I had messed up, if it weren't for my armor, I would have died.
But I didn't detect it at all, it's as if it came out of nowhere... I really need to train more, but I need to steal the technique of hiding in the fog or some other concealment technique.
I'm not very good at ninjutsu, not because I can't learn it or find it difficult, but because I can't remember the techniques. It's a pain to have to remember every technique I learn or want to learn.
I'd have to make something like an outline or, in modern terms, an Excel file to remember what to do in certain cases, like a programmed guide.
It sounds stupid, I know, but that's how I did it in my past life, and that's how I continue to do it.
I continue to train with Master Sakumo. He teaches me various sword movements while I work on blocking and counterattacking. I take advantage of the shape of the axe to hook his leg or block his sword, as well as using the shield when I see him coming with great force to take advantage of the fact that his sword is likely to get stuck so I can snatch it away or at least gain a few seconds.
Almost every moment I have to remind myself that I have the body flicker technique, so if I can NOT use the Flying Thunder God, I will use body flicker instead.
BANG
I'm experimenting with new techniques mixed with some products I buy at low prices, because when I find closed places with a large number of enemies, poor ventilation, and no hostages, I put flour in front of them and then scatter it and finally light it, imitating Asuma's technique where he released dust and ash and then released a spark.
By the way, I think Asuma is older than me. How is he doing?
With all the bandits dead and the cave entrance destroyed, the mission is over, so we return to the village.
In the Hokage's office.
Master Sakumo reports everything about the mission, but while my master is doing his thing, I look out the window...
I wish I were a cloud, flying there, without a care in the world.
-Kenji
Huh?
I snap out of my thoughts and see that the Third Hokage is calling me.
"Yes, Lord Hokage." I straighten up immediately and bow slightly.
The Hokage looks at me for a moment and then smiles.
"I am glad to see the will of fire in you, it burns so brightly that it illuminates everyone else....
...
What will of fire? What is he talking about?
The Hokage seems to notice my expression and proceeds to explain.
"I have noticed that you often take on missions to hunt down bandits and that you free the hostages or kidnapped victims or give them a new life under your care, which is a joy to the village, as you brighten the lives of those people wherever you go, giving future generations a path to aspire to.
...
So the Hokage thinks I do it out of pure kindness?
Eh, I don't know what to say. I mean, it doesn't feel right to leave them to their fate, and I feel the need to take responsibility until the end, but I have plans for them.
Besides, I take on bandit missions mainly to get test subjects and pretend to release them in areas where Orochimaru can easily capture them, so he'll give me some money, which I use to invest in more businesses.
But if the Hokage sees it that way and I win his favor, I won't bother correcting him, because if in his eyes I have that "will of fire" and he proceeds to become a backup and protection against Danzo, I'll take it.
I don't like this guy, but if he's useful to me, what does it matter?
Sakumo, I have a mission specifically for you, so I need you to stay a little longer to discuss it. But I also summoned young Kenji here on your recommendation to take the chunin exam.
Chunin exam, huh?
I honestly can't say if I can become a chunin or not, since the Sharingan already drains a lot of my chakra, but for some reason, it doesn't seem to affect me as much as it did Kakashi... Who the hell are my parents, really, to have such a large amount of chakra?
Yes, Hokage-sama, I believe he is ready to become a chunin, as he is already capable of defeating several bandits at once and some rebel ninjas of chunin and jounin level.
Just in case, renegade chunin and jounin levels are usually much weaker than those in the big villages, as the vast majority are from small countries such as the Grass Village, the Waterfall Village, and so on, nothing like the rebels from the big villages such as Deidara, Itachi, Kisame, and so on.
"It's impressive that he's so capable at such a young age. He could be a good partner for your son Kakashi and mine, Asuma.
Asuma... Another simp, not as extreme as Obito, but still a simp.
It seems that this old man wants to use me to indirectly train Asuma, but unfortunately, I'm not a ninjutsu specialist, haha.
Faced with this, my teacher seems at a loss for words and just gives an awkward smile.
