular out and make them bleed to death. When killing someone is off the table, it''s quite hard." Kazuo said as he explained his reasoning to Minato.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. This was as a way for him to camouflage the fact that he hadn''t been using even 20 percent of his Jutsu arsenal. He couldn''t explain how he knew them after all. And it was clear that Minato would be able to learn that he wasn''t using his all pretty quickly, even if he didn''t know that Kazuo had other jutsu. The reason for it was simple. When you knew a jutsu or had a way to come out of a certain battle situation, the body of a ninja which was trained to be ready for battle at all times would make certain twitches and give out certain signs that it wanted and knew how to counterattack. Even Kazuo couldn''t control these signs that his body gave out completely and so he had decided to simply make a reason as to why his body was reacting in a certain way when Minato questioned him about it. "I see, that makes sense," Kakashi replied, his voice stoic as well and his words clearly awkward however Kakashi didn''t seem to care one bit about them. "Alright, I have a decent grip on your strength even without the use of deadly force. There is a clear inefficiency in your fighting style right now Kazuo that we must quickly patch up before it becomes a much larger problem." Minato said as he hummed out loud. "An inefficiency? Are you talking about my taijutsu?" Kazuo asked as he looked at the man seriously. "That''s right, so you already knew about it?" Minato questioned as he replied to Kazuo''s question. "Yeah, I simply had no other Taijutsu style to learn, and the battlefield didn''t give me enough time to create an entirely new one from scratch either," Kazuo said as he shook his head, his body portraying a sense of sadness at his inability. "It''s all right, I''ll teach you a suitable Taijutsu style," Minato said as his lips curled up and he gave a bright smile toward Kazuo. Immediately the very next moment, Kazuo''s attitude changed dramatically, his sadness was gone and replaced by his Minato fanboy persona that he used around the man. Immediately, Minato felt like taking back his words however he simply kept his smile although it was awfully clear that it was becoming less true by the second. ''This much should simply allow me to get closer to him and not annoy or push him away.'' Kazuo thought before he removed his act and instead simply kept an excited look as he gazed at Minato Namikaze. "So what style will I be learning sensei?" Kazuo questioned, causing both Kakashi and Rin who had gotten up from the ground and come to stand next to the two boys to turn their heads toward Minato as well and await his answer. "There are a lot of fighting styles that are good, however, they each have their benefits. Something like the Strong Fist Style is specialized in pure brute strength whilst the Agile Fist Style is centered around the ability to maneuver around the opponent and to reach speeds where the enemy won''t be able to touch or stop you." Minato said as he raised up two fingers. "Of course, there are also styles that are made of the combination of these two principals however they have a lower limit in terms of growth. And as the saying goes, it''s better to be a master of one rather than being good in all but master in none." Minato said as he raised his third finger. Finally, the man concluded his short lecture with a question for Kazuo. "So which one do you want to learn Kazuo?" For a moment Kazuo remained silent, his face clearly looking focused as he thought about the question. Finally, almost a whole minute later, Kazuo raised his head and looked at Minato. His lips curled upward and Minato felt an increasingly bad premotion. "I want to learn Minato Senpais fighting style, please teach me sensei!!" Chapter 66 "I want to learn Minato-Senapi''s taijutsu style! Please teach me sensei!" Kazuo said as his expression clearly depicted the look of an eternal fanboy for the man. Silence engulfed the surroundings as Minato, Rin, and Kakashi turned to look at him. A moment later, Minato brought his hand to the back of his head and gave an awkward smile. "Im not sure if my fighting style is suited for you Kazuo, if it is then I would be more than happy to teach it to you, how about we try a couple and find which one suits you the best?" Minato said as he looked at Kazuo awkwardly. Immediately after, he saw Kazuo''s expression twist and become one that looked like a kicked puppy that had just had its dreams shattered. "All right, let''s do it sensei," Kazuo said as he walked to Minato whose expression calmed down, and instead of the Awkawrd expression, a serious one appeared. "This is very important, you could say that it will even dictate your life and death in the future if you use a taijutsu style that isn''t suited to you and your body then the balance in your combat will be completely ruined and you will create a large weakness in your fighting style," Minato explained as he started going through a set of taijutsu katas. Looking at the movements, Kazuo immediately noticed the changes between it and the Academy style. The Academy Taijutsu that he had been using until now had a focus on complete balance, both in defending, attacking, speed, and maneuvering around the battlefield whilst the style in front of him that Minato Namikaze was showing displayed a clear focus on Attack, disregarding defense and maneuverability to increase the attack power and the speed of the strikes to the maximum. "This is the Strong Fist style, it''s a style that completely focuses on attacking the opponent, I''ve heard practitioners of this style say that the best defense was attacking if your opponent is completely overwhelmed then they wouldn''t find any time to attack you and thus your own defense would be good enough," Minato said that before he stopped going through the movements, he had changed into a different set of kata. This time, the movements were less quick and the force was obviously reduced however the maneuverability that it gave was on a completely different level, it also sacrificed a lot of attacking instead of opting for a stance that ensured a higher level of defense. "This is called the Soft Fist, it opts for high maneuverability as well as defense whilst lacking in extreme strength and speed," Minato said before changing stopping the katas altogether and turning toward Kazuo.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. "I''ll show you my taijutsu however it is unlikely to be suitable for you Kazuo, you would need a reaction speed much higher than the usual shinobi as well as having a body structure that is suited toward maximum speed," Minato said before starting the katas. Kazuo''s, Kakashi''s, and even Rin''s eyes widened as they looked at the man performing his taijutsu style in front of them. They could barely see the strikes, no, they couldn''t see all of them. They were merely seeing them because Minato had lowered his speed to a level where the three of them would be able to glean some information from the taijutsu style. ''It''s either this or the Strong Fist.'' Kazuo thought as he looked at Minato before his lips curled upward even further than they had been. ''Why not both?'' Kazuo thought as he raised his voice, talking to Minato who had completed the full set of katas, and turned toward them. Even though the man had shown Three different Taijutsu Katas he didn''t have a single drop of sweat on his body, looking completely unfazed as he faced them. ''Just how high are this guy''s physical attributes, and he doesn''t even look the part.'' Kazuo thought before saying. "I want to learn your style Sensei, i think I have a good reaction speed and even then I can always give up on it if im unsuited towards it right? The other style I thought would suit me was the Strong Fist." Kazuo said as he looked at Minato, his eyes turning shiny as he tried to portray the look of a hopeful Kohai who looked up to his Sensei. *Sigh* Minato released a soft sigh before nodding his head. "All right, let''s get started right away then, Rin, you and Kakashi have a couple of sparring matches whilst I teach Kazuo here the basics, after we''re done then we will do some team exercises to increase the fluidity of our cooperation whilst in combat," Minato said, causing both Nohara Rin and Hatake Kakashi to nod their heads and head off to a more remote part of the training ground. Minato turned toward Kazuo and nodded before starting the Kata''s once more. This time however his speed was slow as he was simply showing Kazuo how to move instead of how much speed the style could show. After around a quarter of an hour, Kazuo finally memorized the entire Kata from start to finish and started doing them on his own. Minato simply stood to the side and corrected his stances when he noticed if anything was wrong. "All right, you have a basic understanding of the Kata, now it is time to see if you really are suited to the style," Minato announced as he looked at Kazuo who turned toward him and gave him a questioning look. "Continue doing the Kata," Minato said instead without giving any information on what the test would be. *Bang* With a quick punch, Minato slammed his fist into Kazuo''s face, causing him to be thrown back more than a couple of meters away. "You aren''t suited toward it," Minato said instantly. ''What?'' Kazuo thought before his brain quickly understood the reason. ''However I already knew that my reaction time wasn''t the fastest, the thing is Minato Senpai, I can simply cheat in any situation.'' Kazuo thought before sending chakra directly into his brain and killing himself immediately. *Thump* His body fell onto the floor, Minato who saw this had a confused look on his face, the confusion didn''t last long when he sensed Kazuo''s chakra start dispersing. He was Dead. "What!!" Minato practically screamed as he rushed towards him however it was much too late. Chapter 67 Inside an old apartment inside the hidden leaf village. A thirteen-year-old boy snapped his eyes open. It was Kazuo who had just turned back time. ''The reason why I want Minato''s fighting style is simply that I can be said to have the best reaction speed in the entire world, after all, I can simply turn back time and react before the opponent even makes their move. It''s a fighting style that''s entirely suited to my power if only it was possible to turn back time slightly and not a whole day backward.'' Kazuo thought as he released a sigh after his thoughts reached the end. Getting up from his bed, he quickly ate breakfast and got ready, waiting for when Minato and the rest of team seven would come and get him. Minutes later, the three of them did come, Kazuo followed every action that he had done during his previous turn completely, all the way until his sparring match with Kakashi. Unfortunately, it still ended in a failure, he did manage to draw out the match for a few more moments however the ending result was still a loss. This was where the changes began. "Follow my movements Kazuo," Minato said as he showed a slowed-down version of his Kata. Kazuo didn''t move, simply acting as if he was closely looking at the man''s movements. After Minato finished an entire set of Kata, he stopped and motioned for Kazuo to try. Nodding his own head, Kazuo''s lips curled slightly upwards before he started doing the Kata. *Swish* *Swing* *Fshh* In a moment, Kazuo completely replicated the man''s taijutsu Kata. It was still at the beginner level however in Minato''s eyes, Kazuo had simply glanced at the Kata once and managed to completely replicate them. His eyes widened slightly, Minato continued watching Kazuo in silence until he completed a full set. "All right, continue the Kata, i will be testing to see if you are suited to the fighting style," Minato said as he motioned with his head for Kazuo to continue. ''The reason why he told me that the test had started was both to disrupt my concentration as well as to occupy my mind on the question of what the test actually was.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. It was at this moment as these thoughts passed through his test, that Kazuo noticed Minato''s shoulder moving slightly. Immediately changing the kata he was doing, Kazuo performed a dodge to the right whilst launching his own counterattack toward Minato with his right arm. He hadn''t even seen the punch at all however he had to act before it happened otherwise there would be no way for him to dodge. Thankfully it seemed his actions had been right. Minato caught the punch that he had thrown with his right hand whilst his left punch was next to Kazuo''s face, merely a few centimeters from hitting the mark. A soft smile appeared on his face. "It seems like you are suited to it," Minato said, his voice sounding light as if the man was happy that he would be able to teach Kazuo his own taijutsu style. Kazuo immediately changed his expression at that moment, his facial expression becoming one of unbridled joy as he practically jumped on the balls of his feet. However contrary to his outward excitement, Kazuo''s mind was stone cold and completely calm from all kinds of emotions. ''Good, now then all I have to do is continue with this learning speed.'' Kazuo thought and whilst the idea of using the time loop to completely master the fighting style on the first day did pass through his mind, he didn''t actually do it. ''I''ll be doing multiple time loops during this week that team seven has as a vacation to make it look like im talented but at the same time not make it look as if im too strong immediately. The reason being, Minato isn''t actually fully trusting of me yet, and he probably won''t be for a while.'' Kazuo thought whilst he kept his outward joy. Time continued on, with the days passing. For everyone besides Kazuo, four days had passed and it was now the end of the week. Tomorrow, Team Seven will be back in action once more. For Kazuo however, time had passed quite differently. ''Seventy-two days.'' Kazuo thought as he stood seated on a patch of grass next to a large boulder in training ground seven. ''Status'' Kazuo thought before the air shimmered for a moment and a holographic screen appeared in front of him. [ Stats ] [ Name: Kazuo ] [ Race: Human ] [ Age: 13 ] [ Affiliation: Hidden Leaf Village ] [ Chunnin ] [ Strength: C ] [ Endurance: C ] [ Agility: C ] [ Intelligence: B ] [ Charisma: B ] [ Chakra: C ] ''Strength has been improved slightly, and is finally firmly in the Chunnin rank, Chakra has similarly developed, it''s mostly likely caused by my continued training during these five days as well as the bloodline activation.'' Kazuo thought before opening the skills menu. His Jutsu hadn''t seen any increases besides shadow clones as well as the addition of two your skills. [ Shadow Clone Jutsu ] [ 8/10 ] It was a fairly easy jutsu to master, bringing down the chakra loss during each clone creation had also been fairly easy considering he had already done it with his academy clone technique. [ Namikaze, Ultra two swift swirling reflex Taijutsu ] [ 7/10 ] ''Why the hell does that guy have to name his jutsu and even taijutsu like this? Why is the system even following his naming sense.'' Kazuo thought to himself as he stared at the overtly long name for what was simply a taijutsu style. *Sigh* And finally, the last addition to his skills had been Combination Jutsu. [ Enhanced - Electric Water Bullet ] [ 6/10 ] It was a combination of Jutsu that Minato had trained him and Kakashi on, its power was severalfold the base power of the Jutsu that Kakashi and Kazuo used individually. That had been all of his gains during these seventy-two days or should they be called five days? Chapter 68 It was finally time for the new team seven to get back into the Konoha military rooster and begin taking missions once more. Minato stood before the three young ninjas who could have even been called kids if they had been mere civillians. "Today was the last day of our training, everyone has done well, especially you Kazuo, we have managed to get back in top form and our teamwork should be more than efficient enough. Go home and take a good rest, meet me before the hokage tower at six in the morning tomorrow." Minato said with a light smile before vanishing by using his flying thunder god jutsu. ''Fuck, I want that.'' Kazuo thought to himself for a moment before turning toward the two young ninjas. Giving them both a soft smile, with his eyes seeming to radiate like stars, Kazuo asked the two. "You guys want to come with me for some ramen? My treat." Kazuo said, his voice melideous and appealing as he faced the two ninja kids. "Sure," Rin said almost instantly before Kakashi nodded his head a moment later. ''Good, if it was last week, they wouldnt have been so easily swayed.'' Kazuo thought as his lips curled slightly more upwards before the three of them started walking in the direction of the Konoha village. Currently they were still in training ground seven, it didnt take long to reach the village however, merely around fifteen minutes of walking normally. ''This way, ill have more time to talk to them, its much better than simply all of us using the body flicker.'' Kazuo thought as he continued to make small talk with Rin whilst incorporating Kakashi into their coversation here and there, though it wasnt easy with how little Kakashi talked. Finally, the three arrived at a ramen stand. The sounds inside the stand which was hidden with some cloth flaps with ichiraku written on them in white, were loud and boisterous. They voice sounded like it came from a young female and sure enough as soon as the trio came inside, they saw the cause. It was their sensei together with a red-haired woman. ''Kushina Uzumaki, what great timing!'' Kazuo thought as his lips could barely hold the joy he was feeling at bay, causing them to twitch. "Minato Sensei?" Rin and Kazuo said practically at the same time. This caused both Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki to stop and turn around toward the newcomers in the stall.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. "Oh hey Rin, how''ve ya been?" The red haired woman said as she immideatly dragged the young girl into a hug. "I''ve been well Kushina-san" Rin replied awkwardly. "You guys came here to eat ramen too?" Minato questioned as a way to get the conversation rolling. "Yeah, Kazuo wanted to treat us to a meal." Kakashi replied with a low voice whilst staying as far away from the red haired woman as he could. "Kazuo?" Kushina said with a questioning tone as she turned to look at Kazuo. He had black hair that had grown slightly longer and now reached just past his shoulders, and black eyes that seemed to engulf the light around them, and a face so white that it looked like he had never seen the light of the sun. If it hadn''t been for the light scars on his arms and around his neck and face, Kazuo would have looked just like a porcelain doll. "Are you a Uchiha?" Kushina questioned immediately, without even hesitating for a moment. It was usually rude to ask someone about their family before even introducing themselves however it looked like the woman didn''t give a damn. "No ma''am, im a civilian orphan," Kazuo replied politely as he shook his head. ''Don''t get on her bad side, this woman is a devil.'' Kazuo thought as he tried to hold himself in a pose as if he was an innocent child. It was however unsuccessful. How could it be when the woman could sense emotions? ''Cold, no its not cold, they aren''t exactly negative.'' Kushina thought as she looked at the kid before her. ''Disdain? No, it''s too confusing.'' Kushina thought before furrowing her brows lightly and turning around, choosing to ignore the kid. ''Emotion sense?'' Kazuo immideatly thought as he thought back to how Kushina usually acted and her normal personality and then to her reaction right at this moment. ''I fucked up.'' Kazuo thought before releasing a sigh. "So you sensed my emotions right?" Kazuo opened his mouth and said, his demeanour changed immideatly, his voice growing cold and disdainful. This immediately caused all four ninjas to turn toward Kazuo. "How did you know?" Kushina questioned as her brows furrowed even further. "I just did," Kazuo said before turning around and sitting down. This turn was already fucked, so he wouldn''t mind talking with Kushina and Minato for a while before resetting the time once more. "What did you sense my emotions as? Im quite curious." Kazuo asked as he lifted his hand and brought the cook''s attention toward himself. "Bring me a bowl of beef ramen." "Coming in a moment." The cook replied before turning around again. The atmosphere had grown cold, both Minato and Kushina were practically glaring at Kazuo. "A spy? It doesnt make sense for you to be one and say that however. How did you find out?" Kushina questioned, her voice cold so unlike what it had been merely seconds ago. "You''re the only Uzumaki in the village, the only people who can hold a tailed beast are Uzumaki at least the only ones who can hold the nine tails without becoming monsters themselves and losing their minds," Kazuo said before turning to face Minato and Kushina once again. "Thats the lie, do you want to hear the truth?" Kazuo said with a light smile. "Sure," Minato said, his hand was already close to his ninja bag, ready to stop and intercept any movement from Kazuo. "I come from a different world and you all are just fictional characters," Kazuo said, watching as the other''s faces turned into confusion before he used his chakra to once more overload his brain with chakra and instantly kill himself. *Bang* His head fell on the counter, his body going limp. The confusion on the ninja''s faces only increased. Kazuo once more woke up back inside his broken apartment. "Letting the truth out sometimes is quite therapeutic." Chapter 69 Immediately Kazuo got up from the bed, plans already swirling inside his mind as he tried to come up with his next actions. ''I can either follow the last turns route and try to hide my emotions somehow or I could simply not go to ichiraku.'' Kazuo thought, standing still for a few moments until he finally came to a decision. ''I''ll try a few more times. I won''t be able to show her emotions like happiness or others of the sort, I simply can''t fake them that deeply at my current skill level however being close to emotionless should be possible.'' Kazuo thought before nodding to himself and getting out of his small run-down apartment. The day flowed through similarly to how it had during the previous turn and finally he, Kakashi, and Rin arrived at Ichiraku Ramen once more. Heading inside they were once more met with the scene of Minato and Kushina bickering with each other. "Hello, Sensei!" Kazuo said as he as well as Kakashi and Rin sat down. "Hey!" Minato immediately raised his hand as if he had been saved from the depths of the ocean, his eyes lighting up once he saw his students. Kushina Uzumaki turned around and immediately dragged Rin into her embrace once more before finally turning her attention toward Kazuo once again. "Hello, My name''s Kazuo, I''m Minato Sensei''s new student," Kazuo said as he raised his hand in a small wave. "Hello!" Kushina said her voice carrying her excitement this time. "Are you a Uchiha?" Kushina immediately asked afterward. "No, im a civilian ninja ma''am" Kazuo replied, his face remaining a soft smile. "Ah, you look just like one ya''know?" Kushina said as she raised her hand and in a fierce and swift movement, Kazuo''s cheeks started hurting. Immediately his brows furrowed as he tried moving away however he found out that the woman was what philosophers would call an unstoppable force. "You''re so cute!" Kushina immediately gushed for a few moments before Minato carefully removed her hand from Kazuo''s face. His cheek was already red, however, Kazuo had to remain calm. His emotions remained blank as if whatever Kushina did, she didn''t do to him.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. It was an emotional detachment of sorts from his own body. ''She can only sense negative emotions. I figured as much however this practically confirms it. She wouldn''t be so joyous if she noticed that I have no emotions at all.'' Kazuo thought as he and the group finally turned around and continued their meal. Finishing his beef ramen, Kazuo stood up and turned toward the group. "If I may excuse myself, I wanted to go back and rest for a while. It was great meeting you Kushina-san." Kazuo said as he gave a light bow to the group. "All right, make sure to rest well Kazuo, we have a mission tomorrow," Minato said as he and the group gave him a light wave of their hands, besides Kakashi of course who as always looked like he was stuck inside his own head. It had only gotten worse with the ''death'' of Obito. Heading out of the Ichiraku Stall, Kazuo started heading back toward his own apartment. ''I''ve formed a shallow connection with Kushina, I''ll at least be remembered as Minato''s student. All that is left from here is to increase these connections even further until they consider me a true comrade.'' Kazuo thought as he walked down the streets. Looking through the densely packed roads even though the night was approaching, Kazuo clearly noticed the changes. ''The war is coming to an end.'' Kazuo thought as he saw the faces of the people who had been so disheartened when he had first come back to the leaf, they had now become joyous and peace could be felt in their expressions. ''How can they be so carefree when they know their life could be ended in a split second, even I could annihilate this entire civilian road in mere moments, not to mention Minato.'' Kazuo thought before a slight sneer appeared on his face. ''They know, however, they choose to ignore it. Just so that they can continue to live their lives obliviously. Dumb Fucks.'' Kazuo thought as he finally arrived at his apartment. Opening the door and setting up the lock with the Kunai once he was inside again, Kazuo sat on his broken bed and took out a few paper sheets. During the seventy or so days that he had repeated, he had made sure to keep training and exploring his use of the paper jutsu. It hadn''t given him an extra jutsu in the system however his knowledge about the paper style had increased massively. Taking a paper, he held it between his index and middle finger whilst forming a hand sign. The paper immediately started floating up in the air and converging into itself. It soon took the form of a paper ball, however, it didn''t look crumbled, in fact, it resembled an iron ball more than a paper one. ''Im close to being able to get my first original jutsu, this time intentionally.'' Kazuo thought as his mind went back to the enhanced water bullet jutsu before shaking his head lightly. *Sigh* It was hard, Konan had a much easier time than he did, but at the same time, he also had his own advantages. He had fully mastered jutsu, the paper shuriken, and the Paper God technique that he could research. After much thought, he had come to his first jutsu idea. By making round, perfect paper balls that resembled the iron bullets of the Flint Flock age, Kazuo could create a jutsu that shot out these bullets similarly to how a gun did. If this Jutsu was perfected, it would most likely be an A-rank Assassination Jutsu. Three hours later... ''That''s enough for now.'' Kazuo thought as he hid the papers inside his wrist guards once more and fell asleep. Laying down on his bed, Kazuo''s mind was calm. Unlike before when he was on the Cloud battlefield, Kazuo was finally calm. The nightmares that ravaged his mind had long stopped. He had adapted to the war. Chapter 70 The hours passed and soon enough it was the next morning, the sun had yet to rise above the horizon when Kazuo woke up. After a few moments, he stood up from his bed and immediately started doing his taijutsu Kata. It was a way of warming up in the morning as well as preparing his body so that it would be active enough to respond to any surprises that may happen. After around half an hour, Kazuo finished his preparations, went inside his bathroom, and took a shower before finishing up the rest of his morning activities and eating breakfast. It was now time to head to the Hokage tower and meet up with the rest of team seven. Opening his apartment door, Kazuo headed outside and immediately used the body flicker to disappear from view. His figure was already tens of meters away on a rooftop, running toward the meeting location. In less than a few minutes, Kazuo arrived at the location. *Fshh* With the sound of the wind, Kazuo appeared on the ground. "You''re here." A voice said. Turning around, Kazuo saw that it was Kakashi Hatake who had spoken. "Good morning Kakashi," Kazuo said as he nodded his head toward the young boy. A quick nod of Kakashi''s head later, silence once more engulfed the place as neither spoke a word whilst they waited for the remaining two members of the team. A minute or so later, Rin joined them, and finally, once the clock hit exactly six am in the morning. *Fsh* With the wind being displaced, Minato Namikaze teleported before them. "I see that everyone''s here. Let''s head into the tower, we will be getting a mission directly by the Hokage." Minato said as he nodded toward the young ninjas and turned around, heading into the tower. The rest of Team Seven followed behind him. Moments later, the four of them were standing before Sarutobi Hiruzen. "The war is almost over Minato," Hiruzen said, his voice sounding old and tired as he looked at the yellow flash.