ã€ŠChaos Fiend in the Naruto Worldã€‹


 Chapter 1 - A Deal made

    The bedsheet beneath his back was still damp from the most recent round of fucking. At least she''d given him the courtesy of getting him off a couple of times before she''d pulled out a knife to repeatedly poke holes in him. He should have known better, but, who can resist a dangerous woman with a body made for sin. Not him, that for damn sure. It wasn''t even the first time his cock had led him astray and gotten him into serious problems. He really should stop listening to its every whim.

    However, he knew it would happen eventually, just not quite like this. He''d killed, insulted, cheated and fucked way too many people over for him to not end up on the other end of the equation. So, here he was, choking on his own blood as his body shut down from the blood loss caused by the multiple stab wounds he''d taken to the liver and right lung.

    Even if he could call for help, which he couldn''t as she''d taken his phone and he''d been dumb enough to bring her to his secluded villa with no one within a mile radius, he knew that even the best surgeon couldn''t do a thing to save him at this point. There was simply no coming back from organs shredded to mincemeat, quite unfortunate for all the beautiful women who didn''t get to enjoy the pleasure he could bring them.

    Closing his eyes he could feel the void of nothing closing in upon him. With a tranquil gaze, he was about to surrender to his death when he heard a rustle from someone sitting down in his favourite leather chair. Despite dying, he still thought it rude for whoever it was to sit in his chair without permission and was just about to deliver an old-fashioned scolding when the person spoke a deep rumbling voice.

    "You''ve seen better days, Eric!"

    Eric tried to lift his head to see if he could recognize the man speaking, but he was all out of energy and had to give up. Spitting out a mouthful of blood, he asked.

    "Do I know you?" barely even able to speak at this point.

    "No, hardly anyone knows me anymore. It''s a shame, really," said the voice sounding disappointed, "however, I, on the other hand, do know you..."

    "Okay, mystery-man," Eric responded in mild annoyance, "can we fast forward, please, as I''m in the middle of dying here," he spat out another mouthful of blood while trying to stem the flow of blood with his hands.

    "I do believe we have a couple of minutes left," pausing for a second he continued, "three minutes to be exact."

    "Sound about right," Eric confirmed in half amusement, not knowing what else to say.

    "I''m Chaos, the dark void of space, the first of the primordial deities and I''m here to strike a bargain," Chaos presented himself.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.

    Not knowing how to answer he just kept quiet. Hearing a rustle from the leather chair Eric knew Chaos coming over to his dying self. What ended up standing beside his bed was nothing but a mass of shadow shaped in the form of a man, the only noticeable feature was his glowing golden eyes.

    Not waiting for any of Eric''s questions Chaos continued unhindered, "It''s rather simple, really. I want to send you to another world where you''ll be my instigator of mayhem. The only real criteria are to make trouble, and create disturbance and disorder in the known timeline, which is why I''ll let you choose?"

    Eric, baffled by this revelation tested, "is possible to pick the world of Naruto?"

    "Yes, that is possible. Furthermore, I can also grant you the choice of picking the time or place of your reincarnation." Chaos answered hurried.

    Silence.

    "I''m sorry to say we''re running a bit low on time and I need to hear your answer, Eric?"

    "I''m thinking..." Eric responded feeling drowsy.

    "Correction, what you''re doing is called dying!"

    "Touch¨¦, mate. You got me there," Eric smiled despite his present situation.

    He''d been an avid reader of both Naruto and One Piece so he was caught a little off. All the possibilities available seemed overwhelming at the moment. Dizziness was beginning to set in, and it made it difficult to concentrate on the issue at hand.

    "If I''m to be your instigator and create disturbance in the timeline, don''t I need some sort of ability?"

    "You do, however, I''ve already chosen that for you. Trust me you won''t be disappointed with it."

    "Well, I guess that is the end of that discussion," a little sad he didn''t get to choose it himself.

    Thinking about the timeline in Naruto, he wondered whether he should choose the same period where most of the main cast was born or choose another point in time. Reincarnating this late would also mean he''d be hardpressed to advance his strength quickly in order to have the power to affect anything. On the other hand, if he were to reincarnated earlier then he would have many more opportunities.

    "Concerning the time and place, I suppose a couple of years before The Second Shinobi War in Konohagakure. That''s the most convenient way to disturb the timeline, whatever that truly means..."

    "It means entertainment, Eric. I''m bored you see. I want you to make an epic show for me and when you''re done, perhaps I''ll let you do it in another world of your choice yet again."

    Eric could do that. He could definitely do that. It was practically his speciality. This was without a doubt an assignment right up his alley.

    "I hope you don''t mind adult content," he laughed coughing up blood in the process.

    While almost radiating a golden light from his eyes, he said, "Why did you think I came to you in the first place."

    "Chaos, I do believe we have an agreement then. Now, get me the fuck away from here. I don''t like what dying feels like, it leaves a bad taste in your mouth."

    "Aye, that we do. Just a heads up. This will be the last time we meet until you find yourself in a situation similar to this one, so do try to avoid a similar occurrence in the future."

    "Trust me when I say this; I''ve learned my lesson. From now on always make sure any knives are well out of reach before any fucking them," Eric promised.

    "We all learn from our mistakes," he chuckled and held out his hand for Eric to take.

    Letting go of his stab wounds he lifted right-hand to grab hold of Chaos'' and as he did they both disappeared.

 Chapter 2 - On The Run

    She''d been running for the better part of a week almost non-stop. However, despite, being exhausted she knew she couldn''t stop now when her designation was this close. There wasn''t much time left before the seal they''d placed on her the after the first month of her pregnancy would forcibly open the last of her eight inner gates, the ''Gate of Death. She knew there would be no stopping it and saving of herself was no longer an option. Now, her sole objective was to ensure her child was born somewhere safe, somewhere far away from those researchers she''d barely managed to escape from. She shivered at the thought of them knowing she managed to survive the 100 feet fall into the turbulent river.

    The researchers of the underground facility where she''d been held captive experimented using seals, and the one placed on her pregnant belly was just one in a string of others. They hadn''t explained her much, but she''d overheard a conversation between the lead researcher and an assistant, and that''s when she knew she''d to escape. Otherwise, her child would endure a fate worse than herself.

    Even though the child in her stomach wasn''t conceived out of love but by artificial insemination, it was still hers. She would damn well protect it to the best of ability. The ''Seal of Awakening'' as she''d heard them call it worked by tearing apart the eight gates, pressure points controlling the natural limit of chakra flowing within her, and directing the immense chakra towards her still growing child.

    A consequence of this was she''d never watch her child grow up and show it the love she felt. The only real thing she could do was bring herself within the boundaries of Konohagakure. During the first day of her escape, she''d heard whispers of their refugee program as she walked through a town to steal some food. They were still recovering from ''The First Great Shinobi War'' and were admitting any unaffiliated families, and providing shelters and food for those without anything.

    From before her capture, she''d only heard good things about that particular shinobi village and its Hokage, Hashirama Senju. She''d heard him being a compassionate and fair leader. Someone people were willing to fight and die willingly for. Not having the luxury to ponder for too long, because she was close to the point where she might go into labour, she''d set Konohagakure as the goal.

    In addition to the pain she was constantly experiencing and the toll the seal was having on her body it, the overflowing chakra within her body gifted her increased strength and stamina. If that weren''t the case she doubted she''d make it anywhere near Konohagakure before her time was up. She didn''t need much sleep, she just kept running, uncaring about her ragged clothes drenched in sweat and shoes long ago used past their expiration date.

    Only after four days of travel did she dare travelling by road instead of through the bushes and trees. It might make the distance longer, but she was able to travel faster this way. She wasn''t a shinobi and had no other way to travel than putting one foot in front of the other, the oldfashioned way.

    She tried avoiding towns and other people as much as possible. She didn''t want questions being asked that she couldn''t answer in fear of any rumour getting back to ''them''.

    Getting closer to Konohagakure the road got wider and more populated making it difficult to go unnoticed, especially, with her haggard clothes and exhausted appearance with, not to mention her very pregnant figure while running.

    On the seventh day, she stopped caring if someone saw her or not. She even dared to stop briefly to ask a passing caravan about how far out Konohagakure was. Being told she was only a day travel away from reaching her goal pure elation washed over her. Thanking the elder man, she continued running another hour until three men suddenly appeared in front of her wearing animal-styled mask.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!

    "Stop!" the man in the middle said, with one hand making a stop-motion and the other taking grabbed hold of a sword strapped to his back. Left no other option she obeyed.

    "I seek refuge in Konagakure," she panted while one hand rested protectively on her stomach.

    The Anbu dropped his hand which he''d held in front of him to signal for her to stop, but he didn''t let go of his sword and let it remain as a silent threat to discourage her from doing anything dumb.

    All three wore the same black sleeveless jumper with a grey flack jacket, arm-length gloves with guards over them and strapped-up shinobi sandals.

    "What your name, woman?" he commanded.

    "Mari..." she answered.

    All three of the Anbu members studied her appearance. She had thick dark hair with a slight curl that hung plastered to her forehead. Her dark golden skin was glistening with sweat and striking grey eyes. Even though the clothes were disgusting it did nothing to mask her beauty. She looked young, not much older than 20.

    "Okay, Mari" he sighed "who are ¨C" About to ask a question he was interrupted.

    "Ugh...My stomach," Mari gasped surprised by a sudden spike of pain surrounding her stomach, "don''t just stand there you idiots, I need help! I''m going into labour."

    "Shit! Really?" Not quite believing the messed up situation. He glanced both left and right looking for good suggestions, both shrugged.

    "Fantastic, just fucking great." He took a deep breath as if it were him in labour.

    "Okay, this is what we''re going to do ¨C" having determined the best course of action " ¨C we might manage to make it to the village if we hurry."

    The one in the middle who''d been talking went closer to her and had since long ago let go of his sword. Went he got closer he could feel a significant amount of chakra being released from her.

    "I''m not a sensor type, but even I''m able to tell you''re releasing a lot of chakra ¨C" Mari eyed him in a slight panic "Do a reading of her and tell me what you see Takara," the one in apparent charge said over his shoulder.

    The Anbu on the left didn''t move, however, Mari could see his eyes started glowing red.

    "She got a massive amount of chakra concentrated around her stomach region," Takara who''d said, surprised by the discovery.

    "No way, that''s a normal pregnancy," he said as an afterthought.

    Mari didn''t want to tell them more than necessary. So, she kept quiet and just waited for them to make a decision. Both parties played the waiting game until the leader who''d been standing in front of her grew tired of it.

    "We''re obviously seeking answers, which you not willing to provide. We''ll take you to the village to deliver, and then afterwards we''ll talk! Sound good?"

    "Yeah, that''s fine by me," Mari smiled in relief. She''d succeeded.

    All the way back to the village the Anbu leader carried her bridal style. It took them about half a day and underway the contractions kept getting worse. She could feel her stomach heating up due to all the chakra being directed towards it from the ''Gate of Death''. Pain and exhaustion were battling for her attention. She barely noticed when one of the Anbu was sent ahead to inform the Hokage of their situation and prepare a hospital room.

    Passing under the main gate into Konohagakure it didn''t take long before she was surrounded by nurses and medical-nin at the hospital telling her it was time to push, which Mari did. All she could. Only when someone told her to stop and she heard the cry of a baby did she relax.

    What she was feeling was beyond pain, but she was happy. She''d done all she could and had given her baby everything.

    "It''s a boy," someone said and handed her blanket with a handsome little baby boy inside.

    "Hello, little one!" Mari said smiling.

    In the background, she began to hear yells of horror. She was turning to ash right before their very eyes, and no one knew what to do.

    A short time later, Mari was gone and only a small baby wrapped in a blanket remained on the hospital bed.

 Chapter 3 - Ill Take Him

    A few moments after Mari had disintegrated right before their very eyes like some sort of sadistic magic trick, leading to more than a few of the hospital nurses fainting due to shock, the current Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, finally arrived after he''d received an urgent message from an Anbu.

    Standing by the door he surveyed the room, and to his surprise found bodies of female nurses littering on the ground.

    "What happened?"

    Finally noticing him everybody turned around. An elderly medical-nin stepped forward as if to answer him, but stopped right as he was about to speak.

    He turned around towards the bed where Mari had disappeared from and left behind a sleeping baby boy. Turning back to the Hokage, he once again tried to formulate intelligent words to explain what had occurred, but only inarticulate mumbling came out.

    Giving himself a mental kick in the butt, the medical-nin in charge of the baby''s delivery finally managed to say something resembling understandable speech.

    "I...I, don''t know ¨C" he stammered.

    Patience wearing thin and growing tired of this obvious clown fiesta they''d woken him for, Hiruzen called out to the room in general in the hope that someone would actually tell him what had happened.

    "Do anyone wish to elaborate on that? Please, feel free?" Annoyance clear for everybody to hear.

    The Anbu who''d been standing in the corner the entire time during the event, observing, answered the Hokage and narrated everything.

    Hearing the full story, Hiruzen took a deep breath and exhaled.

    "Well, this is a right mess ¨C" Calling over his shoulder, he asked someone to help the nurses who''d fainted and turned his attention to the remaining hospital staff " ¨C has anyone done a full physical checkup on the baby?" He asked with a tone underscoring that someone better well answer him.

    The same medical-nin as before answered. Now in a far more collected voice.

    "Yes, Hokage. I made a preliminary inspection before I handed him back to his mother ¨C" he once again looked at the place she''d been " ¨C who is now gone."

    He audibly gulped before continuing.

    "The child was physically perfect when I checked him. There''s nothing wrong with him."

    "So, what you''re saying is that there''s no way the child is going to disappear as well, right?"

    Everyone on the hospital staff practically went white imagining it and decided to be extra thorough. Each of them hurried forward to check the still sleeping baby once again.

    Two minutes and a flurry of activity later where the Hokage had been mostly ignored, the medical-nin came back to report his findings. In the curve of his arm, he brought along the still sleeping baby. Wanting to show proof of the baby''s health to the Hokage.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

    "We''ve checked for everything and run every test we can, for now at least. We''ve also taken a small sample of blood for analysis. If you exclude what happened to his mother there''s nothing much out of the ordinary. Sure, he''s bigger and doesn''t look like anyone else around here with the dark complexion, but otherwise nothing weird."

    "So, no...puff?" The Hokage asked for confirmation. indicating with his hands what he meant.

    "Yes, none of that as far as we can tell, but what the hell do I know," he said as he handed the baby off to one of the remaining nurses and left the room grumbling something about getting too old for this shit.

    "The rest can leave as well!" Ordered the Hokage, deciding to ignore the medical-nin''s comment.

    Now only the Hokage and the three Anbu members were left in the room. A nurse had placed the baby in a crib opposite the bed where the previous disappearing act hat happened. Hiruzen had noticed how she''d held him tight to her bosom as if she half-expected the baby to slip away into thin air.

    Looking around the room he went to grab a chair that''d been standing beside the door and placed it next to the crib. As he sat down he pulled out a bag of tobacco and fished out his usual pipe. After making sure it was filled properly, he lit it with a matchstick and puffed out a cloud of white smoke.

    ¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C

    Eric woke with perhaps the worst headache of his life. Quite possibly worse than that time he''d gone to Moscow to protect some high-rank international douchebag for a couple of days and had tried to outdrink an entire bar of native Russians. In all honesty, he still believed he''d done a valiant attempt, but vodka simply wasn''t his thing. However, the offensive headache he was feeling right now did feel very similar to the hangover from that exact night, just slightly worse.

    He tried to open his eyes to see where the hell he was. Chaos hadn''t been much use in providing useful information. He''d just sent Eric off, not even a goodbye.

    As he finally managed to open them, almost everything was blurry. He couldn''t focus on anything further than a couple of feet away.

    Lifting his hand, he noticed he had a dark brown coloured skin. Reaching further up, he could feel the soft curly hair slide between his fingers. Reminding him of what he used to look like.

    The reincarnation really did work, he marvelled by himself.

    Even though he couldn''t see much of anything, he was still very sure he was at a hospital. There was no way for him to mistake the sterile smell of that place as he''d been in and out of it more often than he could count.

    "Ah, let''s see, what do we have here?" someone with a tired voice said, disturbing Eric''s thoughts. Looking to the far end of the crib, Eric could just barely see a rather young looking third Hokage.

    Eric noticed that he''d tilted his head at an upward angle to better glance down his crib. He could feel his eyes inspecting him.

    ¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C¨C

    Hiruzen could feel the young troublemakers attentive gaze watching him.

    On little more than a hunch, he placed the palm of his hand above the baby''s stomach. What he felt stunned him. Slowly removing it, he puffed out another cloud of smoke.

    "My, my...aren''t you quiet the little wonder," he said while contemplating the consequences of what he''d just discovered. He''d no idea how they''d done, but through some insane miracle, someone had created a seal which for the duration of the poor women''s pregnancy had kept the inner gates open the entire time, and quite literally bathe the fetus in chakra during its development.

    In his mind, there was no other way to explain what occurred to that unfortunate young woman and the level of chakra he''d just felt within this boy. He''d no doubt grow up to have an enormous amount of chakra and if not coupled with the proper control might result in him hurting someone unintentionally.

    That meant it wasn''t possible to send him to an orphanage. A place like that would be the equivalent of putting a tiger in a henhouse.

