《The Gamer: Naruto World》


 Chapter -1 - Prologue - Endings and New Beginnings

    Prologue


    Blue sky, grassy lands, and cool soft breeze.


    Sitting on a chair, on the balcony, his face, covered by the hands, massaging his temples, ''The Gamer'' Han Jee-Han, gave out a big sigh, then put his mana enhanced tab inside the inventory. He started stretching is stiffened up body.


    It was nearly 3 years after the Great War against the Void King, The Cthulhu and The Great Magus Udivus. Han Jee-han was able to successfully defeat the great three but had to a price so great, that he wished to go back in time and reverse all things.


    "I have prepared for everything I could and can only hope that it will go well," said Jee-han.


    "Are we really doing this Jee-Han?" came a soft feminine voice


    Near the door, holding a tea set, came a woman with golden-brown hair reaching her h.i.p.s and wearing a white dress. Within those deep brown eyes, a silver of worry and sadness could be seen.


    "Sung-ah, you came? Let me hold this for you?" Jee-Han took the tea set from the Sang-ah and started filling the cups.


    "Yes, everything is ready and good to go."


    "Is that really alright? I mean¡­father always said that affecting the pool of life and death brings tragedy," asked Sang-ah.


    "Yes, it''s alright because it all happened due to the interference of the beings from another world. Beings from the different line, so it''s alright," answered Jee-Han trying his hard to keep himself calm. Deep anger and guilt could be seen in his eye.


    This Great War resulted in the death of large number of the member of the abyss, mostly the people around Jee-Han. His family, friends, teachers, and students died in this war. He remembered about his parents, the strongest magician and warrior duo, his friend Shin Sun-Il, who was just a step to godhood and Chunbumoon. Loli teacher, wolfman and their friends. His students and of course the abyssal lords.


    The only thing he could do was move on and never look back.


    Then one month later a letter and a box came to him with no address, only to his name telling that everything he lost could be brought back but the method was not in this world. Inside the box were hundreds of paper and pen drives and notes all about a parallel universe.


    Soon with the help of gamer ability and girlfriend sang-ah, he was able to understand about parallel worlds and laws and forms.


    After the Great War, the laws were stricter and more commanding.


    But Jee-han knew if there is any chance of reviving them it was the only way


    And it all came down today


    There center was an orb radiating a bright light covered by faint mist.


    [Essence of Earth Lv?]


    "Ah, Gamer is it? What have you come here for? You know after the Gamers mind changed to transcendental will, I was never able to connect with you anymore and now I look at you I feel that your domain is more absolute, stronger, denser and also contains spatial bonds." came a muffled voice from the surroundings. Voice containing no emotions, just plain.


    "Gaia, you said you could help me establish a contract with them, will it be absolute?" asked Jee-Han


    "There are 20 Gaia constructs who have agreed to help the gamer Han Jee-han and it will be absolute but the method may not be as you imagined it to be and I am sorry for it. Will it be acceptable, Gamer?"


    "YES"

 Chapter 1 - 1 – Enter! Yoshizawa Raito

    Chapter 1 ¨C Enter! Yoshizawa Raito


    Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or The Gamer (Manhwa). Wish I did, everyone does actually


    Hello


    My name is Yoshizawa Raito, an average boy with black hair and green eyes. I am an orphan. When I got the news, I took that news very calmly because I had always been prepared, they would always tell me about these things, about the life of a ninja and the true harsh world outside. They died three years ago. They died protecting Hokage-sama, though he didn''t tell me who did it I will one day find who did it and revenge them.


    Our current leader is Sarutobi Hiruzen 3rd Hokage from the line. We also had 4th Hokage named Minato Namikaze. Hokage is a title given to the strongest ninja in the village. They can do super-powerful jutsu and even summon beasts from thin air. 3rd Hokage-sama is also the same. Pretty cool you think but I tell you being Hokage suck pretty hard. He always writes; I mean come on every single time I see Hokage-sama he is always writing something. Last time I asked about the paper he said something about the request from someone to use ninja training ground as a farming field and the other time there was a request that 3 Jounin level ninjas are to provide protection to each of the civilian leaders and this type of request comes very often. I can''t think myself behind that desk writing and reading that ridiculous paper all day and I think politics is too heavy for me. He takes a day off from his duty once a month and comes to give me some money from my parents account and later we go to Memorial Stone and always tear come from my eyes and I wouldn''t even know it came.


    But there is this kid with yellow hair and orange jacket with deep blue eyes and always has a big smile on his face with those whisker marks on his face. His name is Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki, the most single annoying person I have met in my life (till now). He pranks people for a living. He does it with every single one and even so to Hokage-sama. His self-created S.e.xy Jutsu knocks out Hokage-sama at once. That time I really wanted to laugh hard and all but being near Hokage-sama I held it in. being so young and defeating Hokage is a legendary feat. My dad did use to tell me ninja use every move in and out of the book the win. So I think it is all fair so Hokage-sama-0 and Naruto-1. I also wanted to learn that Jutsu but Hokage-sama forbid me and I could only reluctantly only ask him to teach me later but the time never did came and I eventually forgot about it.


    Naruto''s dream is to be a Hokage. He is small but he already has a dream. I have never thought about what I want to be in the future. I think an average life would suit me the best


    OR SO I HAD THOUGHT


    Ding


    [You have slept in your own bed. HP & CP have been restored. All aliments & negative status have been cured.]


    I slowly opened my warm, closed, confused and annoyed eyes, confused because unlike any other days I couldn''t remember my dreams not even a bit, annoyed because there is someone destroying my peaceful beauty sleep. Yes, beauty sleep I said because you know sleeping helps in making you beautiful or more handsome.


    After I opened my eyes all I saw was a blue blur which I tried to swat away. What do you expect my half-opened eyes to see now?


    I slowly and reluctantly left my comfy and warm silky bed and went towards my bathroom where I went to relieve myself and took a bath which was less than 5 minutes. In my defense, a ninja should do things more efficiently.


    Then I went on the backyard which I massively huge that I don''t know what to do. Yes, massively huge means I can make about 20 standard small family houses. Then I started doing my stretching which I have been doing every single day for the past 5 years and every month it just gets longer and longer and it comes with a song.


    ~Sun comes from the east, rising from the sea, showing us light, giving us hope


    We live in the village, hidden in the leaves, founded by the man, called him Ha, shi,ra, ma Senju, a man with knowledge and wisdom great,..........


    My mom always used to force me to do this stretching. So for me, this is the most emotional time of my day. I closed my eyes and just focused on finishing it fast. It doesn''t do much but helps keep my mind fresh.


    10 minutes later


    *ding


    "Hmm¡­"


    20 minutes later


    *ding


    Half an hour later


    *ding


    Again!


    (W.N: It all happened in an hour. Think of it as after 10 min first the after 20 min then next on half an hour.)


    I opened my eyes to find the small blue rectangular box in front of me.


    "Huh?"


    "What. The. Hell?"


    There were blue boxes in front of me, same like those of in games. The first thing that came to my mind was- it was Genjutsu.


    "Kai."


    "KAI!"


    "KAI!!"


    ''So looks like it''s not a Genjutsu.''


    I ran towards my bed stood up on the sheets and let myself fall on the ground. And shit it hurt bad.


    So not a dream nor Genjutsu, then I could only say I am going mad....not. I have the ability of reasoning and am capable of making perfect judgment so I don''t think I am mad or gone insane.''


    Rumble rumble.


    ''One hour exercise and no sweat but a stomach rumbling, it seems I have to increase my training again.''


    After deciding to eat I started making my food.


    First, clean the rice, put the rice inside the rice cooker, then add water and switch on and now let''s wait.


    Next comes egg, heat the pan, prepare the egg, crack them and beat them with some salt, sprinkle oil on the pan, spread egg on the pan, wait a sec and flip, put the pan aside to re-heat the soup.


    ''I always feel accomplished after cooking; maybe I should become a cook.''


    *ding


    You have created a new recipe "Cooked Rice with Egg and Soup"


    [Cooked Rice with Egg and Soup]


    20 EXP earned


    *ding


    A special skill has been created through a special act.


    [Cooking Lv 1] has been created.


    [Cooking]


    *ding


    Due to your understanding of cooking and regular practices cooking skill has leveled up.


    *ding


    [Cooking Lv 1]¡­


    ¡­


    ¡­[Cooking Lv 8]


    I swiped all the blue box and seriously started eating my hand made food.


    Also, I thought about these blue boxes.


    "I swear to kami-sama that whoever is doing this prank, I am not going to let you go, I will hunt you and capture you and when I capture you I will skin you slowly and break all your bones, pull your muscles and cut your tendons," I shouted but no response came.


    "I have this one amazing drug similar to that you use on women during s.e.x which increases the sensitivity but what I have is more potent by a thousand times. It will let you experience the pinnacle of pain. After you take it and if you so much even move by inch you will experience pain you wish you die. In that state, I could do much worse to you." Still, no one responded.


    Hmmm, still no disturbance in the surrounding chakra. If that''s the case then the enemy should be a real expert.


    OR


    I am simply a F.U.C.K.I.N.G MORON!!


    *ding


    A special skill has been created through a special act


    [Lying Lv 1] has been created.


    [Lying]


    The ability to lie to people, the higher the level the better the lie and less chance of discovery!


    *ding


    A special skill has been created through a special act


    [Chakra Sense Lv 1] has been created.


    [Chakra Sense]


    The ability to sense the chakra outside the body, the higher the level greater the area of sensing and more precise.


    # Area Sense


    # Chakra Signature Sensing


    *ding


    [Chakra Sense Lv 1]? [Chakra Sense Lv 6]


    *ding


    For thinking logically and taking reasonable action WIS +3


    After my parents died, I bought all kinds of different games like fighting, shooting, role-playing, platform, action-adventure and stimulations and so on just to keep my mind distracted.


    But why the bloody hell is this happening to me?


    ''Has the world turned into a game or is it that I turned into a game character.''


    *ding


    For making correct assumptions INT+1 and WIS+1


    ''Thinking about this is making my brain hurt.''


    As I started to calm down, I started washing my dishes.


    *ding


    A special skill has been created through a special act


    Due to your diligent act of washing dishes [Dishwashing Lv 1] has been created.


    [Dishwashing]


    The ability to wash the dishes, the higher the level faster and cleaner the dishes will be.


    *ding


    [Dishwashing Lv 1]¡­


    ¡­


    ¡­[Dishwashing Lv 13]


    TRRRIIIINNNG¡­.TRRRRRRIIIIIIINNNNNGGGGG


    ''Shit I am going to be late for class.''


    *ding


    QUEST CREATED


    ACADEMY RULES


    Description: Reach Academy before time expires


    Rewards: 20 EXP, +10 increase relationship with Mari Ayoma


    Accept: YES / NO


    I quickly pressed yes and dashed out of the house.


    If any of this was real and it would be so... much.....

 Chapter 2 - 2 – Ghost Prankster

    Chapter 2 ¨C Ghost Prankster


    Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or The Gamer (Manhwa). Do I really have to do this every single time?


    And if anyone wants to complete the song then do so I will edit that for you.


    Enjoy


    .


    .


    Painful, I know it''s going to be painful


    Ah! You see I failed the quest and very badly. Do you really want to know how I knew? I know this because.....my sensei, Mari Ayoma, is standing in front of me with her devilish smile.


    "So Raito-kun why are you late today?" asked Mari-sensei while cracking her knuckles.


    "Ah y-you see M-Mari-sensei a black cat crossed my path and if I had crossed it, I would have bad luck all day, so I waited for someone to walk first, so....."


    *Ding


    Lie failed


    Before I could say anything I was punched and thrown inside the class. I could hear my bones cracking inside my body.


    *Ding


    -100 HP


    A skill has been created through a special action.


    [Physical Endurance Lv 1 (Passive)] has been created.


    [Physical Endurance (Passive) Lv 1 Exp 0.0%]


    The power of your body to endure pain and damage. The higher the level the less damage you take from physical attack.


    -0.5% physical damage taken.


    ''Damn it, although sensei is only using a bit of her power it still hurts bad.'' Raito cursed feeling his ribs and wiping his spit that he vomited.


    "Raito-kun, this is me telling you nicely once again¡­but if you came late once more than I will use my full force to help you understand. Do you understand Raito-kun~?"


    "Yes ma''am." I quickly stood up and made my way to my desk."


    There I heard many comforting words of my dear friends.


    "Raito, nice save there, I thought you would die."


    "Raito, you sure love to get beaten by sensei."


    "Mari-sensei you rock."


    "Mari-sensei-50 and Raito-0."


    ''Stupid bastards.''


    This happens every day in our class and someone even named it as ''morning ritual''.


    "All of you shut up." Mari-sensei shouted slamming down the register.


    "Today we are going to learn more about 4th Hokage, then we move to shuriken and kunai throwing and lastly we will end the day with the obstacle course."


    I stopped listening from then and started learning about my new abilities.


    ''This ability of mine is very similar to those of games, specifically saying, it is more similar to RPG and simulation type games."


    Raito felt strange, he felt a word kept repeating in his mind. So without thinking, he voiced out, "Status."


    Name: Yoshizawa Raito Lv 7 Exp 30/5000


    Title: Ninja Academy Student (+25% Exp till level 10)


    Age: 12


    HP: 775/875


    CP: 500/500


    STR: 19


    VIT: 21


    DEX: 21


    INT: 20


    LUK: 27(+20)


    Yoshizawa household member: Additional +50 HP per level +2 INT & +3 VIT per level.


    Holder of lucky star: additional +1 LUK per level.


    Yoshizawa Raito is above average student in the Ninja Academy, aspiring to become the strongest ninja ever and take revenge for his parent''s murder.


    ''Way too average or so I guess the only thing that stands out is luck which has +20.''


    I clicked on the +20


    [Equipment bonus: Necklace of lucky star, +20 to LUCK stat. Additional +1to luck per level.]


    ''Hmm¡­.removing 20 Luck from the equipment bonus and from my level means I have zero luck.'' Raito was totally surprised from the information.


    Then a distant memory reappeared before him. His mom patting his head and his father putting the necklace on him. Raito struggled to take off the necklace and every time he did, his mother would appear from nowhere and would scold him to wear it.


    "You have to promise mommy to never take off this necklace." The black haired women kissed Raito on the forehead while being held by a muscular man.


    ''Dad Mom.''


    My face was hot and I was remembering the time when my parents gave me this necklace.


    BAM


    -50 HP


    I fell down and rolled down a couple of steps.


    Mari-sensei threw a book at me and it was painful. I say it''s all because of this gamer ability.


    Mari-sensei stood there shocked and everyone was looking at me with an odd expression.


    "Sorry Raito-kun my hand slipped." She said as she slowly approached me. Her hands were placed slightly behind she normally used to and before I knew it three shuriken were thrown at me.


    I quickly dodged the shuriken and ducked under my desk.


    "What gives Mari-sensei?" I yelled as I slowly crawled to my seat.


    "Raito-kun, I will not have my student day dream in my class especially you." Said Mari-sensei as she walked back to podium.


    ''These are the time I miss Iruka- sensei.''


    "Raito-kun, are you ok?"


    "Raito, you have stomach problems today?"


    "Raito-kun-45 and Mari-sensei-5."


    "Mari-sensei got a hit after a long, long time."


    This is also one of the things that happen in a regular basis in this class. At first I used to get hit a lot of time. No I can exactly say the number of time and it was four because of that damned counter, after that I developed a strange habit of always being on alert but that easily tired me out. So I tried to find ways to not get hit and the easiest method was a skill called ''area sensing'', it is a branch of ''chakra sensing'' where I release a bit of chakra at a regular pace at a specific interval of time. The area is small right now but the note said that it is good for chakra control and after sometime the range will get bigger and bigger. The highest range was 5 km and that was my dad''s score.


    Sensing is also extremely useful in combat if your physical parameters are good, at my level I can already sense Genin and Ch¨±nin level but J¨­nin is impossible. The most amazing person who was a guy wearing a green spandex body suit. It was both creepy and awesome.


    Mari-sensei has been training me daily by throwing shuriken and kunai and book, slowly increasing the speed little by little.


    "Now, Raito tell my why was Minato Namikaze chosen as the 4th Hokage?"


    "Huh, isn''t it because Orichimaru was a power hungry snake, Tsunade-sama was a drinker and gambler, and Jiraya-sama, he blatantly refused the seat? So the only person powerful and capable enough was Namikaze Minato-sama." I said as I shrugged my shoulder and shook my head.


    *ding


    After detecting overwhelming amount of bloodthirst, you unlocked the skill "Detect Bloodthirst"


    [Detect Bloodthirst (Passive) Lv 1 Exp 0.0%]


    A skill that detects any bloodl.u.s.t directed at the user


    It is an instinctive skill.


    Detects bloodl.u.s.t within 30 meters from user''s location.


    It also alerts the user of its origin.


    Skill "Detect Bloodthirst" leveled up.


    Skill "Detect Bloodthirst" leveled up.


    Skill "Detect Bloodthirst" leveled up.


    Everyone around me took steps back as I dodged all of the shuriken thrown at me.


    "Raito, tell me the answer written in the book?" Asked Mari-sensei as she glared at me.


    "Namikaze Minato-sama was one of the strongest ninja in the village. From small, he was smart and clever. He was fast in his brain and his feet. In the third great war, Minato-sama made great contribution to the village, keeping the villagers safe and protecting the village. With the thunder god technique, Minato-sama, he..uh he was feared by the enemies and brought hope to friends. So, being the best candidate among the other candidates, he was chosen as the fourth Hokage." I answered reluctantly.


    "Now that is the answer I am looking you all to write in the exams." Said Mari-sensei sweetly.


    "Hai sensei!!" everyone roared


    "Now everyone move towards the grounds, Iruka-sensei is going to be there with you.


    I sighed at my luck and moved towards the grounds. While walking I commanded ''skills'' softly.


    ''Ever since this morning, so many new things are in my brain.''


    The only thing I didn''t know was ''Gamer''s mind'' and ''Gamer''s body''. So I tapped at them.


    Gamer''s Mind Lv Max (Passive)


    Allows peaceful state of mind. Allows the user to think calmly and logically. Grants user immunity to psychological status. Protects the user against mind attacks.


    Gamer''s Body Lv Max (Passive)


    Grants a body that allows for the user to live the real world like a game. HP & CP are fully recovered after sleeping. All negative aliments are cured after sleeping.


    ''Oh, if this is true than isn''t it like using cheats in a game but it''s not like I am using cheat I am just playing a role like I am in a game. Yes I am not cheating.''


    ''Hmm there are some gray icons on the list


    Taijutsu


    Stealth


    Trapping


    Kawarimi (Replacement)


    Henge (Transformation)


    Bunshin (Clone)


    Shurikenjutsu and Kunaijutsu (Basic Shuriken Techniques and Kunai Techniques)


    Kenjutsu (Sword Techniques)


    Chakra Control Exercise


    ''I just have to do these again to activate them.''


    First Stealth.


    I started walking slowly and canceling my sounds and walking near the walls.


    *ding


    A skill has been created through special action.


    [Stealth Lv 1 (active/passive) CP Cost 50 per minute]


    An essential skill for all shinobi. This skill allows the user the ability to move around undetected. Remain undetected, not to be heard or seen.


    Due to your understanding in the skill


    Skill "Stealth" leveled up.


    Skill "Stealth" leveled up.


    Skill "Stealth" leveled up.


    Skill "Stealth" leveled up.


    [Stealth Lv 5 (active/passive) CP Cost 40 per minute]


    An essential skill for all shinobi. This skill allows the user the ability to move around undetected. Remain undetected, not to be heard or seen.


    I stood at the corridor with smile on my face. I tried stealth again and I felt myself making less noise than earlier.


    If the gamer''s ability can really assess my skill in numbers and I can train according to them, then I would be strong in not time.


    Standing on the empty corridor I transformed into Iruka-sansei and shouted, "Why are all of you moving so slow, if everyone is not on the grounds in next five minutes then everyone has to run around the academy."


    Everyone started running fast, I couldn''t help but smile. I could never get bored doing this every now and then.


    *ding


    A skill has been created through special action.


    [Henge Lv 1 Exp 0.0% CP Cost 50]


    -A basic technique that allows one to transform them into other objects or people; however, because of current level it will not fool everyone.


    -Increases chance of being undetected 2%


    Due to your understanding on skill


    Skill ''Henge'' leveled up


    Skill ''Henge'' leveled up


    Skill ''Henge'' leveled up


    Skill ''Henge'' leveled up


    Skill ''Henge'' leveled up


    Skill ''Henge'' leveled up


    [Henge Lv 7 Exp 0.0% CP Cost 37]


    -A basic technique that allows one to transform them into other objects or people; however, because of current level it will not fool everyone.


    -Increases chance of being undetected 14%


    Other skills I will try them late

 Chapter 3 - 3 – Quests

    Chapter 3 ¨C Quests


    It was after everyone reached the training grounds they knew that they had been fooled. Everyone looked towards Naruto standing with Hinata, Shikamaru, and Choji, looking dumbly at the people around him who were looking at him with anger.


    Many students accused him of the prank but Shikamaru and Hinata quickly diffused the accusations before it would get any worse. Choji was there eating is ch.i.p.s and Naruto was looking everywhere trying to find someone.


    Naruto''s eye focused as he stared happily in my direction.


    "Raito there you are," Naruto yelled his voice mixed with happiness.


    I quickly walked towards them and greeted everyone.


    I saw floating text above their heads which made me smile.


    [Lazy Genius]


    Shikamaru Nara


    [Rotund boy]


    Choji Akimichi


    [Kind girl]


    Hinata Hyuga


    [Prankster]


    Naruto Uzumaki


    ''Haha, the gamer ability did give everyone the titles. I was so focused on the ability itself I didn''t notice it sooner.''


    As I thought about it I looked at everyone''s head.


    Ino Yamanaka


    [Alpha pretender]


    Kiba Inuzuka


    [Bug lover]


    Shino Aburame


    [Genius fan girl]


    Sakura Haruno


    [Lone Avenger]


    Sasuke Uchiha


    ''What the hell, class 1-A has so many weird students there.''


    [Passionate teacher]


    Iruka Umino


    ''I knew it; Iruka-sensei is really a nice teacher.''


    *ding


    A skill has been created through a special act.


    Through continuous observation, a skill to find the targets information, ''Observe'' has been created.


    [Observe Lv 1 (Active) Exp 0.0%]


    Gives the player basic information on the target. The target can be anything specific. Right now HP and CP can be seen and durability for items.


    Higher the level more information can be obtained.


    ''Observe''


    [Passionate teacher]


    Iruka Umino


    HP 5000


    CP 5000


    Description: A very passionate teacher currently teaching at the Ninja academy.


    I again used it on a couple of students standing on the line.


    *ding


    Skill ''Observe'' has leveled up.


    I again used observe on Iruka sensei


    ''Observe.''


    [Passionate teacher]


    Iruka Umino


    HP - 5000


    CP - 5000


    Description: A very passionate teacher currently teaching at the Ninja academy. His greatest wish is to see his students be a proper ninja.


    ''This is not much but it is something. In this world where information is gold my observe skill can be a lot helpful.''


    As I was thinking, Iruka-sensei had arrived and the shuriken kunai throwing session had started. Everyone got into lines and the people at the front were throwing kunai and shuriken and most of them had seriously bad aims.


    ''I could do better than that.'' and just as I thought that¡­.


    *ding


    Academy training: Kunai and Shuriken


    Proving yourself is a pathway to increasing your self-confidence.


    Main Quest: Achieve at least 50% accuracy.


    Side Quest: Achieve at least 80% accuracy.


    Gold Quest: Achieve 100% accuracy.


    Completion award


    Main Quest: 100 Exp, +1 DEX, Increase relation with Iruka-sensei.


    Side Quest: 50 Exp, Increase relation with Iruka-sensei.


    Gold Quest: 300 Exp, Increase relation with Iruka-sensei.


    Decrease relation with Iruka-sensei.


    Pain


    YES NO


    ''Oh such rewards, how can I say no.'' I salivated a little, not drooling you know but swallowing


    "Yoshizawa Raito," Iruka-sensei called


    "Yosh, let''s do it."


    I prepared myself and threw all five shurikens and five kunai.


    All shuriken hit the target but one kunai missed the target.


    Well, I got the second-best at least.


    *ding


    A skill has been created through a special act


    Through your use of basic ninja weapons shuriken skill, ''Shurikenjutsu and Kunaijutsu'' has been created


    Shurikenjutsu and Kunaijutsu Lv1 (Active/Passive)


    The skill allows the user to properly wield both shuriken and kunai.


    -Passively increases damage with shuriken and kunai by 5%


    -Passively increases the accuracy of shuriken and kunai by 5%


    -Passively grants +3 Dexterity


    *ding


    Quest Complete


    Academy training: Kunai and Shuriken


    Proving yourself is a pathway to increase in self-confidence


    Main Quest: Achieve at least 50% accuracy. (Completed)


    Side Quest: Achieve at least 80% accuracy. (Completed)


    Gold Quest: Achieve 100% accuracy. (Failure)


    Total rewards earned


    Main Quest Completion: 100 Exp, +1 DEX, Increase relation with Iruka-sensei.


    Sidequest Completion: 50 Exp, Increase relation with Iruka-sensei.


    Shurikenjutsu and Kunaijutsu skill level up by 1.


    I waved all the boxes as I saw an unusual thing


    [?]


    Touji Mizuki


    HP 5000


    CP 5000


    Description: He is currently teaching at the Ninja academy. He tries to weaken Naruto Uzumaki in every way possible


    I saw Mizuki-sensei handing Naruto his shuriken and kunai set.


    I used ''observe'' on it quickly


    Academy Kunai and Shuriken Set ¨C Poor Quality


    A poor excuse for a kunai and Shuriken. The weight and sharpness are very unbalanced. The uneven weight of it lowers your chances of hitting your target.


    Accuracy: -30%


    Then I used Observe on the person beside Naruto


    Standard Issue Kunai and Shuriken Set ¨C Common Quality


    The weight and sharpness of these tools are perfectly balanced allowing for good piercing, slashing and accuracy when thrown.


    Accuracy: +10%


    I frowned as I looked at the description of two sets.


    "Naruto, your kunai and shuriken are cracked and ah also feels heavy so you should exchange it before you use them," I told him snatching a kunai from Naruto''s set as my voice slightly higher as I knew Iruka-sensei would come to check it.


    Shikamaru looked here with narrowed eyes. I just smiled back at him saying not to worry


    "Mizuki these are totally unusable set, who bought them here? We should tell them so that incident like these won''t happen again." Some sensei told him and snatched the kunai and shuriken from my and Naruto''s hand.


    Mizuki-sensei said sorry as he gave Naruto a new standard set.


    Naruto got an 80% accuracy which surprised a lot of students and teachers. He was looking so happy. Iruka-sensei also looked really happy but Mizuki-sensei had a frown on his face.


    Hmm¡­a lot of people should have noticed about the set but no one actually did anything to stop, there should be a number of people involved in this. Iruka sensei is out as he is just record-keeping and looking at the shuriken from far and he likes Naruto too much. One of them should be Mizuki- sensei, others could be people who produced the weapon and the last would be people collecting the weapon. A pretty well-coordinated plan


    *ding


    For thinking an elaborate plan for the first time +3 to WIS


    I smiled wryly as I welcomed my free stat points. I had nearly figure out my way to get stronger.


    "OK everyone towards the obstacle course." I was jolted away as I was pulled by a cheerful Naruto.


    Sometimes I feel that helping Naruto might not be such a great idea. I always get dragged away and I lovingly hate it.


    Shikamaru looked at me with questioning eyes so I lie to him telling how I felt that Naruto''s weapon was looking off chipped in areas and rusted at some and not only today it was done a lot of time. I also told him about Mizuki-sensei teaching Naruto wrong stuff.


    *lie successful


    Shikamaru had a serious face and told me that he would tell his father about this.


    "Oy you lot come faster it''s going to be your turn soon." Said a teacher trying to manage a proper line.


    *ding


    Quest Alert


    Academy training: Obstacle Course


    A test to train a ninja''s flexibility


    Main Quest: Complete within 2 minute


    Side Quest: Complete within 1 minute.


    Gold Quest: Complete within 45 seconds.


    Completion award


    Main Quest: 100 Exp, Increase relation with Iruka-sensei, Ninja Academy


    Side Quest: 50 Exp, Increase relation with Iruka-sensei, Ninja Academy


    Gold Quest: 300 Exp, Increase relation with Iruka-sensei, Ninja Academy


    Completion failure


    Decrease relation with Iruka-sensei, Ninja Academy


    Pain


    YES NO


    ''Beating my own record, eh? I just did get a point on dexterity so let''s test the theory out.'' I smiled inwardly.


    "GO!" yelled Iruka sensei.


    I sprinted forward jumping on the tires, climbing the wall and jumping the fences and crawling underneath the wires.


    "43.7 seconds, nice one Raito you beat your score again


    *ding


    Quest Alert


    Academy training: Obstacle Course


    A test to train a ninja''s flexibility


    Main Quest: Complete within 2 minutes. (Completed)


    Side Quest: Complete within 1 minute. (Completed)


    Gold Quest: Complete within 45 seconds. (Completed)


    Total rewards earned


    Main Quest Completion: 100 Exp, Increase relation with Iruka-sensei, Ninja Academy.


    Side Quest Completion: 50 Exp, Increase relation with Iruka-sensei, Ninja Academy.


    Gold Quest Completion: 300 Exp, +1 DEX, Increase relation with Iruka-sensei, Ninja Academy.


    Total Exp: 450


    I closed the box and waited for others to finish. Don''t have to wait long because Ino is the only one left.


    "Now everyone before going home, I am reminding you all to work on your chakra control, the basic leaf sticking exercise, I want all of you to be able to do it." Advised Iruka-sensei.


    I tapped Naruto, "Naruto I am not going to make it to Ichiraku''s today so you have to go with sensei alone and I want you to come to my house tomorrow, we are going to meet Hokage-sama tomorrow."


    Before Naruto could say anything I dashed towards my home. I was too eager to find more about the gamer''s power.


    Name: Yoshizawa Raito Lv 7 Exp 630/5000


    Title: Ninja Academy Student (+25% Exp till level 10)


    Age: 12


    HP: 775/875


    CP: 500/500


    STR: 19


    VIT: 21


    DEX: 26(+3)


    INT: 20


    WIS: 22


    LUK: 27(+20)


    Yoshizawa household member: Additional +50 HP per level +2 INT & +3 VIT per level.


    Holder of lucky star: additional +1 LUK per level.


    Yoshizawa Raito is above average student in the Ninja Academy, aspiring to become the strongest ninja ever and take revenge for his parent''s murder.

 Chapter 4 - 4 – Info Dumping

    Chapter 4 ¨C Info Dumping


    Raito wanted to go home and find more about his ability. If this ability was the same as that of the game than there would be a menu and help options where he could get more information.


    Quest Alert


    Description: An Unknown book is present on the bedside table at your house, go and check it.


    Main quest: Learn more about your ability.


    Quest reward: Special skill scroll


    Raito quickly rushed towards his home and moved towards his bedroom at which he saw a small black book placed at the bedside table alongside with his alarm clock.


    ''It was definitely not there this morning.'' Thought Raito as he picked the small black book.


    Do you wish to activate the help guide?


    Raito was going to press the yes button but before he did so he stopped because he remembered whenever he learned skills in games the books or scroll, they would disappear.(always want a cheat to not destroy spell books so I can teach it to more characters)


    So he started turning page by page, where he saw written within were unreadable language filling all the small book, no pictures or any other things within.


    Helplessly shrugging he pressed ''yes''.


    The book turned into blue streams which looked like chakra and got absorbed into Raito''s head.


    [Initiating help guide


    .


    .


    .


    Help guide activated]


    [Congratulations on being chosen as the Gamer of your world.]


    [Welcome to introduction]


    [The Gamer is a privilege given to one in a world chosen by the Gaia, the world''s consciousness herself and the choice always precedes great changes.]


    [The ability of the Gamer, Gamer''s body allows a player to live his life as a character in a game and at the same time affects the surrounding to change as well and the other ability, Gamer''s mind allows the character to think calmly and logically through a situation]


    [Now the Gamer ability lets you use several menus such as Status, Skills, Inventory, Quest, Info-book, and Options.]


    1. Status-Status window lets you see your physical, mental and power levels. Also shown are titles which are affected by the action of the character, the personality of the character and the character''s reputation in the surrounding. Also shown is the characters health status. Your physical, Mental and Power levels are numbered according to your capability but now you can freely increase them according to your choices. Physical aspects can be improved through strength, endurance and stamina training and the mental aspects can be improved through mental challenges.


    2. Skills- Skill list window lets you see the numerous skills you have, your proficiency levels.


    3. Inventory- Inventory box is one famous thing where you can store whatever you want like weapons, medicine furniture, and others. Inventory box is space-time frozen so the items you put here will not age.


    4. Quest- Quest is the tasks ranging from small to big which provides the character with experience points, skill books or money.


    6. Options- Various game options are present there but not the difficulty level though.


    [Attributes]


    Strength (STR):


    [The Strength attribute determines the person overall strength and affects the amount of damage dealt. It also affects a person''s ability to reduce damage when blocking.]


    Vitality (VIT):


    The Vitality determines the person overall health and stamina. It also affects a person ability to regain health outside combat.


    1 VIT = 25 HP


    1 VIT =0.5 HP per minute


    Dexterity (DEX)


    The Dexterity attribute determines the person''s overall movement. This attribute affects a person''s accuracy, evasion, reflex and ability to land critical strikes.


    Intelligence (INT):


    The Intelligence attribute determines the person''s overall ability to memorize and think quickly. It also affects the amount of their chakra and density of chakra.


    Wisdom (WIS):


    The wisdom attribute determines the person''s ability to understand information and use the information correctly. It also relates to common sense, perception and overall control over the chakra. Wisdom also plays an important role in learning certain skills such as Genjutsu and Medical Ninjutsu as well as defending from mental attacks.


    Luck (LUK):


    Luck is unique compared to all the other attributes as it is capable of influencing anything from finding or looting random items, winning money while gambling, to encounters and outstanding successes/failures (such as critical hits).


    ''Ok, then the difficult part is LUK stat which I heavily suck. For STR I have to carry heavy items, for VIT I can run, for DEX I can clear some obstacle courses, for INT I can read books and lots of those if I ever want to increase my chakra level, puzzles for WIS and I have no idea how to increase LUK. F.u.c.k.i.n.g hell how do I even increase my luck?'' Raito fumed.


    [Stat points]


    Stat points are obtained after every level up Character can get up 5 points per level. Stat points can be used to increase the character''s attributes. Stat points could also be obtained through special quests. Stat points can also be used to obtain perks which can increase character''s probability of getting stronger by a lot.


    Perks?'' Raito eyes shined thought of getting stronger.


    [Perks]


    Perks are special abilities only obtained through the use of stat points.


    Unlocked at LV 15


    That''s it? It seems I have to be Lv 15 to know more about it.


    Ah yes, there was something about the quality of the item.


    [Item Quality]


    Item quality refers to the relative quality of the item. Item categorized as Poor, Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic and Legendary.


    Poor Quality:


    Items that are considered the worst of the worst and barely even worth using, seen as junk by many. Such items are made of shady materials, poor craftsmanship has rusted over or been worn down so badly that it can no longer be used properly.


    These are common items of decent quality that many use every day.


    Uncommon Quality:


    These are the uncommon items, not everyone has them but have frequent enough usage.


    Rare Quality:


    These are the rare uncommon items. Items of this quality are either difficult or somewhat expensive to come by. Most usually grant a unique ability or a great stat booster for the user. Are made from materials that are difficult to acquire or buy, or require a great level of skill to create.


    Epic Quality:


    These items are considered one of the rarest of the rare. Items of this quality are extremely difficult to come by and create and sometimes they can be considered one of a kind and irreplaceable.


    Legendary Quality:


    These items are considered legendary in terms of power and one of a kind.They possess or are capable of granting individuals immense power or unique ability or abilities. Chances of coming across items of this quality are one million to one only those with incredible levels of luck are said to be able to find these. Some of these items possess sentience and will only allow specific individuals to wield or summon them.


    "Wow, I wonder if I will be able to get I legendary item," Raito muttered


    Scrolls/skill books


    Special books or scrolls which allow the character to learn new skills are called skill books. The character absorbs the book, learning its content and destroying the book in process. So it is advised to copy the book if the book is too valuable.


    Quest alert quest completed


    Main quest: Learn more about your ability.(Completed)


    Total rewards


    Skill scroll ''Instant Dungeon Create'' and ''instant Dungeon Escape'' acquired.


    In a golden flash, a scroll appeared in front of Raito. Raito quickly grabbed the scroll and opened it.


    It read


    ''By the Original Gamer,


    To the Gamer


    This skill was taught to me by my best friend and now I shall teach it to you. ....


    Reading up to there the scroll disappeared and


    Ding


    [Skill Learned]


    ID Create Level 1(active) Cost 100 CP


    The skill allows the user to create a small pocket dimension containing various scenarios and monsters.


    Wasteland-Empty


    *At higher levels, monsters can be created


    Ding


    [Skill Learned]


    ID Escape Level 1(active) Cost 0 CP


    The skill allows the user to escape from the previously created pocket dimension.


    ''ID creates level up equals monster equals me killing monster equals me gaining more exp equals me leveling up more.


    That night after eating dinner Raito leveled up these two skills


    Somewhere else


    Another World


    "Gamer you should not have done that, it has violated our contract." Said a muffled voice


    "I was just going to give him some tips you didn''t have to interfere." Said Han-Jee Han


    "Already thirteen people died because they thought they are invincible, if the same thing happens again I don''t think I can handle anymore. All this preparation for nothing¡­.."


    "You already knew what would happen when you decided to do this, so believe in them and if there is any more connection you will get executed. So, understand the boundaries and watch peacefully. These seven are quite the people they have chosen." Said the voice.


    ''But every fall means we are getting close to the answer and a source of immense power.''


    After that, no voice was heard

 Chapter 5 - 5 - Plot play

    Chapter 5 - Plot play


    *Ding


    Skill ''ID create'' and ''ID escape'' leveled up.


    Skill ''ID create'' and ''ID escape'' reached level 5


    [ID Create Level 5(Active) Cost 80 CP Exp 0.0%]


    The skill allows the user to create a pocket dimension containing various scenarios and monsters.


    Wasteland ¨C Empty


    Wasteland ¨C Zombie


    After increasing the level of skill five times and unlocking ''Wasteland-Zombie'' Raito unlocked his skills and practiced with them.


    Ding


    Skill created


    Kenjutsu (Literally meaning: Sword Technique) pertains to techniques that entail the use of swords.


    -Passively increases sword attack speed by 28%.


    -Passively increases sword attack power by 28%.


    Ding


    Skill Created.


    [Bunshin Lv 13 (Active) CP Cost 35 Exp 0.0%]


    A Ninjutsu that creates an intangible copy of one''s own body, without any substance. Since the clone itself doesn''t have the ability to attack, and thus can only be used to confuse the enemy, it is mainly used in combination with other Ninjutsu. It''s a basic technique, but depending on one''s ingenuity, it can be used effectively. The clones may not dissipate when they come into contact with something.


    -Passively increase DEX by 10% when active


    Ding


    [Kawarimi Lv 8 (Active) 80% CP Cost 15 Exp 0.0%]


    With this technique, users replace their own body with some other object, generally with a block of wood, the moment an attack lands. This creates an optical illusion, making the enemy think the attack was successful. Despite it being a basic Ninjutsu taught at the Academy, it is seen as a useful art that can be applied in a variety of situations as it allows for a swift getaway from danger.


    -Increases evasion speed by 15% when activated.


    -Increases DEX by 20% when activated.


    After all the skills Raito leveled up he slept with a happy smile.


    Morning.


    Ding


    [You have slept in your own bed. HP & CP have been restored. All aliments & negative status have been cured.]


    After a good night sleep and looking at the level up he managed to grind last night, Raito had a happy smile


    A long, single-edged sword made by a common blacksmith.


    ATK 40-60


    DEX +3


    Raito looked at the katana by his side; it was one of the weapons he had hidden. After the funeral, Hokage had explained to him that he was not allowed to carry any dangerous weapon in the house before becoming a ninja.


    After that, he kept the katana on his inventory.


    "Yosh lets finish the morning routine now."


    Raito went into automatic mode, went to the bathroom, to the yard and the kitchen.


    Gaining +1 to DEX from stretching, he prepared the scroll and notes and read them once again for conformation for what was about to come today.


    While waiting for Naruto, Raito practiced his skill ''ID Create'' to the limit and started practicing with his katana.


    Skill ''Kenjutsu'' leveled up by 2.


    Skill ''ID Create'' leveled up by 1.


    Ding Dong


    Raito opened the door where he found a boy with less than average height and bright yellow hair and attention-seeking orange jumpsuit with a white swirling symbol on his left arm on his jumpsuit.


    "Naruto, come in. I made some meat and vegetables they are still hot so have some." Said Raito as he started plating the dishes.


    "Ah, no need I have just eaten and...¡­"


    "So tell me what have you eaten?" asked Raito calmly


    "Cup ramen," Naruto said with a big smile


    "Naruto why are you not eating other things? "Asked Raito


    "It''s not like that I want to eat ramen at all times but it is the cheapest and also the shops here don''t sell me other things." Answered Naruto as his voice dropped low at the end.


    "Oi, chibi future Hokage, do you want everyone to remember you as the shortest Hokage in history? I mean you are the shortest in the class," asked Raito teasingly


    "I am not small; I just didn''t have my growth spurt yet." Retorted Naruto


    "Baka, just eat your food." Ordered Raito


    Naruto also didn''t say anything and started eating his food or you could say devouring.


    "So Naruto are you doing the exercises written on the handbook?" Asked Raito


    After swallowing some more Naruto stared at his bowl and said, "I haven''t finished reading the book, I-I found some words difficult to understand."


    "So why didn''t you ask teachers or any of us for help?" Asked Raito


    "Teachers are always busy doing other things and I didn''t want to disturb you all, last time I asked Sakura-chan she told me that I was disturbing her and...." Naruto answered gloomily.


    THUD


    "That''s why I decided that you are going to live with me from now on. Well, we do have to ask Hokage-Jiji first but I think he will agree with us. You and I are going to be roommates and I am going to help you learn and......¡­.."


    "B-but people will hate if they saw you helping me. I ...¡­.."


    "I really don''t care about the people''s opinion about me and neither should you, Naruto and believe me Naruto that one day the very same people you hate will love you, care for you and laugh with you, we just will have to do our best." Said Raito as he stirred the pot.