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. ''You willing to give me some pointers you old fox?'' Kazuo thought to himself as he looked at the man performing an excellent act in front of his eyes. Minato gave a light nod of his head. The next words that Hiruzen said, had a completely different tone. The kind and tired old man was gone in an instant and replaced by a battle-hardened shinobi god. "The Cloud however has yet to give up. I want your team to head behind enemy lines and kill the main commander of their forces." Hiruzen said his eyes clearly showed that there was no room for disobedience, this order was absolute and it was going to be carried out no matter how many sacrifices were made. "Yes sir." Minato directly responded. Hiruzen took out a completely black scroll from under his table and threw it toward Minato who quickly caught it. Opening it up, Minato''s eyes moved quickly before he closed the scroll and lit it up on fire with a single-hand sign. "Dismissed. The mission starts now." Hiruzen said as he reclined back in his chair. Team Seven nodded immediately before heading out of the office and outside of the Hokage tower immediately. "I''ll explain the mission once we''re outside of the village. Follow me." Minato said as he instantly used the body flicker jutsu. Kakashi, Kazuo, and Rin followed behind him at once. A few minutes later, the group was already at a distance from the leaf village. Minato finally lowered his speed however he didn''t stop, and then he began explaining the details of the mission. "We will be eliminating Arasoi Yotsuki, he is currently the lead commander at the front lines," Minato said before stopping for a moment and continuing. "We will first meet up with our front-line forces, more accurately with Shikaku Nara who will help us in coming up with a more detailed plan on how to complete the assassination," Minato said, and then he stopped, not delving into any more details about the mission. It was clear that the three young ninjas didn''t have enough of a rank to be privy to such details. ''Shikaku Nara, the Clan leader of the Nara Clan. Finally, a Nara that isn''t against me.'' Kazuo thought for a moment as his mind wandered back to Shikaru, who had been quite the headache. ''I have no idea why we are coming to this mission. Cannon Fodder? No that wouldn''t happen. Is it just to gain experience and so Minato asked for us to be part of the mission team?'' Kazuo thought however he couldn''t come up with a clear reason. The group continued rushing towards their destination. Their figures constantly flickering as they moved at immense speeds. Finally, after around three hours, Minato stopped. "Place your hand on my back, we are close enough for me to teleport now." Nodding their heads, Kazuo, Kakashi, and Rin quickly placed their hand on Minato''s back. A mere split second later, The group of four disappeared. *Fsh* With a flash, the four appeared inside of a large green tent. Looking around, Kazuo felt a sense of nostalgia. ''It has been quite a while since the last time that I was inside one of these.'' Kazuo thought however his feelings regarding the place weren''t good, in fact he had hoped to never be inside one of these tents again, though he knew that it was merely a disillusioned hope. "Minato." A voice said, instantly gaining Kazuo''s attention. It was a man with black hair tied in a spiky ponytail of sorts, wearing a green Jonin jacket, he had two scars on the right side of his face. What Kazuo was focused on however wasn''t him. It was the man next to him. With an appearance that clearly showed the familial connection and similar spiky black hair. It was Shikaru Nara. ''Ah, I hate this world. Fuck Hiruzen and Fuck you too.'' Kazuo thought as his left eye twitched slightly. Chapter 71 Kazuo''s eyes were fixed on Shikaru for a few seconds before he removed his gaze only after the man gave a nod in acknowledgment which he returned. "Minato, you''re here." Shikaku Nara said as he gave Minato a nod who similarly returned it with a smile on his face. "Its been a while Shikaku, as much as i would love to have a nice chat, it seems we dont have a lot of time on our hands." Minato said as the smile on his face dissaperead and his expression regained its serious look. "That''s right," Shikaku said before motioning for the group to come to the table where a large map of the surroundings was placed. "Minato will be the head of this operation and he will also be the one to assasinate Arasoi Yotsuki. The three of you will be tasked with causing a large distraction whilst all of this happends. Even Minato will have a hard time infiltarting on his own." Shikaku said as his eyes turned to Kakashi, Kazuo and Rin who quickly nodded their heads. "Nohara Rin will be staying back though not at the base. Her job is to wait out and if anyone returns injured then to heal them back so that they are atleast able to run away." Shikaku said before pointing at a small clearing on the map, clearly showing Rin where she would be stationed at. A quick nod from the young kunoichi later, Shikaku continued his explanation. "I''ve seen that Kazuo has possibly the greatest affinity to the hiding like a mole technique in the entire hidden leaf village, that was also the reason as to why i asked for him to come to this misison." Shikaku said as he turned to look at Kazuo. ''It was Shikaru, that fucker.'' Kazuo thought for a brief split second before nodding his head toward the commander. "Yes sir," "Good, I like your confidence, your job will be similar to your past escapades," Shikaru said as he pointed to a location encircled in red. "Head to the edges of the enemy camp and plant as many explosion tags as you can before running away." At his words, Team Seven''s beside Kazuo''s eyes widened. "That..." Rin however chose not to continue her words because she knew that she wouldn''t be able to change anything. Kakashi''s expression had dimmed aswell whilst Minato''s remained the same, clearly having more experience in holding a poker face than Kakashi did.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. "I know that what we are asking you is practiclly a suicide mission Kazuo, however currently you are the only one with the capabilities to do it." Shikaku said as he continued looking at Kazuo''s expression. However contrary to what he expected, Kazuo had a slight smile on his face as he nodded. "It''s allright sir, if my acts can help in ending this miserable war in any way, then i will gladly do the mission." Kazuo said, his voice was tinged with a pang of sadness however his conviction clearly shined through. Inside his mind, however, Kazuo''s thoughts were drastically different. ''Fuck you, you fucking bastard, what do you mean that im the only one, you just mean to say that im the cheapest in the base, and you would rather sacrifice me alone rather than an entire team of Jonin?'' Kazuo thought to himself however he didn''t show any outward malice, in fact showing the complete opposite of his thoughts. Inwardly however he knew that what Shikaku had chosen was the correct decision. It was better to sacrifice a single chunnin. "Good, next is you Kakashi, you will be stationed next to Nohara Rin and protecting her from any harm during the mission." Shikaku said. The mission plan wasn''t complicated. After all, Kazuo already knew it was a complete sham. ''Kakashi and Rin aren''t needed at all. They only wanted Minato and me in the mission.'' Kazuo thought feeling like releasing a long sigh however his expression remained hardened. "The mission begins immideatly." Shikaku said as he straightened his back whilst still looking at team seven. "Yes," Minato immediately replied before motioning with his eyes for the rest of team seven to follow after him. The team headed out of the commander''s tent without another word. However, as soon as they were out, Rin turned to Kazuo. "Kazuo, you..." "It''s alright Rin, I''ll come back alive," Kazuo said, his voice sounding wrong, it sounded too carefree considering the situation that he was in. Tears seemed to well up in her eyes however they didnt drop, the young kunoichi knew that she couldnt show weakness, for fear that it might affect Kazuo in any way. "All right, don''t die. It''s a promise." Rin said, causing even Kakashi to nod toward Kazuo. Minato meanwhile was simply looking at the interaction with a look in his eyes. ''Pity toward me wont change the fact that you are allowing your student to head off toward their death. This conviction of yours toward the village. Its annoying.'' Kazuo thought before Minato finally spoke up. "Let''s head off." *Fsh* *Fsh* *Fsh* *Fsh* A split second later, all four of them disappeared from their spots, appearing tens of meters away before their figures flickered once more. A few minutes later, Rin and Kakashi split off, and finally a while later. Kazuo stopped. "I''ll be heading off Sensei." Minato stopped before handing Kazuo a kunai, it was his signature three-pronged one. "As soon as I complete the assassination, I''ll be there to save you Kazuo." "Don''t worry about it Sensei. Im not that easy to kill." Kazuo said with a light smile before vanishing from his spot, already flickering away. His speed was much higher than when he was running with team seven. Minato''s eyes widened slightly before a soft smile appeared on his face. "Little Rascal." A moment later, his figure vanished as well, his speed multiple folds that of Kazuo. It was like he had turned into a yellow flash of lighting as he passed through the forest toward his destination. Chapter 72 Kazuo continued running through the forest, his figure flickering as his speed surpassed even Jonnin-level shinobi, his Shunshin Jutsu had already reached a level beyond what most shinobi were able to achieve in their lives. It was an aftereffect of both his stubbornness as well as talent. Finally, minutes later, Kazuo arrived at the destination. Making a single-hand seal with one hand, Kazuo burrowed himself underground with the hiding like a mole technique. ''Time to get this shit started.'' Kazuo thought to himself as he practically swam through the ground at high speeds. He had already calculated the distance in his mind and thus he knew how long he would have to swim through the ground to reach the location where he would plant the explosion tags. Of course, even if he did fail and miscalculated, he could just try again. Arriving at the location in moments, he immediately pressed two fingers on his wrist guard, and in an instant, more than six hundred explosion tags appeared before him. Because of the importance of the mission, Kazuo had actually been given one thousand explosion tags however he only used six hundred. ''A little stealing here and there is good for your health.'' Kazuo thought as he immediately took out a stack of paper. With a single hand seal, the paper converged together and turned into a long thin thread. ''This time, the range is even higher.'' Kazuo thought as he turned around and swam back through the ground whilst using the hiding-like-a-mole technique. He had kept up the rotation of the chakra for the technique during the whole time. This wasn''t as draining anymore as his chakra reserves had firmly become chunin rank as well as the fact that he had perfect mastery over the jutsu. It would have cost him even less however he didn''t have the earth elemental manipulation. It was at this moment as he was running further and further away that he noticed the ground around him start to tremble. ''Lightning Jutsu'' Kazuo thought before immediately jumping above ground and making a single-hand seal. *Tiger Seal* "Kai"Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. There was silence for but a split second as Kazuo''s chakra went through the paper string and arrived at the explosion tags. The very next instant, Chaos engulfed the world. The ground shook terribly as six hundred explosion tags were detonated at the same time. *Boom* Explosion tags were usually exploded with a slight difference in activation time however to counter this, Kazuo had manipulated the paper string to attach to every single explosion tag. Causing the explosion to fully reach its potential. Without even looking behind him, Kazuo used the Body Flicker jutsu and vanished from his spot. At the same time, his hands whirred into action as he got a substitution jutsu ready, using it immediately after his body flicker ended. *Kraanng* With the sound of wood breaking, the log that he had substituted with was completely broken in half. Finally having the chance to look at his attacker, Kazuo saw someone he didn''t expect. Yo, it¡¯s Killa B, here to bring the heat, droppin'' bars so hard, I¡¯ll knock you off your feet." For a moment Kazuo felt the world freeze as he looked at the man. "What?" "Lariat!" That was all Kazuo managed to say before he felt the world rotate on its head. Darkness enveloped his vision instantly. Waking up once more inside his home in the leaf village, Kazuo felt a headache. ''How the fuck am I supposed to deal with a damned jinchuriki who can control his tailed beast.'' Kazuo thought in anger before his eyes widened. ''Isn''t this an opportunity?'' Kazuo thought for the next second. The image of two cloud shinobi flashed through his mind. Two people who had gained the power of the nine-tailed beast after they had eaten its flesh. A small grin appeared on Kazuo''s face. ''It''s worth a try, if I can''t handle the side effects then I can simply end the turn. The question now is how should I fight him?'' Kazuo thought as he tried to come up with a strategy. Thankfully, he had all the time in the world to do so, but it didn''t take long for a preliminary plan to form in his mind. Following the same course of action as the last turn, Kazuo and Minato finally split paths. Kazuo however didn''t head toward the location where he would detonate the tags immediately. Instead, he calculated the time after he had started running off after placing the tags. ''I have around eleven seconds. That would place me here.'' Kazuo thought as he arrived at the same location where he had died before. Raising his hands, Kazuo used his newest paper-style technique. ''Paper Person of God Technique'' Four hundred explosion tags rose up into the air and flew to the location where Killer B had stopped for a moment. The explosion tags are immediately camouflaged with the surroundings, making them completely invisible. This process took ten seconds. Immediately after, Kazuo ran toward the mission location once more. Following his actions exactly, he followed the exact same escape path he had used before and the exact same jutsu. "Yo, it¡¯s Killa B, here to bring the heat, Droppin'' bars so hard, I¡¯ll knock you off your feet." Looking at the man, Kazuo raised his hand and gave the guy a cheerful smile. This seemed to confuse Killer B for a moment. That was enough. Raising both his hands up, looking as if he was holding something back, Kazuo said with a cheerful tone of voice. "Yo, You''re about to go boom boom" "Huh?" This time, Killer B couldn''t react in time as the ground underneath him lost its color, clearly showing the hundreds of paper tags. It was however too late for even him to run away, His body falling through the tags as they completely engulfed him. *Boom!!* "Art is an explosion yo!" Kazuo said, his voice sarcastic. *Boom* And the world flipped on its head once more. ''I deserved that.'' Chapter 73 ¡®I deserved that¡¯ Kazuo thought as he saw the ceiling of his apartment once again. Following the same course of actions that he had performed during the previous turn, Kazuo arrived at the same scene. Killer B was engulfed by the explosion once more. There was however a difference this time. Using The Body Flicker Jutsu, Kazuo changed his location immediately, evading a lariat just before it hit him. Killer B, with his clothes almost completely ruined and with his skin charred stood where Kazuo had just been a split second ago. Looking at the man, Kazuo saw something interesting. Killer B¡¯s skin was regenerating at insane speeds, it wouldn''t take longer than a minute for him to completely regenerate all of the damage that had been dealt to him by the explosion. Quickly gazing at where he had detonated the tags, Kazuo saw four charred octopus-like tentacles. ¡®In that instant, he managed to protect himself using the eight tails.¡¯ Kazuo thought before instantly using Body Flicker and appearing next to the tails. Killer B, turned around and stared at Kazuo for a brief moment. ¡°You¡¯re stronger than I thought.¡± The man said, his voice sounding much more serious than it did before. ¡°Am I?¡± Kazuo asked before lowering himself to the ground and touching one of the tentacles. Killer B didn¡¯t move for a moment, still staring at what Kazuo was doing, not daring to get closer to him when he was acting so suspiciously. Chakra flowed to Kazuo¡¯s hand and with a grabbing motion, he ripped apart a piece of flesh from the charred tail. It would have been much harder usually however the fire had made it far easier, and the tail''s flesh had softened enough that he could rip it casually with his hand. Without hesitating for a single moment, Kazuo brought the flesh to his mouth and began chewing it. ¡°What the¡­!¡± Killer B looked at the young leaf shinobi in complete surprise. ¡°Stop him B!¡± A voice said from inside his mind.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Immediately after hearing the words, B didn''t hesitate for a single moment, his body getting covered in a red cloak that seemed to bubble as if it was boiling. Eight tails appeared behind him, and his speed increased drastically as he practically teleported to Kazuo¡¯s location. His fist punched right through Kazuo. ¡°A clone? When?¡± Killer B thought as he saw the Kazuo in front of him explode into a puff of smoke. Meanwhile, tens of kilometers away, Kazuo stood seated with his eyes closed in a meditating position. It was at this moment as the clone dispersed that he felt it. His own chakra together with a foreign malicious chakra had returned back to his body. ¡°Ugh¡± Releasing a pained grunt, Kazuo started sweating all over. His expression scrunched up as he tried to withstand the pain that the new chakra was causing him. It felt like he was about to be eaten inside out, it was like his own blood and flesh had betrayed him. As if his very own body was rejecting him. ¡°Aaaghhh!!¡± A piercing scream erupted out of his mouth as blood started flowing out of his eyes, nose, ears, and mouth. It was at this moment that a red bubbly aura started appearing around him, covering his body slowly but surely. The red chakra was eating at his own reserves and growing larger and larger by the second. Opening his eyes whilst gritting his teeth, Kazuo slowly stood up. It was at this moment that he saw Killer B appear once again. "You''re insane, yo, completely deranged. Out of your mind, your whole vibe''s rearranged!" Killer B said as he looked at Kazuo, the next moment he appeared in front of the young shinobi, his arm already cocked back and ready to unleash its full power on Kazuo¡¯s head. *Fsh* *Bang!* The fist however hit nothing but the ground. Kazuo had disappeared. Turning his head, B saw Kazuo standing tens of meters away. ¡®Fast¡¯ He thought as he looked at the young ninja. In the split second, it had taken for B to traverse the space between them and launch his punch. Kazuo had forcefully taken hold of the red chakra and used the Body Flicker Jutsu, its power being magnified multiplefold by the sheer raw power that the red-tailed beast chakra possessed. However, as a side effect, Kazuo couldn¡¯t control the distance of his Body Flicker at all. He had wanted to flicker away as far as he could however he had only managed twenty-seven meters. That wasn¡¯t the end of the problems as Kazuo saw another tail start growing behind his back. Feeling how his mind was getting cloudier by the second, Kazuo knew that he didnt have enough time nor strength to escape the situation or control the form. ¡®It¡¯s possible however.¡¯ Kazuo thought as a large grin appeared on his face. His teeth had changed as he had grown large fangs that almost protruded out even if his mouth was closed, giving him a monstrous look. ¡®But it¡¯s not worth it.¡¯ Kazuo thought in annoyance the very next instant. ¡®Sure the increase in strength is insane however it''s practically uncontrollable at my skill level currently and even then, all it would do is place a target on my back. Danzo would also become a true and very real threat if he wasn¡¯t one already.¡¯ Kazuo thought before releasing a sigh which got interrupted as he started coughing. Blood seeping through his mouth. Using the last of the remaining controllable chakra that he had, Kazuo forcefully controlled it and slammed it into his brain, causing it to explode instantly. *Thump* As his body fell down, the red bubbly cloak around him also started disappearing. Killer B meanwhile simply stared at the dead shinobi in confusion. Time Looped back once more. *Huff* *Huff* Looking at the same crusty ceiling again, Kazuo felt annoyed. ¡®Ah, I better get a good reward for this shit.¡¯ Chapter 74 Getting up from his bed once more, Kazuo perfectly followed the actions that he had taken during the previous turn. Finding himself with another piece of the tailed beast''s flesh in his hands, Kazuo dropped it instead of eating it. Why had he picked it up in the first place? He knew that by doing so, he would have a little more time than if he wasn''t doing anything suspicious. And by dropping it, he was getting even more time as he was quite sure that B had rushed at him after feeling a sense of danger, maybe a premotion of sorts. ¡®Or was it Eight Tails that warned him?¡¯ Kazuo thought before opening his mouth once more. ¡°You know that I already survived the Raikage once right?¡± Kazuo said as he looked at B, the man however didn''t say a word. ¡°What makes you think that you are able to catch me? If even the Raikage himself couldn¡¯t.¡± Kazuo said as his smile grew wider. "Big Bro let you live, it was a fluke, yo. But now I''ll show you the cloud''s true spook, yo!" Staring at the large shinobi, Kazuo sneered before saying. ¡°Your rhymes are pretty ass¡­ yo,¡± Kazuo said before using the body flicker instantly and appearing meters away. Killer B similarly also moved at that moment, he didn¡¯t even use the body flicker, and his physical speed alone was enough to catch up with Kazuo. As Kazuo continued to run around, with Killer B getting closer and closer as well as knowing that the chakra reserves of the shadow clone were running out, he used one last body flicker and appeared in the middle of a small clearing. In an instant, Killer B reached his location, his left arm already extended horizontally as he prepared to sever Kazuo¡¯s head with a Lariat. It was at this moment that Kazuo¡¯s face lit up with a large smile, his lips completely curled upwards. ¡°Boom¡± His entire body lit up instantly as over a hundred explosion tags appeared on his body instantly. Before he even started running to the mission location, Kazuo had first created a shadow clone and set up the trap that would explode on Killer B when he chased after him.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. Besides that, he had also used around one hundred explosion tags that he had planted all over the Shadow clone, which he had hidden by using his paper technique. Everything, down to the last detail had already been calculated by him. Now it was only a matter of if he was fast enough to reach Rin and Kakashi before retreating toward the Leaf camp. Or if Killer B had a strong enough chakra sense that he would be able to pinpoint Kazuo and reach him before he regrouped with the others. *Boom* The Shadow clone finally exploded, engulfing Killer B entirely. A moment later, a figure walked out of the smoke. Looking like nothing had happened, without even a single scratch. The red bubbly cloak surrounding B had effectively nullified the entire explosion. ¡°That Kid¡¯s trouble yo,¡± B said before hearing a voice inside his head. It was Gyukki, the eight-tailed beast. ¡°Leave him, go back to the camp. This must have been a distraction. I told you but you just don''t listen do you B.¡± Gyukki said before sighing at its human vessel. B nodded before turning around and running at insane speeds toward the Cloud Camp. Meanwhile, kilometers away, Kazuo continued running with his full strength. Looking at his expression, one wouldn¡¯t think that he had just been in a fatal encounter with one of the most dangerous shinobi out there. His lips were curled upwards, clearly a joyous expression as he ran towards the meeting location. ¡®Though it is sad that I wasn¡¯t able to steal the eight tails chakra, it''s also not too much of a downer. The downsides simply outweighed the benefits.