    The only real place Hiruzen could envision was in the hands of a shinobi family. A place where someone could instruct and guide him.

    "I''ll take him," a harsh voice interrupted Hiruzen''s chain of thought.

    Both Hiruzen and Eric turned to face the newcomer standing by the doorway.

 Chapter 4 - Amends

    Both Hiruzen and Eric turned to face the newcomer standing by the doorway.

    "Danzo... Why would in the world you do that? You don''t strike me as the parenting type," Hiruzen commented as he sat back in his chair.

    "No, I''m afraid not. However, that not truly the issue now, is it? I read the report of what happened Hiruzen. Such a tragic event, indeed."

    With a couple of long steps, he approached the crip and studied Eric. Danzo might come across as indifferent and uncaring, but in truth, he had great ambition and this child might well be the key to his reign.

    Bending down he placed the palm of his hand on Eric''s stomach to confirm his suspicion.

    When he bent down, Eric noticed he''d yet to have any weird modifications made and still appeared quite normal. He might be several years younger compared to the anime, but he still had the same characteristically uncaring facade. It left little Eric with little doubt that wouldn''t want to face the guy in a poker tournament.

    Even though it was as Danzo suspected, his eyes still widened in surprise and looked questioning to Hiruzen seeking further proof of what he''d already confirmed himself.

    "I know. Startled me as well."

    Standing upright again Danzo glanced at the three Anbu members still stationed inside the room.

    Getting the hint, Hiruzen ordered them to wait outside and guard the door so the two of them could speak in private. A few seconds after they''d left, Danzo asked, even though he already knew the answer as they''d had long debates about it.

    "Do you remember the Anbu proposal I submitted about half a year ago?"

    "I do! You want to make a secret subdivision for the Anbu under your own command. A place where you''d handpick and train young shinobi to carry out missions that would benefit the village."

    Hiruzen hadn''t yet been fully convinced that this was was a necessary step to protect the village, but he did see the merit it could have considering the increased instability they''d experienced the last couple of years. If war were to break out once again after more than 10 years of peace they''d need all the manpower they could assemble, and Root, as he would have it called, would no doubt help in the war effort.

    "That''s right! And that boy ¨C" Danzo pointed at Eric " ¨C is the perfect starting point. I mean, where else can you put him?"

    Hiruzen considered his words. He did have a point, but he wouldn''t want to give the kid a life too sheltered and secretive. Forever hidden and forced to remain in the shadows was no life for a child this young. However, if he could make a compromise with Danzo, it might just work.

    "Fine. You can have the subdivision of Anbu, though if you want the kid as well has to be certain conditions attached ¨C" Hiruzen pointed towards with the crib using his pipe " ¨C First, I want personal updates from both you and him, separately. Of course, I get to know his general whereabouts at all times. Second, when he''s old enough I want you to make sure he receives his own place away from Root inside the city and receives earned pay like any other shinobi. Third, when judged capable I want him to attend the academy and graduate like everyone else. For however brief of a period that is and after which he''s allowed to freely choose whether to stay in Root, join the main force of Anbu or a regular 3-man team."You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

    "Yes, I agree."

    Danzo held out his hand seeking to finalize the deal with a handshake. He''d gotten everything he wanted and more. In truth, everything was ready and laid out. The only missing piece had been the Hokage''s permission. Since the proposal was presented at the Konoha Council, he''d been working hard on building the basic infrastructure necessary establish his Root.

    He''d already scouted several people from within the Anbu who had a similar philosophy as him and would do anything to protect the village. People that could be trusted and help him set up a scouting platform from where future recruits could be found, create a reliable information network and train future members among their ranks.

    Hiruzen grasped Danzo''s battle-scarred hand and shook on it. He''d decided to indulge him this once knowing of Danzo''s struggle with coming to terms with his appointment as Hokage. This would hopefully help make some amends.

    When Hiruzen was about to leave Danzo called out to him.

    Turning around, he faced the man with a questioning look, waiting for an elaboration.

    "The boy doesn''t yet have a name..." Danzo explained himself.

    "Well, we can''t have that."

    Walking back to the crib, Hiruzen regarded Eric''s figure once again.

    "Sure, you don''t want the honour, friend?"

    "Nah, I''m no good with these sort of things."

    Both of them cast their attention towards the baby in question. In deep concentration, Hiruzen''s face creased while actively puffing on his pipe as if it''d magically provide him with a suitable name. It didn''t. With a need for extra creativity, he tried stroking his greying beard and then it came.

    "Fuzen."

    "And surname?" asked Danzo.

    "I''m tired. He can choose one for himself when he gets older. Oh, and I''ll let the nurses know the boys'' name and make sure they know he''s in your care. Goodnight..."

    At with that he excused himself and left the room desperately in need of some sleep. He had an ominous feeling it wouldn''t be too long until he''d be dealing with a small rascal causing trouble within his village.

    After Hiruzen went home, it was only Fuzen and Danzo that remained in the hospital room.

    During the time of their brief negotiation, Fuzen had attempted to inject his opinion on the matter. Sadly, he found that it only amounted to baby speech. Knowing this he quickly shut his mouth, wanting to avoid any further embarrassment to his manhood. He''d have to work on that. Speaking properly that is.

    Fuzen didn''t mind the deal too much, though. To be honest, it suited him just fine. By listening to their conversation, he knew the ''Second Great Shinobi War'' wasn''t too far away, just like he wanted. Joining Root would give him access to plenty of resources that would help him train faster and prepare for that event. Thankfully, the Hokage left sufficient room for him to get out of Root if he wanted. And he''d no plans to get stuck as one of Danzo''s minions for longer than necessary either.

    The day it was decided he could attend the academy he would. What followed after that, he wasn''t too sure, time would tell. Wherever the fun was. He''d always been a man who liked to keep his options open and spread his wings to its fullest.

    The only thing that annoyed him about the deal made on his behalf was the question of his remuneration because there was no way he wasn''t going to be worth at least twice as much as any regular Anbu. His services shouldn''t come cheap as it would set a bad precedent for any future negotiations.

    Meanwhile, Danzo had called over one of the nurses to explain that he''d be discharging Fuzen effective immediately and bringing him with him. Furthermore, he needed them to prepare provisions that would last them for a couple of days.

    With that order given, he returned, now holding a thick blanket which he wrapped around Fuzen. Taking Fuzen with him, he went to the nurses'' station to grab the things they''d collected and left the hospital into the night.

 Chapter 5 - The Tenacious Foundation

    In the darkness of night, several Root members could be seen patrolling a forbidden area in the forest surrounding Konohagakure. Ordered by Danzo, they''d been given the duty to protect and if necessary, kill anyone uninvited that got too close to the concealed entrance leading to one of Root''s primary facilities. It was at this undisclosed location, deep beneath the ground Fuzen had spent a majority of his life since he was born.

    During this time Fuzen didn''t have a lot of contact with Danzo as he was busy running everything. To compensate for the absence he''d placed Fuzen in the care of a female member of Root. Now, normally Fuzen would hit on any women with a pretty face and hot body, however, due to the situation he felt it inappropriate, for once. He wanted this horrible period over with and he just knew these humiliating days would forever haunt his mind. Fortunately, it didn''t take his body more than a couple of months to gain a sufficient level of strength to allow him to more or less take care of himself.

    Everyone who saw him regularly was surprised by the rapid development he was showing. Less than a half a year old he''d been able to speak, and now not much older he was just caught redhanded in Danzo''s private library reading advanced books.

    "There you are you little rascal!" Said the newly assigned male Root member who was supposed to watch him.

    Fuzen wore the same standard outfit given to all Anbu members but had opted to go without the flack jacket, mask and metal arm protectors. Though not much more than two years of age he still reached a height of more than 3 feet and his facial features already showed the promise of someone who''d grow up to be very handsome. Additionally, his curly mane of dark hair, dark brown skin and bright golden eyes added to him an exotic quality.

    "Oi, oi, I think you might have broken the door on your way in" ¨C Fuzen used his still small hand to indicate towards the door ¨C "Danzo won''t be happy with that at all," he commented with the intention to rattle him.

    The door frame had twisted from when the male Anbu, Tarou, had kicked in the door. The old trick with a stool beneath the door handle still worked like a charm. In his defence, he did ask Fuzen to open it before using the more hands-on approach.

    "What are you doing in here anyway?" He asked looking around the dimly lit room seeing only books and scrolls scattered around the room on bookshelves and tables. Beside Fuzen lay a small tower of discarded half-open books seemingly without a care for their health. Holding up the thick book he said.

    "I''m obviously reading, musclebrain" ¨C he pointed out the obvious ¨C "and for your information, I''ve been sneaking in here for weeks without you guys knowing."

    Fuzen turned and gave him just enough of a smile to show his more pronounced canine teeth. It truly perfected the special look he''d honed throughout his previous life. It was called Amused Smirk of Triumph.

    "You guys should learn to take your assignments more seriously."

    Fuzen could understand how being told this by a two-year-old didn''t sit well with Tarou. He noticed his hands balled up into fists, visibly trembling due to anger.

    Fuzen sighed. This was one of the reasons he didn''t want any part of Root. They were way too strict, and all members acted as if they something stuck up their rear end. Had it been him he would most likely give in to his instincts and knock the teeth out of any fucker who tried the same shit he just pulled. Any future kids of his would either have to learn how to run very fast or be smart enough to find another way to avoid it his wrath if they did anything similar.

    "What do you know about bloodlines?" Fuzen asked having gone back to reading his most recently picked book that appeared much too big for him to hold.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

    "I don''t know anything you won''t find in those books," he pointed to the books on the shelves.

    "Come on. Don''t be like that!" Fuzen grinned.

    "If you''re done? We should go. You''re supposed to meet up with Lord Danzo to have lunch" ¨C he turned his head to look at the broken doorframe ¨C "and I need to find someone who can fix that."

    Not hearing Fuzen move to stand up he turned around determined to drag him out if necessary, but he wasn''t there. The dark place he''d been sitting cross-legged on the floor was now empty.

    "Well are we going or what?" Came the smug sound of Fuzen''s voice from outside in the hallway.

    Peeking his head outside the door, he saw the little brat leaning casually against the wall half enveloped in shadows.

    "Wait, how did you...?"

    "Wouldn''t you like to know," was all the answer he received before Fuzen went towards Danzo''s office.

    None of them said a word until they reached the office and Tarou knocked on the door.

    "Enter!" Came Danzo''s voice from the other side.

    About to enter, Fuzen was suddenly held back by Tarou who put a firm hand on his right shoulder to hold him back.

    "You wait here," he commanded leaving no discussion.

    "Aye, sir!" Fuzen mocked him. Fuzen knew he''d be reporting on his previous stunt, but he wasn''t one to play by anyone''s rules besides his own and just sit outside the door. Playing by your own rules had the upside of never having them stacked against him.

    Standing outside the door, he focused on making his shadow entirely envelop him in a layer of darkness. After completion, his darkened figure near instantly collapsed down into the ground, leaving his previous spot empty.

    A few weeks ago he''d realised this ability of his to manipulate the darkness within his own shadow. It felt natural and through experiments, Fuzen found that by using his own shadow as an entry-point he could enter a world of pure darkness, and exit again using other windows of shadow. At first, it had been a weird experience as his normal body and senses were replaced by an incorporeal form where things happened based on intent rather than real physical action.

    It still wasn''t usable for combat as it was too slow. The time-consuming parts in this process were the time it took to envelop in a cloak of darkness in order to gain entryway and the time it took to rematerialize at the decided exit points. If he ever did manage to shorten it, he''d have a whole range of new options to attack and retreat during mid-combat, but until such a time he could think of plenty of other uses where it''d still come in handy.

    From within the darkness he chose one of the far corners of Danzo''s office to rematerialize. However, right as he was finished, he knew something was very wrong because one of Danzo''s goons had a damn kunai to his throat.

    "Fuck, it''s me! Just me..." He surrendered himself, arms above his head.

    "HAHAHAHA" Danzo laughed.

    Not quite what Fuzen expected, but he''d take a creepy laugh any day of the week if it prevented a slit throat. Those hurt, or so he thought without actually having tried it himself.

    "I told you!" He continued laughing his ass off pointing towards him, which now was starting to piss Fuzen off.

    When he finally did calm down he said.

    "You''re getting predictable, my boy."

    This time sounding serious.

    "Won''t happen again, I promise!"

    And Fuzen meant it even though he was almost entirely sure they''d been waiting for him to show himself. It felt worse than that time he was caught fucking someone below a solid seven. His reputation took a serious hit from that one and was afterwards forced to work hard to regain it. Next time, he would only do this trick knowing he could get away with it.

    "Can you remove the knife? I think you may have nicked me," he said.

    With the kunai removed he brought his hand up and as he expected the asshat had drawn blood. Most likely on purpose.

    "What your name?" Fuzen asked innocently.

    "Yoshi."

    "Fine, Yoshi... I''ll remember your name," he tried to say as threatening as possible, but he wasn''t sure whether it had the intended effect. Difficult to judge when most people here wore masks.

    Interrupting the standoff between them, Danzo said.

    "Well, seeing this, I guess there isn''t much use in waiting till you turn three so tomorrow I''ll have a couple of very eager instructors help you get started on your shinobi journey."

    The nod Danzo gave Tarou from behind his desk after saying that last part gave Fuzen the chills and it made him suspect he might be dealing with some type of payback tomorrow.

    "From now on and until you choose otherwise you''ll first and foremost be a shinobi belonging to Root."

    "We are the tenacious foundation supporting the great tree known as the Konohagakure. When you report for duty tomorrow you''ll be one of us, and as such you need a second name. So, while the outside world may know you as Fuzen, within the Anbu organisation as a whole we''ll recognize you solely by the name, Gaijin."

    Outsider, very fitting considering his origin he thought.

 Chapter 6 - Ambition

    The very next day, Danzo had assigned three trusted Root members to train him. One of them was Tarou, which made the lessons taught the first day quite painful. Physically he only received a couple of bruises, but his pride had seen better days after Fuzen was shown much he was outclassed in actual combat.

    One of Root''s core training philosophies was to establish a solid foundation. They believed only by letting the roots of the tree reach deep beneath the earth could something able to weather both storms and disasters be grown. This meant nearly all the focus, in the beginning, had been on taijutsu and chakra control as they considered both core aspects of shinobi combat. Only after he''d completed these would he be allowed training to start working on his apparent bloodline.

    Fuzen received perhaps the best educational environment possible to improve himself. He had no obligation to do anything besides train and prepare for the war he knew was coming. During this period he trained harder than ever before and gave himself no relaxation because he knew how crucial it would prove later on. The world of shinobi was one of cruelty. A place where fights were certain and death a real possibility. It was a place near perfect for someone like him, however, if he was to have any sort of influence and deciding power over his own path, then he still needed strength first.

    It didn''t take Danzo and the assigned trainers long to notice Fuzen''s unnatural pace of improvement. He excelled both faster and beyond what any of them thought humanly possible. Like a black hole, he absorbed everything taught and based on this, Fuzen quickly became known as a prodigy within the Root organisation. When he passed people in hallways, they nodded in respect. The idiots that they were, they all thought he was committed to Lord Danzo and Root. He could see how his dedicated practice could lead them to that conclusion, but it wasn''t anywhere near the truth.

    He was there because it benefitted his personal ambition to lead a life conquering all the most powerful kunoichi''s and do battles across the entire continent. He might well be crazy, however, there was going to be no stopping him from spanking this world into submission if he thought it necessary to achieve his goals.

    If there ever came a day he grew tired of fighting he could always retreat to his personal harem of women. But first, he needed power. As a man, Fuzen believed you could only deal with women from a position of strength. That was also why he would never sleep with women who didn''t respect him. Not more than once or twice at least, depending on how hot she was. After that, his self-respect dictated that he lose their contact. Life was easier that way.

    Just before he turned four, his taijutsu had reached a level where he quite consistently won against his three jounin level trainers who fought as a unified group. To gain the upper hand, his style of taijutsu came to revolve around utilizing his physical body''s phenomenal speed and reflexes. Altogether, it quickly became very difficult for his trainers to catch him unaware and much less beat him. Doing this allowed him access to the next part of training concerning the use of chakra.

    During the initial inspection before they started teaching him how to properly build and control chakra, one of Fuzen''s trainers with sensory abilities noted his chakra reserves had grown almost comparable to the current jinchuriki, Mito Uzumaki. Additionally, his chakra had slowly begun seeing a change in character. It was somehow gaining a black hue and becoming more potent as if it now contained the power of an exploding star.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    The change occurring in his chakra didn''t hinder him from completing the normal practices used to improve moulding and manipulation of chakra. Given the potency of Fuzen''s chakra and the raw amount of it available, he learned that he only had to use a minuscule stream of it to climb vertical surfaces and balance on top of the water. Completing these basic exercises, he graduated to learn about the different hand seals and how to further enhance his already significant physical attributes using chakra. Knowing of the potential possessed within the Body Flicker Technique he decided to focus on that as it augmented his natural speed and fast reflexes.