    Ding


    Skill Created


    Motivate Lv 1 (Active) CP Cost 1


    By your actions and words, you show others the path. You encourage people for their good and hope for a better future.


    - 20 % chance of changing people''s heart


    - +2 to all the Stat of the motivated people


    - Increase Reputation


    "Now eat before the food gets too cold because I am not going to heat the food again." Raito stopped as he was head-butted by a crying Naruto.


    "Uh....Now go and finish your food then we are going to the tower to meet Jiji." Said Raito as he tried standing


    Naruto quickly stood up and started eating his food.


    "After you finish eating, go to the bathroom and take a bath you seriously stink and be sure to drop your clothes on the basket we can do the laundry later." Said Raito as he started reading the scrolls.


    Ding


    Area Sense leveled up


    Area Sense reached Lv 15


    -Increase Range


    -Decrease Chances of being found


    ''Ah...Area Sense has been leveling up like crazy just because I have it always up doesn''t mean I am improving on it or so I thought but because of gamer ability it is improving fast.'' Thought Raito


    "AHHHHHHH." Naruto yelled as he bought jackets and pants with him, "What are these?" asked Naruto, "Clothes?" Raito answered confused, "But they are not orange." Naruto countered


    "Say Naruto, do you like orange?"


    "Yeah."


    "Ok, wear them when you are not going to the academy or on a mission in the future."


    "B-but."


    "Naruto, we are going to be a ninja and we should act like one. We are not going to wear an orange jumpsuit which says ''here I am come and kill me''.


    "Y-Yes." Naruto looked sad but biting his lips, he again asked, "Can I stick the symbol to the jacket then?"


    "Hmm, the swirling symbol? Sure sewing box at the first drawer on the left."


    After a period of time, "AHHH!!" Raito went to the living to find a bleeding Naruto on the floor holding his fingers¡­rolling.


    ''Now, what happened?'' thought Raito who was holding three scrolls.


    "I pricked my finger." Answered Naruto as he showed his finger.


    You, really are helpless you know? Said Raito shrugging his shoulders.


    Keep s.u.c.k.i.n.g your fingers and give me the jacket, I will do it for you. Said Raito as he grabbed the jacket and start sewing the swirling symbol.


    This symbol looks exactly like those at the back of the Chunin jacket except it is red in color. Thought Raito


    Ding


    Skill created


    [Craft Lv1 (Active) Exp 0.0%]


    The skill allows the user to use raw materials or different old materials to create different items and equipment.


    -Higher the level of the skill higher the chance of success.


    -Current chance of success ¨C 50%


    Branch unlocked ¨CTailoring


    Sighing Raito waved his hand intended to close all the blue windows which surprised Naruto at Raito''s useless actions.


    "Now wear it." Raito threw him the clothes with a bit of force.


    Naruto hurriedly wore the jacket. Now Naruto was wearing a white t-shirt with a green jacket with Konoha symbol and black pants with few pockets.


    "It looks very good on you, Naruto." Raito smiled


    Whenever someone tries on new clothes you should compliment them with the most sincere smile you have.


    Locking the doors and activating the seals Raito and Naruto went to the Hokage tower.


    QUEST CREATED


    Hokage''s worry


    Main quest:


    ? Confirm if your theories are right.


    ? Do something about the treatment that Naruto gets


    Rewards: 1000 Exp, +300 relationsh.i.p.s with Sarutobi Hiruzen, skill books


    Accept: YES / NO


    Arriving at the tower, "Mariko-nee we are here to see Hokage-jiji if he is available? Asked Raito.


    "Yes, he is waiting for you two." Answered the assistant with a small smile


    [Assistant of the Third Hokage]


    [Mariko]


    HP 1200


    CP 100


    STR: 20


    VIT: 21


    DEX: 32


    INT: 50


    WIS: 20


    LUK: 28


    Mariko is a ninja-born with underdeveloped chakra coils. She is good at accounting and management.


    [Third Hokage]


    Sarutobi Hiruzen


    HP:?


    CP:?


    STR:?


    VIT:?


    DEX:?


    INT:?


    WIS:?


    LUK:?


    Sarutobi Hiruzen is the eldest member of the Sarutobi family and the current Hokage at Konohagakure no Sato. After the death of the 4th Hokage, Hiruzen was asked to take the position of Hokage again.


    "Jiji."


    "Hokage-Jiji."


    Morning Naruto-kun, Raito-kun. Take a seat. Today, you two are a lot early than usual. Is there something you wanted to tell me? Asked the third Hokage as he placed his pipe on the desk.


    "It''s like this Jiji, I am going to move in with Raito." Answered Naruto with his big smile.


    "Is it true Raito-kun?" The third raised his eyebrows.


    "Actually we are here to ask you, as you are his guardian? So I was thinking if that acceptable?" Asked Raito as he took out some scrolls.


    "Yes, I approve of it. Naruto you should live with Raito-kun and Raito-kun please train Naruto too." Answered the Third


    ""Yosh!!""


    "Well here is your money for this month." said the Third as he gave the two boys envelopes with money


    "Naruto, why don''t you go and bring your things to the house, I will be doing some paperwork and finish other procedures?" Asked Raito


    "Okay be sure to come home fast I will be waiting." Answered Naruto


    "Baka Naruto we are also going to the memorial stone. Let''s meet there at noon." Said Raito as he saw Naruto leaving the room.


    All smile vanished once Naruto left the room from Raito''s face.


    "Hokage-Jiji there are some things I would like to say and ¡­ask?" Said Raito as he started taking out scrolls


    "Raito-kun you seem like you have a lot to say to me, so feel free to speak." Answered the Third


    Raito placed a scroll with ''Proof'' written on the table.


    "First I think teachers at the academy are no good, they have been sabotaging Naruto''s education a lot. His Taijutsu stance is worse, weapons given to him are of poor quality and teachers send him out of the class more numerous times than I can count. Most of the Taijutsu stances taught to him are done by Mizuki-sensei and it can be verified by most of the students and teachers questioning Mizuki-sensei for his favoritism. Also yesterday the weapon set given to him was of poor quality but afterward it was replaced by a standard set and Naruto had an accuracy of 80%, what if he had been using poor quality weapons until now that would explain his poor performance. His own personal set bought from the academy is also of poor quality and every other week he asks if new delivery is there, the clerk just says that everything was sold out which is not true at all, I even saw him selling weapons after Naruto was gone. And the last problem is him being out of the class, for the same actions done by Shikamaru, Kiba, and Naruto, only Naruto is kicked out of class."


    After saying this, the room was filled with killing intent and blood l.u.s.t so thick it would have been possible to cut it with a knife. Even the ANBU at the shadows could feel their breathing heavy.


    Ding


    Skill ''Detect bloodl.u.s.t'' leveled up


    Skill ''Detect bloodl.u.s.t'' leveled up


    Skill ''Detect bloodl.u.s.t'' leveled up


    Skill ''Detect bloodl.u.s.t'' leveled up


    Skill ''Detect bloodl.u.s.t'' leveled up


    Skill ''Detect bloodl.u.s.t'' leveled up


    Skill ''Detect bloodl.u.s.t'' leveled up


    Skill ''Detect bloodl.u.s.t'' leveled up


    Skill ''Detect bloodl.u.s.t'' reached level 12


    "Hokage-Jiji." The Third looked at the figure across the table. Surprised by the fact that a 12-year-old was able to withstand his killing intent and embarrassed that he lost his control which would have been fatal.


    "Ah sorry, Raito-kun, to address those problems firstly the clerk will be replaced and while we cannot do much about the teachers at the academy but the Chunin you mentioned, Mizuki, he will be observed much carefully. Also, some ANBU operatives will patrol inside the academy." ''It might also be related to the decrease in the civilian ninja graduating for the last few years.'' Thought the Third


    "And last but the most important part is about Naruto getting not being able to make a proper clone whose circ.u.mstances are very similar to the case of the dead last of the recent graduating year Rock Lee whereas Rock Lee had underdeveloped Chakra Coils but in case of the Naruto he has an excessive amount of the chakra. So I hoped that Naruto may also be given special privileges same as Rock Lee?"


    "Impossible." Raito was immediately cut off


    "Why?"


    "Council will never approve of it?"


    "But civilian council cannot interfere in the ninja part."


    "Just because Naruto is not a ninja yet and has no proof that he is a son of a ninja which makes him a civilian and civilian council has much more say in it and because of various reasons civilian council would not like Naruto to be a ninja. If I had taken necessary steps after the attack of Kyuubi then we would have had a very different Naruto." Said Hiruzen taking a puff


    "But Naruto IS a son of the ninja. His surname is not an honorary surname given to respect the people died in the attack 12 years ago but taken from his mother Kushina Uzumaki." Retorted Raito


    "But how can you prove that he is the son of Kushina Uzumaki?" Asked Hiruzen


    "I-I can''t but I have a theory, Uzumakis are known to have a lot of chakras and fast healing abilities and so does Naruto."


    "And so does many other clans around the elemental nations. If he had the unique red hair that Uzumaki had then there would be a fighting chance but I am sorry to say that Naruto will not be getting special privileges."


    "Ah haha I gave it a shot but I really couldn''t tell if Kushina Uzumaki is the mother of Naruto from your expression but you know old man the memorial st......¡­."


    "EVERYONE OUT!!!" roared Hiruzen


    "Raito-kun it is an S-class secret so I ask of you not to tell anyone but you are quite a scary kid to have investigated this much on your own. But how did you found about them?" Hiruzen stared at Raito.


    "Huh? Finding about 4th Hokage and Uzumaki-sama relation was really easy, you just need to find a chatty ninja housewife, help her with some work and all the information about Kushina Uzumaki was out like her likes and dislikes about her behavior, I even heard some really nice stories but when I asked about her more personal life she said that she didn''t know. So after then I had to investigate on my own but the answer came from Ichiraku''s Ramen Shop where Kushina Uzumaki frequently went with Minato Namikaze aka 4thHokage and my last clue was the picture of the 3rd Hokage here blond hair and blue eyes, I felt like everyone that comes in this room is color blind or have a pitiful IQ. But breaking my finding to you was the most difficult part; I didn''t know what I could say to you. But I really hope that you can tell Naruto about his parents one day, he really needs it."


    For excellent planning and deduction INT+3 and WIS+5


    ''Housewives are really the most troublesome people.'' Hiruzen inwardly cursed the housewife a million times.


    "I will tell him about his mother after he reaches Chunin and about his father after he reaches J¨­nin. So Raito-kun does the surprise part ends or do you want to add some more."


    "Hmm¡­.. I don''t think I am going to say any more about the crystal ball or the orange book but I really do want a manual for fuinjutsu and kage bunshin no jutsu."


    "Why those?"


    "Eh? Why not? Kage bushin is an awesome jutsu and someone can make use of that jutsu to pass a certain test and Fuinjutsu is in my blood." Raito remembered what he was told by someone and repeated the same words.


    "Haha very well take it." Hiruzen knew his network was well working. So, he threw a book and a scroll towards Raito.


    Ding


    You obtained the skill book ''Beginner Fuinjutsu''


    Would you like to learn the skill?


    Ding


    You obtained the skill book ''Kage bushin no jutsu''


    Would you like to learn the skill?


    Raito just ignored the pop-ups and kept them inside the jacket. ''Don''t want a book to go poof, now we?''


    Ding


    Quest alert


    Quest completed


    Hokage''s worry


    Main quest:


    ? Confirm if your theories are right. (Completed)


    ? Do something about the treatment that Naruto gets. (Completed)


    Rewards Earned: 1000 Exp, +300 relationsh.i.p.s with Sarutobi Hiruzen, skill books


    A small smile was seen at Raito''s face which quickly disappeared.


    "Hokage-Jiji let''s go to the memorial then we also have to go to Nara clan compound. I found that Yoshino-sama is very good at Taijutsu and Shikaku-sama can provide some deeper insight into the matters at hand." Said Raito as he made his way towards the door


    Hiruzen looked at his tower height paperwork and sighed, "I was going to visit Shikaku anyway so let''s go Raito-kun."


    Raito looked at the paperwork and went through a few of them, "Hokage-Jiji aren''t you the strongest in the village but why do you still go through these?"


    Hiruzen sighed, "Raito-kun this paperwork comes with seat there is no helping it. These paper works are important. Some are useless garbage but some may be gems. Some may be coded message and some may be threats. As a Hokage, I cannot just ignore it casually."


    "Why not hire some more assistants to categorize the paper according to the level of importance also you can ask some people from the information division to look through the low-level paperwork for the coded message if any."


    Hiruzen was struck dumb and mumbled about how being old is a curse.


    "A lazy person will always think of doing things in a unique way that will make his or her work easier. And I am quoting a Nara." Smiled Raito


    "Haha, your intelligence is really amazing Raito-kun. I will not be surprised if you become a J¨­nin commander or even become a Hokage in the future." Teased Hiruzen


    "No way, no freaking way I am going to be either one of them, I will be happy as long as I can become a J¨­nin or I could be Sannin then I don''t have to take missions. Yosh it''s decided, I will be a Sannin." Raito freaked out at first then had a pondering look.


    Hiruzen couldn''t help but break out laughing at hearing a 12-year-old deciding his future in a whim but he couldn''t have imagined that this 12-year boy really had the potential to become a legend among the legendary.


    "Let us go visit the memorial stone before Naruto reaches." Said Hiruzen as he walked passed Raito


    Raito simply followed Hiruzen


    Raito brought some flower from Yamanaka shop and went towards the memorial stone where he met a cheery Naruto.


    Raito stood in front of the Memorial stone


    "Every name etched on this stone is a name we should forever remember. These people sacrifice their life for their friend, family, and nation but all they hope at the end is for a peaceful tomorrow, they don''t hope for revenge, they don''t hope for destruction, all they hope is that their people have a safe tomorrow. That is what my parents also hoped for but we are ninja, ninja for Konohagakure no Sato. All I can do is I get stronger and protect myself and the people around me and someday I could even protect this village you so love. Dad. Mom."


    "Bye dad bye mom, I will see you soon."


    "But Raito you come here every single day and even say the same thing." Said Naruto


    "Raito-kun, I hope your ''soon'' doesn''t mean like tomorrow or every single day, also I get complains about you getting late to class and even telling absurd lies."


    "Hmm¡­..I really don''t have anything to say anything about that."


    "Naruto, visiting this place means having good luck my entire day that is why I come here every single day, listen to me now, if I don''t come here than I would have bad luck and things like pots falling on my head, walking on shit or having to fight Sakura, things like that would happen which I totally don''t want to happen. Raito tried explaining to Naruto


    "I really hope you stop doing things like that Raito-kun, you are going to become like someone I know." Said Hiruzen with an angry face


    "Ah, Naruto we are going to Nara compound today so we are having dinner there. I heard about Shikamaru mom make some delicious food." Said Raito to Naruto as he completely ignored Hiruzen.


    Hiruzen had a dangerous scheming face as he planned for Raito to not become like Kakashi.


    *knock knock*


    Yoshino Nara opened the door to see the Hokage of the village together with two boys of similar age to that of her son. He stood at the door with her mouth slightly open and eyes wide open.


    "Good afternoon Yoshino-sama, my name is Yoshizawa Raito and this dazzling yellow hair boy here is Uzumaki Naruto and I think you should know is the current Hokage of this village Sarutobi Hiruzen." Raito introduced the party of three


    "Ah, there you go again Raito introducing us all again and in such a boring way, not cool at all." Naruto huffed at Raito''s way of introducing him


    "It is not boring it is called manners." Replied Raito


    "Now now, you two, don''t fight." Calmed the two boys


    "Hokage-sama what are you doing here? Please come in." Yoshino said


    "And me too?" asked Naruto


    "Yes Naruto-kun you too and why not?" Replied Yoshino with a warm smile


    Naruto had tears in his eyes overwhelmed by the acceptance.


    "Ah Hokage-Jiji Naruto is going to cry again so afterward we can change the nickname to cry baby Naruto." Teased Raito


    Hiruzen smiled showing his passage of time.


    Everyone walked to the living room were facing the backyard was a door. There were two people playing shogi, one was Shikamaru Nara classmate of Naruto notorious for his laziness.


    ''Observe''


    [Lazy Genius]


    [Shikamaru Nara]


    HP 450/450


    CP 700/700


    STR: 15


    VIT: 18


    DEX: 14


    INT: 31


    WIS: 45


    LUK: 16


    Nara Clan Heir: Additional +2 to WIS and +1 to INT per level, increased affinity towards shadow techniques, +30% towards learning yin affinity techniques.


    Lazy Genius: +1 to WIS per level and -1 to DEX per level and -20% towards learning Taijutsu


    Shikamaru is the only child of Yoshino and Shikaku Nara. He is the clan heir of Nara Clan. He is said to be the smartest born in the history of the Nara clan but also the laziest.


    The ''Observe'' had already reached level 15 so Raito could see much more.


    "Yoshino, I remember that you take Taijutsu very hard, don''t you? Here is young Naruto, if it is not too troublesome, can you help him in Taijutsu?" Asked Hiruzen


    "And Shikaku we need to have a small talk, some matters have come to surface because of young Raito-kun here," Hiruzen added


    Raito waved his hands and went to Shikamaru to play shogi.


    "Seems like your dad has something to talk about with Hokage-Jiji." Said Raito


    "Troublesome...¡­.you seem to have brought something big for Hokage-sama to personally come here. Inquired Shikamaru as he reset the shogi pieces.


    "It isn''t much Jiji is just tagging with us today and when I said I was going to visit you he also came with us." Answered Raito as he made the first move


    "Let''s play."


    "Can you imagine what Naruto is going through right now?"


    "Don''t care right now?"


    "Aw, why not? You should know about your mom right?"


    "So?"


    "So, your mom is going to train him like crazy, right?"


    "Right. Listen if you are trying to distract me it is not working."


    "Huh why would I want to distract you, I am just making a small chat."


    "Right." Mumbled Shikamaru


    "You know what parents are, don''t you?"


    "What are you talking ab...."


    "Yes, Shikamaru you get it right. Naruto never gives up he will train and train until he gets it right. He is just the opposite of you. And parents being parents wants their children to do better than other children. You know what I am talking about don''t you Shikamaru. You know what is coming for you, don''t you Shikamaru."


    "Hah, you nearly got me there Raito and checkmate."


    Skill ''Lying'' leveled up


    Skill ''Lying'' leveled up


    Skill ''Lying'' leveled up


    Skill ''Lying'' leveled up


    Skill ''Lying'' reached Lv 16


    "Awww and I thought I was going to win this time. Once more."


    You played an intense strategy game! Your WIS has gone up by 1


    "You know you really had me there." Said Shikamaru


    "And I thought I had a chance. Right now you can do one of the two things. First, you can help Naruto which may decrease your chance of going through hell tomorrow. Second play with me where I whisper you your most dreadful nightmares." Replied Raito


    "As much as I like to go and save my a.s.s, I am enjoying the game here."(Shikamaru)


    After playing three games and losing all of them he had a displeased expression on the outside but was very happy inside. Increasing the most difficult stat the WIS by 3 points was a big feat.


    Two hours had passed and Hiruzen and Shikaku were still discussing something but the surrounding was coated in chakra so that their voice couldn''t be heard.


    Naruto and Yoshino also came back and Yoshino gave Shikamaru a burning look telling ''I''m going to train you so better be prepared.'' Shikamaru also gave Raito and Naruto a hateful look. While Naruto looked confused he gave Shikamaru a big smile back. Raito just smiled back at Shikamaru.


    Hiruzen and Shikaku just finished their discussion when Yoshino came in and started preparing dinner.


    Shikaku sighed deeply and corked his head backward and started mumbling troublesome. He then glanced at his wife and asked, "So how was the boy, dear?"


    However, Yoshino didn''t respond back.


    She turned to face both of the men sitting at the table and answered, "The stance he has been practicing has been destroying his muscles, boy like him with so much stamina should have built quite a powerful body by now but looking at him I can only say what a waste whoever is teaching the boy has quite a knowledge on medical Ninjutsu. Body movement mechanics done in such a way that only specific muscles are destroyed repeatedly. He can only recover from the base and also the boy is lacking a proper diet.


    "So if Naruto learns everything from the scratch then he can recover?" A voice shouted from behind


    "Naruto-baka come here and thank Yoshino-sama for teaching you." Roared Raito as he pulled Naruto


    "T-Thank you Yoshino-sama." Naruto was forcefully bowing his head


    "Now, now you two there is no need to be so polite and don''t go calling us Sama, you should use ¨Csan. Yoshino said


    "Now Naruto-kun why don''t you take a bath and Shikamaru and Raito help me wash and cut the vegetables," Yoshino ordered


    "Hai!" answered three boys


    After eating dinner Hiruzen, Naruto and Raito went towards their home


    Raito locked the door and activated the seals once again.


    "Naruto, wait. Hokage-Jiji gave this scroll and book for you. First the scroll it is about kage Bunshin which is different than an academy jutsu. It is a J¨­nin level jutsu so be careful when learning it." Said Raito


    "But it is a damn Bunshin which I was never able to do it in the academy¡­.." (Naruto)


    "So what? You have a lot of chakra, more than that of a Chunin or J¨­nin that was the reason you couldn''t do a stupid Bunshin but this here my friend is Kage Bunshin which solves all your problem but you are only allowed to perform this jutsu on the academy final test before that you cannot use it because......¡­"(Raito)


    "There are people there who don''t want me to be a ninja," Naruto answered fist clenched tight (Naruto)


    "After you become ninja the civilian council can''t do shit about you so until then you have to hold back. And now we have this, basics of fuinjutsu." (Raito)


    "Fuinjutsu? What is that?" asked Naruto


    "This is your clan life and blood. Only Hokage-Jiji will tell you about your clan in the future when you become a ninja. But remember Naruto this book here is what Uzumaki are mostly about. This is your clan heritage so learn it well."(Raito)


    Naruto quickly grabbed the book and started flipping the pages


    "Now let me give you a warning, if there is anything that you don''t understand then you have to ask Hokage-Jiji about fuinjutsu and I mean anything because I have heard many Jiji losing their life while training in fuinjutsu." Said Raito


    Naruto gulped loudly and looked at the book and smiled back and said, "I will do it, I will learn it, I will learn it and I am going to master it because I will never give up."


    After that two boys went to sleep but it is doubtful that they even slept that night

 Chapter 6 - 6 - Skills

    Chapter 6 - Skills


    I really don''t want to say it but I don''t own Naruto but what I own is this series that I am writing. I should also get it copyrighted but that is just a passing thought


    Now to the story,


    ===


    After only 3 hours of sleep, Raito was fresh and all his fatigue was gone whereas Naruto was still sleeping and snoring. Before coming home yesterday Raito copied the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu scroll and tried to learn it but found that the stat requirement for the jutsu was high, 40 for STA and 40 for INT. Raito thought that if he couldn''t learn it then how can Naruto learn it but found out that he was very, very wrong. Naruto could easily make three or four clones and it seems that he could easily make even more.


    Raito woke up and reached Naruto''s room where he saw a sleeping Naruto.


    ''Observe''


    Name: Uzumaki Naruto Lv 5 Exp 2000/3000


    Title: Ninja Academy Student (+25% Exp till level 10)


    Age: 12


    HP: 2500


    CP: 4000


    STR: 14


    DEX: 14


    INT: 40


    WIS: 6


    LUK: ???


    Uzumaki household member: Additional +300 HP per level, additional +300 CP per level +2 INT & +3 VIT per level. Higher affinity towards yang techniques, decrease CP cost for yang techniques. Increase HP regen, 40% learning speed while learning Fuinjutsu


    ?: Increase HP regen, +300 CP per level, -40% chakra control (increase CP Cost) Stage 0


    Prankster king: Increase experience gain to stealth and trap making, decrease reputation gain


    Uzumaki Naruto is the son of Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina. He is the current dead last of the academy. 70% of the villager of Konohagakure no Sato hates him but the people who know the truth love him.


    Tip: Someone is love stalking him


    ''Low level, high chakra, messed up stat distribution, questionable luck and what the F**K? Being an Uzumaki is he has 300 HP and CP per level, what the hell? What the hell?'' Raito mentally cursed for a lot of things


    ''But this question mark is really making me curious. I have to find more about it later. But for now¡­..''


    "Wake UP! Naruto!" Roared Raito pulling the blankets, making Naruto fall on the floor.


    Naruto rolled and his eyes open looking at the ceiling then he focused at the person who woke him up, "What the hell Raito?"


    "Huh? What do you even mean? It''s already 5, so we have to start." Answered Raito calmly


    "But I wanted to sleep more." Wined Naruto as he grudgingly stood up


    "Listen Naruto, you know how Sasuke fights in Taijutsu matches at the academy and kicks your ass?"


    "Hey".


    "If you practice enough you can do it too."


    "Really?"


    "Of course. Would I ever lie to you?"


    Reaching backyard Raito took a pose and hinted Naruto to follow him.


    "Now the first thing we do is stretch our body."


    "How is stretching help me defeat Sasuke?"


    "Just shut up and listen to me. This stretching is special because every ninja clan and family does it and some clans even make it longer than what it is written in the handbook."


    "Really but how does it even help."


    Raito mentally sighed, "You will know it later just follow what I do, ok?"


    Naruto nodded as he started copying what Raito did


    At some point, "ouch, ouch, painful, painful." Naruto slumped on the ground


    After a while, Naruto calmed down but still panting a bit.


    "Naruto repeat to the point before that and rest for ten minutes and do it again. I am going to make some breakfast." Said Raito as he walked towards the kitchen and started his chakra control exercise, leaf sticking exercise. Right now he could stick ten leaves on his body and before last night he could not even stick one leaf. For this progress, he was really happy


    [Chakra Control Lv7 (Passive) Exp 15.0%]


    The ability to use chakra more efficiently and more easily.


    - Decrease CP cost for using skills.


    - Increase performance while using CP.


    - Higher the level can use many chakra variation techniques.


    Chakra control exercise


    - Leaf sticking exercise level 10 decrease CP cost by 3%.


    Raito was simultaneously cooking and practicing the leaf sticking exercise


    Skill ''Cooking'' leveled up by 1


    Skill ''Leaf sticking exercise'' leveled up by 1


    "Naruto food is ready. Come and eat." Shouted Raito


    Naruto came walking looking fresher than before


    "So Naruto how many times did you complete?"


    "Only 2 times it was difficult to move and my whole body was in pain," Naruto said as he sat and picked his chopsticks.


    "Okay, then why don''t you do some Taijutsu moves you learned yesterday from Yoshino-san and then some shuriken throwing I will join you there." After advising Naruto what to do Raito started eating his food.


    Naruto saw the leaves on the table and pointed, "Raito what were you doing with those leaves there?"


    "Ah, I was just practicing my chakra control with those leaves, since I don''t have high chakra I have to go with control. Don''t think about it too much right now." Answered Raito finishing his food, he started washing the dishes


    After Naruto finished eating he went to the backyard and started practicing his Taijutsu stances. With each repetition, his attack became strong, precise and fast. Whereas Raito was wearing weights each two kilograms, one on of hands and feet.


    Looking at the tattered equipment ''It may not last me long but I have to do it. Now where did I put those stupid books.''


    Ninja basic stealth techniques explained


    Sword maintenance


    How to look for more details


    Intelligence gathering


    ¡­.


    Raito put all the useful books he could find in the house and stored in his inventory.


    Raito started walking around with his weights and took a book out from inventory and started reading it. Naruto who saw it found it to be very funny.


    (Just imagine a guy with dumbbells in his hands and shackled weight on legs, and holding a book)


    Raito didn''t mind Naruto and mentally made a checklist for buying a weight seal


    Checklist created


    - Become strong enough to avenge your parents.


    - Avenge your parents


    - Take revenge from the people in your class


    - Raise INT and STA to 40


    - Buy weight seal


    ''Clean'' Raito closed the windows and started his exercise


    After 1 hour


    Skill created


    Reading Lv 1 (Passive) Exp 0.0%


    - Reading speed increases by 1%


    - Understanding the read content by 20%


    - Passively increased INT by 1


    Skill ''Stealth'' increased by 2


    Skill ''Chakra Control'' increased by 2


    Due to diligently studying, INT increased by 2


    Due to strenuous exercise, STR increased by 1


    Due to strenuous exercise, STA increased by 1


    "Raito it is nearly eight, the classes are going to start, hurry, hurry." Naruto shouted as he grabbed and pulled Raito


    Raito locked the door and activated the seals


    "Raito, run the faster we reach the better." Raito found it odd but didn''t suspect anything as Naruto was always this cheery


    So Raito started running


    Skill created


    Running Lv 1 (Active/Passive) 0.0%


    - Increase STA by 1


    - Increase running speed


    - Decrease fatigue


    ''Shitty windows, shitty Naruto.'' mumbled Raito as he like walking very much. Also, he could observe and grind its level and there are always new information


    After they reached the academy they went to their own class.


    When Raito entered the classroom it was silent and I say pin-drop silent and everyone was looking at the Raito infamously known for him being late at the first class by a minimum of 30 minutes. But today they had seen Raito coming to the class by half an hour earlier.


    "Holy shit"


    "Holy shit"


    "Crazy!"


    ¡­..


    Everyone present in the class was thinking that today the sun has risen from the west and Naruto had stopped playing his pranks.


    ''Bastards, if I knew that this type of thing happens every morning then I am better late.'' Thought Raito


    "Morning Raito"


    "Morning Raito-kun"


    There were two voices different from the rest of the class


    Morning Iwasawa-san, Renji-san


    Raito smiled and wave back at them.


    ''Observe''


    Name: Masami Iwasawa Lv 7 Exp 2000/5000


    Title: Ninja Academy Student (+25% Exp till level 10)


    Age: 12


    HP: 750


    CP: 500


    STR: 14


    VIT: 18


    DEX: 21


    INT: 20


    WIS: 16


    LUK: 19


    Masami clan member: Higher affinity towards poison techniques.


    Beginner poison body: Immune to simple poisons, additional 100 HP per level.


    Masami Iwasawa is a member of the Masami clan in the Konohagakure no Sato. She is a genius in poison techniques and known to have activated her poison body. She is promised a seat on the council after she becomes a special J¨­nin or J¨­nin.


    Name: Abarai Renji Lv 7 Exp 4000/5000


    Title: Ninja Academy Student (+25% Exp till level 10)


    Age: 12


    HP: 700


    CP: 350


    STR: 21


    VIT: 28


    DEX: 26


    INT: 14


    WIS: 12


    LUK: 16


    Abarai household member: Higher affinity towards Kenjutsu, additional DEX+1 and VIT+1 per level


    Beginner sword apprentice: 40% learning speed while learning Kenjutsu


    Abarai Renji is a member of Abarai family origin from the land of Iron. He is a sword lover; the only time he let go of his sword is when he is at the academy. He excels at his family swordplay and has planned to return to the land of Iron to develop his sword techniques.


    Poison Girl and Sword boy, how unlucky both have no advantage coming at the academy.


    SLICK


    THUD


    A fat boy with narrow eyes came inside the room


    "Raito, care to explain why are you coming to the academy with the demon brat?" asked the fat boy


    "What?"


    "Demon brat?"


    "Naruto?"


    "For real?"


    "What is he even thinking?"


    Raito looked at everyone face and thought, ''Everyone talking like that are civilian borne so the problem lies with civilian part and civilian council.''


    ''Observe¡­.trash.''


    ''Observe¡­.trash.''


    ''Observe¡­.trash.''


    ''Observe¡­.trash.''


    ''Such low stat even Naruto can beat them.''


    Whereas the ninja borne and few of the civilian were quietly looking at Raito.


    ''Well those who talk are guilty but those who don''t talk are also guilty'' thought Raito


    "Hm? What are you talking about fatty? I am going to pretend that I didn''t hear anything and so are the others, so you should shut up." Raito yawned


    "Is the class always this late? I''m sleepy." Raito asked


    "That demon did come from your house and I even saw it with my own eyes. You should throw him out before he does anything with you." Shouted fat boy


    "What type of demon are you talking about now?"


    "You know what."


    "Your mother''s fat face. I seriously don''t know what you are talking about so sorry." Said Raito


    "Naruto! It is him. The day Kyuubi died Naruto was born. So, of course, Naruto is the demon reincarnated." Said fat boy


    Murmuring of the voices could be heard from everywhere.


    "SO you mean to say the nine tails that the 4th Hokage killed is Naruto just because he was born on the same day is it then that would be reasonable?" Asked Raito


    "Yes."


    "Stupid pig."


    "You¡­."


    "Then fatty can you tell me if Naruto was the only one born that day?"


    "Y-yes"


    "So, the fifty-plus babies born on the Konoha hospital and registered after being born on the day the Kyuubi died, has no relation with the Kyuubi but Naruto, on the other hand, whose date of birth cannot be confirmed on the Konoha hospital is the Kyuubi reincarnated."


    Skill ''Lying'' leveled up by 1


    Skill created


    Intent Lv 1 (Passive) Exp 0.0%


    Projection of your thoughts or actions


    Tips: intent can be used in different ways some use it to show their blood l.u.s.t or battle l.u.s.t or some show as calm and friendly


    Raito made a hand sign to ask everyone to stop and also the ANBU who was going to enter through the window.


    Slightly shocked ANBU didn''t rush in but waited patiently


    "Is that correct fatty?" asked Raito


    "I...I¡­I don''t know."


    "Then tell me fatty who told you about this, I mean you can''t just mouth off whatever you want and I mean no one would believe you after what you did last week at girl''s bathroom. So tell me fatty can anyone back up your word, anyone you heard saying that, someone much older than you?" Asked Raito as he mixed his voice with chakra and increased his area sense and applied intent to it.


    Branch unlocked-Hypnotic wave


    "M-My father told me to stay away from N-Naruto and also asked me to tell everyone to stay away from him." said the fat boy


    "Why fatty? I thought your father is one of the biggest silk traders in the village. Who does he have to listen to?" asked Raito


    "I...I don''t know. I...I am just following what my father had said." said the fatty


    A figure entered the room through the windows as a blur and grabbed Raito''s shoulder, "You shouldn''t speak anymore everything will be taken care of."


    "ANBU-san is the proof enough?" Asked Raito in a calm voice


    "Yes." The ANBU answered in a normal voice which shocked him as well, it was as if he was questioned by the Hokage himself.


    The door slammed and Mari-sensei who was holding register with her entered the classroom


    "Mari-san I would be taking this boy as he has violated S-class secret," ANBU said this time his voice muffled


    Mari only nodded as she couldn''t do anything


    ANBU flickered away with the fat boy.


    Mari-sensei sighed and walked towards the podium and started calling out the names but didn''t call Raito as he was last on the register and the fact that he was never in the class on time.


    "Mari-sensei you forgot to call me." Raito fumed as he was left out and more so because he was on time today


    "Huh? What ¡­.holy shit." Mari threw shuriken at Raito which cut off all the escape paths for Raito who watched dumbstruck and before he knew he was on the floor with kunai placed on the back of the neck.


    "Bloody hell Mari-sensei it is me Raito."


    "Can you prove that you are Raito?" asked Mari-sensei


    "Of course I can sensei all I have to say I rabbit with a green hand and a rabbit with a red sword were ma...." Said Raito


    Mari threw Raito on to his seat, "let''s begin the class as we have Raito here we can read much more."


    "Aw" A collective groan could be heard


    Raito listened and even took notes also at times shuriken and kunai were thrown at him which he dogged all of them without looking.


    After two hour


    "OK class; now let''s move towards grounds and Raito stay." Said Mari-sensei


    After everyone left Mari-sensei pulled out a scroll and small paper and gave to Raito


    "Sensei?"


    "First put some chakra to the paper and ask afterward."


    Raito put some chakra on the paper and the paper immediately turned to dirt and crumble away.


    "As I thought, you have your father''s affinity. After you graduate from the academy, the first thing you are going to do is take back all the scrolls, weapons, money and everything you own and this scroll has everything written what your family-owned back then." Said Mari-sensei


    "Also in this scroll are camping jutsu which we were taught when we were at your age. Now listen to me very carefully Raito. These camping jutsu were all made by a single man who had nearly mastered all the five elements and no he didn''t have any bloodline limits and any special body, he was just a normal guy just like you and me but worked really, really hard and was able to master most of the elements before dying in the second shinobi war." Said Mari-sensei


    "Just one question Mari-sensei, where can I find you in future?" Asked Raito


    "So you can use your brain, can''t ya?" Teased Mari-sensei


    "I just had a feeling that you were going to disappear." Said Raito


    "I am not going to disappear, kid, I am going to spend most of my time in T&I department and intelligence department, after all, I have taken a long break. I would be leaving academy after a month or so. And I have also submitted your application to move to class 1-A." added Mari-sensei


    "But why? I am doing just fine." Asked Raito


    "Hokage''s order kid, there isn''t much I can say there. It seems like he is going to make you work." Replied Mari-sensei


    "Damn old man." Murmured Raito


    "Class 1-A consist of students with high potential and possibly people going to become head of the family and who are likely to be placed together in a team and possibly the only class with most graduates on paper."


    "On paper?"


    "Do you know how are students are distributed in each class?"


    "More or less 1-A clan heir and easily passable students plus civilian, 1-B people having capabilities but don''t have the highest authority but it is nice to make good relation with them plus civilians and 1-C have ANBU children who have chosen to be ANBU in future and the only class with different age group and silent class."


    "How did you know about the 1-C?"


    "Counting numbers."


    "Counting numbers?"


    "Our academy has a rule that the students are allowed to buy their own shuriken and kunai set but can only take one set back home, I have seen the sales sheet and I found that the academy shop uses students name and id number but there is also another sheet only id numbers with no names ANBU also need equipment, they will have a life if they decide to retire from ANBU so they have to have an id number and who doesn''t recognizes a new face very often seen in the academy. Also with my ''Chakra Sense'', I could see them."


    "Your family technique is really broken." Said Mari-sensei with envy


    "But isn''t it all because of you that I got to learn the technique and I didn''t even know it was a family forbidden jutsu." Laughed Raito


    [Last survivor]


    Ayoma Mari Lv ?


    I wanted to use ''observe'' on her but after seeing the title change into the last survivor I didn''t want to see anymore.


    "RAITO! RAITO!" Naruto yelled


    "Mari sensei, see you later." Said Raito as he walked away


    "Damn kid," Mari muttered as she also walked away


    "Yo Naruto, why are you running around? Asked Raito waving his hand.


    "I was looking for you, Iruka-sensei said if you were late he was going to punish you so I came to find you." Said Naruto


    "Don''t sweat on it." said Raito as they walked towards the ground.


    At the training grounds


    "Uzumaki Naruto." With a pen and a clipboard on the hand, Iruka sensei was calling names.


    "UZUMAKI NARUTO." Roared Iruka-sensei


    Two boys came running on the grounds panting.


    "Naruto where were you?" Asked Iruka-sensei


    "I was-" said Naruto as he was immediately cut off by Raito


    "I am sorry Iruka-sensei but we were helping Mari-sensei but lost the sense of time she can verify for that." Answered Raito


    "Just do it, you two are the only one left." Said Iruka-sensei


    Quest alert


    Quest Created


    Main quest


    Gold Quest: Get 100% accuracy in shuriken and kunai throwing test


    Quest rewards +300 Exp, increase relation with Iruka


    Raito accepted without a thought because Raito now believed at the stats. With increased DEX stat it was going to be very easy.


    "Uzumaki Naruto, throw...¡­90% accuracy." Shouted Iruka-sensei as he wrote on the clipboard


    "Next Yoshizawa Raito, throw...¡­.100% accuracy." Shouted Iruka-sensei


    "Yes!"


    Quest alert


    Quest completed


    Main quest


    Gold quest: Get 100% accuracy in shuriken and kunai throwing test. (Completed)


    Quest reward obtained: 300 Exp, increase relation with Iruka-sensei


    "Everyone it''s lunchtime, be here by one. Dismissed. (Iruka)


    "Shikamaru, Ch¨­ji, here." Yelled Naruto


    Shikamaru glared at Naruto and Ch¨­ji as he walked towards them.


    "H-Hey Shikamaru what''s up?" Asked Naruto


    "Because of you two, my mom made me train a lot harder than usual. Seriously you both are troublesome." Answered Shikamaru


    "Your mom is super awesome Shikamaru. Because of her, I think I got a lot stronger and it doesn''t hurt anymore while training." Said Naruto


    ''Training shouldn''t be painful normally.'' Shikamaru eyed Raito


    Raito sighed, "Naruto we discussed that there are some people yesterday didn''t we?"


    Naruto nodded with a serious face


    "And one of them is Mizuki-sensei. Anything taught by him you will discuss with us or Iruka-sensei. Even if Mizuki-sensei tells you it is a secret." Said Raito


    "So it really was true." murmured Naruto


    "Raito." (Ch¨­ji)


    "Ch¨­ji." (Raito)


    Ch¨­ji was in a battle position; legs wide, legs slightly bent, left leg a little bit at the front, one hand at the back going in the small bag.


    Raito also was in a battle position legs wide and bend just a little his hand also going inside his small bag and called out inventory.


    ""Today I have.""


    "EGGS FRIED WITH BACON"


    "CURRY"


    After a short moment of silence.


    "Curry?"


    "Curry?"


    "Not just any curry but still warm and hot curry and also rice."


    "WOAH."


    Ch¨­ji dashed and took the curry and rice boxes and found it was true


    Shikamaru asked, "How did you manage that?"


    "Family secret space time Ninjutsu." Answered Raito


    "Woah" all three exclaimed


    "When did you learn it, Raito?" asked Naruto


    "Last night when you learned ''Shadow clone technique''." Snorted Raito


    "You mean Naruto can do a clone technique now?" asked Shikamaru


    "It is called the shadow clone technique which is far better than the clone technique, so do you guys want to see?" Boasted Naruto


    Both Shikamaru and Ch¨­ji nodded


    "Shadow Clone Technique."


    With two puff of smoke, two Naruto appeared.


    "These are not your simple clone technique rather they are a really useful technique which only higher Chunin or J¨­nin level ninja can learn." Said Shikamaru


    Naruto filled with joy started praising himself


    "But what is the use of this technique other than passing the exam and making some duplicates and they go poof after one hit." Said Raito as his voice filled with envy


    "Baka they are mostly used technique in information gathering as the user of this technique will automatically get all the information his clone gathered after the clone gets dispelled." Replied Shikamaru


    "What type of information are we talking about?" asked Raito


    "Anything from visual to auditory even understanding."


    "What are you guys talking about? I am getting confused." Asked a confused Naruto


    "If you guys are done talking I am going to dig in," said Ch¨­ji


    "Ch¨­ji bring Hinata-san who is hiding behind the bush and Naruto clone number 1 go with Shikamaru and clone number 2 come with me.