¡¯ Kazuo thought for a moment before the smile on his lips grew even wider. ¡®Besides, I would much prefer the nine tails.¡¯ Kazuo thought. After around three minutes, he finally saw the clearing where he would be meeting with Nohara Rin and Hatake Kakashi. *Fsh* Using the body flicker Jutsu, Kazuo appeared in the clearing instantly. Kakashi and Rin were in front of him. ¡°Kazuo!¡± Rin practically screamed as her eyes lit up in joy. ¡°Let¡¯s go, I¡¯m unsure if there''s enemy shinobi chasing me, It¡¯s best for us to retreat back to the camp,¡± Kazuo said instantly. After a brief moment, both Rin and Kakashi nodded their heads. ¡°Give me a soldier pill, I already used mine,¡± Kazuo asked. Rin quickly complied as she handed him one of her own pills. Kazuo had already used his so that he could replenish the chakra he had lost while creating the shadow clone. After fleeing whilst using the Body Flicker with as much chakra as he could pour into the jutsu, he had been left almost dried once again. Popping the pill into his mouth, Kazuo nodded and immediately body flickered in the direction of the leaf camp. Kakashi and Rin followed behind him. If it was a usual team then they would have had to wait for Minato to return however Team Seven wasn''t normal. As well as the fact that all three of them knew, that if Minato couldn''t deal with the enemy and was injured, they would only become a burden in the fight rather than giving any actual help. Minutes passed as they continued running. At that moment as they were hopping from tree to tree, a presence appeared next to them abruptly. With Yellow hair and blue eyes whilst wearing a Jonin jacket. It was Minato Namikaze. ¡°You¡¯re back sensei!¡± Rin said, her voice clearly showing her joy as she looked at Minato. ¡°Yeah, im glad everyone looks alright,¡± Minato said with a soft smile on his face, his eyes looking at Kazuo for a moment longer before he turned around and the four continued their running pace all the way to the Leaf Camp. Chapter 75 The four ninjas continued their running pace until they finally arrived at the Hidden Leaf army camp. Heading inside of it, no one stopped them. With Minato Namikaze at the front, they have cleared a path and so they arrived at the commander''s tent quickly. The guards standing outside merely gave the four a nod before allowing them to head inside. Walking inside the tent, the four were greeted with the sight of Shikaru and Shikaku Nara standing around the large wooden table whilst discussing strategies for their upcoming actions. As soon as the flaps of the tent were opened, they turned their sight toward the group. ¡°Mission accomplished,¡± Minato said as he walked toward the duo. ¡°Great job as always Minato,¡± Shikaku said with a light smile on his face as he looked at his former classmate. Shikaru, meanwhile, merely nodded before turning his eyes to the young ninjas behind Minato. His eyes landed on Kazuo. Kazuo similarly was staring directly at his former commander and sensei of sorts. His lips curled upwards, and an expression that was borderline mocking appeared on his face. ¡°Give me the Report,¡± Shikaku said as he gazed at the group. ¡°Kazuo first.¡± Kazuo nodded his head before walking closer to the man. His back was straight and a calm expression on his face. ¡°After separating with Minato, I first headed further towards the location where I would be causing the disturbance. Before going there, however, I set up a trap with explosion tags before hiding it and then proceeded to make a shadow clone and give it the explosion tags.¡± Kazuo said before Shikaku nodded and told him to proceed. ¡°After which, my shadow clone headed closer to the location and used the hiding-like-a-mole technique to head underground. The real me turned around and headed farther away and hid myself. After Detonating the explosion tags, the shadow clone continued to use the hiding like a mole technique to flee, someone however was already on its tail.¡± Kazuo said before his voice seemed to shake slightly.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Trying to portray the grim situation. ¡°After finding the earth around it starting to give up, likely from a lightning release jutsu. The shadow clone escaped from the ground and continuously used body flicker and substitution to arrive at the location of the trap that I had set up.¡± Kazuo paused for a moment, looking like he was gathering the rest of his thoughts as he recounted the situation. ¡°It was Killer B, the eight tails jinchuriki.¡± Kazuo finally said, his words causing the ninjas around him to raise their eyebrows and widen their eyes. ¡°I immediately led him into the trap and proceeded to explode the tags that I had set up there only to find the man completely unharmed, thankfully I used the substitution jutsu in time and managed to avoid a fatal strike to the shadow clone,¡± Kazuo said before taking a deep breath. ¡°His body was covered in a type of red cloak? It seemed to completely heal all of the explosion damage in moments before the man turned towards me. Thankfully I was only a shadow clone. After the Shadow clone was destroyed, I immediately turned around and started fleeing from the location toward Kakashi and Rin Nohara. The man didn¡¯t follow after me. That''s the entire report on my side.¡± Kazuo said before taking a step backward and giving a nod. ¡°I see, great job out there Chunnin Kazuo.¡± After that, Minato gave his explanation of the events on his side. There wasn¡¯t much to say, the man had simply gone inside the enemy camp by teleporting before quickly finding the commander''s tent in seconds and eliminating the target and all the shinobi advisors before teleporting to Kakashi. It had been a flawless assassination, the enemy hadn¡¯t even had time to react before the commander had his neck sliced. Especially with all of the commotion that Kazuo had caused. It had been as easy as taking candy from a toddler. ¡°Good job Team Seven, this mission will be considered an S rank in your resume. You are to head back to the Hidden Leaf village and report to Lord Hokage as well as to give these scrolls to him.¡± Shikaku said before taking out two scrolls from under the table and handing them to Minato. A nod of their head later, Team Seven headed out of the commander''s tent. Inside of the Tent, however, a new conversation had started. ¡°Managing to escape the eight tails at only thirteen years of age. He¡¯s quite the shinobi, just as you said.¡± Shikaku said with a light smile on his face however his eyes were cold, piercing as they gazed at Shikaru¡¯s figure. ¡°Right.¡± That was the only thing Shikaru said in reply. ¡°Don¡¯t do it again, I¡¯ve tolerated enough. There won¡¯t be another time.¡± Shikaku said afterward, his voice completely devoid of emotion. ¡°Yes sir.¡± ¡°Good, you may head out,¡± Shikaku said he knew that the man before him needed to complete his own report as well. His report to the Root that was. A quick nod of his head later, Shikaru headed out before using a body flicker and arriving at his own tent. Heading inside, the man released a few chakra signals by bursting his aura before an anbu member appeared before him. ¡°Mission has been accomplished. Arisu Yotsuki is dead. Side Mission Failed.¡± Shikaru said before the faceless Anbu gave a nod and disappeared once more. The Mission of eliminating the enemy commander had been completed. The side mission was the elimination of Chunnin Kazuo. This mission had been given by a commander of the Root Troops. It hadn¡¯t been Lord Danzo however Shikaru felt that soon, the Lord''s attention would be turned towards the young shinobi, it was only a matter of time with how fast Kazuo was rising up in the shinobi circles. *Sigh* Releasing a soft sigh, Shikaru walked to his bed before lying down and closing his eyes. Chapter 76 Meanwhile, Team Seven was heading back towards the leaf village. They were quiet as they ran, no conversation sparking as they continued on their way. Hours later they arrived close enough to the leaf village that Minato could finally teleport them without wasting much chakra. Putting their hands on their back, they instantly teleported in front of the Hokage Tower. Heading inside the large red circular building, the four of them were quickly allowed to head towards the Hokage Office. Arriving in front of the wooden door, they heard a voice telling them to come in from the inside. They had yet to knock on the door at all. ¡®Chakra sensing.¡¯ Kazuo thought as he together with Minato, Kakashi, and Rin headed inside. Heading inside, they were met with the Third Hokage of the Hidden Leaf, Sarutobi Hiruzen sitting behind his large wooden desk. ¡°Team Seven reporting for a successful mission,¡± Minato said as he walked to the front of the group, giving the Hokage a shallow bow before straightening up once more. A nod of Hiruzen¡¯s head later and Minato gave the report completely before giving the man the two scrolls that Shikaku had handed to him. Hiruzen placed the two scrolls on the side before nodding his head. ¡°Good, You are dismissed. Minato Stay back.¡± Hiruzen said. Nodding their heads, the three young ninjas of Team Seven headed out of the Hokage Office and outside of the Hokage tower moments later. ¡°Anyone want to join me for a meal at Ichiraku?¡± Kazuo asked as he turned toward the two ninjas. ¡°No, I''ll be heading back home to rest,¡± Kakashi said before giving Kazuo a nod and using the body flicker to disappear from sight. ¡°I¡¯ll be heading off to get some rest as well Kazuo, see you next time,¡± Rin said with a small soft smile on her face. A quick nod from Kazuo later, the trio fully separated. Walking through the village, Kazuo first headed toward Yakiniku Q, getting a hearty meal before changing his direction and heading off toward Training Ground Seven. Being a part of Team Seven, he now had his own personal training ground that he could use and as such he had no need to head toward training ground one.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Arriving at the Training Ground, he quickly started his training in the taijutsu Style that Minato had taught him, he had yet to completely master it. After finishing around an hour of Taijutsu Kata training, he moved on to Ninjutsu Training. Starting to practice the B-rank jutsu that he had yet to master. He was first going to master Lightning Jutsu, he had thought of a good plan of action for the future. ¡®The combination of Earth style as well as Lightning style creates the Explosion Release Kekkegenkai, if I manage to combine that further with Paper Style, my power will increase several fold however I¡¯m still quite far from actually achieving this plan. At most, it''s only a faraway dream right now.¡¯ Kazuo thought as he practiced his Jutsu. His chosen Lightning Release Jutsu had been: Lightning Release: Lightning Great Ball. A lightning jutsu that was somewhat similar to the Fire Styel: Great Fire Ball however instead of it being a Jutsu that was released from the mouth, it was instead released through the palms of his hands before being connected together and forming a Large Ball filled with electricity. The next Jutsu was Lightning Release: Shock Wave. It was a jutsu that released a large wave that surrounded him and shocked everyone around him. At higher levels of mastery, it could even be controlled further and only be released in one direction, further increasing its intensity. Hours passed before it became close to midnight. Stopping his training, Kazuo turned around and headed to his own apartment. After sleeping and waking up, Kazuo headed toward the seventh training ground once more. Arriving there he was met with the sight of Kakashi and Rin sparring with each other whilst Minato and Kushina Uzumaki stood to the side chatting with each other. ¡°Hello!¡± Kazuo said with a large smile whilst waving his head. ¡°Hey Kazuo!¡± Kushina said as she gave him a wave back whilst Minato simply smiled and gave him a small wave. Kakashi and Rin didn''t reply as they were still in the middle of the match. Looking at the two, Kazuo quickly saw who the winner would be. Nohara Rin was still much weaker than Kakashi, be it in Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, or Shuriken Jutsu. ¡®Worthless really.¡¯ Kazuo thought before continuing to head towards Minato. ¡°So any missions Minato Senpai?¡± Kazuo asked as he arrived in front of the man. A quick shake of his head later, Minato said with a smile. ¡°The Cloud has already sent a letter saying that they are willing to start negotiations. The War is practically over.¡± Minato said before his smile increased slightly. ¡°For the next while, a few months or so, We won¡¯t be taking missions as a team, you all can continue taking missions alone or together however, or join a chunnin team and complete missions with them,¡± Minato said. ¡°I see, can we still use the Training Ground?¡± Kazuo asked curiously as he looked at the man. ¡°Yes, at least until next year when the new team seven gets made.¡± ¡°All right Thanks Minato Senpai,¡± Kazuo said before walking further away and starting his Taijutsu Kata training. Opening his status Menu, he saw that the Taijutsu style had reached a new level. [ Namikaze, Ultra Two Sift Swirling Reflex Taijutsu ] [ 8/10 ] ¡®Close though the last two levels will take much longer.¡¯ Kazuo thought before releasing a sigh and continuing to train the rest of his Jutsu and moves that he could use in front of Team Seven without raising suspicion. ¡®I should start training my elemental affinity as well.¡¯ Kazuo thought as he threw shuriken whilst running around. He didn¡¯t know if he could become rusty in his skills since he had the system however it was best to stay in shape on the off chance that his skills could indeed degrade without practice. [ Ding! ] [ User has Survived the Third Shinobi World War! ] [ User has gained¡­ ] Chapter 77 [ Ding! ] [ User has survived the 3rd Shinobi World War ] [ User has gained the following rewards! ] [ User Bloodline has been activated by 3 % ] [ Random B rank Hidden Jutsu! ] [ User has gained 1 small Grade Stat Upgrade! ] Looking at the line of text appearing before him on the blue holographic screen, Kazuo felt the urge to start jumping up and down on the spot. ¡®Don''t laugh, don''t laugh.¡¯ Kazuo thought to himself as he felt the urge to release a laugh that would resemble what a young master from Chinese novels would release. *Ahem* Placing his fist in front of his mouth, he quickly calmed himself down before thinking of claiming the rewards. In the next moment, all notifications disappeared from his view. The next second a new batch of them appeared, announcing that he had claimed the rewards. [ User¡¯s bloodline has reached 5%! ] [ User¡¯s skill has leveled up as a consequence! ] [Rolling B rank Hidden Jutsu! ] [ User has gained the Paper Clone Technique! ] ¡®Paper clone? A variation of the shadow clone or is it a variation of the elemental clones?¡¯ Kazuo thought for a moment before turning his gaze to the next notification. He couldn¡¯t try the Jutsu out here in the open either way. ¡®A skill has been upgraded because of my bloodline activation? It¡¯s likely the time loop isn¡¯t it.¡¯ Kazuo thought as he opened the skill menu. [ Time Loop ] [ Rank 2 ] This time he couldn''t stop himself as a wide grin spread on his face. ¡®I didn¡¯t get any information even though the skill did level up however, so it seems like I¡¯ll have to do some experimenting to find out just what the second rank entails.¡¯ Kazuo thought. Next on the list was the status upgrade. Opening his Status Menu, Kazuo gave each stat a quick look. [ Stats ]This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. [ Name: Kazuo ] [ Race: Human ] [ Age: 13 ] [ Rank: Chunnin ] [ Affiliation: Hidden Leaf Village ] [ Strength: C ] [ Endurance: C ] [ Agility: C ] [ Intelligence: B ] [ Charisma: B ] [ Chakra: C ] [ 1 Small Grade Upgrade Available! ] Without wasting a single second, Kazuo placed the status point in his intelligence, raising its rank even further. [ Intelligence: B+ ] ¡®Good, this should make learning and mastering Jutsu even easier than before.¡¯ Kazuo thought before fully closing the system menu. It was time for some training once again. Hours passed and soon enough the evening arrived. Stopping his practice of the taijutsu kata of Minato¡¯s taijutsu, Kazuo turned around and started walking toward the exit of the training grounds. The rest of team seven had already left, they had even invited him to some ichiraku but he had politely refused. ¡®I¡¯m still too weak, and from the looks of it, my increase in strength will be slowing down massively now that I don''t have access to the war and easy missions from the System.¡¯ Kazuo thought for a moment before a new thought entered his mind. ¡®With the war ending, that means that in around two years, Minato Namikaze will die and the nine tails will attack the hidden leaf. That will most certainly give a mission.¡¯ Kazuo thought before his mind wandered to the attacker of said night. ¡®Obito Uchiha, I¡¯ll have to kill him during that night. With Madara already dead by that point, it is nowhere near as dangerous as before. However, to kill Obito Uchiha is something that''s easy to say but quite hard to do.¡¯ Kazuo thought as he scratched the back of his head in frustration. He had thought of ways to kill Obito hundreds of times however he had always ended up blank, the man¡¯s eyes were simply too broken. ¡®He also has Izanagi.¡¯ Kazuo thought of more and more ways that Obito could escape him whilst he found no ways for him to defeat the man. *Sigh* Releasing a long-winded sigh, Kazuo decided that he would have to ignore that plan for the moment at least until he grew much stronger than he was at the moment. Walking through the streets of Konoha, Kazuo quickly arrived at his destination, it was the same rusty blacksmith shop that he had gone to to get his training weights. Recently he had noticed that the weights had become useless, with strength on par with a Chunnin and Agility as well as Endurance on the same level, the weights weren¡¯t doing much for him anymore. *Ring* As soon as he opened the door, a bell rang signaling the owner that a customer had entered the shop. ¡°Hey!¡± Kazuo said with a smile as he waved his hand at the man. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re back kiddo! What do you need today?¡± The man said in reply, a soft smile on his face. ¡°I wanted to get the gravity seals. I¡¯ve already exceeded these guys.¡± Kazuo said with a smile as he showed the training weights on his wrist. ¡°Ooh, a hard worker aren¡¯t you!¡± The man said with a chuckle before turning around and grabbing a pair of four training weights. They had a beige color and were inscribed with a fuinjutsu seal of some kind. ¡°To increase the resistance on them you simply have to pour in chakra into the seal at the front whilst to lower it you need to pour chakra into the seals at the sides of the weights.¡± The man said as he placed the weights on the counter. They didn¡¯t make any sounds, appearing light. ¡®Fuinjutsu really is mysterious, I¡¯ll have to get Minato to train me on them before he dies.¡¯ Kazuo thought as he opened his ninja bag, looking for the money to pay for the seals. ¡°Ah, you can also just give me the seals you bought last time and just pay the difference.¡± The blacksmith said before Kazuo could take out the full amount. ¡°Are you sure sir? I don¡¯t mind paying.¡± ¡°It''s quite all right, I¡¯ve heard all about your contributions to the village young Kazuo.¡± The man replied with a hearty smile. Nodding his head, Kazuo gave back the seals he used and paid the difference before grabbing the gravity seals and heading out of the shop. Immediately wearing them, Kazuo quickly adjusted the resistance with the seals before finding a level that was slightly higher than the weights he had just given back and then continuing to walk towards his apartment. Chapter 78 On the west district of the Hidden Leaf village, stood a three-story apartment complex. *Bang* A noise was heard from inside of the rooms in the building. ¡°Ah fuck, and here I thought that I had escaped those fucking dreams.¡± A slightly deep voice said. *step* *step* *step* The sound of steps was heard as the person walked towards the front of the complex where a large window stood, allowing him to look at the sight below. Even early in the morning, the street below was bustling with tens of villagers going about their daily lives. ¡®How long has it been since the last time I had a mission with those guys?¡¯ Turning around, he looked to the right where a large full-body mirror stood. The mirror reflected the figure of a young teen. With short black hair and abyss-like black eyes. He was wearing black shinobi pants and a dark green Chunnin vest and a Konoha headband tied around his forehead. He stood at five foot ten, quite tall for a leaf shinobi. It was Kazuo. ¡®Well then, I better get going.¡¯ Kazuo thought as he walked outside of the apartment, making sure to lock the door behind him before using a seal-less body flicker to disappear seemingly into thin air, only to reappear on the roof of a building almost a hundred meters away. This flickering continued until he arrived before the large green gates of the hidden leaf village. There he saw two people already waiting for him. ¡°Yo, it¡¯s been a while, Kakashi, Rin,¡± Kazuo said as he waved his hand with a soft smile on his face. ¡°Hey Kazuo, where have you been?¡± Rin replied excitedly as she walked closer to him, her expression excited as she gave Kazuo a hug. ¡°Just training. I¡¯m still trying to get that Jonin qualification.¡± Kazuo replied before he saw Kakashi nod his head. ¡°Still as silent as ever?¡± ¡°Yeah, that''s Kakashi alright,¡± Rin said with a light giggle. ¡°So, what''s our mission this time?¡± Kazuo asked curiously. ¡°Let¡¯s get going, I¡¯ll explain on the way,¡± Kakashi replied before flickering in the direction of the gates. Nodding their heads, Kazuo and Nohara Rin quickly followed their teammate.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Minutes after, already more than a few kilometers away from the village, Kakashi finally spoke. ¡°We¡¯re heading to the hidden mist village to meet up with some of our spies there as a routine check,¡± Kakashi said before throwing a light blue scroll towards Kazuo who quickly caught it. Unfurling the scroll, Kazuo felt a slight headache. ¡®It''s ¡®that¡¯ mission isn¡¯t it?¡¯ Just then, as if to further cement his prediction, a bell-like sound rang inside Kazuo¡¯s mind. [ Ding! ] [ Mission has been generated! ] [ Survive the Kiri Mission. ] [ Rewards: Random Elemental Affinity Mastery. ] *Sigh* Releasing an inward sigh, Kazuo handed the scroll to Rin who was running next to him. ¡®This will be quite hard.¡¯ Minutes turned into hours before the climate and environment around them started to change. The once dense forest turned into a murky swamp. ¡°We¡¯ll be camping here for the night, tomorrow we will arrive at the meeting location,¡± Kakashi announced before nodding his head toward Kazuo. Giving a nod in reply, Kazuo quickly lowered himself to the ground and placed five fingers down on the dirt below. Closing his eyes, Kazuo focused for a brief moment. ¡®Earth Style: Tremor Sense¡¯ Immediately after, he started to feel all of the vibrations of the earth. Snapping his eyes open, Kazuo didn''t say a word before disappearing from his location. Ten seconds later, he was back holding a man by the neck. ¡°Just a couple of bandits, I eliminated all but the leader in case they had any useful information,¡± Kazuo said placing the frightened man down on the ground. ¡°Good job, I¡¯ll take over from here,¡± Kakashi said with a nod before walking to the man and lifting his headband which he used to cover one of his eyes. As soon as the bandit leader gazed into Kakashi''s left eye, the Sharingan that he had been gifted from Obito Uchiha, he lost consciousness. Straightening himself up once more, Kakashi turned to Kazuo and Rin, his hand moving at imperceptible speeds as it grabbed the short blade on Kakashi¡¯s back and used it to slice the man¡¯s head off. ¡°Nothing useful.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Kazuo replied before turning towards Rin. During the time that they spent capturing and interrogating the bandit, Nohara Rin had already set up camp. ¡°Who¡¯s taking the first watch?¡± Rin asked as she turned toward the two. ¡°I''ll take the first watch, Kazuo second and you last,¡± Kakashi replied to Rin. ¡®He¡¯s doing this so that Kakashi and I are in better condition whilst Rin¡¯s condition doesn¡¯t matter as much as she is a non-combatant.¡¯ Kazuo thought before nodding to the gray-haired ninja and heading into his tent. ¡®I would have done the same, just that I would have switched Kakashi¡¯s and my placement.¡¯ Kazuo thought to himself as he lay down and closed his eyes. Sleep was fast, something he had trained so as to be able to get sleep even in the most dire circumstances if he wanted to. Around two and a half hours later, Kazuo was woken up by Kakashi¡¯s voice. ¡°Wake up, it¡¯s your turn.¡± ¡°Alright, have a nice rest,¡± Kazuo replied as his eyes snapped open and he got up from the bed. Heading outside, Kazuo walked to the middle of the camp where a small stone stood and sat down. ¡®Status¡¯ Kazuo thought. [ Name: Kazuo ] [ Race: Human ] [ Age: 13 ] [ Affiliation: Hidden Leaf Village ] [ Rank: Elite Chunnin ] [ Strength: C+ ] [ Endurance: C+ ] [ Agility: B- ] [ Intelligence: B ] [ Charisma: B ] [ Chakra: C+ ] [ Skills ] [ Namikaze Taijutsu ] [ 9/10 ] [ Advanced Shurikenjutsu ] [ 6/10 ] [ Shadow Clone Jutsu ] [ 10/10 ] [ Summoning: Lightning Flash Blade Creation ] [ 10/10 ] [ Enhanced Water Bullet ] [ 10/10 ] [ Hiding like a mole Jutsu ] [ 10/10 ] [ Paper Clone ] [ 10/10 ] [ Paper Shuriken ] [ 10/10 ] [ Paper God Technique ] [ 10/10 ] [ Paper Illusion ] [ 7/10 ] [ Fire Style: Great Annihilation ] [ 4/10 ] [ Lighting Style: Great Lightning Ball ] [ 8/10 ] [ Lightning Style: Shock Wave ] [ 9/10 ] [ Earth Style: Iron Skin ] [ 5/10 ] [ Earth Style: Tremor Sense ] [ 8/10 ] [ Water Release: Water Formation Wall ] [ 7/10 ] [ Combination Jutsu: Enhanced Electric Water Bullet ] [ 8/10 ] His list of Jutsu had grown leagues compared to eight months ago, he had managed to almost completely learn all of the B-rank Jutsu that he had practically stolen. He had also further advanced his knowledge of the paper style, managing to even create his own jutsu. Paper Illusion. Chapter 79 Paper Illusion was a sealless jutsu that Kazuo had created on his own. By using hundreds of papers and setting up a large box of sorts with a single entrance, Kazuo could lure the enemy into it and thus change the entire appearance of the surroundings. This could be used to make an illusion that looked as if the enemy had just stepped into a large ravine or anything that Kazuo wanted. It would create a momentary distraction and loss of balance which Kazuo could use to gain the upper hand in combat. That however was only one of the uses of the jutsu, the principal was that Kazuo could use the paper jutsu to create a cover or an illusion on anything using the papers and since it was the papers that were changing and causing the illusion instead of injecting chakra into the opponents brain, it couldn¡¯t be released with a Kai. Even if the enemy found out that they were in an illusion and tried to release themselves from it, they would find that they were unable to, this would cause even further distress and give Kazuo an even larger upper hand in the fight. The Hours quickly passed and soon enough it was time for Kazuo to head back and get some more rest whilst Nohara Rin took her turn to stay on watch. Lying down on his bed, Kazuo fell asleep almost instantly. He knew that this was one of the chances that the enemy had to kidnap Rin, however he actually wished for such an outcome. ¡°Enemy Ambush!