    However, he found learning this was difficult. Most shinobi were only able to perform the Body Flicker Technique in a single short burst, which never truly utilized it to its full potential. Since the augmentation of speed and faster reflexes relied on the instant consumption of chakra as soon as it is moulded, then in order to bring the Body Flicker Technique to the next level, he had to learn how to keep a constant moulding of chakra going throughout his body while at the same time expending it instantaneously.

    The normal use of this technique didn''t allow for it to be applicable in actual combat as it only increased speed in linear bursts. Fuzen''s way of doing it allowed for him to appear as a blur and still maintain the mobility needed during combat.

    Fuzen knew he was far from reaching the maximum power using the Body Flicker Technique. At any given point, he could only mould a small amount of chakra otherwise he couldn''t expend it fast enough for it to actually augment him. There needed to be a balance between the two, if not, it was just a pure waste of chakra.

    The potent chakra of Fuzen did help enhance the effects this technique had and when used in combination with his taijutsu none of his trainers stood a chance. Like a dark shadow, he slipped through their grasp and went straight for the places where he knew it would hurt.

    "You''re able to control chakra quite nicely," Danzo said while inspecting him and the downed trainers lying exhausted on the ground.

    They''d begun using the Shadow Clone Jutsu in order to prolong the time sparring matches lasted and help Fuzen familiarize himself with the constant balance between the moulding and instant expenditure of chakra. He was getting more proficient in its use and the fights using it felt easy.

    "All right! I shall train you myself," having decided after watching his significant progress during these years.

    At first glance, Fuzen might look like a five-year-old, perhaps six even as he was closing in on 4 feet. In truth, however, it had only been slightly more than four years since Danzo had carried him away from the hospital.

    "I don''t really care," Fuzen answered walking away from the practice hall left for his sole use.

    In annoyance, he looked at the three Root members still lying motionless on the ground.

    "Get up already! You''re embarrassing yourself and most importantly me!"

    Leaving after that he went to find Fuzen. He didn''t have to search too long. One of the upsides of having a Sharingan implanted into his right eye earlier this year.

    "That was fast, old man," Fuzen said when he noticed Danzo enter the library he''d more or less taken ownership of since two years ago.

    Danzo took an empty chair by one of the tables and sat down. Fuzen had taken a crosslegged position on the ground reading a book.

    "Yes?" Fuzen questioned when he had enough of being stared at.

 Chapter 7 - Mystery Unravels

    anzo looked around the library that used to be his and saw books scattered all around the place. Order long forgotten.

    "You should clean up this place..."

    "No, I don''t. This place is perfectly chaotic. Now, what do you want?" Fuzen put his book down and leaned forward to faze Danzo with one hand resting on his chin.

    "Like I said. I''d be taking control over your training, and I believe we should move on to the next part of the training and you to start learning more about that bloodline," Danzo said unfazed by his combative attitude.

    The fact that Danzo never got triggered, pissed Fuzen off. A better person might admire Danzo for possessing that quality, but Fuzen wasn''t a good guy, so he hated it. He did agree with him though. It was time to begin this stage of his training.

    However, when they began the next day something strange happened.

    After he demonstrated the ability to move between shadows two years ago, they knew Fuzen had some kind of bloodline ability. There was no other way to explain how anyone was able to do something like that. While it was rare for someone to be born with a bloodline ability, it was another matter altogether to have one never seen before.

    To find out more about Fuzen''s bloodline, Danzo made him test which of the five basic nature transformation his chakra showed an affinity towards.

    "Hmm, that wasn''t supposed to happen," Danzo mused after he saw it.

    Surprising both, the entire chakra paper had turned pitch black and wrinkled itself until it formed a small ball that eventually disintegrated into nothing.

    Fuzen took another chakra paper and tried again. The same thing happened.

    "I can''t," Fuzen said.

    "What do you mean, you can''t? Explain."

    Fuzen tried his best to describe what he felt happen when he channelled chakra into the paper.

    "I mean, it doesn''t work! I keep channelling chakra into this shitty paper" ¨C he looked at it in irritation ¨C "and it feels as if whatever reaches the paper is a fused product outside my control."

    "Fucking piece of shit!" he cursed his frustration at the papers hadn''t used.

    Danzo had never considered the possibility of the chakra paper reacting like this. However, after convincing Fuzen to continue doing the test, he theorized Fuzen''s bloodline most likely combined the elemental chakra natures of earth, wind and lightning, and somehow his yin release intervened and fused them together to form a single element.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.

    It was a bit far-fetched, but it was the only explanation Danzo felt might explain Fuzen''s instinctual use of chakra transformation. On the downside, if he was right, it also meant he''d probably never access any of the other elemental chakra transformation inherent to his bloodline as they appeared to fused to create a new element.

    He wasn''t quite sure how to categorize it either. If it was only the three elemental chakra natures, it would be a kekkei tota, but if what he assumed was correct regarding the addition of yin release, then it''d be an unheard mix between elemental and non-elemental chakra transformation.

    Danzo had been silent for quite some time now and appeared to be in deep thought.

    "What are you thinking?" Fuzen asked. For once genuinely interested in what he thought. Danzo did have much more experience when compared to him in this department.

    "Okay, there''s some good and some bad news..."

    "I want the bad news first!"

    "The bad news is that I don''t see you ever using the normal nature transformations and as a consequence will have to develop your own arsenal of jutsu from scratch."

    "And the good news?"

    "Well, the good news is that you have a bloodline that no one yet knows how to counter and with the addition of yin release, it appears to be a very flexible bloodline, meaning your future limit using it will only be restricted by your skill in shape manipulation and imagination."

    That was good news indeed, Fuzen thought. And the bad news didn''t discourage him in the slightest. Knowing he only had a single path to power made his ambition burn even brighter and determined to excel even more. He liked the aspect of creating a new path unseen to this world.

    To most shinobi the first step would be to learning how to mould and define the nature of their chakra, however, as that came naturally to him, it wasn''t necessary. Together Fuzen and Danzo began experimenting on the properties and characteristics of his bloodline''s specific nature transformation.

    Initially, Danzo went with the assumption his bloodline was an improved version of the Nara Clan''s ability to manipulate their own shadows through the use of Yin Release, but it turned out to be so much more.

    It took them several months to build a preliminary understanding of his bloodline. One of the primary aspects they had discovered during this time was that any future jutsu he created was always going to have a foundation in the darkness contained within his own shadow.

    The fortunate thing was he would always have access to the darkness within his shadow as it could never truly be erased. Darkness was indeed one of the few constant factors in this world.

    Knowing this, they brainstormed ideas that would support and enhance his already current skillset. That meant it should enable his taijutsu prowess to excel even more. Danzo wasn''t of much use during this phase and often just sat on the sideline watching Fuzen struggle and curse to himself. Danzo did make an excellent test-subject though and helped point out some errors in his thinking.

    It took a while, but in the end, Fuzen ended up with a jutsu called ''Black Sea''. With himself, at the epicentre, he would use shape transformation to expand the darkness within his shadow in a circle around him. Within this field of darkness, he had figured out how to increase the downward gravitational force on opponents to a noticeable degree thereby making them slower and him appearing faster. He already had ideas of how its uses could be developed further when his shape transformation improved. As he wasn''t yet very proficient in its use, both the gravitational downforce he could exert, and the range that currently maxed out at around 20 feet could be improved a lot. It wasn''t quite a sea yet, but in the future, he would make sure it would be.

 Chapter 8 - Approaching Freedom

    Fuzen was living a simple life where repetition made days meld together and time stand still.

    Within the massive training hall allocated for his personal use, Fuzen was practising his craft like any other day before this one.

    Under Danzo''s supervision, he''d positioned himself in the middle of the open space with six Root members encircling him. Everything besides killing was allowed.

    Making the first move, Fuzen activated his ''Black Sea''. Tendrils of pure darkness emanated from his shadow, eventually taking the form of a 25 feet black circle on the ground. Each of his opponents had already gone through multiple battles against him before and knew what was coming.

    As Fuzen moved using ''Body Flicker'', he became little more than a blur when he disappeared from his initial spot. The easiest way to track his general whereabouts during this time was the black circle moving along with him at the centre.

    Knowing their best chance to beat him revolved around somehow stopping his fast movements each of them began forming a jutsu meant to immobilize or slow.

    However, before the first seal had been formed from the one directly in front, Fuzen was already on him. Knowing the others wouldn''t wait for him to finish with, Fuzen went for an immediate finishing blow.

    With a style of taijutsu optimised for taking advantage of Fuzen''s immense speed and fast reflexes, his opponent wasn''t able to dodge the palm aimed for his lower abdomen and crumbled gasping for breath. Anything moving fast enough would do serious damage, even his still small hands.

    Right as he finished him, Fuzen felt the surface beneath him rumble. Moving quickly, he avoided being encapsulated in a dome of earth. He knew what their plan was and had no intentions of falling for it like the first time.

    As Fuzen near instantly arrived behind the Root who''d tried the earth jutsu, and just about to send him flying with a kick, he was suddenly halted mid-movement.

    Knowing he''d been caught inside a sealing formula, Fuzen instinctually powered up his chakra levels and broke the formation using brute force before any of the others could make a move against him.

    After none of their initial attacks worked, they knew the same tactic as before wouldn''t work again. Knowing they would be easy to take down apart each of the five remaining moved as a cohesive unit and grouped up. Ready for close combat. Together they tried their best to overwhelm him at close range, but the gravitational downforce made their movements just slow enough for him to avoid or block each one of their strikes. One of them did manage to get in a quick lucky punch, never the less they all fell. Either unconscious or groaning in pain. Between his speed and taijutsu prowess, it had become very difficult for his opponents to find enough time to form even a single hand seal.

    "Enough!" Danzo said after he finished the last one, satisfied with what he had observed.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    Listening, Fuzen halted the kick he was about to give the downed Root who''d managed to land a hit. He retracted the dark circle to once again resemble a normal shadow and left to continue his practice at the other half of the training hall.

    The fact people could track him using the black circle was a definite weakness. It was like walking around with a huge target on his back, and if they''d collaborated using the sealing formula or some other kind of large-scale jutsu he didn''t notice, then he might have been caught. Fortunately, he knew it''d be much less of an issue as managed to increase its radius. Given enough time he felt confident in his ability to expanded it so none of those fighting him could actually see the dark sea moving since its edges would be beyond their sights.

    "You have improved the range..." Danzo came up behind him.

    "Not by much, if I extend it any further it begins losing effectiveness."

    "It appears you''ve found other uses for it as well."

    Danzo looked at Fuzen who''d surrounded himself by a small black circle, barely wide enough to contain himself. He was doing weighted taijutsu training while placing himself under the gravitational downforce normally directed at his opponents.

    "Yeah, it has its uses," Fuzen readily agreed while taking a deep breath steadying him himself. He had a feeling Danzo wanted to say something important.

    "I''ve spoken to Hiruzen."

    "And...? Please, don''t make this a talk about how I shouldn''t leave this facility using my ''Shadow Walk'' without an escort."

    Fuzen didn''t feel any desire to argue and tried to shut it down right away.

    "We both know I can take care of myself," he said.

    "Of that, we can agree. Which is why I''ve arranged for you to have a place inside Konohagakure city. You will have your own little apartment and until after graduation from the Academy you''ll receive a monthly paycheck."

    "Wait, so you''re telling me I''m out of here?" Fuzen asked for confirmation.

    "Yes! Sadly ¨C"

    "No no no. This is perfect" ¨C he interjected before Danzo could go on ¨C "I was beginning to get bored out of my mind."

    Danzo wasn''t terribly surprised hearing this. He knew Fuzen had been known to use his ''Shadow Walk'' to sneak off more than once or twice. In the beginning, they tried to limit his movements but it didn''t take him long to improve his manipulation of darkness and by that point, none of them could truly stop him.

    "There''s just one thing before you leave."

    "Hmm? What''s that? Wait, you''re not making clean up the library are you?"

    Fuzen really didn''t want to clean it up. It''d be so boring. Not to mention mundane. He was put here for a much higher purpose. You might even call it a noble mission. One where he was supposed to conquer all battlefields while at the same time spreading pleasure to all beautiful kunoichi''s.

    "I thought about it. After all, a shinobi''s world is one of discipline and responsibility" ¨C he mused to himself ¨C "But, no. Hiruzen has been getting worried after seeing almost weekly changes in your appearance. You''re growing much too fast and he''s worried it might damage your body."

    Fuzen zoned out after hearing that he''d been liberated from library duty.

    "To that end, Hiruzen has arranged for a meetup at the hospital inside the city so medical-nin can perform a full physical check-up on you," Danzo continued.

    "When are we going?" Fuzen could hardly wait.

    "Now, preferably. We''re actually a little late."

    "Hang on...we? You''re coming along?" His mouth opened in surprise.

    Never once, had he went along with him into the city.

    "I''m worried of course," Danzo said with a straight face.

    As Fuzen walked over to make his and Danzo''s shadow overlap, he couldn''t help thinking it was fortunate he hadn''t chosen a career path as an actor cause his acting sucked.

    As their shadows crossed, he could feel it becoming an extension of his own. Seconds after manipulating the darkness within both shadows Fuzen and Danzo disappeared from the training hall.

 Chapter 9 - Scoundrel

    Danzo kept his promise to Hiruzen and at least once a week Fuzen was sent to visit him at the Hokage office. In the beginning, Root members escorted him each time he went, but after learning ''Shadow Walk'', he''d always gone by himself.

    After a couple of times of him appearing out of nowhere, it''d developed into a weird game of hide-and-seek. If Fuzen managed to sneak in unnoticed until he decided to reveal himself, he would get an hour in Hiruzen''s personal library and if he didn''t go unnoticed Hiruzen forced him to visit a second time during the week.

    Bringing along another passenger, which made it take a bit longer to perform this technique, Fuzen knew it was unlikely he could surprise Hiruzen like he used to.

    However, as there was something worth his attention on the line, Fuzen pretty much on a whim decided to try something new. Hovering like a spectre within the world of darkness, he surveyed all usable exits in the Hokage office and much to his surprise they had significantly reduced since his last visit. He knew it was getting late, so the only way for there to be this few options for him to choose from was if Hiruzen had rigged the game.

    Normally he would stick with the passenger the entire time and make them materialize together, but if he did the same again, he''d no doubt lose. Fuzen had an idea of what might work, yet having never tested it, he didn''t know if it''d work. It might be at the cost of Danzo''s life, but what Danzo didn''t know wouldn''t make him angry. And as the saying went; what happened in the dark stayed in the dark.

    With Danzo as the test subject, Fuzen separated from Danzo and began making only him materialize. Like a puppet master, he stayed in the world of darkness controlling Danzo ascent to the world above. When he felt sure Danzo had the attention of Hiruzen and the stationed guard platoon he felt stationed above, did Fuzen start to materialize on the ledge outside one of the opened windows.

    Within a second Fuzen was finished and could hear Hiruzen and Danzo argue.

    "Oi, old man!" Fuzen showed himself and placed one foot on the doorframe.

    "Hey, you cheated," Hiruzen said turning around in his Hokage chair.

    "Nah, that''s cheating," Fuzen corrected and pointed to the room that had been cleaned up and now had extra sources of light leaving few dark corners inside the office.

    "And don''t tell me you''re redecorating!"

    "As a matter of facts, I am," he looked towards Fuzen, challenging him to call him out on it.

    Both of the crossed their arms eyes locked onto each other, neither giving an inch. Fuzen was impressed by Hiruzen, he put on a most impressive display of acting that Danzo could learn from.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

    "You owe me two hours..." Fuzen held up two fingers to punctuate what he meant, knowing Hiruzen would understand.

    "Fine, fine. You can have two hours after we have you checked out at the hospital," he surrendered.

    Danzo knew he was missing out on something, but remained as a silent bystander.

    "Didn''t know you could do that," Danzo commented.

    Knowing full well what he was referring to, Fuzen decided to put on his best performance having learned from Hiruzen.

    "Huh? What?" He feigned ignorance, picking his ear with a pinkie.

    Taking a quick look outside the window and seeing bad weather approaching, he decided to use that as an excuse.

    "We should probably go before the rain comes."

    Not giving the opportunity for any follow-up questions, he left towards the hospital using the ''Body Flicker''.

    Left inside the office was an angry Danzo and a Hokage about to fall down from his chair from laughing too hard.

    "Don''t laugh too hard. You do remember he''s moving into the city today, right?"

    Recalling that fact silenced Hiruzen immediately, and he collected himself.

    "We should get going as well I''m not sure the hospital can handle him without any of us present," he admitted.

    Arriving outside the hospital, they saw Fuzen at the entrance surrounded by female medical-nin.

    "What is he doing?" Questioned Hiruzen.

    "You''ll find out soon enough," Danzo sighed knowing full well what Fuzen was doing.

    As two of them came within listening range of their conversation, Hiruzen felt he might strangle the kid right there.

    Apparently, he''d been trying to convince them he was there to retrieve medication meant for the Hokage who''d been having some problems in the bedroom and needed to have a little medication to get it up.

    Taking action, Hiruzen quickly went to stop the little scoundrel.

    "Sorry ladies, we''re here for an appointment. Sadly, this little guy fell and hit his head very hard," Hiruzen smiled while taking a firm hold of Fuzen''s neck.

    He''d no intentions of little him out of his sight.

    "She is down in her research lap nr. 4 waiting for you. Take the stairs to the floor below and down to the end of the hallway," one of the women directed them unsure of what to believe.