    "What is this really about guys?" asked Naruto still confused


    With Shikamaru


    "Clouds. You should just remember that word." said Shikamaru


    Okay.


    With Raito


    Raito picked up a stone and showed it to Naruto and asked, "What is this?"


    "A stone?" questioned Naruto


    "Just remember that." Said Raito


    ==


    Everyone gathered together, Ch¨­ji was with a red Hinata. Shikamaru and Raito came back with Naruto clones at their side.


    "Naruto did you find out what we just told your clones?" asked Raito


    "How would I know what you said to him, him is him, me is me." Naruto questioned


    Shikamaru facepalmed, "Naruto these are your clones you just have to ask them to do something and they will do something. Just ask them to dispel, will ya?"


    Naruto thought and the clones disappeared.


    "So Naruto what did I show you?" asked Raito


    "And what did I tell you?" asked Shikamaru


    "Raito showed me a stone and Shikamaru told me to remember the word cloud." Answered Naruto


    "That''s it for now, the next problem is a Hyuga." Said Raito with some hints of teasing.


    "Hinata-san what are you doing here? Were you looking for someone? Teased Raito


    "I-I m-m-made some e-extra fo-food to-today so I-I would l-like to share it." Said Hinata


    "Raito it is too troublesome so let''s just eat now." Said Shikamaru


    "Sure here is my curry special."


    "Eggs and bacon here"


    " Umm. Umm. I made a lot of things here."


    "Woah there is a lot of food there." Said Ch¨­ji salivating, looking at the big basket.


    "Let''s dig in, thank you for the food." shouted Naruto as he started eating food


    "Hinata-san you should eat too because it is going to be empty soon." Said Raito


    With that said everyone started eating fast because Ch¨­ji would eat as much as everyone combined and also as fast as everyone combined.


    "Ah, I am really full now."


    "Hinata''s cooking is much better than mine." Said Ch¨­ji


    "Of course it is, it is made with love." Said Raito


    "Don''t give girl more trouble than she already is in," said Shikamaru


    "T-Thank you for the p-praise."


    "Hinata why don''t you join us at lunch from now on rather than hiding at all times." Said Ch¨­ji scheming


    "I will, thank you." Said Hinata quickly as she could.


    "So we get to eat more delicious food made by the Hinata. Awesome." Said Naruto


    Hinata blushed while Shikamaru just shook his head and Raito had a big smile.


    Ch¨­ji and Shikamaru laid on the ground, then Raito and Naruto just did the same while Hinata remain standing.


    "Hinata come lie down here." Naruto pointed to the space beside him and said as he thought no one was going to tell her.


    And Hinata did what she was told and looked at the clouds.


    "The clouds looked so uncaring and free. I wish my life was like that." Said Shikamaru


    "Like your mom will ever let that happen." Replied Raito sarcastically


    "Tch."


    Everyone rested till one.


    "I really don''t want to go."


    "Huh? But I wanted to show what I learned yesterday. I practiced the whole night for it."


    "Naruto baka don''t play the emotion card, I just don''t want to fight Sakura."


    "How do you know it''s going to be Sakura?" asked Ch¨­ji


    "You didn''t go there today did you?" smirked Shikamaru


    "Yeah"


    "Umm, what is going on here?"


    "Every time he doesn''t go to his lucky place he gets to fight Sakura." Said Shikamaru


    "That could be a coincidence." Replied Hinata


    "It happened seven times in a row when Iruka-sensei was Raito''s homeroom teacher." Added Ch¨­ji


    "I really happens." Added Naruto with seriousness.


    "Anyway let''s go," said Shikamaru patting his pants.


    At the training hall


    "Everyone line up, three platforms, three pairings then switch...Understand? Asked Iruka-sensei


    "This is just a sparring match so no use of any ninja techniques and only Taijutsu."


    Haruno Sakura vs. Yoshizawa Raito


    Uchiha Sasuke vs. Akimichi Ch¨­ji


    Uzumaki Naruto vs. Masami Iwasawa


    Raito sighed and sighed while Shikamaru smiled


    "Ch¨­ji defend and create distance and go for a powerful hit." Said Raito


    "Naruto show them." Said Raito as patted Naruto''s shoulder


    Everyone moved to their respective area


    "Observe." Raito murmured


    Name: Haruno Sakura Lv 5 Exp 0/3000


    Title: Ninja Academy Student (+25% Exp till level 10)


    Age: 12


    HP: 200


    CP: 200


    STR: 14


    VIT: 8


    DEX: 10


    INT: 45


    WIS: 28


    LUK: 18


    Perfect memory: Able to memorize and recall any memory perfectly, +4 INT per level and +3 WIS per level


    Perfect Chakra Control: Able to control Chakra perfectly, +5 WIS per level


    Fan girl: -50% WIS


    Sakura is the only child of Mebuki and Kizashi Haruno. She had an ordinary childhood, raised by her parents without any serious tragedy or complication. She is in line for the, "Top Kunoichi of the year". She has the highest marks in girls division because of her perfect memory and her perfect chakra control. She has crush on Sasuke. She hates when someone calls her forehead.


    "What a waste." Murmured Raito


    "Seal of confrontation." Ordered Iruka-sensei


    Raito and Sakura did so and made a battle stance


    FIGHT.


    "Haruno-san you should just quit." Said Raito


    "I can''t because Sasuke-kun is looking at me." Said Sakura


    "Both of you talk less and fight seriously now." Said Iruka


    While Raito was looking at Iruka-sensei, Sakura dashed towards Raito and punched him in the face. Raito staggered back a little holding his face.


    "That''s what you get when you try to make me look bad in front of Sasuke-kun." Said Sakura with a happy face


    "Ouch sensei it hurts, I quit." Said Raito as he holds his face


    "Raito don''t joke, you didn''t even get hit, and you just dodged the hit perfectly." Explained Iruka-sensei


    "But sensei I just quit and she just won her first match against me." Said Raito


    "Sparing doesn''t mean winning or losing but helping each other to improve their fighting styles."


    "Stop sensei. Haruno-san let''s fight" said Raito


    Both of them again took fighting stances again but Raito this time moved fast to Sakura side where he reverse sweep Sakura and as she fell down he back kicked her.


    "Ah, Haruno-san you should always be on alert and do go freezing up when your enemy attacks you, you will get killed. If you really want to be a ninja then you have to train harder, if you remain a love-struck fool then god knows how many Kunoichi you are embarrassing." Said Raito explaining Sakura her weakness or seemed like he was explaining


    "Sensei I wanted to explain more but looks like she fainted." Sid Raito as he pointed to Sakura


    Iruka didn''t know why Raito was being too harsh on Sakura today but he also saw Raito explain Sakura of her weakness and trying to motivate her so he didn''t interfere.


    Match winner Yoshizawa Raito (Iruka)


    Match winner Uchiha Sasuke (Mizuki)


    Match winner Uzumaki Naruto (Mari)


    Surprise and joy could be seen on Iruka-sensei''s face whereas Mizuki-sensei had a frown on his face which quickly disappeared and Mari-sensei was looking at Mizuki-sensei trying to find something on his face.


    Iwasawa looked like she was exhausted but happy and Sasuke didn''t even react anyhow.


    "Iwasawa you did really great. Raito said that if we were to fight without any rules I would be dead under a minute. So I am glad we fought under rules." Said Naruto beaming


    "Ch¨­ji are you OK?" asked Shikamaru


    "Yea, I will be fine." Answered Ch¨­ji


    "I have some salty ch.i.p.s if you like to have some." Said Raito as he took out a bag of ch.i.p.s


    Ch¨­ji happily munched on the ch.i.p.s


    "Observe"


    Name: Akimichi Ch¨­ji Lv 7 Exp 800/5000


    Title: Ninja Academy Student (+25% Exp till level 10)


    Age: 12


    HP: 1000/1275


    CP: 500/500


    STR: 24


    VIT: 23


    DEX: 10


    INT: 16


    WIS: 17


    LUK: 26


    Akimichi clan heir: Permanent +100 CP, +3 VIT per level +3 STR per level, higher affinity towards yang techniques


    Calorie converter: Akimichi Clan are specialized in converting food for power.


    Ch¨­ji was born into the Akimichi clan, and is slated to become the Sixteenth Head of the Akimichi after his father, Choza. He is best friend with Shikamaru and is a gentle giant that is loath to hurt anyone unless someone says a certain three letter word. He is honest and a caring friend.


    Name: Uchiha Sasuke Lv 10 Exp 5000/8000


    Title: Ninja Academy Student (+25% Exp till level 10)


    Age: 12


    HP: 1625/1625


    CP: 950/950


    STR: 25


    VIT: 21


    DEX: 23


    INT: 18


    WIS: 18


    LUK: 10


    Uchiha Clan last survivor: +1000 HP and +500 CP permanently, increase affinity towards fire techniques


    Unawakened Dojutsu: +1 DEX every other level, +1 INT per level


    Avenger: Bonus given to all stats when against Uchiha Itachi


    Natural genius: Increase 50% learning speed. (Title applied till 20 years of life)


    Hardworking: Increase 10% bonus to physical stat. (title applied if the user is hardworking)


    Uchiha Sasuke is the last living member of the once feared Uchiha Clan aside from his brother, Uchiha Itachi, the Clan Killer, who slaughtered all of his clan aside from Sasuke. Driven by hatred and a thirst for vengeance, there is nothing he will not do in exchange for the power to slay his brother. Yet, deep inside him, there is still the good person he was before the Uchiha Massacre.


    ''Overpowered, too overpowered. He should have graduated sooner. It must be because of the council as they didn''t want another Itachi.''


    "Tch. Every ninja has a story, time come and go just to face the karma of circle once again," muttered Raito


    "Naruto you showed them." Said Raito as he patted Naruto on the shoulder


    "Raito." Said Mari-sensei


    "Mari-sensei?"


    "Go to Hokage office after. Hokage''s order" said Mari-sensei as she flickered away


    "Naruto I am going to jiji''s office and meet you later and make dinner, okay," Raito spoke fast and left Naruto in a hurry


    "Sure." Replied Naruto

 Chapter 7 - 7 - Money System

    Chapter 7 - Money system


    -


    Thank you, everyone, for the praise


    In this chapter, there would be some sentence or paragraph that would be confusing but ignore it. I just wrote it for my sake.


    In another world, I would be Hokage but in this world, I don''t even own Naruto.


    Knock! Knock!


    "Raito-kun please come in, everyone out." Hiruzen made a hand sign and the room lit up with seals, "It seems we should have a talk, now please be seated."


    "Hello, Hokage-Jiji." Raito sat on the chair a bit nervous looking at the Hokage.


    "Raito-kun you seem to have done something," Hiruzen stated


    "Ah, I seem to have found someone breaking the S-class law." Answered Raito


    "It seems you have but that matter has been dealt with so, no need to speak about it." Said Hiruzen


    "What happened at the class and how were you able to extract information. If what the ANBU said is true then it will be treated as A-class secret." Asked Hiruzen a bit seriously


    ''It''s about that then.'' Raito let out the breath he had been holding.


    "It was intent."


    "Intent?"


    "I used my family Ninjutsu ''Chakra Sense'' and added ''Intent'' with it." Answered Raito


    "Care to explain a bit Raito-kun?" Asked Hiruzen


    "Yesterday Hokage-Jiji when you used killing intent, my chakra sense experienced your killing intent, you leaked a small amount of chakra with mixed with your d.e.s.i.r.e to...kill? Today I also experienced myself releasing killing intent unknowingly when the fatty called Naruto a demon, but I recovered as fast as I could because I remember what dad had told me." Raito seemed a bit downcast but continued, "Instead I infused my intent to ''get answer'' and intent to ''be relaxed'' and mixed the intent with chakra. It was like doing or telling something but with chakra? Just as I usually use my ''Chakra Sense'' the part where I release chakra I used intent the same way and it worked. I guess." Answered Raito a little bit confused


    "Very interesting and unique way to use ''intent'' and ''chakra''. It seems you understand the way to use your ''intent''. Very good. The intent is something only strong-willed people or people who went numerous trails in life could express but I never thought that a small boy of twelve could also use it and also in such an interesting way." Stated Hiruzen


    "Hehe Jiji doesn''t that mean I am awesome?" laughed Raito but stopped looking at the face of the Hokage


    "Wait, Jiji, there are things I want to ask like why Mari-sensei is going? And why am I getting transferred to class 1-A?"


    "Raito, a few months ago Ayoma Mari asked me to let her join the Academy, specifically to teach you, your family jutsu and it seems she succeeded but now you have developed the jutsu to the point you can even detect a J¨­nin, her part of the deal has ended. And the village needs ninja to operate, one less capable ninja means we are one person weak. She has been pushing her original duties to develop you. Raito¨Ckun you need to understand." Said Hiruzen as he took a puff


    "I understand, I really do, I hate the fact that I understand. I don''t wanna talk about it anymore." Said Raito as he closed his eyes


    "We are not going to talk about it anymore but we are going to talk about the new jutsu you created. You have created a new technique from a simple sensing technique it will be A-class jutsu but if you were able to make this jutsu stronger it will be S-class jutsu and you will never teach this jutsu to anyone that has the intention to harm Konoha, understood?" stated Hiruzen


    "Understood-Hokage-Jiji." Said Raito


    "Also Ummm¡­ Jiji will I get everything my parent owned before they died?" asked Raito


    "Yes you will and if anything happens to me then that is what the scroll is for," answered Hiruzen


    "Why would anything happen to you Hokage-Jiji? If you think you are getting old then you should find someone to inherit the seat then you can also sit back and enjoy a lot of other things." Said Raito


    "Raito who do you think should I choose as the fifth Hokage?" said an amused Hokage


    "How would I know who to choose I don''t even know how many people are there able to get nominated for seat or how powerful they are? And clearly, that is not my job Hokage-Jiji." Replied Raito


    "I would like you to not die." Murmured Raito in a low voice but still, Hiruzen was able to hear which made him very happy


    "Raito-kun do tell Naruto to not practice fuinjutsu before he is ready. Fuinjutsu needs someone with good calligraphy to start and I don''t think Naruto has one," added Hiruzen


    Raito nodded


    "Hokage-Jiji do you have some books on chakra control then I would love to read it later." Said Raito as he looked back at the aged Hokage


    "I do have a few books. I will send them later and why don''t you have this too." Hiruzen waved after which two coupons for Ichiraku was written.


    "Then off I go." After which Raito ran to his house


    Raito opened the door to find the house empty but found Naruto back at the house practicing his Taijutsu.


    "Naruto, it seems the win this afternoon motivated you a lot." Said Raito as he slowly walked towards Naruto


    "Yea Raito if I practiced a lot now then I will surely be able to become Hokage in the future." Cheered Naruto


    "Naruto question: when have you seen Jiji fight?" asked Raito


    "Hmm...Not much because he is buried in paperwork most of the time." Answered Naruto as the realization hit him


    "That makes my point clear then." Said Raito as he started taking out books from his inventory


    The silence continued until, "R-Raito w-will you h-help me?" asked Naruto


    Raito nodded


    "Okay first step make 2 shadow clones and tell them to do as I say." Ordered Raito


    "I will call you guys'' clone 1 and clone 2." Said Raito as he pointed at each of them


    Both the clones nodded


    "And Naruto you should continue with Taijutsu," Raito said then he began walking towards the house.


    "Clone 1, you will write all the names of the people you know into these papers and go see Hokage-Jiji to see whether you can start learning fuinjutsu but before that you will not learn fuinjutsu." Said Raito as he handed clone 1 with paper, pen, and ink.


    "Clone 2 you will be reading these books, if you don''t understand anything then ask me anytime. We need a smart Hokage who will be able to read and write something understandable. If you cannot even read and write how you will even get nominated as Hokage. Thinking that a Hokage that cannot even read or write will be a huge laughing matter." Raito laughed as he mocked Naruto


    After saying that both the clones had fire on the eyes and with clenched fist began doing their work.


    Skill ''Motivate'' has leveled up


    After giving clones work Raito also started practicing by his unusual way using metal weights and reading a book and helping Naruto clones in between Raito even received ''teaching'' skill which boosted his WIS.


    Skill ''Teaching'' has been created


    Vigorous training has increased VIT by 1


    [Teaching Lv 10 (Passive) Exp 10%]


    The art of passing knowledge and experience to anyone


    -The person you teach has a 1% chance of understanding everything.


    -The person you teach has a 15% chance of understanding half.


    -The person you teach has a 50% chance of understanding something.


    -Passively gain +2 WIS (gain +1 WIS every 5 levels)


    After dispersing both clones all at once Naruto got a headache but found improvement in reading and writing.


    "Ah, all those reading and writing has made me hungry." Said Naruto as he touched his stomach


    "Naruto lets go to Ichiraku''s but we can only have one bowl," said Raito as he flashed coupons


    "But we got money from yesterday....." said Naruto before he was punched on the head


    "Naruto baka we still have use for that money, we need to buy things like equipment and books and aren''t you going to learn fuinjutsu. Don''t you have to buy special paper and ink? That also costs money." Said Raito


    "I u-understand." Said Naruto in a sad voice


    "Oy don''t make that sad noise, tell you what every Friday you can eat ten bowls of ramen." Said Raito


    "Yatta!" beamed Naruto


    "And on the bonus why don''t I take you to a training ground." Added Raito


    "Training ground? Where ninja train? But we are not allowed to go there." Said Naruto


    "Who said anything about training there? I am going to take you to my special training ground where the real monster comes." Said Raito as tried to sound dangerous


    Naruto paled, "Monsters!?" but recovered quickly and retorted, "There is no such thing as monster."


    Both of them stopped talking as they reached Ichiraku''s.


    Flaps were lifted and two boys entered the Ichiraku''s shop


    "Welcome!"


    "Oi, Teuchi-ossan! One bowl of pork ramen!" Naruto announced upon arrival.


    "Teuchi-san, one bowl of beef ramen please." Added Raito as he sat


    "Raito you came too? You missed your Friday special." Said Ayame as she started preparing


    "Ah, my Friday special! Damn it!" cursed Raito, "I call double this Friday."


    "Sure." Replied Teuchi


    ''Observe.''


    Name: Ichiraku Teuchi Lv 15


    Job: Chef


    Title: Master Chef


    HP: 900


    CP: 100


    STR: 25


    VIT: 36


    DEX: 25


    INT: 31


    WIS: 40


    LUK: 38


    Head Chef: 100% bonus Stat increase to the food cooked, +50% Effectiveness while teaching "Cooking"


    Teuchi is a very kind and jovial man, often seen smiling, he and his daughter, Ayame. Nevertheless, he is a stern businessman and will lash out at his employees when they make mistakes. He has also been described as stubborn, obstinate, and having the temperament of a craftsman.


    "Hm? Observe."


    Name: Ichiraku Ayame


    Job: Chef Lv 6 Exp 0/4000


    Title: Intermediate Chef Apprentice


    HP: 200


    CP: 100


    STR: 6


    VIT: 8


    DEX: 12


    INT: 15


    WIS: 20


    LUK: 20


    Intermediate Chef Apprentice: +25 % bonus Stat increase to the food cooked.


    Ayame is a kind and cheerful young woman. She is a hard-working always doing her best to serve her customers.


    There are no experience points on Teuchi-san status page but Ayame-nee-san has it. Is this the limit? For civilians. Hmmmm...


    "Here we go, one bowl of pork ramen and one bowl of beef ramen. Please enjoy."


    ""Thank you for the food.""


    "So Raito what were you doing Friday that made you so busy?" Asked Ayame


    "Mm? I was finishing the paperwork stating that I and Naruto are going to stay together. Everything related to Naruto is too confusing and difficult. People from the civilian council even rejected the proposal two times. I mean why do I even have to get permission to let Naruto stay with me? Hmph." Replied Raito with a snort.


    "Mm don''t think about it too much but now that you are living together, help Naruto from time to time." Said Ayame as she looked at Naruto


    *Slurp* "Ahh, that feels good." Said Naruto as he patted his stomach


    Raito nodded


    Naruto talked about his tales whereas Raito slowly ate his ramen, after Raito finished his ramen they both headed outside the shop.


    "Naruto you should take my kunai set too." Said Raito as he handed Naruto the set.


    "Hm? Don''t you need it?" Asked Naruto


    "The place we are going you will need it more than me and I have already prepared a weapon for myself." Said Raito


    Naruto nodded and asked, "Where are we going?"


    "It is difficult to explain but let''s go home first." Answered Raito as they made their way back home.


    "Before you start talking rules first. Rule 1 always remain near me. Rule 2 always listen to what I say to you. If you don''t follow these rules I am not going to bring you next time." Said Raito as he mixed chakra with his voice and showing his fingers as numbers.


    Skill ''Hypnotic Wave'' leveled up


    "Ok, I can do that." Replied Naruto


    While talking Raito and Naruto walked towards the backyard


    "Then hold my jacket and don''t let go." Ordered Raito and Naruto did as told


    "ID Create Wasteland-Zombie." Said Raito


    Both of them walked out to find a completely silent street, the sky-colored red and a red moon hung above, neither breeze nor insects could be heard.


    "To the roof," commanded Raito as he took out his katana


    "O-Ok." Shuttered Naruto as he trembled in fear


    Raito shook his head as he dragged Naruto to one of the building and jumped towards the roof.


    "W-where are we? Why is there no one around and how do we go back?" asked Naruto


    "Calm down Naruto. I will explain it to you. This is my space-time Ninjutsu; a week ago I accidentally discovered this jutsu. There are two variation of it. The first one where there is only empty buildings no human, no nothing just empty lands and the second one is where there are monsters and also the place we are right now." Answered Raito as he looked at Naruto


    Skill ''Hypnotic Wave'' leveled up.


    "AWESOME!!" yelled Naruto


    * Lie successful


    Skill "Lying" leveled up by 1


    Raito quickly covered Naruto''s mouth, "Are you trying to kill us?" Questioned Raito as he pointed below


    "What the hell are they?" Asked Naruto


    Human shaped figures with bulging eyes and rotten skin and skin turned gray and green were walking limply towards the house.


    "Those are what I call a monster." Answered Raito


    "They disappear in black smoke after you kill them so I am guessing that they are not real. They are slow but have a lot of strength. Go and deal with them I will look at you. This can be called gaining fighting experience, you should use your Taijutsu moves first then later use shadow clone technique." Continued Raito


    "Mm? Aren''t you going to come with me?" Asked Naruto


    "Nope. Hehe.... Naruto remember this is a training ground with monsters walking all over. Here you can practice Taijutsu, Ninjutsu or even Genjutsu. In future when you learn high-level jutsu you can use in this space and go crazy and you can even destroy everything here. This is a perfect place for making yourself stronger. At first, I was not going to tell anyone even you about this technique but I think I can trust you to hide this secret of mine. I don''t want many people to know about this technique but in the future, I may tell it to Shikamaru and Choji." Said Raito as he looked down


    "What about Hinata? She is a good friend too," asked Naruto


    "I will think about it later. But Naruto I wish if you don''t go telling everyone about my new skill." Said Raito as he looked Naruto straight in the eye.


    Naruto nodded


    "Now go and show me what you can do." Ordered Raito as he pointed towards the zombies


    Naruto jumped down and tried to punch a zombie but got backhanded


    Observe


    Zombie Lv 7


    HP: 700


    MP: 25


    STR: 30


    VIT: 10


    DEX: 7


    INT: 3


    WIS: 4


    LUK: 0


    Zombies are undead being created through the reanimation of a human corpse. They don''t have their human intelligence but have basic attacking capabilities


    Kill to gain: 100 Exp, Healing gem, Money


    Random drop: Bones, skin, eye, skill book.


    "Oi Naruto can''t you even defeat one zombie. Use your brain to dodge the attack and look for the attack patterns. Seriously what have you learned at the academy."


    After mocking Naruto, Naruto seemed to have changed he was looking at how the zombie reacted to his movements. When the zombie attacked, Naruto waited for the chance to attack. Dodging few blows Naruto managed to land in a few kicks which resulted in him getting punched in the face.


    "Naruto! Keep going next time don''t let it hit you!" shouted Raito


    "I know! Dattebayo!" shouted Naruto as he punched again and again


    The zombie fell to the ground and turned smoke. Naruto was panting and gasping for air.


    This evening just before he entered, the stat was like this


    Name: Uzumaki Naruto Lv 6 Exp 0/4000


    Title: Ninja Academy Student (+25% Exp till level 10)


    Age: 12


    HP: 2800


    CP: 4600


    STR: 17


    VIT: 43


    DEX: 14


    INT: 42


    WIS: 9


    LUK: ???


    Uzumaki household member: Additional +300 HP per level, additional +300 CP per level +2 INT & +3 VIT per level. Higher affinity towards yang techniques, decrease CP cost for yang techniques. Increase HP regen, 40% learning speed while learning Fuinjutsu


    ?: Increase HP regen, +300 CP per level, -40% chakra control(increase CP Cost) Stage 0


    Prankster king: Increase experience gain to stealth and trap making, decrease reputation gain


    Uzumaki Naruto is the son of Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina. He is the current dead last of the academy. 70% of the villager of Konohagakure no Sato hates him but the people who know the truth love him.


    After defeating the zombie his Exp was raised by 10.


    "Are you alright Naruto?" Asked Raito


    "Yeah, have to rest and I will be fine." Said Naruto as he was panting, "That could be counted as my first kill, doesn''t it Raito?"


    "Mm." nodded Raito


    After a while


    "Naruto I am going to make something happen so don''t freak out. Ok, Naruto? Asked Raito


    Naruto nodded, "You can take me to a new world so I don''t think I am going to be surprised anymore."


    "Create party."


    Party created


    Please name the party


    "Ninja?" replied Raito


    You have named the party ''Ninja''


    Party Leader: Yoshizawa Raito


    Number of members: 0


    "Ok then, invite Naruto."


    Nothing happened


    "Invite Uzumaki Naruto."


    "Raito!! There is a blue box in front of me. What should I do!?" shouted Naruto


    "Shut up Naruto. Don''t be so loud and tell me what the blue box says." Said Raito


    "Oh, ¡­it seems I was invited to a party called ninja." Replied Naruto


    "Just say yes to party."


    Naruto nodded and replied yes to the party.


    Party member added: Uzumaki Naruto Lv 6


    HELP


    Party members


    Special privilege to add members to your party. Party members are not provided with gamer''s body so the privileges of the gamer''s body are not applied however the party member is allowed to view their Stats but cannot add Stat point as the Gamer can. Experience earned by the party members are their own understanding of different things.


    "Shit increasing Naruto''s level will be very difficult and I can''t even distribute the stat points."


    Ding


    Help menu: Levels


    Levels


    Levels are determined by the collection of the attribute, the threat meter and acc.u.mulation of different experience. A level zero is a newborn and level 15 is the cap for Civilians who don''t use energy. And for those who use energy the higher the level the more dangerous they are. The level determines the threat level. The attributes determine the strength of a person.


    ''Well better late than never, I never thought about it too much'' thought Raito


    "Naruto, can you defeat more of the monsters now?" asked Raito


    Naruto nodded as he brought out his kunai.


    Raito also took out his katana and said, "This is the katana that I hid from Hokage-Jiji."


    "Ah, I wanted a sword too." Yelled Naruto


    "You use all your money on ramen, how can you even buy a sword?" retorted Raito


    "Now I am going to save money to buy me an awesome weapon, which will make your weapon look puny." Said Naruto


    "Hmph. You can buy the best weapon still you can''t beat me." Retorted Raito


    Grrrrr


    Both the boys jumped down the house and started attacking the zombies.


    "Raito, let''s do it."


    "Mm." Raito nodded


    Both of them dashed towards the zombies, Naruto used his shadow clone technique and attacked the zombies whereas Raito attacked with his katana.


    Raito dashed towards the first zombie in front of him and raised the sword, where he used a diagonal slash downward and using the position of the sword he attacked another zombie with a diagonal slash upward and kicked the zombie on the stomach which made it Crash on the side of the street. Raito focused on the first zombie and did multiple horizontal and vertical slashed after which it died. Without looking back at the dead zombie he killed other zombies with the help of Naruto.


    Ding


    [You have received the title ''Beginner Kenjutsu practitioner'']


    [Beginner Kenjutsu practitioner]


    -Obtained by killing 10 Enemies using a bladed weapon.


    Increase Attack speed and attack power by 20% while using a bladed weapon


    ''I am getting 100 exp for each zombie killed but Naruto is getting random burst of the exp varying from 10-200 for each zombie killed. Naruto is getting fighting experience whereas I am getting experience.'' Thought Raito


    Ding


    Your level has risen by 1


    5 stat points obtained


    "Oi Raito look what I found here." Shouted Naruto


    "What is it Naruto!?" Yelled Raito as he killed more zombies


    "It''s a pink stone." Stunned Raito was hit as he processed the information.


    "Naruto make a lot of shadow clones and kill them all." Ordered Raito as he tried standing up


    "Multiple shadow clone technique." With a huge cloud of smoke, hundred or more clones came and attacked the zombies.


    Raito quickly grabbed Naruto''s shoulder and used ID escape.


    Taking huge gulps of breath Naruto and Raito appeared on the street three blocks away from where few people were walking. Many of them were surprised while few thought of it as ninja trick.


    "Your jutsu sure will be useful in the future." Laughed Naruto as he looked at his surroundings


    "Give me the pink stone, Naruto." Ordered Raito


    Naruto handed Raito a small crystal size of third of a pinky and pink in color.


    "Observe."


    Healing gem (Common quality)


    Gem used with a healing technique to increase the healing rate.


    +20% healing rate when used


    "It seems you can use it with healing jutsu but where did you get this?" Asked Raito


    "After those monster died and the black smoke disappeared it was there." Answered Naruto


    Raito nodded


    Raito looked at the gem in his hand and threw back to Naruto, "You can keep it, it is no use to me I cannot use any healing Ninjutsu."


    Catching the gem back Naruto replied, "I too don''t know any healing Ninjutsu." Silence fell when Naruto spoke, "I can keep it as a memento as my first kill."


    "Creepy." Replied Raito


    "But how did you know?" Asked Naruto


    "Because I read a lot of books." Lied Raito


    "Well so did you learn something from the fight?" asked Raito


    "Umm¡­ my Taijutsu is not so good and I am bad at dodging and I don''t know any cool jutsu." Replied Naruto


    "Hn... We can work on Taijutsu and about dodging I have a perfect way to train you and jutsu I don''t have any, we can ask Jiji about the jutsu but he will not give us any." Replied Raito


    "I am going to work on Taijutsu with my clone." Said Naruto as he made a clone and started walking


    "Sure but make some clones for reading and writing." Said Raito as he also took his book out


    Two more puff of chakra smoke and clones went to read and write whereas Raito was using weights which increased by 20 pounds and started reading his book.


    After two hours


    Naruto was using a lot of clones to attack him and he was trying to dodge their attack and Raito was running increasing the weights to 50 pounds.


    After a while, Naruto was on the ground with all of him battered and Raito was on a puddle of his own sweat


    Ding


    STR increased by 3


    VIT increased by 4


    INT increased by 1


    Skill ''Stealth'' increased by 1.


    Looking at the Naruto, Raito woke him and told him to put the clothes on the basket and to go to sleep. Naruto also woke up and did as he was told.


    But Raito didn''t go to sleep but rested laying his back on the tree reading the book about chakra control. After thirty minutes or so he stood up refreshed.


    "ID Create: Wasteland ¨C Zombie"


    Raito took out his sword and looked for his prey.


    "Options"


    ''Notification: ON'' commanded Raito silently


    Raito took out four kunai and made two pairs by joining two kunai by wires then he blocked the alley with it and did the same to the other end of the alley trapping a zombie in.


    ''The zombie after coming in contact with the wires would change their direction. There is not much they do than just walk, they attack on sounds. It seems that they cannot see and cannot shout. They have great strength but extremely low intelligence. Conclusion; attack them silently and quickly.'' Mentally summarized Raito


    Skill ''Observe'' has leveled up by 1


    Raito silently went towards the trapped zombie raised his sword high and swung the sword on the zombie''s c.h.e.s.t.


    -98 HP


    Raito made a small sound to which the zombie attacked him with his hands or claws.


    -30 HP


    ''Less than I thought. Is it due to equipment and titles?''(Raito)


    Raito again readied himself and attacked the heart


    CRITICAL


    -300


    ''Not dead huh? Is it because of gamer''s power that I have to decrease its HP to zero or is it because he is an undead?'' contemplated Raito


    Then Raito attacked at the neck separating it from the body.


    CRITICAL


    -300


    Zombie turned into black smoke and a small pink crystal and a roll of paper was seen. Raito picked up the crystal and used observe on it and found it was the same as Naruto''s. Then Raito picked the roll of paper and found it to be¡­..money? A roll of 100 Ryo. Raito quickly took out his wallet and compared the bills he found and the one he had.


    ''They are exactly the same. Exactly the f.u.c.k.i.n.g same!!!!'' Raito mentally roared at his findings


    "Nononono I got to focus on my experiment first." Raito slapped himself


    Raito put the money on his wallet and was going to put it in the small bag when


    Ding


    Would you like to activate the most convenient function of the gamer ability called "Auto Looting"?


    If you choose yes then money system will be activated too.


    YES / NO


    ''Auto loot? If I say no then I will have to pick up ever sing loot by myself!? Hell I am pressing YES.''


    [System Update...¡­..


    Auto looting activated


    ...Money system activated]


    Just as he was about to put his wallet back he found that his wallet was lighter and no money inside it.


    Poor Raito searched everywhere only to find money in his status page.


    Raito removed the wire at one side and allowed one zombie to enter then again trap him in it. Raito readied his sword and attacked the neck of the zombie from the back.


    The sword fell and the head fell.


    FATAL HIT


    -700


    ''Well, few more and the experiment is over.'' Thought Raito


    Raito again trapped a zombie but this time he attacked it with a sword on nonfatal areas. He counted the HP decreasing and as the HP reached zero the zombie turned into smoke.


    Raito again brought some zombies and attacked a specific part of the body where he got different status popup some were temporary having a time limit but some were permanent having the crippled status


    Well conclusion is real-life thing matters, there are weak points in the body leading to critical hits and destroying the brain is a fatal hit leading to one-hit kill, the gamer ability can interpret any kind of information in game mechanics and the conclusion is that the gamer ability is the strongest support anyone can ever have.


    Then Raito went into a killing spree killing more than 30 zombies while training ''Stealth''. He also leveled up while killing the zombies


    Ding


    [You have received the title ''Apprentice Undead Hunter'']


    [Apprentice Undead Hunter]


    -Obtained by killing 50 undead creatures


    -30% Increase in attack damage while attacking undead.


    -30% Increase in defense while attacking undead.


    -All stats plus 5 while attacking undead.


    After 3 hours


    Exhaling a huge breath of air, Raito relaxed his body. After looking everywhere he kept his katana inside the inventory.


    "ID escape." Said Raito


    Raito was again standing on the backyard of his house.


    Ding


    Killed 95 out of hundred zombie


    -Gained 9500 Ryo


    -Gained 30 Healing Gem


    -Gained 10 Bone pieces of zombie


    -Gained 2 eyes of zombie


    (I haven''t kept Exp here.)


    Name: Yoshizawa Raito Lv 9 Exp 100/7000


    Title: Ninja Academy Student (+25% Exp till level 10)


    Age: 12


    HP: 1250


    CP: 750


    STR: 23


    VIT: 32


    DEX: 27


    INT: 30


    WIS: 31


    LUK: 29


    Stat points: 10


    Yoshizawa household member: Additional +50 HP per level +2 INT & +3 VIT per level.


    Beginner Kenjutsu practitioner: Increase Attack speed and attack power by 20% while using a bladed weapon


    Apprentice Undead Hunter: 30% Increase in attack and defense while attacking undead. All stats plus 5 while attacking undead.


    Holder of the lucky star: additional +1 LUK per level.


    Yoshizawa Raito is above average student in the Ninja Academy son of Yoshizawa Michio and Yoshizawa Akeno, aspiring to become the strongest ninja ever and take revenge for his parent''s murder.


    Skills


    Gamer''s Mind Lv Max (Passive)


    Gamer''s Body Lv Max (Passive)


    [Stealth Lv 7 (active/passive) CP Cost 40 per minute Exp 0.0%]


    [Observe Lv 17 (Active) CP Cost 1 Exp 0.0%]


    [Shurikenjutsu and Kunaijutsu Lv7 (Active/Passive) Exp 0.0%]


    [Kenjutsu Lv 10 (Active/Passive) Exp 0.0%]


    [Bunshin Lv 13 (Active) CP Cost 35 Exp 0.0%]


    [Henge Lv 7 (Active) CP Cost 30 Exp 0.0%]


    [Kawarimi Lv 8 (Active) CP Cost 15 Exp 0.0%]


    [Lying Lv 1(Passive) Exp 40%]


    [Chakra Sense Lv 18 (Active) Exp 90%]


    [Motivate Lv 2 (Passive) Exp 30%]


    [Detect Bloodl.u.s.t Lv 13 (Passive) Exp 10%]


    [ID Create Lv 5 (Active) CP Cost 80 Exp 20%]


    [ID Escape Lv 5 (Active) CP Cost 80 Exp 20%]


    [Intent Lv 2 (Passive) Exp 80%]


    [Detect Intent Lv 1 (Passive) Exp 50%]


    [Project Intent Lv 2 (Active) Exp 20%]


    [Hypnotic Wave Lv 2 (Active) CP Cost 100 Exp 20%]


    [Cooking Lv 8 (Active) CP Cost 5 Exp 20%]


    [Craft Lv 1 (Active) CP Cost 0 Exp 10%]


    [Running Lv 2 (Active/Passive) 90%]


    [Reading Lv 3 (Passive) Exp 0.0%]

 Chapter 8 - 8 - Encouraging Hinata

    Chapter 8 - Encouraging Hinata


    Ding


    [You have slept in your own bed. HP & CP have been restored. All aliments & negative status have been cured.]


    Raito woke up unenthusiastically knowing that he was going to be transferred to 1-A which he thought to be a group of crazy peoples. Shaking his head he woke up and stretched and started walking to his new daily assignment which was to wake up a loudmouth. But to his surprise he found the bed to be empty. So looking at the window, at the backyard he saw a yellow-haired boy doing famous stretching. Not wanting to be outdone, Raito also went to the backyard where after greeting Naruto he also started stretching but this time he didn''t get any stat up notification even after one hour. So, he continued half-hour more when got +1 DEX notification which made him a little happy when the stretching ended.


    "Naruto let''s fight." Said Raito


    "Huh? Sure." Replied Naruto


    "But you will not use shadow clone and I will not use my chakra sense." Explained Raito


    Naruto nodded and started running towards Raito whereas Raito took a defensive stance. Naruto threw a right straight and Raito caught the fist and tilted back and kicked Naruto on the chin and at the same time released his hand. Raito backflipped and stood to look at Naruto then again he took a defensive stand and asked, "Are you giving up Naruto?"


    "Damn it!" roared Naruto as he again ran and threw his right fist and again Raito caught the wrist but this time Naruto in turn also caught Raito''s wrist and attacked with his left punching Raito''s face.


    "Haha, nice counter it seems you did learn something yesterday." Said Raito as he moved forward and started attacking Naruto with punches and kicks and Naruto guarded against some and dodged with some. Raito''s attack became faster and faster after which he also added grabs and throws. Naruto was bruised and battered and also covered in dirt.


    "You didn''t have to hit that harder, you nearly killed me Raito, it still hurts." Complained Naruto.


    "But Naruto you recover fast so why worry, before going to the academy you will heal pretty nicely." Said Raito.


    "But even so it hurts." Mumbled Naruto. "Say Raito can we go to that place again today, I want to practice some more."


    "Ok, sure Naruto after we come back home. But before that why don''t you make clones for some reading and practicing calligraphy? " Smiled Raito.


    "Ah, I forgot about that." Naruto laughed awkwardly and produced two shadow clones where they went to do their things.


    Both went to the kitchen and Raito guided Naruto in making rice, eggs, and vegetables for the breakfast and the result was nice to be said.


    While eating Raito said, "Ah Naruto I forgot to say but from today onwards I am going to be in your class."


    "Really!? But why?" asked Naruto


    "You should be just happy that I am going to be in your class. Why are you asking too much question?" snorted Raito


    "Hehe, I am really happy. Now I have someone to sit with me." Smiled Naruto


    "Huh? Don''t you have a bench partner or someone you sit with? I mean every class has even number of students divided and didn''t Iruka-sensei assign partners to you all? So what happened?" asked Raito


    "In the first year of the academy, the kid dropped the program saying it was difficult or so. And from then on the seat has always been empty." Replied Naruto as he finished eating.


    "Ah Naruto why don''t you clean the house while I clean the dishes." Said Raito.


    Naruto nodded as he made two shadow clones and started cleaning the houses. Raito thanked his WIS stat for thinking that he should teach Naruto how to clean the house properly otherwise he would have been hearing destroying of various things.


    ''I should do something about my stealth; books on stealth are decreasing fast.'' Thought Raito as he washed the dishes.


    "Raito I am done cleaning." Shouted Naruto.


    "I really envy your shadow clone technique." Said Raito as he collected all the books he could find.


    "Hehe what can I say I really have the talent to be envy of." Said Naruto with a big smile as he rubbed his head.


    Raito locked the door and stopped and looked at Naruto and said, "Naruto why don''t you activate the seal today?"


    With a big smile, he stepped forward and made a half a half ram seal with his right hand and open palm with the right hand he placed his hand on the door. A yellow-orange layer of chakra glowed around Naruto and passed through his hand and went to the seals and activating it.


    "What was that?" said the stunned Raito.


    "Mm? That?" asked Naruto confused.


    "That orange light covering you. What was that?" asked Raito.


    "Ah that was yang chakra or chakra related to life force; it was written in the book that people from my clan had incredibly strong life forces, granting us tremendous stamina and vitality and it was all because of this chakra." Said Naruto.


    "Wow, does it do anything else?" asked Raito curiously.


    "I think it is a bloodline thing but when my yang chakra is strong enough I can form chains, chains made with yang chakra." Said Naruto with a ''V'' sign.


    "Chains?" Raito raised an eyebrow.


    "Not just any chain but adamantine chain the strongest chain there is which can even hold down a tailed beast." Said Naruto with pride.


    "Tailed beast like a dog or wolf or something?" asked Raito.


    "What? No."


    "Then what is a tailed beast?"


    "Uh don''t know I haven''t read till that chapter." Said Naruto in a guilty voice.