¡± A loud voice was heard, it was Rin¡¯s voice. Immediately both Kakashi Hatake and Kazuo jumped to their feet and headed out of their tents. Kakashi already had his short sword in his hand whilst Kazuo had two Kunai, one on each hand. Looking around they quickly realized the situation. Rin was being carried away on an enemy Shinobi¡¯s back whilst ten Shinobi were surrounding Kakashi and Kazuo. ¡°Damned,¡± Kakashi muttered before his sword was immediately covered in lightning, his headband already lifted and his Sharingan had flared to life as it spun in a clockwise rotation. *Zziing* In a split second, Kakashi had already arrived at the first Shinobi and had chopped the man¡¯s head off cleanly with a single slash of his sword.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Kazuo meanwhile used the body flicker and immediately appeared before his opponent. ¡°You bastard just die.¡± The man said as he gazed at Kazuo and lifted his sword up high before slashing downwards directly toward Kazuo¡¯s head. Lifting his right arm, Kazuo placed it in front of him whilst leaning his left side further towards the enemy. For a moment, the enemy was startled, was this guy really going to sacrifice his arm? However, it was already too late to turn the slash around and so he poured even more strength into it. *Klang* With the sound of metal hitting metal, so unlike the sound of a sword slashing flesh, the sword stopped right on top of Kazuo¡¯s arm. ¡®Earth style: Iron Skin¡¯ It was an Earth-style Jutsu that covered a specific part of the user''s body in chakra-enhanced earth, causing it to be impervious to most blows. The sword rebounded and the man slightly lost his balance, this was enough for Kazuo who had already been leaning toward the man, with a quick swipe of his sword, the man¡¯s jugular was cleanly cut. Without stopping for even a slight second, Kazuo used the body flicker once more and appeared behind his next opponent, leaving the man he had just fought on the ground and holding his cut neck, blood overflowing through his fingers as he tried to stop the bleeding however it was too late. *Thump* The next enemy didn¡¯t even sense Kazuo before he arrived behind him, Kazuo¡¯s speed was immense, and his body flicker was completely mastered, something only a small percentage of ninjas had ever managed to achieve. [ Body Flicker Jutsu ] [ 10/10 ] *Shclk* With a bloody sound of metal tearing flesh, the man''s spine was cleanly cut from his head. *Thump* ¡®Next¡¯ Kazuo thought as he disappeared once more and reappeared before his next opponent. This time he was against three enemy Shinobi who were staying back-to-back with each other so that they would be able to put up a better defense. ¡®Dumb¡¯ Kazuo thought as he immediately changed direction and headed toward another opponent who was alone and looking left and right, his expression clearly frightened as his arms holding a single Kunai shook from fear. *Schlk* He never even saw Kazuo before his left eye was pierced by a kunai, effectively piercing his brain and killing him instantly. Behind Kazuo, at the location of the three men grouped together, a loud explosion was heard. *Boom* At the start of the battle, just before heading outside, Kazuo had made a shadow clone and handed it around twenty explosion tags before sending it underground with the hiding like a mole jutsu. After seeing the group, Kazuo had slammed the ground four times on his foot, alerting the Shadow clone underground who was using tremor sense and telling him the location of his enemies. Looking at the spot behind him, all Kazuo saw were charred remains of what once were living Shinobi. Tearing his gaze away instantly, Kazuo gazed at the battlefield once more. There were no enemies left. Kazuo had killed six of them in quick succession whilst Kakashi had quickly finished the four others and immediately started chasing the ones that had kidnapped Nohara Rin. Using The body flicker, Kazuo quickly chased behind the young ninja. ¡°Kakashi stop.¡± Immediately at his words, Kakashi stopped his chase and turned to face Kazuo. ¡°It could be a trap and you know it. We will save Rin, but not like this.¡± Kazuo said as he looked at Kakashi who stood silent for a moment before releasing a sigh and nodding his head. ¡°Good, now let''s chase after them more slowly and carefully,¡± Kazuo said as he nodded toward Kakashi who quickly bit his finger and used his summoning jutsu. Chapter 80 "Good, lets chase after them slowly, we wouldn''t want to fall into a trap aswell, we would be saying goodbye to our''s and Rin''s life if that happened." Kazuo said towards Kakashi who nodded his head after a moment of thought and then lifted his hand to his mouth. Biting his thumb until the skin tore and a trickle of blood appeared, Kakashi quickly lowered his hand and quickly made a set of hand signs. ''Summoning Jutsu'' Kazuo thought as he saw Kakashi slam his hand onto the ground and a puff of smoke appeared an instant later. ''Damn unhygienic as hell.'' Kazuo thought as he saw what Kakashi had summoned. It was a small brown dog with a blue knoha headband tied around his neck. "Track this scent," Kakashi said as he immediately took out a piece of cloth from his ninja bag. He always kept a piece of cloth from all of his teammates in times like this, so that he could be prepared to track them down. The dog nodded its head and quickly took a few sniffs of the fabric before nodding its small head once more and turning towards the direction where Kazuo and Kakashi had seen the ninjas run. They wouldn''t have needed the dog for tracking earlier however if they were going to do this slowly then they could lose track of the enemies after a while as they would be too far ahead of them when running at much higher speeds. They couldn''t use Kakashi''s Sharingan either as it took way too much chakra and even if they did find the enemy faster that way, Kakashi would already be too spent to defeat them. Nodding his head at the pup, Kakashi quickly took it off the ground and put it on its shoulder where the dog quickly latched itself on his neck. "Let''s go. Every three minutes you use tremor sense Kazuo." Kakashi said as he immediately used the body flicker. Kazuo nodded his head and quickly followed behind him. Unlike before, the two of them were going at a much slower pace and checking their surroundings closely so that they could detect any traps that the enemy might have set. *Rustle* Hearing the rustle of a bush a dozen meters away, Kazuo quickly turned his attention and saw a large amount of kunai and shuriken heading towards them.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ''A trap'' Without using a single seal, Kazuo quickly channeled his chakra in a certain pattern. *Thrank* The kunai quickly hit his body however that was merely an illusion as with a puff of smoke, in place of Kazuo, a log of wood appeared. Looking at his previous location, Kazuo saw that Kakashi had followed his example and now was standing a few feet away from his previous location, having used a substitution as well. "Seems like you were right Kazuo, they did plan on kidnapping Rin from the start. Though I''m unsure why?" Kakashi said as he started running once more, Kazuo quickly following behind him. "I don''t have an Idea either, both my reputation and yours far surpass that of Rin, I can understand capturing you who had a Sharingan and are the son of the white fang as well as the greatest genius of the leaf but Nohara Rin?" Kazuo said before releasing a humming sound. "Unless they wanted to capture her so that they could lead us somewhere as I previously said, this feels quite like a trap set up for us." "That''s true however even if it''s a trap, I don''t plan on abandoning Rin," Kakashi replied, his voice harsh as he said his last words. "I don''t plan on it either, it''s just an observation of the situation we are in currently," Kazuo said as he continued following Kakashi''s lead. Minutes turned into hours as Kakashi and Kazuo continued following Rin''s kidnappers. Finally, as the new day was coming to a close in the evening hours, Kakashi and Kazuo found Rin once more. She was lying in an alar of sorts whilst around ten men were guarding her. "Just what is this?" Kakashi mumbled to himself before releasing a sigh. In an instant before he could fully release his breath, Kakashi disappeared from his location, appearing in the middle of the enemy group instantly. He had already made Kazuo confirm that there were no other enemies besides the ones guarding Rin. Having confirmed that fact, he was more than confident enough in dispatching this group. Kazuo who saw the scene in front of him had a slight grin on his face as he saw Kakashi rush in. ''Seem''s like they''ve already sealed the three tails inside her. They only left ten guards behind but even these guys are merely weak fakes who were abandoned by the mist. They are planning to let Rin go in the first place however they need to keep the plan hidden.'' Kazuo thought as he quickly analyzed all of the information that he had just gained as well as the information that he knew from the Anime in his past life. ''They however won''t let me and Kakashi leave alive, that was the reason that they were chasing after Kakashi and Rin after he saved her. They only plan on letting Rin return to the leaf village so that she can go out of control and then release the three tails in the middle of the hidden leaf, causing mass chaos to ensue.'' Kazuo thought before slightly shaking his head. ''Even that plan is merely there to hide the real one. After all the hidden mist is already under Madara''s control.'' ''The real reason is that whilst chasing behind Rin and Kakashi and causing them to feel like there is no way out for them, Rin sacrifices herself after learning this so-called hidden plan of the mist and right at that moment Obito sees her death, causing his eyes to evolve into the mangekyou sharingan.'' Kazuo thought before releasing a sigh. ''Well it''s time that I head into the battle as well, i have to keep up appearances here.'' Chapter 81 ''Well It''s time that i head into battle aswell isn''t it ? I have to keep up appearances after all.'' Kazuo thought before his figure vanished. He had already appeared in the middle of the battlefield, a kunai that he held in his hand was already through an enemy shinobis throat. The enemy hadn''t even seen it coming before he had felt his throat get filled with his own blood. *Thump* ''One down for the count'' Kazuo thought as a large grin spread over his face, causing the enemies who were about to rush towards him to stop for a brief moment. It was at this moment that Kazuo heard a bell-like sound ring in his head. [ Ding! ] [ A System Mission has been generated! ] [ Thwart Uchiha Madara''s plans. ] [ Reward: Bloodline Activation 5%, One small Grade Stat Upgrade. ] His eyes quickly wandered over the holographic panel in less than a second before concentrating on the enemy once more. ''What is this system doing? Is this a fucking joke? I''m a fucking Chunnin, a Chunnin god damned it.'' Kazuo thought before his brows furrowed even further. "Hey dickheads, Im in a really bad mood right now, so I''m going to take it out on you guys. Don''t resent me alright?" Kazuo loudly said before his figure vanished and appeared next to his next victim. Just like last time, the shinobi didn''t even have enough time to react before his left eye and brain were pierced by a kunai. "You bastard!" One of the mist shinobi screamed as they ran toward Kazuo, only to stop a split second later. "A clone?" One of the mist shinobi asked before lightly shaking his head and quickly rushing toward Kazuo and his ''clone'' that was standing next to the now dead mist shinobi strewed out on the ground. Immediately four shinobi were rushing toward Kauzo, two from the right and two from his left side. Both Kazuo''s quickly turned their backs to each other and rushed toward the incoming enemies. Their figures flickered as they changed positions quickly, instantly confusing and causing the enemies to slow down.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. "Aarghh!" With a loud battle scream, one of the mist shinobi used a body flicker of his own and appeared in front of the Kazuo on the right. His sword held up high before he swung it down with immense force. As the sword got close enough that Kazuo wouldn''t be able to escape, the mist shinobi''s face twisted as a large bloodthirsty grin appeared on it. ''I have you now you fucker!'' He thought before his sword cleanly passed through Kazuo''s body with no resistance at all. It had simply sliced the air after all. ''What? An illusion? Is this the clone then?'' The mist shinobi thought before he saw that the Illusion of Kazuo had yet to disappear and in fact was swinging his own kunai straight toward his face. ''It''s just an illusion.'' The shinobi thought preparing to use another body flicker and appear behind the real Kazuo. *Shlq* The kunai held by the ''illusion'' passed right through the shinobi''s forehead before appearing on the back of the enemy''s head. Blood spattered around in an instant as if the mist shinobi''s head had become a water fountain. The man hadn''t even had the time to think about what had hapened before the light in his eyes had died, his soul already leaving this world. The ''Illusion'' of Kazuo turned around and headed toward his next opponent. The battle was a massacre, no matter what the shinobi did, no matter what methods they used, they would all pass through Kazuo''s body as if he was just an illusion whilst his own strikes were as deadly as ever. *Thump* The final shinobi fell down onto the floor, his head cleanly sliced off and his leg which Kazuo had hit with a low kick bent completely backward. The Kazuo on the right disappeared just like an illusion as soon as the combat was over. ''Shisui''s use of the body flicker really was ingenious.'' Kazuo thought as he turned his gaze to look at how Kakashi was doing. ''He only had one opponent left huh?'' Kazuo thought before his left eyebrow scrunched up slightly. ''I had to die six times to complete this one damned battle but he manages to do it on his first damned try and without breaking a sweat at all.'' Kazuo thought. He had died six times during the battle, it had mostly been in cases where both he and his clones had been killed at the same time by an unexpected combination of water jutsu however at the end of the day he had still died. ''Even with all that training, I guess a genius like him is really on a completley different playing field.'' Kazuo thought before quickly using the body flicker and appearing next to Nohara Rin who was still laid out onto the altar. ''I have to thwart Madara''s plans? That''s easy.'' Kazuo thought whilst a light smile appeared on his face. *Fsh* Kakashi appeared next to him at this moment. "Kakashi, notify Minato to come here right away," Kazuo said as he kept looking at Nohara Rin. "What?" Kakashi asked, his tone clearly confused. Kazuo didn''t say anything in return, merely grabbing Rin''s shirt and lifting it up. On her belly, a large seal was inscribed that seemed to be so large that it coevered even her entire back. "She''s been made a jinchuriki or something of the sort. Call Minato right now, we don''t have time for bullshit." Kazuo said once more, his voice and eyes fierce as he gazed at Kakashi. "Right." Kakashi didn''t wait any longer before taking out the three-pronged kunai from his ninja bag and throwing it on the ground. *Sigh* Kazuo released an audible sigh before getting up from his crouched position next to Nohara Rin. "Get ready, We''re going to be fighting to the death right about now," Kazuo announced. At that very moment, Kakashi''s eyes widened, in the woods at the edges of the clearing. He saw it or rather ''them'', tens upon tens of mist anbu ready to tear him and Kazuo apart limb for limb. Chapter 82 Seeing the dozens of enemy shinobi around them, Kazuo felt the need to curse at the world around him and to whoever assigned this mission to Kakashi. ''It''s Hiruzen isn''t it, that fucking rat.'' Kazuo thought in annoyance before he released a slow deep sigh before taking a deep breath, his eyes focusing once more as he got ready for another hard battle. ''Madara might notify Obito faster and send him toward here, which means that we need to survive until either Obito arrives here or until Minato does.'' Kazuo thought as he spoke to Kakashi, and Rin who was now waking up. "Kakashi, protect Rin, you are better at that than I am," Kazuo said before Kakashi nodded his head. This wasn''t the time to have any arguments or disagreements. He had to trust in Kazuo''s ability. "Don''t ask how I can do this either alright?" Kazuo asked as he gave Kakashi a light smile. Raising his hands forward, Kazuo channeled his chakra. In a single second, hundreds of papers started flying out of his sleeves and swirling around the group. They quickly formed a box around the three of them before their color changed from white to the color of their surroundings, effectively turning them invisible. That was only on the outside however as Kazuo, Kakashi, and Rin could still clearly see the white papers. "I''ll be heading out, this jutsu makes you invisible from the outside, the box will start moving further away from here and will lead you to a safe enough location whilst you stay hidden from enemy eyes," Kazuo said as he arrived at the edge of the paper box. "Also Rin, don''t you dare sacrifice yourself, you are now a jinchuriki of the three tails and thus much more important than both I and Kakashi are to the hidden leaf village," Kazuo said before disappearing from the inside of the box. At that moment both Kakashi and Rin saw the box shrink significantly and start moving towards the east. "Come Rin," Kakashi said, his eyes still lingering on the spot where Kazuo had disappeared before taking Rin in his arms and quickly walking away, making sure to keep his chakra as hidden as he could, instructing Rin to do the same. Once outside of the box of paper that he had created, Kazuo could once more see the tens of shinobi around him, they had come much closer and were now in prime attacking range. "So the mist wants to go against the leaf? You fuckers aren''t even strong enough to protect yourself and you want to attack us? The greatest shinobi village in existence?" Kazuo said before releasing a scoff.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. "This tree rat." One of the enemies said before he quickly charged toward Kazuo. Similarly, another group of them rushed toward him. Altogether, seven shinobi were rushing toward Kazuo whilst one of the shinobi in the back quickly instructed the rest of them to start looking for Kakashi and Rin. "Sir, We can''t sense them." One of the shinobi said as he turned to who Kazuo presumed to be the commander. "There are more than a hundred chakra signatures all around us, finding which one they are is almost impossible, they are also all changing positions rapidly." The shinobi said causing the captain to release a tsking sound. "Kill that bastard as quickly as possible then we will start an extensive search." It was at this moment that the seven shinobi arrived at Kazuo, four of them were already swinging their short blades, effectively restricting all movement from Kazuo as attacks were coming toward him from all directions. Instead of showing a face of distress, Kazuo smiled as his body quickly lost its color and turned into hundreds of white papers. This was another use of the paper illusion. As it wasn''t a paper clone and had no combat power or sentience, it used only a sliver amount of chakra. "An illusion? Where is the real one?" One of the seven shinobi who had rushed forward asked as he quickly looked around. It was at this moment that the seven shinobi heard the sound of an explosion tag igniting. Hidden inside the hundreds of white papers that had been used to create the illusion of Kazuo''s body were around fifty explosion tags. *Boom* *Boom *Boom* As they weren''t ignited at the exact same time, they caused multiple explosion sounds. A moment later after the smoke was cleared, the mist ninja could only see seven charred bodies with no Kazuo in sight. "Quickly search." The captain said as he ordered the shinobi however those would also be the last words that he would ever speak out. Two hands appeared from underneath him, tearing through the earth as they grabbed his ankles and brought him down underneath the ground fully, not even leaving his head out. *Boom* The next second, another explosion occurred, launching a cloud of dust and bits of grass and the earth into the air. Meanwhile on the other side of the battlefield, perched atop a tree, Kazuo with a smile on his face was watching the situation unfold just as he had planned it. He had already died once so that he could reset the time and plant the hundreds of papers around the area so that he could confuse and effectively block the enemy''s chakra sensing. ''With the captain gone, all that is left is around sixty shinobi...'' Kazuo''s thoughts grew more and more grim as they progressed. *Sigh* ''Sometimes I think that it would have been better to have just died back then on my first patrol mission.'' Kazuo thought before his body flickered and he disappeared from his location, appearing right in the middle of a group of around twenty enemy shinobi. "Do you know what art is?" Kazuos''s voice resonated through the silent forest causing the attention of every mist shinobi to turn toward him. "Art is an explosion" *Booom* With an explosion that far outweighed the previous ones, the entire ground started shaking. Before the explosions even stopped, a figure appeared just outside of the cloud of dust. "And so is fire," Kazuo said as he plopped two military pills into his mouth and quickly gulped them down before his hands rapidly made hand seals. "Fire style: Great Fire Annihilation Jutsu" _____________________________________________________________________________ Here''s the chapter, I hope you guys enjoyed reading it. Stay Safe out there! Naruto Author Chapter 83 "Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation Jutsu" Kazuo muttered as he took a deep breath and exhaled an enormous amount of fire that seemed to engulf everything in front of him. Be it trees, shinobi, or the very ground they stood on. The fire engulfed everything. However merely six seconds later, Kazuo had to stop, his chakra reserves already drained. The papers that had been moving around to block the enemy''s chakra sensing fell down, as Kazuo had no more chakra to control them. Thankfully the two military pills that he had taken moments earlier started doing their work at this moment and Kazuo''s body started generating back its chakra at an incredible speed. ''This is dangerous, if I don''t use up all the chakra quickly then I''ll be dying from an overabundance of chakra and even if I do manage to release it all, my condition after will be horrendous.'' Kazuo thought as he made a tsking sound before quickly forming another set of hand seals. ''Time to really put this new jutsu of mine to work'' Kazuo thought as he quickly made a single-hand seal, making a shadow clone appear next to him. ''After this, my chakra reserves will be extremely low even with the military pills the regeneration will take a few minutes at least.'' Kazuo thought before quickly starting another set of hand seals. "Water style: Enhanced Water Bullet!" He gathered as much chakra as he could at the moment and created a water bullet jutsu that was far larger in size than all the previous ones he had done. His shadow clone meanwhile did another set of hand seals. "Lightning Style: Shock Wave" "Combination Jutsu: Enhanced Great Water Bullet Jutsu!" The Shadow Clone and Kazuo were completely in sync with each other, they were effectively the same person after all and this great synergy between them allowed for the creation of a combination jutsu on the fly. The Large Enhanced Water Bullet and the Shock Wave jutsu combined at the same time as they headed toward the front where flames were still ravaging. *Zzttt* With the sound of lightning that was coursing through the water bullet that moved at incredible speeds, the surroundings became a flash. *Booom* ''Water can also be used for an explosion.'' Kazuo thought as a large grin appeared on his face. "Is that it you mist nobodies?" Kazuo said aloud, his voice clearly being heard in the ongoing destruction around him.