    As the trio went down the stairs and out of sight by the hospital staff, Fuzen started talking.

    "Hey, I was just trying to " ¨C Hiruzen smacked his the back of his head ¨C "Ouch, that hurt!"

    "Deserves you right for pulling stunts like that."

    "Entirely your own fault for cheating and being a bad loser!" Fuzen justified himself.

    "And you!" ¨C he turned to Danzo ¨C "You knew..."

    Danzo merely shrugged. He''d had enough time with Fuzen to know he sometimes pulled stunts like this in retaliation. Childish, yes, but quite an effective strategy. If anything it showcased the kids'' resourcefulness.

    Following the provided instructions they reached the door at the end of the hallway.

    Knocking on the door, they waited.

    "Hang on! I''ll be right there," came a female voice from the other side.

    A few seconds later the door was opened, and a truly impressive sight greeted Fuzen.

    A young Tsunade invited both Hiruzen and Fuzen inside her research lap. Danzo didn''t gain an open invitation like the other but joined them none the less.

    Fuzen followed right behind her and appreciated what he saw. As a true connoisseur and collector of women, there was no mistaking it. He would definitely have her at some point in the future.

 Chapter 10 - Physical Check-up

    It took him a while, but with great mental fortitude, Fuzen did manage to redirect his gaze from her wonderful backside and actually see where she was leading them.

    The research lab appeared to have been in active use for quite some time as it hadn''t been cleaned up for some time. The shelves along the wall where books and scrolls were supposed to be had significant sections missing and lay cluttered on top and in the near vicinity of a large table in the centre of the room.

    "Wait here," she said after they reached the table in the middle and went to get something.

    Tsunade came back with one chair and presented it to Hiruzen.

    "Been a while Tsunade," Hiruzen said sitting down.

    Danzo didn''t appear to be on the good side of Tsunade as she totally ignored him and wasn''t giving him the same courtesy of a chair. Understandable though, he wasn''t really a people person.

    "Yeah, it has, hasn''t it?" She said thinking it over.

    "Haven''t seen you since after I granted you permission to hole up in here," Hiruzen glanced around the room.

    "And that was three months ago. I had to ask one of the nurses here who brings you food to schedule this appointment for me."

    "That long?" Seemingly no aware of how long it''d been.

    "Yes, that long. I do hope that new seal you thought about is coming along nicely?" He said.

    "It''s not that easy, though I''ve done considerable progress and shouldn''t be too far away," ¨C Tsunade answered ¨C "but we''re not here for me today, are we?"

    "Nope, we''re here for me. The old men are worried..." Fuzen said taking it as his cue.

    She looked at him up and down, "Well, jump up," she patted the table indicated where she wanted him.

    Fuzen didn''t mind if women took charge every now and then. A little variation never hurt a man. Doing as told, he jumped up which in return gave him a perfect vantage point.

    The red miniskirt he followed on their way inside and the loose white crop top he was currently looking down upon, showing plenty cleavage in the process, did nothing to hide Tsunade''s womanly charms.

    "You okay, little man?" She asked noticing his distracted look.

    "I''m fine," he gave Tsunade his brightest smile and a little wink.

    Tsunade took a step back and faced Hiruzen.

    "How old is he?" she questioned while pointing to FuzenFind this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!

    "Not old enough to be acting like that, that''s for sure."

    "There''s no appropriate age for a man to appreciate beauty. Any wise man would know that." Fuzen said with great conviction, leaving no doubt he meant it.

    Neither of the other two men knew how to respond.

    "So, tell me the issue here," Tsunade tried to get back on track.

    "You tell us...We''re not even sure if anything is wrong. You did look at the file I sent you, right?"

    "What file? I didn''t get any file. Oh, wait. I remember now," she said and went to a garbage bin beside the door to retrieve a folder.

    Danzo and Hiruzen both stared at her not quite believing their eyes.

    "I''ve been busy," was all the explanation they got.

    Standing by the door she started reading the folder and after a minute went by her eyes widened and she briefly stopped to study Fuzen only to return back to the folder.

    When Tsunade finished, she returned to stand in front of Fuzen.

    "Interesting read?" He asked knowing full well it was.

    "I suppose it was..." ¨C she shrugged ¨C "Now, take off your shirt."

    After he did as she''d instructed, Tsunade immediately began the exam and coated her palms in a visible layer of chakra.

    In deep concentration, she hovered over different parts of his body and every now and then pausing to consider what she found.

    It didn''t take nearly as long as Fuzen had expected. He wasn''t worried she''d find any detrimental issues, because he''d literally never had any problems. No sickness had ever touched him and his regenerative power was fast enough to heal shallow cuts sustained during training in minutes without any conscious effort on his part.

    However, that didn''t mean he wasn''t curious if she found anything else of interest.

    All three of them looked expectantly to Tsunade, waiting for her to speak.

    "Well, he''s a physical marvel that''s for sure. I''ve never inspected anyone who pound-for-pound contained this much raw physical potential. It''s true he''s matured faster than most kids, however, it''s nothing to worry about. I suspect it will slow within a couple of years. He is still going to be tall though" ¨C she looked to Hiruzen ¨C "Much taller than you Hokage."

    "You''re saying there''s nothing wrong with him?" Said Hiruzen

    "Yes, I can''t find any cause for concern. As the folder noted he''s got impressive vitality. So much, in fact, I could practically feel the life energy within his cells," she said.

    "What about his bloodline? Is it inheritable?" Showing a clear interest now.

    Frowning she answered, "I suspect the circumstances during his mother''s pregnancy somehow triggered his genetic specific set of mutations to happen. This means the bloodline is deeply embedded into his DNA. We won''t know for sure until the future as these things are quite unpredictable. I mean, just take my grandfather as an example. However, I do believe it''s probable that any children of his will inherit it as well."

    "Can you tell us anything about his chakra? We''ve been noticing slight changes in it lately..." asked Hiruzen.

    "My knowledge on the different properties of chakra is still lacking and I''ve no clue how it''s changing or which effect it will have. Another thing for the future," she admitted.

    "Weren''t you a bunch of help," said an annoyed Danzo.

    "Listen here, one-eyed old man! You came to me and not the other way around. If you think some else can do a better job, then don''t feel obligated to stay," she hammered a hand down on the table beside where Fuzen still sat listening.

    "Wow, don''t tell me you peeked in on her while in the showers Danzo?" Fuzen said purposely trying to escalate the conflict between the two. The goal was to make her move, that way everything bounced so nicely.

    "As if," the old man shut it down, much to Fuzen disappointment.

    "I suppose that''s it for now if there''s nothing to worry about. Thanks for taking your time to humour my worries" ¨C Hiruzen gave Tsunade a thankful smile ¨C "Put on your shirt Fuzen, we''re leaving."

    Standing up from his chair, he was about to leave when Fuzen asked.

    "Isn''t it best if we kept having these check-up? You know, just to make sure nothing happens?" Fuzen said.

    He tried to put on his best ''worried face'' in an attempt to gain sympathy points. Regular meetings with Tsunade was not an opportunity he would miss out on.

 Chapter 11 - Bachelor Life

    Thankfully, Hiruzen managed to negotiate a deal with Tsunade for her to provide Fuzen with regular check-ups every other week. Trying to squeeze the Hokage for all he was worth led to her requiring both a permanent research lab available and access to whatever information the village had on fuinjutsu to help finish her new sealing technique. It was kind of cute when she tried to drive a hard bargain.

    However, Hiruzen accepting the deal easily made Fuzen suspect he would have been likely to give it to her anyway. Tsunade still had ways to go in her negotiating tactics, a definite weak point that had the potential to be exploited in the future.

    Before they left Fuzen surprised Tsunade by giving her a tight hug as thanks for her help. Fuzen''s height brought him within close range of her voluptuous cleavage, but as the gentleman he was, he refrained from doing anything scandalous. That could wait until a later date when he could actually follow up on it. This time, he only wanted to get a slightly closer peek.

    In the meantime, he needed to do something about her previous lover-boy that she met during the Second Great Shinobi War. It wouldn''t be any fun trying to fix the broken mess of what he left behind.

    After leaving the hospital, Fuzen was escorted to the apartment Danzo had arranged for him as per the promise made to Hiruzen. On the way, he reminded Hiruzen he would cash in on the visit to his personal library later.

    "So, what do you think?" asked Hiruzen after opening the apartment''s door.

    Since he''d be living alone, it was only a single bedroom apartment but it was more than enough for now at least. It had a somewhat modern feel to it. A definite bonus was it''d already been furnished and stocked with everything needed.

    "The apartment as a whole will do fine, though I someone to fetch me a larger bed. This simply won''t do!" He said indicating with his hands what he meant.

    Hiruzen looked at him like he was from a strange foreign planet.

    "Didn''t you hear a word Tsunade said?"

    Fuzen suspected there''d barely be enough space for him when he grew older, and experience told him there wouldn''t be space for more than one woman at a time. It simply wouldn''t do.

    "No, that''s plenty sufficient for now. If you want a larger bed you need to pay for it yourself," commented Danzo

    "Cheap bastards," grumbled Fuzen purposely loud enough for both of them to hear.

    "Well, here''s the keys," said Danzo and placed them on the kitchen counter.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

    When they were just about to leave, Fuzen remembered something vital.

    "What about money?" asked Fuzen.

    "Oh, yes. Good of you to remember!"

    Hiruzen came back and opened a drawer in the kitchen pulling out a thick folder in the process. Waving him over, Fuzen joined him.

    "This is your ID and bank card, where your monthly paycheck and reward for future completed missions from the village will be deposited. In order to withdraw money from the bank you need to bring both," explained Hiruzen while showing him the cards in question.

    "If there isn''t anything else? We actually have jobs to do!" said Danzo impatiently.

    "Nah, I''m good. You have my permission to leave," he said.

    Before they left, Hiruzen reminded him that his time at the Academy started tomorrow.

    All alone in his apartment, Fuzen decided to go withdraw some money from the bank so he could go shopping for clothes and other shinobi necessities. It would be weird to show up in his regular Anbu outfit.

    Pocketing the ID and the bank cart, he opened the sliding glass wall covering almost the entire length of the room and went out onto the terrace. While it wasn''t huge, it still had enough space to allow him some decent training in the future.

    A light jump brought him to the sturdy wooden railing. As the apartment was on the 5th floor, there was quite a distance down. Casually balancing on the railing, he took in the panoramic view of the Konohagakure and the surrounding forest in the far distance.

    Closing his eyes, he took a few deep breaths of pure freedom before allowing himself to let gravity take hold and carry him down towards the street beneath. At the last second possible, Fuzen used his ability over gravity to lessen the downward force to make himself light as a feather.

    Landing effortlessly, he did a small salute to the people shocked by his sudden appearance and walked down the street with both hands in his pockets thinking of all the fun he''d have. All the battles and women to conquer.

    The next day, he woke up late not seeing many purposes in him attending. The Academy was more of a formality anyway since he''d already learned everything needed. Yesterday he''d bought several sets of clothes, shoes and a small personal supply of shinobi tools. He felt prepared for the things to come.

    Still tired after coming home later from Hiruzen''s library, Fuzen opened the doors to the terrace wearing a loose offwhite long sleeve linen t-shirt, casual black pants and black sandals.

    Taking off from the terrace, he moved the short distance to the Academy over the roofs. Arriving outside the entrance, Fuzen took out a slip of paper where he''d written the number of the classroom he''d be attending. It was supposedly one of the classes one of the more talented classes. However, if he proved ready, he could submit a request to graduate early after a months time, which he most certainly would do.

    It didn''t appear much different compared to a normal school when he walked the halls. The only difference was the things being taught.

    After finding the correct class, he decided to use his ''Shadow Walk'' as it''d be interesting to see how long it took until the teacher noticed him. His bet was quite a while.

    Discretely, without either students and teacher becoming aware, Fuzen found a seat at the upper back corner.

    Glancing down from his spot he found a couple of recognizable faces.

    Getting comfortable, Fuzen put his feet up on the table and let out a yawn. Doing so, the girl sitting next to him stopped diligently writing down every word of the teacher and tried to give him one of those looks of pure annoyance that women can do so well. This time, however, she stopped herself midway through after seeing him and introduced herself instead.

    "Hi, my name is Kushina. What''s yours?"

 Chapter 12 - Introductions

    With a small outstretched hand, Kushina introduced herself with a cautious smile.

    Fuzen had no idea what any of the other children were thinking when they bullied her as it should''ve been obvious to even the dumbest retards she''d grow up to be quite the looker.

    Her red hair did nothing to subtract from that equation and in his expert opinion only added more flavour to the mix. Furthermore, experience told him women with fiery personalities often meant great bedroom partners. There''s was nothing quite like taming a wild beast by fucking them into submission.

    As he didn''t respond straight away to her greeting, Kushina tucked a strand of stray hair behind her ear and bit her bottom lip appearing nervous he would refuse her offer of friendship.

    Alleviating her concerns, Fuzen grabbed hold of her hand and gave it a firm shake.

    "I''m Fuzen, it''s a pleasure to meet you."

    The stark contrast between her rosy white skin and his much darker created an intriguing image.

    Both of them were outsiders in more than one sense. While she came from Uzushigakure and had their signature red hair, Fuzen came from somewhere yet unknown and his dark skin, black curly hair and bright golden eyes made him look downright alien compared to anyone in Konohagakure.

    However, Fuzen didn''t mind his appearance in the least as he knew he was handsome and that it''d assist him in attracting women in the future.

    Scooting closer, Kushina leaned in like she wanted to tell a secret only meant for him.

    "I haven''t seen you before. Are you the new student our teacher said would be coming today?"

    Fuzen felt the warm tingle of her breath and couldn''t help a slight smile. Imitating Kushina, he also leaned in close to whisper in her ear.

    "I suppose so... What gave me away?"

    She gave him another one of those looks known to be used by women, this time one which signalled whenever something is obvious as hell.

    Holding his hands up in surrender, he conceded her point.

    "Okay, I admit I don''t blend in too well around here" ¨C he laughed ¨C "Neither do you though."

    On pure instinct, she went on the offensive.

    "What? You have a problem with that!?"

    Kushina kept looking at him, challenging him to make fun of her like everybody else. However, Fuzen never did.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

    "No, not at all. I kind of like it in fact, especially your red hair."

    Not expecting the compliment she blushed.

    Fuzen was about to say something when the teacher took notice of their ongoing conversation and interrupted their moment together.

    "Hey, you two lovebirds up there! If what you''re discussing aren''t anything worth sharing with the class, please be quiet."

    Walking over to the teachers'' desk their classroom teacher picked up a folder. And as if confirming what he already knew took out a picture just to make sure.

    "You''re Fuzen, correct?"

    By this time the entire class was paying attention and inspected the back row for the ones being questioned.

    With his feet still on the table, he had difficulties watching the teacher as his feet were in the way. Leaning his body sideways Fuzen smiled at the teacher and did a small wave.

    "Who''s asking?"

    With both hands on his hips, he answered.

    "I''m Osamu Uchiha, your classroom teacher."

    Knowing he was speaking to an Uchiha, Fuzen sat upright and leaned forward with interest in his seat.

    "Do you have the Sharingan?"

    "Indeed I have. What interest is that of yours?"

    Without answering, he stood up from his seated position and cracked his neck still feeling a little stiff in the body.

    "I''m still a little tired from just waking up, so excuse my... slower speed than normal."

    Osamu had already been briefed about and knew this boy might try something. Out of pure instinct, he activated his Sharingan and thereby just barely managed to catch the initial movement of Fuzen.

    Before Osamu could manage to react Fuzen appeared in front of him and had snatched up the picture of himself.

    "Ehh? This picture is so old," he complained to no one in particular.

    Everyone present was startled by what had just occurred and wouldn''t have believed it if they weren''t present to witness it.

    The still startled Osamu looked down unbelieving at his hand with the now missing picture. Despite having the Sharingan activated at the time, he''d found himself unable to react and at the complete mercy of Fuzen''s speed.

    Not caring about the teachers moment of being dumbstruck, Fuzen folded the picture and walked back up the stairs to his previous spot beside Kushina.

    "If you want to hang out after school then I can show you something cool?"

    At first, Kushina seemed unsure of how to answer his question but intrigued, she decided to agree anyway.

    Putting he feet up on the table once again, Fuzen could see Osamu finally returned to his senses and looked up at Fuzen in deep thoughts.

    "Excellent display of speed!" ¨C he complimented ¨C "For you to be able to overpower a fully awakened Sharingan like mine shows great future promise."

    Looking at Fuzen''s feet on top of the table, he said.

    "It appears one of the missing things is respect. Put down your feet and introduce yourself to the rest of the class, please."

    Ignoring the teachers'' demand for him to remove his feet, Fuzen folded his hands behind the back of his head.

    "Respect is something earned, not given freely to whoever desires it. You as a teacher has not yet shown yourself capable of such, however, make it a decent fight and I''ll think about it," Fuzen explained.

    "To anyone who wants to know, my name is Fuzen. It won''t really matter much as I won''t be attending this class for that long since I''m going to submit a request for early graduation by the end of this month."