    ''Uzumaki? Adamantine Chain? hold down Tailed beast?'' questioned Raito mentally.


    ''I feel like I am missing something. Something really important.'' Thought Raito mentally.


    "Wait where did you read all this from?" asked Raito as he knew Naruto wouldn''t have read a lot of books.


    "I read from the book you gave me, it also talked about Uzumaki clans, their history, their abilities, and some seals." Said Naruto.


    "All those things there? But when I looked I only saw seals on one side and description on the other side." Said Raito.


    "What are you talking about look here this page has the origin of Uzumaki clan and this page talks about their establishment of the village in the land of the whirlpool and....." Naruto continued explaining.


    ''Observe.''


    Beginner fuinjutsu book


    - A book guide to learn basic level fuinjutsu


    - Uzumaki blood seal- only people of Uzumaki bloodline are able to read the true content of the book.


    "F.u.c.k me I should have done it sooner. I just made me look like a f.u.c.k.i.n.g fool." Cursed Raito


    "What Raito?" asked Naruto surprised at his friend''s anger


    "Nothing I was being stupid it seems I got your stupidity affecting me too."


    "Oi, I am not stupid."


    "Then why haven''t you told me about the blood seal? Aren''t you a fuinjutsu practitioner?"


    "Ah that I didn''t think about it but anyway let''s go to the class." Said Naruto as he ran towards the academy.


    "Don''t think I will forget about it Naruto, ah and why don''t I make some bamboo shoots tonight? Huh?" Replied Raito as he also ran to the academy


    Class 1-A


    "Oi, you guys did you hear?"


    "What are you talking about?"


    "The demon brat, he was taken in."


    "You mean Na-"


    "Shut up. Do you want to get us killed?"


    "Didn''t you hear about the Spring Silk Company?"


    "Mm, the chairman got changed yesterday.


    "And did you know who the previous chairman was?


    "Some fatty''s dad in another class."


    "Fatty? Who?"


    "No idea but I heard he was taken by an ANBU."


    "Maybe he did something stupid."


    "Not just stupid but he violated S-class secret given by Hokage-sama himself."


    "Is he really that stupid or what?"


    "But how does it relate to the demon brat?"


    "Everything is related to that demon. Listen...¡­"


    As the thin boy narrated what happened yesterday the two boys paled.


    "I heard it from my friend in class 1-B so it is 100% true


    As the boys were discussing, Choji was standing listening to what they were saying and the more he heard the angrier he got. Shikamaru had to drag him and calm down.


    At the same time, Naruto and Raito entered the classroom and everyone stopped talking.


    "Choji, Shikamaru morning." Yelled Naruto


    "Yo." Raito also waved his hand


    "Naruto!! Why are you so loud early in the morning? Some of us are trying to sleep. So shut up." Said a boy with a messy brown hair, sharp black eyes with vertical slit-like pupils, pronounced canine teeth and red fang markings on the face wearing dark grayish pants reaching to his calves and a grey, hooded fur-lined coat and the most eye-catching thing was the dog snuggled inside his jacket only showing his face


    ''Observe''


    Name: Inuzuka Kiba Lv 8 4000/6000


    Title: Ninja Academy Student (+25% Exp till level 10)


    Age: 12


    HP: 1325


    CP: 400


    STR: 17


    VIT: 21


    DEX: 24


    INT: 16


    WIS: 11


    LUK: 20


    Inuzuka Clan Member: Additional +100 HP per level, +1 VIT and +2 DEX per level. Higher affinity towards Inuzuka Clan techniques, +20% while learning Taijutsu


    Bonded Ninken Partner: Can communicate and understand the partner.


    Description: Kiba Inuzuka is a member of Konohagakure''s Inuzuka clan. Despite his headstrong and at times egotistic attitude, Kiba is loyal to his comrades and will do anything to protect them with his trusted ninken, Akamaru, by his side.


    "Akamaru? Observe."


    Name: Akamaru Lv 4 1000/2000


    Title: Kiba''s Partner, Ninken (Ninja Dog)


    HP: 125


    CP: 125


    STR: 5


    VIT: 5


    DEX: 10


    INT: 5


    WIS: 5


    LUK: 10


    Description: Ninja dog and Kiba''s partner. Though young and appearing like a normal puppy Akamaru is quite intelligent and strong for his age and size.


    ''Strong? Just as strong as Sasuke and if we add his ninken to fight than that would be troublesome.'' Compared Raito


    "Naruto! Don''t shout we can all hear you and Raito what are you doing here?" asked a girl with fair skin, blue eyes and long platinum blonde hair worn in a ponytail, with bangs framing the right side of her face wearing a purple outfit consisting of a high-collared blouse and matching apron skirt with bandages on her abdomen and legs and white arm warmers


    Name: Yamanaka Ino Lv 7 200/5000


    Title: Ninja Academy Student (+25% Exp till level 10)


    Age: 12


    HP: 275


    CP: 425


    STR: 8


    VIT: 13


    DEX: 18


    INT: 23


    WIS: 23


    LUK: 15


    Description: Ino Yamanaka is a member of Konohagakure''s Yamanaka clan. Though not as intelligent as her rival, Sakura, Ino is still one of the top students at the academy. Ino is talented in her clan''s teachings but due to her attitude and infatuation with Sasuke, she isn''t as far or as proficient as she should be. Ino is notorious for her gossip and fashion sense, very little happens in the academy that she doesn''t know about.


    "Morning Ino, I was transferred to this class so here I am and the reason don''t ask me, I am as clueless as everyone else." Sighed Raito as he explained


    "M-morning R-Raito-kun, Na-Naruto-kun." Greeted a girl with featureless lavender eyes with short dark blue hair just above her forehead with chin-length strands framing her face wearing a cream-colored hooded-jacket with a fire symbol on the upper sleeves and fur around the cuffs and hem and navy blue pants.


    "Hinata-Chan/Hinata-san morning." Said Naruto and Raito simultaneously.


    ''Hinata huh? I forgot last time so ''Observe''''.


    Name: Hyuga Hinata Lv 7 1500/5000


    Title: Ninja Academy Student (+25% Exp till level 10)


    HP: 875


    CP: 550


    STR: 14


    VIT: 14


    DEX: 22


    INT: 20


    WIS: 32


    LUK: 10


    Description: Hinata is a very kind but very shy young girl who comes from one of Konoha''s four noble clans. Despite being trained in the art of the Gentle Fist at a young age, a renowned and deadly Taijutsu, Hinata''s skill is lacking for reasons currently unknown. While not one of the best students in the academy Hinata is still one of the more intelligent students. Her love for cinnamon rolls is said to rival Uzumaki Naruto''s love for ramen.


    Hyuga main family member: +75 HP per level, Increased affinity to Gentle Fist Style, 40% Increased Taijutsu learning speed, +2 DEX per level and +2 WIS per level.


    Byakugan: Byakugan is the Dojutsu kekkei Genkai of the Hyuga Clan giving the user a near 360o diameter field of vision; penetrate through any solid objects or obstructions.


    Tips:?


    "Raito, here, come." Naruto pulled Raito to his desk.


    "Oh isn''t it just the best place." Replied Raito as his hands felt the table and sat down.


    "Sasuke-kun why don''t we go out after the academy ends and stroll around the park and we can also...." Said Sakura. Sakura had fair skin, green eyes, and pink long hair wearing a red qipao dress with short sleeves.


    "Naruto why don''t you complete that book and maybe we can find out what is that thing is really about." Said Raito


    Naruto nodded and started reading his small black book. Raito tried to peak if the words had changed or anything but found that to his eyes it was just the same as before.


    "OI! FOREHEAD! What do you think you are doing buzzing around my Sasuke-kun!?" Yelled Ino


    Everyone took out earplugs and wore them in such a practice manner that left Raito dumfounded even Naruto did the same.


    ''This class is sick no wonder Iruka-sensei shouts all the time.'' Thought Raito


    "ENOUGH YOU TWO!!" shouted Iruka-sensei who came inside and hit the two shouting girls with the register.


    "Ah I see Raito-kun you are here on time." Said Iruka-sensei


    "If you like sensei I can always come a little bit late and you can just let me go." Replied Raito


    "I dare you to even try that, I already have my hands full on Naruto whenever he does his pranks." Said Iruka


    "You mean stealth and trap making practice?"


    "That is a nice way to put it but still it is a prank."


    Iruka-sensei began calling out names and then he started teaching the class. Many of the civilians were listening but a lot of people were doing something else. Shikamaru was sleeping and Choji was copying the same, Ino and Sakura were looking at Sasuke and had a big smile pasted on the face. Hinata was looking at Naruto fascinated at the image of Naruto reading a book. The boy beside Hinata was doing nothing while Kiba was playing with his ninken and Sasuke was well he was just looking bored staring out of the window.


    Sighing Raito also took out a book from the inventory and started reading them.


    Iruka-sensei was also sighing a lot internally, he knew that civilian children had very little hope of passing the test and also that they would heavily depend on the written part of the exam. He put a lot of effort to guide the children but only a few were willing to put the effort, he was a little sad about that part but he was more than happy enough today because the worst in the class or his self proclaimed smaller version Naruto had changed, changed for the better he had to say because Naruto was reading in class today rather than sleeping or disturbing class he was reading a book. Iruka had no idea what Naruto was reading but he was happy nonetheless. He had guessed it was because of the boy by his side.


    Iruka-sensei was even more surprised when a book came out of thin air but didn''t show it on the face and continued teaching. Even though he was a Chunin that had determined to stay in the academy for most of his life teaching students, he was training sometimes alone and sometimes with a group. Right now he was a decent sensor who could easily outrank anyone in his rank in sensing but he wasn''t able to sense any chakra used when the book came out of thin air.


    Raito, on the other hand, was smiling inwardly; he had seen his teacher looking at him when he took out a book from the inventory.


    After some period of time


    "Everyone move to the grounds, from today onwards we are starting advance academy level shuriken and kunai throwing." Said Iruka-sensei


    "So did you find anything about the tailed beast Naruto?" asked Raito as they were leaving the classroom


    "No nothing about them but I completed the basic level of fuinjutsu. Later I can ask Jiji if I can start practicing the seals, I have a lot of awesome ideas." Laughed Naruto evilly


    "Whatever." Raito scratched his head annoyed thinking what was about to come.


    After finishing shuriken and kunai practice and eating their food, the five lay on the ground watching clouds.


    "Argh I am sooo bored, Raito come let''s spar I have got to repay you for this morning." Said Naruto pumped up


    "No way I don''t want to do anything right now, but you should ask Hinata-san, she is good at Taijutsu." Replied Raito as he pointed at Hinata


    "Come on Hinata let''s spar." Said Raito as he pulled Hinata


    "Raito, do you hate Hinata or something, you sound so distant when talking to her." Said Choji


    "Hate her, no but I don''t like her clan." Replied Raito


    "You got to give her some break you know? She is not her clan and she seems very different than the rest of them. Don''t you think so Raito?" asked Shikamaru


    "Yea you could say so. I am surprised as to how she grew up in a house full of expressionless faced calculating old men. She is a lot different than what her clan says about them." Replied Raito


    "Look at her. She is not even trying to attack, it would be better for Naruto to not train with her at all." Continued Raito


    "She just doesn''t want to hurt Naruto and looking at her it seems she is too afraid of hurting anyone." Added Choji


    "Afraid? Kind? Being a ninja means you have to do things that you may not like, you have to hurt someone you may not like. If she cannot even support someone why is she even trying to be a ninja?" growled Raito


    "Oy Raito you are taking things too far she just doesn''t understand what she should do. If she had someone to guide her than she would be one of the best ninjas Konoha could ever get." Said Shikamaru adding his own mischief in it


    Ding


    Quest alert


    Quest created


    Description: Hinata Hyuga is a shy and timid girl; she doesn''t want to hurt others. As such kindness is keeping her from making any more progress.


    Main objective: Help Hinata Hyuga to progress


    Quest rewards +2000 Exp, Skill book-Healing


    Accept


    YES / NO


    ''F.u.c.k, you show me this reward and ask me. Why would I even say no.'' roared Raito mentally. Raito accepted and stood up


    "She has no one to guide? Then how about I give it a shot." Replied Raito


    "Shit Raito I was just joking around¡­." Said Shikamaru


    "You don''t need to worry too much Shikamaru. I will do my best." Said Raito


    "Shit my luck. Choji if anything goes bad then I am not going to help this Saturday." Said Shikamaru


    "Y-You don''t mean it right Shikamaru? You wouldn''t do that to me." Said Choji horrified


    Sighing Shikamaru could only hope things do not go bad


    ''My healing technique here I come.''


    "Naruto come here you don''t need to fight with Hinata anymore. AND YOU SHOULDN''T SEE HER ANYMORE TOO."


    "What?"


    ''Shit I knew it.''


    Choji sighed and Hinata had tears in her eyes ready to burst.


    "Raito what are you saying? She is a friend." Yelled Naruto as he removed the hands Raito put on Naruto''s shoulder.


    "She is a friend that is why I am saying not to see her anymore." Raito glared at Naruto


    "But why?" questioned Naruto as he saw Hinata tears dropping from her eyes


    "Naruto do you know what Konoha is famous for and the reason they have dominated three wars?" asked Raito not answering Naruto


    "Teamwork," Shikamaru whispered


    "Its teamwork. But what does it have anything to do with Hinata?" asked Naruto


    "Everything. Let me ask you one more question. Do you want Hinata to be on your team?" asked Raito pointing at crying Hinata


    "Of course I do. Why wouldn''t I?" answered Naruto at once


    "I won''t because I know she will be of no help to us, she would even be a hindrance to us and everyone around her."


    "Bastard why are you saying this? You are not like that." Naruto felt like his friend change and turned into a demon


    "Do you know what a ninja is Hinata-san or what they do? Do you know what the life of a ninja is really like? Look at me Hinata and tell me what is the average life expectancy of the ninja?" turning away from Naruto Raito questioned Hinata


    At the same time, Naruto was getting angry. He had never thought that his best friend would do anything like this. He was going to jump in and beat the hell out of Raito.


    But just as he was about to jump he found he was unable to move and found two hands pressing his shoulders. Shikamaru came forward and leaned near Naruto and spoke, "Listen Naruto what Raito is doing is all for the sake of Hinata, even though he is playing as a bad guy let them be for a moment. Will ya? Don''t think about it as good or bad but think about Hinata''s future?" Saying that calmed Naruto as he just watched Hinata and Raito


    "I will tell you its 30-40 years and my own father died at the age of 36 and mother at the age of 32. I consider Naruto as my family and I would like him not to die. The sparring right now, Naruto was really serious about learning from you but on the other hand, you were not serious at all, you were not even attacking properly.


    "I-I just d-didn''t wanted to see him get h-hurt because of m-me."


    "Yes, I know. I know you have a kind and caring heart and don''t want to see others in pain but what you were doing is not helping him improve but pushing him towards his death. Hinata-san do you know why we spar right? Even though it hurts we do it, even though we feel the pain we do it and the reason is simple we simply do not want to die. Pain is nothing in front of dying and the pain you once inflict now may help others in the future. You may not understand but this is what my dad used to say. So that is why even though I didn''t want to fight with Sakura I did because I thought that would help her even if it is only a little bit." Said Raito as he faced Hinata


    "R-Raito-kun...." She couldn''t help but watch the ground


    Raito smiled as he saw Hinata waver.


    "Hinata-san every time you hold back, remember you are weakening your friends and giving the enemy chance. You should learn how to control your strength so you can help your friends."


    "Y-yes."


    "And one more thing not shuttering, I don''t even understand what you are saying at most of the times and I don''t think Naruto also hears you properly." Said Raito the last part in a small sound.


    "Yes."


    "And I will let you in a secret. You know my mom and dad they used to spar a lot in their younger days, that''s how they came to know each other, like each other, fell in love and got married later. So do your best when sparring from now on. And Naruto here has insane recovery power so you can go all out on him." said Raito as he pointed at Naruto at the end.


    At the same time Raito pointed his finger towards Naruto, he felt a chill crawling his spine.


    "So Hinata-san can I ask you to do two things?"


    "Yes."


    "First try to control that shuttering. Next, try to give your best when sparring."


    "Yes." Shouted Hinata in a loud voice


    Ding


    Quest alert


    Quest completed


    Description: Hinata Hyuga is a shy and timid girl; she doesn''t want to hurt others. As such kindness is keeping her from making any more progress.


    Main objective: Help Hinata Hyuga to progress (completed)


    Quest rewards obtained +2000 Exp, Skill book-Healing


    ''Ok now the last part'' "Naruto come here why don''t you try again." Said Raito as he faced back and looked at Naruto


    "Ohhhhhh¡­..SURE." roared Naruto as he took a fighting stance


    Raito went down to sit with Shikamaru and Choji.


    "It went smoother than I thought." Said Raito


    "Bastard don''t try things like that ever again. It was good that Hinata was able to endure but if it was any other than a person then they would have been broken or something. You should really join the T&I department." Roaring turned to mumble and mumbling turned into silence as Shikamaru saw Hinata fighting without holding anything back. It was like Naruto had his hands tied, Hinata was attacking again and again and it wasn''t stopping.


    "Ah looks like my advice went well, she needs to learn to hold back but it seems fine for now." Said Raito giving himself some praise


    "You seem to have made a demon." Said Shikamaru


    "Now let''s not talk about them, Choji would you like to select the topic this Saturday and this time you are going to fight alone." Said Raito as he gave Choji eye smile.


    Gulping hard Choji decided, "This month last Saturday topic will be MEAT JUST MEAT."


    "Better be prepared Choji. You do remember what happened, don''t you? Those shrimps were delicious." Said Raito as he makes slurping and gulping sounds


    "But didn''t you give him half at the end." Said Shikamaru


    "Damn it Shikamaru."


    "Damn Hinata-Chan you were so strong I didn''t even know you could hit so hard." Said Naruto as he started talking with Hinata


    "Also she makes great food." Added Choji


    "A strong ninja and a great cook, won''t she make a good wife Naruto?" Asked Raito


    Redness covered Hinata''s face and nearly fainted


    Ding


    Your actions have resulted in +1000 Reputation with Sarutobi Hiruzen. You''re Reputation with Sarutobi Hiruzen is now Honored!


    Ding


    Your actions have resulted in +3000 Reputation with Hyuga Hiashi. You''re Reputation with Hyuga Hiashi is now Honored!


    A reputation system has been unlocked


    Reputation


    Reputation plays an important factor in the world. The higher the reputation you have with a faction the more benefits and the easier time you will have with them. But at the same time the lower the reputation you have with a faction the opposite effect will take place. From best to worst:


    Exalted/Revered/Honored/Friendly/Neutral/Unfriendly/Hostile/Hated


    "Great! More things to worry about." Mumbled Raito


    "Raito call her, she deserves it and you know it." said Shikamaru


    "You are being troublesome. Stop pushing me Choji." Said Raito


    "Umm. Ahem Hinata-san why don''t you come to our house this Saturday, there would be four of us and we would like to have you too and Naruto will be there too." Said Raito


    "I have to ask m-my father but I-I would l-love to come." Said Hinata


    "The house is at the intermediate residential district house number 4400." Said Raito


    At the training hall


    "HA!" with a palm strike at the abdomen Sakura was sent out crashing on the wall.


    "Winner Hyuga Hinata." declared Mizuki-sensei


    "That was some nasty strikes there."


    "Yup that Hyuga girl is really showing her skills now."


    "Something definitely changed, did she perhaps got a boyfriend?"


    "Hmph¡­..If that is our Kunoichi of the year than that would be a real shame, losing two times in a row. Will Sasuke be ever interested in girls that always lose?" said Raito as he watched the match


    "Damn it Raito just stand still so I can punch you." Said Ino


    "No way I am going to get punched today, I can act anymore I am too exhausted." Replied Raito as he dodged another punch


    "Bastard." Ino came running towards Raito raising her fist ready to strike however Raito had caught her fist and threw her, ending the match


    "Winner Yoshizawa Raito." Declared Mari-sensei


    "Kid you should be gentle with ladies otherwise you will forever remain single in your life." Teased Mari-sensei


    "Ino looking at you I can only tell you will never make you dad proud, you are dieting and fawning over a boy who is always brooding, you are a ninja goddamn it! For god''s sake please let your dad boast a little when he meets with his friends, Shikamaru and Choji are making progress but you, on the other hand, are not. Just think about your dad sitting with his colleagues, when he have nothing good to say about his only daughter whereas other parents will boast about their children." Said Raito as silently as possible


    "Damn it Raito, damn you." Ino stood up tears in her eyes and ready to punch Raito when she was held by Mari-sensei


    "Calm yourself Ino match is over, come with me." Said Mari sensei as she released her hold and looked at Raito, "Kid you sure dug a hole for yourself."


    Raito just stood there silent and smiling throughout cursing himself a million times.


    After sometime Ino and Mari-sensei came back to the room, Ino returned to her place whereas Mari-sensei after looking at Raito smirked and flickered away.


    "Class you need to remember about hand seals, although it has been a month I hope everyone has been practicing the hand seals. I will again tell you some benefits hoping that it could encourage you; Iruka-sensei sighed as he looked everyone and said, "Everyone should know what hand seals are but everyone may not know that a high J¨­nin level can make twenty or more seals in one second. The faster the seals are faster you can cast your jutsu. Some jutsu have more hand seals so it will help you all in the future if you start practicing hand seals from now."


    "Everyone dismissed," shouted Iruka-sensei


    As soon as everything ended noises started like a wild fire-starting small spreading everywhere but in the middle a girl with platinum blond hair was standing in the crowd at the center, her eyes clear, looking at an average looking boy. The boy looked back, their eyes met and he smiled back.

 Chapter 9 - 9 – Buying and Punishing

    Chapter 9 ¨C Buying and Punishing


    "Raito let''s go, we need to start training." Said Naruto as he dragged Raito


    Raito could only look and smile back towards the girl that seemed to have something to say to him then he turned back and ran towards home. Absent in his thought he didn''t hear Naruto mumbling.


    "Come on Raito take me to that place again, I think I learned something during my fight with Hinata." Said Naruto as he urged Raito


    "Heh, you mean getting a.s.s kicked. I can''t believe you lost ten times in a short fifteen-minute break and to my knowledge, you couldn''t even attack back, how can you say that you learned something?" Mocked Raito


    "It''s not like that but I didn''t think that Hinata was so powerful and could hit that hard, I mean in previous matches she always looked hesitant when fighting and today too before you pulled that stupid stunt. And yeah don''t you ever do something like that ever again you bastard." Said Naruto as he started yelling at the end


    "Yes, yes. I won''t ever from now on, it''s just too annoying. I was just helping her, she needed someone to guide and I did it simple as that."


    "But even so I felt sad."


    "Let''s not think about that anymore. Come." Said Raito as he grabbed Naruto''s shoulder


    "ID Create: Wasteland-zombie"


    "I don''t think I can ever get used to this silence." Said Naruto


    "Me neither but it doesn''t matter we just have to do what like to do." Replied Raito


    "OK¡­But what are you going to do Raito?" Questioned Naruto


    "Me? I am going to practice hand seals." Replied Raito


    "For real?" yelled Naruto as he looked at Raito


    "And why don''t you make a clone and make him practice some hand seals too? It doesn''t hurt." Said Raito


    "Well, it will just take one clone so why not." Said Naruto as he pondered for a while and with a puff of smoke one Naruto clone was standing together with Raito


    "And make five more clones, I have some books here that I have finished, they are going to read it and if they have any problem they can ask me." Said Raito


    Naruto nodded and again with a puff of smoke five more Naruto clones came.


    "Aw come on, boss, not reading again. While you go and have fun, we have to read these boring books, it is really not fair." Said a clone


    "What do you mean fun? I am going to train." Said the original


    "But it''s not fair for us." Shouted another clone and then all the clones started shouting


    "Shut the f.u.c.k up all of you." Yelled Raito as he released his ''intent''.


    All the clones stopped talking and looked towards Raito


    "These books are really important, so don''t you all dare and tell me you are not going to read it, even if you can pass your Ninjutsu test but hell I know you cannot pass Genjutsu test, then we have Taijutsu and if you had to fight someone really strong then you will really lose. Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, and Taijutsu will give you fifty points but the other fifty will come from your written test and throwing test if you look at the numbers than Naruto if you don''t do well in your written test then there is very little chance that you will be able to pass the exam. Do you want to fail the last exam of the academy and repeat the year?" Asked Raito yelling at Naruto clones


    "He is right guys." Nodding of heads and murmuring could be seen in front of Raito who had a slight smile on his face.


    Skill ''Lying'' leveled up by 5


    "Now one of you come with me and others go read these books." Raito pointed and ordered the clones and threw some books at them.


    The original jumped the building and the clones started reading the books. Raito after reading how to do hand seals without molding chakra taught the clone and started doing the hand seals.


    [Hand Seals Lv 1 (Passive) Exp 0.0%]


    Hand Seals or Hand Signs are used to perform many Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, and other secret arts other than Taijutsu. The exact amount of chakra necessary to perform a jutsu is manipulated through hand seals. There are different sequences of hand seals for every technique, requiring memorization


    - At higher levels, user can use less or even one to perform a jutsu


    Raito grinned and started practicing hand seals after three hours or so.


    [Skill ''Teaching leveled up by 10]


    [Skill ''Hand Seals'' leveled up by 10]


    [Skill ''Hand Seals'' reached level 11]


    "Naruto look, I got even faster." Raito showed Naruto the speed by which he was weaving through the seals and Naruto was getting frustrated looking at Raito.


    "Ahh Damn it how the hell you are even doing it?" roared Naruto clone


    "Hehe, I am just that good." Said Raito


    "Damn it I am going to surpass you! Believe it!" said Naruto as he again started the hand seals.


    ROAR!!!!


    "What the hell was that?" yelled Raito as he looked at the source of the roar.


    A zombie with a height of nine feet standing high purple in color was standing in front of Naruto


    "You five dispel and tell Naruto where I am and you come with me." Ordered Raito


    After some time Naruto came running towards where Raito was and got punched in the face.


    "What the f.u.c.k did you do for that to come?" questioned Raito


    "Nothing it just came out of nowhere just like that. I swear!" Replied Naruto


    Raito grabbed Naruto and commanded "ID Escape" but nothing happened. He commanded again but nothing happened. He was angry and frustrated for a second then calmed down in an instant.


    "Naruto I don''t think we can escape right now, it seems we need to defeat this monster then only we can return back."


    "Hm if we have to defeat him to get back the let''s defeat him," said Naruto with twinkling in his eyes


    "But before that tell me everything." Said Raito as he sat down


    Naruto explained that he was training his Taijutsu using his shadow clone technique then after defeating hundred monsters or more a lot of black gas gathered in a place after which that monster came and when he tried attacking the monster with the weapons nothing much happened but angered the monster even more.


    "I understand wait here for a moment I will test something out so don''t move." As Raito said that he ran towards the monster and took his katana out. He circled the area and reached the back of the monster.


    ''Observe.''


    Zombie S1 Lv 20


    HP 5000


    MP 25


    STR 70


    DEX 10


    INT 5


    WIS 10


    LUK 0


    Description: Zombie S1 is an undead, a variation of the normal zombie created through combining of a hundred zombies. Possesses enormous power and defense.


    Kill to gain: 10000 Exp, Superior Healing Gem and Money


    Random Drop: Skill Book


    ''OK'' Raito took a deep breath and exhaled holding the sword tighter Raito started running then jumping from road to wall, wall to the roof then from roof to roof Raito jumped at the back of the zombie then attacked the zombie at his back.


    -200


    Although the sword did some damage, it got broken. So Raito threw the sword as soon as possible. At the same time, the zombie after getting hit at the back turned his body and swung his hands attacking the figure at his back. When the zombie hit figure it crashed on the house but with a poof, the figure turned into a log.


    Raito ran towards the house and saw Naruto walking around, "Naruto, it seems we are going to be stuck here for quite some time."


    "Noo, I am getting hungry." Naruto cried anime tears.


    Raito chopped Naruto''s head and brought out some food from his inventory.


    "Oh I nearly forgot about that jutsu of yours, thank you for the food." And without saying anything Naruto started eating his food and Raito also did the same.


    "So now what?" asked Naruto.


    "This monster is really strong, I mean crazy strong and my sword only did little attack and it can''t be used anymore. And I don''t have many weapons in me right now. We can only hope to use rubbles and throw them." Said Raito as he helplessly shook his head.


    "If we are talking about kunai and shuriken then don''t worry I have a lot of them." Said Naruto as he showed Raito his set and so did the clones.


    "These are just clones, one hit and they will get destroyed if they come in contact with anything." To prove his words Raito took a set from the clone and took some kunai and threw them at the wall. Then he waited for a while thinking the kunai would disappear but it never did. Ashamed and red, Raito pulled kunai from the wall and attacked clone and with a poof, the clone along with the kunai set disappeared.


    "Hey what the hell was that for?" yelled Naruto


    "That Naruto was an experiment and if that is true than Naruto you are the only hope for us to get out of here faster." Said Raito as he placed his hand on Naruto''s shoulder and looked him at the eye


    Naruto beamed and made a cross sigh


    "Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu"


    "Naruto and clones, every one of you, hide at the buildings where the monsters cannot see you and when he is in the range you will hit him with your shuriken with full power and don''t make noise." Said Raito


    "OK guys move out." Said Naruto to his clones


    "Wait, Naruto, you original, you just command and don''t throw your shuriken we may need more clones to get the work done." Said Raito as he used hypnotic wave


    "I understand." Nodded Naruto as he exited the building


    Raito also exited the building but couldn''t help feel bitter how everything was going. Sullying for a bit Raito promised to double his training and ran along with Naruto.


    The zombie was walking around the village searching for his enemy angered by the fact that the two puny humans had actually managed to harm him.


    All the Naruto clones were standing on the balcony with kunai and shuriken on their hand ready to strike and as the zombie came to the street they attacked him with all the weapons


    Raito used ''Observe'' on the Zombie but found that the HP was dropping very slowly


    Total damage dealt 750


    Zombie S1 Lv 20


    HP 4000/5000


    "F.u.c.k it''s not working at all. Naruto can you make more clones?" Raito cursed and asked Naruto. But as Naruto tried to make clones he was only able to make five clones.


    "Any more than this is painful." Naruto looked and answered


    Raito looked confused and looked at Raito then he used ''Observe'' on Naruto and found out the problem.


    CP: 250/4600


    "Don''t make any more clones you are low on chakra, rest for a while." Saying that Raito looked at his surroundings and tried thinking of ways to defeat the zombie


    ''We can make traps, I have wires and still some shuriken but we don''t have a weapon that can damage it. Shit if only I had more powerful weapons or any offensive jutsu. I am definitely going to learn some powerful jutsu and maybe buy some more powerful weapon from Higurashi if I can get out of here alive that is.'' Thought Raito


    Raito blinked and blinked some more than he ran into the house and observed and touched the things in the house


    "Ahh, are you kidding me? Another dud?" Naruto yelled as he opened another packet of ch.i.p.s


    "Oi Naruto what did I say about yelling? And is that ch.i.p.s?" Raito reprimanded then asked while pointing at the bag of ch.i.p.s.


    "Oh sorry, but there is no food here. All of them have ashes inside these boxes and plastics." Said Naruto as he showed Raito the boxes and ch.i.p.s he had opened.


    Raito pondered for a while then said, "It seems this place or world has no living people and the food has turned to ashes but the other things are just the same."


    "The weapon store will have weapons?" asked Naruto


    "I was just going to say that." Said Raito as he exited the building and went to ''Higurashi Weapon Store''.


    ''Higurashi Weapon Store'' is the best ninja weapon shop, has the highest quality items but also the highest selling price in the village. Naruto and Raito ran silently to the store and entered. A row of dazzling swords hanging on the wall along with kunai and shuriken of different types and tanto and ninjato and chain-sickle along with many scrolls.


    "Naruto pick whatever you like and let''s go and kill that monster." Said Raito as he started picking a lot of shuriken and kunai and some ninjato. After looking at the description of some weapons Raito was shocked comparing his weapon to this weapon


    Ninjato ¨C Uncommon Quality


    Attack power ¨C 600


    Durability ¨C 5000/5000


    A ninjato made by Blacksmith Apprentice named ''Tenten''. The ninjato was crafted for ninja use


    Dragon''s Cry ¨C Ninjato ¨C Rare Quality


    Attack power ¨C 2000


    Durability ¨C 20000/20000


    A ninjato made by Blacksmith Apprentice named ''Tenten''. This ninjato was crafted using rare chakra metals and other rare metals. The name Dragon''s Cry was engraved on the sword so its name.


    Options


    -30% increase in destructive power.


    -Absorbs some amount of chakra when attacking from the user.


    User restriction


    -STR must be 60 or higher.


    Raito eyes were shining reading the description then he went to pick some explosive tags just to find the paper with no fuinjutsu marks attached to kunai and made into balls.


    Raito''s eye twitched looking at the explosive tags he so much wanted, turning around he left the store and


    "Naruto sure is taking his sweet time, so let''s use chakra." Said Raito


    Raito calmed down and used his chakra, guiding his chakra to wash is muscled and bones and even reaching the head.


    Skill created


    [Chakra Enhancement Lv 1 (Active/Passive) 0.0%]


    A technique that uses Chakra to enhance one''s body


    -Passively increase STR by 2%


    -Passively increase VIT by 2%


    -Passively increase DEX by 2%


    Additional increase VIT by 10% when active


    Additional increase DEX by 10% when active


    Additional 20 CP used per 1 minute


    Chakra Enhanced Strength- locked


    Chakra Enhanced Speed- locked


    Chakra Flow- unlocked


    [Chakra Flow Lv 1 (Active) 0.0% CP Cost 50 per minute]


    Chakra Flow refers to both the flowing of chakra through an object as well as any technique that increases the potency of a weapon by flowing chakra through it.


    Earth Chakra Flow ¨C Increase defensive power of an object to its utmost limit.


    Elemental affinity unlocked


    [Natural Earth affinity Lv 1 (Passive) 0.0%]


    Earth Release is one of the basic elemental nature transformation techniques and allows the user to manipulate the surrounding earth for offensive and defensive purposes or create it; be it dirt, mud or rock. Earth techniques are one of the most versatile of the elemental techniques


    -Increases the power, speed, and range of earth-based techniques by 20%


    -Decrease chakra used for Earth-based techniques by 20%


    -Increases defense by 50%


    -Increases experience gain when learning and using Earth techniques by 20%


    "Well isn''t this just amazing." Saying this he took out the healing scroll book and learned it.


    [Skill learned]


    Heal Lv 1 (Active) Exp 0.0% CP Cost ¨C 500


    -50 HP recovery (depends on yin and yang affinity)


    -Remove status effect, illness


    -Cure disease or ailments threatening to oneself or others


    -Limit ¨C 1 per use


    ''Shit I forgot to make a copy. Damn it.'' cursed Raito


    "Raito you look angry, what happened? Didn''t find what you were looking for? Questioned Naruto


    "Nothing I just forgot to do something? But isn''t this a bit too much?" Questioned Raito as he pointed at the weapons Naruto and his clones were carrying


    "Nope, I just want to kill that goddamned monster and want to go to bed." Said Naruto


    "Well let''s go." Shrugged Raito


    They started running towards the zombie and stopped at the roof near where the zombie was.


    Raito took out his ninjato with an attack power of 800 and used ''chakra flow''. A yellowish-brown thin layer appeared over the sword. Then he looked at his skills and titles, ''Kenjutsu Lv 19'', ''Beginner Kenjutsu practitioner'' and ''apprentice undead hunter.''


    "Naruto I am going to go for the first hit." After saying that Raito disappeared and attacked at the neck of the zombie


    -1300


    HP 2700/5000


    Well now the chance looks really good


    "HAAAA!!!!!!!!!" Naruto was throwing a lot of kunai and shuriken with the help of two clones, non-stop


    HP 400/5000


    The zombie at its last breath swung his hands furiously at Naruto and dispelled his two clones and Naruto was sent flying down the building


    Running hurriedly Raito went to catch Naruto and dropped him back at a safer place.


    "Oi Naruto are you ok?" asked Raito patting at Naruto face.


    Groaning Naruto woke up then Raito said, "You don''t have much chakra left wait here I am going to finish it."


    Then Raito went back and started running down the street jumping around dodging the rocks thrown at him. Using the ''body replacement technique'' Raito appeared behind the zombie and with a slash, cut off the head of the zombie.


    Ding


    Killed 100 out of 100 zombies


    -Gained 10,000 Ryo


    -Gained 60 Healing Gem


    -Gained 30 Bone pieces of zombie


    -Gained 10 eyes of zombie


    Killed 1 out of 1 Zombie S1


    -Gained 10,000 Exp


    -Gained 30,000 Ryo


    -Gained 1 Superior Healing Gem


    -Gained Skill book ¨C Teleportation (Shunshin no Jutsu)


    Your level has risen by 1.


    You gained 5 stat points to use.


    "Let''s go home, I miss my bed already." Said Naruto exhausted


    Then the two boys exited the dimension, reached home and slept.


    At the Hokage tower


    A distressed Sarutobi Hiruzen was facing the windows looking at the Hokage monument.


    ''How did they disappear?'' "CAT, BOAR did you find them?" asked Hiruzen commandingly


    "No Hokage-sama." Both kneeled showing respect.


    "How did this happen? Even I couldn''t find them. BOAR tell me again what happened?"


    "Yes, Hokage-sama. After I passed the message about Hinata Hyuga I returned to the academy, found the boys in the training hall. I didn''t found anything suspicious from Naruto but Raito, he sensed me and looked at my direction but I didn''t act or do anything. After the end of the academy I followed them as usual and then I saw Raito grabbing Naruto disappeared, not like his movement was fast but it seems he just disappeared and vanished." BOAR recounted the things happened


    "Hokage-sama." A figure came into existence beside BOAR and CAT


    "HORSE did you find them?" asked Hiruzen


    "Yes Hokage-sama both boys are at the house sleeping currently, my clones and bat are looking after them, anything happens there we will know and if I may add, it looked like they were involved in a fight." Said HORSE


    "Fight huh? I will find about that later, everyone dismissed." Commanded Hiruzen


    "Yes, Hokage-sama." With that three very confused ANBU team vanished from the room.


    "What really happened? Maybe I am getting too old for this seat? I should find someone to take the seat." Hiruzen exhaled the smoke and buried his head to do paperwork again.


    At Raito''s house


    Raito was on the bed wide awake using chakra sense and remembering the chakra of the people patrolling around his house, extending his search, first he could only sense the chakra, then he could differentiate chakra of different people, then the shape of the people, then the items and now he could vaguely see the surrounding. This Chakra Sense was not the same that was written in the scroll.


    According to the scroll the ''Chakra Sense'' had two modes, first called ''Domain'' where the user releases chakra making a sphere around the user and whenever something comes into the sphere the chakra sends signals directly to the brain and the body takes actions immediately and the second was called ''Area Sensing'', this used elementals to do because the user uses the chakra and communicate with either of elements to feel the vibrations, shifts, sounds, thermal, etc. to get information.


    Raito thought that the change was because of the gamer ability then he stopped thinking about feeling happy. After sometime Raito woke up and checked his stats and saw HP and CP fully restored. Then he took out books and started finishing it.


    After 5 hours of reading


    Skill ''Reading'' leveled up by 8


    Skill ''Stealth'' leveled up by 2


    Skill ''Chakra Control'' leveled up by 3


    Skill ''Leaf sticking exercise'' leveled up by 4


    Due to your diligent study INT raised by 4.


    Due to understanding the contents of the book perfectly, WIS raised by 1.


    Due to strenuous exercise STR raised by 2


    Raito threw the dumbbell and books to the side and went to sleep


    At 5 in the morning


    Ding


    Without looking at the message Raito swiped it


    "AHHHHHHHH!!!!!" a voice screamed, then hurried footsteps were heard, "Raito I can''t find my weapons!!" Naruto barged inside the room and told Raito about the weapons.


    "Ah, those weapons? Naruto listen, forget about them, those weapons can''t be bought outside the dimension." Said Raito


    "B-But I had brought a lot of them, I even used a lot of clones to help me move them." Said Naruto in a dejected voice


    "Well, that''s the truth." Shrugging Raito left the bed and went to the bathroom and after a hot bath, Raito made his way to the kitchen where he could see Naruto clones reading and writing everywhere, most of them were writing the same thing over and over again and only a few clones were reading and doing the math.


    Raito checked the fridge and sighed. "I actually forgot to buy food, damn it. What a troublesome day." Then he walked towards the door, "Oi clones I am going to buy some food and one of you go to Hokage tower and ask Jiji about fuinjutsu."


    Raito walked towards the street where a lot of stalls were open and want to the first store and asked, "Hey boss, how much for this?"


    A shopkeeper inside was moving the boxes when he heard the voice of a young boy, thinking about the first sale of the day he was quite happy but the smile vanished when he saw the boy, immediately making a friendlier smile he went to the front of the store then said, "Ah sorry boy but I am not the shop owner but just a worker here so I don''t know the prices, the shopkeeper will probably be late so why don''t you check some other stores."


    The man was moving boxes so Raito didn''t think much but the next three shops were also making different excuses also some of the people in shops were making snickering sounds. But Raito still continued to visit the shops and soon the number of shops Raito visited numbered ten.


    "Oi kid don''t you get it? They have no intention of selling you anything. They are all the dog of the council, civilian council to be exact. Words got out that you are living with the boy named Uzumaki and of course civilian council being the civilian council will try and ban you but you are of a shinobi family so of course, they can''t do it but they can sure make some excuses to not sell you." Said a man wearing a cloak with hands out holding a paper bag filled with foodstuff.


    "I know that and I also know that they are the owner of their stalls. That guy moving boxes is Kenta, a lady with a blue dress is called Rei, and the guy with the bandana is Sora and...¡­" Raito started giving names of each of stall owners he visited, "You see Ossan there is a special law in Konoha after the second shinobi war, after the Konoha ninja council found out that the village could be infiltrated by the civilians of other country and can harm the village by halting the production of foods and other things causing economic instability of the village, they passed a law stating that if a shinobi ever found that civilians trying to do something like that they are to report to the nearby ANBU immediately but ossan that is not the best part I know the law quite a bit more one which says that if the shops inside the village stop selling their products without any reasons and moreover if they lie on the reason not to sell than with enough evidence they are to be taken to T&I department immediately."


    With that four ANBU appeared and started knocking out the shop owners and one of the ANBU started taking out seals and put the seals on the forehead. Few shadow cones appeared and carried the shop owners.