-Young Kenji, while your master is away on that mission, I will continue to give you missions from time to time, but I want you to learn from other people, because I see great potential in you.
I'll pretend to believe him, because his intentions are very obvious.
Since he "saw talent in me," he plans to do me favors and do whatever it takes to bind me to his faction and, in the process, brainwash me just like he did with Itachi and Shisui.
Let's play along as much as we can.
"Yes, Lord Hokage."
Days later, Master Sakumo left the village to fulfill his mission...
Now what?
Well, now that I'm alone for at least a few days until I'm assigned some kind of tutor, I train with the Uchiha, either letting them put me under genjutsu or copying their fire jutsu.
Honestly, I like lightning better, but the Uchiha are among the best at fire jutsu, as are the Sarutobi, but come on, I don't like Sarutobi, because he's an old Hokage who should have retired by now but foolishly clings to power despite being a failure as Hokage.
Anyway, I'm getting way off topic.
CLANK
CLANK
Since I had nothing better to do, I bought some minerals I saw at the market. The funny thing is that it's one of the newly opened businesses in the buildings I bought.
Lightning chakra-conducting mineral, which Kushina said is the same one Minato used to make his special kunai, as well as fire chakra-conducting mineral and some others that I don't even know what they are, but I plan to experiment with them.
CLANK
And there I am, forging new weapons, making the blades of the Flying Thunder God's tomahawks, which greatly reduce chakra consumption, so now instead of only 3 uses, I can at least use it 10 times on myself and at least 25 times on objects.
CLANK
I also make a special axe based on lightning chakra-conducting mineral, as well as a steel blade with an alloy of lightning mineral.
As for the fire mineral, I turned it into a bunch of senbones, so it would throw something like fire needles.
Taking advantage of the leftover minerals, I made both a mini crossbow and a small tool that uses the senbones as ammunition, which is activated by injecting chakra that ignites the senbones as they are fired in several bursts, while what propels them is a small release of wind.
Did I just create a mini needle machine gun? If it weren't for the sealing technique patterns Kushina taught me, it would be an automatic air gun.
I made many tools and pieces of armor that cover my forearms, knees, and just in case, I put a special piece between my legs... just in case someone gets any ideas, right?
TATATATATATATATATA
Because it's detonated by mini wind releases, there's almost no sound, which is very convenient for stealth missions, but I find that I need to calibrate it and get used to the senbon falling.
I do the necessary tests for each new tool, such as putting on the armor and shooting it or even hitting it hard and noticing that it only dents but does not break or puncture.
I throw the tomahawks of the Flying Thunder God to test them a little, and even with the sharingan consuming much of my chakra, I can resist the dizziness and test it to the deduced limit, which is exactly 12 times, 2 more than I thought.
Everything is quiet. I haven't been on any missions lately since the Hokage won't let me leave the village without a "tutor." I've also been so focused on forging these weapons and tools that I even ignored some people who came looking for me, but I didn't know they had come until I saw the letter on my door.
This makes me feel a little sorry.
It's spring, I think that date is coming up, right?
Master Sakumo is sent on a mission, but I know that when he returns, he won't be the same... Look, I can't do anything about it, since after all, my previous death wasn't exactly an "accident."
I've had time to recover some more memories from my past life, more specifically the moment of my death.
What can I say? I feel like a failure.
But apart from that, it's not like I'm in a better state, because since my mother died, the feeling of loneliness is very similar to that of my previous life, so there are times when I do absolutely nothing but remember my deceased mother.
I know I should find a friend or go out and relax, but in both this life and the last, I was always a loner. I never knew what it was like to have a friend, and in both this life and the last, I was so wrapped up in my activities that I completely neglected the few relationships in my life.
I regret many things, really, including the fact that even though we spend time together and all that, I don't feel close to them inside, as if I were trying to push them away because of some past trauma... What really happened to me?
-I can't go on like this... but I don't really know what to do. It's not like going out and finding a friend will solve this. I've already tried, but when I try to explain my interests, no one understands and they look at me like I'm a weirdo.