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Meanwhile, Kakashi and Rin who were already a distance away turned their heads. The continous explosions could be heard and even though neither was a chakra sensor they could still sense the large volume of chakra being used. Every ninja was a sensor however the difference was that some were capable of sensing much more minute chakra waves at a larger distance however when such a large amount of chakra was released even a normal shinobi would be able to feel it at a distance. Kazuo who was standing still and catching his breath, pain starting to engulf his entire body was still smiling as he thought. ''If only I had elite jonin chakra levels, I would have been able to do this without even wearing myself out.'' Kazuo thought as he saw the dust clouds disappear. Bodies were strewed on the floor however the number clearly showed that not every enemy had been caught. Tens of meters back stood three walls of water and two almost completely destroyed earth walls. ''So they managed to survive huh... I guess if Minato doesn''t show up, im dead.'' Kazuo thought before he saw the six mist shinobi who were still alive use body flicker and rush toward him. There were no words said, they only had one goal in mind. Killing Kazuo. A chuckle escaped from Kazuo''s mouth as he looked at the six ninjas making hand seals. ''Do they think that I would be so dumb as to just spam jutsu?'' Kazuo thought as the six small concentrated balls of water headed toward him. He had no time nor strength to dodge. *Sclqh* With the sound of tearing flesh, all six balls pierced through Kazuo''s body, leaving bloody gaping holes behind. "Finally, this fucker''s dead." One of the anbu said as he released a sigh of relief. They were all releasing harsh breaths, they had barely managed to survive the onslaught of jutsu that seemed to never end. "Yeah, he''s finally..." Before the man could even finish his words, a voice was heard behind him. "Dead?" It was Kazuo, he had appeared right behind the group of mist shinobi who hadn''t been able to notice anything as they had already let their guards down. The body of Kazuo littered with holes in front of them lost its color once more before it quickly dissolved into hundreds of drenched white sheets of paper. "Wha..." Before the man could even fully turn his head, his heart was pierced by a kunai. ''One down, five left.'' Kazuo thought as a large smile appeared on his face before he quickly used the last of his chakra to use a sealess body flicker and back away from the remaining five mist shinobi. "It''s your turn, old man," Kazuo said with a large smile. *Zzzttt* With the sound of electricity, Kakashi Hatake appeared on the battlefield, his right hand coated in a large amount of lightning chakra whilst he held a white short sword in his left hand. Kazuo had died once during the barrage of the six mist ninjas, and he had used that to change his plans. He had told Kakashi to come back to the battlefield at a very specific time. That was just when he was pierced by the shinobi with water bullets. The second change he had made was to conserve his chakra slightly during every single jutsu, allowing him to release two more jutsu which used a meager amount of chakra. The Paper Clone as well as the Body Flicker Jutsu. Kakashi''s figure vanished from view for a moment before appearing in the middle of the five mist ninja. They were already exhausted and most of their chakra had been drained by trying to block the barrage of jutsu and explosions that Kazuo had launched on them. It didn''t take more than a split second for all five of their heads to get sliced off from their bodies. *Thump* *Thump* *Thump* *Thump* *Thump* Kakashi stood in the middle of the five headless bodies, the lightning chakra in his right hand quickly dissipating. It was at this moment that three figures appeared on the small battlefield. One was a yellow-haired man wearing a Jonin vest. The other was a young girl with brown hair and two purple strips going down from their eyes almost to her chin. And finally, the last one was a man covered in a white swirly suit. "Are you two ever not going to be late? Obito, Minato Sensei." Kazuo uttered as his vision started darkening. Chapter 84 "Are you two ever not going to be late? Obito, Minato Sensei." Kazuo uttered as his vision started darkening. Darkness quickly overtook his vision and in mere seconds Kazuo was unconscious and down for the count. Minato, who was on the other side of the clearing, immediately used a body flicker and arrived next to Kazuo, with Kakashi arriving moments later. Rin meanwhile took a few seconds longer, her speed clearly much lower than both Minato''s and Kakashi''s. Meanwhile, the man covered in a white suit with swirls that converged towards his right eye simply stood still for a brief moment before he immediately used body flicker to come closer to the group. Minato however had maintained vigilance and immediately turned his full attention towards him. "Who are you?" Minato asked his voice as cold as ice and his gaze as sharp as a sword. The man stopped for a moment almost stumbling down before he voiced out. "It''s me Minato Sensei. Obito!" Obito voiced, joy could clearly be heard through the tone of his voice. "Hey, get off of me," Obito said however at that moment he found that the suit that had protected him and enhanced his strength. Or rather than a suit, it would better be called zetsu, it had restricted all of his movement. "Hey, let me go, what are you doing!" Obito loudly asked however he couldn''t move at all. "Obito? You''re alive!" Rin screamed as she started running toward her former teammate whom she had thought had already died. "Hehe, guess we will have to follow plan B." An eerie voice said. It was the zetsu that was covering Obito''s entire body. By this time, Minato had dropped his guard significantly and Rin was already getting close to Obito. It was at this point that something clicked in Obito''s mind. "No Rin! Don''t come!!" He screamed however it was much too late. His scream immediately alerted Minato and Kakashi and even Rin stopped for a moment but the distance was close enough that none of them could stop what was coming. Obito''s body was forcefully controlled and in a split second he arrived in front of the young brown-haired girl, his fist cocked back quickly before it was launched toward Rin''s abdomen. For a moment there was silence as Obito''s Zetsu-covered fist pierced through Rin''s abdomen, going straight through and appearing on the other side. *Cough* Releasing a cough, Rin''s eyes teared up as blood was spewed out of her mouth. "Obito" She managed to utter before the fist was taken back through her body, causing her to fall down onto the ground. "No, No, No, what did you do, No!!" Obito screamed, his lungs and throat burning, tears rushing down his cheeks however no matter how much he tried, he couldn''t regain control. It was at this exact moment that his right eye together with Kakashi''s left eye which had once been Obito''s started to swirl at immense speeds. The comma of the Sharingan started to come closer and closer until they finally converged and formed a completely new pattern. The change caused immense pain to course through Kakashi''s head as well as a chakra drain so large that he immediately went unconscious. Obito meanwhile felt a rush of information go through his head. It was only a split moment later when Obito phased through the Zetsu suit. Finally revealed himself to now the only onlooker who wasn''t either dead or unconscious. "Obito!" Minato practically screamed as he rushed toward his former student, his immense speed made it so he could appear next to him in less than a second before he launched a chakra-enhanced kick toward the white Zetsu, launching it tens of meters away and crashing into a tree.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Minato''s facial expression seemed conflicted, however, his gaze was fixed on the white Zetsu, not daring to let the enemy do anything else however it seemed that the white Zetsu had no plans to continue staying around as it immediately started phasing into the ground before it completely disappeared from view. Even though Minato''s chakra sensing was extremely advanced, he could no longer sense even a sliver of the white suit. Turning his attention a moment later toward Obito who was on the ground, Minato opened his mouth to say something. Anything really however he was interrupted as a loud scream of sorrow erupted out of Obito''s mouth. The amount of pain, sorrow, and hatred that could be felt in the scream was almost overwhelming. "Obito, come on, we can''t stay here, grab Rin. I''ll send us back to the leaf." Minato said before his gaze sharpened. ''That chakra, It''s a tailed beast. Did the mist seal a tailed beast inside of Rin? For what reason?'' Minato thought as he sensed the chakra inside Rin''s stomach start to disappear from her body, vanishing into thin air. After all, with the death of its Jinchuriki, a Tailed beast would similarly enter a state of pseudo-death for a few years before it regained its physical form once more. Releasing a soft sigh, Minato walked to Kazuo and Kakashi, grabbing each with one arm before turning and walking back to Obito. The young boy was no longer screaming, instead, his eyes were completely unfocused, bloody stains going from his right eye all the way down to his chin. "Come on Obito, we have to bring her back to the leaf. At least there she can find a resting place." Minato said as he placed his hand on Obito''s shoulder. For a moment, the young teen said nothing before he turned his head toward his former sensei. "Why didn''t you stop me?" His voice was hollow, no emotions could be felt at all. "I''m sorry Obito, I... It was my fault." Minato said as his expression scrunched up slightly however he couldn''t break down. He was a shinobi and so he had to endure. He had to endure for his students, he had to endure for the village, he had to endure as he was a shinobi. ''Endure so that the next generation can prosper they said.'' Minato thought as he released another soft sigh before saying. "Come Obito. We can''t stay here, new enemies might appear again. I can''t fight them whilst also protecting these two and Rin''s body." "Right, let''s go," Obtio said as he gave a shallow nod, his voice just as emotionless as before. He lowered his hand to grab his former love only to find his hand passing right through her body. His arm shook for a brief moment before he tried once more. This time he managed to touch the physical world and hoist Rin''s body up with both his hands. Minato stood silent before placing Kakashi on his right shoulder and freeing one of his hands so that he could make a hand seal. "Place ur hand on me." Obito didn''t show any reaction besides placing his left hand on Minato''s arm. A handseal later, the four of them together with the Rin''s dead body which was already losing its heat disappeared from view. Appearing hundreds of kilometers away, inside a simple house in the hidden leaf village. The location change didn''t seem to disorient Obito at all as he simply turned to walk toward the living room with Rin in his arms. It was at this moment that a voice was heard. "Obito?" It was a young woman with red hair that fell down almost to her waist. Her eyes were a clear purple that was quickly clouding up as tears welled up in her eyes. Obito stopped for a brief moment as he raised his head, his right eye a blazing sharingan in the form of a unique shuriken of sorts focused on the person before him for a brief moment before tears once more clouded his vision. "She''s dead." He said as he lowered his gaze to look at Rin who he was still holding tightly in his arms. For a moment Kushina said no words before her eyes widened as she quickly rushed toward Obito and forcefully grabbed Rin''s body from his arms and placed her on the floor. Her purple eyes changed color in an instant as she was engulfed by a red bubbly aura. "Maybe just maybe!" Kushina screamed as she let the red bubbly aura engulf Rin''s body. Minato who had already placed Kakashi and Kazuo on the couches in the living room appeared right next to Kushina before placing his hand on her shoulder. "Stop Kushina, she''s dead." "No, Minato, if it was recent then maybe!" Kushina said, her voice loud and obviously angry as tears started streaming down her eyes. "She''s dead, she was made into a jinchuriki. If that hadn''t been the case then maybe however the tailed beast has already dispersed." Kushina however seemed to not hear what he was saying, no she did hear what Minato had said however she refused to believe it. "Then I can just give her a part of my chakra," Kushina said as she started infusing even more of the red bubbly chakra into the young girl''s body. Obtio meanwhile had lowered himself and stood crouched as he saw Kushina continue to inject the nine tails chakra into Rin. ''Please, please work.'' Obito thought before his eyes widened. The gaping wound in Rin''s abdomen was starting to mend itself. At first, the process was slow, extremely so however in less than a minute it had gained such speed that it had become visible to the eye. "Minato, seal a part of the chakra." Kushina practically screamed as she ordered Minato who had already gotten to work even without her telling him to do so. "Please!" Obito murmured as he watched the duo. It took another three minutes before the gaping wound was completely gone, Rin''s body now looked perfectly fine. "Don''t pour more chakra, it would only hurt her chances from now," Minato said, causing Kushina to quickly back away. The red bubbly chakra that was covering her quickly disappeared back inside her body a moment later. It was also at this moment that they finally saw it. Rin. Rin was breathing. _____________________________________________________________________________ A chapter about twice the size of the usual ones. I tried to write an emotional scenario though I probably did quite badly, sorry about that but I couldn''t find a way to not write it as an emotional one considering what was happening on the scene. I definitely need to read more romance / emotional novels, if you have any suggestions please do leave a comment. As always, Lots of Love, and Stay Safe! Naruto Author Chapter 85 It was at that moment that they all saw it. Obito, Minato, and Kushina saw Rin''s chest rise up as she took a breath. She was alive, she was alive once more. She was breathing. For a brief moment, silence engulfed the entirety of the room before Obtio practically dropped himself over Rin, his eyes covered in abundand tears as he almost screamed in happiness and relief. *Sigh* Minato released a deep sigh of relief as he felt the muscles in his body weaken. Kushina felt the same as she used Minato''s body so that she could stand. "It''s not over, we need to actually get her to the hospital, as well as those two," Minato said as he gave Obito and Kushina a nod before motioning toward Kakashi and Kazuo who were laid out on the two beds in the living room. "Right, let''s go," Kushina said immediately as she tried walking only for her legs to give up on her. Thankfully Minato was quick enough to save her from faceplanting on the ground. "Thanks, seems like I''ll have to stay behind," Kushina said with a shallow grin on her face, it was clear that she was only using it to cover up the immense stress that she had and still was feeling. "It''s alright Kushina, I''ll come get you as soon as I send these guys off first," Minato said as he helped her walk to a stool before turning around and motioning to Kakashi and Kazuo with his head. "Help me get those two Obito, I''ll carry Rin," Minato said as he walked to Rin and lifted her in what looked like a princess carry. "Ok, Sensei!" Obito replied, his voice much lighter than before, in fact, it was so different that Minato almost thought it was a completely different person. Obtio went to Kakashi and Kazuo and lifted each of them with one hand. With both of them merely being twelve and thirteen respectively, they were both quite light, and even Obito with his body still in a bad shape could carry them. Walking to Minato, Obito simply touched his shoulder with his sensei''s and in the next second, without any hand seals, Minato Namikaze teleported the entire group into the Konoha''s Ninja Hospital.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. The Ninja and Civilian Hospitals were completely different buildings, and they were also completely different in how they handled the injured. Whilst the Shinobi Hospital used medical ninjutsu and advanced medical techniques, the normal civilian hospital still used what could only be called primitive technology in comparison to the ninja side. They also didn''t have access to any medical ninja so they couldn''t use chakra in the treatment of their patients. Unless the civilian was willing to issue a mission request to the hidden leaf village then they wouldn''t be able to be treated by a medical ninja of the leaf. Inside the ninja hospital, Minato appeared abruptly with Rin in his arms and Obito who was next to him and carrying both Kazuo and Kakashi. Immediately as soon as he appeared, every shinobi around turned their heads to look at the new presence, their hands already inching closer to their weapons. "The yellow flash!" "He''s just as fast as the rumors" "I didn''t even sense him before he arrived!" Different voices immediately rang out as they stared at the rumored genius of the leaf who had gained the title of the fastest shinobi in the entire elemental nations. Minato didn''t spare these shinobi even a glance, though he would have in normal circumstances. These were far from normal circumstances, however. Directly walking to the hospital reception, Minato ordered instantly. His words weren''t a request, they were an order. "Three injured, one needs a check-up," Minato said causing the young ninja behind the reception desk to nod her head instantly. Merely moments later, the medical staff took Rin, Kakashi, and Kazuo out of Minato''s and Obito''s hands. "You can come with me, I''ll give you a medical check-up." A tall old man wearing a completely white suit said to Obito. Obito merely nodded his head before walking away. "I''ll see you later when im done Minato Sensei!" "Sure, see you later Obito," Minato replied, his expression which had been stone cold since he had entered the hospital finally easing up once more. Minato disappeared from view once more. However he didn''t teleport back to get Kushina as he had promised, he had a different agenda on his mind. Appearing in front of a pair of tall gates that lead into a large clan compound, Minato immediately started walking toward the inside. There was a symbol drawn on both of the large gates. It looked like a red and white fan. The Uchiha Clan. No one stopped Minato, merely looking at him as he walked through the compound at a quick pace. Teleporting directly to his destination wasn''t a choice as it could be seen as a provocative move against one of if not the largest and most powerful clans in the Hidden Leaf Village. No longer than a minute after Minato had started walking, he arrived at his destination. In front of him stood a large traditional-looking house, clearly a cut above from the houses that he had seen since he had entered the Uchiha Clan grounds. It was at this moment that the front door opened, revealing a tall man with shaggy brown hair and eyes black as ink. He looked to be around his late twenties to his early thirties. "What brings you here Minato?" Fugaku, the patriarch of the Uchiha Clan asked as he gave a nod in greeting. "Not even inviting me in, Fugaku?" Minato said as a slight smirk appeared on his face, his tone clearly showing that he had a close relationship with the man. Close enough that he could joke with him. "You could have just teleported inside however you didn''t," Fugaku replied, his brows furrowing up slightly. "Right, either way, I need you to come with me. Obito Uchiha has been found and has returned to the village." "What!?" Chapter 86 "What!" Fugaku''s voice pierced through the surrounding calmness immideatly as his eyes widened, his gaze almost turning fierce as he looked at Minato. However, he knew that someone like Minato would never joke about this situation. "Kakashi and Kazuo found him during their last mission." Minato said and didnt explain any further as he put his hand on Fugaku''s shoulder. A split second later, the two of them dissapeared from view and reappered hundreds of meters away inside of the Konoha Ninja Hospital. It was at this moment that they saw the person they had just been talking about getting discharged by the medical staff. "Obito Uchiha," Fugaku said, his voice slightly raised, causing Obito to turn around and stare at who had just called him. His only remaining eye immediately focused on Fugaku Uchiha, his clan patriarch. "Hello, Patriarch." Obito was usually a happy go lucky ninja, someone who didn''t have a drop of seriousness in his blood however even he knew that respect should be showed to the patriarch of his clan. Immediately Obito walked closer before giving Fugaku a full ninety-degree bow. Fugaku remained stoic however his fierce eyes clearly showed warmth, his voice however was just as cold as always. ''Always with the tough love.'' Minato thought to himself as his lips slightly twitched upwards. "Rasie your head, you will come later to explain everything to me, for now you can go and rest. Your house wasn''t touched, we left everything as is." Fugaku said causing Obito to immideatly raise his head and straighten his posture before giving a nod and starting to walk out of the medical ward. "I''ll also need you later for a report to lord hokage however you can rest for the day." Minato said toward Obito who gave another nod before leaving the hospital. "I''m sure that isn''t the only reason you called me for Minato, what do you need from me?" Fugaku asked with a voice that was borderline a whisper however Minato heard it clear as day. "I might need your help later with another student of mine, Nohara Rin to be precise, she could now be called a pseudo jinchuriki of the nine tails and could go berserk at any point before i fully reinforce her seal, when i do so, I''ll need your ocular powers to help control it better so that the chances of a problem occuring get lowered." Minato replied. Fugaku had questions, however now wasn''t the time nor place to be asking them and so he merely gave a nod of his head before turning to head out of the hospital.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "I''ll help. Come together with Obito tomorrow." "Sure will do," Minato replied, as his eyes trailed on Fugaku before he disappeared from view. *Sigh* "All of them are troublemakers." Minato thought as his mind went to his four students. One had disappeared for months and had been considered a dead man only for them to appear with a mangekyou and then get controlled to kill his teammate. The other was just as bad, a genius beyond any other who had become a Jonin at age twelve and then went on to get severe trauma from his ''dead'' teammate and close himself in so that almost nobody could get near him. The third had been the most normal until today when she became the pseudo jinchuriki of the nine tails and now was at risk of going berserk. and finally the last one, on paper he was the best student Minato had ever had, he was social aswell as a genius, someone who learned everything as if he was a sponge and knowledge was water. On the surface that is, Minato knew that a normal guy wouldn''t have gained Danzo''s attention so easily and even Lord Hokage had told Minato to observe him carefully. Minato had clearly seen it, the way Kazuo mastered techniques was weird to say the least, it almost looked to Minato as if Kazuo had mastered the techniques beforehand and then tried to act as if he didnt know them and was learning them at a slower pace. And so he had Kazuo learn techniques that only he himself knew, such as his own taijutsu style but that acting of his didn''t change. ''A prodigy beyond even Kakashi, however, he fakes it and lowers himself so that he can appear more normal.'' Minato thought before releasing another long-winded sigh. It was at this moment that one of the nurses called him. "Sir, we have completed the check up on all of them. None of them are in any serious danger besides Chunnin Kazuo who appears to have gone through severe chakra withdrawel, however that has been dealt with and he is now concious and the danger has been avoided. Would you like to see them?" The nurse asked, causing Minato to immideatly give a nod as he started following her through one of the numerous halls of the ninja hospital. The buildings indides resembled a white maze, there was no color anywhere to be seen and the hallways were clearly made to confuse anyone who didnt have an exact map of the place. Around two minutes of walking later, the nurse and Minato arrived before a white door, entering inside Minato saw three beds with his three students. On the left side, the one closest to the door was Kakashi who had a book in his hand. It was a book called Icha Icha Paradise. ''Kakashi is reading master Jirayas book?'' Minato thought, his mind completley befuddled before his gaze went to the next bed. Nohara Rin was laid on the bed and was eating an apple however the scene which should have been normal was clearly not. Her teeth had been elongiated and looked like that of a feral beast whilst her eyes had the same brown color as before, her black pupil had become feline-like. And finally the boy on the last bed... "Yo Minato Senpai, were you worried about me? I knew you loved me Minato Senpai!!" And his good mood disappeared just like that. _____________________________________________________________________________ Hello! How''s everybody doing?, I hope everyone''s doing well. Here''s the chapter. So the first major changes of the plot are here, Nohara Rin is now techniclly a jinchuriki atleast close to one though she''s more like the Cloud brothers. Kinkaku and Ginkaku. Kakashi has discovered a new book. Obito has become much more jaded however he has still remained a part of his child-like nature and ofc the major change is that he''s still a part of the leaf. And of course Kazuo, our precious and totally innocent Minato fanboy. Lots of Love Chapter 87 Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Chapter 88 Minato''s gaze turned toward Obito Uchiha. A student who he had already thought to be dead. "Well then Obito, whilst I can keep Kazuo''s kekke genkai a secret, everything that you are about to tell me will be reported to the Hokage as well as Fugaku, your clan leader," Minato said as he motioned with his head for Obito to start. Obito gave a slight nod in understanding before he released a long-winded sigh. "I don''t mind Minato sensei." Obito first said before taking another deep breath and continuing. "When I was crushed by the boulder, I lost consciousness and when I woke up, I was inside of a completely sealed cave," Obito said, it was as he tried to say the next words that his chest thumped with unimaginable pain. It was as if his heart was being torn apart as if someone had directly clutched his blood-pumping organ and was squeezing it. *Cough* *Cough* Obito almost fell down however Kakashi quickly grabbed him by the shoulders and held him in place. "What''s wrong?" Minato questioned immediately however before he could get up to help, Obito raised a hand, his condition already stabilizing. Once he straightened himself back up, Obito had a twitching smile on his face, though it resembled a smile, it was clear that it was a sarcastic one at best. "Seems like the man who saved me has placed some precautions to stop me from saying anything Minato sensei." For a moment, Minato didn''t reply, only giving a nod of his head a brief moment later. "I guess you will have to go through a yamanaka examination then. If that doesn''t work then I''ll try to find a way to remove whatever has been done to you." Minato replied before a thought went through his head. "What did you feel just now?" Obito pointed to the left side of his chest. "It felt like my heart was being squeezed." ''Heart being squeezed? That doesn''t seem like genjutsu, it feels more like a seal.'' Minato thought quickly before getting up from his seating position and walking to Obito. "Lay down and remove your jacket." Minato practically ordered.