    The entire class was left speechless and couldn''t quite believe Fuzen''s words. Osamu was another case though. Experiencing the child''s prowess first hand convinced him Fuzen would be a bane to any enemy shinobi force and a valuable asset in the recent altercation that''d been happening between the Land of Fire and its neighbouring countries.

    "I see, thank god for that!" Relieved he wouldn''t have to be in charge of him for more than a month.

 Chapter 13 - Seal of Confrontation

    For the next couple of hours, Fuzen paid little attention to class and besides the occasional whisper to Kushina focused on developing a close-range offensive technique to compliment his speed.

    Hidden underneath the desk small black patches coated areas of Fuzen''s left hand making it appear smitten by some horrible disease intent on marring his otherwise unblemished dark skin.

    Feeling sure he was able to hold it like this for a while Fuzen turned to Kushina.

    "Do you have a pencil I could borrow?"

    It took her a while as went over and discarded several pencils from her case before handing him one she thought appropriate for his use.

    "Sure. However, you don''t strike me as the notetaking type."

    "Now what would make you think that?"

    Taking hold of the pencil, he brought it to rest above one of the black patches covering his hand.

    "I don''t know, just a hunch ¨C"

    Noticing something wrong, she looked down at Fuzen''s hands in time to see a significant part the pencil she''d given him disappear into a weird looking black smudge.

    Holding it up, Fuzen inspected the pencil with great interest.

    "Hmm..."

    About one-third of the pencil was gone, and the end had been cut clean leaving no evidence of resistance behind. It was as if the black patches functioned as small black holes that if allowed would eat whatever fed them. An empty void ready to devour anything coming into contact with it.

    "Oi, my pencil!"

    Kushina''s accusatory voice disrupted his thoughts, and unlike his usual self, he almost felt bad about it. Scratching the back of his head, he looked at the now much shorter pencil.

    "I''ll buy you a new one after class, okay?"

    Folding her arms, she propped up her still growing breasts making them look a bit bigger and gave him a stern look.

    "You better! Otherwise I''ll..."

    She grew silent and broke eye contact.

    "Otherwise what? Tell me I want to know."

    With her head buried down in her notes again, she answered.

    "Nothing. Just buy me a new one, please."

    Even though he suspected what she intended to say, Fuzen didn''t call her out. The only purpose it''d serve was to make her embarrassed or even worse, cry.

    Bending down low, he tried to gain her attention.

    "No problem, we''ll drop by a place after class where you can choose any pencil you want."Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

    After she agreed, Fuzen leaned back and put his feet up once again. Dealing with emotional women was much like handling a bomb ready to blow. You never knew when sadness might turn to anger, and she''d attempt stabbing you or worse threaten to withhold sex.

    Feeling someone''s attention directed at the two of them, Fuzen glanced around the classroom until he found the source, a blond-haired boy with spiky hair near the front row.

    A young Minato briefly met his eyes but caught in the act averted them back to the blackboard where Osamu was explaining the function of different shinobi formations.

    Ignoring Minato, he went back to perfecting his technique by making it cover his entire lower arm and hand.

    Absorbed in his task, it went unnoticed when all the other students left the classroom, and it wasn''t until Kushina poked him with an insistent finger that he found it was only the two of them left. Everything was packed up and cleaned.

    "Where did everybody go?"

    "In the event, you paid attention you would''ve heard our teacher Osamu instruct everyone to meet him outside for sparring matches."

    With both hands on her hips, she looked kind of cute. Fuzen liked women with a temper. It made it so much more satisfying to tame them later on.

    Standing up from his seat, Fuzen gestured for her to lead the way and he''d follow from behind.

    Not bothering to scold him any further she led them out to a fenced off area where all those from class had gathered beside a small circle cheering on two students sparring under Osamu''s close supervision.

    Joining late, Kushina discretely guided the two of them to the back of the cheering audience.

    "Halt! That''s enough!"

    Osamu went in between the two boys sparring and made them do the Seal of Reconciliation.

    "Okay! Who wants to go next?"

    He searched the audience for willing students but found no volunteers.

    "Listen, I''ve already told you guys several times before. A shinobi''s taijutsu is one of the most reliable skills in their arsenal and as such neglecting it won''t help any of you."

    When he was close to picking a couple of students at random, Osamu saw a raised hand step through the silent crowd.

    "I''m up for it..."

    "Outstanding Minato! And who do you wish to be your opponent?"

    Waiting, Osamu could see Minato trying to locate the one he wanted to face. It didn''t take long for him to lock onto Fuzen who stood in the back talking intimately with Kushina.

    "I choose Fuzen."

    After hearing his decision, a tidal wave of hushed whispers moved throughout the small gathering of students until it reached Fuzen''s ears.

    Looking up for his conversation with Kushina, he saw Minato''s eyes glued to him. While Fuzen hadn''t quite expected for Minato to have the guts to challenge him, he saw no reason to refute him.

    With a small wink to Kushina, Fuzen left to join Osamu and Minato in the circle.

    "I assume we''re only using taijutsu?" Fuzen asked for confirmation.

    Osamu nodded and told them they were free to begin after they''d made the Seal of Confrontation.

    The atmosphere was thick with anticipation when both of them stepped into the middle of the ring and faced each other. Minato was the best their class could offer and a renowned prodigy within Konohagakure. They were interested to see how he matched up against this mysterious student who''d overwhelmed their teacher.

    Fuzen had been taught to never go easy on an opponent, not even in a spar. So, despite it being a spar he wasn''t about to go easy on Minato.

    After completing the gesture, Minato immediately took the offensive and initiated their fight, leaving a small cloud of dust behind.

    With Minato''s right fist about to connect to his temple, Fuzen surprised everybody present by not deciding to block or parry, but instead to step-in even closer and narrowly avoid the hit by bending his head.

    Not giving Minato the chance to escape, he followed through with a powerful right uppercut to the midsection and when Minato''s form crumpled finished it off with a quick left hook to the cheek.

    Not waiting for Minato to wake up from his unconscious slumber to perform the Seal of Reconciliation, Fuzen stepped over him and went back to stand beside Kushina.

    It took less than two seconds, yet the result was brutal as Minato got dominated.

    Osamu was the first one to react and went to check on Minato. After finding he''d sustained no major injury, he breathed a sigh of relief.

    "That''s a wrap for today. Well fought Fuzen, though perhaps take it easier next time?"

    About to leave together with Kushina, he turned around.

    "I don''t fight for fun."

    With that said Fuzen used his ''Shadow Walk'' and both of them disappeared into the ground.

 Chapter 14 - Academy Days

    Materializing in a side alley, Kushina near immediately bombarded him with questions about his bloodline. Some he could answer, while others he didn''t even know himself.

    As they stepped into the crowded streets scouting for a shop selling office utensils, Kuhsina almost had to yell to be heard over the noise.

    "So, what''s the name of your bloodline?"

    "Hmm, now that you point it out, I guess mine has never been named."

    There was still much left to be discovered. In several ways, Fuzen''s bloodline was beginning to feel unnatural to him, and that it couldn''t be defined within the bounds of how other bloodlines was classified.

    "That just seems... wrong. Don''t it all bloodlines have names and such?"

    "That might be true, but mine doesn''t."

    To Fuzen, it wasn''t important what it was called, or even if it was called anything at all. Not now at least. In the future, he may have a different opinion.

    To get his full attention, Kushina grabbed his hand and pleated with big violet eyes.

    "Tell me what it feels like?"

    Fuzen couldn''t help his sudden outburst of laughter knowing exactly how that could be misunderstood.

    Resorting to an endearing sort of anger, Kushina stomped the ground and demanded to know why he was laughing.

    "It''s not what you did, but what you said and how you said it."

    "I don''t understand, explain it to me!"

    Shaking his head Fuzen explained to her exactly what he meant, and by the time he finished, her face had turned several shades of red.

    Desperate for a way out, she went all-out searching for a place to buy the new pencil he''d promised.

    After a while of looking around like a confused chicken, her search led to a small shop. Much to his surprise, Kushina wanted an exact replica of the one he''d sabotaged. Not that he minded at all.

    Having paid for the pencil, Fuzen engulfed both of them in darkness once again. He one last stop in mind before they ended their day together.

    As they materialized a second later, an impressive view opened up before them. "Wow! I''ve never been up here before."

    "Few people have."

    Standing on top of the First Hokage carved into the mountainside, the two of them could see the entire village below.

    Considering the consequences, the widespread smile on her lips dimmed a bit. "We''re not going to get in trouble, right?"

    "Nah, I''ve been up here plenty of times before and they have never managed to capture me."

    Even though he didn''t quite answer the question, Fuzen could still sense her smile return once again. "I like how nothing worries you. I wish I could be more like that?"

    With no one stopping him, he sits down to get comfortable and takes in the spectacular view. "Nobody is stopping you Kushina. You can be whatever you want?"

    Following his lead, she sat down next to him. "Even if that dream is to become the first female Hokage?"

    "Sure, if that''s your dream. However, from what I''ve seen from the current Hokage it''s not all that fun."

    She shook her head from his ignorance. "It''s not about fun. It''s about gaining the respect of everyone."This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

    "But why? I don''t understand why you would care about gaining their respect in the first place? Those sorts of things seem useless to me." Fuzen turned to face her. "Living your life for someone else is no way to lead a life."

    "You kind of selfish, you know that?"

    "Thank you." He took it as a compliment. "Being selfish isn''t a bad thing. I mean, how else can you be honest with yourself and others about your wants and needs?"

    "You might be on to something."

    "Of course I am, I''m a genius didn''t you know?" He teased to lighten the mood. "By the way, I thought about your previous question."

    A giggle escaped her mouth. "Which one? I''ve asked so many today."

    "You know, the one about how my bloodline feels."

    Kishina blushed remembering their previous conversation but nodded in acknowledgement. "I remember!"

    "Whenever I use my bloodline it kind of feels like I''m tapping into some dark void of space. I don''t know if that makes any sense?" He wasn''t sure it did but he hoped it answered her question.

    Looking thoughtful, she mulled it over. "I have an idea for a name if you are interested to hear?"

    Fuzen gestured for her to continue.

    "Going by what you said and how I felt when you transported us using your ''Shadow Walk'', I think your bloodline should be called Void Release."

    "Hmm...Fuzen of the Void Release." He tested how it sounded out loud. "Not bad at all, I think we can work with that."

    During a pause where none of them spoke, Fuzen thought back to what he''d told Osamu about not fighting for fun, which was just a big fatass lie. He did fight for fun, but he figured it wasn''t something that would be seen as a positive thing among a shinobi village known to strive towards peace.

    Admittingly, Fuzen might have gone a bit overboard during his spar with Minato, so he decided it wouldn''t hurt trying to patch things up with Minato before left the Academy. As long as the guy knew Kushina was off limits, and he honestly had to be retarded to not get it after his latest beating, Fuzen would mind being friends with him.

    They stayed together until after the sun went down and Fuzen decided it was time to bring Kushina back to her estate. Not used to her staying out after the Academy finished, he noticed the staff appeared more than a little relieved when she returned home.

    Besides practice, a lot of time was spent in the company of Kushina. While he didn''t have to learn anything in taijutsu or ninjutsu classes, genjutsu class proved surprisingly useful. Despite the fact he couldn''t perform any elemental nature transformation besides his own Void Release, they found Yin Release being a non-elemental nature transformation didn''t stop him from performing genjutsu. Having read Fuzen personal file, Osamu was quite surprised this talent had gone undiscovered considering his natural affinity towards Yin Release had been well documented.

    Jumping at the opportunity to help, Osamu encouraged him to continue practising it. As the obedient student Fuzen was, he did as told and kept throwing genjutsu''s directed at Osamu during class.

    It wasn''t what intended to happen when he told Fuzen to practice, but Fuzen didn''t give him the option to refuse. One-sided deals were perfect to ensure you always got what you desired. With members of the Uchiha clan revered as some of the most powerful genjutsu users in the shinobi world, he was an ideal practice partner Fuzen wouldn''t pass up on.

    He learned there were two main parts to consider when using genjutsu. Its delivery and the believability. It didn''t take more than a week before small genjutsu''s managed to bypass Osamu defence. For now, Fuzen was keeping things simple. Using eye contact as his medium, he could create minor illusions which could prove effective in combat if used at the right time. He still had a long way ahead if he wanted to perform anything close to affecting the sense of touch, extraction of information and other uses. They all required much more practice.

    Another upside to genjutsu training was a better chakra control. It was a byproduct he hadn''t considered, yet it improved the effectiveness and power of his already learned skills.

    His ''Body Flicker'' became faster as a larger amount of chakra could be moulded and expending it instantaneously. ''Shadow Walk'' could no be executed in the time it took for him to take a single normal step, making him disappear and reappear within less than a second. Both the size and power of gravitational influence using ''Black Sea'' experienced significant improvements. For the new offensive technique, he was working on it meant Fuzen was able to cover each finger in a coating of black death that removed anything touched from this plane of existence.

    Even though the month at the Academy went by fast, he never forgot his regular check-up with Tsunade and from her, it became clear the skirmish with the other Hiden Villages had stepped and that the Second Great Shinobi War was approaching fast.

    By the end of the month, after class was over, Fuzen went down to the Osamu''s desk and laid down his request for early graduation.

    From his position behind the desk, Osamu gave him a thoughtful expression. "Normally I''d never consent to any student below the age of 8 to be allowed to graduate." He seized the paper that had been put down in front of him. "However, from what I''ve seen during this month and knowing you''d submit this request I''ve already scheduled a test for you tomorrow."

    Fuzen eyes widened in surprise. "That unexpected, but an appreciated gesture."

    About to leave this classroom for the final time, Osamu called out to him.

    "Be careful out there, kid."

    "Oh... you don''t have to worry about me. This is practically half the reason I was born."

    "Half?"

    Giving Osamu one of his famous signature smirks, Fuzen left. Leaving the mystified teacher alone to ponder what the other half might be.

 Chapter 15 - Fashionably Late

    Before the first appearance of sunlight even managed to decorate the horizon, city officials, high standing clan members and veteran shinobi could be seen leaving their homes and travel through empty streets towards the Hokage''s office premises.

    Inspired after hearing news of an approved request for one of the Academy students to attempt the exam for early graduation while not yet having turned five inspired, a lot of influential people came to spectate the event.

    Knowing the event would attract much attention, the Hokage had put two chunins in charge of checking the identities of all who wished to enter the scheduled examination hall.

    Having just closed the door after allowing the current head of the Uchiha clan to enter, another entitled city official approached.

    "Can I get a name?" Skipping any form of pleasantness as they knew more people were scheduled to arrive

    "Iwaki Atsumori."

    Looking down at the list they''d been given, "I''m very sorry, sir. It appears you''re not on the list."

    "Hah? What do you mean? How can I not be on the list, don''t you know who I am?"

    None of them answered his question.

    Agitated by being ignored, Iwaki tried to push his way through, but both chunin''s stepped in to block his path. "Imbeciles, let me in right now!"

    "Only those on the list can enter, and since you''re not on the list, it means you can''t enter."

    "Tsh... Fine, okay." He straightened his clothes. "I want your names?"

    "I''m Okazaki," the one who''d been speaking pointed to himself, "and this is Kodama."

    Meanwhile, a young boy with spiky blond hair came up to stand before them.

    "Minato Namikaze."

    Looking down at the list, "you can enter."

    "Wait, now you''re letting kids enter? What is this disrespect?" Turning around he left with a warning. "I''ll make sure to issue an official complaint to the Hokage''s office when I return."

    The chunin who''d dealt with Iwaki issued a deep sigh. "Some of these people sure are difficult to deal with."

    His partner shrugged both shoulders. "What do you expect? They all believe themselves important enough to be here, otherwise, who''d go out this early in the morning. And how often do we see anyone graduate from the Academy this early?"

    "This is the first time I''ve heard of since..."

    "Exactly! Since never, and that''s why this event is gaining so much attraction among the upper echelon of the village."Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    Inside the examination hall, Minato found a seat in the back next to his class teacher Osamu and looked down the four row of seats in front of him with many already occupied.

    "Thanks for the invite."

    "The Hokage gave me an extra ''ticket'' if you will. You know, for putting up with Fuzen for a whole month." Osamu shook his head in disbelief. "And I thought you might be interested to see this, so I invited you."

    "I am," he nodded. "So how does this work?"

    "Well, when Fuzen eventually sees fit to grace us with his presence, he will first have to pass an oral exam administered by those over there sitting beside the Hokage." Osamu pointed towards a long desk where two examiners flanked the Hokage on each side.

    "Assuming he passes it, Fuzen will have a practical exam going up against a senior opponent."

    Minato scanned the crowd for possible candidates. "Do we know who he''ll be facing?"

    "Not yet, though I have heard whispers of it being someone close to the Hokage."

    A half an hour went by, and Fuzen still hadn''t shown. From Hiruzen''s position behind the desk, he could see the people present were starting to grow impatient.

    Puffing out a cloud of smoke, he indicated for one of the Anbu behind him to step forward. "Go to his apartment and find him. I don''t care if you drag the little rascal if you have to, but bring him here now!"

    "Right away, sir!" And the Anbu vanished from his spot.

    Glancing at the clock above the doors leading into the examination hall, Hiruzen noted the examination should have begun fifteen minutes ago.