    "ANBU-san can I ask if you can pass a message to the Anko Mitarashi of T&I department?" asked Raito


    "Sure." Said ANBU in a muffled voice


    "Thank you, just tell her that this ten was done in by Raito." Said Raito


    "Yes." Saying that ANBU left the area


    ''Ossan is gone? He seems to be same as ANBU with a lot of question marks.'' Thought Raito as he walked towards the next store. The shop owner hurriedly sold the things at cheap price, he just wanted this unlucky boy to go faster.


    Raito was also enjoying shopping without any limits, "if you buy that much then most of it will rot, why not¡­.." said the shopkeeper but as soon as he saw the boy glaring at him he stopped


    "Do you not want to sell it to me, boss?" asked Raito in an innocent voice. The shopkeeper sweated, ''Who would not dare to sell you after you made such a big fuss'' the shopkeeper thought but didn''t say it out loud. "Well, young man it will be 3000 Ryo."


    "Boss, I know that you are licensed under the civilian council and earlier that ossan did tell me what your motives were, if sold then hike the price was it? So I will ask you again how much is it?" said Raito


    "That''s not true at all; it is a fair price for all the things you have bought." Retorted the shop owner


    "Listen to me old man, if you don''t want me to buy then just say so, I will just walk out" saying that Raito put the bags down and started walking out


    "Wait, wait, it was my mistake the whole thing cost you just two thousand Ryo." The shopkeeper sweated


    "Two thousand seems a bit more to a small boy."


    "One thousand five hundred and that''s the final price." Said the shopkeeper


    "Deal." Said Raito as he gave the shopkeeper a thousand and a five hundred Ryo bill.


    [Skill Created]


    [Negotiate Lv 1 (Passive) Exp 0.0%]


    "In life, you don''t get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate"


    -10% chance of negotiation being successful


    -Gain 1 WIS every ten levels


    "I will watch this street very, very carefully, old man." Said Raito as he left the shop.


    As Raito reached the house he had many questions in his mind, asking why was a child hated by so many people, even going to extreme lengths denying him of food and clothes. The more he thought the angrier he got so he stopped thinking.


    Entering the house, "I''m back" announced Raito


    "Welcome back." An old and young voice greeted him.


    Smiling Raito went inside to see Hokage and Naruto eating, "Jiji and Naruto you both didn''t even wait for me, how cruel." Raito sat down and took a bowl and started eating


    "Jiji what are you doing here this early?" asked Raito as he ate his food


    "The answer would be both of you Raito-kun." After a silence, "The disappearing act and returning home bloodied was reported to me yesterday by some ANBU, would you like to explain?"


    Stunned Raito faced Hiruzen and sighed, after scanning the area Raito said, "Jiji the answer would be shadow clone and clone technique, then body replacement technique then transformation technique."


    Sarutobi processed the idea in his head and smiled, "Very well use of academy three and shadow clones, if you could use Genjutsu than it would be even more perfect."


    "Then Jiji can we enter your library?" asked Raito and Naruto also beamed at the thought


    "NO. But you can find things in the academy library."


    "Not fair." Said Naruto and Raito too frowned


    "But I may allow if you two pass the Genin test." Said Hiruzen


    "Sure," said the boys grinning


    "Jiji tell me how is paperwork going?" Asked Raito


    "Even though I used the method I had to go through the papers." Hiruzen sighed


    "Jiji if we both pass the exam than how about placing us two together." Said Raito


    "Although I am the Hokage but I have no power to make teams." Said Hiruzen looking curiously at the boy


    "But Jiji I am willing to exchange information for that, that will definitely help you do less or even no paperwork." Sid Raito as he sat on his chair


    "I may be interested." Said Hiruzen his inner self screaming with joy


    "Place us both together and I will tell you the secret to finish the paperwork quickly." Said Raito


    "Raito-kun, you have to know that what you are asking is really difficult." Said Hiruzen


    "Is that so? Then I don''t think we have a deal, this amazing information will forever be lost, how sad" said Raito as he called Naruto and started picking books


    "Fine, I will." Said Hiruzen


    "Then please sign here and here." Raito quickly took out a scroll and made Hiruzen sign.


    "Then information?" asked Hiruzen


    "Ah, Jiji use shadow clones and ask them to do it and don''t use yang chakra." Said Raito as he went out of the door.


    "Ah damn old age." After a long silence, Hiruzen sighed


    Name: Yoshizawa Raito Lv 10 Exp 3100/8000


    Title: Ninja Academy Student (+25% Exp till level 10)


    Age: 12


    HP: 1375


    CP: 800


    STR: 25.5


    VIT: 35.7


    DEX: 27.54


    INT: 36


    WIS: 32


    LUK: 30


    Stat points: 15


    Yoshizawa household member: Additional +50 HP per level +2 INT & +3 VIT per level.


    Beginner Kenjutsu practitioner: Increase Attack speed and attack power by 20% while using a bladed weapon


    Apprentice Undead Hunter: 30% Increase in attack and defense while attacking undead.


    All stats plus 5 while attacking undead.


    Holder of the lucky star: additional +1 LUK per level.


    Yoshizawa Raito is above average student in the Ninja Academy son of Yoshizawa Michio and Yoshizawa Akeno, aspiring to become the strongest ninja ever and take revenge for his parent''s murder.


    Skills


    Gamer''s Mind Lv Max (Passive)


    Gamer''s Body Lv Max (Passive)


    [Stealth Lv 15 (active/passive) CP Cost 40 per minute Exp 0.0%].


    [Observe Lv 20 (Active) CP Cost 1 Exp 0.0%].


    [Shurikenjutsu and Kunaijutsu Lv 10 (Active/Passive) Exp 0.0%].


    [Kenjutsu Lv 23 (Active/Passive) Exp 0.0%].


    [Bunshin Lv 14 (Active) CP Cost 35 Exp 0.0%].


    [Henge Lv 7 (Active) CP Cost 30 Exp 0.0%].


    [Kawarimi Lv 12 (Active) CP Cost 15 Exp 0.0%].


    [Lying Lv 22 (Passive) Exp 40%].


    [Chakra Sense Lv 26 (Active) Exp 90%].


    [Motivate Lv 7 (Passive) Exp 30%].


    [Detect Bloodl.u.s.t Lv 13 (Passive) Exp 10%].


    [ID Create Lv 7 (Active) CP Cost 80 Exp 20%].


    [ID Escape Lv 7 (Active) CP Cost 80 Exp 20%].


    [Intent Lv 3 (Passive) Exp 80%].


    [Detect Intent Lv 13 (Passive) Exp 50%].


    [Project Intent Lv 3 (Active) Exp 20%].


    [Hypnotic Wave Lv 5 (Active) CP Cost 100 Exp 20%].


    [Cooking Lv 10 (Active) CP Cost 5 Exp 20%].


    [Craft Lv 1 (Active) CP Cost 0 Exp 10%].


    [Running Lv 8 (Active/Passive) 90%].


    [Reading Lv 8 (Passive) Exp 0.0%].


    [Natural Earth affinity Lv 1 (Passive) 80%]


    [Chakra Enhancement Lv 1 (Active/Passive) 50% CP Cost 80 per minute]


    [Heal Lv 1 (Active) Exp 0.0% CP Cost ¨C 500]


    [Chakra Flow Lv 1 (Active) 50% CP Cost 50 per minute]


    [Chakra Control Lv13 (Passive) Exp 15.0%]


    [Leaf sticking exercise level 15 (Active) Exp 0.0%]

 Chapter 10 - 10 – Dissecting Genjutsu

    Chapter 10 ¨C Dissecting Genjutsu


    Sarutobi Hiruzen was sitting at his chair humming a tune and reading a small orange book, sometimes giggling, while his shadow clones were furiously doing his work. The paperwork which used to cover his desk all day was no more; instead, there were two scrolls on the table.


    KNOCK! KNOCK!!


    A fair-skinned woman of slender build with unique red eyes entered the Hokage office.


    "Hokage-sama, Jounin Kurenai Yuhi reporting for duty." Announced Kurenai with a slight bow.


    "Rest easy Kurenai, have you recovered? I heard that you were quite hurt." Asked Hiruzen his face showing a little concern.


    "Yes, Hokage-sama I have perfectly recovered. A week in hospital and anyone will do their best to recover faster." Smiled Kurenai.


    "Today I have a few missions for you." Said Hiruzen as he handed the scroll.


    "Yes, Hokage-sama." Replied Kurenai softly.


    "First you will be having an afternoon, only girls classes to the graduating class, where you will tell them about the horrors of being a Kunoichi, which may or may not help them free themselves of fangirlism, you are to also allowed to use Genjutsu and I mean¡­use it." Said Hiruzen pointing on the first scroll.


    "That now will be too cruel." Replied Kurenai softly.


    "It is now or later which I suppose you don''t want to happen?" Questioned Hiruzen.


    Kurenai didn''t say anything but went through the scroll and kept it on her pouch.


    Hiruzen sighed, "Second you are to observe the students for the Genin team you want at the end of the year exception made Yoshizawa Raito, Uzumaki Naruto, and Hyuga Hinata. Try to find students which you have an easier time developing."


    A flash of excitement and as soon as it appeared it disappeared, gathering her courage Kurenai spoke up, "I was thinking about making a scouting/ tracking with the clan students, especially I was looking for Hyuga Hinata to be on my team, Hokage-sama."


    Hiruzen looked at Kurenai then sighed and answered, "Her team placement was already decided this morning and the recommendation for her grouping was personally sent by Hyuga Hiashi and because of other events, the team was formed and their sensei was decided."


    Kurenai sighed in defeat however high her rank was she was not able to contend against a clan leader.


    "Before I leave I would like to know who the team leader is, Hokage-sama?" asked Kurenai.


    At the academy


    Shikamaru, Ch¨­ji, Hinata, Naruto, and Raito were walking towards the ground.


    "Bah, how would I know how it starts raining? Or how salt is made." W.h.i.n.ed Naruto.


    "These teachers don''t know how to teach anything and why do we need to learn this math and all? We should be learning some cool Ninjutsu, like an awesome fire technique...." Naruto continued talking whereas the others just ignored him.


    Raito slowed down and came next to Shikamaru and asked, "Oi Shikamaru do you know anything about yang chakra?"


    "Eh not much but only Akimichi clan in Konoha uses yang chakra in their jutsu like body expansion jutsu but I don''t know much about it." Said Shikamaru.


    "Well, Naruto did say about Uzumaki clan having yang chakra which got me interested." Replied Raito as he pointed at Naruto.


    "Shika, Raito. Walk faster I am hungry." Said Ch¨­ji as his stomach made a rumbling noise


    "Ch¨­ji you were eating those ch.i.p.s right now, how can you be so hungry?" asked Raito.


    "I can eat anytime, looking at the bento boxes Hinata is carrying is making me really hungry, all I can think is how good they are." Replied Ch¨­ji.


    "You should think more about how to defeat me this Saturday than those bento boxes." Provoked Raito.


    Ch¨­ji paled for a second then replied.


    "This time I will definitely win." Said Ch¨­ji seriously.


    "Haha, everything will be decided this Saturday." Laughed Raito.


    "Oi, you guys how can you be so slow? Walk faster." Shouted Naruto.


    Everyone reached the clearing and sat under the tree. Hinata was sitting beside Naruto with faint redness on her face. Ch¨­ji and Raito also took out their food.


    "How did you learn this Ninjutsu?" asked Shikamaru.


    "What?" confused by the question Raito looked at Shikamaru.


    "Space-time Ninjutsu, how did you learn it? I don''t think I have seen any ninja do it and the only Ninjutsu which are known as space-time Ninjutsu is fourth Hokage''s flying thunder god technique." Asked Shikamaru as he watched Raito.


    "Well¡­..eh¡­.umm." (Why the f.u.c.k does he have to ask questions about this? Space-time Ninjutsu my a.s.s. The f.u.c.k.) Raito inwardly cursed a million times but his expression remained the same outside and then he sighed, "Well if you like to know about it then all I can say is that it was an accident. Let''s not talk about it anymore and also this Saturday I want to take you all to somewhere so be prepared."


    "Where?" questioned Hinata and Shikamaru.


    "That creepy place ¡­..." Said Naruto but as soon as he said a kunai was lodged by his side


    "Naruto what did I tell you?" Raito looked at Naruto annoyed.


    Ch¨­ji came between them and said, "Don''t fight but if you want to fight do it after eating."


    Shikamaru grabbed Raito and whispered, "Secret?"


    Raito just nodded.


    "Someone?" asked Shikamaru as his eyes scanned the place.


    "Women Jounin level, using Genjutsu I think, northwest at the forest." Whispered Raito as his neck shrank down to his collar.


    "Thank you for the food." Shouted Ch¨­ji and Naruto.


    "Oi you two leave me some." Said Raito as he reached for the food.


    "Here Raito-san for you." Said Hinata as she handed Raito a box.


    "Ah thank you Hy¡­Hinata-san." Said Raito as he opened the box.


    Hinata just smiled sweetly..


    "Oh Chicken. I love it." As Raito ate the chicken he praised the chicken to the high heavens and at that time a shadow successfully snatched the box and began eating from it.


    Dumfounded Raito, "Eh¡­.The hell¡­.y-you...Ino?" Raito pointed at the now sitting Ino patting her stomach.


    "Oi! That was my chicken." Shouted Raito.


    "Huh, so what? You should feel honored that this lady is eating your food." Said Ino proudly.


    "Honored? Honored my a.s.s. Do you know how good those chickens were? So juicy, so tender and now I can''t have it anymore." Then suddenly realizing he looked at the three boys behind him.


    Shikamaru was eating when he felt someone staring his food, "No way I am gonna give you mine."


    Ch¨­ji made a face saying: ''If you touch it, I am going to kill you.''


    And Naruto was patting his bulged stomach, "Ah soo good."


    "It''s just food how can you be so petty? Here, you can have this." Said Ino as she handed him a bento box.


    "This smell, oh shit! Ch¨­ji get ready to take him to the infirmary, Naruto Raito is going to faint help me inform Mari-sensei." Whispered Shikamaru.


    [Bento box of hundred herbs


    Contains fried egg, fried sausage, pickled carrots, and rice


    Status effect: +Poison, Faint


    Recommended not to eat


    A bento made by Yamanaka Ino waking four in the morning practiced with her mother getting several cuts on the finger.


    If you don''t eat it you make the girl cry and if you eat it you are going to cry.]


    ''What the f.u.c.k!? I don''t have a choice.'' Then Raito glance at Ino then her finger which had cuts bandaged.


    "If you don''t want to, you should give it back." Said Ino.


    Gritting his teeth Raito ate everything in 30 seconds.


    [Status: Fainting in 3¡­2¡­1]


    [Self-recovery in 1 hour]


    Then everything blacked out for Raito.


    "Ch¨­ji go!" shouted Shikamaru.


    Ch¨­ji carried Raito to the infirmary.


    "W-What ha-ha-happened?" Ino fell to her knees tears dropping from her eyes.


    A hand touched her shoulders and Ino face and tried to explain, "I-I didn''t m-mean to do¡­."


    Hinata hugged Ino and said, "Ino-san did you use standard hundred herbs and mixed them with food and fried at the beginning."


    Ino weakly nodded to that.


    Hinata smiled brightly and said, "Nothing will happen to Raito-san, he will just faint for one hour and when he wakes up he will feel much stronger than before and will also gain immunity to most of the Konoha poisons."


    Ino looked at Hinata studied her expression and asked, "Really?"


    Hinata nodded, "You have made him even stronger so you should feel happy and when Raito-san learns of it he will also be happy. I am sure of it."


    "We should also go to infirmary then." Said Ino as she stood up.


    "Ino-san there is a compulsory afternoon class for girls only, which would be starting soon, we should go there boys will have some free time they are going to be there." Said Hinata.


    Ino nodded then looked at Hinata and gave her thumbs up, "Hinata you didn''t shutter, not even once. Good job."


    "T-Thanks, I am t-trying my best." Hinata smiled shyly.


    Gamer''s world ¨C Earth


    "How can this happen!? How? How? How? Damn it"


    "Haaaaaaa!!!!!"


    Aura released out visible to the n.a.k.e.d eyes, covering him and expanding, destroying everything it touched then he pulled his arm and hit the land beneath him destroying it from existence and a light creating a space crack on the sky.


    BAM! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!!


    "Sigh."


    A soft sigh changing heaven and earth mending it to its original form.


    "You shouldn''t watch TV if it makes you this emotional."


    "All died but one, it is but just a week barely, how the hell one dies so easily?" argued Han-Jee Han.


    "You did say one survived." Said Sang-ah.


    "Even if I get a recipe I cannot do anything with it." replied Han-Jee Han.


    "So he has been chosen?" asked Sang-ah.


    "Comparing he really is the weakest and that world have the lowest energy concentration. He is just too lucky."


    "Lucky?" Sang-ah waved her hand a blue screen appeared then she covered her small mouth holding back her giggles.


    "Ah." Dumfounded Han-Jee Han scratched his head in shame.


    "How is he even alive?" asked Han-Jee Han.


    "It is because of that artifact, I guess." Answered Sang-ah.


    .


    "But how long will he last?" sorrow appeared in Han-Jee Han''s eye.


    "Why not add this?" with a wave of hand a blue screen appeared.


    After 1 hour


    At the infirmary


    Ding


    [Skill Obtained: Poison Resistance Lv 5 (Passive)]


    [Due to medicinal cleansing gain STR+2]


    "Kid, if you are awake than get up, we don''t have all day to waste. Heard from the Nara boy that you ate a hundred herb mixture, you were knocked out for a whole hour." Said Mari-sensei.


    "What hundred herb, it''s more like a hundred poison. I thought I was gonna die there, seriously." Said Raito as he patted several places on his body.


    "Excuse me but I would like to check my patient." Said a boy with the onyx eye with ash-gray hair wearing purple clothes and bandages on his arms.


    "No need I have run a diagnostic jutsu and everything is fine." Said Mari.


    "Ah¡­.Em¡­Senpai I feel fine, so I will be going and hopefully, I will bring someone to fill this bed for you sometime later." Said Raito giving his fake smile as he stood up and used observe on the medic ninja.


    Yakushi Kabuto Lv??


    ???


    Description:??


    "It''s Kabuto and as a medic ninja I will not allow my patient to leave from my view until I clarify that he is perfectly well and also I ask you not to harm someone outside of the practice field." Said Kabuto as he took a stance.


    Raito knitted his eyebrow in annoyance.


    "Stand down Genin Kabuto, student Raito falls under my responsibility and Raito you too will do no such thing." Ordered Mari-sensei.


    "Hai Mari-sensei." Relaxed Kabuto giving his smile looking at Raito.


    As soon as Raito exited the infirmary he was tackled by Naruto.


    "Now you wanna try killing me by hugging?" said Raito as he pushed Naruto.


    "You and your damn mouth. Because of it you nearly died today? And you Shikamaru you knew about it, didn''t you? That poison bento?" asked Naruto angrily.


    "Shut up all of you! You boys were supposed to be at your class, studying. So go to your class and waste some time now" Said Mari-sensei as she glared at the boys which remained at Raito at the end.


    Four boys g.r.o.a.n.e.d and went towards the classroom.


    "So anyone gonna tell me what this hundred thing is?" asked Naruto.


    "Naruto, hundred herb mixture was a mixture of poison and antidote made up of hundred different herbs made by my clan used to strengthen our body and gain immunity from most of the poisons found in our village." Said Ch¨­ji with a rare look of seriousness.


    "It is a kind of tradition in the clans when they become Chunin; they have to drink this mixture." Said Shikamaru.


    "That''s some weird tradition where you have to get knocked out." Said Naruto.


    All of them reached the class and found the ever noisy class to be pin-drop silence, all the boys were quietly doing their own things and the girls were looking pale and some had tears.


    "Oi did someone die or something?" said Raito


    All the attention were drawn to the four new arrivals and most of them had anger and sorrow on their faces.


    "What?" questioned Raito.


    Ch¨­ji and Shikamaru forcefully made Raito bow then Shikamaru said, "Sorry he is just out of infirmary so the drugs must be screwing with his brain?" Then Shikamaru also made Naruto bow


    "Kurenai?" came a voice.


    "Mari." Replied Kurenai as she saw her friend.


    "You were supposed to be-." Said Kurenai her face showing confusion.


    "Don''t say anything right now but it is all because of this brat." Said Mari as she punched Raito on the head.


    "So he is Raito?" asked Kurenai as she pointed finger at Raito.


    Mari frowned and questioned, "Wasn''t this supposed to be girls-only class?"


    "Iruka-sensei, we will be in the next class, let this get absorbed in their head and I will be taking these brats." Said Mari.


    Iruka nodded at the statement and watched them going helplessly.


    The next room was the same as class 1-A bit emptier.


    "Well, brats take a sit and let Kurenai-sensei do her job." Said Mari-sensei.


    Shikamaru and Raito frowned but followed the instruction. Ch¨­ji and Naruto did the same.


    "I have got a bad feeling about this." Said Naruto as he sat.


    Kurenai made hand signs.


    Snake ¡ú Rat


    Chakra flared.


    "Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique"


    At the same time, Raito chakra sense activated itself and made an invisible sphere of chakra. Then he saw himself sitting on the seat then a small seed of chakra entered inside the brain.


    [Foreign Chakra detected]


    [Motor pathway disabled]


    [Sensory pathway altered]


    [Foreign Chakra sending information to the brain]


    [Creating video from the information]


    [Saving video...ERROR]


    [Creating a new feature called "Files" for saving important doc.u.ments, videos and picture]


    [Saving Video¡­. Video named "Kunoichi''s dangerous life"]


    [Foreign Chakra trapped...¡­Dissecting Foreign Chakra...Gathering useful information]


    [Organizing information...¡­Jutsus categorized.....Jutsus stored in the library]


    [Use Merit points for exchange]


    [Transcendental will disabled]


    Dumfounded Raito looked at the notification he was getting then small tendrils of white light escaped from the lucky star and got absorbed into Raito''s body.


    Then he blinked facing Mari and Kurenai. Face expressionless he yawned then his head hit the desk.


    Mari came forward and lightly tapped Raito. Not getting any response she shook him violently, then lightly patted his face.


    "His breathing is long but the pulse is weak, pupil not responding to light, no pain sensation, Kurenai use diagnosis jutsu you have more control than me." Said Mari.


    "Diagnosis jutsu." Chakra flared.


    "Nothing. He is fine, nothing is wrong with is a body. His mind is just resting?" Said Kurenai a little bit of confusion and shock clearly seen on her face.


    "Will he be fine?" asked Mari traces of worry could be seen on her face.


    Kurenai silently nodded.


    "Wake up Raito, wake up." Tears were gathered on her eyes.


    "Perhaps we should take him to the infirmary."


    "No, I don''t like it there and the boy gives me an odd feeling. He will be fine, just fine here." Said Mari.


    Raito Mindscape


    Four black blurry figures, two pairs were standing opposite Raito made up of black, gray and white dots repeating some words like a broken record.


    "LAST ...¡­.HOPE...¡­.LAST¡­


    MUST...SURVIVE


    GIFT...¡­.LAST ....HOPE


    YOU...LIKE...¡­LIKE."


    LOVE.....LOVE.....YOU...FORE..."


    "Uhhh¡­.. I just want to leave." Clutching his head Raito wished for his leave.


    Snapping open his eyes Raito jumped back pulled his kunai and shuriken on each of his hand then threw all of them at Kurenai.


    Dodging the shuriken on her left then at right by swaying then she jumped only to face a kunai near her face.


    Tink!


    "Calm down Raito everything is fine that was all false, nothing was real, it was just a Genjutsu." Said Mari as she stood in front of Kurenai with a Dwarf Battle Blade.


    "If you do that again, I am going to make you experience the same pain." Said Raito as he pocketed his weapons and clutched his head.


    "That was a simple Genjutsu, does not do any kind of pain." Explained Kurenai.


    "No pain? I have a splitting headache. For god''s sake can I get any kind of treatment?" asked Raito.


    "Come here."


    "Mystic palm technique."


    "This jutsu is the most common medical jutsu which allows the user to speed up the body''s natural healing process by sending chakra from their hands into a wound or afflicted body part. This allows the..." lectured Mari-sensei.


    "I know about it already, at least theory." Raito cut Mari-sensei.


    "That''s good then, and what the hell brat I wanted to boast about how Genjutsu will not affect you and some more but you went blank, it looked like you were affected by the Genjutsu. Sigh, I feel like the parent feeding and raising a child who cannot do a thing properly." Mocked Mari-sensei.


    "Hmph, I was not affected by that Genjutsu, I was analyzing it, you know I have not been affected by any kind of Genjutsu since I learned father''s jutsu." Said Raito proudly puffing his c.h.e.s.t.


    "Oh analyzing my jutsu eh? Then tell me how it works?" questioned Kurenai.


    "Come on Kurenai you know the boy doesn''t mean it. No one can dissect your Genjutsu that fast, even though this brat is good he is not that good." Said Mari.


    "Isn''t it just some Genjutsu, you are making it-"


    Raito was cut off by the three crying boys'' tears coming out and dropping on the table making it wet.


    Kurenai walked up to the three and slammed her hand on the table, "Attention students.


    Akimichi, Nara and Uzumaki, what you saw just now....." Kurenai continued counseling them.


    "Mari sensei I...¡­.. saw mom and¡­ dad and they....they told me that I¡­.. I was their last hope and I must¡­. survive and asked me if I liked¡­. my gift and...." Said Raito tears covering his face.


    Mari hugged Raito and said, "They loved you, they loved you so much." Her hug becoming even tighter.


    After a while


    [Gamers mind activated]


    Raito pushed Mari and stretched his body which made popping sounds then faced her and asked, "Mari-nee¡­..Ahem I mean Mari-sensei, why don''t you give me your Dwarf Battle blade and I will forgive Kurenai-sensei."


    "Forget it, NO, what does you hating Kurenai have anything to do with me?" harrumphed Mari


    "What!? But she is your friend?" questioned Raito as he looked Mari with shock.


    "So, what!? This here is my baby." Said Mari as she pulled the sword and embracing and rubbing her face on the sheath.


    "No way, it means that, this sword came from there?" asked Raito showing confused face


    "YOU BRAT!!" Mari punched Raito which flew him to the wall.


    "Oh party time eh? But I haven''t brought anything but this peeping tom will do, I guess." Said voice appears to be fairly tall woman with a slender frame. She has light brown, pupil-less eyes with short, spiky purple hair.


    ""Anko!!"" shouted Mari and Kurenai as they saw Anko throwing a body.


    "Anko-nee." Waved Raito as he saw Anko.


    "Iruka-sensei!!" shouted Naruto as he realized who was on the ground.


    Naruto jumped towards Iruka and pointed at Anko, "You...why¡­.A-Anko m-ma''am."


    "Oh! So Blondie you remember me huh? How long has it been? Umm¡­half a year and you didn''t come to visit me." Anko hugged Naruto and drew her kunai and made a small cut on Naruto''s cheek.


    "Such rich blood, I have missed it? Why don''t you come with me tonight and enjoy several new poison concoctions I have made in these past few months." Said Anko as seductively made a gulping sound.


    "No!NO!!NOO!!!" roared Naruto as he took steps back and tried jumping through the window.


    A shadow came between Naruto and window and hold him by his jacket then smiled and said, "Now Naruto don''t worry, I won''t let anything happen to you, you know I am stronger than Anko, I will never let anything happen to you until you are in this room."


    The words were fully domineering but as the last part came by chuckles and laughter were heard.


    "Let me go, let me go, LET ME GO! roared Naruto "I don''t want to be near that crazy snake lady." Struggled Naruto.


    "What the hell is going on?" asked Shikamaru and Ch¨­ji nodded.


    "Haha than listen to me, sometime back Anko-nee used to come visit me and like a fated encounter, those two met and argued about the which food is the best one said ramen and the other said dango, Anko-nee got irritated so she used her snakes to bite Naruto and when she didn''t see any reaction from him, she used even more lethal poison. Thing is Naruto doesn''t die from poison and Anko-nee likes to try new kinds of poison using Naruto, so whenever Naruto sees Anko he just does this¡­.even though he knows there is no escape." Explained Raito.


    "Completely immune to all poison?" asked Shikamaru.


    "Till now." Answered Raito.


    "Oi, Oi isn''t it too dangerous?" asked Shikamaru.


    "Yeah" Shrugged Raito "If you wanna tell her then do so."


    Then with a wave Raito pulled potato ch.i.p.s and started eating it, watching the bickering of his seniors. "Want some?" He asked to Shikamaru and Ch¨­ji. Both nodded and started eating.


    Kurenai rolled her eyes and coughed to get attention, "Iruka-sensei you came here at the right time¡­if you would explain today''s topic to them please."


    "I already learned about it at the clan." Said Shikamaru.


    Ch¨­ji nodded, "Me too."


    Raito pointed at Anko and said, "Anko-nee''s version was much more detailed than this one." To which Naruto also nodded.


    Iruka''s eyebrow twitched then he shouted, "What the hell are you teaching my students?"


    Anko replied in a blank face, "What they needed to know."


    "Chunin Iruka, Special J¨­nin Anko stand down." Ordered Mari.


    "If I have to pull outranks, to stop quarrels and baby fights then I should start punching." Mumbled Mari.


    Anko, Kurenai, and Raito immediately went next to Mari trying to calm her.


    Seeing all the strange things today made Shikamaru sigh endlessly, and then he faced towards Naruto, pointed towards the four and said, "Do I even need to ask?"


    "Well let''s just say that Mari-sensei gets a bit violent when she is angry, drunk and emotional." Said Naruto with a smile on his face.


    At Hokage office


    Evening 5 pm, the sun is going down painting the horizon red and darkness descends, wind blowing taking leaves with it.


    Hiruzen signed the scroll, tied it and locked it in the drawer, then taking a puff he spoke, "Kakashi, come in. The wind is a bit chilly now."


    A figure materialized in front of the desk where Hiruzen is sitting closing the small orange book he replied, "Hokage-sama." His lazy eye focusing on his leader.


    "Kakashi this time you have a team." Said Hiruzen again releasing a puff then the silence continued.


    "Uchiha, Uzumaki and someone?" asked the one-eyed man opening his orange little p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e


    "Uzumaki, Yoshizawa and Hyuga." Replied Hiruzen slowly.


    "Well that came as a shock, what happened to the senior council and civilian council and him?" asked Kakashi interest appearing in his eye.


    "Something happened and we found that the civilian council was making trouble for a ninja family hence they are facing some charges and the senior council have found news of their grandsons and were not quite happy to hear the news and him¡­Danzo is being Danzo in the shadows waiting for the storm to calm down." Replied Hiruzen neither fast nor slow enjoying his smoke.


    "What will happen to Uchiha?" asked Kakashi.


    "You can take him as an apprentice, if he awakens his Sharingan, if not then it is your choice." Said Hiruzen turning around looking out the window.


    "Years passed and the two founding clans are reduced to the state they are now, what will happen in the future? What will happen to shinobi? This village, I cannot help but worry." Said Hiruzen mixture of sorrow and worry in his face.


    Taking a puff he continued, "Daimyo of the fire country need us and we need him, we should balance this frail status quo."


    "Hokage-sama." Voiced Kakashi


    "Ah, Kakashi please take that scroll, it contains information about your future students. Have a look at it," said Hiruzen sitting on his chair looking at the silver-haired J¨­nin.


    "So I have to make sure that Yoshizawa doesn''t kill the Hyuga?" asked Kakashi.


    "I don''t think you will have to, he seems to be accepting Hyuga very well." Replied Hiruzen


    "If something like that had happened to me then I wouldn''t know if I could forgive them. He seems to be a nice person." Smiled Kakashi.


    Hiruzen sighed, "You are a nicer person Kakashi. Now you should leave and if you see Gai then do tell him to stop training on the street, I don''t want to see paperwork regarding him anymore."


    "Yes Hokage-sama," said Kakashi and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

 Chapter 11 - 11- Spending the Rest Day

    Chapter 11- Spending the Rest Day


    Iruka stood at the podium and by his side were Mari, Kurenai, Mizuki, and few other teachers.


    Iruka with a serious gaze scanned the students sitting at their seats and couldn''t help but feel pain, internally sighed and said, "I have been teaching you for the past few months and was wishing to see improvement, not just academically but also practically, I was hoping that you all will show maturity and start taking your training seriously as it will be the last semester and also the last chance for graduation. I and the other teachers are here to train you and make sure you ready for ninja life but the truth is when someone doesn''t want to improve then we teachers are helpless and I have felt this helplessness for quite a time now, so today I had to make you see the true horrors of being a ninja. In this class, girls have more problems than boys, instead of polishing their skills they were fawning over boys making fan clubs, love clubs and all those stupid things and till yesterday I had to stop two young soon to be ninja student from arguing over the place they sit. I am not only telling girls but also the boys in the class. Every single day I record the throwing accuracy, crossing obstacle and many other things, and I have to say that except some students'' majority are just worse. Those who want to make progress are making progress and are the ones to survive longer. Students, today you have seen a small part of the life of a ninja and I hope that you all got to know something."


    Then Iruka tilted his head to see the teachers and sighed internally and faced the students again and said, "Classes will start from Monday, think if you really want to be a ninja and when I stand again in front of you I hope I find something hopeful. Class dismissed."


    After dismissing the class, Iruka could see the students faces full of worry, concern, confusion, shame and various other emotions. Half of the students who were mainly from the clans and some others had no change in emotion.


    Seeing the sad and downcast faces of his students Iruka felt pain in his c.h.e.s.t and had a pained faced.


    Mari patted Iruka''s shoulder and said, "You did a great job, Iruka. What you and Kurenai did will save a lot of life and help them make strong. Don''t you forget what you are doing is all for them. Tomorrow go to the tower, you have a mission."


    Iruka replied with a nod.


    Then Mari looked at Mizuki, "Mizuki-sensei please go to the tower now, Hokage-sama has a mission for you and take Koro-sensei with you. It wouldn''t take more than a week."


    "Toga-sensei, Nozomu-sensei since I will be leaving the academy, it would be best that we start choosing another headteacher for my replacement." Said Mari after which she left the room along with Toga and Nozomu.


    Outside the academy


    "Hinata-san, are you really fine? You look kind of pale." Asked Raito.


    Hinata weakly nodded but said nothing to Raito''s question.


    Raito sighed and faced Ino, "Ino what about you? Are you fine?"


    With anger on her face, Ino roared, "How can you even ask that? That¡­..That cruel thing t-they do to¡­.Kunoichi...how can they? (Sob...sob)"


    "Ino," Choji looked sad then patted her shoulder trying to comfort her.


    "Troublesome teachers." Mumbled Shikamaru who also patted Ino on her shoulders.


    "Everything will be fine Ino, Hinata. We will be there to protect you all. As the future Hokage, I promise to keep you all safe no matter what. Believe it!!" Proclaimed Naruto.


    Hinata and Ino smiled a little when they heard Naruto words.


    Raito on the side also smiled a little then asked, "Why don''t we go and eat something? I heard there is a new barbeque shop which opened this Sunday, giving huge discount till this week."


    "Yosh, let''s go. Raito''s paying." Said Ch¨­ji.


    "Sure, why not?" said Raito as he glared at Ch¨­ji.


    As the man uses alcohol as his comfort, the soon to be ninja used food as their comfort, forgetting their worries. In ninja world raping kunoichi has been a really common thing and the only way to be safe is to be strong, strong enough to protect themselves and others.


    Sounds of loud laughter and talking came from a room which was heard by the many ninja in the other rooms but no one stopped them.


    During the night when winds are blowing hard, the lights of the shops are long closed and the windows are shut tight, a lone figure jumped from roof to roof his silver hair making it more eye-catching under the moon.


    Hatake Kakashi reached the memorial stone and stood in front of it watching and reading the names of his most precious peoples. Then he started sharing his day:


    "Rin, Obito, I am going to take a team again, they are somewhat different. A Hyuga girl, she is shy and has low confidence; she is quite different from the rest of Hyuga. Next, we have Uzumaki Naruto, sensei''s son, a good kid and has a good nose, he was able to find me. He is so much like sensei, those blue eyes and blond hair, change some clothes and remove those whiskers and you will get a mini version of sensei. Last is the kid I am worried about, his name is Yoshizawa Raito, poor nice kid, he''s smart and has already mastered his family technique which will rival Hyuga in the future. With Sharingan, gone Byakugan is the face of Konoha now. Sensei am I really." Kakashi was thinking inwardly when suddenly he heard a voice.


    "Heh, people do come here at night. I thought I was the only one." Said the voice coming from the shadows.


    Shadow finally shaped into a figure marking a boy with black hair looked about ten to 13 year old. Kakashi recognized the boy from the picture earlier; the boy was one of the students he was going to teach, Yoshizawa Raito.


    Raito looked at the unknown man or ninja in front of him. Wearing standard Konoha flak jacket, face covered 2/3rd, only one eye visible and most eye-catching silver hair.


    Hatake Kakashi Lv??


    ??


    Raito walked slowly towards the memorial tablet where he stood there mumbling his words and hands-on his pocket stared lazily at the tablet.


    "My name is -" said Kakashi but before he could finish Raito replied cutting him off.


    "Hatake Kakashi or people often say Kakashi of the Sharingan. I have heard about you from a lot of people, a lot, at least for me." Interrupted Raito.


    "Oh it seems I am really famous, eh?" said Kakashi sounding pleased


    "Infamous, they told me that you are really good at ticking people off, always late at least two to three hours, read p.o.r.n in public and s.e.x.u.a.lly harass every Kunoichi you see, destroyer of the innocence of all the small boys and the girls." Said Raito in a single breath which looked like it was thoroughly memorized.


    "Ah haha¡­.. I am really not like that. In fact, I am really a nice person who" Kakashi tried to explain himself.


    "Reads p.o.r.n in the public. It is true cuz I have seen it myself. Is it not?" asked Raito.


    "Icha-Icha is not p.o.r.n it is literature and a very nice at that." Explained Kakashi.


    "Whatever. I am here for my prayer." Then Raito turned towards the tablet.


    Three hours went by only the whistling of the winds was heard. On a lonely night, two people, a boy, and a man reminisced the past.


    Raito stepped back then turned around and walked back. Kakashi also did the same.


    "Don''t you want to tell me your name?" asked Kakashi.


    "No."


    "I did give you my name so you should also give me your name. It is common courtesy." Said Kakashi with an eye smile.


    Raito looked at the silver-haired J¨­nin, "You didn''t give me your name because I already knew it. Also, I know that you know my name. You should be more direct when you ask something. No need to go in circles."


    Then Raito started walking.


    "Do you know what really happened to your parents?" asked Kakashi in a more serious way.


    "Something, but not everything. Do you guys know the full story?" asked Raito in an irritated voice.


    "No. then ¨C"


    "Then nothing now, if in the future I have a chance I will know everything."


    "What will you do after you know everything?"


    "I will ask Hokage-Jiji or the new Hokage to do something first." Said Raito, not wanting to talk more he walked faster towards the exit.


    "(Sigh) I wanted to talk a little bit more." Said Kakashi as he also left the memorial hall


    Raito.


    "So he is going to be out sensei, huh?" Raito whispered to himself making a small smile. "I should give Anko-nee something for the information."


    Friday morning


    "OW! OW!!" Naruto cried in pain as he fell to the ground. C.h.e.s.t rising and falling Naruto stayed on the ground looking at the sky.


    "Why don''t we go to that place? Going there is so much better than doing this." Said Naruto.


    "I am not a chakra freak like you, I used all the chakra this morning to try something so quit whining and continue doing the stretching." Ordered Raito.


    Taking a deep breath Naruto shouted, "Yosh, once more." Then again continued his stretching.


    After some time an exhausted Naruto and Raito came inside and sat on the sofa.


    "Oi Naruto what would you be doing on your free day when you were not with us?" asked Raito


    "Eh, nothing. I would just roam around the village and practice something," answered Naruto


    Taking a breath Raito shouted and jumped, "Yosh, we are going shopping Naruto. I couldn''t buy much last time and when tomorrow Choji comes he alone will be able to finish what we have right now."


    "Y-you won''t be able to buy anything with me around. So" said Naruto in a dejected voice.


    But before he could speak anymore he was cut off by Raito, "You haven''t even tried."


    "It has always been like that." Naruto spat.


    "Well not anymore, be brave and try, I promise everything will be alright because Naruto ... I am god symbolizing a change in your puny mortal life." Raito laughed dramatically his chin high and pointing at Naruto.


    Few chuckles of laughter came from Naruto.


    "Mm let''s go then." Said Naruto.


    Market plaza


    Naruto was walking uncomfortably the fact being the people glaring him with the cold, scary eyes. Under the gaze of the people his body was shrinking, his mood sinking, he was gritting his teeth, fish clenched.


    SMACK!!


    Raito slapped Naruto on the back, pointed at the shop and gave him some money, "There''s the shop. Get some onion, beans, tomato, garlic, spinach, egg, meat, and meat."


    "Woah, Woah. Raito wait, slow down. I can''t remember everything." Said Naruto as he made a stopping gesture to Raito.


    "Naruto you really are dumb but anyway here." Raito brought out a paper and pen and wrote the names and gave it to Naruto.


    Hearing the boy''s sound the surrounding shopkeepers froze, many of them had awkward faces and especially one had blackface. He hurriedly tried to close his shop.


    "Boss why are you in a hurry, do you not want to sell ....to us?" asked a voice.


    "N-Nonsense I...I was just going to replace the basket, some fresh vegetable just arrived so I-I was just to change them." Said the shop owner.


    "Oh! No need boss. We will be fine." Said Raito as he glared at the shop keeper.


    "Now Naruto try to pick the way I told you last time and before giving the money show me." Said Raito.


    Naruto nodded and started picking carefully, slowly picking, rotating and pinching, checking the vegetables.


    A few meters away few men and women were whispering to each other.


    "Are we really selling food to the demon?"


    "The leader said to make his life difficult but¡­."


    "There is that kid with the demon."


    "Why is he helping the demon?"


    Raito turned around and looked at the people who were whispering, he saved their data in the library.


    Soon minutes went by; Raito tapped his foot in annoyance seeing Naruto select the ingredients, which was way too slow. So he pulled a kunai out and started practicing with it. He started adding normal chakra to the kunai then added earth elemental chakra to it. Seeing the increase in the stat of the kunai, Raito was very happy.


    [Standard Konoha Kunai ¨C Common Quality (Enhanced)]


    A common weapon used by the ninja of the ''Village Hidden by the Leaf'' designed for thrusting and stabbing.