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Obito followed the order without a second thought as he quickly laid down on the couch and removed the jacket, revealing his chest which was clearly different from a normal person''s. The main difference is the strange two-colored skin. "It''s quite miraculous how they were able to heal you up and even regenerate your lost limbs. What did the medical ninja say about it?" Minato questioned, even though he was not privy to everything about his students. "Nothing, the part that has been replaced looked completely normal, the medical ninja didn''t even notice any difference and so they didn''t do any extensive checks on it," Obito replied causing Minato to release a hum in thought. Minato placed his left hand on Obito''s chest before releasing a small wave of chakra that went through Obito''s entire body. A moment later, he said. "There''s a seal placed on your heart." "A seal on my heart?" Obito immediately raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Isn''t that dangerous? No should we even send him to the Yamanaka sensei? They could trigger the seal and cause Obito''s death." Kazuo interjected at this moment. Rin, Kakashi, and Kushina who heard Kazuo''s words that voiced out their own thoughts immediately changed their expression to a grimacing one. They knew that Obito had to go through a Yamanaka examination, whether they liked it or not. It would have been possible to not do it if Minato were the Hokage however he wasn''t yet. "Can you remove it Minato?" Kushina asked, her voice low. Minato shook his head. "Maybe you could Kushina however even then we would need to have an expert medical ninja on hand so that we could safely open up his chest, and the only one capable enough would be Lady Tsunade however she has already left the village" Minato replied before handing Obito his jacked back. "All right, at this moment all that we can hope for is that the Yamanaka examination doesn''t trigger the seal however I''ll also try and see if Lord Hokage can make an exception," Minato said before sitting back down onto the couch opposite of Obito. His eyes turned toward Rin, the last person who he was planning to talk to. "I''ll give you the same option as I did to Obito, Rin. You can choose to not have the others around when we talk about the changes that are occurring to you." Minato asked as he looked at Rin. "I don''t mind sensei," Rin answered. "It''s not like it''s a secret either way," Kazuo said, barely holding back a scoff. "Not a secret?" Kushina turned at his words. "I mean with all due respect Minato sensei, Kushina-san, I''ve fought a jinchuriki before and he showed quite a lot of similarities with what Rin is going through right now as well as the fact that I already saw the large seal on Rin''s body when we rescued her. However considering that she doesn''t have a seal on her body right now, I''d guess that either the previous tailed beast was removed from her body which would lead to certain death, or that the seal has been further repaired by you two." Kazuo said before taking a moment to gather his breath. "If it is the first option, then she entered a state of pseudo-death and was then revived with medical ninjutsu and was implanted with the chakra of another tailed beast, which leaves only the nine tails. The nine tails can only be sealed into Uzumaki and Kushina-san is an Uzumaki. This would also explain the physical changes that she has gone through which normal jinchuriki don''t go through without releasing the tailed beast''s chakra." Kazuo said before stopping for a moment and raising his eyebrow as he looked at the group before him. "Am I right?" A slight smile had unknowingly appeared on his expression. Kushina, Kakashi, Obito, and Rin looked flabbergasted as they practically had their mouths hanging whilst Minato''s eyes were clearly widened as he looked at Kazuo. Chapter 89 It didn¡¯t take long for the group to gather their wits again. Minato nodded his head slowly, and a twitching smile appeared on his face. ¡°Seems like I underestimate you Kazuo. I guess being chosen as an assistant of a Nara really wasn¡¯t an accident.¡± Minato said before releasing a soft sigh. ¡°You mean, that Rin is now a jinchuriki of the nine tails?¡± Kakashi took this moment to ask as he turned to face Minato. It was Kushina however that responded to his question. ¡°No, she¡¯s more like a chakra battery. She doesn¡¯t have any of the nine tails consciousness and only some remnant of its chakra however if the sealing isn''t reinforced soon then that could change.¡± ¡°That could change?¡± Obito questioned as he raised an eyebrow. ¡°That''s right, the chakra could develop the nine-tails consciousness if it becomes more and more integrated with Rin¡¯s body. After that happens then that chakra will be able to regenerate and thus Rin herself would become a sort of tailed beast instead of the vessel of one. Now there are two options that we can take though one of them is rapidly fading away.¡± Minato responded as he pointed toward Rin. Kazuo released a hum as he nodded his head slowly. ¡°The process of fusion between the two different chakras has already progressed quite a bit if we look at the fact that Rin has already produced physical changes.¡± ¡°That''s right, in fact, we might already be too late, so sealing the chakra away completely might already not be an option for us.¡± ¡°Then what¡¯s the second option sensei?¡± Rin questioned as she brought her hands together, it was clear how stressed the young kunoichi was from how much her hands were shaking. ¡°It¡¯s to create an entirely new seal that seals the remaining portion of the unfused nine-tailed chakra and then allows for it to slowly be integrated into your chakra system. This will likely cause quite a lot of side effects, however.¡± Silence engulfed the room once more at Minato¡¯s words. ¡®This is useful, I guess you really weren¡¯t useless after all Rin-chan.¡¯ Kazuo thought as his mind quickly went back to his plan of devouring the nine-tailed flesh during the nine-tailed rampage on the leaf.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°The side effects would probably be that she won¡¯t be able to control her chakra as effectively anymore and would be prone to increased emotional reactions and going on rampages?¡± Kazuo questioned as he rubbed his chin with his left hand. ¡°That''s right, It would essentially make it so that Rin would have to start training her chakra control and jutsu that she has currently mastered from the start once again.¡± ¡®Would that affect the jutsu that I gained from the system? Probably not, but that would mean that I would lose all the other jutsu that I learned myself including the paper jutsu that I created on my own. And then it''s likely that that jutsu would be much harder to master or learn again as well considering the volatile nature of tailed beast chakra.¡¯ Kazuo thought as he quickly analyzed the possible repercussions of fusing tailed beast chakra into your own chakra system. Minato stood silent for a moment as he gathered his thoughts. ¡°It however is the only option we have right now. But I''ll tell you all of the possible side effects that I can think of first Rin.¡± Rin gave a shallow nod of her head, cold sweat had already covered her back however her eyes showed a fierce determination. ¡°Loss of chakra control and all jutsu mastered until now. Loss of reproduction abilities though we would have to do medical exams to confirm it. A possible significant reduction is emotional control and finally, your body itself will likely change, this could range from small physical changes like your teeth turning into sharp fangs and your eyes resembling those of a fox¡¯s, all the way up to your bone structure or even growing a fox tail in extreme cases. Those are all of the possible side effects that I can think of.¡± Minato said before taking a deep breath. ¡®That''s quite a lot, and though the side effect of growing fox limbs or appendages doesn¡¯t seem that bad at first it¡¯s actually one of the worst ones, it would completely change your body¡¯s balance and center of mass which will cause even the loss of your taijutsu, shuriken jutsu, and bukijutsu skills.¡¯ Kazuo thought before releasing an inward sigh. The more he thought about it, the more he hated the fact that he hadn¡¯t been simply transmigrated into the body of a Uzumaki or even Uzumaki Naruto¡¯s body. ¡°I see, well we don¡¯t really have any other options Minato sensei, and even if all of those effects turn into a reality, I won¡¯t give up, let''s do this,¡± Rin said as she gave a small nod, her expression showing a twitching smile that clearly carried hidden sadness however it was all overshadowed by her overwhelming determination. ¡®Someone who was under Minato Namikaze¡¯s tutelage and then went ahead and sacrificed themself for the village without a second thought really isn¡¯t normal. Anyone would choose this option since it''s their only way to live however to show such determination in the face of what could be career-ending side effects isn¡¯t something anyone can do. I guess I underestimated you Nohara Rin, you are more useful than Sakura after all.¡¯ Kazuo thought as he showed a soft smile on his expression. ¡°That¡¯s the way Rin-chan, you don¡¯t have to worry about anything, Kakashi, Obito and I will be around to help you throughout everything,¡± Kazuo said as his soft smile turned into a cheesy one as he got closer to the young girl and gave her a side hug. His face then turned toward Obito Uchiha. For a moment Obito didn¡¯t react and in the next moment, he quickly came closer and gave Rin a hug himself. Chapter 90 ¡®Good, I need your emotional attachment with Rin to not deteriorate, It''s a valuable weakness.¡¯ Kazuo thought as he parted ways with the young girl and sat back down on the couch. Kakashi meanwhile remained seated though he had shifted his position closer to the young girl. Minato and Kushina meanwhile merely showed soft smiles as they looked at the group of young ninjas. After Obito and Rin parted, Minato released a soft humming sound before speaking up. ¡°All right well then Kushina and I will start constructing the seal as soon as possible, we were actually already designing a seal similar to this one so It won''t take long at all as all we have to do is change some small parts of the seal. It should be reworked in less than ten hours. You should stay here Rin so that we can do the sealing process immediately after.¡± ¡°All right Sensei,¡± Rin replied, her voice much more enthusiastic compared to a few moments ago. Minato then turned toward option and without a single handseal, he created a shadow clone. ¡°You go with the shadow clone to the Hokage first and then to the Uchiha clan grounds all right Obito?¡± ¡°Yes, Sensei!¡± With those words and a nod from Obito, the shadow clone and he vanished in a flash as they teleported away using the flying Raijin jutsu. ¡°Well, then I guess I should be heading off as well now. You coming with me for some ramen Kakashi?¡± Kazuo questioned as he rose from the couch. ¡°No, I¡¯ll be staying here with Rin,¡± Kakashi replied with a soft shake of his head. ¡°The Hyuga Clan¡¯s Branch Patriarch told me that he wishes to meet you Kazuo,¡± Minato said as Kazuo started heading away. Kazuo turned his head in confusion before he quickly remembered. ¡°Ah, yes I was expecting it though not this soon.¡± ¡°You¡¯re planning on forming a connection with the Hyuga?¡± Minato questioned though it was clear that he wasn¡¯t ordering for an answer. Kazuo gave a soft nod. ¡°As you know, I¡¯m not into that great of a position inside the village right now Minato sensei, you should already be aware that the Root isn''t on the best of terms with me and whilst you can serve as a shield for me, that burden will only grow bigger until Danzo himself decides to take matters into his own hands. By having the Hyuga backing me then It should be easier both on me and you senpai.¡± Kazuo replied.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°All right, if you face anything problematic, however, just tell me and I¡¯ll do my best Kazuo,¡± Minato replied with a serious tone before turning around and heading toward his office in another room of the house. ¡®His trust has already grown enough, and with me having shown my kekke genkai, it has practically solidified already.¡¯ Kazuo thought as his lips curled even further upwards. ¡®Good, It¡¯s all starting to fall in place.¡¯ With those thoughts, Kazuo excited Minato¡¯s and Kushina¡¯s house and started heading towards his next destination. At first, he had thought of directly heading towards his home however with Minato informing him, he headed toward the Hyuga Branch Clan District. ¡®They Informed Minato about them planning to form a connection with me and as such they have declared that they don¡¯t actually want to make an enemy out of Minato by bringing me into their circle of influence and considering that Minato didn¡¯t stop me then that means he had a decent relationship with the Hyugas.¡¯ Kazuo thought as he nodded to his own analysis. Kazuo decided that he wouldn¡¯t be using body flicker this time around and walked through the village¡¯s streets in broad daylight. It seemed like his reputation had only grown and the villagers had started to recognize him pretty easily as they murmured and whispered with each other as they saw him. Kazuo however didn¡¯t shy away at all as his expression changed into a bright smile. Giving a large wave to whoever looked at him. It was only moments later that a small child ran to him, almost stumbling onto the ground as the small kid held something behind her back. ¡°Mister!¡± Kazuo stopped as he turned to face the small girl. Lowering himself, Kazuo placed a hand on her head and ruffled her hair slightly whilst showing what could only be called a holy smile. ¡°Hello there!¡± The sight seemed to radiate warmness and the surrounding villagers who had recognized Kazuo stopped what they were doing and looked at the duo. A war veteran who had fought for all of them and the village itself, crouching and smiling at the small child on the road. All of these combined together to only further raise Kazuo¡¯s reputation in their eyes. The small kid brought his hands forward, showing what she had been hiding. It was a couple of hand-picked dandelions. ¡°Are these for me?¡± The child obviously shy simply gave a nod of her head, her entire face already red. ¡°They¡¯re beautiful, thank you. I¡¯ll make sure to cherish them. Now go back to your daddy, he seems to be waiting for you.¡± Kazuo replied with a soft smile as he pointed to what looked like the child¡¯s father. ¡°Thank you for saving my dad.¡± The child muttered as she gave Kazuo a bright smile and then ran off back towards her father. ¡°It¡¯s my duty, seeing the smiles of children like you only reaffirms my will,¡± Kazuo said, his voice louder than what would be necessary though no one seemed to detect this as all the surrounding villagers heard him. Their faces changed to smiles almost immediately as they turned to continue the work they had left. Kazuo continued walking through the streets until he arrived at the Hyuga compound almost half an hour later. Looking at the large compound from the outside was truly a majestic sight. It showcased the real might of Konoha¡¯s strongest clan after the founding Uchiha and Senju Clans. At the front of the compound stood a large wooden gate that was made in what Kazuo could only think of as a traditional Japanese style. There were two guards wearing Konoha headbands at the front gate. ¡®Main branch members usually don''t wear their Konoha headbands on their head, they¡¯re most likely branch members hiding the cursed seal on their forehead.¡¯ Kazuo thought as he walked toward the two. ¡°Halt. What business do you have with the Hyuga Clan.¡± One of the guards almost shouted as he intercepted Kazuo. ¡°I was invited by the Branch Patriarch of the Hyuga Clan. If you could please inform him of my arrival. My name¡¯s Kazuo, a Chunnin under Namikaze Minato.¡± Kazuo announced. Chapter 91 ¡°I was invited by the Branch Patriarch of the Hyuga Clan if you could please inform him of my arrival. My name is Kazuo, a Chunin under Jonin Minato Namikaze.¡± The Hyuga guard didn¡¯t change his stoic expression and merely gave a nod before turning toward the other guard who was at the back still and telling him to go inform the Patriarch. After doing so, the guard went back to his post by the door though it was clear that he was still on guard against Kazuo. ¡®Stuck up fuckers, the saying that they have a stick up their ass really is true.¡¯ Kazuo thought as he clearly noticed how much a mere guard of the clan was looking down on him. Kazuo knew for a fact that he was already more famous in the village than ninety percent of the leaf ninjas however the guard didn¡¯t even give him the slightest bit of acknowledgement at least not looking so on guard against him. It took almost half an hour before the guard came back. ¡°The Branch Head has allowed you to meet him.¡± The man said before clearing the way so that Kauzo could head in. After Kazuo headed into the almost giant clan district, the guard showed him the way toward the biggest building on the outskirts of the clan grounds. ¡°This is the place, please head in.¡± The man said as he gave a shallow bow and moved a few steps back to allow Kazuo to head into the building. Just like the gates, every building, especially the one in front of Kazuo, had an ancient Japanese architectural style. Even though it was old, that didn¡¯t mean that it wasn¡¯t luxurious, in fact, it looked so luxurious that Kazuo wondered if he was entering the home of a land of fire princes. ¡®They really do like to show off, I wonder what they use to gather all of these funds, however, do they just use ninja missions? No even that wouldn¡¯t make all of this possible, so they likely have some kind of industry of their own just like the Yamanaka flowers, Akimichi Food.¡¯ Kazuo thought as he gave a nod in thanks to the guard who had led him here and then headed inside. He was quickly met with a maid who gave him an almost ninety degree bow before softly asking him to follow her. After around two minutes of slow paced walking later, Kazuo arrived in front of a sliding door. ¡°Hizashi-sama, Chunnin Kazuo has arrived, may he head in?¡± A moment later, Kazuo heard a voice affirming his entry from the other side of the sliding door.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ¡®So Hizashi and Hiashi have already taken their posts as the Hyuga leaders. They should still have a good relationship as Neji hasn¡¯t been born yet, and as such Hizashi doesn''t mind the fact that the branch side of the family is discriminated against as much.¡¯ Kazuo thought as he gave a nod in thanks to the maid and slid the door open. Entering inside, the room was almost completely made of dark oak wood planks and on the other side of the room, he saw a small table with two small pillows of sorts. On the other side of the table sat Hizashi Hyuga whilst the pillow on Kazuo¡¯s side was free, clearly meant for him to sit on. ¡°Greetings,¡± Kazuo said as he gave a shallow bow to the man and then walked toward the room and sat down slowly. The man had yet to even return his greeting. Kazuo gave a soft smile as he spoke, his eyes appearing like a calm serene lake. ¡°I¡¯m sorry if my greeting wasn¡¯t respectful enough, I¡¯m an orphan and thus was never taught how to properly respect my elders. I hope you can be understanding.¡± It was at this moment when Hizashi slightly shook his head. ¡°No, it is quite alright Kazuo-san,¡± Hizashi spoke as his eyes trailed on Kazuo¡¯s body which sat in a picture-perfect pose. ¡®Humm, he clearly has learned how to be polite, however, he doesn¡¯t want to seem like someone under me, you¡¯ve raised someone quite shrewd Minato.¡¯ Hizashi thought before he opened his mouth. ¡°I¡¯m pleased that you¡¯ve decided to side with us, Kazuo-san.¡± ¡°I¡¯m overjoyed as well, to be able to have a meeting such as this with someone of your stature,¡± Kazuo replied almost instantly to his words. ¡°I see,¡± Kizashi said before releasing an audible hum. It was at this moment that the maid Kazuo had seen before came back into the room whilst bringing a tea set. After placing the cups and tea on the table she quickly excused herself before walking away silently. ¡®So you really want to play these games huh Hizashi? Sure I can entertain you for now.¡¯ Kazuo thought as his lips curved slightly upwards. Picking up the tea carefully he first poured Hizashi a cup before pouring one to himself. It was only when Hizashi started drinking from his cup that Kazuo picked his own to drink. ¡°It is exquisite.¡± ¡°It¡¯s one of our best blends, we usually only take it out for important guests,¡± Hizashi replied with a small nod. ¡°I¡¯m pleased to know that I¡¯m seen as such however I am merely a passing wind, one that couldn¡¯t cause a major change. Though I might become a butterfly soon enough.¡± Kazuo said with a slight humm of his own. ¡°A butterfly, I wonder if that''s the case,¡± Hizashi replied before placing down the cup, causing Kazuo to do the same. ¡°I think a butterfly should flock amongst flowers instead of barren wastelands of ash. How about it Kazuo?¡± Hizashi questioned a few moments later. Kazuo¡¯s mind quickly whirred into action at his words. ¡®He¡¯s asking me to become even closer to the Hyuga clan? Or was this what they were after from the beginning? Marriage into the Hyuga Clan would certainly give me quite a lot of benefits however at the same time it would turn me into an almost sworn enemy of the Uchiha clan.¡¯ Kazuo thought before releasing an audible soft sigh. ¡°If I may be direct lord Hizashi, a butterfly doesn¡¯t want a tie that holds it down forcefully, a tie that holds even those as high as yourself down.¡± Hizashi released a soft chuckle at his words, causing Kazuo¡¯s eyes to widen slightly. ¡°I guess Minato¡¯s students are as brazen as he is, Kazuo you won''t get the tie that those such as I get, though any progeny will.¡± ¡°I see, in that case, I¡¯ll accept the offer,¡± Kazuo replied with a soft sigh of relief. ¡°I¡¯m glad.¡± Chapter 92 ¡°I¡¯m glad¡± Hizashi uttered as a polite smile showed on his face but to Kazuo it looked more devilish than actually soft. ¡®What the fuck? A Hyuga smiling? Did he catch me in some sort of trap or the like?¡± Kazuo thought as he looked at Hizashi, his eyes slightly widening before his face returned to the same polite expression that he had held since the start of the meeting. ¡°In any case, I¡¯ll leave everything up to you patriarch,¡± Kazuo said as he got up slowly from his seat. Hizashi gave a soft nod in reply as he similarly got up from his seated position and started walking with Kazuo. ¡°You will likely get married to someone from the main branch, however even in that case, your children will still get the seal,¡± Hizashi added as the two walked outside of the manor, stopping as they arrived at the perimeter of the Branch head¡¯s manor. ¡°That is quite alright though I hope you can tell them that they shouldn''t be expecting any children for quite a while, at least until I¡¯m in my twenties,¡± Kazuo replied with a small chuckle. ¡°All right, well then we part ways here Kazuo, I¡¯ll send a message for when you¡¯re required to come again and meet your bride,¡± Hizashi replied, his face having already switched back to his usual stoic stone-like facade. ¡°No problem, until next time Patriarch-sama,¡± Kazuo replied as he gave the man an almost ninety-degree bow, much lower than when he had met him, after all the circumstances had changed completely in a matter of minutes as well. Kazuo had now almost completely joined the Hyuga Clan, after he married the woman he would similarly be given the Hyuga name. Kazuo was quickly given an escort to guide him to the exit of the clan district. Walking through the clan grounds Kazuo looked around much more carefully. This would be another battlefield that he would be battling in soon enough. ¡®Clan Politics, Though I¡¯ll likely be excluded from most if not everything that happens in the clan, I¡¯ll still most likely be used as soon as my power and value increases enough.¡¯ Kazuo thought as he finally passed through the large Japanese gate once more and arrived outside of the Hyuga Clan Grounds.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡®I¡¯ll also have to stop the death of Hizashi Hyuga, my main supporter of sorts at the moment is the Branch Family, I need to keep them on my side if I don''t have enough support then those bastards from the main family would probably sell me out for a reward from Danzo.¡¯ Kazuo thought as he continued walking through the village towards his final destination for the day. A broken-down apartment. Arriving at the apartment only to find his kunai trap launched and his room completely ransacked wasn¡¯t a good experience in the least. *Sigh* Releasing a frustrated sigh, Kazuo simply walked toward his even more broken-down bed and laid down, thankfully the cushion was thick enough that the wood that had pierced into the mattress hadn¡¯t managed to create any discomfort to his back. Closing his eyes, Kazuo¡¯s hands clenched. He felt like killing someone. *** Hours passed and soon enough it was a new day, Kazuo as always woke up early and completed his daily exercise whilst increasing the pressure from the seals slightly. Around an hour and a half later after he completed his daily morning routine, Kazuo headed out of the apartment, as soon as he did, he was met with a new face. ¡°You bastard, what did you do to the apartment!!¡± An old man with a hunched back stood in front of him, screaming his ears off. ¡®...¡¯ Kazuo simply stared at the man as he continued screaming for what felt like an hour. ¡°Are you done?¡± Kazuo asked as he lowered himself so that he could whisper in the man''s ear. Even though Kazuo was thirteen, he was abnormally large for a leaf shinobi, his stature already put him on the list of the tallest shinobi that the leaf had already produced. For a moment, the old man considered continuing his rant however those thoughts were interrupted almost immediately by a cold metallic object pressing against his neck. ¡°Do you think I wouldn¡¯t know if it was you who did this to the apartment?¡± Kazuo asked, his voice sounding so cold that it made the old man feel as if he had been thrown into the cold ocean during the winter. ¡°How..¡± The man uttered as his body started shaking as if it were a leaf in the wind. ¡°You do know who I am right? Otherwise, you wouldn¡¯t have tried this. You knew who I was and thought that I was loaded and a pushover right? You fucking piece of shit.¡± Kazuo said and pressed the kunai against the old man''s throat even harder. ¡°Im sorry, please, please forgive me!¡± The old man stuttered out, his pants already changing color as the man pissed himself. *Sigh* It was at this moment that Kazuo released a sigh and pushed the old man away, causing him to drop on the floor shaking. ¡°Fix the room by tomorrow morning, a new bed and everything or just give me a different well well-maintained room. I don''t care how you do it.¡± Kazuo said before he disappeared in an instant only leaving a couple of tree leaves in his wake. It was only seconds later that he reappeared again, hundreds of meters away, already in an entirely different district of the hidden leaf. He now stood in front of his Sensei¡¯s house. He could already hear the sound of boiling water from the inside as well as Kushina practically screaming about something. ¡°Guess the sealing went well,¡± Kazuo muttered as he knocked on the door. Chapter 93 Stolen novel; please report. Chapter 94 ¡°So how did the meeting with the Hyuga turn out?