    About to puff out another mouthful of smoke in frustration, a hateful voice interrupted and caused him to choke on it instead. "It''s weird, but I think I can see your hair becoming more grey by the minute, old man."

    "Hell! Are you trying to kill me?" He managed to say in between a coughing fit.

    "No need to be so sensitive, old man. It''s not my fault you didn''t notice me in time," Fuzen rejected any fault committed on his part.

    By this time the entire audience had honed in on them and observed Fuzen and Hiruzen''s interaction.

    Pointing to the multiple rows of people watching, "That''s quite a few more than a couple of people like you mentioned yesterday night."

    Hearing him, Hiruzen turned away sheepishly. "Yeah, well... One thing led to another, and here we are."

    "But can we get this thing started? I''ve got plans later today."

    "Hokage, you can''t let him speak to you like that!" A female examiner sitting beside him interjected.

    Fuzen could feel her accusing eyes follow him as he went to inspect the audience, trying to identify faces.

    Hiruzen put on a stoic face. "Arguing with Fuzen serves no purpose besides working towards an aneurysm. I value both my sanity and health, so I''ve more or less learned to ignore it."

    "Pretending to be all wise and sage-like doesn''t suit you," Fuzen hollered back causing Hiruzen to shake his head.

    As he reached the end of the seating arrangement, he noticed Osamu and Minato sitting together. Unlike this previous month where Minato had avoided him like the plague, this time he surprisingly met Fuzen''s eyes head on. Not in a challenge sort of way, but in recognition of having met someone better than himself.

    Deciding now was as good an opportunity as any, he mid-step disappeared using ''Shadow Walk'' and when the step finished appeared right next to Minato shocking everyone present.

    "Neat trick you got there, Mr. showoff."

    "Thanks," Fuzen gave him a winning smile. "Took a while for it to become this cool though."

    Fuzen held out his hand with fingers positioned to accept the Seal of Reconciliation, the last part which they never finished after their spar.

    Minato glanced at it in surprise and Osamu had to shove him with a discrete elbow before he woke up to lock fingers with Fuzen, completing the seal and acknowledging they were still comrades.

    Leaning close to him, Fuzen whispered. "Don''t worry I''ll hook you up with someone else later, promise."

    With that, he went away as he''d come and practically teleported to stand in front of the examination table, ready for the first part of the exam.

    "Let''s go people." He clapped his hands. "I don''t have all day."

    Hiruzen had to physically restrain the female examiner to avoid her from assaulting him.

 Chapter 16 - Gaijin of Konohagakure

    Like a good little follower, the female examiner gave a valiant attempt to restore the Hokage''s honour by trying to trick Fuzen with her questions.

    However, it didn''t work, and with each failed attempt to confuse or misguide, he could see her frustration build to higher levels.

    After an hour of near non-stop questions, Fuzen saw all four examiners leafing frustrated through the pages in their hands.

    Their collective desperation to find a question they hadn''t yet asked was hilarious to watch.

    "What that it?" He locked eyes with each of them before delivering the finishing blow to his examiners. "Well, that was easy..."

    Putting one hand in his pocket, Fuzen turned around and gave a big thumbs up to Osamu and Minoto sitting far back in the crowd.

    Hiruzen knew Fuzen all too well, and wouldn''t let himself get goated by these minor antics of his. The examiners though was another matter entirely.

    Speaking for the group, the female examiners stood up and pointed to Fuzen. "We can''t let him pass. He''s not material worthy of being a shinobi in our esteemed village." Pausing she surveyed the crowd, "Can''t you see? Look at him! He''s an outsider. He doesn''t belong here, and we can''t trust him."

    Fuzen cocked his head to the side and observed the erratic woman. He didn''t speak a word and directed his attention to Hiruzen, waiting for him to say something.

    "Let''s not make things personal here." Disregarding the female examiner, Hiruzen turned to one of the others. "I assume the boy passed?"

    The examiner in focus squirmed in his seat and hesitated to speak. "We''ve asked him everything, and he has answered them all correctly. But ¨C"

    "There''s no buts. Fuzen passed the exam fair and square, and I see no point in questioning his allegiance to our village."

    Hearing the Hokage''s directive, the female examiner slumped down dejected and looked at Fuzen with resentment.

    Disrupting the ongoing murmurs in the audience, Hiruzen rose from his seat and corrected his clothes.

    "With the first part of the exam completed, we''re now going to move onto the last exam, the practical." Letting the crowd wait in anticipation, he lighted his pipe once again.

    "Don''t be a drama queen, old man. Just tell me who I''ll be facing, and we can get this finished up real quick."

    Putting out the matchstick, Hiruzen brushed off the attempt to ruin the building he had going and corrected Fuzen.

    "If you''re expecting an easy opponent, you''re in for quite a surprise."

    As if it was a cue, a man with long black hair and sickly white skin that had hidden amongst the crowd stepped down to stand beside Fuzen.

    A proud Hiruzen puffed out his chest. "My student, Orochimaru, decided to volunteer after hearing of this event, and knowing you''d love to have a challenge I simply couldn''t refuse him."

    The magnanimous tale didn''t fool Fuzen and knew it most likely took quite a bit of convincing to have Orochimaru partake in this. Orochimaru didn''t strike him as one who''d concern himself with something like this. The exception was if he''d garnered Orochimaru''s interest, which was unlikely since they''d never met until now.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

    From everywhere within the crowd excited whispers were exchanged. A satisfied smile plastered Hiruzen''s face, and he had to use his hands to reinstate silence.

    "The same rules apply as any regular spar. Exit the circle." He pointed to a large circle drawn on the ground. "You lose. If the opponent incapacitates or gets in position to deal a lethal blow, you also lose."

    Observing the crowd, he continued. "Yet, Fuzen doesn''t have to win. All he needs is to demonstrate is enough combat ability to be of value during missions outside the walls of the village. Of this, I''ll be the sole judge."

    Fuzen met Hiruzen''s eyes, and for once there was no humour hidden beneath. He''d always come across a somewhat jovial person, and Fuzen couldn''t remember ever seeing Hiruzen this serious before.

    "If you each of you can take your positions we can start the exam."

    After doing the Seal of Confrontation Orochimaru and Hiruzen went to opposite sides of the 70 feet circle.

    "Put up the barrier!"

    By the Hokage''s order, four Anbu members appeared to form a square and after performing a string of hand seals constructed a protecting barrier.

    "With this, you can fight as you please without worry of harming anyone besides yourself. Are both of you ready?"

    Vigilant, Fuzen looked at his opponent. "If you try to grab me with that tongue of yours I''ll have to cut it off," Orochimaru observed with him with his snake-like eyes as if Fuzen was some strange creature.

    To punctuate his point, he gestured towards his body as if it''d explain everything. "Only beautiful women are allowed to have a taste of this magnificence."

    Not bothering with Fuzen''s quibbling, he clapped his hands. "Begin!"

    Even though Hiruzen had initiated the spar, neither of the two moved from their initial positions.

    Deciding to make the first move, Orochimaru threw a quick shuriken that followed by a short series of hand seal multiplied and came to resemble an insurmountable wall of small spinning blades, ''Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu''.

    The wide range of the attack left little to no space to dodge within this enclosed area, and Fuzen suspected it was an attempt to force him to use ''Shadow Walk'' and attack during the time he rematerialized.

    Using his left hand, Fuzen grabbed a kunai and let his ''Sea of Darkness'' spread like a wave around him causing the gravitational downforce within a radius of 20 feet to rise several degrees bringing the speed of the approaching shurikens down.

    With a kunai in hand, he disappeared from his original spot an confronted the wall of death head-on. Like a formless shadow, Fuzen effortlessly glided past and arrived before Orochimaru using ''Body Flicker''.

    Not wanting to give him a chance Fuzen went for the finishing blow, however, before he was within proper range, Orochimaru outstretched his hand and out came several snakeheads, ''Striking Shadow Snakes''.

    Seeing the fast-moving snakes coming down the length of Orochimaru''s arm, Fuzen flicked the kunai held in his hand towards Orochimaru''s eyes and changed direction mid-step thereby avoiding the attack.

    He could see Orochimaru''s head whip back from the impact and thought he''d succeeded, but as he landed a few feet away, Orochimaru turned to face him with a manic grin. A single snake could be seen crawling out from between his lips holding the kunai he''d just thrown between its sharp fangs.

    "That''s so disgusting by the way, and I can''t believe you''re not gagging."

    Taking the kunai from the snake mouth, Orochimaru held it in front of him and inspected it like it contained a key to a secret.

    "Interesting. Interesting." He honed in on Fuzen once again. "I''ll take my time to see how strong you really are!!!"

    Tapping into the large reserves of his chakra, Orochimaru caused a surge of powerful wind and the ground beneath him to crack.

    Caught by slight surprise, the emitted pressure made Fuzen take a step back, yet he couldn''t help grinning through it all.

    Looking down at his hands, he could see them tremble. Not in fear, but in excitement. He could both feel and hear his lifeblood coursing through his veins, faster than ever. This was the part that had been missing.

    Meeting the challenge, Fuzen imitated Orochimaru and let himself fully go releasing a pressure strong enough to cause cracks in the barrier maintained by the four Anbu under the direct supervision of the Hokage.

    Stunned voices from those present could be heard in the background.

    A visible dark haze of pure chakra emanated from Fuzen''s body.

    "Yes! More! Show me more!" Orochimaru encouraged.

 Chapter 17 - Paths

    The augmenting effects of using his version of ''Body Flicker'', sharpened his senses and reaction time beyond even a fully awakened Sharingan. The continual moulding and expenditure of chakra made every fibre of his physical and mental being feel like it possessed the power of speed.

    It was begging to be unleashed and allowed to wreak havoc. Didn''t matter who or what. It just wanted out.

    Observing Orochimaru, time slowed.

    With the intention of piercing straight through Orochimaru''s heart with the new kunai he''d taken from his pouch, Fuzen left behind a cloud of dust moving at maximum speed. He kept the radius of the ''Black Sea'' purposely small to increase the downward gravitation force on Orochimaru whenever they engaged.

    Arriving behind Orochimaru''s unprotected back ready to strike, he noticed he''d been led into a trap as paper bombs littered the ground.

    Forced to abort the attack yet again, Fuzen intended to retreat but predicting his route of escape, Orochimaru followed and intercepted him in close range combat.

    Despite the practice against the best within Root, Fuzen couldn''t get the better of Orochimaru.

    So, even though Fuzen was quicker and had the faster reaction time, Orochimaru was stronger and had the experience of having been in real combat multiple times.

    A couple of exchanges later, Fuzen could tell Orochimaru was growing accustomed to the gravitational force inflicted upon him. He followed none of the conventional patterns of attacking and defending, which made it difficult to ever gain the upper hand against him.

    From all the powerful clashes between their kunai, Fuzen''s hand was beginning to grow numb and made a crucial mistake by looking down on the hand in question.

    Catching his moment of carelessness, Orochimaru took a step back and released a powerful attack, "Wind Release: Great Breach!"

    "Shit..."

    Caught with his pants down and dick free-swinging in the air, Fuzen took a gamble knowing he couldn''t outrun the incoming attack this close.

    Not waiting for the torrent of wind to throw him outside the bound of the circle, Fuzen used ''Shadow Walk''. Letting himself get pulled down into the ground by a cloak of darkness and went to the furthest possible spot before attempting to materialize.

    However, when he did, Orochimaru was waiting with a sharp kunai held at his throat.

    "You lose," Orochimaru licked his lips.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

    The scenario reminded him of the first time attempt it in Danzo''s office, and how it''d gone terribly wrong. This time, however, he did manage to salvage it somewhat.

    Shaking his head, Fuzen grinned. "Actually, I''d call it a draw."

    "What ¨C" Covering the spot where he stood, Orochimaru found paper bombs.

    Having gone over the possible scenarios he''d prepared a spot with paper bombs during their close range fighting. This way he might now win, but at least he would force a draw.

    "Payback is a bitch, ain''t it?"

    Orochimaru removed the kunai from Fuzen''s throat and made an eerie cackle. "Indeed, that she is."

    Almost drunk on the exhilarating feeling of power experienced during the fight, Fuzen took a moment to steady his mind. This was the first time he''d ever pushed himself this far, and by Chaos, he loved every second of it.

    After completing the Seal of Reconciliation, the Anbu team took down the barrier protecting the audience and had successfully isolated the two of them to their own little battlefield.

    As it''d been a regenerative barrier, it was impressive how the damage caused by Orochimaru''s last attack still hadn''t been fixed by the time they removed it. A testament to the power jutsu contained and Fuzen making the correct decision of not taking it head-on.

    If this had been a real battle, Fuzen would have teleported further away. Thereby, Orochimaru could never have closed in on him before he was prepared.

    "Excellent performance," Hiruzen complimented. "Orochimaru you''ll have to improve if you want to stay ahead."

    Orochimaru didn''t spare the Hokage a single glance and ignored the attempt to rile him up. While in seemingly deep contemplation, he walked out of the examination hall.

    "Tsh, what an inconsiderate student!"

    Hiruzen looked to the audience and saw a shocked expression plastered on everyone''s faces. And he had to agree the boy was indeed terrifying. What made it worse was knowing he wasn''t even five years old.

    Though he knew Orochimaru hadn''t gone all out, Fuzen still displayed an unmatched future potential.

    "Are you satisfied? Or do I need to fight another one? Perhaps one of the examiners..."

    Fuzen pointed at the female examiner who''d been so outspoken against him.

    Having become the target of Fuzen''s attention, all blood drained from her face when she thought about what would happen if the Hokage allowed the fight to occur.

    With self-preservation in mind, she looked to the Hokage with eyes pleading for mercy.

    Fuzen was disgusted. "Pathetic."

    "No further spars are needed. I''ve seen enough to know that you''re ready to be deployed to the battlefield." Glancing at the crowd, Hiruzen could see people nodding their heads in agreement and support. Some might still have questions concerning his allegiance, but no one openly opposed his judgement.

    "The only question left is where... Most of the new graduates from our Academy are placed on a three-man team led by a more experienced shinobi''s." Hiruzen stroked his greying beard. "However, I''m going to allow you to chose between two others as well."

    Fuzen waited for Hiruzen to explain. "The second option is to join Anbu, the Special Assassination and Tactical squad of our village, that I believe your skills would be perfect for."

    "And the third option is with me in Root, the Foundation of the village." Danzo came out of nowhere and stared at Fuzen with emotionless eyes.

    "Oh, so you came Danzo. Are the dramatic entrances of Fuzen rubbing off on you?"

    "Like that would ever happen." He disregarded Hiruzen''s comment and returned his attention to Fuzen.

    The two men with most political power in Konohagakure both waited, interested to hear his answer, and in the audience filled to the brim with the most influential people, quite a few held their breaths in anticipation.

 Chapter 18 - Reporting for Duty

    Suspense and anticipation filled the air as each of those present waited to hear Fuzen''s choice.

    They all knew it wasn''t a simple matter either since it had the potential to cause a shift in the internal structure within the village. If Danzo managed to lure Fuzen to join Root, his future influence would surely increase by a significant margin.

    Respect for individual power might be a common trait shared between all hidden villages, but it didn''t always matter in the grand scheme of things. What mattered in politics was having the right connections and backing. Without it, the execution and implementation of personal agendas would forever remain dreams.

    In a setting like a hidden village, the degree of military potential under one''s command was crucial. In case Fuzen followed his current trajectory, it wouldn''t be unreasonable to assume he''d become a major asset.

    Impatient for an answer, Hiruzen removed his pipe to speak. "Well, have you decided?"

    Noticing a random piece of rubble laying on the floor, a leftover from his previous fight, Fuzen kicked and sent it flying towards Hiruzen''s head.

    By tilting his head to the side, Hiruzen avoided it with annoying ease.

    "Take a chill pill or something! I''m thinking here..."

    He studied the marks of destruction created during his spar with Orochimaru. It''d felt fantastic to let go, but throughout the fight, he''d sensed there was still much of his power left untouched and unexplored. Hidden deep down a place where he wasn''t yet able to reach.

    Whatever path Fuzen chose, it had to allow him to someday reach that place and he suspected the easiest path would be to take an active part in the Second Great Shinobi War.

    With that in mind, he quickly eliminated the first option. There was no way Fuzen intended to babysit a team of genin''s and be confined to complete D or C-rank missions. It would be a waste of his skills, and that left the other two options.

    "Ok, I''ve decided. I''m choosing Anbu."

    "Excellent." Hiruzen nodded in approval.

    Danzo, on the other hand, remained detached, as usual, and nothing appeared changed even after hearing his choice. It made Fuzen uncomfortable.

    The tactics employed by Root simply didn''t suit his purposes due to them often being centred around the use of covertness and deception to control events from behind. Never truly on the front line where the continual battles could be fought. Fuzen wanted to be a place that allowed him to partake in the war efforts as much as possible, and continue to temper his skills in the heat of combat.

    Hiruzen stood from his chair. "Ok, ladies and gentlemen, that''s it for today''s show! I hope you''ve all enjoyed it."

    With the crowd leaving, Hiruzen indicated for Fuzen to accompany him as he left through a hidden exit.

    Giving Danzo one last look, he waved goodbye and moved to catch up.

    "We need to discuss terms, old man!"

    "Terms? What terms? You will be under the same contract as all my other Anbu''s."