    Accuracy: +6%


    Durability: 100 (200)


    Weight: 500gm (1kg)


    # Chakra flow property: Increased defense, increased hardness, increased destructive force


    ''In game, you get a status effect like burn or paralyze, but I didn''t get anything like that (sigh). So length remains the same but the weight increases that means now this kunai is stronger than just before but, the accuracy dropped by 4%. Ah!! I have to learn either fire or lightning type to get status effects. And, and I even have to buy a new sword, I can just steal it from someone. No, no nono even ninja should have some boundaries, why can''t someone just give me a super ultimate weapon or something. Damn it! Just a few more months and I can buy some real weapons.''


    Raito frowned in frustration which had nothing to do with Naruto and shopkeeper but the shopkeeper connected Raito frowning with Naruto picking vegetable. So the shopkeeper hurriedly helped Naruto although a bit reluctantly.


    "Done!" shouted Naruto.


    "Huh? Didn''t I tell you to let me see before buying? Now give me the bags." Raito put away the kunai and shouted at Naruto and he snatched the bags after seeing the contents and put it in the inventory.


    Even though Raito was scolding Naruto, he still had a smile on his face. "So, are we going home?" Asked Naruto.


    "No," replied Raito calmly.


    "Huh? What do you mean by no?" Asked Naruto.


    "No means we are not going home right now, we are going to the Higurashi shop now." Replied Raito.


    "But it''s already ten and I haven''t eaten anything and I am hungry and¡­" Naruto made an annoying sound which seem to affect Raito as Raito was glaring at Naruto.


    "Here buy some snacks." Said Raito as he handed Naruto some money. "I will be watching you so don''t buy too many sweets."


    "Okay," said Naruto as he ran into one of the shops.


    Clang


    The door opened and two boys came in.


    "Wel-" the shopkeeper frowned at the boys who came in. Although he was happy just a moment ago, his smile vanished and hatred replaced his previous visage.


    "We are not open. Come another time." Said the shopkeeper.


    "But the sign definitely said open." Said Naruto as he pointed at the sign on the door.


    "I am the boss of this shop so if I say not open then it''s not open. So get out of my shop!!" roared the shopkeeper.


    Naruto frowned and he clenched his fist but then he loosened his fist and walked back.


    Raito glared at the shopkeeper and his eyebrow knitted.


    "What are you looking at brat? Keep looking and I will-"


    "SHUT UP!" roared Raito his chakra flaring.


    The shopkeeper was cut off by Raito and was looking at Raito.


    "We are just here to buy some snacks." Then he looked at Naruto and ordered, "Go and get some snacks. After we pay we are never going to come at this shitty place again."


    Naruto looked at the shopkeeper and then Raito then he hurriedly went to some shelves and picked some snacks and placed at the counter.


    "Naruto-baka why are you so stupid? If you buy, then buy a lot." Raito scolded Naruto then went to the shelves then picked all the ch.i.p.s then again went and picked a box of Nutri bar.


    "Isn''t that a bit too much?" asked Naruto


    "Nope, Choji can definitely finish them in an hour." Replied Raito


    Naruto just laughed.


    They paid the shopkeeper and left the shop.


    "You definitely used chakra there. How did you do it?" asked Naruto


    "Oh that, Anko-nee uses it frequently so I learned from her. I just used some chakra when shouting that''s all." Said Raito


    "I wanna try it too." Said Naruto


    "Not now, let''s go to Higurashi first." Raito ran


    Naruto followed Raito and whenever he was about to caught Raito, he just increased his speed. After it happened three or four time Naruto couldn''t take it anymore, he stopped and sat down at the road.


    Raito was laughing hard inside, he was enjoying the so-called race. But before he could enjoy anymore he saw Naruto sitting down on the road, pouting.


    With a wry smile, Raito approached Naruto and asked, "What happened? Let''s go."


    "You are definitely cheating, I Know It," said Naruto


    "Yes, I am." Said Raito simply.


    "Don''t lie to me you definitely- what!?" confused Naruto looked at Raito for explanation.


    "Naruto-baka I am using chakra to enhance my body." Replied Raito


    "How?" asked Naruto


    Raito sighed and answered, "Tap into your chakra and wash your whole body with it."


    "Huh? What? How?" asked confused Naruto


    "Chakra Naruto chakra, from here spread it to the whole body." Raito pointed at the navel then moved his hands showing where to take chakra to.


    Naruto tried and tried and got blue from trying it but got depressed at the result then tried again.


    Not willing to stand on the road, Raito pulled Naruto to the park where he again tried.


    "Naruto why don''t you try it later?" asked Raito


    "Just a bit more, Chakra is going there but but...¡­.I feel like I can do it anytime soon. Ah again." Replied Naruto


    Minutes passed by and it was already eleven and Naruto was still practicing. Raito had already finished some ch.i.p.s while watching Naruto.


    ''Why don''t I try it once more?'' Looking at the CP Raito decided, "Naruto come here and do it.


    Naruto came in front of Raito and started practicing.


    Raito also stood up and made a rat seal.


    Invisible sphere of chakra surrounded Raito then again expanded covering Naruto.


    "What are you doing Raito?" asked Naruto


    "Just shut up and start practicing," said Raito


    Naruto started again and Raito could now see a blue flame near the heart region on the abdominal region, the blue color traveling on a path but never coming out of the path.


    Deactivating the ''Chakra Sense'' Raito said, "Naruto, when you were eating ramen you said that it felt like your body was on fire, you could feel the warmth traveling from your belly to all the places, the power, that awesomeness. Just try to feel the same thing replace ramen with chakra in your belly."


    "You say weird things but I believe in you, Raito." Said Naruto then he again made a rat seal then a thin blue light over his skin could be seen which quickly disappeared.


    Raito smiled then instructed Naruto again. After quite some time Naruto was able to successfully enhance his body completely.


    "Now try to hold it for at least a minute."


    10 seconds


    30 seconds


    1 minute


    2 minute


    3 minute


    "Awesome!! I was able to do it. Yay!" shouted Naruto in joy.


    Ding


    [Congratulation on teaching ''Uzumaki Naruto'' ''Lesser Chakra enhancement'']


    [Gained 2 merit points]


    [Skill teaching leveled up by 2]


    ''Merit points again? What the hell is it? There is nothing about this in the help menu.''


    "Hey, hey Raito did you see that aren''t I too super awesome? Haha." Laughed Naruto.


    Take this." Raito threw a packet of ch.i.p.s.


    "Thank you."'' Said Naruto as he started munching on the ch.i.p.s.


    After a bit of resting both went to the Higurashi store.


    Cling


    "Welcome" a heavy voice welcomed the two boys.


    Higurashi Tetsu Lv??


    ??


    "Hello" the boys replied with a bow.


    "My names Tetsu. You kids must be academy students eh? Why don''t you give me your student card now?" said Tetsu.


    Confused both boys looked at the man but nodded and brought out their cards.


    ''Uzumaki Naruto.'' Tetsu looked at the boy and chuckled inwardly, ''Mini Minato, how could anyone not know.''


    ''Yoshizawa Raito.'' Tetsu looked at the boy.


    And with a nod, he said, "Now tell me what you want to buy and I''ll give it to ya."


    "Four sets of shuriken and two sets of kunai, please." Said Raito.


    "Also Ninja tool ink, fuinjutsu paper, and a few scrolls, sir." Said Naruto.


    "Wait a moment, if you kids want anything else than tell me and take a look around." Said Tetsu as he left the room and left the boys alone.


    Raito looked around the store and quickly found the sword he was looking for.


    Dragon''s Cry ¨C Ninjato


    He pulled down the sword and placed it on the counter table, and then he got some of the exploding tags.


    Naruto also brought various kinds of paper seals.


    "You can make your own later why are you buying them now?" asked Raito


    "Research." Said Naruto then he pointed at the seal and at the small Uzumaki book and said, "Even though both of them do the same thing, there are made by different technique and look at this, the Uzumaki seal is smaller than Konoha seal."


    "Whatever" Raito searched the shop with his eye to find anything buyable with is drastically smaller wallet¡­.err he doesn''t need to carry a wallet anymore.


    On the stool behind the counter were three little books with red covers and small notes sticking out of them. Interested Raito used ''Observe'' on them.


    [Tenten guide to handling throwing weapons


    A collection of notes written by Tenten on handling throwing weapons


    Effect: Read to gain EXP in Shuriken and kunai jutsu]


    ''Tenten. Tenten?'' Raito was lost in thought when Tetsu returned.


    "You boys like what you see?" asked Tetsu then looking at the boys and the things at the table he sighed, "I forgot to tell you."


    "Old man these seals for me." Said Naruto


    "Wait a minute kid. It''s my mistake so let me tell you, Well you kids can''t buy these."


    "But why?"


    "Don''t shout kid, its law."


    Raito tapped Naruto on the shoulder and looked at Tetsu and said, "What law, boss?"


    "Well you see, not everyone passes the academy and after failing many of them go to civilian school or do some other odd jobs. And in Konoha, you can only hold weapons if you from the military simply said, ninja. Kunai and shuriken are the exception, you are given when you become the student but the numbers of purchases are recorded on your student card. So if you are out from the program the weapons will be confiscated." Said Tetsu as he showed the back of the student card.


    "What about the seals, other weapons and gears?" asked Raito.


    "Seals and other weapons cannot be sold to anyone other than ninja starting from Genin, common gears can be sold but not many people usually buy them because of ridiculous number of pockets and the price. Anything that can bring harm is not sold to anyone outside the program." Said Tetsu as he brought forward the kunai and shuriken.


    "Total is 5500 Ryo but you can pay me 5000 Ryo. Why don''t you kids come after you pass the Genin test and I''ll give ya 5% discount?" said Tetsu.


    "Mm." Naruto and Raito nodded then paid the bill.


    "Boss do you sell those books?" asked Raito as he pointed at the books on the stroll.


    "Well kid that''s not for me to decide. You see, these books, are written by my daughter, she''s got a knack for weapons. These notes just have some tips for improving the shuriken and kunai skills. If you wanna buy them ask her." Said Tetsu.


    "So when will she be back, Tetsu-san?" asked Raito


    "She just graduated a couple of months back, so she would be doing D-rank missions and training with her sensei. Kid, you should just come after six, she is always back at that time." Suggested Tetsu.


    "Old man what about these seals?" asked Naruto as he waved the seals.


    "Same thing kid only after you pass your Genin test, I will be able to sell you other thing." Replied Tetsu.


    "Oh," Naruto sighed in disappointment and let go the five seal notes.


    "Boss how about we make a deal?" asked Raito.


    "Anything about selling the thing than my answer would remain the same." Replied Tetsu as he crossed his arms.


    Clearing his throat Raito spoke, "You don''t have to say anything but just listen, boss. Naruto here, my buddy, is an Uzumaki and you should know, the best seal master in this whole elemental nation are Uzumakis. I have seen the store and I have to be frank here except from storage scroll and explosion seal notes the other seals there are not much in number. That means there is less supply of those seals. Though the seals cost low than ninja gears and weapons they are one-time usable items, just like in games, use once and it''s gone. When people use the item and know its benefit they will come and buy in frenzy."


    "What''s with all the nonsense just come to the point kid." Interjected Tetsu but Raito could see the gleam in his eyes.


    With a smile, Raito replied, "Sell the seals two of each kind you have right now and we agree to sell any seals made by Naruto here to Higurashi shop in future."


    "Kid you are right about there being less seal master in Konoha aside from storage and explosion seals other variations are not produced, if me giving you these seals will help blondie make even more seals. And if these seals are sold from my shop then I will really be famous." Said Tetsu as he had one of his hand stroking his beard.


    "Yes boss, it really will be very helpful, this cooperation will be a really big help for Konoha shinobi and leaf as a whole." Said Raito


    "But what if the kid is not able to create these types of seals? And being Uzumaki I think red hair would make it more convincing. And last but not the least how much will I be getting?" countered Tetsu.


    Enraged Naruto spoke up, "Old man are you looking down at me? I definitely will be able to make those level two seals. Believe it after I graduate and become a true ninja I will- mmph"


    Raito covered Naruto''s mouth then spoke grandly, "Boss more or less this situation is a gamble, and the only thing is you bet or back down."


    Tension grew as an old and young stared at each other. For a moment everything was quiet then the old man shopkeeper laughed.


    Bang!


    Tetsu slammed at the counter and said, "Kid I am willing, take them they are yours. So be it this gamble I am willing to take it."


    Smiling Raito took the seals and kept them in the pouch.


    "Old man what about the sword, that you-" said Raito but was interrupted by a big "NO".


    "Shesh no need to shout. Let''s go Naruto." Said Raito


    "Old man bye and thank you for everything." Said Naruto as he exited the shop.


    As the boys left the shop a huge warm smile appeared on the old man''s face.


    "Raito you didn''t have to do that for me." Said Naruto in a low voice.


    "Did you hit your head when you were a little? Never mind that but what I just did was for us....and the village." Replied Raito


    "Naruto do something for me, ok?" asked Raito


    ....


    Raito gave a set of the five seal note and scroll to Naruto and kept others for himself. Then they went home.


    [Storage Scroll]


    A small pocket space created to store non-living things.


    Size- 1x1m


    [Anti-bleeding tag]


    An emergency sealing tag used to stop bleeding by creating a barrier on the skin.


    One time use


    [Lower Barrier Seal]


    A quick easy to use barrier seal which protects against attack from one direction.


    Block one combination of attack.


    [Paralysis Tag]


    A quick easy to use seal which when attached to the opponent disables the function of mobility.


    One time use


    [Dizzy tag]


    A quick easy to use seal which when attached to the enemy causes loss of balance]


    One time use


    Duration ¨C 1 min

 Chapter 12 - 12 – Fighting Sasuke

    Chapter 12 ¨C Fighting Sasuke


    The boys went home, covered in sweat, feeling exhausted and starved. It was already past noon when they reached home. Sounds of stomach growling were heard. Although chocolate bars and ch.i.p.s were used to fill their bellies, without a bowl of piping hot rice, warm mellow soup, and the chewy fish, there would still be a sense of hunger.


    "I''m hungry, what''s for lunch?" asked Naruto


    "How would I know? You were supposed to make food today." Replied Raito


    "Ehh!?"


    "Well let''s make food and eat." Started Raito


    Naruto sighed then nodded and joined the work.


    Naruto washed the potato and said, "I''ll be going to the back mountain so I''ll be a little late."


    Continuing to fill the rice cooker, Raito added, "You really wanna run again?"


    "Mm, I want to beat that record."


    "That?"


    "Kiba''s record."


    "Boy with the dog?"


    "Mm."


    "You are really serious about beating that record huh? You are seriously a fool." Said Raito


    "I just want to beat that record." Replied Naruto


    "Everything would be ready soon, go and wash yourself." Said Raito


    Naruto happily ran off leaving Raito behind.


    As Naruto ran off Raito continued preparing for food while doing various chakra control exercise.


    *Ding


    [Bonus period has ended.


    Congratulation for surviving.


    Hope we meet in the future.


    -Yours'' Game Master]


    ''What!? What the f.u.c.k was the bonus period?'' Raito tapped the bonus yellowed out on the blue screen.


    [Bonus


    -Twice the loot drop]


    At the notification, Raito despaired in his heart.


    "If I had known I would have farmed more monsters." Murmured Raito.


    "What if you had known?" asked Naruto as he came downstairs.


    "Nothing important but I just remembered that I had forgotten to meet that duck-ass bastard last week and now I can''t think how annoying he will be today." Answered Raito.


    "Sasuke? You didn''t meet him last Friday? So that''s why he was glaring all the time at the academy. It was giving me goosebumps." Replied Naruto as he pointed at his arm.


    "You need to learn to ignore those glares Naruto. You remember the first time I fought with Sasuke, after that match he was always giving me that glare."


    "Eh? You never told me about that." Said Naruto as he filled the plate with rice and passed it to Raito.


    Raito took the plate and put the curry on the top, "Seems like I forgot about that."


    "How can you forget about something like that?" countered Naruto.


    "Just like that and I mean it''s not very healthy to worry about stupid things." Replied Raito nonchalantly.


    "And you know....."


    Time passed and they finished their food then Naruto went to the hills and Raito went outside the house and started practicing.


    After some hours at the Hokage tower.


    "Sensors are the most difficult to spy on." Said the lazy J¨­nin.


    "Ho-ho. Is that so?" asked Hiruzen


    "I am still trying to figure out the range. And an academy student should have been easy to deal with but this one is quite...troublesome." Replied Kakashi


    "They are not your student currently Kakashi. So, let them be for now." Replied Hiruzen as he let out a puff of smoke.


    Sighing Kakashi looked up and said, "I don''t know but I have a feeling that they will pass my test."


    "Sometimes I think the bell test at the very beginning of the shinobi career is not right, at all, but, on the other hand, there is hope that there could be a team, that could figure out the meaning of the test than, the five-year course at the academy would not be called a waste." Said Hiruzen as a sad look came to his face. Turning around he released the smoke which slowly dissipated into the air.


    Knock! Knock!


    "Hokage-sama Umino Iruka from the academy department has come." Said Mariko


    "Let him in," replied Hiruzen.


    The scar-faced man entered the room, stood in front and respectively bowed towards the Hokage.


    "Kakashi-senpai you are here too?" asked Iruka.


    "Ah, it''s nothing just some briefing. Hokage-sama I will be taking leave now." saying that the white-haired man left the room.


    Hiruzen nodded and with a flicker, Kakashi left the room.


    After a short moment of silence.


    "Iruka, how have you been?" asked Hiruzen


    "I have been well Hokage-sama." Replied Iruka with some confusion.


    "Then today''s matter, as Mari is leaving the academy for a long period of time we have thought that we need a replacement and you are perfect for the job." Said Hiruzen as he exhaled a puff of smoke.


    "I don''t think I am that qualified for the job nor have much experience needed for¡­"


    "It will not matter much now all your actions in the academy will be observed by us before making you a permanent and if you have got enough problem then come and do see me."


    "Hai, Hokage-sama." Bowed Iruka


    "Sign this doc.u.ment." Hiruzen took out some doc.u.ments for Iruka to sign.


    "Now that your rank has gone up you are allowed to know more s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e information." Said Hiruzen calmly as he gestured for Iruka to sit.


    "As a headteacher and a Chunin of the village your responsibilities has increased even more but you foremost duty is to teach, it will be just like every day teaching you will have your class to teach and assess their growth........"


    An old and young continued their talk till late.


    Throw. Rest. Retrieve. Repeat


    A perfect cycle for grinding ''Shuriken and Kunai Mastery'' and the new skill ''Throw''. Though not much, skill ''Throw'' increased the accuracy and speed of the throwing action per level.


    It wasn''t that he didn''t want to increase his level but it was nearly impossible to achieve currently.


    Back after eating lunch, Raito quickly created an instant dungeon to farm some more experience but what he didn''t expect was that he would only get 40 exp per zombie and his experience bar was filling too slowly. After some time of farming, only the bigger zombie would give any decent amount of experience points, he exited the dimension and started training his techniques firstly which required chakra like clone, replacement, and transformation. Then moving towards the techniques which required less or no chakra like observe, kenjutsu, running, reading and calligraphy.


    The endless cycle of practicing different skills and techniques, if it was don''t by a normal student or ninja, he or she would already collapse from the acc.u.mulated fatigue. It was possible for Raito because of his ''Gamers mind'' and ''Gamer''s body''.


    After working out the acc.u.mulated fatigue would disappear within 10 to 15 minutes and when it comes to the things regarding brainwork it would be even easier because there would simply be no lagging or tiredness, it was like human turned machine.


    "I really feel something is wrong here?" Kakashi thought out loud.


    "Mm, I too feel something is wrong with him, he is training extra hard and he is recovering quite fast from fatigue than normal and also he is not getting bored." Said Mari.


    "Mari-san, how long have you been watching him?" asked Kakashi.


    "We have been watching him for quite a long time, Kakashi." Answered Mari.


    "His sword handling has also become much more refined, senpai." Added the purple-haired ANBU.


    "Cat so you are also one of his trainers, huh? I don''t think it was written on the datasheet about him having teachers." Inquired Kakashi.


    "We have been teaching him on our own free time so there is nothing about that on the paper." Answered Cat.


    Processing the new information Kakashi again asked, "Are there any more people teaching him?"


    "Yes, a few people like Inoichi and Anko." After pausing for a bit the cat ANBU added, "Senpai take care of him, please." With that, the cat ANBU left the scene.


    Still looking at Raito, Mari added, "Kakashi, after Naruto joined the house, Raito has been getting strong faster and also strange occurrences have been reported in these last weeks."


    "True but all of those occurrences have been thoroughly investigated and all of his behavior seems to be normal," Kakashi answered.


    "I know he is real Raito but, I¡­I don''t want him to grow fast, I would be happy if he becomes just normal." Added Mari


    "Normal huh?" sighing lightly Kakashi shook his head and left the area.


    "Raito." Looking at the figure practicing, Mari also left the area.


    Raito Naruto house backyard


    "Seems like they are gone." Shaking his head he went back to throwing the shuriken and kunai.


    Uchiha District, Lakeside


    A black-haired boy wearing blue high collar jacket was practicing his Taijutsu and Ninjutsu and it looked like he was already wasted, sometime he would fall but after some rest, he would again get up and would again start his routine.


    "I''m not going to rest, I will definitely get strong and kill you, you bastard." Growled Sasuke as he gritted his teeth then again back to his routine.


    Somewhere at the land of water


    A tall man with bluish skin color and a large sword on his shoulder wearing a black cloak with red cloud was walking in front with his partner behind him.


    "This place really brings back memories, why don''t we go and meet a few of those leftover friends of mine. Huh, Itachi?" asked the blue-skinned man.


    Itachi sighed then said, "Kisame, we don''t really have time. The client is waiting and we are already late. Why don''t we meet your friends later?"


    After a long stop, Kisame replied, "Well they are not going to go anywhere so it really doesn''t matter." With that, he continued moving forward.


    Itachi also looked towards the leaf village then continued moving forward.


    Konoha, northwestern hills


    A yellow-haired boy was resting while panting hard.


    "So close just a few more second, just a few more." Said Naruto.


    Taking a deep breath, he again made a starting position, "I can do it, and I just have to be a bit faster than just now."


    Konoha, Hyuga Compound


    Hinata was again thrown back, her face covered by dirt. Again standing on stance but weakly she prepared for the spar.


    Sighing lightly the boy in front of her, the boy with long hair and a white cloth covering his forehead said, "Hinata-sama, I admit you have been doing better for past few days but you are still weak. But even if you practice hard you will never win me in a fight and I will always win, it may be today, tomorrow or any day in future, the result will always be the same. Weaker people will always be weak the difference in the gap between us will continue to increase."


    Then without talking any further, the boy with long hair dashed forward and hit with palm on the c.h.e.s.t, making her stumble back.


    Hinata was so much in pain and tears were coming out from her eyes but remembering her friends and her special yellow-haired boy, she weakly stood up and again positioned herself.


    The boy opposite looking the girl in front of him sighed then again continued to spar which was clearly one-sided.


    The elders in the room with their Byakugan activated looked at the scene, some sighed, some shook their heard and some had a faint hint of a smile on their face.


    "She really is unsuitable, we should focus more on the younger one." Someone voiced their opinion.


    The room suddenly became silent; looking at each other the group of elders found that everyone had the same idea.


    "Let''s wait until the younger ones gets Chunin title." Said the man sitting on the head seat


    "Hiashi, you cannot just postpone this decision. You do have to make the decision and we are not going to wait that long. If you are unable then we will make the decision ourselves." Said another man.


    With that being said the group of elders left the room/hall. Some of them bowed while others just walked out angrily.


    After everyone left the room, Hiashi activated some seals the catching his head he sighed, "Hitomi what should I do?"


    Evening, Uchiha district, Lakeside


    Sasuke Uchiha was resting and it looked like he was in deep thought. At that time suddenly a kunai was thrown towards him. Snapping his eye open, he pushed the ground and dodged the kunai then he head straight towards the area from where the kunai came from. He saw a figure which was heading towards the woods and chased it but then he was suddenly thrown upside down with his left leg trapped by rope. Getting frustrated he struggled, and then suddenly realizing he took out his own leftover kunai and cut the rope. He felt good as he saw three to four kunai struck the trunk of the tree where he was earlier.


    "Come out." Ordered Sasuke


    "Well looks like you are getting better at this. But-" the black-clothed figure tried to say but was stopped by the thrown kunai, which caused him to back off.


    Sasuke still followed the figure but after several steps, he suddenly fell into the pit.


    "But it looks like you are still the same rash type of person." The figure laughed looking at Sasuke.


    "Coward." Sasuke spat the words then he grabbed the rope given by the black-robed figure.


    "Haha, we are a ninja so you know." Not willing to say much the figure walked out to the clearing.


    "Instead of these stupid tricks you should have faced head on, Raito," said Sasuke.


    "And why should I do that? Where''s the fun in that? And also miss the surprised look on your face? No way."


    "Hmph, come let''s start." Said Sasuke as he got into his clan''s interceptor style.


    "Woah, whoa, whoa, hold on buddy. What''s the hurry?" asked Raito as he back-peddled.


    Without saying anything Sasuke charged forward and threw a punch straight at Raito''s face. Leaning his body back Raito caught the punch, drew Sasuke in and threw a backflip kick. Moving his body slightly Sasuke dodged the kick then again chased Raito. Stopping himself Raito also dashed forward and threw the punch hitting Sasuke c.h.e.s.t. Catching the punch Sasuke kicked the flanks. Feeling the pain Raito caught Sasuke''s shirt and pulled him forward and used clothesline knocking Sasuke down. As Raito was going to continue punching Sasuke. Sasuke kicked Raito on the stomach.


    Then the two of them continued fighting back and forth using Taijutsu only and Raito not using his chakra sense. Well, it would have ended much faster if Raito used ''chakra sense'' now.


    By the end of the fight, both of them were down bruised and bloodied panting heavily lying on the ground.


    "Damn you are still so much stronger." Said Raito


    "You are not bad at all." Replied Sasuke


    "Just not bad, well I think it is some kind of compliment coming out of your mouth." Replied Raito


    Your Taijutsu is not bad but why are the teachers pairing you with Sakura and Ino and the other weakling in the academy?" asked Sasuke


    Hearing that, Raito''s face suddenly turned black and angrily got up and said, "Let''s go and get us patched up. I know there is going to be your favorite medic on the duty tonight."


    "Shut up!!" roared Sasuke


    Two of them got treated on the hospital and of course, Sasuke got extra attention being the last of Uchiha clan and all.


    "It''s really not fair those nice medic girls always flocking towards you." Complained Raito


    Sasuke just gave a small smile to the complaints.


    Both of them were heading towards the Ichiraku''s Ramen Shop.


    After entering the shop they saw a grumping Naruto on the seat.


    "Teuchi-san, Ayame-san specials for me tonight and doubles please." Shouted Raito


    "Extra-large pork ramen for me please." Said Sasuke


    "Raito-kun, Sasuke-kun, it''s good to see you both here tonight." Replied Ayame


    "Raito you finally come, I was really starting to think you were not going to come tonight." Said Naruto after which he quickly ordered his ten bowls of miso, pork, and chicken.


    "Oh, and there is Sasuke-teme too." Naruto waved and looked towards the counter.


    "Dobe." Replied Sasuke, his words as rare as chakra fruit. Then he sat on the other side.


    Looking at both of them Raito sighed and sat at the middle.


    Between talks, there wasn''t much and the three of them happily ate their meals politely. Or so it looked like.


    Bidding farewell to Sasuke, Raito and Naruto went to the house and both of them practiced their own things."


    Outside


    "Senpai, it looks like it''s my lucky day I keep on bunking you all the times." Said Cat ANBU


    "Say cat who are you really looking after?" asked Kakashi


    "I am afraid I cannot answer your question? But don''t you already have the answer, senpai?" asked the cat ANBU.


    "Looks like I will have my hands full for quite some time." Sighing Kakashi turned the page of the orange-colored book.


    "Senpai, you must be reading the blank copies again?" asked cat ANBU


    Raising his lone eye, he looked at the masked ANBU then stood up straight and clapped the book shut and disappeared using body flicker.


    The cat ANBU looked at the space where her Senpai disappeared then shook her head and went for her rounds.


    Somewhere, Anywhere, Nowhere, Everywhere


    "Little Seed why don''t you try something else." Came a voice from the direction of intense light


    "No." The small seed use just one for the reply then spoke no more


    "Mr. Light it is no use to talk to little seed, it''s not like she will change her decision." Came to a voice from a corridor of books the end of which could not be seen but if one was patient enough the very end of the corridor, they could see a big book with black pages and of which the only dozen of the first pages were black and the pages were being filled by small black earthworm.


    "Everyone has a path and little seed also has a path so stop annoying her." The voice came from a river source whose end was unknown but if one was patient enough then they could see the ending where the river made a waterfall and again waterfall made the river. It looked like a circle with a river and waterfall but it could not be easily seen. And the water looked like human faces.


    "Hmph, since the path is wrong, what''s wrong with starting from scratch?" a cold sound was heard from the dark purple fog


    "The ancient one said that all path leads to one, the path leads to one and also no path leads to one." The voice was heard from sand dunes and it looked like the grains of sands were dropping from the sky to the sand dunes.


    As all of the voices were talking nonstop, the little seed focused down to the two humans who had her blessing and whom she had given ability. Looking at the new human, who was blessed with her ability, she decided in her heart.

 Chapter 13 - 13 – The Innocent Gathering

    Chapter 13 ¨C The Innocent Gathering


    Knock! Knock! Knock!!


    "Well, are you gonna go open the damn door?" asked Naruto as he looked at Raito who was standing in front of the door.


    "Nope." Raito answered in short.


    Knock! Knock! Knock!!


    "Ai, let me open the door then." Sighed Naruto as he walked towards the door but was quickly blocked by Raito. Looking at Raito, Naruto shook his head and went to the backyard where he met Shikamaru and Ch¨­ji.


    "Oi Raito, open the door, damn it!" roared the female voice.


    "Not invited go home." Roared Raito then turning rapidly he also went to the backyard.


    "Yo Shika, Ch¨­ji." Waved Raito.


    "Morning." Ch¨­ji and Shikamaru waved back.


    "So anyone gonna tell me what is Ino doing here."


    Smiling lightly Shikamaru replied, "We are going to be a team after graduation and our parents wanted us to work on our teamwork and well, after your "encouragement" she has been quite troublesome. Asking for practice and even the diet plan is gone now. I didn''t want only me to be bothered so I told her that we were going to your house and she just followed us"


    With slightly dazed look Raito shouted, "I can''t believe you plotted against me."


    "Hmph, aren''t you the one who started all this problem? If I am not going to give you your problem how can I live peacefully?"


    "Y-you." Raito opened his mouth but couldn''t say anything in rage and disbelief.


    ''Seriously what was wrong with me? I so wanted to complete the quest I didn''t even think about the consequences. And I didn''t even get a good thing from it.'' Raito thought to himself.


    "Oh for god''s sake just come to the back, Ino." shouted Raito


    Knock! Knock!! Knock!!!


    "Ino-San I don''t think we should do this, why not just go from back?" said a weak little voice.


    "Hinata-chan, we are civilized people so we cannot barge through. Moreover we are girls and girls should have some manners." said Ino in a lecturing tone


    "H-hai." replied Hinata


    Waiting for a period of time Raito g.r.o.a.n.e.d and went to open the door.


    Ino quickly forced herself into the room where as Hinata gave a small bow. Coming into the room Ino plopped directly on the sofa. Lightly bruised areas could be seen which showed Ino was still practicing hard just a while back.


    "Ino, Hinata you two came? Nice to see you both here." said Naruto, he was really happy to have more people to join him.


    "Yup that''s great." said Raito in a monotone voice.


    "Noticing that Naruto quickly replied, "He is really just like that at all time so don''t mind him." and the same time elbowing Raito.


    Well I didn''t expect this side of Naruto. It seems that Naruto is far better than any boy in this room." said Ino as if mocking the other boys.


    Naruto beamed at the complement.


    In anger Raito stepped forward and seeing his action Ino gave a small smile then added, "Raito as host why are you not giving us anything to eat and drink? You know girls like sweet things, not much but a little will do, don''t wanna get fat, you know?"


    As Ino was talking on and on Naruto had already made a clone to do him things.


    Naruto move forward, giving Ino and Hinata some biscuits.


    Smiling brightly Naruto said, "Here have some biscuits while the tea is being made."


    At the same time Shikamaru pulled Raito and revealed him some things, "Raito my old man told me that Ino, Shika and Cho team is being made this year. Also pops told me that you, Naruto and Hinata are on a team. Pops told me to work on our teamwork and help Ino to reach standard."


    Raito g.r.o.a.n.e.d, "How troublesome."


    ''It''s definitely that old man and that Hyuga clan''s doing.'' Raito mumbled


    "It''s definitely due to your encouragement." Added Shikamaru


    "Me and my stupid mouth (and stupid quest)." replied Raito


    "What happened has happened and what will happen will also happen eventually." sighed Raito


    "OK, let''s start the day." shouted Raito


    With that Raito went to the kitchen. Ino and Hinata were both confused. Seeing that Raito had no intention on explaining Shikamaru smiled and explained them.


    Raito, Naruto, Shikamaru and Ch¨­ji started to meet minimum once a month in Raito''s house where they started competing who makes better food and who will have the last bite. Competition could be anything- a fight, a game of tag or even pranking someone.


    "Ch¨­ji come here and look what I made." Shouted Raito


    Raito turned off the fire and slowly lifted the lid of the pot, the steam coming out of the pot and the aroma smelled heavenly. After fully opening the lid one could the brown slab of meat with some vegetables and the golden brown gravy slightly radiating on light contact.


    Ch¨­ji smelled it and couldn''t help but run towards the pot. But was stopped by a heavy foot to the face. Ch¨­ji plopped down but quickly got up looking as pitiful as possible.


    "Not even a drop. Hmph!" And with a snort the pot totally disappeared to the inventory


    Raito quickly pushed Ino back and glared at her, "it''s just a family jutsu I am using." after saying that Raito went in front of Shikamaru and Ch¨­ji then asked, "This time we do it two versus two, Naruto and me against you and Choji. How about it?"

 Chapter 14 - 14 – Resolving Burden

    Chapter 14 ¨C Resolving Burden


    "Oi Ch¨­ji, I am gonna beat your a.s.s this time." declared Naruto


    Releasing a deep breath Ch¨­ji replied, "Naruto you dare to come between me and my food? You are getting more and more stupid."


    "Nah-ah, sorry bud. But Raito promised me that I could eat as much ramen as I wished. So I am going to defeat you quickly." replied Naruto


    Ch¨­ji narrowed his eyes and asked, "You think it is easy to defeat me? You must be dreaming then. With my family jutsu, I can easily defeat you Naruto."


    Naruto and Ch¨­ji were bickering and hearing that Raito got ticked off. So he shouted, "You both, if you continue talking, then no one is going to get what they want."


    Hearing that Naruto and Ch¨­ji retreated to the woods. After the two left the scene, Raito turned towards Shikamaru, "Come, come let''s play."


    "Oi Raito give us an explanation, what was that just now and just how the hell did you do it?" asked Ino as she roared and pulled Raito


    Startled Raito quickly hold Ino and replied in the form of a question, "Well that was my family technique, just like Hyuga family''s Byakugan, Nara family''s shadow techniques or Yamanaka family''s mind techniques. If they can have special techniques then why can''t my family have any special techniques?"


    Shikamaru was an exception, he was always thinking about the space jutsu, a technique allowing you to easily store anything you want and how much could it store? Were there any limitations? And more importantly, he had never heard about something like this. Ever. But knowing about this would matter? No, and really he couldn''t care a bit.


    Shikamaru knew Raito, if he wanted you to know something then he would tell you of course but if he didn''t want you to know something, then there is no way in hell you will be able to find out.


    "This technique is called ''inventory''. And well, all it can do is store things in a time freeze zone." added Raito as he showed them, bringing things in and out from thin air


    "Ano, what is time freeze zone?" asked Hinata


    "Time freeze zone is exactly the name suggests, this inventory, after I store things in it, it appears that not a single minute has passed," Raito explained


    "So that''s why the curry at that time was still hot." voiced Shikamaru


    "Exactly." Raito smiled


    "Well enough about me now. Ino, Hinata, listen, you both. Me, Naruto, Shikamaru, and Ch¨­ji have been doing this once a month at least. While we say it''s for training but it just for fun. But we can develop ourselves in various different ways. Naruto in these few days have been getting stronger but he is still weak in Taijutsu ¡­...or chakra control and¡­...still." added Raito


    "And still cannot do math," added Shikamaru


    "Or still wearing orange," added Ino


    "Well yeah. But its good enough that he is getting better and will easily pass the finals," said Raito


    Hinata smiled in happiness and so did the others.


    "Well enough about Naruto, the real problem is you, girls. One doesn''t have enough strength or good enough reflexes or any tech¡­.." Raito announced but was stopped by a punch to the face which he quickly dodged


    "Hmph." snorted Ino


    "What was that for!?" roared Raito


    "Well buddy you were just too straightforward," answered Shikamaru


    "Don''t you take a class with my papa, he should have taught you something, right? Couldn''t he have taught you to speak with ladies?" Ino pointed her finger towards Raito


    "Huh? Are you stupid or something? Why the hell would you dad wanna teach me how to speak with girls?" retorted Raito


    Shikamaru stepped forward between Ino and Raito then spoke, "Ino, what Raito said is right and I am too lacking in the physical department so we are gonna go back and do some exercise." then Shikamaru dragged Ino


    "What about -?"


    "It doesn''t really matter, who wins or who loses? But we have found our team and today some bonding will be a good thing. Why don''t you two play shoji?" said Shikamaru after which both of them left the room


    Hinata and Raito stood there awkwardly in the room.


    Not being able to bear the tension Hinata started preparing the board, "Raito-san, I am sorry I came."


    "Ugh." Raito sighed heavily and continued, "It''s not your fault Hinata, but mine. I don''t hate you but your family. I don''t like them."


    Raito sat down and moved the first piece and continued, "When my family died, the Hyuga family came and asked old man Hokage to let me marry into the branch family and get that seal on me. Of course, the old man was furious and refused."


    "After that, I heard from some ninja that the day my parents died, their job was to bring the elder members of the Hyuga main branch from some place."


    "I don''t know if it was pity or something else at that time allowing me to marry into the family, I don''t even know anything but from then to till now I have always felt hate against those people."


    "The most disturbing thing was that seal which they were going to put on me after I studied Fuinjutsu and asked around, I found out that it was very, very similar to a slave seal. The people from your family are giving it a nicer name, "Caged Bird Seal". If you found out that someone was willing to make you a slave. Will you be happy? Of course, you would feel disturbed, right?"


    Then looking at the teary-eyed Hyuga opposite to Raito. He added, "When I saw you in the academy I didn''t know what to feel, you were different from those old men in your family. A kind, shy and innocent girl, who couldn''t speak with her crush, whose face go red when talking with her crush and stutter a lot and can''t even handle a compliment."


    Then Raito smiled, "It came to me that you were completely different from your family from those old men in your family. I was having difficulties in separating you from your family. In my mind, you were same as your family and same as those old men and even though I had no opinion about you, I know in my heart that one part of me used to hate you. I was hating you for the things you have never done, I was hating you for the things you were never a part of."


    Then suddenly Raito was stunned and next he started laughing loudly, "Ah I am such a dumb. Hahahaha...¡­.."


    *ding


    For the realization and lifting the heavy burden in users mind WIS+3


    Looking at the window Raito cursed silently


    "Raito-san, are you fine?" asked Hinata worriedly


    "Ah yeah, am fine."


    Then looking at Hinata Raito bowed, "Hinata-san I am really sorry for my behavior till now"


    Smiling softly, eyes filled with determination Hinata also bowed, "I am really sorry for any trouble my clan has caused. I will definitely help you with all my might and this is my promise."


    Looking at the bowing Hyuga girl Raito sighed lightly, shaking his head Raito replied, "I don''t want to involve you as much as possible but I can only ask you to not interfere when I have proof and things go legal and all."


    "Mm." Hinata made a small affirmative noise in response


    "Well why don''t we finish our game here?" said Raito as he got back to his seat


    "Naruto sure is a lucky guy," whispered Raito


    A few hours later, Shikamaru and Ino came back exhausted and all sweaty.


    "I am going for a bath call me when it''s time to eat," said Ino sternly


    "Yes ma''am," answered Raito jokingly


    "Tch troublesome." with that Shikamaru laid down on the wooden walkway.


    Ch¨­ji and Naruto came limping. Black and blue eyes, bruised areas clothes filled with leaves and branches.


    Naruto Lvl 8


    3000/3175


    1300/1450


    Smiling lightly Raito ordered, "Well who wins and who loses will not matter but both of you clean yourself a bit and come at me."


    Naruto and Ch¨­ji eyed each other and then dusted themselves and walked towards Raito.


    Without telling anything Raito placed his hands on Naruto first then softly commanded, "Heal".


    Green color glowed surrounding Raito''s hand then covering Naruto''s body then lightly glowing in gold the scratches and bruises started to heal up


    +100 HP


    Naruto Lvl 8


    HP-3100/3175


    Then on Ch¨­ji


    "Heal."


    +100 HP


    Ch¨­ji Lvl 8


    HP-1400/1450


    "Woah, a healing jutsu," Ino shouted at the view


    "So, how was it?" Asked Raito


    "It feels like most pain is gone and the wounds are all closed up," replied Ch¨­ji


    "Same, it doesn''t hurt now," added Naruto


    "Well that''s a relief," replied Raito


    Raito Lvl 10


    HP-1375/1375


    CP- 200/800


    Looking at the stats Raito felt sad, ''It''s still a long way to go. For 1 heal it takes 300 Chakra and I can only perform 2 heals.''


    "That was awesome Raito. How did ya do it?" asked Naruto


    "Well healing techniques are difficult I just did it on a fluke, I am currently trying to master it but still it uses a lot of chakra," replied Raito unconsciously


    "Raito why didn''t you use any hand signs?" asked Shikamaru


    Giving Shikamaru a blank stare replied after quite a while, "I-I forgot."


    "Ehhh!?" all the other members exclaimed in shock


    "What!? I also forget sometimes you know," replied Raito embarrassingly. Then as if realizing the mistake, "ah that''s why it took a lot of chakra." Bring a pen and notebook out of thin air Raito began scribbling on the notebook.


    "Raito, I am hungry." roared the hungry Akimichi


    "Ah sure, sure. Hinata-san can you call Ino," asked Raito


    Hinata nodded and walked upstairs.


    "It seems something good happened," said Shikamaru


    "Mn." Ch¨­ji nodded


    "Guys, help me make the table." with that the three boys made the table, Raito took out the pot and other dishes he had made.