I talk to myself inside the house. Even though there are servants, it's not like they're really my friends, but I can see their concern in their eyes.
Hm? Nothing's wrong... I'm just imagining things.
The girl who was watching me stares at me for a while with worried eyes, but then she bows slightly and leaves.
She is one of the victims of the bandits. She was kidnapped to be sold to nobles or some mad scientist, but in the end I saved her from that fate. However, since her parents were killed, I had no choice but to bring her with me.
Here I teach her to read and write, as well as some basic arithmetic, so that when she is an adult, I can let her go and live her own life.
...
In this world, I have at least something that ties me down, because I can't abandon these people to their fate. The youngest of them is at least 8 years old.
Although they are a little older than me, they are normal children, not shinobi raised in a semi-militarized village where we are trained in ninjutsu from an early age. But if any of them want to learn ninjutsu, I will send them to the academy immediately.
If a normal person saw me, they would say that I am not normal, but come on, Itachi wasn't either, but I don't know how to take the Hokage's compliment when he mentioned that even at a young age I have the mentality of a Hokage...
Am I perhaps the Itachi of this world? Sorry, but I'm not a damn ungrateful person who will annihilate the clan for the interests of corrupt old men.
The days pass until I am assigned a tutor, who will be Kushina Uzumaki, who offered to come with me on my missions.
How strange, I don't remember her training a genin team.
"Hello, Kenji. How have you been?"
I don't answer, I just wave my hand in greeting and nod as if to say "fine."
Kushina makes a complicated expression, but she just lets out a sigh and explains the situation to me.
According to her, she volunteered to help me on my missions because she was recently promoted to Jounin and now has the authority to come with me as a jounin advisor.
Was Kushina a jounin in the canon? I don't remember, but if she wasn't, why is she now?
I stop thinking about these things, because it's not like I can ask her.
Having made things clear, we proceed to take on missions, because those test subjects won't capture themselves.
As we walk, Kushina keeps looking at me out of the corner of her eye, but after a few minutes of walking, she breaks the silence.
"Hey, Kenji, you feel different. I know you're a taciturn person and you don't even smile very often... but your aura feels darker. Is something wrong?"
I expected her to notice, because apart from being perceptive, she may already have Kagura's eye, which I don't really know, because it's not like I've been a sage who knows everything about Naruto.
But at this point, lying is useless.
"I couldn't really say, maybe I'm just tired," I say after an internal sigh.
Kushina just looks at me with a complicated expression, but she doesn't press further, so now we just walk in silence to the Hokage's office.
But now that I think about it, how can the Hokage let the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki go on a mission... wait.
I raise my senses and try to detect some presences.
ANBU, I thought so, and I think one of the ones watching us is Minato.
But that doesn't answer the question: why did he let Kushina be my Jounin instructor?
Well, what do I care, it must be some weird plan of the Hokage's, that crazy old man sometimes does things I don't understand.
Could it be that he's trying to give her a little freedom to control the Nine-Tails? Because if so, I think it's smart, because if they keep her in such strict captivity, it will only cause her to get out of control, which doesn't really happen, but I guess Kushina or Minato used that argument.
...
It seems that thinking things through helps me calm down. I don't know if that's good or bad.
Maybe it's similar to the Nara clan's affliction, where they're geniuses but the side effect is constant laziness?
Well, we've arrived at the Hokage building, so let's go in.
"I'll go with the Hokage, and you choose the mission you're going to do.
I nod and then watch Kushina walk away.
Hmm, in these times, what interesting ninjas are there? It's about seven years before Naruto is born,
Shisui was born last year, that's how I figured it out, as I recall Kabuto is born around this year, but he's not my problem.
Orochimaru at least pays me for every bandit and renegade ninja I deliver to him, so there's already a connection.
Akatsuki hasn't been formed yet, as it's only been a year or two since Jiraiya left them after training them.