    "Don''t put me in the same category as those. I''ve good mad skills."

    Hiruzen stopped walking and turned to face him in the narrow corridor. "Mad skills, huh?"

    "You''re damn straight!" Fuzen nodded confidently.

    Hiruzen leaned down, attempting to look ominous. "And what if I say, no?"

    Fuzen appeared to give it serious thought.

    "That''s what I suspected. I know you''re here because you want to be. If you want money, all you need to do is complete the missions I provide you!"

    "Tsh. Why do you have to act so rational? It doesn''t suit you."

    Hiruzen went on ahead. "Because it''s my job as Hokage. Now, let''s go meet your squad leader, she should be expecting us."

    "Hey, hold up! You better not hold back on the missions then! I need the money..."

    "What in the world do you need money for anyway? Your rent and expenses should be next to nothing as it is."If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    Fuzen shook his head. "I have to prepare for the future, isn''t that obvious?"

    "In your specific case, the obvious often eludes me."

    Reaching the end of the corridor, Hiruzen stopped and did the Seal of Confrontation. In response, a circular sealing formula extended on the wall. Extending left palm, Hiruzen touched the wall, causing a hole that rippled and formed into a doorway leading into his office.

    "Follow me."

    Stepping through, they found a female Anbu waiting beside the desk. She had blond hair collected in a sleek ponytail and wore a cat mask with three black whisker-like markings.

    "Ah, good you''re here Akata. I trust you''ve recovered well since your return from yesterday''s mission?"

    "Yes, Hokage. The medical-nin''s have taken excellent care of me."

    "Good to hear." Going around the table to sit in his chair, he pointed to Fuzen. "This is the new recruit I mentioned."

    With pale blue eyes, Akata observed him. "He''s young. Are you sure he''s prepared for the field?"

    Hiruzen waited and allowed Fuzen to answer himself.

    "Time will show," he shrugged. "I understand you''ve already been briefed about me and my abilities. I see no reason to add anything further, my qualifications stand by themselves. Action will always speak louder than words ever will."

    "At least, you have the correct mental attitude. That''s enough for now."

    Opening his desk drawer, Hiruzen took out a scroll and pitched it to Akata. "Here''s your mission scroll, best of luck."

    She gave a slight bow in respect to the Hokage. "If there''s nothing else, we''re going to leave."

    "No, you''re both dismissed!"

    Exiting the Hokage''s Office building, it didn''t take more than a few minutes walk to reach a small inconspicuous building with no windows that appeared connected to the mountainside of the Hokage Rock.

    "Welcome to the Anbu Headquarters," she gestured and climbed the steep wooden steps leading to the entryway.

    Behind the sliding double doors was a single unfurnished room devoid of life. Undisturbed, she advanced to stand in front of the cliff wall and performed a couple of slow deliberate hand seals ending with the Seal of Confrontation. Just like previously appeared a circular sealing pattern, however, this one was more extensive.

    "Come here. Direct chakra to your palm and extend it towards the seal."

    Doing as ordered, Fuzen reached out channelling chakra into his left palm, which made a pathway ripple open.

    "You''re now keyed into the seal and can pass whenever you want by performing the Seal of Confrontation. You saw my earlier sequence of seals, correct?"

    "Yeah, it wasn''t as if you were hiding them."

    "Those are used to integrate the chakra signature of new Anbu members. Don''t use them without explicit permission from the Hokage."

    "Sure thing..." Fuzen responded.

    Passing through, Fuzen found a receiving area guarded by bird-masked male Anbu who greeted them as they passed and continued down the low-lit hall until reaching the in-house armoury.

    "We''re here to collect the equipment for the new recruit Gaijin."

    Behind a counter protected by steel bars was another male Anbu, who after hearing her request gazed down the list of recent orders.

    "Sign here." He passed the list out from under the bars along with a pen and indicated a dotted line.

    Going out the back, he returned carrying a large box and barely managed to push it out from under the bars.

    Taking the list in hand, he repeated the order. "A black coloured forehead protector. Three sets of standard uniform, one black cloak, one ninjato and a custom-made mask. Everything has been made to fit ¨C" he looked down at him.

    "What? Say it. I dare you!" Expecting the other Anbu''s next words.

    "Someone of your stature," came the reply.

    "How weak..."

    With his equipment in hand, Fuzen left.

    Showing Fuzen to the changing rooms, Akata gave him five minutes to get dressed. She told him they had one last thing to do before he could join her squad on tomorrows mission.

    It was a simple dressing room with private wooden lockers on each side and a bench in the middle, splitting the room in two. His was placed at the far left corner and had the name, Gaijin, written. Putting down the box, Fuzen began to change his clothes. Replacing the normal wear with one of the new sets of Anbu uniforms he''d received. Noticing the interior mirror attached to the locker door, he inspected himself.

    At the most recent check-up with Tsunade, he measured 4.3 feet, considerably taller than other kids in the same age group. He and Kushina were about the same height, while Tsunade beat him by 1 foot. Aided by exorbitant life force and still rising chakra levels Fuzen was maturing faster, and Tsunade had estimated him to be about seven years old.

    He still looked like a kid, but his features were becoming sharper. Muscles had started to show, become more defined and most important of all, he detected definite improvements in his nether regions. The beast was growing. Depending on when his teenage years kicked in, Fuzen predicted he might be able to start experiencing some of the true joys in life sooner than first expected.

    It was one of the primary reason''s he''d asked Hiruzen for extra money. If things went as expected a bigger apartment was definitely needed, and of course a specially ordered bed with space for at least three people. From experience, he knew these things didn''t come cheap.

    Stepping closer to the mirror, Fuzen honed in on his golden eyes glowing even brighter compared to usual. The end result, when put together with his curly mane of dark hair and brown skin, was an exotic quality, almost feral even.

    Equipping the ninjato onto his back, he grabbed the last missing piece and held it in front of him. A tiger-mask with black markings. Utilizing the same principles as when walking on vertical surfaces, he connected the mask. It fit perfectly, and Fuzen loved how menacing the eyes and two fangs made it appear.

    When Fuzen came back out dressed in the Anbu uniform, he found Akata leaning against the wall in a casual pose playing idly with a kunai.

    "Took you long enough. I was getting impatient, here!" She swung the kunai.

    "Yeah, sorry about that." He tousled the hair at the back of his head with one hand and caught the kunai between two fingers using the other. "Lead on I''ll follow."

    She motioned for him to return the knife but he stuffed it down together with the rest in his pouch. "Finder''s keeper...It''s mine now."

    Instead of arguing, she just walked down the hall.

    "You never mentioned where you were taking me."

    "You''ll know when we get there," came her cryptic answer.

 Chapter 19 - Assasination and Assault

    Trailing behind her, Fuzen noticed she was quite tall for women around here, at least a couple of inches taller compared to Tsunade. While she didn''t have the massive breasts like Tsunade, Akata did have a fantastic ass. It was tight and perky, it fit her athletic frame, yet it still remained enough plumpness to allow an excellent bounce if given a light slap. The way her hips and long blond hair moved in sync from side to side, was almost hypnotic to him.

    "I can feel you looking," Akata reprimanded.

    The Hokage had briefed her on Fuzen''s character, but she didn''t think it''d be this severe.

    "Isn''t it common sense to look out for what''s in front of you? Like, how else are you supposed to avoid collisions and such?"

    "Shameless!" She threw another quick kunai, this time aiming for his private parts.

    Catching it the same way as last previous, he put in his pouch, expanding his collection. "There''s no reason to get personal." He complained, not appreciating the attempt on his manhood.

    He was all for strongwilled women, yet Akata''s domineering attitude made him want to spank that tight ass and hear her whimper as he fucked her from behind.

    Stopping in front of another door, Akata knocked and made the two of them wait outside. Hearing steps approach, the door was opened by an old man with greying hair wearing an owl-mask.

    "How''ve you been dearest? I assumed you''d forgotten about me, decrepit as I am." He made fun of his increasing age and physically declining state.

    "How could I ever possibly forget you Tairo? I''ve just been too busy lately." Akata explained herself. "However, this time I''ve brought a guest," and pulled Fuzen forward, showcasing the newest addition to her team.

    "Oh, he''s a young one, isn''t he..." The old Anbu shook his head in amazement. "Well, come in, I can guess what you''re here for. You young man, go take a seat over there!" He pointed to a tattoo chair that judging by wear and tear was at least the same age as himself, if not older.

    The chair issued a loud creak of dissatisfaction when Fuzen jumped onto it. Looking around the room, he found a surprising number of scrolls and books lining the shelves. "So you''re like the resident tattoo artist and mascot around here?"

    The numerous symbols and patterns tattooed down the length of his arms were difficult to avoid noticing.

    Preparing a tray with Tebori equipment, the elderly Anbu sat on a round swivel chair and rolled over to Fuzen''s side.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    "Those, among other things. I dabble in a bit of it all. Mostly fuinjutsu and medical ninjutsu nowadays." Under an intense exam light, Tairo disinfected Fuzen''s shoulder and outlined the Anbu''s signature spiral tattoo.

    Joining them, Akata pulled over a chair and straddled it in time to watch Tairo get started.

    "I remember the time I got mine." She looked down at her own. "It hurts a bit, however, the tattoo will adjust as you grow older."

    She was right, it did hurt. Not overwhelmingly so, but enough to make it uncomfortable.

    "What are you doing? I can feel you... messing with something inside me."

    "I''m connecting the tattoo to your chakra pathway system. That way it can''t be faked, and as your squad leader explained, it''ll allow the tattoo to grow as you do."

    Fuzen watched the methodic movements of Tairo. "That''s quite smart, who thought of this?"

    "Thank you, I developed this technique. When the other villages started sending shinobi carrying our signature mark we had to find some way to differentiate the real ones from the fakes."

    "Have you thought of other uses?"

    "I''ve theorized a couple of things, but nothing conclusive yet. I would love to ¨C"

    "Don''t get him started, please! He won''t ever stop if you show interest." Akata shook her head.

    "Hmpf! Doesn''t matter. Some other time perhaps?"

    "I''ll make sure to swing by when I have the extra time," he nodded in appreciation.

    Using a wooden rod attached with needles dipped in ink, Tairo continued to stab his shoulder until it finished. Wiping off the excess ink, he took hold of a handheld mirror and showed Fuzen the final product.

    "Mine''s black?"

    "Due to your dark skin, I had to use black ink instead of the usual red. Your skin wouldn''t show the red colour very well." Having shown the tattoo, Tairo put down the mirror and went over to a sink to clean his equipment.

    Standing from her chair, Akata walked over to inspect the tattoo. "I''ll make sure to bring you one of the sak¨¦ bottles when we return. Let''s go Gaijin!" She commanded.

    Fuzen shrugged his shoulders and moved to follow. "Later, Tairo."

    Appearing to be in a hurry, Akata provided him with a quick guided tour of the Anbu Headquarters. Showing him the dinner area, the different types of training halls, and the library containing an assortment of freely available jutsus and world knowledge.

    The network of interconnected tunnels and spaces hidden inside the Hokage Rock was impressive, and unless a member of the Anbu or a high ranking individual within the Land of Fire you''d never know it existed.

    On the last part of the tour, as she displayed one of the available briefing rooms, a winded Anbu barged in and hurried to stand by Akata''s side.

    Fuzen''s sharp senses allowed him to hear bit and pieces of the relayed information that was whispered into her ear, and from what he could tell the circumstances of their mission just changed.

    Hearing the complete message, she nodded to herself and calmly evaluated the newest intelligence.

    "Call in the rest of the team and meet us at the main gate," she instructed the Anbu who''d just joined them.

    "Yes, Squad Leader!" And he left to execute Akata''s order.

    She turned her attention back to Fuzen who''d been waiting in silence. "Our mission parameters have changed, and we need to deploy immediately."

    "Aye aye," he performed a mock salute.

    "My team and I specialize in assassination and assault so get your mind straight. Obey my orders, don''t hesitate, and if you care about that ¨C" She gestured toward his privates. "Don''t get any of us killed."

    Without further comments, she set off running.

 Chapter 20 - Trial by Fire

    Understanding they would be gone for quite a while, Akata told him to get a backpack from the armoury and wear the black cloak stored in his locker.

    It hadn''t taken the team long to gather at the main gate as instructed and beside Akata who wore a white cloak, each of the other members had on the same black one as Fuzen over their standard uniform. All of them were geared up and prepared to head off into combat.

    With the addition of him, Akata now commanded a team of five Anbu''s. Large enough force to cause serious damage, yet small enough to avoid detection, the perfect strike unit.

    Leaving Konoha, their team travelled south-east heading towards the Land of Mountains where a reconnaissance team was going to meet them.

    It took a couple of days of non-stop travel, but gradually the terrain changed from vibrant forests to more mountainous. The cover of trees was replaced with more open areas dominated by cliffs and high visibility.

    The entire time Fuzen kept practising his new offensive technique and eventually, he did manage to form a semi-complete version of his envisioned ''Void Fist''. The coating of black death would now coat his entire hand and emit an eerie pulsating bass.

    So far, he''d managed to brush off Akata''s questions, yet he knew she''d seen him ditch the ruined set of arm guards. ''Void Fist'' consumed anything touched, and sadly that included what he wore as well.

    Approaching the intended meeting point, Akata tasked an eagle-masked Anbu possessing sensory abilities to take the front and perform regular scans of the area to make sure they weren''t surprised by uninvited guests.

    Running at high speed, each of them agilely manoeuvred between obstacles even though it was in the middle of the night. About to reach the top of a cliff, the man in lead indicated with a closed fist for them to halt.

    Blending into the surroundings, all five of them crouched down on the vertical cliff. "I sense a group of three about a mile that way," the sensory Anbu pointed the same way they were travelling.

    "Okay, Gaijin. This is on you. If they''re with us bring them back here, and if not, I want you to kill two and bring one back for interrogation."

    Without answering, Fuzen disappeared in his shadow and went to work.

    In his dimension of pure darkness, the location of the group up ahead quickly became apparent. The shadow carried by people had a special feeling attached which made it easy for him to discern them from the other inanimate objects. Fuzen could even give a rough estimate of chakra level.Stolen novel; please report.

    Judging by chakra, he was quite confident that all three of them was jonin, which didn''t match the provided information on the group they were supposed to meet.

    ''Shadow Walk'' had improved to a degree where few shinobi were able to react in time to avoid his attacks, more so if they didn''t expect it.

    However, credit, where credits due, the three jonin were smart as each of them, was positioned in advantageous spots taking advantage of the natural terrain if an enemy engaged. Not that it''d help them against him though, he could almost appear from anywhere.

    Materializing behind the first victim, Fuzen outstretched his right hand and with ''Void Fist'' activated, cut a clean hole through the place his heart used to be. No sooner had the body collapsed onto the ground, and Fuzen arrived at the next jonin where he followed the same exact procedure.

    By this time the third jonin noticed something was happening out there in the dark, and his baser instincts urged him to run like the death reaper himself was coming. In a period of a few seconds, he''d caught an unnaturally low frequency pulsating bass come and go twice, each time closer to his current position.

    Arriving at the conclusion nothing good would come from waiting, he decided to do a fast check on the position of his closest comrade. If things weren''t right, he''d have to notify his superiors.

    About to step away from his well-defended spot, a pair of luminous golden eyes became visible in the bushes ahead of him.

    ''Genjutsu Paralysis!''

    The amount of chakra used in Fuzen''s genjutsu caused an overload in the jonin''s entire nervous system, basically short-circuiting it. For a while, he''d neither be able to move nor utter a single word and could only watch as Fuzen approached with a predatory gleam hidden behind his tiger-mask.

    Including this one, each of these male shinobi owning jonin level chakra had been wearing forehead protectors of Sunikagure. It didn''t matter to him, but he guessed it''d mean a great deal to Akata when she was informed.

    Walking up to the genjutsu bound Suna jonin, he activated ''Void Fist'' in his right hand that in turn released an ominous rhythmic bass to the surrounding area.

    Fuzen bent down on one knee and inspected the jonin''s legs. "You should honestly thank me. Because of me, you won''t even feel a thing..." Passing a swift hand coated in void chakra straight through the legs, he erased from existence what connected the upper part of the thigh to the rest below.

    Finished with the amputation the jonin fell onto his back, leaving the lower part of his legs separated from the rest. This way there wouldn''t be any risk of the jonin fleeing or attempting something dumb."

    The mental and physical trauma inflicted upon the jonin made him start hyperventilating. "Oi, don''t faint on me! Not cool. I need you conscious here, otherwise, how can we question you." Fuzen placed an assertive foot onto his chest. Leaning forward, he saw the jonin''s eyes filled with dread and fear.

    Hidden beneath the mask, Fuzen couldn''t help a small smile. "Don''t worry, we only want to ask a couple of questions. After that, we''ll let you go, promise."

    After a halfhearted attempt to find a clue of some sort as to what might have happened to the intelligence team they were actually supposed to meet, but not finding anything, he turned his attention to the crippled jonin bleeding profusely.

    "Guess, you''ll have to do. Let''s go, I have people waiting to meet you."

 Chapter 21 - Betrayed Trust

    Through the realm of darkness, Fuzen teleported the unfortunate Suna to his awaiting team members. While he was gone, they''d used ninjutsu to create a closed off safe room built into the surface of the cliff.