¡± Minato asked as he took a ramen bowl that Kushina had prepared into his hands. Kazuo himself was slurping down the noodles before stopping and turning toward Minato. ¡°Oh right, I almost forgot to tell you Minato sensei.¡± His voice was clearly fake as he said in excitement. ¡®What did this guy do!¡¯ Minato immediately thought as his posture straightened whilst looking at Kazuo. A bad premotion already in his mind. Kazuo just gave him what one would call a devilish smile before turning to face everyone and saying in a happy voice. ¡°I invite everyone to my wedding, though I don''t know the date exactly yet.¡± It was like a bomb that had detonated right in the middle of the living room. The bowl in Minato¡¯s and Kushina¡¯s hands fell and immediately shattered. ¡°What!!¡± Obito and Rin practically screamed whilst Kakashi¡¯s eyes had significantly widened. ¡°Wedding!¡± Obito stuttered as he looked at Kazuo with his mouth hanging open. ¡°Yeah, things turned that way, so I¡¯m going to finally get a surname soon, Kazuo Hyuga, sounds nice right?¡± ¡°What do you mean sounds right? You¡¯re too young!¡± Kushina immediately said as she walked to Kazuo and practically shook his organs out. ¡°Kazuo, this isn¡¯t a joke right?¡± Kushina stopped shaking him angrily for a moment. ¡°No, and can you stop shaking me Kushina san, I feel like im going to die.¡± At his words, Kushina removed her hands however her gaze was anything but calm. ¡°Was this your decision or were you coerced Kazuo," Minato asked his voice growing colder as he looked at his student. ¡°It was my decision Sensei, and I don''t plan on turning back against it. It¡¯s another way for me to get a safer position in the Hidden Leaf, of course even with me becoming an honorary Hyuga, I¡¯m still not going to be perfectly safe but it¡¯ll be much easier. At the same time, I added some conditions to the deal.¡± Kazuo said as he released a sigh.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°I could have protected you just fine Kazuo,¡± Minato replied, his voice losing its tension and instead growing almost resigned. ¡°You could Minato sensei however I don''t want to rely on you too much, I¡¯ve already leeched off of you enough as it is,¡± Kazuo replied, his tone of voice sounding apologetic. ¡®Of course, you¡¯re going to protect me damn it.¡¯ Kazuo thought to himself as he stared at Minato, his facial expression contorted so that he would give out a feeble and pity-worthy look. Hearing his words, Minato released a sigh of relief. ¡°I¡¯m close enough with the Hyuga Patriarch, I¡¯ll make sure that they treat you well,¡± Minato replied before asking. ¡°So who¡¯s going to be your partner?¡± At Minato¡¯s question, everyone¡¯s ears perked up. ¡°I don''t know.¡± It felt like a heavy weight slammed onto their heads once more. ¡°You don''t??¡± Obito almost screamed again in shock. ¡°No, though Hizashi san told me that it will likely be someone from the main Hyuga branch.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good,¡± Minato replied as he gave a nod. ¡°Anyway, help me out with this part Kushina sensei.¡± Kushina didn¡¯t reply for a few moments before turning to look at what part of the seal was confusing Kazuo. ¡®A kid getting married before me.¡¯ Kushina thought as she felt like crying tears of blood. Meanwhile hundreds of kilometers away, inside a completely sealed cave. The insides were completely dark with no light to be found anywhere. It gave off a completely eerie feeling, even the smell inside could only be understood as the smell of decay and death. Inside this sealed underground cave was a small wooden bed as well as what looked like a large wooden chair with huge tubes coming out from behind it. Sitting on this large wooden chair that almost resembled a throne almost, was an old man with spiky long white hair. ¡°What do you plan to do now?¡± A voice was heard from the other side of the cave. It was a human-like being however when looked at from a closer distance, it was anything but human. Half of its body was completely white with green hair and a yellowish green eye whilst the other half was completely black with the same green hair however its eye was completely round with a dark yellow color. ¡°The plan doesn¡¯t change much, we only have to guide Nagato better.¡± The old man said, his voice deep and raspy, making it feel as if the old man was on the verge of death. The tubes behind him weren''t actually connected to the chair he was sitting on. They were connected to him instead, creating a horrific image. ¡°I see, well then I guess the plan continues.¡± The human-like monster replied. ¡°Bring him to me by tomorrow, I¡¯ll plant a genjutsu on him. You know how to turn him toward the darkness yourself Zetsu.¡± ¡°Of course Madara-sama.¡± That being said, before its figure slowly disappeared as it merged with the cave wall behind it. The old man was Madara Uchiha, the greatest Uchiha to ever grace the earth that shinobi walked on. A man who had been so powerful once upon a time that he had been called a god. He however had lost almost all of his strength and now relied only on these tubes connected to his body to maintain the feeble flame that had become his life. ¡®Kazuo huh¡­¡¯ Madara thought, his only eye, a three tomoe sharingan starting to whirl for the first time in what felt like years. The person in the shinobi god''s thoughts however was currently being berated and beaten up by a red-haired woman whilst thinking whether he should give said woman an existential crisis. Chapter 95 Days continued to flow by, time unstopping though time was experienced differently by everyone. Some who were stuck in the academy classroom felt like it was going at a crawl whilst others who were having fun with their friends on the streets of the hidden leaf felt that it was going past them in a flash. For a special person, time was repeated over and over. *Huff* *Huff* Releasing harsh breath Kazuo felt like he was suffocating. ¡®Two hundred and sixteen times.¡¯ Kazuo thought to himself as his body moved towards the left as soon as he opened his eyes. The bed where he had been sleeping until now was immediately pierced by a dozen kunai, kunai with explosion tags covering them completely. ¡®Fuck, Fuck, Fuck¡­¡¯ Kazuo continued spouting profanities in his mind as he formed hand seals at immense speeds. ¡°Water style: Enhanced Severing Water Wave¡± Kazuo muttered as what looked like a high-speed torrent of water escaped from his mouth, severing everything in its path, and completely destroying the small green tent he was in. Kazuo didn¡¯t stop however as he quickly made a shadow clone without using a single hand seal. The shadow clone didn¡¯t stay still for a moment as it immediately summoned a flurry of white paper sheets which quickly formed two wings on his back. Using them, it quickly launched itself up into the air and outside of the tent which was already falling in and around Kazuo who was still inside. It was at this moment that Kazuo¡¯s chakra quickly changed path and went through a predetermined motion, allowing him to use another jutsu. ¡°Earth Style: Hiding like a mole jutsu.¡± Kazuo¡¯s body quickly disappeared underground and started swimming through the ground at high speeds. ¡®Faster, faster.¡¯ Kazuo thought to himself as he pushed more and more chakra into the earth around him, making it grow even softer and allowing him to go through the ground even faster. ¡®Why the fuck did I have to meet that guy. Why is he after me in the first place.¡¯ Kazuo thought to himself as he felt like cursing the sage of six paths to death. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Above ground, hundreds of meters away from Kazuo who was still trying his best to run away and in the middle of a camp that was currently on fire, two people stood or rather one stood on the ground whilst the other floated on the air with the use of two paper angelic wings. ¡°Chunnin Kazuo, having a bounty of sixty million ryo.¡± The man standing on the ground said, his face contorted into a grin as he looked at Kazuo. ¡°Kakuzu, the man who ran with his tail between his legs like a little wimpy bitch as soon as he saw the first Hokage.¡± Kazuo offered in return as a reply to the man. Kakuzu didn''t respond with words in return, the man simply was engulfed by hundreds of what looked like human hair strands. Four masked monsters made of human hair appeared next to him almost instantly. ¡°I¡¯ll make sure to only leave your head intact.¡± Kakuzu offered as his body¡¯s color changed slightly in color, becoming more metallic-like. ¡°I don¡¯t think you can even catch me.¡± Kazuo offered in return before showing a smirk. ¡°I could have escaped whenever I wanted, but I just can¡¯t do it,¡± Kazuo said as he released a large sigh as if he was pained by the entire scenario in front of him. ¡°I just can¡¯t stand not killing such an unsightly hairy bastard such as yourself.¡± Kakuzu didn¡¯t let him say another word as the four masked monsters immediately jumped toward Kazuo¡¯s location. Their mouths opened wide and released four different elemental jutsu. Water, Lightning, Wind, and Fire. Kazuo¡¯s shadowclone however simply raised an eyebrow as he brought his wings together as if to protect himself. At that moment the paper at the front of the wings shined in a azure blue color as hundreds of seals were activated. ¡°Fuin¡± Kazuo muttered as the four elemental jutsu were sucked into the papers. ¡®I had to waste this shit for you.¡¯ Kazuo thought as he spread his wings wide once more. ¡°Release¡± In an instant, all four elemental jutsu that had been sealed were released and thrown back toward the masked monsters. ¡®I had to promise Kushina four months of free ramen, do you know how much money I wasted for this shit!¡¯ Kazuo thought to himself as he immediately launched himself toward the four masked monsters. His speed was immense as he appeared next to the monsters who had dodged the rebounded elemental jutsu almost instantly. ¡°Kai bitch.¡± Kazuo said as all the papers that made up his wings lit up at once. It wasn¡¯t just the paper¡¯s even he himself, the shadow clone lit up. *BAAANG~!* With a sound that reverberated for kilometers, the clone and the paper tags exploded. Completely incinerating and vanquishing the paper monsters. Kakuzu was left alone in the field, he hadn¡¯t been caught by the explosion however his expression was far from good. In a deep gravelly voice, the man announced to himself as he grabbed three dead bodies around him. ¡°I''ll get your heart if it¡¯s the last thing I do,¡± Kakuzu said as he pierced the three leaf shinobi¡¯s chests and stole their hearts, implanting them inside his own body. Meanwhile, Kazuo who was running away still, now being more than a hundred kilometers away finally stopped. ¡°Take that you fucker.¡± Kazuo thought as he immediately started making hand seals, creating two more shadow clones. ¡°Make more explosion seals,¡± Kazuo ordered as he sat down in a meditative pose, trying to regain any amount of chakra he could. ¡®Why is my luck so fucking trashy.¡¯ Kazuo thought as he remembered how all this shit had started. ¡­ 1 Day ago inside the hidden leaf village. "This will be used as your Jonnin promotion exam Chunnin Kazuo" Chapter 96 1 Day ago inside the hidden leaf village. "This will be used as your Jonnin promotion exam Chunnin Kazuo" Minato said as he looked at Kazuo who was currently seated on the sofa inside Minato¡¯s and Kushina¡¯s home. Kazuo didn¡¯t respond verbally, merely using a nod in acknowledgment. Minato didn¡¯t say anything further and merely handed him the purple mission scroll. ¡®An A-rank mission.¡¯ Kazuo thought as he quickly unfurled the scroll and read through it. ¡®Assassination of Kageo Iza, a member of the rebellious party of the daimyo court.¡¯ Kazuo thought as he read it. ¡®Shouldn¡¯t be too hard with my paper illusion and paper clones, a long distance detonation and it should be done.¡¯ Kazuo thought as he gave a nod to himself before closing the scroll once more and torching it with a small fire seal-less jutsu. ¡°Then I¡¯ll be heading out, the team should be waiting for me at the village gates in around twenty minutes,¡± Kazuo said as he got up from the sofa. ¡°All right, be careful out there,¡± Minato said in response. ¡°Don''t worry too much Minato sensei, I¡¯m quite strong,¡± Kazuo replied with a small chuckle as he walked toward the front door, stopping only a moment when he arrived there. Turning around he raised his lips lightly as he said. ¡°The next Hokage eh?¡± Minato gave a small chuckle before nodding. Kazuo returned the nod before opening the front door and heading outside. ¡®Minato is in the process of being selected for the next Hokage position, Hiruzen has already announced that he would be resigning from his position, at the same time this indicates that the next large plot is close.¡¯ Kazuo thought as he used shunshin continuously to head toward the village gates. He had already stored everything he needed for a mission in his wristbands so that he could be prepared for an emergency mission or combat at all times. ¡®The ruins or Roran, the tower where Minato meets his future son. I need to be a part of that mission somehow, I might be able to glean some information about the future me.¡¯ Kazuo thought as he finally arrived at the village gates. It hadn¡¯t taken him more than a minute, his speed had increased leagues and bounds from when he had been just an assistant in the frontlines of the third ninja world war. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. And his stats clearly showed it. [ Stats ] [ Name: Kazuo ] [ Race: Human ] [ Age: 13 ] [ Strength: B- ] [ Endurance: C+ ] [ Agility: B ] [ Intelligence: B+ ] [ Charisma: B ] [ Chakra: B- ] [ Skills ] *( I won''t be showing all the skills, just some of his main ones as there¡¯s quite a lot now. )* [ TimeLoop ] [ Rank 2 ] [ Minato Taijutsu ] [ 10/10 ] [ Advanced Shuriken Jutsu ] [ 6/10 ] [ Intermediate Kenjutsu ] [ 7/10 ] [ Beginner Fuinjutsu ] [ 5/10 ] [ Paper Clone ] [ 10/10 ] [ Paper God Technique ] [ 10/10 ] [ Paper Illusion ] [ 9/10 ] [ Paper Shuriken ] [ 10/10 ] [ Shunshin / Body Flicker Jutsu ] [ 10/10 ] [ Hiding Like a Mole Technique ] [ 10/10 ] [ Yin Release: Mind exhaustion ] [ 5/10 ] [ Yin Release: Mind Break ] [ 4/10 ] [ Water Release: Severing Water Wave ] [ 9/10 ] [ Water Release: Enhanced Water Bullet ] [ 10/10 ] [ Water Release: Enhanced Water Wall ] [ 8/10 ] [...] Kazuo¡¯s list of Jutsu had grown massive, the biggest contributor to this had been his two mastered chakra natures given by the system. [ Water Release Chakra Nature ] [ 10/10 ] [ Yin Release Chakra Nature ] [ 10/10 ] More precisely it had been the water-release chakra nature, it had allowed him to master dozens of water-style jutsu at speeds almost unheard of. Yin release on the other hand had been a puzzle. He had managed to create two jutsu on his own, the Mind Break Just and the Mind Exhaustion Jutsu. By injecting his own chakra, which had been turned into the Yin chakra, into someone¡¯s chakra system and then using that chakra to attack the user¡¯s mind, that was the basis of the two jutsu. This would normally be an impractical jutsu however Kazuo had managed to find a way to use it consistently in combat, more precisely in traps. By injecting his yin chakra into papers that he then turned invisible with his paper illusion, he could scatter them around the battlefield and the moment that one of the papers got touched by an enemy, it would release the yin chakra into their chakra system. *** Looking around, Kazuo quickly found his subordinates, they would be under him whilst on this mission. ¡°Hello, My name¡¯s Kazuo, I¡¯ll be the leader of this mission, we don¡¯t have time to waste, I¡¯ll explain the mission details whilst we head to the destination,¡± Kazuo said toward the three ninjas wearing leaf headbands. The three gave a quick nod before Kazuo used the body flicker jutsu to disappear from his location. He had to lower his speed quite a lot at the beginning as he tried to find a place where the three underlings could follow him. After around half an hour of using body flicker, Kazuo finally spoke up. ¡°The mission is the assassination of a rebel in the daimyo court, I¡¯ll be doing the assassination whilst you all cause a disturbance on the right corner of the fire capital,¡± Kazuo said before closing his mouth and continuing. ¡®They¡¯re useless.¡¯ Kazuo thought to himself as he gave them a side glance discreetly. ¡®I would have rather just gone ahead by myself.¡¯ Kazuo thought in annoyance however this was another part of the Jonin test that he had to pass. The ability to command other ninja on the battlefield. Kazuo had no need to make them cause a disturbance however he needed to at least make use of them. People often compared Jonin and S ranked Ninja however they were completely different from one another. An S rank Ninja was someone who could take on an entire small ninja village by themselves, for example, the waterfall village or something of a similar scale. Whilst a Jonin was someone who could have S-ranked power however also had a role in the command unit of the village. Chapter 97 The four-leaf ninja continued their run through the dense forests of the fire country. It was one of the distinguishing features aswell as one of the main reasons as to why the Fire country faced the most opposition during the great ninja wars. The land was abundant with resources that the other great countries envied. This caused the Daimyo of the Fire country to be the richest man in all of the elemental nations and having such economic strength meant that he had the power to finance the leaf much more than the other daimyo could finance their own respective hidden villages. Another reason as to why the hidden leaf had such support from the daimyo was the fact that the daimyo was a descendant of the senju clan. And thus the relationship between the village and the daimyo had always been good. Kazuo continued to use a low-powered body flicker so that his team could keep up with him. He hadn¡¯t really noticed the change as much, how strong he had gotten until he compared himself to regular shinobi. Hours continued to pass and soon enough the four of them arrived at the halfway point to the fire capital. ¡°Stop here, we¡¯re camping the night.¡± Kazuo announced as he quickly placed his hand on the ground and used the ¡°Earth Tremor Jutsu¡± Seal-lessly to check if any enemies were nearby. Turns out there were. ¡®Close, too close!¡¯ Kazuo thought as his chakra surged however it was already too late. A hand touched the back of his neck, Kazuo managed to turn around to see the attacker. It was a man with a white mask wearing black gloves however Kazuo could still identify the man. As just above his gloves, a sliver of skin showed. It was dark purple skin. ¡®Fucking Danzo.¡¯ Kazuo thought to himself as he felt the world around him darken. A moment later, Kazuo¡¯s dead body fell on the floor. *** Arriving at the same location as before on his second turn, Kazuo stopped just like he had. ¡®Using myself as bait, what am I? Goku¡¯s tail?¡¯ Kazuo thought as he grit his teeth, inwardly counting the seconds as he spoke up. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. A moment later, a hand touched the back of his head just like it had on the previous turn. However Kazuo didn¡¯t feel the poison spreading through his brain this time, as he turned to face the man and a large smile split across his face. ¡°Kai bitch.¡± His entire body lit up and in less than a split second, he exploded. Unfortunately, the attacker wasn¡¯t done so easily, he had already expected Kazuo to launch similar tactics and as such he had prepared a substitution Jutsu just in case. The only thing damaged by Kazuo¡¯s explosion had been a wooden log. ¡®Danzo you bastard, you even researched my combat strategy.¡¯ Kazuo thought before he took a deep breath and walked from behind the treeline where he had been hidden. His mind immediately focused as his angered expression turned into a poker face and his emotions became as cold as ice. ¡°Seems like Lord Danzo has a grudge against me. Is this his way of lowering the amount of support for Minato Sensei? I guess he would be rooting for Orochimaru.¡± Kazuo mumbled as he continued walking toward the enemy, his pose was carefree as if he hadn¡¯t just been attacked at all. ¡°Kazuo, you are a nuisance, your reputation has grown far too large and then you go ahead and ally yourself with the hyuga clan, this goes against the leaf¡¯s interests and as such you will be disposed of. Those are lord Danzo¡¯s words.¡± The masked Anbu said before he motioned with his hand. A moment later six more anbu appeared. The three leaf ninja on Kazuo¡¯s team had already been knocked out, they hadn¡¯t even seen who had attacked them before they had lost consciousness. ¡°You¡¯re planning on using a Yamanaka jutsu to implant memories into them so they think I betrayed the leaf and went rogue before all three of them teamed up and killed me?¡± Kazuo asked with a soft tone before nodding his head. ¡°I would¡¯ve done the same,¡± Kazuo said before he raised one hand, making a hand seal. ¡°Unfortunately, I¡¯m on a pretty serious mission so i don¡¯t have time to dally with you all. Do forgive me for being so impolite.¡± Kazuo said as the corners of his lips turned up slightly. The seven root ninjas didn¡¯t wait any longer as all of them rushed towards Kazuo. Two stayed at the backline and crouched down, making quick hand seals whilst five others with the one who had attacked Kazuo leading them, rushed towards him. ¡°Do you know what mastering a chakra nature means?¡± Kazuo asked them suddenly. The seven didn¡¯t seem to care for his words causing Kazuo¡¯s lips to curl even higher. ¡°Paper Release: Paper Illusion.¡± It didnt even take a split second, one moment the eight of them with Kazuo included were in a green dense forest in the land of fire and in the next moment there was only darkness, complete and utter darkness. Kazuo¡¯s figure immediately melded with the darkness around him, causing him to disappear from the Root anbu¡¯s sight. ¡°What!¡± The poision anbu otherwise known as Torune Aburame muttered as he gazed around however he couldn¡¯t see anything. His sense of balance had been completely ruined as he barely managed to stand up and the two anbu who were likely Yamanaka had already fallen to the ground from disbalance. ¡°Can you sense him,¡± Torune asked the Yamanaka who were known as great chakra sensors. ¡°No sir, everything around us is emitting chakra, it''s impossible to pinpoint his location.¡± It was at this moment that a voice was heard, it came from the back of the two fallen yamanka anbu. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I dont plan on hiding. I wanted to ask you all a question however.¡± Kazuo said as he appeared behind the two root anbu. His hands were already clutching their heads. ¡®Yin Release: Mind Break.¡¯ A split second later, he released their heads causing the two to fall onto the pitch black darkness, looking as if they were falling endlessly until theyr figures completely disappeared. ¡°What is the difference between Illusion and Reality?¡± Kazuo asked, a wide cruel smirk on his face as his body was once more engulfed by the darkness. Chapter 98 ¡°What is the difference between Illusion and Reality?¡± Kazuo asked, a wide cruel smirk on his face as his body was once more engulfed by the darkness. Torune felt the surrounding darkness almost become tangible as his hands lightly shook. Even for a shinobi veteran like himself, someone so talented that he had managed to become the left-hand of Lord Danzo, he still found Kazuo dangerous. Extremely so. ''It''s been a while, feeling these emotions.'' Torune thought to himself before trying to seal those emotions once more. Kazuo didn¡¯t let them even take a breath to calm themselves down however as his voice was heard once more. This time it came from all directions, resonating throughout the pitch-black darkness. ¡°Each of us lives bound and depended on our individual knowledge. What someone else perceives might not be what you do.¡± Kazuo¡¯s voice said. A moment later, two more curling screams were heard. Torune turned to face the shinobi only to find them still standing however their eyes were completley white and their mouths hanging wide open. It was at this moment that Torune was looking at them that he saw two pitch black hands extend from the darkness and tear the heads off the two anbu''s shoulders. The seven shinobi had whittled down to only three now. Torune however had already formed a plan in his mind. Despite the circumstances, his emotions had already become as cold as ever. ¡°This is likely a physical illusion of some sort, if that¡¯s the case then all we have to do is break it,¡± Torune announced to the remaining two root anbu who quickly nodded their heads in understanding. Without wasting a single moment, all three of them formed hand signs at a speed almost imperceptible to the human eye. ¡°Fire Style: Great Fire Ball Jutsu¡± ¡°Lighting Release: Lightning Bullet¡± ¡°Wind Style: Wind Slash¡± In a moment, three elemental jutsu were launched at the same time however Torune didn¡¯t stop at only that as he threw three more paper tag kunai following the jutsu. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. With a large fireball, a speeding lightning bullet that crackled towards its destination, and an almost invisible large wind slash that converged all together at the end as well as the power of three explosion tags. *Boom* A loud explosion occured as the very ground under them shook, it felt as if the area around them was going to collapse at any moment. However, Torune¡¯s expression was anything but great. The darkness around them had disappeared only for it to change into a large wasteland, bloodied corpses all around them whilst a large blood-red moon radiated light onto their bodies. Kazuo¡¯s voice once more resonated around them. This time it seemed to spread throughout the entire bloodied battlefield. ¡°However both Knowledge and awareness are equivocal. What might be one¡¯s reality, might be another¡¯s illusion.¡± It was at this moment that the bloodied corpses under the two Anbus beside Torune lifted their arms. They took hold of the Anbu¡¯s ankles and dragged them deep underground. The only thing left behind in their wake was the horrid screams of the corpses that had dragged them underground. ¡°It seems like Lord Danzo was correct as always,¡± Torune said as sweat dripped down from his forehead. ¡°Was he?¡± Kazuo¡¯s voice asked. For a moment after, silence engulfed the entire battlefield. A second after however, this silence was broken by the sound of flesh and blood being torn apart as Kazuo¡¯s hand speared right through Torune¡¯s heart. ¡°Or is Danzo just living in his own fantasies?¡± *Sqchlk* With a quick movement, Kazuo took his arm back, with no strength in his legs and body, Torune fell down onto the ground that was quickly changing color. It was no longer a battlefield. They were back in the same grassy field where he had killed Kazuo during a previous turn. They hadn¡¯t actually moved at all, looking around, Torune saw the six corpses. They had been put under an illusion from the start, no maybe even before that. The only scene that told of a battle was the trampled trees showing signs of being hit by elemental jutsu. ¡®I¡¯m sorry Lord Danzo, It seems like we were too late, he¡¯s already bloomed.