But something bothers me. No matter how much I search the wikis and all that, I never understood Naruto's timeline, since it's all just calculations. I can't really know for sure, but I can say that
Tsunade is still in the village for now, although she's drowning in alcohol and gambling addiction.
Maybe when I get back from this mission, I'll try to find her, bet against her, and make her pay me with techniques or something.
Since I don't remember what the hell was going on in the world around this time, I just take on a mission to hunt down bandits and rebel ninjas.
Anyway, the ones I'm interested in aren't even born yet or are in other villages, so let's just keep doing what we always do.
I take any mission paper and bring it to the receptionist, who for some reason looks at me strangely, but then smiles and approves me to carry out the mission.
The reward is higher than normal and is located on the border with the country of hot water... shit, I took one I shouldn't have, this one is higher rank...
Well, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki is with me now, as are the future Yellow Flash of Konoha and several other ANBU, so I don't think it will be a problem in the end, right?
Kushina comes back and reviews the mission; at first she is somewhat doubtful, but then she approves it and we proceed to go to the location.
Land of Hot Water (what a name).
Let's see, the location is near the hidden village among the hot springs, but according to the mission details, the shinobi from that village were unable to complete it, so they asked Konoha to do it.
We need to gather information about their exact location, number, and chakra level, so we go to the nearest village. I use my transformation technique and blend in with the crowd to listen to rumors and discreetly ask about the matter.
I spend the day like this, with Kushina watching me the whole time. She is here more to examine how I perform on my own, and I suppose the ANBU are too, so I can't fail this.
I spend the whole day in the village gathering information, sometimes having to use the Sharingan to force them to talk when I encounter some members of the bandit gang.
Their numbers are greater than I have dealt with so far, so I must prepare for a somewhat long battle, as I do not know if Kushina will intervene or not.
I have my poisons, my arthropods and arachnids (they're not insects), my tools, which are properly maintained, and the money I need for food and other things.
Another piece of information I gathered is that the reason the ninjas of this country couldn't deal with them is because they are rebels from the village of the clouds, so they are much stronger.
Damn, I didn't think I'd run into this.
Anyway, it's not time to regret it, it's time to work now that the sun is going down.
I order the bandit to go to his lair, I leave him a paper with the seal of the Flying God to sense his location and go directly, but I also make my invocations.
I clap my hands and place them on the ground.
Summoning technique: wild pack, come.
And with white smoke, my wolves appear, which I make sniff out the bandit and detect other scattered members.
I wait a while and finally it stops, so I go immediately.
With Kushina following me without saying anything, we head to the lair.
Upon arriving at the lair, I release my ants to map the place, and once everything has been mapped, I remove the glasses that seal the sharingan.
With the protection of the Jinchuriki and the Hokage, there is no longer any reason to fear Danzo so much, so I can use it freely.
"You know, Kenji, I didn't think you moved so well. It seems Sakumo taught you well."
Kushina's voice startles me a little, as it caught me off guard and busy with something else.
"Yes, Master Sakumo has taught me the places where information is usually obtained, illusory techniques to force them to talk, tying up loose ends so they don't get scattered, and also how to proceed with a mission of this type.
I continue with what I'm doing, using my Sharingan to see who has the most chakra.
"But you know what? It seems like you feel better when you're busy thinking about something... I'm glad you're feeling better....
I don't know how to respond at this moment.
"Thanks, I guess.
She smiles cheerfully.
Even though she's only about 17 years old, you can tell how warm she is. If she had lived with Naruto, I know he would have been raised with a lot of love by her and Minato.
But I refocus on the mission.
"The one with the most chakra is in the back. He seems to be the leader, giving orders."
Kushina sees him too, although less clearly than I do, but she manages to spot him.
"Understood, do you want me to help?"
I pause for a moment, because the help of a Jinchuriki would be useful, but it would be absurd to make her fight so soon. Besides, I'm going to use poisons, so it's not a good idea.
"Better stay here, I'll use my tools and you might get involved in something you don't want to."
I take out a slingshot and a bow and arrow, place a ceramic ball on the slingshot, and throw it directly at the leader's head.