    "I''ve brought back a guest," Fuzen called attention to himself as he exited from his dimension.

    Seeing her newest team member arrive with a captive in tow, Akata stood up from her seated position and inspected his work.

    Nodding appreciatively, she waved one of the other Anbu''s over. "Sato, I want you to extract whatever info he has, got it?"

    "You do remember I''m not good enough to leave their minds intact afterwards, right?"

    "It doesn''t matter. We only need information." She glanced at the shinobi''s amputated legs bleeding onto the ground, "He won''t survive for long anyway."

    "Give me a few minutes, and I''ll see it done."

    Going to work, Sato performed a series of quick hand seals that caused the surrounding earth of the jonin to swallow him until only the upper half of his chest was free. Taking a crosslegged seat in front of him, Sato placed a hand on the jonin''s head and began the extraction process.

    Meanwhile, Fuzen had taken a seat and pulled out the last couple of rice balls from his bag. After these, only the horrible tasting food pills remained.

    Taking off his mask, Akata sashayed over to join him by the wall with her own food and drink in hand.

    "It''s an impressive group you''ve managed to gather," he complimented her.

    Like him, she also removed her cat-mask, in turn releasing her beauty upon him once again and sat down. "Besides you, I''ve handpicked each Anbu on my team."

    It still hit him the same way each time. With the mask attached she was hot, but without it, Akata was damn scorching, and Fuzen couldn''t help envying the ground she was sitting on with that delicious ass.

    She had straight golden blonde hair pulled back into a low pony-tail and big pale blue eyes. The light dusting of freckles across her cheeks provided Akata with a unique touch, and with lush lips shaded a subtle peach, almost begging for ravishment, she would no doubt be a worthy addition to his future collection.

    "Are you saying I''m not wanted?" He bit into his food.

    She appeared thoughtful before she answered. "That''s not what I''m saying. I''m merely stating each of us has a purpose on this team, an area of expertise if you would. Previous to the Hokage''s approaching me, I''d been on the lookout someone who could add more firepower. You fit the criteria. He didn''t force me, it was still up to me whether or not I allowed you on the team."

    Fuzen thought about the three low-level jonin''s he''d just taken down solo. "However, you still thought it necessary to test me?"

    "I had to know you could live up to the expectation," she shrugged her shoulder unrepentant.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

    It didn''t take Sato long to extract the required information, and while Akata and Fuzen ate their food, he began briefing them on his findings. Apparently, the three Sunagakure shinobi they''d encountered were part of a much larger force stationed in the surrounding area.

    Despite the Land of Mountains possessing vast amounts of valuable minerals, it still remained in an economically unfavourable position. Bad trade deals by the previous administration had resulted in all the wealth being rerouted into the Land of Fire. They''d allied with Konoha and ended up getting nothing in return.

    Since a few weeks prior, the daimyo from the Land of Wind had been in continuous contact with the Land of Mountain negotiating conditions for them to become a tributary nation. As a tributary nation, the Land of Mountains would have to pay a regular token of submission in the form of taxes and provide the occasional military aid if requested, yet in turn, they would gain both protection and various favourable trade deals.

    Due to the Land of Mountains rough terrain, it would also provide an excellent natural barrier if the Land of Fire should ever wage war against the Land of Wind. Strategic wise it would become an important military position.

    "What about the intelligence team we were supposed to meet?" Akata questioned.

    Sato shook his head. "The intelligence team consisted only of a single chunin and three genins. They didn''t stand a chance after the unexpected influx of shinobi belonging to Sunagakure three days ago. Each of them was killed unable to escape the area."

    "That''s good," she nodded. "Less for us to worry about."

    "I agree, that''s good news. However, according to what I could gather, this place should still be crawling with multiple three-man teams. The captain in charge of the Sunagakure force is a vigilant bastard."

    "So what is the exact purpose of this Sunagakure infestation?" Fuzen asked intrigued.

    Sato turned to look at him. "They''re waiting to escort the Mountains Daimyo and a couple of representatives. The one you caught didn''t know the location of the meet, but he''d heard rumours that the Winds Daimyo would personally be present to sign the binding tributary contract between their two nations."

    This whole situation had very fast developed into a matter of highest national importance. A deal of this significance signed behind the Land of Fire''s back would without a doubt result in a major political embarrassment, furthermore, it wouldn''t exactly inspire trust and confidence between the Daimyo of Fire and Konohagakure''s Hokage.

    Akata put on her mask again and walked over to the unconscious Suna shinobi. "Do we know their numbers and when they plan to set out?"

    "Sunagakure arrived with at least 150 shinobi, perhaps more. Yet, the most worrisome part is Kagero Village. As I went through his memories, I witnessed a scene where several large groups of weapon bearing groups were seen entering the village, which causes me to suspect they''ve called in a lot of the shinobi clans living within their domain."

    "Well, that''s is troubling," she looked down at the one who''d contained these glimpses of valuable information. "And did he know when they''d leave?"

    "Afraid not, but they''ve already been here for three days. I can''t imagine them waiting around for much longer... What do suggest we do?"

    "The Land of Mountains have obviously betrayed the trust of Konoha and our nation. If not yet by deed, their intentions are clear." She went down on one knee and grabbed hold of the jonin''s hair tilting back the head, exposing his neck. "As such, this is war," with a flick with her kunai, Akata cut open his jugular.

    Using her black cloak as a rag, she started cleaning her now bloodied weapon. "First of all, I doubt Konoha''s forces would be able to reach here in time to stop the meet between the two daimyos, which is the most important part at this moment in time. So that will be our primary responsibility."

    "Second of all, we need to inform the higher-ups of what is happening here. With you being the fastest among us that falls to you Fuzen."

    Following suit, Fuzen also wore his mask. "Sure, what do you want me to tell the old man?"

    "I want you to inform the Hokage, that the Land of Mountains has betrayed our trust and they''ve gathered all their forces along with several Sunagakure shinobi at Kagero Village."

    "Got it. I''ll be right back..."

 Chapter 22 - A Matter of State

    Akata was right, he was by far the fastest among them as it didn''t take him more than a second to appear inside the Hokage''s office in Konoha several hundred miles away.

    "Gaijin, what are you doing here?" Hiruzen viewed him in surprise.

    "I''m here to report critical information from our teams'' investigation of the unusual activity in the Land of Mountains."

    Hearing Fuzen''s serious tone, he indicated for him to wait while he erected a barrier preventing anyone from listening in on their conversation. "You can continue."

    "From the information, we''ve managed to acquire the Land of Mountains is about to finalize an agreement with the Land of Wind to become a tributary nation."

    Standing up, Hiruzen exited the office expecting Fuzen and his personal Anbu bodyguards to follow. "Convene an emergency meeting with all available members of the council in ten minutes! And make sure the Fire Daimyo receives a notice." Complying, one of the Anbu''s disappeared to arrange it.

    On the way to the war room, Hiruzen''s kept asking Fuzen different question, which he answered to the best of his ability. Exactly ten minutes after the command was given Hiruzen began the meeting.

    Each of the three council members was there, and they''d received notice that the Fire Daimyo would be there soon through a broadcast on the television.

    "According to the information provided it appears we''ll have to act quickly if we intend to stop this deal... and I don''t believe it''d be wise to allow the Land of Wind to have a direct border facing our nation." Homura Mitokado argued.

    "Not to mention the additional manpower and resources that would suddenly become available to Suna," Koharu Utatane continued the argument.

    Having heard their recommendation, Hiruzen turned to Danzo. "And what do you think? Do you agree?"

    "Yes, I agree. In fact, would recommend an immediate strike against Kagero Village and force them to submit to us instead."

    Hiruzen closed his eyes and considered the available options and tried to appease an incoming headache by massaging his temples.

    "Hokage, the Fire Daimyo is ready." A shinobi opened the door to inform them.

    "Put him on..."

    The minute the television came on a furious Fire Daimyo gave an immediate order of attack. He wanted the Mountain Daimyo dead for his betrayal, and the Kagero Village burned to the ground. There''s was no way, he would ever allow the deal between the Land of Wind and Mountains to take place.

    After the daimyo closed down the connection, the Konoha council was left in speechless silence.

    Given a clear decree, Hiruzen began planning the attack on Kagero Village and made Fuzen return to his team with information that it''d take at least two days to reach Kagero Village.Stolen story; please report.

    Additionally, if the Mountain Daimyo and his representatives set off before they arrived, Akata''s team should find a way to dispose of the Mountain Daimyo and the region''s representatives at any cost. It was of the highest importance they left none alive who could sign the contract.

    "I''ll notify my team leader on your decision." About to return to the cave where he left the team, Danzo asked for a minute of his time.

    Both of them stepped outside the war room where Hiruzen was currently planning the attack and went away so no one could hear their talk.

    "If the opportunity arises, I want you to take out the Wind Daimyo as well."

    "Are you sure? Hiruzen didn''t mention any of this." Behind the mask, Fuzen smiled knowing this was an attempt by Danzo to reel him in.

    "Judging by his actions here, the Wind Daimyo is too dangerous to let live. We can''t allow people who intend to harm the interest of Konoha and the Land of Fire to go without punishment, don''t you agree?"

    "I''ll consider it." And with that, Fuzen left Konoha to join his team once more.

    It hadn''t been more than half an hour since he left, and except for the eagle-masked sensor everybody was still there.

    "Well, aren''t you guys having a party? What did I miss?" He elbowed his way in to sit beside Akata and joined their discussion.

    "Hey! There''s no reason to look at me like that Sato. It was you who took my spot in the first place," Fuzen reasoned with Sato who was clenching his fists in annoyance.

    "What did the Hokage tell you?" Akata broke up the potential conflict before it developed further.

    Fuzen turned his attention to Akata. "Well, Hiruzen said he''d be here with a force in two days to take care of Kagero Village. However, the Fire Daimyo was livid after hearing the dealings behind his back and wants us to find a way to kill the Mountain Daimyo and the representatives so the contract between the two nations can''t be signed."

    When Akata was about to respond, the cliffside opened, and their sensor-nin entered the cave and reported that the entire enemy perimeter was starting to move in an east going direction toward the Land of Wind.

    Akata''s initial plan was to follow the convoy and set up an ambush when they knew which road they intended to use.

    However, when the collective force of the Suna and Kagero finally set out the perimeter defence only increased. At least a two hundred shinobi had been spread out in a tight perimeter surrounding the convoy to ensure no harm befell the Mountains Daimyo and its chosen representatives. The convoy had at about the same number of shinobi guarding it.

    There was basically no way to get close without their explicit knowledge, and they even had a team dedicated to the sole purpose of making sure no ambushes were up ahead.

    The prospect of an ambush working was nonexistent, and the enemy force was too large to confront head-on anyway.

    Stalking just outside the enemy perimeter for the better part of a couple of hours without observing any obvious weaknesses to exploit, Akata pulled her team together for a strategy meeting. "How long till they reach the border?"

    Balancing on a tree branch, the eagle-masked Anbu pulled out a small map and did some quick calculations. "At the current pace, I''d say perhaps eight hours. They should be there at dawn, but there''s no predicting if Sunagakure won''t have more shinobi join when we get closer."

    "Consequently it''s better for us to strike now," Akata murmured. "Gaijin, can you bring someone with you into their encirclement?"

    "I could, but it wouldn''t work. Bringing along another person makes the entire process of materializing take extra time, time that I don''t believe we''ll be given by the enemy."

    "But you can get in there by yourself?" She questioned.

    "Sure, yet even I have my limits, and I doubt I could kill all the targets before someone intervened. There''s simply too many in the centre."

    As this was a mission they weren''t allowed to fail, Akata considered all the available options as she formulated a plan of attack.

    They couldn''t make an ambush, and if they got too close an enemy sensor-nin would no doubt notice and encircle them before they could even get close to accomplish their goal.

    "What if we attracted their attention and lessened the amount people bodyguarding the targets, could you do it then?"

 Chapter 23 - Heads Will Roll

    kata decided that except a straight up suicide attack, the highest probability of success they had was enabling Fuzen''s ability to do a quick surgical strike within their midst.

    And to increase his odds, Akata and her team would orchestrate a fake blitz attack to draw the enemy''s attention and hopefully bait the other side into deploying parts of the force used to guard the Mountains Daimyo and their representatives.

    The underlying component of Akata''s strategy was based upon appearing as a severe threat and the only way to accomplish this was to launch an actual strike deep within their enemy''s defence perimeter. The deeper in they managed to get, the better a distraction they''d serve for Fuzen.

    About to pierce the enemy''s outer perimeter, Akata performed her final instructions.

    "When the moment comes, the job of eliminating the Land Of Mountains Daimyo and its representatives falls on you Gaijin. When you''ve completed the mission fire this green flare into the air, and each of us will fall back to meet in the cave." She handed him the flare.

    "I got it, don''t worry," Fuzen reassured her. "Now, let''s get this concert going shall we..."

    Activating ''Void Fist'' in both hands, he dissolved in between steps and arrived a hundred feet further away next to a shocked enemy behind a tree. Without time to respond, Fuzen''s hand passed through the Suna shinobi''s neck-area separating the head from his shoulders. The head hadn''t even fallen to the ground, and he was on the next unwilling victim.

    "This is it, team! Don''t let this young brat outperform you," Akata encouraged them and increased her speed to follow.

    With Fuzen spearheading the attack, teleporting between shinobi''s hidden in various locations and leaving beheaded corpses in his wake, their team was approaching the convoy much faster than Akata had expected. She''d sorely underestimated the killing potential Fuzen commanded despite having been warned by the Hokage.

    Half a mile within their parameter an alarm finally sounded and shinobi''s started streaming in from every direction to hinder their approach.

    Fuzen still went about killing indiscriminately, trying to force his way deeper in, but the enemy was smart and had started fighting in teams. It was becoming an arduous task, and besides Fuzen who was able to move at speeds faster than Akata could visually track and his efficient combat style, all members of her team were having a difficult time. On the battlefield, he moved like an intangible phantom. Each time the enemy encircled him, Fuzen would appear somewhere unexpected and decapitate another opponent. The most consistent way to track his position was by listening to the eerie pulsating bass emitted from the dark coating covering his hands.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

    Progress was slow, and it had gotten to a point where beside her and Fuzen the others were mostly just dodging incoming attacks. If she weren''t careful and continually remained vigilant in how she constantly changed the movement pattern of their team, the enemy would have them encircled and killed long ago.

    "Akata, if we go any further there''s no coming back out!" A wounded Sato fell in beside her and yelled above the noise of several incoming wind blade attacks.

    "Dodge, you fool!" She pushed him to the side in an attempt to save him, but one of the wind blades strafed him and cut straight through his left thigh muscle.

    Sato plummeted to the ground clutching the gaping wound on his thigh. Akata spared a quick glance back and saw him perform a small salute in her direction before charging into the nearest enemies pursuing them. A second later, she felt a large explosion go off behind her.

    Members of Anbu were taught to never get captured alive as they often contained too much valuable intel. Each and everyone on the team knew that equally well. Situations such as these didn''t allow for any sort of sentimental feelings, and it was one of the primary reasons so few qualified for Anbu. A certain degree of darkness and detachment was needed. The mission would always have to come first.

    And Sato had died knowing, their job was to gather the enemy''s attention and lessen the amount protecting the Daimyo and representatives. Judging by the number of people following them now, it was time for the next phase to begin.

    Akata didn''t know the exact location of Fuzen, but she could hear the characteristic sounds left in his wake in front of her somewhere.

    "Go now! We''ll fall back and wait for your signal. Good luck and don''t fail." She waited to hear a response.

    "I don''t intend to! Later..." Fuzen called back and disappeared to his realm of darkness.

    Shadows surrounding the convoy revealed there were five small carts and each had a significantly fewer people guarding it compared to earlier, which was excellent news. Altogether there were perhaps a hundred people left guarding them. Only the middle cart had one passenger and he assumed it belonged to the Mountain Daimyo. It also had the heaviest protection around it, so it made sense. The remaining four carts had two passengers in each and about an equal amount of protection spread between them.

    Since the Daimyo was the most well-protected out of them all, it made sense to take him out first. Materializing inside his personal cart, the eyes of the Mountains Daimyo widened in fright, yet before he could alarm any of his guards, Fuzen had sliced clean through his throat using a kunai. There was no surviving that.

    Right as he was about to move onward to the next cart filled with representatives, Fuzen felt an immediate presence of danger and instinctually bolted out the cart in open view of the entire contingent of Suna and Kagero shinobi.

    Attempting to stop his momentum from exiting the cart, Fuzen dug in his feet which caused gravel to fly about wildly. And no sooner had he gotten himself out and a gigantic cylinder steel construct smashed the cart to pieces. The amount of force involved in the attack caused a minor crater to form.

    "Holy shit, that was close..." Fuzen said, relieved by having made it out alive. Blood and unrecognizable pieces of flesh clung to the surface of the Third Kazekages steel construct.

    That sneaky son of a bitch had hidden his chakra level and remained hidden among the plebs this entire time. Fuzen couldn''t help a burning desire to improve his sensor abilities, cause this was stupid. Getting caught off-guard was an amateur mistake and one he wouldn''t repeat again.

    However, he still had a job to do.