    Girls and boys sat and heartily ate the meals. Most of the time it was Ch¨­ji eating the food like a hurricane but an annoyed Ino managed to make Ch¨­ji eat much slowly.


    After eating the food everyone gathered in the back garden.


    "Today''s game ended faster than other days." murmured Shikamaru


    Raito was the last one to come. He announced, "So guys I am gonna take you all to someplace where monster resides and we are going there to kill them and free them of their eternal sufferings."

 Chapter 15 - 15 - First time fighting as a team

    Chapter 15 - First time fighting as a team


    Good morning, good noon, good evening and goodnight everyone. (My hats off to ya all for reading it. really)


    *If you have come here for moving pictures and flying cars you have come to wrong place


    Here is my typical story a gamer in Naruto world.


    Now back to the story


    "What!?" everyone made a surprise statement as if it was the most ridiculous thing that they have ever heard. In the world of ninja, there are far more weird, dangerous and crazy things that one cannot think of but it was normal for them to react like that because in fact, they were not really a ninja right now...¡­.duh.


    "Everyone is shocked and looking me at disbelief but Naruto you...why are you even looking at me like that?" questioned Raito


    "Eh? Umm....going with the crowd?" replied Naruto


    "Well then everyone, I am telling you the truth, I will be taking you all to a place where monsters reside," explained Raito


    Ino, Hinata, and Choji looked a little pale when they heard monsters whereas Shikamaru looked confused, utterly confused.


    "So who wants to go?" asked Raito.


    "Although the place is a bit creepy and those monsters look gross, it''s a good place for training," Naruto added.


    "Tch, you will know when you get there." Raito snorted. Then making everyone hold hands and making a circle. Raito murmured in a low voice. "ID Create Wasteland ¨C Zombie."


    "So how long are we gonna hold hands?" asked Ino


    Everyone let go of their hands except Hinata. She was all red and stiff.


    "Guys I think, we have a problem, Hinata I think she is not feeling well," said Naruto which was ignored by most of the people.


    "Well Raito, let''s get going to that imaginary place of yours, where those monster are present?" asked Ino


    "We are already here Ino," answered Raito


    "We are still at the garden," replied Ino


    "Ino shhh." Shikamaru hushed Ino then quickly went outside. Popping his head randomly he looked everywhere but found nothing.


    "Shika, what are you looking for?" asked Choji


    "Come here and look at this," asked Shikamaru


    "What is it? Ah-" as soon as Ino asked the question Naruto placed his hands on her mouth


    "Monsters are walking around, you don''t want to call them here by screaming," stated Naruto


    "M-monsters?" stuttered Choji


    "These monsters are zombies. The blanks living after death. They are made up of black gasses. When you kill them they release black gasses. But when you kill more than a specific amount of hundred or more, a bigger monster comes." explained Raito


    "What happens when you kill that big monster," asked Shikamaru


    "We get out of this place," Raito replied simply.


    "These monster cannot see you until you make a noise. After you make a noise it seems that it can sense you," added Raito.


    Then Shikamaru threw a stone at a spot. And after some time few zombies gathered at the spot.


    "They are really blind and relies on the senses," added Shikamaru after which he went into deep thought.


    "Naruto can easily kill these monsters in about a few hours. The only problem is the searching which takes a longer time," said Raito as he handed all, each a kunai.


    "What for?" asked Ino


    "Of course to kill them." answered Raito


    Hearing his words Ino and Hinata became stunned


    "Just think of them as moving practice dummy." said Raito


    Then Raito threw the kunai at a steel post making a loud noise which gathered a lot of the zombies.


    Shikamaru at that time finally opened his eyes and ran towards the nearest zombie with Choji. Choji although he was scared, after getting Shikamaru''s conformation, he also ran with Shikamaru. Naruto also took off dragging Hinata with him.


    "Well Ino, it looks like it is only us." said Raito


    "Let''s go."


    "Let''s start with that lone zombie." said Raito as he turned towards the zombie.


    "Killing them is easy, you just have to attack them a lot randomly or attack their heart right there. I will demonstrate it to you."


    Waiting for a bit, Raito took his kunai out and using stealth, reached the zombies back and swiftly plunged his kunai into the zombie''s heart area. Not letting the zombie react Raito pulled out the kunai and repeatedly plunged it into the zombie''s body.


    After several deep stabs zombie suddenly turned into black gases and disappeared from the sight.


    "It just disappeared." said Ino.


    "You try." said Raito as he handed Ino his kunai.


    With kunai at both hands, Ino looked dazed until Raito stepped forward and hold her shoulders.


    "You can do it Ino, remember the bunny you had to kill that day. Just like that, you can do it to this thing too. These are not real things so there is no guilt to it. Gather your energy to your legs and hold that position strong. Slightly loosen that grip, make it easy for swing. Take a deep breath. Hold it in. Yes, hold it. Then...¡­.Release it!!"


    Ino jumped towards the zombie and plunged the kunai deep into the c.h.e.s.t region. But the zombie reacted faster and swung his arm backside with force striking Ino hard, making her slide back.


    "That would hurt bad." added Raito.


    Enduring the pain Ino stood up and told Raito, "Don''t help". With that, she charged forward grabbed a few stones and threw a few towards zombie''s side. And while the zombie was distracted with the stone, Ino would kick the zombie''s back and it happened again and again.


    "Yawn. Naruto would do it faster, you know." said Raito.


    "Shut it." focused Ino broke from her trance again getting an attack from the zombie, "Damn it."


    Being able to block the strike Ino didn''t get much damage from the hit. Instead got a chance to get the kunai back.


    Again using stones, distracting the zombie, Ino made a huge cut with it and the zombie disappeared in smoke.


    "I did it, I finally did it." yelled Ino both here hand in the air.


    After a few more turns Ino was getting better and the improvement was clearly seen. Shikamaru and Choji also killed a couple of zombies easily with their power combined. Then they later on the tried killing zombie individually.


    The most difficult part was Hinata, she was weakly holding the kunai given to her. Naruto did a lot of talking and showing her a few examples and convincing her which took a lot of time, she was finally able to do it. Seeing the zombies turning into gases made Hinata more convinced and after that her dangerous side came into play, using gentle fist style she quickly destroyed the zombies.


    Raito was just looking at them from a rooftop. Sometimes it was wow and sometimes it was envy.


    "Wow Shikamaru, I didn''t think that I would see the day you ever wanna do some hard work willingly." Teased Raito


    "These zombies are pretty stupid and well I don''t want to be like Ino." replied Shikamaru in a weak voice. "But still moving so much is exhausting."


    "Uh Shika, you just dug yourself a big hole." said Raito backing off a bit.


    Turning around Shikamaru saw Ino clad in the fire.


    "SHI!!KA!!MA!!RU!!" roared Ino gnashing her teeth then threw the kunai over, nearly making Shikamaru a porcupine.


    "Ino here also killed a few couples of those zombies, all alone." stated Raito


    Hearing that Ino made a small victory pose.


    "So Ino, Shikamaru, why didn''t you use any of the clan techniques." asked Raito


    "Stupid." pointed Ino.


    "Our clan techniques or what we have learned till now take quite a long time to execute and also is bad when going against a huge number of enemies and it''s not worth when dealing with these stupid zombies." replied Shikamaru


    "I can use "Shadow Binding jutsu" shadow and stretch it, linking it with someone else''s paralyzing their movements. Of course, it depends on various other things like the difference in the strength and also the amount of shadow I can gather." explained Shikamaru


    "My family jutsu is much more complicated, it is related with the brain, and my first learning jutsu is "Mind transfer jutsu". I can switch my consciousness into someone else body and control it and as I am using someone else''s body I can use their chakra as well." explained Ino


    "I can use "Expansion jutsu" from my clan. Right now I can only partially expand myself. But it''s enough for now." said Choji while munching his ch.i.p.s.


    "This jutsu¡­...I don''t even know what this is but it helps me come to this place, one is blank with only non-living things and another is this place with those monster in it. This place has no other living inside it, also no food, no electricity or any writings and all." Raito also explained what he knew of the skill.


    "OIIII, everyone sorry we are late. Hehe." roared Naruto


    "Sorry." Hinata quickly bowed.


    "So how was the result?" asked Raito


    "It was awesome. First Hinata was not willing to attack those zombies but after showing her defeating those zombie, she started attacking those monster and after a few minutes she destroyed a whole lot of them." Naruto replied excitedly whereas Hinata was all blood red.


    "So Shikamaru, Choji, Ino, and Hinata roughly destroyed nearly 100 of those zombies, but the bigger one has still not come so we are lacking a bit more." stated Raito


    "Oi Raito we have Hinata here with her Byakugan she can easily find those zombies easily." explained Naruto.


    After that being said all pair of eyes landed towards Hinata. Hesitating a bit Hinata activated her Byakugan and started searching. Quite a while passed finding them and defeating them. But it was much, much faster than combing the whole city.


    The sky suddenly darkened and gases started leaking from the ground and got converged making a taller zombie at the end.


    "Guys the big one is here." shouted Raito


    "Ino, Choji let''s try formation-1." ordered Shikamaru


    Nodding both ran beside Shikamaru and got into a specific position


    "Shadow binding jutsu." holding a rat hand seal Shikamaru''s shadow latched to the zombie restricting it from movement but the difference in body size and strength was making it difficult in holding zombie into position.


    "Mind transfer jutsu." making a special square type of hand seal Ino fell to the ground and was caught by Choji.


    "This big guy is really strong but so slow and feels heavy." Ino was in full control of the ''S1 Zombie'' and started making a different movement.


    "Ino get ready." ordered Shikamaru


    "Partial expansion jutsu." Choji arm extended and now it looked amazingly huge, a swing back and it destroyed a few things here and there, clenching his hand Choji sent a punch to the zombie''s face making the zombie tumble back destroying 3 or 4 houses with it.


    "I got out." shouted Ino


    But it only halved the zombie''s HP. The zombie roared in anger and started throwing things near him.


    "Take cover." with that Raito dashed taking Ino with him. Others also dashed away.


    Zombie S1 Lvl 20


    HP 3000/5000


    Looking at the big zombie, Raito was amazed. Ino and Shikamaru dealt no damage but Choji''s one attack did a 2,000 damage easily.


    "Choji is really strong." stated Raito


    Hinata also nodded at the statement.


    "Naruto lets bring them." said Raito then he and Naruto took off. A few minutes later both of them came while holding a lot of weapons. While most of them were projectiles, some were swords and scythes.


    "Hinata can you defeat that monster?" asked Naruto


    Hinata nodded then looked towards the zombie. Slight trace of fear could be seen in her eyes.


    At that time Raito and Naruto put their hand on Hinata''s shoulder. Watching back Hinata saw a smiling Naruto and Raito who nodded his head.


    Naruto started running and landed on a roof, making a group of clones then they also hid themselves on the surrounding area.


    Hinata started running towards the zombie and when the zombie was finally starting to notice


    Hinata''s movement he was hit by a small volley of the shuriken from the opposite side.


    ROAR!!


    The zombie roared in agony, wildly moving his hands, striking all the things in the surroundings.


    At that time Raito also moved forward and came towards the zombie and used the skill ''throw'' dealing greater damage to the zombie angering the zombie even more and successfully diverting its attention towards himself.


    As the zombie came forward Raito took out ''Dragon''s cry'' and started defending. Using ''Chakra Sense'' and ''Dragon''s cry'' made defending much easier only chipping a bit of health.


    Hinata arrived near the zombie and started attacking the leg and hip region. Being different from human the zombie lacked the chakra pathways and proper coordination system. So she was using different methods like destroying the muscles and tendons.


    Feeling the sharp pain, the zombie moved roughly and fell onto the ground. After that, it was no longer able to move freely but it still struggled violently. The struggle hit the Hyuga princess dealing high damage.


    While the zombie was struggling wildly, Hinata was on the ground bruises on her hands and feet. At the same time blood was leaking out from her mouth.


    Hinata Lvl 8


    750/950


    Raito quickly used ''heal'' on Hinata restoring her to full health. Then he plopped down, "Take care of the rest will ya." yelled Raito after which he took out some chocolate bar and started eating it. It looks weird enough to say that everyone on the field was looking at Raito. It even looked like the zombie was watching him too.


    Hinata looked stunned then quickly nodded. Without any other word, she took off towards the zombie.


    Naruto was holding off the zombie using lots of shuriken and kunai but the weapons were coming to end.


    "Shika, should we help out." asked Choji


    "Just wait a bit longer." replied Shikamaru who was biting his lips.


    Hinata reached the zombie and using her natural flexibility and speed started attacking the zombie, again and again, each strike giving a large amount of damage.


    Zombie S1 Lv 20


    HP 1200/5000


    .


    HP 1100/5000


    .


    HP 1000/5000


    .


    .


    .


    .


    After some time the zombie''s HP dropped as low as 500. But then something unique happened, it started turning red and got bigger and bigger.


    "Shit, everyone run!!!" shouted Raito as he ran away from the area. Others followed as well.


    After running a block suddenly there was a loud explosion and the force created great wind which pushed the young ninjas, some rolled away and some were got planted on the walls.

 Chapter 16 - 16 - Damn it Anko-nee!

    Chapter 16 - Damn it Anko-nee!


    Hey you guys know I don''t own Naruto, right?


    Then I am done.


    I am not doing it for money or for any kind of publicity whatsoever, I am doing it because I just want to write. I am writing this story because after I read the various different story I get an image in the head of a much overpowered character fighting and destroying the villans. Haha


    Well, thanks for reading my stupidity.


    GAME


    "Those brats." Anko growled under her breath, following her were a group of ANBU.


    "This thing got really huge really fast." said the purple-haired cat mask-wearing ANBU.


    "Well when the major clan heads are involved, things move as such." replied Anko.


    "And I was on my way for a dango break." added Anko increasing the severity of the matter.


    "He better have a good explanation when I get him." said cat ANBU. Then added, "Where do we go look?"


    "Of course, his house." replied Anko simply


    "This whole thing is because the old man is not telling those clan heads everything." said Anko


    "Don''t worry everything will be fine. Raito is a smart kid." replied cat ANBU


    "Hmph! He may fool those old bones, but he cannot fool me." smiled devilishly Anko


    "You can boast all you want but let me remind you, last time he didn''t want you to know something, after you got to the house, you were lost." replied cat ANBU


    "That was one time!" roared Anko in guilt.


    "Oh." voicing out her thoughts in a single sound cat ANBU remained quiet for the rest of the way.


    "One time, one time¡­..." mumbled Anko


    Anko and five ANBU reached the house of one academy student called Yoshizawa Raito. Four ANBU members surrounded the house and tried looking for him from the windows.


    "Step back." the cat ANBU ordered and the 4 ANBU returned back.


    "Anko, open the door."


    "Alright."


    "Damn it Anko-nee, we just started." shouted Raito


    "Huh? What¡­What bullshit are you guys doing?" asked Anko


    "Trying meditation." replied Ino


    "Inoichi''s girl right, we came here to inform you guys that your parents are worried sick about you." replied Anko


    "Daddy?"


    Shikamaru and Choji looked at each other in confusion. Then Shikamaru''s looked at Raito for an answer.


    "Well it seems I am responsible for answering." sighed Raito


    "PRINCESS!!" came a crying voice.


    The incoming shadow entered the house and quickly engulfed the dumbfounded Ino.


    "Princess I thought something bad happened to you. I was so worried." said the worried shadow still tightly hugging Ino


    "Daddy? What''s happening? I did tell mom where I was going. Didn''t she tell you?" asked Ino


    "Inoichi it is really bad to just dash off to see your daughter." said a heavy voice.


    "Couldn''t, we have come a bit later? It''s damn troublesome." said another lazy voice


    The worried parent who went to hug Ino is "Inoichi Yamanaka". He has long ash-blond hair reaching his back, which he wore spiky on top and ending in a long ponytail, blue-green eyes and strong facial features wearing a flak jacket over a black outfit, complete with hand-guards and forehead protector.


    The second heavy voice entering the room is "Choza Akimichi". He is a tall, plump man with spiky red hair and purple markings on his cheeks wearing a samurai-like outfit which entails a black suit completed with armor that has the kanji for "food" (ʳ, shoku) on it. He also wears a rope belt, hand-guards, and instead of a forehead protector ¡ª a hachimaki tied around his head.


    The last lazy voice who looked like he would just sleep anywhere is "Shikaku Nara". The man has two scars on the right side of his face having dark hair tied up into a spiky ponytail, dark eyes, as well as a goatee with ears, pierced. He is wearing a meshed shirt underneath his flak jacket, a deerskin coat over that and handguards.


    "Told ya, they are just fine," said Shikaku who silently swept his gaze around the room.


    "Let''s go the kids are just fine, Inoichi." giving slight nods to the kids in the room Choza went outside.


    Inoichi gave his daughter a long hard stare and looked at the other occupants in the room and his gaze landed on one Raito Yoshizawa.


    "Ehem." Inoichi coughed in embarrassment, "Raito, you have your last evaluation after the Genin test so make sure to come." the switching to Naruto, "Naruto it seems you are trying to meditate it was a good choice for a hyperactive kid like you, so do your best." Inoichi gave some suggestion to the boys then also left the house.


    Then Inoichi did a very strange thing he walked inside and outside the house several times and with an expression ''I see, I see'' he returned.


    "Then we will be leaving too." said the cat ANBU holding Anko''s hand


    "Wait." shouted Raito then he walked towards the kitchen then brought a big container giving it to Anko.


    "For all the trouble." said Raito with a huge smile.


    "Worthwhile." replied Anko then left the house.


    Everyone plopped down sighing heavily.


    "What the hell just happened!?" shouted Ino


    "It seems that¡­...they couldn''t find us?" said Shikamaru looking towards Raito.


    "This house is protected against eyes, ears and any senses." Raito gave a brief explanation and didn''t explain any further.


    "Ugh...¡­.well let''s continue practicing." Ino broke the awkward silence then began her instructions once again.


    Everyone sat cross-legged even the hyperactive Naruto, actually now that someone has praised him and also told him that it was good for him. Naruto now felt more than just dedicated for the improvement.


    Raito just smiled seeing all this.


    Couple hours back


    *Ding


    Killed 100 out of 100 zombies


    -Gained 100 Exp


    -Gained 4,000 Ryo


    -Gained 36 Healing Gem


    -Gained 20 Bone pieces of zombie


    *Ding


    Killed 1 out of 1 S1 zombie


    -Gained 100 Exp


    -Gained 100 Ryo


    "Everyone fine?" asked Raito, there were bits of pain on the whole body but it was tolerable, leveled up few physical resistance.


    Choji and Naruto who were stuck on the wall g.r.o.a.n.e.d a bit. Shikamaru was struck at the lamppost while holding his arm in pain. Hinata and Ino were better than the rest only slight bruises were present but Ino had a bigger wound which was bleeding. After a few grunts and nods, everyone got together.


    "Take us damn home, Raito." Ino feebly shouted, right now she and Hinata were supporting each other.


    "Sure why not? Then why not everyone hold one another?" Raito smiled awkwardly, after a couple of minutes Raito was pretty much feeling no pain whatsoever but he was still bleeding and the wounds were still there, tracing the wounds he again felt pain. Looked like the Gamer''s body was really godly.


    Everyone grouped together and Raito insisted that they go home to go back. On the way back Raito recovered his chakra and continued healing everyone again and again. By the time they reached home, everyone had recovered to their peak. No pain, no scratch marks, no bruises, and no bleeding, everything was gone. Everyone felt awe in healing techniques so Raito suggested that one of the members in the team should have medical knowledge, after which he directly looked at Ino. Raito praised Ino about her knowledge potential then complained about the fact that she was not using the gift properly and all. Ino blushed with sweet and bitter feelings on her heart then nodded giving a thumbs up for learning healing jutsu.


    Before teleporting everyone back everyone, Raito requested everyone to not tell anyone about his powers, for which everyone nodded.


    "ID Escape." With that everyone was again back to the Konoha they all knew. Shikamaru was the first one to look out of the window. Seeing the people walking around, he sighed and smiled.


    *Ding


    Title Obtained ''The whisperer''


    [The whisperer]


    -Obtained after using the skills without shouting out loud.


    -WIS+1.


    -Increased damage dealt when whispering skill by 10%.


    Raito smiled slightly and closed the boxes. Then to gather the crowd''s attention, Raito coughed lightly then getting no reaction he again coughed a bit louder.


    "Everyone is relaxing a bit." said Naruto as he saw that Raito was trying to gather their attention but was failing big time.


    Raito smiled then shouted, "OI!!!" Everyone focused on Raito with strange glances.


    "So anything?" asked Raito


    "We could have transferred from that place anywhere, right?" asked Shikamaru


    Raito nodded in response.


    "Then why the hell would you make us walk all the back here?" shouted Ino


    Raito remained silent for the response.


    "Raito!!!!" Ino huffed.


    A thoughtful look passed Shikamaru''s eye but remained silent. And Naruto and Choji had had nothing thinking about it.


    Hinata had a complicated train of thought right now. Suddenly she got a group of friends and she was also invited to chat and eat and relax. But it wasn''t the end, then she got to holds hands with her Naruto-kun. That was when she got all stiff and got embarrassed. Unknowingly she was transported to an unknown place, looking through Byakugan she couldn''t find anyone else living, but the whole of the village there were the ugly monster walking all around for a moment she was stunned, scared and she started panicking, but then she heard the explanation from her new friend Raito about this world calling it a different space than our own. For a moment she was afraid of the monster than she saw her Naruto-kun, how he started fighting those creatures then the creatures disappeared in smoke. The creatures were not cute at all and tried to hurt her Naruto-kun, that''s when she decided that she would start attacking them but the main problem was that these creatures didn''t have chakra pathways like regular civilians or ninja, being confused at first she used the regular Hyuga''s Taijutsu but found out that the regular Taijutsu was ineffective against them and it took a lot of time to destroy them. At the very back of her mind, there was a solution to all her problems right now. The most dangerous form of Hyuga battle form, ''Violent fist'' it could destroy organs, bones, and muscle. This battle form is only taught to the Hyuga family main branch, the leader of the family. She had buried it deep inside her mind because of the dangerous nature of the battle form. And also because of the scolding, she received when her father learned that she had learned the battle techniques. But at that red moon place, there was no one so she could now freely use those moves. For a moment she was happy getting friends and doing things that normal child of her age would do. Always peeking at the children playing at the park with their parents happy and all.


    But now that she was going back, she felt sad.


    Cheering herself back, she again listened to her friends.


    Raito looked at everyone and took everything in then asked with a heavy voice, "We did good right?"


    Shikamaru was frowning and Ino was annoyed and looked away. Naruto made an awkward smile and Hinata drooped her head down.


    "Well no need to make those faces." said Raito looking at the faces of the team


    "We can get stronger, right now we have time. Graduation day is not far but that is no problem except Naruto here I guarantee that everyone will pass."


    "Oi, Raito what the hell you mean?" shouted Naruto


    "Exactly what I said, everyone here except you, can easily pass test bat Naruto you have a tendency to fail these exams. (So we have to make sure that no loopholes occur letting you fail the exam)." Said Raito in an easy-going manner.


    "Huh? I think that something is missing but it''s fine. Raito come give me those books, I will create some shadow clone and have them read it." said Naruto


    Everyone else except Raito gave Naruto a pitying look but didn''t say anything further.


    Raito nodded and brought a box full of books for Naruto to read.


    "I brought some more, so you could revise the thing we read in the past, you and your clones can easily finish this right Naruto? And after you guys finish this why don''t we go to Ichiraku''s.? And ¡­..." Raito added some truth and lies and used carrot and stick methods to help Naruto.


    Naruto mumbled but soon created shadow clones to help him do the work.


    ''Easy.'' smiled Raito


    "Naruto and Hinata are getting better and better, and I wanna get better too." voiced Ino


    Everyone looked at her, under the gazes she added, "I know I am lacking a lot and ... and if I don''t do anything about it them, I will feel bad and I don''t wanna feel bad." then she glared at Raito signaling everyone that it was his fault.


    "Uh...So what do you think we should do?" asked Raito


    Hinata on her own thoughts quickly added, "We...we...should learn from each other." but embarrassed about the sudden outburst.


    "That¡­..." Ino found it hard to refuse the suggestion.


    Seeing the hesitation Hinata clarified her thoughts, "I am not saying about clan techniques and secrets but the basics¡­.the basics which we lack, the other may know."


    "That is good enough for now." intervened Raito


    "We can also be training partners. Only through combat, you can improve." stated Raito


    "We already know what teams we are going to be but still we don''t know who our teacher will be." said Shikamaru looking at Raito for an answer.


    "You guys will have Asuma Sarutobi and our group will have Hatake Kakashi."


    "Woah!! Both are great names." said an excited Ino


    "As if, one is a smoker and another is a pervert." replied Raito clearly a look of mock hate in his face


    "Cut it out you two." interjected Choji


    "The fight and all made me hungry. So let''s go and eat now." with that Choji tried dragging Raito to the kitchen.


    "Don''t worry we will come up with some training that will be helpful to us." said Shikamaru


    While everyone else was gone to make plans Choji and Raito went inside the kitchen to cook some food.


    "Oi Choji, think something to make."


    Cooking Lvl 27 Exp 40%


    Choji made a serious face then started making some sandwich.


    "I want some chicken in my sandwich." said Raito


    "We also have some pickled vegetables, so let''s try adding some of that too."


    "And why not add some ch.i.p.s in it too."


    Getting bugged by Raito, Ch¨­ji was annoyed. Putting on an angry face, Ch¨­j took a small back from his pocket, "Take this." Ch¨­ji handed Raito a small bag.


    "Hey what''s this? Smells really nice." asked Raito sniffing the small bag in his hand.


    "Our family special tea leaves."


    "Observe," whispered Raito


    [Akimichi style royal herb tea leaves.


    Famous and rare tea leaves made by the Akimichi clan from Land of fire. Known all around by the elemental nations for its unique flavor and its effect.


    -Help quickly enter a meditative state.


    -Increased healing by 20%.


    -Helps in calming the mind.


    -Increase brain function by 20%.


    -Helps in recovering any and all scar wounds.


    -Helps as a pain killer.


    -The leaves can also be used by burning, helps in relaxation.


    -Permanently increase STR, INT, WIS by 1.]


    "Choji isn''t this really pricey and difficult to get?" asked Raito


    "Not really, we have a lot of this, and I am also the next clan head. So, my father gives me a lot of these." replied Choji.


    Looking at the back of Choji, Raito felt his heart heavy and his eyes stinging. This kind of man was really lovable.


    Sometime later everyone was sitting on sofas and chairs eating their lunch.


    "Raito pour me some tea." ordered Ino.


    "Oh it seems I didn''t add water to the leaves" replied Raito.


    "Tea is for later." added Choji


    "First thing first we have to make sure that everyone will pass the upcoming exams." said Shikamaru and making an obvious glance looked at Naruto.


    "Oioi, I can pass that stupid of an exam and I know it." said Naruto in anger.


    "You said that last time." said Choji while eating his sandwich.


    "For written test, the clones are doing their best learning the stuff, ya know?" replied Naruto


    "What about Genjutsu?" asked Hinata.


    "Everyone gave a puzzled look at Hinata, then after a cough, Raito spoke, "Yea, cheche, if not for Hinata I would have really forgotten about Genjutsu. But the only problem is that we don''t have anyone who knows any kind of Genjutsu."


    "That''s not true at all, I know few D rank Genjutsu." replied Ino excitedly.


    "Really now?" asked Raito


    "I have few too." added Shikamaru.


    "So Shika, Ino. Do you guys know how to cast it?" asked Raito


    "Never tried but I remember the theory." said Shikamaru


    "I can use one but don''t know about others. Never used it." said Ino


    "Choji, Hinata. Can the two of you use any Genjutsu." asked Raito seeing they were not speaking at all.


    "No, my clan members don''t normally use Genjutsu. So I didn''t have any chance in using it." replied Hinata her voice dropping at the end.


    "Then isn''t it great Hinata, now you can use some." said an excited Naruto


    "I am not really good at it." confessed Choji


    Raito nodded and turned around to Shikamaru and Ino, "Why don''t you teach it to us then?"


    Shikamaru nodded then explained, "The technique is called ''False surrounding'' this is a C rank technique, it doesn''t affect the person mind but affects the surrounding giving the wrong impression of the surrounding to the others. Hand seals are..." Shikamaru explained the jutsu and gave a wide variety of examples.


    "Next is me," said Ino excitedly and explained, "This technique is called ''Hell Viewing'' basically it lets you see you worst nightmare turn reality. The hand seals are few but you should know that it easily one of the best technique to use. This technique...."


    "Hinata-san try it, Naruto is just there to try it on." smiled Raito evilly.


    "Naruto try to dispel it. And you guys (looking at the trio group) why not do shuriken and Taijutsu, our team has an easier time on Taijutsu." said Raito


    "I will try to absorb what you guys just said." with that Raito went on his own.


    Ino shouted in anger, "Why you little!?"


    "But what he said is true." said Choji


    Shikamaru sighed then looked at Raito and the group then shaking his head he led the group for some action.


    [Hell Viewing (active) Lvl 1 Exp 0% CP cost 250]


    This Genjutsu is a technique that draws forth such an image from within the heart and has one mistake it for reality.


    -Causes Status: Fear


    -Causes Status: Confusion


    -Lowers Defense


    [False Surroundings technique (active) Lvl 1 Exp 0% CP cost 200]


    A simple Genjutsu used to hide an object by altering the appearance of the image. If the target comes in contact with the hidden object the Genjutsu is broken.


    -Causes Status: Confuse


    Raito smiled at the new Jutsus he can try, but the main worry was the targets, well he can''t go out and try out his jutsu at any civilian or ninja.


    Checking out his skill list and crossing out the most of the skill set only one came to his eyes.


    "Instant dungeon."


    "Instant dungeon probably is my best choice. Although gives me very less Exp points now but I could still probably train my skills." thought Raito then he went to the backyard for raising the level of his skills.


    He saw that Naruto and Hinata were doing their own things at one side then the three of the Ino-Shika-Cho, smiling happily he went to the trio group where he declared, "You guys wanna fight? Pure Taijutsu from you guys and I can use anything. How about it?"


    Using chakra sense, the fight was more or less equal, if the trio group used their clan Jutsus then no one can beat them that was the conclusion Raito came to.


    It was already 5 when everyone finished their practice. Everyone was on the back yard sitting in a circle, relaxing.


    "Today was awesome, really awesome." Naruto heavy childish voice brought a smile to everyone face.


    "I am really happy to be here." Hinata said slowly


    "I got to eat tasty food." said Choji


    "We should do this often." stated Raito


    "Before anyone say anymore, I need to say it''s getting late and we couldn''t learn more techniques and all but I think it is necessary to learn this and is a must." said Ino with a small smile adorning her face.


    "And what would that be?" asked Raito


    "Meditation." Ino said while pointing her finger to her temple.


    "Well good luck on that." said Raito in a mocking way.


    "And why do you say that?" asked Ino her eyebrows raising.


    "You have taken the most hardcore challenge in all of Konoha, because Ino, here is Naruto who has a very difficult time to even stay at one place and you are telling him to meditate which even the old third Hokage was not able to do." replied Raito pointing at Naruto


    "Hey! It''s not my fault that I couldn''t stand at one place doing absolutely nothing at all when I could do a lot more walking and doing other so much more." Naruto retorted angrily


    "Na. . .Na. . . . Naruto-kun, why not give it a try once more?" said Hinata her face going obviously red.


    "Even I can do it." added Choji


    "Me too." Raito added


    Under pressure, Naruto finally accepted, with an ugly smile."


    "Hey Ino tell me what happens when we meditate?" asked Raito


    "The meditation helps you focus your mind and body into a deep meditative state. You will heal faster, recover your chakra faster and it also helps you to reflect on your actions better." explained Ino.


    "Says the one who was going after the broody- Gya." screamed Naruto dodging the shuriken thrown is way.


    "Both of you shut it now." Raito shouted his chakra flaring up.


    "Oi Ino how does meditation helps in healing?" asked Raito


    "I asked the same question, for big wounds it is impossible but for small wounds, the circulating chakra itself repairs the damages and sometimes making that area stronger than the previous." explained Ino


    Hinata asked, "Why don''t we try meditating? Our ¨C I also think meditating is nice."


    "Now would be the right time for the tea." with that Raito and Choji brought the tea. As the tea was being prepared the air had the fresh newly wet smell of the earth.


    Naruto was somewhat able to drink the tea, no style, no bullshit elegance just drinking. Boys were drinking the tea as plainly as water but the girls, however, were different. Sitting in proper position and elegantly sipping the tea, if they were wearing kimono then wouldn''t it be a perfect feast for eyes.


    Bringing some candlesticks, they lit up the candles, everyone choosing different spots, all of them disappearing from each other''s view.


    Ino started with a brief introduction and instruction on meditation and everyone started following it. Not even a minute passed by squeaking and groaning sounds were heard.


    Raito ignored the sounds and again tried to focus on himself, unlike the previous two skills, the meditation was not coming as easily as it should have. It was because of Naruto''s weird sound or it was due to his mind always being occupied by the thoughts.


    Groan!!


    "Hinata, you also know about this meditation right? So why don''t you try and help Naruto?" asked Raito giving a very meaningful smile to Hinata.


    "Naruto-kun relax." Hinata went beside Naruto and started instructing him on the basics, the smooth continuous voice of Hinata and her small warm hand on his back was making him blush and all. But the good thing was, his mind was slowly calming down and he was able to relax, breathing slow and steady. Naruto and Hinata joined by palm their breathing corresponding to one another. Small tendrils of orange were leaking out of Naruto but no one noticed it.


    *Ding


    Performing the skill allowed to learn the skill "Meditation".


    [Meditation Lvl 1 (active) Exp 0%]


    Practice done since ancient period which helps to focus the mind on particular objects, thoughts or activity to achieve a mentally clear or emotionally stable state.


    - HP regeneration increased by 20 per minute.


    - CP regeneration increased by 20 per minute.


    - ''Fast thinking'' skill activated.


    - Gain ''Status: Confuse'' when skill is broken forcefully.


    BANG!!


    "Damn it Anko-nee!" roared Raito

 Chapter 17 - 17 - We will get Strong Together

    Chapter 17 - We will get Strong Together


    After everyone left the house, Raito dragged Naruto with him and went inside the Dungeon World. Arriving at the dungeon, Raito asked Naruto to make some clones and start on Fuinjutsu.


    "Let''s start. Notification- ON." commanded Raito.


    After walking a bit Raito found a group of zombies. Leading the zombie to a secluded alley and closing the alley with ninja wire and kunai, Raito successfully trapped it.


    Snake. . Rat. Demonic illusion: Hell Viewing Technique. The chakra flared and affected the zombie. For a moment there was no reaction from the zombie, then afterwards the zombie shrieked attracting quite a few zombies. Looking at the zombie gathered, Raito selected two and casted Genjutsu again causing the two to shriek in the same manner as the first. Raito waited for some time, then few minutes later the zombies began to quite down and started moving around randomly.


    Raito started meditating, then after half an hour, began the hunt. Casting Genjutsu, Hell Viewing Jutsu, then using Taijutsu to kill them Raito focused on increasing the level of his skills. Taking a longer time to kill his opponent Raito used a lot of skills. Shuriken and kunai were leveling faster than others. He also used the ''academy three'' though the clone jutsu was of not much use his best. His best guess was that the zombie could ''lock on'' to their opponents.


    Letting out an ugly smile, Raito sighed. His Chakra pool was his biggest disadvantage. Four or five times using a higher level skill will completely deplete his chakra. Reading books to increase the INT, he wasn''t reading enough books or so Raito thought.


    Then seemingly coming to an enlightenment, Raito slapped his head lightly then voiced out his thought with a small smile, "Chakra control".


    [Chakra Control Lvl 8 (passive) Exp 12%]


    Raito had a lot of things going so ''forgetting a thing or two was normal right? Right? Or should he increase INT and WIS with status points? Raito questioned inwardly.


    Collecting a bunch of leaves Raito kept all of them into the inventory. Taking one leaf out, he stuck the leaf on his head then taking kunai out, Raito moved to the dark shadow and used the skill ''Throw'' at the zombie. The kunai pierced the zombie from behind and got stuck on the body, dealing a huge damage dropping a quarter of the HP.


    But the problem was the leaf fell down. Blinking his eyes in confusion and thought Raito pulled one kunai and one leaf together and again did the same. Same happened again and again.


    Raito decided enough was enough and quickly killed the zombie, using various skill but sadly though none of the skill leveled upped. Using the leaf concentration exercise Raito depleted his chakra and then went to find Naruto. Naruto was also doing his best, first using shuriken to gain attention of a single zombie then using Taijutsu to kill it. He used the tactics again and again then getting bored Naruto improvised using wires to trip the zombies into the front laid with pins and all the sharp things like glasses. Sometime later he used a rope to make a lasso then binding the neck with it Naruto killed it.


    Giving a sharp whistle Raito waited. Naruto also looked for the sound and found a silhouette. Dumping the zombie Naruto went towards Raito.


    "Oi Naruto, are you bored?" asked Raito with the same thought in his mind.


    Sighing lightly Raito hold Naruto''s shoulder then got back to Konoha.


    "Hey Raito don''t you think there are some other monster in there, you know more stronger? I mean it happens all the time in the games we played". Asked Naruto


    "There may be but it''s not a game so I don''t know maybe in future stronger monsters will come." replied Raito.


    "Naruto you cannot use Genjutsu, it seems. So we have to make sure that you are good enough to know about Genjutsu, how to differentiate them and how to dispel them.


    "Naruto look at everything then close your eyes. I will use a Genjutsu called false surrounding and all you have to do is dispel it." said Raito.


    Naruto looked at Raito and nodded then looked at everything around him. Then he closed his eyes.


    Snake . . Rat . . Demonic Illusion: False surroundings. Releasing his chakra Raito visualized the changes and released his chakra. Maybe because of the skill ''Observe'' or something else he was able to visualize specks and lumps of chakra coming out from his body to a certain distance and stick to various surfaces and covering them and creating a new membrane with different patterns. The patterns were similar to those that Raito had visualized.


    "Raito can I open my eyes yet?" asked Naruto in an impatient voice.


    "Just a moment." saying that Raito picked up the cup covered by Genjutsu.


    "Observe".


    [Raito''s cup]


    A common cup brought from the ''Dancing leaf market''.


    Made by Tokio Manufacturers


    Owner: Yoshizawa Raito


    Price: 200 Ryo per set


    Commonly used to drink tea


    Currently under a Genjutsu changing the outside color from green to yellow.


    "Woah, isn''t the skill ''Observe'' too awesome." Raito exclaimed inwardly.


    Skill Demonic Illusion false surroundings leveled up by 1


    "Naruto open you eyes and try to find clues, if you think there is some problems than just do as Iruka-sensei said, make a rat seal then release an amount of chakra and say ''Kai''." said Raito mixing his voice with a little bit of chakra.


    "I already knew that." said Naruto then he moved forward then looked at the shirt and shouted ''Kai''." With that visible chakra projected outwards and dispelled everything at once.


    Surprised by the powerful wave of chakra from Naruto, Raito sighed and again performed another ''False surrounding'' and Naruto again trying to dispel it. After five or six times the Raito was out of chakra but Naruto still had a ton of chakra for which Raito was envious of.


    Shooing Naruto out Raito started using ''Meditation'' and started recovering his lost chakra. Then half an hour later still using ''Meditation'' Raito used the active mode of his "Chakra Sense''.


    Raito felt like he could go anywhere in a certain field. He tried moving forward and so his vision move forward then he tried moving backward and he moved back. Experimenting a while Raito felt satisfied, also with the skill ''Fast thinking'' activated it ended quickly. Looking at the time the ten minutes in meditative state was equal to about one minutes.


    Small domain type chakra sense was always active and would continuously level up, so he wasn''t worried. Next thing was the ''Chakra Control''. There was leaf sticking exercise and nothing else. The hokage promised him to give the book on chakra control. Damn it. And he wanted it fast. Not just for improving the chakra control but also to do all the Jutsus in his arsenal.


    Practicing his ''Chakra control'' over and over he increased the skill level quite a number of times, feeling bored he looked at Raito. Smiling devilishly Raito stood up and casted ''False Surrounding'' then called Naruto over for food.


    Naruto also rushed over as soon as possible and rushed passed the door or ti seemed like then there was a bang sound and Naruto fell on the ground. The Genjutsu disappeared and Raito was there with his hand on the stomach bending over and laughing madly. Naruto woke up quickly and glared at Raito then made a cross hand sign and shouted "Multiple Shadow Clone technique'' and with bombardment of poof a hundred of Naruto clone came into existence.


    Seeing the clones in front of him Raito felt a little scared of it. Anyone would when you see a hundred of angry faced Naruto with pure evil mind. So Raito did what he thought would get him out of the trouble. He used ''ID Create'' and disappeared from the real world and landed in the dungeon then quickly went towards Naruto''s last position. Then exiting the dungeon world he caught Naruto and dragged Naruto in the blank dungeon world. The clones in the real world were calm and started making noise but then one suggested to just dispel. One of the clones disappeared but got no feed back. Then one by one all of them dispelled.


    In the dungeon world Naruto was not able to get the memory of his clones. But that was not the main problem. Right now Naruto was glaring at Raito.


    "Oi com''mon you know that was a joke and-"


    "I also want to do Jutsus." said Naruto cutting off Raito.


    Raito was silent after hearing Naruto. A few moments passed by then bringing out a scroll from his inventory Raito handed it to Naruto, "That''s what Mari-nee gave to me, also these are the basic of the basic and hokage jiji was able to give me with a lot of trouble on his head, same is that shadow clone technique and that Fuinjutsu book. We don''t have a clan or a big family with us to give us high level Ninjutsu and all but we have friends and nee-chan. and nii-chan. and jiji. Just wait¡­.wait until we become ninja, then we could learn as much Ninjutsu and all the other things. Than we will slowly but surely become powerful, powerful not just to protect oneself but also to those people around us."


    "Now get up and learn those Jutsus. And don''t tell me that they are not worth your time." shouted Raito.


    Trembling Naruto supported himself, his hand on his t.h.i.g.hs, then taking a deep breath Naruto shouted with the top of his voice. His shout seemed like his declaration, his determination and his will.


    It only takes one moment to make a sharp turn in life. It may not be this one nor may it happen anytime in future. But if you are not trying than what the hell are you doing?


    Raito talked about the techniques in detail when he explained him to Naruto but more or less everything about was in theory because of the gamer ability. Learning a new skill Raito learned about the skill itself, how was it made, how could it be used, who was the inventor of the jutsu and on what principle it is used. Basically everything on the theoretical knowledge Raito knew about the jutsu when he pushed the ''YES'' button.