PLAF
The ball doesn't hit his head, but it doesn't matter, because the point was for it to hit close by.
The ants inside the ball rush to climb onto the ninja who is screaming at us.
Is he an idiot? Why doesn't he come and attack right away?
I make some shadow clones and now I use the bow and arrow to hit the center of everything, because I trust my ants.
-AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH
My chakra-powered bullet ants are the best.
I release the bowstring and the arrow hits the center, releasing a fog that covers the entire place.
I take out my gas mask and an extra one for Kushina and proceed to go into battle with my clones.
-IT'S THE EXECUTIONER OF AGONY, RUN!
What kind of nickname is that?
The guy who shouted told them to run, but because of the fog, they can't see, and besides, I mixed it with hallucinogenic gases, hahaha, so they crash into each other and knock out all the bandits.
But in the case of the shinobi, it was clear that it wouldn't work against them, as they used a wind release jutsu to disperse the fog.
Five tough-looking, dark-skinned men rush at me. There would have been six, but one was already bitten by several bullet ants.
Katon: Gokyaku no jutsu.
I spit out a large 3-meter fireball (it grew, woohoo).
Using the large fireball as cover, I use my clones to distract the rest of the rebel shinobi, as I need to get them away, so the three of them make hand seals.
Katon: Endan
Taking advantage of the fact that some of them were distracted, I throw fireballs at them, which hit their knees and one of them in his private parts just to annoy him.
They weren't that strong, as the purpose was to provoke them, so they begin their hand seals.
Raiton: Lightning Spear
I imitate their movements and also invoke it.
Raiton: Lightning Spear
A screeching sound echoes through the area and two lightning spears are thrown at once, but my lightning spear is stronger, so it devours the opponent's spear.
But the shinobi dodges and throws another one.
I use body flicker while summoning my shield and strike the ninja in the center directly as the others come at me with their lightning spears ready to pierce me.
But I use the Flying Thunder God to evade them, causing them to pierce only the air.
The ninja in the center is knocked down by the blow with the shield, and I will take advantage of that opportunity.
I throw my marked tomahawks in different directions. I mustn't overuse the technique, but it's more of an insurance policy than anything else.
"How could this brat evade it?" shouted one of the rebel cloud ninjas.
"It doesn't matter, kill him."
I release some lightning chakra in my body, at least enough to accelerate my body, and I also use wind release to increase my speed.
I use body flicker and now use the trees as a base to jump from side to side while holding my senbon cannon.
"AAAAGH, I can't see him clearly. How does this brat not run out of chakra?"
I'd like to know the same thing.
I pull the trigger and one of the flaming senbon hits the leg of one of the rebel ninjas, causing him to fall and cutting off his movement.
"Quick, we have to block his movement somehow," shouted the one who seemed older than the rest.
But then, with a little lightning release injected into my axe, I take advantage of the centrifugal force to decapitate one of them.
His head flies off, but I catch it and throw it at another one.
The guy with the scar on his cheek blocked the projectile, but when he saw that it was his comrade's head, he threw it away in panic, giving me the opportunity to use centrifugal force to stab him directly in the abdomen with a kunai.
Okay, one dead and two incapacitated, two to go.
But then, the one who seemed to be the leader figured out my pattern, so he punched me in the face to slow me down.
I flew through the air until I crashed into the trees, but my clones bought me time by using another smoke bomb while I put a healing herb on my nose to stop the bleeding.
It really hurts; this time, centrifugal force worked against me.
My shadow clones disappear in white smoke, signaling that they have been defeated, so I recover their memories and the chakra I used.
"Genji, use this."
But I don't give them the chance, I make hand seals for the next jutsu.
Katon: Fire Bullets.
And a clone next to me also makes hand seals.
Futon: Vacuum Bullets.
The two jutsu mix and hit one of them, piercing his leg, causing it to be cut off at once while the fire from the bullets begins to spread through his clothes.
"Quick, make some water, put it out, put it out!"