¡¯ With those last thoughts, Torune¡¯s eyes glazed over as the light disappeared from them. His soul is heading towards the pureland. *Sigh* Releasing a sigh, Kazuo sat down on Torune¡¯s body, feeling his remaining chakra reserves. ¡®Almost completely drained. That was hard.¡¯ Kazuo thought to himself as he remembered the preparations and the turns it had taken him to achieve this outcome. ¡®Three turns to pinpoint the location of each one of the enemies, four turns to create a good enough illusion to trap them inside it, seven times to manage to pull off the first part of the illusion, and eighteen times during the second illusion. In total this battle lasted a total of thirty-two turns.¡¯ Kazuo thought as he released another shallow sigh before getting up on his feet and proceeding to head to each of the Anbu and sealing their bodies into his wrist guards. After cleaning up the entire battlefield and only leaving two corpses behidn which he quickly charred completley black with a fire style jutsu, he turned towards his companions. ¡®As I thought, they''re completely useless.¡¯ Kazuo thought to himself before he went ahead and woke them up. ¡°Captain, what happened?¡± They questioned, Kazuo simply shook his head lightly and motioned towards the two charred corpses¡¯s. "Nothing, just some rogue shinobi. Stay on guard from now on." Kazuo replied as he walked away from the group to set up his tent. Chapter 99 Whilst setting up his tent, Kazuo¡¯s mind was like a typhoon of thoughts as he replayed the battle over in his head again and again, finding anything he could have done better and trying to find a solution. Kazuo had first set up a complete array of papers around the surroundings in a fifty-meter radius. Then he had created a paper clone and masked his own presence at the same time, making the enemy as well as his own subordinates think that the clone was him. The paper array had then been used to create the darkness illusion that the enemy root ninja had been trapped in. However, that wouldn¡¯t have been enough to fool or keep the root ninja inside, so he had targeted the strongest enemy right from the beginning. The paper clone that had been attacked had been laced with his own yin release chakra, which he had used to slightly influence Torune¡¯s brain and cause it to become exhausted at a much quicker rate than usual. Of course, his yin manipulation was great, but his illusions based on yin chakra were still lacking. The only reason the entire thing worked was because of the physical illusion of the papers he had arranged in the surroundings ahead of time. A few turns later, after the enemy broke free of the darkness illusion, Kazuo had repeated the process and added another layer. The desolate battlefield illusion had been another paper layer arranged around the darkness illusion layer, essentially making an illusion on top of another illusion, on top of the slight illusion from the yin release chakra in Torune¡¯s chakra system. All of these preparations had led to Torune not even managing to move a single step before he had already been killed. ¡®The biggest possible downfall of this arrangement of techniques is the Yin illusion. I need to master more illusion jutsu so that I can research deeper into the mechanics of how they work,¡¯ Kazuo thought to himself as he finished setting up the green tent. ¡°You three will take turns watching, each turn consisting of two hours,¡± Kazuo said to the three Chunin before walking inside his tent and lying down. An added bonus to the yin-release chakra mastery was the fact that he could use it to forcefully put himself to sleep instantly. Exactly six hours later, Kazuo woke up instantly and got up from his makeshift bed on the ground. Using three hand signs, he quickly sealed the bed as well as the tent. ¡°Wake them up,¡± Kazuo announced as he pointed to the sleeping teammates. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it ¡°Yes, sir.¡± It didn¡¯t take more than three minutes for the entire team to be ready to start their run toward the Fire Capital again. Kazuo didn¡¯t even need to clean up the two charred bodies, as the Chunin had already done that while he was asleep. ¡®Having subordinates is nice, if only they were more capable,¡¯ Kazuo thought to himself, feeling the need to release a sigh. Hours passed once more, just like yesterday, but their speed had increased slightly from the day before. It seemed the ambush had put the three Chunin on edge. ¡®I guess I should ask them,¡¯ Kazuo thought as he turned his head slightly. ¡°What are your names?¡± Immediately after his question, the three replied. ¡°Chunin Yajiro Kasuma.¡± ¡°Chunin Kisuke Korra.¡± ¡°Chunin Azuma Sota.¡± ¡°All right, we¡¯re close to the Fire Capital and should arrive there in a few minutes. Don¡¯t stress yourselves out. You just need to cause a distraction after I send you the signal,¡± Kazuo said. ¡°How will you send the signal, Captain?¡± Yajiro questioned. A moment later, Kazuo threw three paper balls their way. ¡°These will change color when I send the signal.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Azuma replied with a nod before returning to silence once more. The four of them continued on for around half an hour until they arrived at a location where the gates of the Fire Capital were visible. ¡°We will not be entering normally but sneaking in. This would usually not be possible; however, someone from the inside will help us by masking our chakra on the chakra sensors. That still means that we shouldn¡¯t be seen physically, however,¡± Kazuo said before taking a harsh breath and turning to face the three Chunin. ¡°You three will be heading to the right corner of the capital. That area is a tourist attraction and thus an important part of the city. Your job is to simply cause as much distraction as possible while keeping the casualties as low as possible. Preferably, there should be no casualties at all,¡± Kazuo said as he pressed two fingers on his wrist, summoning forth around thirty smoke bombs and handing ten to each of the Chunin. ¡°Now get going and keep an eye on the paper ball. When I send the signal, start immediately,¡± Kazuo ordered, causing the trio to quickly nod their heads in understanding. With a nod of his own, Kazuo used the Body Flicker Jutsu immediately to head to the completely opposite corner where the trio would be causing the disturbance. The three were left standing as they saw Kazuo disappear in an instant. ¡°Is he really just a Jonin?¡± Kisuke questioned as his gaze lingered on Kazuo¡¯s previous location for a moment. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter what he is. Let¡¯s get going,¡± Yajiro responded, causing both Kisuke and Azuma to give a quick nod. A moment later, the three had already disappeared from their position. Meanwhile, Kazuo was already inside the Fire Capital and perched on top of a small building, his figure completely obscured by the use of paper illusions. ¡®This place really is much more advanced than the Leaf,¡¯ Kazuo thought as he looked at the bustling city around him. The buildings appeared to be made of much higher-quality materials and seemed to have been designed by a far greater architect than those in the Hidden Leaf. The people below were much better dressed than the usual Leaf villagers as well. Turning his gaze away from the street below him, Kazuo looked at the building across the street: a large Japanese-style mansion. Two guards who looked like samurai were stationed at the gates, while more than a dozen could be seen in the courtyard of the building. ¡®I guess the time has come. The time for my beautiful art to be shown to these mongrels,¡¯ Kazuo thought as a devilish smile rose on his face. Chapter 100 ¡®I guess the time has come. The time for my beautiful art to be shown to these mongrels,¡¯ Kazuo thought as a devilish smile rose on his face. Making the tiger hand seal, Kazuo quickly channeled his chakra in a specific pattern. Normally he didn¡¯t have to use hand seals to interact with his papers however by using a hand seal he could extend his range further than usual aswell as use the technique more precisely which would lead to him releasing a small chakra signal. ¡°Time to get this show on the road.¡± Kazuo thought as he brought his hands down. It didn¡¯t take more than a few seconds for massive explosions to be heard coming from the other side of the city. ¡®All right, let¡¯s go.¡¯ With that final thought, Kazuo vanished from his position. With speed that surpassed most if not all Jonin-level ninjas, Kazuo arrived on top of the mansion gates in less than a second. The Guards hadn¡¯t even noticed his movement as Kazuo ignored them completely and vanished once more, this time appearing next to the main building of the mansion complex. At the same second that he appeared, his body was quickly enveloped by hundreds of paper sheets, those paper sheets then changed color a mere fraction of a second later. To the onlookers, the position where Kazuo was at now looked just like before, with nobody in sight. ¡°All right, the first stage is done,¡± Kazuo muttered as he placed his hand on the wall. ¡®Earth style: Tremor sense jutsu.¡¯ Closing his eyes, Kazuo felt all of the vibrations inside the mansion. ¡®Fifteen guards, four of them are positioned near a room at the center of the building. That¡¯s where the target is most likely.¡¯ With those thoughts, Kazuo opened his eyes and lifted his hand from the wall. His next course of action was to get inside of the building. And so he did, he started walking towards the front door without hiding at all, his body completely covered with papers that made his figure completely invisible to the eyes of the guards. He simply walked into the building moments later and then continued his way towards the center without hurry as if he was taking a stroll inside his own house. Around a minute later, he arrived at his destination. A large sliding door stood before him. Making a single hand seal, the illusion that kept him invisible was cancelled and instead another illusion took its place. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Now he looked just like the guard he had seen at the front door of the mansion. Without making a hand seal at all, a bunch of papers tore off his body and quickly gathered up together, making a paper clone. With his preparations done, Kazuo opened the sliding door quickly. The face of the guard illusion appeared stressed and hurried as he spoke. ¡°There¡¯s been a large attack on the other side of the city.¡± Inside the center room, four guards stood around a large king sized bed, where a middle aged man was currently enjoying himself. ¡°What!!¡± One of the guards asked as he turned towards Kazuo, his hand already holding a long katana. Kazuo looked at the four before releasing a soft sigh. All four of the guards were samurai. ¡®I didn¡¯t even need to do all this preparation.¡¯ With that thought Kazuo together with his paper clone immediately used the shunshin and appeared right in front of the large bed. ¡°What?¡± That was all the target could mutter before Kazuo and his clone both detonated themselves in a humongous explosion. Or so it seemed. Kazuo hadn¡¯t even been there to begin with. A shadow clone just outside of the mansion quickly used shunshin to appear next to the ruined building. Quickly surveying around, he found what he had been looking for. The dead body of the target. With a nod of his head, he quickly released the jutsu and exploded in a puff of smoke. Meanwhile, the real Kazuo was already on his way to get out of the Fire Capital. Two and a half minutes later, Kazuo arrived outside of the city, and thirty seconds later, he arrived at the meeting point of his team. The mission hadn¡¯t taken even fifteen minutes. ¡°I had a harder time when I was promoted to a chunin,¡± Kazuo muttered to himself. It was only two minutes later that he noticed something wrong. ¡®They¡¯re late.¡¯ Kazuo thought as he felt like killing the chunnin himself. ¡®Did they get caught?¡¯ Kazuo inwardly thought as he gave a light sneer. It was at this moment that he saw the three chunnin under him appear around two hundred meters away in front of him. And together with the three, four shinobi were chasing after them. *Sigh* ¡°I knew it would have been easier to just do it alone.¡± Kazuo muttered before he made a handseal and disappeared underground meanwhile at the same time two shadow clones appeared where he stood. One of the shadow clones headed up the trees and used paper illusion to hide himself whilst the other stood still. Eight seconds later, the trio arrived. ¡°Sir, we¡¯re being chased, we must get away as quickly as possible.¡± Azuma quickly said as he looked at Kazuo who only furrowed his brows. ¡°Why should we?¡± Azuma, Kisuke and Yajiro¡¯s expressions quickly turned confused as they looked at Kazuo. It was at this time that the four enemy shinobi appeared before them. ¡°They¡¯re all jonin sir.¡± Kisuke quickly informed Kazuo. ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter, even a genin can kill a Jonin,¡± Kazuo replied as he started walking towards the four. It was at this moment that two of the four enemy shinobi fell down and blood got spewed high into the air. ¡°What!!¡± The two remaining shinobi quickly raised their guard as they gave a side glance at their dead comrades, not daring to fully leave Kazuo out of their sights. It was at this moment that Kazuo used the body flicker jutsu. His speed quickly multiplied as he arrived in front of the two shinobi. ¡®Katsu¡¯ And at that same moment, the shadow clone''s body exploded. Severely injuring one of the shinobi who couldn¡¯t get away in time whilst lightly injuring the other. The one that hadn¡¯t been severely wounded however didn¡¯t have a great fate await him. The position he had jumped to was the one where the real Kazuo had been waiting. At the same moment that the shinobi¡¯s feet touched the ground, Kazuo¡¯s hand tore up from it and grabbed his ankles, bringing him fully underground in less than a moment and severing his neck. Meanwhile, the shinobi who had been wounded badly didn¡¯t even have time to react as an invisible paper shuriken tore through the back of his head. *Thump* With that over, Kauzo quickly tore his way above ground and dusted himself off before turning toward the three chunnin. ¡°All done, let¡¯s go.¡± Chapter 101 The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Chapter 102 Time once more started reversing. And Kazuo opened his eyes once again after his suicide. Looking around, Kazuo found himself back to one minute before the death he had seen with his new future vision. ¡®It¡¯s midnight.¡¯ Kazuo suddenly realized, it had completely slipped his mind, after he had gained strength that his life wasn¡¯t as in danger as before, he had almost forgotten. His time loop starts from when he was first awake in the current day. ¡®Fuck, that mean¡¯s im still poisoned.¡¯ Kazuo thought to himself before he quickly gave a new set of orders to his men. The seconds were ticking and he needed to do something and quickly if he didn¡¯t want a meaningless death again. ¡°Yajiro, Azuma, you two head forward to the town, there¡¯s someone tracking us, Kisuke and I will deal with it,¡± Kazuo ordered instantly, his expression had already turned into a deep frown before he motioned to Kisuke with his head and used the body flicker around six times, that was enough to gain a big enough distance with the other two. As soon as he gained that distance, Kazuo stopped. Kisuke who was much slower arrived three seconds later and stopped right next to him. ¡°Who¡¯s after us captain?¡± He questioned, his tone of voice clearly showing how he was already on guard. ¡°Kakuzu, we¡¯re most likely going to die however before I can even try to survive him, I need that antidote, you fucker.¡± Kazuo said as turned toward Kisuke, the surroundings around them immediately became completely white, it almost looked as if they had been teleported into an area of complete nothingness with only light and the two of them existing. ¡°You found out?¡± Kisuke questioned as his expression immediately changed. If before he looked as if he was on guard and slightly nervous, now he had a completely blank emotionless look on his face. ¡°What¡¯s with Danzo and killing me? I don''t think I¡¯ve ever wronged the man.¡± Kazuo muttered as he quickly used the shunshin to appear next to Kisuke, before the man could even react, Kazuo slammed a dozen papers on his throat. The papers were imbued with yin chakra that immediately attached itself to Kisuke¡¯s chakra system and headed for his brain in less than a fraction of a second. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Meanwhile, the papers themselves changed shape and made a collar of sorts around Kisuke¡¯s neck. ¡°Give me the antidote,¡± Kazuo said as he stood in front of Kisuke who was slowly being choked as well as being drained mentally by Kauzo. ¡°There is no antidote, I have completed my mission,¡± Kisuke said before he made a hand seal. It was a hand seal that Kazuo knew very well. ¡®This guy is using my own tricks against me.¡¯ Kazuo thought as he saw Kisuke explode. The Kazuo that had been standing in front of him merely scattered into a pile of paper sheets. The real Kazuo dispelled the illusion, showing himself to be sitting on a pile of rocks with one foot over the other whilst holding his head with his fist. ¡°This is annoying. How can I deal with a poison that I don''t know about whilst surviving Kakuzu at the same time? Kakuzu is actually on a lower priority, isn¡¯t that funny.¡± Kazuo muttered to himself before releasing a long-winded sigh. ¡®I either need to create a mental manipulation technique or I need to somehow make an antidote or something that will allow me to last until I reach the hidden leaf.¡¯ Kazuo thought to himself however no matter what he couldn¡¯t think of any way to achieve the second option. ¡®I have no idea about medical ninjutsu whilst I at least have a mastered yin chakra nature for the first option.¡¯ Kazuo thought before releasing another slow sigh and getting up from his seated position and looking towards the other side of the small clearing that Kisuke had created from his explosion. There the man stood once more, this time face to face with the real Kazuo and not a clone. ¡°Kakuzu of the village hidden in the waterfall village correct? Kazuo questioned as he dusted his pants. ¡°You know of me?¡± Kakuzu questioned, his voice showing that his interest had been piqued. ¡°You¡¯re quite the famous bounty hunter, however, I do wish to make a deal with you,¡± Kazuo said as he started walking toward the man. Kakuzu simply watched as Kazuo got closer and closer to him without making any moves. ¡®Is he confident in himself or is he just foolish?¡¯ Kakuzu thought as he saw Kazuo finally stop, merely a few meters away from him. ¡°What deal?¡± ¡°I wish to buy your protection for double the price of the bounty in my head,¡± Kazuo said as he looked at the man directly in his greenish-red eyes. ¡°Why should I make a deal when I can just take the pile of money that''s guaranteed right in front of me.¡± Kazuo merely gave a slight smile before summoning something in his hands. Kakuzu immediately got on guard, his posture changing to a taijutsu stance whilst the bulges on his back started wriggling, looking as if they were about to escape his body at once. When the slight smoke cleared from Kazuo¡¯s hand, it revealed a kunai. A very special kunai. A three-pronged one with a sealing jutsu attached to its handle. ¡°Because I don''t want to use this and I¡¯m sure you don''t want to bring him here either,¡± Kazuo said as he continued to look at the man in the eyes. For a few moments, silence engulfed the clearing once more. ¡®Of course, it¡¯s a fake however, can you even notice that? If you can¡¯t are you willing to gamble on killing me before Minato shows up?¡¯ Kazuo thought to himself as he almost chuckled out loud as he continued to stare Kakuzu down. ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t you want to? Unless it¡¯s a fake.¡± Kakuzu questioned as he took a slight step forward. ¡°It would make me fail my promotion mission to a jonin, which would lead to the Hyuga clan not adopting me as one of their own. That¡¯s too big of a loss for me.¡± Kazuo replied as he stood his ground. Kakuzu didn¡¯t respond for a moment before releasing a gruff sound and then asking. ¡°How will you pay me?¡± ¡®I got you bitch.¡¯ Kazuo thought as the corners of his lips tilted slightly upwards. Chapter 103 ¡®I got you bitch.¡¯ Kazuo thought as the corners of his lips tilted slightly upwards. ¡°I have the money in a seal inside my wrist guards, I¡¯ll leave it with a paper clone and head away. Ofcourse if something does happen then I¡¯ll simply explode it all, I¡¯ll be dead if you go after me either way.¡± Kazuo replied as he looked at Kakuzu. For a moment, Kakuzu¡¯s gaze sharpened as he looked at Kazuo, his bloodlust intensifying multiplefold. ¡°Alright kid, Two hundred million ryo. If you don''t have it then you¡¯re dead.¡± ¡°I do, though some of it is in golden bars and explosion tags,¡± Kazuo replied as he looked at the man. ¡°That¡¯s all right, now then what do you need me to do,¡± Kakuzu asked as he looked at Kazuo. ¡°I need you to help me survive,¡± Kazuo replied without missing a beat. ¡°Survive?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been dosed with a deadly poison, I need you to find me an antidote or some way to keep me alive long enough so that I can arrive at the hidden leaf,¡± Kazuo replied as he released a small sigh. ¡°Poisoned? That guy?¡± Kakuzu questioned as he motioned towards the explosion crater behind Kazuo. ¡°That¡¯s right. Now then do you have any antidotes we can try on you?¡± ¡°This will cost you extra,¡± Kakuzu replied before throwing Kazuo four small vials. Kazuo nodded before immediately downing the vials one by one. ¡°Guess we just have to wait and see if it has any effect,¡± Kazuo replied before nodding toward Kakuzu and using the body flicker jutsu. Kakuzu didn¡¯t waste a moment before using a body flicker jutsu of his own to start following after Kazuo. The two ran at speeds much higher than the regular shinobi, it was a difference as big as the night and the day. Kakuzu used his impressive physique and higher chakra volume whilst Kazuo managed with a much higher mastery over the technique. Minutes passed however Kazuo didn¡¯t drop onto the ground. ¡®I haven''t escaped the poison completely, however.¡¯ Kazuo thought to himself as he felt it, the sensation of touch disappearing from his fingertips as they grew colder and colder. ¡®This should be good enough however, I should be able to arrive at the leaf on time.¡¯ Kazuo thought before a smile appeared on his face. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. It looked soft however it carried a visciousness that only a serial mass murderer would have, it was a smile that seemed to combine two polar opposites at the same time. The softness of a young boy who wouldn¡¯t even be considered a man in his other world as well as the savageness of a true shinobi, a killer with supernatural strength. ¡®I can¡¯t just let you take all of that money from me, and it¡¯s been a while now.¡¯ Kazuo thought to himself as his expression turned to a blank poker face once more. His internal emotions only grew in ferocity even more, however. ¡®A hidden quest, that shitty system better give me one.¡¯ Kazuo thought as he continued his run through the dense forest with the S-ranked rogue ninja following behind him. ¡°So Kakuzu, have you heard of an organization called the Akatsuki?¡± Kazuo questioned. ¡°No,¡± Kakuzu replied curtly before returning to silence once more. ¡°Quite the cold one aren¡¯t you?¡± Kazuo said before stopping in place. Kakuzu immediately stopped around twenty mentors behind him as well. ¡°Seems like I found the perfect location,¡± Kazuo muttered before turning toward Kakuzu. ¡°Why did you stop?¡± ¡°Because I wanted to you fucking hairy bitch.¡± Kazuo replied as his blank look broke, a large smirk appearing on his face instead. ¡°What are you going to do about it? Did you really think I had two hundred million ryo Kakuzu?¡± Kazuo questioned as he looked at Kakuzu. ¡®He¡¯s not reacting in any way, I guess I can''t expect an S-rank ninja to fall to such simple taunts.¡¯ Kazuo thought as he stared at Kakuzu who released a deep chuckle. ¡°No, I did not, However, I was curious to see if you would lead me to some other leaf ninja, I¡¯ve been wanting to replace some hears you see,¡± Kakuzu replied before starting to form a set of hand seals. He however stopped midway as a confused expression appeared on his face. ¡°I see, thanks for telling me Kakuzu,¡± Kazuo replied with a nod of his head before making a single-hand seal. ¡®An explosion?¡¯ Kakuzu immediately wondered as he readied himself to the body flicker away. However, it wasn¡¯t an explosion as he had thought. ¡°You know I¡¯ve gotten a bit tired of using explosion tags these days. In fact, whilst they are useful against weak opponents, they¡¯re quite useless against someone like you.¡± Kazuo said as he held the tiger hand seal, the chakra in his body was compressing itself. Almost as if it was a spring that was being squished. ¡°I¡¯ve already arrived at a point in my journey that explosion tags have become a handicap in fights like this.¡± Kazuo said as he release a chuckle. And just like a spring that had been squished, when the force that was placed on top of it is removed, it would bounce back up twice as strong as before. *Boom* The ground under Kazuo¡¯s feet cracked as his body appeared to vanish. Kakuzu¡¯s eyes however were moving wildly from right to left. ¡®He¡¯s able to see me even at this speed?¡¯ Kazuo wondered feeling the need to release an inward sigh. ¡®Just how big is the difference between me and a S rank right now?¡¯ With that thought, Kazuo used all of his strength to jump into the air. Kakuzu immediately raised his head to keep him in his sight. There he saw an unusual sight. Flying was a skill that many wanted however it wasn¡¯t an easy thing to achieve. Even in the elemental nations, the amount of people who could achieve it with their own power could be counted on a single hand. That was one of the reasons why Kakuzu was slightly shocked when he saw two large angelic-looking paper wings appear on Kakuo¡¯s back. That wasn¡¯t the end of it, however¡­ Hundreds of large paper spear-like objects were floating around Kazuo. ¡°I really want to call this the gate of Babylon but I¡¯ll just call it Paper Bombardment,¡± Kazuo said out loud before making a forward motion with his hand. In a single moment, the hundreds of spears started flying toward Kakuzu at high speeds. That wasn¡¯t all, however. At the last moment before they collided, their entire construct lit up in an orange color. ¡°What did you actually believe me? Explosion is an art too great to leave behind you know?¡±