The one whose leg was burning screamed in desperation as the fire spread.
But the older ninja also begins to notice that the places that were stabbed by the senbon and kunai are turning black.
"Poison!?"
Then, knowing that they have no chance of survival, he lunges at me with his sword while making hand seals with one hand.
Oh, no way.
Raiton: Lightning Blade
Then suddenly he uses body flicker and cuts my chest, even cutting through my armor.
I knew it would be useless against something like that, but it's better than nothing, right?
He doesn't stop with a single cut, but lunges his sword at me in anger, wounding my chest and face.
I summon my shield when I see that one will hit me squarely, and the blade pierces it, but then I turn it at that very moment to break his guard.
At times like this, I'm grateful to have a Sharingan.
Raiton: Lightning Blade
"Are you copying me?" he said, stunned.
"I have the Sharingan. Didn't they tell you what it does?" I replied forcefully as I swung the axe at him.
He decided to let go of his sword, which was stuck, and dodged the attack, but I took the sword and gave it back to him.
"Fight."
The older shinobi picked it up hesitantly, as he hadn't expected me to give it back.
"What's your name?"
The ninja hesitated for a moment and finally agreed to speak.
"I'm Merui, you?"
I nodded in agreement.
"Furukawa Kenji."
I want to fight this shinobi well.
I'm feeling tired, but I know I have to do this right. My eyes are burning a little, so I think I should put my glasses on now.
I take a piece of food from my ninja pocket and eat it while putting on my glasses.
It's something I made based on a soldier's pill, but I modified it to add energy agents, which will give me a lot of chakra and physical strength, but it only lasts a few minutes and I can't eat any more, because test subjects who consumed it more than once ended up with heart and respiratory difficulties, so it's only used in these cases.
I take my axe and shield, raising my guard.
Merui takes his sword back and charges at me again.
The same technique won't work twice, so when I raise my shield, I use body flicker to power up the charge and try to ram him, but Merui quickly dodges it using lightning chakra to increase the speed of his movements.
I make hand seals and throw wind bullets at him, which he cuts through with ease, but that gave me time to charge again by raising my shield.
Merui kicks the shield to deflect it, so I let go, but before throwing the shield, I switch to a short sword, which I use to stab him.
He stops it midway with his sword, but I don't stop there, using my elbow to strike his side.
Merui takes the impact of my elbow, causing him to stagger a little, and then receives an uppercut that sends him back a few steps.
We are in hand-to-hand combat, using swords and taijutsu, no longer using ninjutsu.
I take a few punches from him, causing me to spit out some blood, but I take the opportunity to spit it in his face, distracting him, so I try to stab him again.
But he made hand seals.
Raiton: Lightning Blade.
First I try to feel my marked tomahawks, but apparently they have been removed, so I cannot escape.
"Damn it," I shout to myself.
His lightning-wrapped sword is about to stab me, but I manage to deflect it with my foot.
It didn't pierce my heart, but it did pierce my shoulder.
"Uuugh," I groan in pain and dizziness.
The lightning seeps into my body, paralyzing me for a moment, but my glasses fall off and reveal the Sharingan, causing that he seems me in the eyes.
Sharingan, demonic illusion: blood eagle ritual.
At that moment, Merui is paralyzed, but so am I, as the pain and dizziness prevent me from moving, in addition to the pain in my eyes from overusing the Sharingan.
I force myself to move, close my eyes, and make hand seals.
Raiton: Lightning Blade.
My sword is covered with lightning chakra, and taking advantage of his paralysis, I stab him in the neck.
My shoulder is bleeding and there are marks around the stab wound. It looks like I'll be left with scars as if I had been struck by lightning.
I see the others who were wounded earlier, now their bodies are completely black. Necrosis has done its work.
As for the bandits... my wolves and ants will take care of them, so I'm not worried. I eat a healing herb that slowly restores my chakra, unlike my medicine.
Then, I lose consciousness and, with the sword still buried in my shoulder, I fall backwards.
The rest is no longer my concern; let someone else deal with it.