    "Learn about those right now and later we go for the zombie hunt to master these jutsu." Raito said.


    Ox . .Snake . . ''Lightning palm''. With the stretch of his hand Raito hand glowed in blue and small snakes of thunder danced around. Touching a tree nearby, it made a light buzz sound and the technique died down. Again using the technique, this time Raito didn''t touch or do anything but just kept it in the air and after a minute, the jutsu died down.


    "In fights I get more skill experience points than just using it on thin air or a wooden stump. It''s like my ability is telling me to just fight." thought Raito


    Naruto was finally back and they were ready to go back to the real world. But then suddenly the surroundings was quickly filling with red gases and those red gases were slowly forming into a shape of a big hand.


    Luckily for Raito, the gamer mind was active, which kept him sober enough to instantly exit the dungeon world.


    "What the hell was that!?" shouted Raito as he took a deep long breath.


    "What was what Raito? And why are you looking so white?" Asked Naruto


    Looking at Naruto carefully Raito asked, "Don''t tell me you didn''t see that?"


    "Nope." replied Naruto in confusion then looking at Raito he asked, "What did you see there?"


    "That. . . I think was a very big hand? Sort of, I guess. I don''t know what I saw but I felt danger." replied Raito then he turned away and sat in a meditative position.


    "Seesh, I am just asking ya know?" grunted Naruto


    "I am going to sleep. If you like to know." added Naruto then he started walking back to his room.


    "Hey Naruto, I am sorry, I was angry alright. I got scared and angry so I shouted at you and I shouldn''t have done that. Forgive me?" requested Raito.


    Grinning Naruto turned and replied, "You know I don''t stay mad at anyone and especially not you Raito."


    Smiling slightly Raito asked, "You going to bed?"


    "Yup today''s been a long day and seen and did a lot of drama." with that Naruto again turned and went towards his room.


    "Just so you know Anko-nee and Mari-nee are going to be here tomorrow, for a performance test or something." said Raito


    Naruto who was just going towards his room slipped and fell on the ground and his eye has started collecting tears.


    Naruto went to bed and Raito was at the backyard pondering hard on what happened till now. Then he looked at the status page and then at the stat points at the bottom. Tapping at his knees Raito closed the screen then he moved out of the house.


    Somewhere in Konohagakure


    A young man was holding an empty vial and near him was a couple of scrolls each engraved with storage seals, and with them there were various notes, which was written in detailed. But the scroll and the notes looked like they were thrown on the ground.


    Throwing down the vial the young man placed his hand near his head and supported it, "So they really know who I am? Or who I am working for? But that''s impossible, I have not contacted him in a year. And these vials are proof enough that they know about me. Sending some high level expert, just to empty the blood inside. But then why didn''t they take anything else? Or why didn''t they just kill me?" massaging his head the teen picked up the vial once more then crushed it. "Who the hell are you, Yoshizawa Raito?"


    Grinding his teeth, clenching his hand the young man frowned, then walked away. A few moments later he returned back, now looking a lot calmer than before. Then started cleaning the room.


    Konoha Memorial Hall


    Standing in front of a huge slab of black wall inscribed with a lot of names, was the young Yoshizawa Raito. Raito was sanding looking dazed.


    "Not once but twice, if I was anyone else than I would say, ''What a coincidence''. But I am not going to tell you that." said Raito as he looked at the figure behind him.


    Standing lazily was Hatake Kakashi with his laze posture and reading the same orange book. Focusing his eyes on the boy Kakashi moved forward then he closed the book and safely kept it on his pouch.


    Raito then didn''t look back and returned to what he was doing.


    "You seem to know that I am going to be your instructor after the academy? If you passed the test, that is. Even though you are good, I can''t say that your partners are good. One is an idiot who doesn''t have any talent and another one is a talented person but is a coward. You alone cannot hold down the fort alone." Kakashi said in a slow and heavy tone then after finishing his words he silently left the area.


    Raito looked at the direction Kakashi just left then the corners of his lips raised. Then he turned around and sat on the ground.

 Chapter 18 - 18 – Assessment and Rewards

    Chapter 18 ¨C Assessment and Rewards


    Sunday morning at Konohagakure, the stalls at the markets were opening; fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, fishes and meat were on the stalls ready to be sold. Housewives were walking about and buying vegetables, sometimes a group of housewives would group together and gossip about things that they shouldn''t. The ninjas on duty would walk around the village and check security. The other ninjas outside the village on the patrol duty have just come to the village wall to change shift and go their house to their bed. The ANBU operatives were hiding in the shadow looking at the important houses in the village as their training.


    Today was different, different from the other days.


    "I didn''t know your son had it in him," said the Chunin talking to another Chunin.


    "I am as confused as you are, that brat is finally taking his training seriously. I remember some time ago he told me he wanted to be just normal civilian but yesterday he begged me to teach him," said the another Chunin with a small smile.


    "It''s not just him but most of the academy students have this change."


    "Hokage-sama is really great. Only if we had been aware of ourselves we would have become Chunin much faster. Only after my partner died I started training seriously," said the Chunin his voice starting to mix with gloom.


    "Now, don''t you say that. Come we must be on our way for duty."


    "Iruka-sensei, take the lead." Mari ordered.


    Iruka stepped forward and said, "You all may know what happened last time the kids were here, you all are given name list, today you observe these students and write what you think about them. GO!" Iruka ended his command and walked back to the academy.


    The academy instructors moved out and head to their directions.


    Raito, on the other hand, slept late and Naruto was the one to wake him up. Waking up the first thing Raito did was to check for his stats.


    Name: Yoshizawa Raito Lv 10 Exp 7000/8000


    Title: Ninja Academy Student (+25% Exp until level 10)


    Age: 12


    HP: 1450


    CP: 900


    VIT: 38


    DEX: 29


    INT: 40


    WIS: 36


    LUK: 30


    Stat points: 15


    Yoshizawa household member: Additional +50 HP per level +2 INT & +3 VIT per level.


    Holder of the lucky star: additional +1 LUK per level.


    Yoshizawa Raito is a rising genius student in the Ninja Academy, son of Yoshizawa Michio and Yoshizawa Akeno, aspiring to become the strongest ninja ever.


    [Chakra Control Lvl 12 (Passive) Exp 0%]


    The ability to use chakra more efficiently and more easily.


    - Decrease CP cost for using skills.


    - Increase performance while using CP.


    - Higher the level can use many chakra variation techniques.


    Chakra control exercise


    [Leaf sticking exercise Lvl 20


    - Decrease CP cost by 6%.


    - Increase CP by 100.


    [Shuriken and Kunai Mastery Lvl 20 (Active/Passive)]


    The skill allows the user to properly wield both shuriken and kunai.


    - Passively increases damage with shuriken and kunai by 35%.


    - Passively increases the accuracy of shuriken and kunai by 35%.


    - Passively grants +5 Dexterity.


    Breathing in a deep breath Raito continued his daily training. Stretching, running, strength training, resting while reading books then applying those in his actions.


    Training Taijutsu, Ninjutsu and Genjutsu one by one. Raising their level little by little was hard but Raito was able to do it. Most of the time passed opening and closing ''Instant Dungeon''. The skill leveled up slowly but surely.


    Training continued then it soon became noon, after eating their fill Raito went out for a stroll where he used ''Observe''. Sometime Raito found out juicy news and sometimes he found many question marks. Using the increased intelligence and dexterity, Raito took notes on the important information and drawn sketch marks of the faces. In addition, wrote the unique features of the people. Then as if nothing happened, Raito walked off keeping the notes and the sketchbook inside the inventory.


    "What can he be possibly writing?" Kakashi was on the top of the water tower and he was using a telescope. There were not any bad thoughts in Kakashi''s mind just mild curiosity. ''He is trying to observe people differentiating strong and weak people, then why was he drawing sketches?''


    At the Hokage office


    "What is he writing?" questioned the old Hokage.


    Releasing the inhaled smoke, Hiruzen looked at his crystal ball. "Is he trying to differentiate between ninja and civilian? How amusing." smiled Hiruzen.


    "CAT". Hiruzen muttered slowly.


    Then a silhouette materialized in front of the desk. The cat ANBU was the one who knew Raito more than anyone in the even more than the Hiruzen himself.


    "What are you teaching him?" asked Hiruzen


    "Hokage-sama, I am teaching him swordsmanship. He is just a beginner though. It has not been evaluated in the last three months," answered cat ANBU.


    "Beginner is good, guide him when you have time and see if Naruto is interested too. Hmm and tell Anko to stop with poisons. Don''t want Naruto to miss the exams," said Hiruzen his voice fading at the end.


    House


    "Where were you all morning?" asked Naruto


    "Nowhere, just walking around the neighborhood." answered Raito simply then asked, "Didn''t you read the message I wrote?"


    "Message?"


    "Yeah, right here." said Raito pointing blankly at the note on the table.


    "Never saw that there." Said Naruto after a long stare at the note.


    Corners of the Raito''s mouth twitched.


    "Well, it doesn''t matter anymore. So what were you doing all morning?" Raito changed the subject with a question.


    "Ugh, nothing much just doing some things." Naruto looked sideways when he said that.


    "Oh, you made some sandwich huh?" Raito saw some newly made sandwich, which was placed on the table. Grabbing the sandwich Naruto took a bite, then swallowed it, a few seconds passed after which Raito roared, "Damn you Naruto."


    Raito was chugging milk down his throat, "Naruto you just violated the sacred law of this house; Never play with the food." With that, Raito jumped towards Naruto tackling him down and ¡­... tickled him to death.


    "Hahahaha! Stop it! Please stop it." Naruto pleaded between laughter.


    That is when a thing came down binding the two boys lightning fast.


    "Yo brats, didn''t think that you guys would be so relaxed when I said I will be coming." A figure appeared out of shadow smiling devilishly.


    "Ah Anko-nee, I knew you would come so I made something for you." Said Raito as he laced his voice with chakra.


    Stunned Anko looked at Raito, then smiled then said, "Midori-chan, let them go. Someone was good enough to learn things that I taught."


    The white snake loosened her bindings, shrined then went towards Raito where it wrapped around his body.


    "Hello, Raito-san. Sorry for the earlier." Saying that the snake hid inside the clothes no longer speaking.


    "Hey I was there too and-" Raito glared at Naruto then put a finger on his mouth.


    Raito quickly went to the kitchen leaving Naruto with Anko


    "Brat, I heard a couple of things from people and something happened. So I am gonna go straight and ask you." Anko eyed Naruto then, "Tell me everything about Mizuki."


    "Mizuki-sensei?" Naruto made a confused face then a somewhat angry face.


    Then Naruto started telling his side of the story when he was with Mizuki sensei and what that man was teaching him. As Naruto was telling Anko about his experiences with Mizuki Anko''s face was getting a little stiff.


    "Here is your tea." Raito came back with a cup in his hand and placed it in front of Anko


    "Do you want anything else?" asked Raito


    "You should have made some right? Bring me some." Ordered Anko and the silent Naruto brought a plate of those.


    "You should eat less of those, you know. Maybe after a few years or later, you will look like those fat merchants." Raito complained.


    "Hmph, I am a ninja. I am burning them with all those things I do. I heard about the speech you are giving nowadays to those poor things. Not gonna work on me though." Smiled Anko before ordering.


    "Ok, ok. Don''t come blaming me later, when you get all fat and you find no one wanna marry you." Shouted Raito


    Naruto facepalmed hearing Raito, Midori from inside Raito''s clothes also let out a troubled shake.


    Anko erupted, "I can''t find a man? Are you joking? I am the best seduction expert in the whole damn village. I can easily find a boyfriend if I wanted."


    "Hah, keep stuffing yourself with that dough ball and your seduction expert title of the whole village will go down." Shouted Raito


    "Oy don''t you talk bad about dango!"


    "Dough ball. Dough ball. Dough ball. That''s what it is." Shouted Raito


    The hidden snake grew irritated but before she took action, the door flung open and entered a purple-haired slim style woman.


    "HE/SHE started it." Both male and female shouted pointing at each other.


    The purple-haired women were Yugao. She looked stone-faced looking at the two bickering ninjas in front of her, and she was mildly amused.


    Getting a strict face and putting a frown she said, "Anko, is this all for dango, again?" she questioned for which there was a silent reply and the small boy''s laugh. "And you Raito, you are just too rash." Then Raito also became quiet, his head laid low.


    "Now all of you, no need to overthink things. Raito, Naruto today I came under Hokage''s order. You boys will have to show me things you have learned until now, which would be; Taijutsu, Ninjutsu and shuriken and kunai techniques. These three are the basics. You boys have learned the camping jutsu, right. Then show me that too. Raito, show me your sword techniques too." Said Yugao everything all at once, the two boys could only nod listening to her.


    "Yugao-nee, is this some kind of, you know, exam?" asked Naruto


    "No, but if you do well you will get a Ninjutsu scroll." Replied Yugao


    *ding


    QUEST ALERT


    Show off


    Yugao from the Hokage guard wants to see your abilities. Show off all the abilities asked by her.


    Completion award: 500 Exp.


    Increase reputation with Yugao, Anko and Hokage.


    Random skill book.


    Guidance from Yugao.


    Completion failure:


    Decrease reputation with Yugao, Anko and Hokage.


    Decrease trust from Yugao, Anko and Hokage.


    [YES/NO]


    Grinning Raito commanded ''YES'' internally and the box disappeared.


    The slight surprise, the slight pause, slight contraction of the pupil and the slight smile of Raito was caught by the two women in the room each the master of their own field. However, choose to keep silent, everyone has secrets, if it does not bring harm to their own, it will not matter.


    Raito and Naruto moved to the backyard and started showing off their skills. First, by finishing shuriken and kunai, both completed it easily, Raito going a step ahead by running and throwing.


    Second, Taijutsu, after a slow and long ten minutes Naruto was laying down on the ground, while Raito was giving hand for support.


    Thirdly, Ninjutsu, the academy three, the clone, switch and transform, although Naruto used a different variation, the two women did not raise any question. Then Raito and Naruto used the seven camping jutsu.


    Lightning palm.


    Erasing wind.


    Earth pit.


    Earth Cover.


    Fire spark.


    Water condensation.


    Water purification.


    These small jutsu decreased half of Raito''s CP, letting out a sigh Raito walked back.


    "Good job." Yugao praised Raito. Raito was able to do these low-level jutsu in such a less amount of time, which itself was surprising.


    "Yosh, it''s my turn." Naruto walked out then making few hand signs Naruto shouted out, "Lightning palm". A few seconds passed but there was no flash of light or any threats of lightning.


    "Ah. Wait, wait." Naruto again made a few hand signs then shouted, "Fire Spark" reaching out a hand Naruto waited for fires to come out.


    Getting nervous, Naruto again made a few hand signs and then breathing in, Naruto shouted, "Erasing Wind".


    A few seconds later powerful gust of winds formed from the center, which was Naruto. Stunned by his own display Naruto grinned and shouted excitedly, "I did it. See that? See that Raito? Hahaha."


    Raito smiled slightly then shouted, "It''s good that you are able to do one."


    "Now that''s normal." Yugao said inwardly


    "Oh, little brat was able to do one, eh?" said Anko her sound muffled, which was due to her mouth stuffed with dango.


    "Stop it Anko." Looking at Raito and Naruto, Yugao looked at Naruto then said, "Naruto you still need to practice more, what we figured out is that you have a strong wind affinity and it seems that it is your natural affinity. Practice more than you would be able to do all nature Ninjutsus easily."


    Naruto was overjoyed and sad at the same time; he thinks fire is cool but got wind affinity. Nevertheless, the wind is awesome too.


    "Raito you have good talent, (you were able to learn these different element jutsu and all of them in one week. Average ninjas were able to do their own nature affinity in a week or so with little hope of using another affinity. Talented people have been able to use two or three of them in a week time. But you, Raito have proven it wrong.) Keep working hard, these camping jutsu will help you a lot."


    "Damn it''s comparable to those eyes of Uchiha. Cheat you know, cheat." Yelled Anko


    "Cheat huh? I think it''s really cheating." Raito muttered, thinking of the gamer ability.


    "What did ya say brat?" asked Anko her munching disturbing her from hearing Raito.


    "Nothing." Raito replied in short and put a silence then immediately said. "Anko-nee, why not we start with ''that''?"


    "What that?" questioned Anko thing about her past conversation with Raito. Then as if suddenly coming to a realization, "Oh, that. Sure."


    "Midori-chan, bite him." Yelled Anko. The sn.a.k.e.d hidden under Raito''s clothes moved, her large fangs piercing the boy.


    "Stupid, I didn''t say right now." With that, Raito fell to the ground, slowly losing consciousness.


    "Oh, that Hahaha."


    "Raito you like fainting nowadays?" said Naruto in a weird tone.


    Raito at first did not feel anything but immediately after he could feel his body shaking, then he was not able to move his body. His breathing was difficult, started to feel cold and he was starting to lose consciousness.


    Anko waited for a whole five minutes, then popped open a vial and fed it to Raito.


    Raito could feel his body becoming hot, the previous coldness decreased; he regained the control of his body.


    After regaining, the control of his body Raito woke up and threw a black, nauseous, blood, "What the f.u.c.k was that?"


    "It was my own version of the hundred herb mixture that you previously had." Said Anko with a proud expression, hearing that Raito did not know to laugh or cry.


    "Anko." Yugao glared at Anko and sighed.


    "Can you stand up?" Yugao asked


    Raito nodded the immediately stood up, "Midori-chan, you were too quick, you know? When I said to start that I meant a bit later."


    "Raito-san, you finally wished for it. I have been waiting for those words from your mouth for a long time." Said the snake clearly excited.


    "Even so." Raito smiled bitterly


    "Continue." Yugao coldly commanded


    "Oi I was just poisoned and recovered can''t you give me some time?" Raito questioned feeling indignant.


    "Hokage-sama said that you can learn one of D-rank Jutsu of your natural affinity if you perform well." Saying that Yugao waited.


    "Ready", "Let''s do it" both Raito and Naruto dashed and stood in a line.


    Anko laughed at the boy''s action.


    Yugao sighed, "Finish it fast."


    "Next is sword techniques, please correct me." Saying that Raito brought out a wooden sword from thin air and started performing katas for basic academy level sword techniques. After a whole ten minutes later, Raito finally stopped than looked at Yugao, "So how was that?"


    Looking at the boy Yugao said, "If I was an Instructor then I would give you full points." Raito smiled but still waited, "But I will not say that because you also know that the points like thing do not matter, this basic level academy swordsmanship is full of flaws in my eyes. If you go out in the field only learning this then you will eventually die."


    "Waiting." Raito said in a bored tone.


    Yugao brandished her own sword. Looking at that Raito freaked out, "Oi that totally unfair, I just have a wooden sword you would be able to cut my sword in half."


    "Like I said, too rash. Just watch me." Yugao moved and made several strikes, while moving back and forth, her sword covering her then attacking at random moments.


    "Did you get that? I am not going to personally teach you, you just have to learn it by watching." Yugao asked


    Coughing dryly Raito replied, "You are saying that I have to learn it by just watching?"


    Yugao nodded, Raito made WTF face.


    [Host can use ''Save video'' function.]


    ''Hey, what was that just now?''


    "Can I get a moment? I need to go to the bathroom." Saying that Raito quickly went to the bathroom and opened the ''Log''.


    "So, how do I save the video?" asked Raito


    "Video, Start the video, open video."


    Video files


    1. Kunoichi''s Dangerous life


    2. __


    "It was from that time. Start recording."


    The windows disappeared then and a small timer was on at Raito''s side. Waiting for a minute to pass Raito commanded, "Stop recording"


    Video saved, video named ''Video 001''.


    Open video


    Video files


    1. Kunoichi''s Dangerous life


    2. Video 001


    Cl.i.c.k.i.n.g on the video 001, everything vanished then Raito stood outside the bathroom suddenly, "Well that was shocking. I was just in the bathroom."


    Raito moved towards the bathroom tried opening the door, but went right through it. His hands never contacted the door. Raito was shocked but moved forward phasing through the bathroom door where he saw himself sitting on the toilet seat. He saw himself sitting and looking at the thin air and at last touching the empty air. Then the whole thing vanished and Raito found himself again sitting on the toilet seat.


    "I look weird doing that." That was the first thing that came to Raito''s mind when it ended. And a few more minutes of contemplation, "I got it."


    [For figuring out the game mechanics, WIS increased by 1.]


    "Brat don''t take all day doing your thing."


    Raito heard Anko''s voice and quickly flushed the toilet, "I am done. Wait a moment." Washing his hands, he was looking at the Stat screen, still amazed by the things that just happened.


    Coming to the backyard, "Sorry I was late," Raito said then added, "Yugao-nee that was totally unfair. So please once more this time a bit slowly." ''Start recording''


    Yugao smile then looked at Raito then said, "Look carefully now." She moved and made a basic academy stance then slashed the area in front of her but different to the academy strikes, she was striking as if there had been a person standing in front of her and her one move will strike the most vulnerable part of the man in front of her.


    "This is the difference between basic academy sword techniques and the sword techniques which are used in battles." Then she showed Naruto and Raito a dozen of different strikes then stopped.


    "If you remember these sword strikes than use it whenever necessary." Then she took out some scrolls from her pouch and handed Naruto and Raito each a scroll. "As promised these scrolls to have one jutsu according to your natural affinity. Learn them but don''t use them in public, only use them when you become a ninja." Saying that Yugao disappeared in a gust of wind.


    Without hesitation, Naruto opened the scroll and read the jutsu. Raito also did the same.


    Ding


    You have obtained the skill scroll ''Earth Release: Stone fist''


    Would you like to learn the skill?


    [Yes/No]


    "Woah, so awesome. My first nature jutsu is soo cool." Shouted Naruto


    "Hey, Naruto. What''s the name of your jutsu?" asked Raito showing Naruto his scroll.


    "The names ''Gale palm'', there are some difficult words here but I can learn it in no time."


    "I''ll help you later."


    "Okay."


    "Midori-chan let''s go. I got motivated so let''s make those people scream." Said Anko


    "Raito-sama, I would be waiting." Saying that the snake escaped from Raito and went towards Anko


    "What?-"


    "Hey brat what did you add in that dango?"


    "Why? Just what I have been adding in the past." Answered Raito


    "Don''t know but I feel different after eating those. Anyways I will be going, take care. And also when you get yourself, forehead protector, be sure to visit the poison clan, kay?" informing Raito about the Poison clan, Anko also disappeared.


    "Poison clan." Raito whispered the name in his head and made a mental note.


    "Raito let''s try these." Naruto called


    "Wait first we should make some copies." Raito said as he took out some scroll and brush.


    "Ok but why?" Naruto asked as he also started copying the scroll.


    "Hmm just in case." Raito answered vaguely.


    A few minutes later, both Naruto and Raito completed copying the scroll and checked them.


    Now let us start practicing.


    Raito made one more copy of the jutsu scroll closed it after the ink had dried, and then tied it. Raito then picked up the scroll.


    "Observe"


    [Skill scroll ¨C Earth Release: Stone Fist (Copy)]


    Skill scroll ''Earth Release: Stone fist'' can be used to learn a skill ''Earth Release: Stone fist'' a D-Rank Ninjutsu.


    -Skill scroll copied by Yoshizawa Raito


    "That''s it? ''Observe'' level is high but it cannot give me all the details, even I know a bit about this jutsu." Raito mumbled in disappointment.


    Would you like to learn the skill?


    [Yes/No]


    Raito selected the ''Yes'' button and as soon as he pressed it, the scroll shined with a golden light then, it slowly crumbled into lights which were then absorbed by Raito.


    [You obtained the skill Earth Release: Stone Fist]


    [Earth Release: Stone Fist (Active) Lvl 1 Exp 0% CP 50]


    By encasing their arm in rock, the user can deal a powerful hardened punch against an opponent while being protected from direct contact with their target.


    By increasing the skill level, the weight of the rock can be increased to further increase the punch''s destructive power.


    -300+2% damage dealt


    -2% chance of stun


    "Wow, it cost so much less CP but deals high damage. It is definitely a good thing." Raito had a huge smile hung on his face while nodding.


    "Well let''s try it out," Completing the hand seals, ''Earth Release: Stone Fist''."


    Chakra flared moving to the arm, covering the outer skin layer up to the elbow, the chakra changed into the rock. Raito tried to move his fingers, the rock fingers also moved at his commands, trying out a punch Raito threw a straight at the open air and canceled the jutsu.


    "Raito you did it." Naruto shouted and Raito nodded.


    "What about you?" asked Raito.


    "Still trying." Naruto rubbed his hands and showed it to Raito. Raito again nodded and asked Naruto to keep trying.


    The time passed, Naruto and Raito went to dungeon world where they trained their new jutsu.


    *Ding


    Reminder activated


    Higurashi Store


    "I almost forgot about that. Thanks to the gamer powers for the reminder."


    Raito grabbed Naruto and exited the dungeon world. Promising to meet at the Ichiraku''s Raito went towards the Higurashi shop. He stood in front of the door clearly hesitating for a long time. Then gathering his courage Raito rang the doorbell.


    Waiting for a few moments, behind the door, Raito heard some hurried steps. The door opened and a girl of 14 or 15 appeared, the girl had black hair and brown eyes, her hair in tow Chinese styled buns on her head with short fringe-bangs framing her face. She was wearing loose home clothes a white, full-sleeved shirt and green, loose, baggy pants.


    Looking at the person in front of her Tenten immediately closed the door and shouted; "Stalker!" then hurried and disorganized footsteps were heard.


    Raito stood in front of the shop with an awkward face and waited for a few minutes. After which, the door was opened once again and this time, Tetsu opened the door. Tetsu also had a weird face then sighed, "Come in, boy."


    Raito hurried inside and Tetsu spoke up, "First clear your misunderstandings, and then talk about other things. I''ll be upstairs." With that, Tetsu left the room.


    Tenten came around with a sword in her hands, trying to look menacing.


    "So tell me why you are here?" Tenten asked putting her sword at the side.


    "I came here to buy things. But your dad said I should ask you about the price and all, if I wanted to buy those notes." Replied Raito honestly


    "Take them, I heard from papa what you were talking about." Replied Tenten


    "So how much is it? Asked Raito quickly wanting to leave the room.


    "Nothing." Replied Tenten


    Looking at the face of Tenten, Raito replied with a sigh, "Ask away."


    With a little weird smile, Tenten asked, "Why were you observing us? What did you want with our team? And why¡­"


    "Stop, Ugh I will tell you everything. Your chain of question will not end if I didn''t tell you. So I am going to tell you everything." Raito sighed


    Tenten also nodded with a happy smile.


    "It''s not much but I was looking for your teammate Rock Lee. That¡­."


    "Lee, why?" asked Tenten


    "Didn''t I say I will explain everything? So stop cutting me."


    "Okay, okay. I was just excited."


    Raito sighed and continued, "Like I was saying, your teammate Rock Lee was able to pass without passing. He did not do well in his theory or his Ninjutsu or his weapon handling. So my question was how was he able to pass? I have a friend named ''Naruto'', he is also not able to make clones, which is the core of passing the academy exam for which he failed the last two year of the academy exam and so did your teammate, Rock Lee. I was researching about him to find out if there is any trick to passing the exams, I even came a couple of time to speak with you guys but that ''arrogant fate prick Hyuga'' didn''t allow me to talk to you guys and I don''t know where that Rock Lee guy is living."


    With a weird tone, Tenten asked, "You did all that for a friend?"


    "Uh well, I know him since little and it was something that I could easily do. So, I thought¡­.." Raito voice dropped.


    "Lee has underdeveloped chakra coils. Therefore, he is not able to perform Ninjutsu. However, that similar condition was with our sensei when he was little. So to prove that one can become ninja without high use of chakra and Jutsus and only relying on Taijutsu, Gai sensei talked to Hokage and helped him passed the test but he became the last." Tenten explained


    "I know about that. Therefore, I also did the same. The things after that, I am unable to share it with you, the talks with Hokage are confidential." Raito finished


    Tenten clicked her tongue then handed Raito her notes.


    Raito stood up and took the books and started leaving the room.


    "If you want to train, come visit me sometime," Tenten said


    "I will after I have a Genin title first. Oh and if you have similar books about anything else then please keep it for me and sorry for the trouble I caused." Raito said as he opened the door and left.

 Chapter 19 - 19 - Genjutsu Hazard

    Chapter 19 - Genjutsu Hazard


    Iruka stood behind the podium watching the students gradually came in and filling the seats. He counted the number of students in his head while praying hard that a bit more would come.


    Everyone while coming in would glance at Iruka and greet him. The children from clans were the same, just as if any other day, but the civilian students had an odd gleam in their eyes, those eyes filled with determination and something else. Experiencing the sad and cruel reality in a Genjutsu way was a unique way to realize their problem but as long as the students understood what was important, Iruka was satisfied.


    Iruka was feeling happy when he saw almost all the seats filling. The bell rang but Iruka was standing on the podium silently and a few minutes passed by. The students started discussing with one another.


    Letting out a sigh, Iruka opened the attendance sheet and crossed some names with another line then started calling the names of students. There were some lines made with a red pen. Seeing that Iruka felt a bit pain in his heart, but had a calm face outside.


    "Yamanaka Ino."


    "Here."


    "Yoshizawa Raito."


    "Here."


    Closing the attendance sheet Iruka looked in front of him where the students were sitting, clearing his throat Iruka gave a warm smile, "Everyone who has come here, today, have stepped forward on being a ninja. Each and every one of you who decided not to quit, who decided to work hard, are in my eyes better than those who quit."


    Giving a salute to those in front of him, "I salute to you all, to all of my future ninja comrades." Giving a quiet smile Iruka reached the door of the room.


    "This week will be Special class regarding Genjutsu. Looking at the performance sheet I and other teachers realize that most of the students are very weak at Genjutsu. Knowing that you are in a Genjutsu and your ability to break simple Genjutsu is what this week will be all about. Therefore, those who do not know how to break a Genjutsu please go to the next classroom just by our side. And those, who know how to break a Genjutsu will remain in this room and will try to break the Genjutsu. To help us with that your seniors from the ''Special Genjutsu Class'' has come." Iruka said as he opened the door.


    A group of women and men came in wearing the same standard Konoha flak jacket, leading them was a woman, "My name is Kaede Fuyou, from the ''Special Genjutsu Class''. ''Special Genjutsu Class'' or in short SGC is a class for those who want to learn further on Genjutsu and use those skills in the field."


    "Kaede, stop it." Iruka stopped Kaede from speaking any further


    "Now, those of who don''t how to break a Genjutsu go to another room. I will be right there with you." Iruka instructed


    The rushing of footsteps was heard, and a little less than half of the students moved to another room.


    Kaede spoke up, "Please make a pair with a member from SGC and start practicing."


    Raito looked in front of him stunned by the things that were happening. Everything happened to fast for him to comprehend; Iruka-sensei was saluting than these people came and next they had to try breaking a Genjutsu.


    Raito stood up and moved to the back of the class where he looked outside the window, seeing a bunch of Chunin practicing outside, he let out a groan. Then again looking at his CP, he smiled a bit. Looking around he could not believe everyone''s excitement. The looked so enthusiastic.


    At that time, a boy older than himself approached Raito and introduced himself, "My name''s Ayumu. Nice to meet you. Let''s try our best." The boy brought his hand forward for a handshake.


    Looking at the hand and the slightly older and taller boy Raito used ''Observe''. The older boy was feeling awkward, with his hand on air. Just as he was going to retreat his hand Raito grabbed it and shook it.


    "Sorry about that I was just thinking about your name. By the way, my name is Raito; just call me that." Raito said all of it enthusiastically.


    Stunned by the sudden enthusiasm, Ayumu gave an awkward smile then sat on the bench, "So let''s start, I will be using a visual Genjutsu so try to break free from it."


    Raito sat opposite, smiled and nodded. Ayumu did a few hand seals then his chakra flared.


    The same thing happened again like the last time, the world turned black and white the blue chakra particles were in the air some were traveling inside Raito and some were affecting the surroundings.


    [Technique analyzed. ''Binding Illusion-Broken space'']


    [Technique stored in the library.]


    [Please exchange using Merit points.]


    "This ability to analyze is really awesome. If only I could find more about Merit Points." Sighing Raito looked at Ayumu then gave him a thumbs up.


    "Y-you are not a bit affected by my Genjutsu?" asked Ayumu


    "Uh Yeah."


    "But how?" asked Ayumu


    "No idea." Raito replied simply


    "Hey, tell me, are you a sensor?" asked the leader woman named Kaede


    "Something like that." Raito answered lazily, which made the leader women a bit angry.


    "I practice with my friends, lots and some people prank me using Genjutsu. So, I was able to quickly to break free." Raito smiled back giving little explanation.


    Suddenly there was a huge chakra wave, then students who were trying to break free from Genjutsu, opened their eyes, looking confused. Moreover, the source of all was Naruto who released a large amount of chakra


    "I did it, how was that?" Naruto asked cheerfully.


    "That was one big jolt." Said the girl in front of Naruto. Then looking back at Naruto she commented, "You don''t need that much of chakra just to break free from that Genjutsu, just a little is fine."


    "But I usually use this much against Raito, otherwise the Genjutsu won''t disappear." Naruto replied


    "Raito, huh. I seem to have heard his name." Then Kaede opened the file and looked at the student''s name.


    "Yoshizawa Raito, come out. Tell me what Genjutsu you have been using?" Kaede asked with a bit of force.


    Looking at the overbearing women, Raito cursed inwardly then answered calmly, "I have been using ''Demonic Illusion: False surroundings''."


    "Cast one for me." The woman commanded


    "Why not?" Raito did not question the women but moved outside the door and disappeared completely, making the people inside the classroom dumfounded.


    "You should go before it''s too late." Naruto commented


    The leader and her minions walked out but saw no one, but surprisingly there was a new frame hung on the wall of the building and it read out, ''FIND ME''. The minions or the people from SGC looked around but the leader touched the frame. Just as her hand was going to touch the frame, the frame faded out, "I knew it."


    One of the minions who was running suddenly crashed into the wall and fell down, "There was a walkway here."


    "Another Genjutsu."


    A few minions walked forward to help their friend, but somehow they had a weird sensation.


    Suddenly a side of Genjutsu disappeared and a door appeared. Out of which Iruka came out. "What all that noise about?"


    The few minions got scared when Iruka appeared then looked at the leader then at their fallen comrade. Looking back and forth at the walls around them then at the leader women and the friend lying down. Someone could not hold it in and suddenly threw up, and then one after another the group of three started vomiting.


    "What the hell is going on?" Iruka asked with a serious face.


    Kaede looked awkward then with a resigned sigh, explained everything that happened until now.


    ''Well, that''s going to be a huge pain in the a.s.s.'' "First, about Raito, forget about him. Second, you all will continue the class as planned. Dismissed." Iruka gave a couple of orders and the teachers helped the Genjutsu group.


    Kaede looked like she wanted to say something but decided not to.


    Everyone left but Ayumu, he was moving on slowly, checking everything and slowly removing the Genjutsu that Raito had laid.


    Ayumu removed all the Genjutsu laced inside the academy; the only word in his mind about the boy was- ''Incredible''.


    "He seems to be high level in Genjutsu, Hokage-sama. But he used only one type of Genjutsu and from what I was informed Raito didn''t practice any Genjutsu a month back." Surprisingly a female voice came out.


    "I understand."


    "Kurenai find him but don''t interfere. If you cannot him then find Kakashi. He is stationed at the west tower." Hiruzen ordered and then disappeared.


    Inside the office, "CAT tell Inoichi to come at T&I, he has some work to do." Hiruzen ordered as he went back to his desk.


    Somewhere else in Konoha


    "ID escape."


    "I knew it; it would be the greatest escape technique, ever," Raito yelled in excitement.


    ACADEMY


    Naruto


    "He ditched me and bunked the class." Naruto growled in mock anger.


    "H-hey, let''s do it one more time." Said the older girl in front of Naruto


    "Ugh, no thanks." Naruto replied


    Shikamaru


    "Oi wake up, seriously try a bit. Just a bit, you know. Please try." A male boy pleaded in front of one Shikamaru Nara


    "What a troublesome guy. Listen here, your Genjutsu is too weak. Train some more on dummies then you will be able to put one on person." Shikamaru was shocked in his reply. Seemed like Raito was affecting him too much.


    "I am going out. Wanna come?" asked Shikamaru as he walked to the door.


    Choji, Naruto, Ino, and Hinata also stood up and left the room.


    "C-Captain do we just let them go?" asked a minion


    "How was their performance?" the leader asked nonchalantly


    "Above academy level for sure." The minion handed her the performance chart.


    The woman sighed then faced the class, "Just leave them alone. Every single one of them is trouble."


    The five left the room and along with them, a raven-haired boy left the classroom.


    A pink longhaired girl watched as her blond haired rival left the classroom, "Ino"


    Somewhere on the Konoha fields


    Raito was in a sleeping position, with a few leaves stuck at his forehead and a blank scroll laying in front of him. The very front of the scroll had "Shadow Clone" written in it and the rest was blank.


    "Uzumaki Splash!!!" Naruto shouted as he jumped high from the top of the tree and if he were to fall, he would definitely fall onto Raito.


    Anticipating the attack Raito raised his left hand high from where a¡­ bowl¡­of¡­ RAMEN appeared.


    Horrified by the thought of crashing into a bowl of godly ramen, Naruto forcefully moved his body crashing to the ground.


    "Baka." Raito said then the ramen disappeared from his hand and continued to look into the empty scroll.


    Waiting for a few minutes Raito looked at a certain direction and called out, "Can you all not hide like you are trying to act more like a ninja?"


    Few of them appeared jumping from the tree. Hinata, Ino, Choji, and Shikamaru.


    "You guys make a lot of noise. Next time try making less noise." Said Raito


    Raito wrapped his scrolls then stood up.


    Ino asked, "Raito how were you able to make those Genjutsu?"


    "I experienced a lot of Genjutsu in the past. At that time, I was not taught how to do them but now after a few practices I was able to do it, simple isn''t it?" Raito explained in the simplest way.


    "That''s not simple at all. Mastering Genjutsu is the most difficult among others like Ninjutsu and Taijutsu, it requires good chakra control and a strong mind and¡­"


    Raito cut off Ino, "Doesn''t that mean I am that awesome?"


    Raito smiled then collected some pebbles from the ground, "When I asked everyone to come out I meant you too, Stalker number 3."


    Ratio started throwing the small pebbles one by one after which some muffled sounds of pain was heard.


    "You guys found me with the help of Hinata, right? But, couldn''t you guys have covered your tracks. You let someone else follow you." Raito commented still throwing pebbles.


    Ino-Shika-Cho trio awesomely ignored Raito then went to a corner for discussion about their own team and so.


    "Naruto your clones can try out the jutsu and some will read books. While you will do some strength and speed training." Raito again gave Naruto some books.


    Taking out a green scroll from his inventory, Raito gave it to Hinata with a reluctant face, "That''s a healing jutsu; it would be nice that you and Ino learn this jutsu."


    "I¡­ that ¡­my family."


    "Nothing will happen just learn this jutsu."


    Raito picked up some leaves from the ground then started his chakra control exercise. Everyone was doing something, some doing more than others do.


    Shikamaru was sitting lazily under a tree but his shadow was going everywhere, sometime it would go above ground and grab some leaves and sometime it would cover pebbles or small stones.


    Choji was trying out his partial expansion jutsu. Sometime his hand would expand then sometime his legs. Holding the jutsu as long as possible. After the jutsu got canceled, he would relax by eating ch.i.p.s.


    Ino and Hinata were reading scrolls, trying to figure out the jutsu. Mostly Hinata was teaching Ino about the human body anatomy and physiology.


    Naruto with his clone army were doing many things, the original was body training whereas his clones were doing jutsu, calligraphy, reading books and maybe others.


    Using more than enough leaves, Raito was increasing the level of chakra control. Around 15 minutes or so, Raito stood up looking at his chakra bar. Taking out his wooden sword, Raito ran towards the trees, using the chakra sense Raito saw the figure, taking out a pebble from inventory; Raito threw the pebble towards the figure.


    "Why didn''t you come out?" Raito asked again throwing some pebbles towards the figure.


    The figure did not spoke but threw shuriken towards Raito. Raito deflected them using his wooden sword.


    "Not answering huh? Then tell me how my Genjutsu was today? Did it shock you?" Raito asked


    After a silent pause, the figure replied, "After I unlock my Sharingan, those Genjutsu would not be able to do anything to me?"


    Pausing his steps Raito looked at Sasuke and replied, "Did you know. I got that Genjutsu from Ino. Yea, yea the girl on par with Sakura, which she is not going to be any more in a few days. She would be strong enough to beat that Sakura to ground. Do you want to know how?"


    Raito paused then looked at Sasuke with a smile hung on his face. "She is training Sasuke, so she will be able to defeat Sakura. It is not only Ino that is training but also Naruto, the dead last of the academy; you have seen it, right? Naruto can do clones, which means a guarantee that he passes. That lazy bum, Shikamaru is also training. Choji and Hinata are also training. Did you notice the change in Hinata last time at the academy; she was going through them like no other day."


    Letting the words sink Raito smiled then using his wooden sword, Raito strike at Sasuke. With increased STR Raito moved faster reaching Sasuke in a blink. Then using the increased DEX Raito controlled the movement of his hands, the wooden sword landing near the neck.


    (It may not matter much in future or it may but for me, STR is to gross motor and relating to muscle strength and DEX for the fine motor, coordination of muscles, in movements¡ªusually involving the synchronization of hands and fingers¡ªwith the eyes. Copied using Google, Wikipedia)


    "See this Sasuke; I got a bit stronger than last time. I could get to this stage eventually but I had them to help me get stronger and I made some new and good memory while doing so."


    Raito stopped, moved backward then looked at Sasuke. Sasuke looked down possibly in thought, "Do you have something else you want to tell me." Sasuke asked in a strangely normal way, his words difficult to come.


    "Naruto still wishes that you come and join us. Getting strong together, creating memories together and enjoying time as we grow up." Raito said while his hand extended towards Sasuke.


    Sasuke slapped the hand then kicked Raito. "What the hell, Sasuke?" Raito shouted his hands covering his cheeks.


    Scratching his face Sasuke replied that made Raito vomit, "I thought you got stronger?


    Ratio and Sasuke went back towards the group. Sasuke was looking neutral while Raito was using ''Heal'' on his cheeks.


    "You bastard, this is humiliating. I didn''t get hurt in a fight but at¡­ugh." Raito felt the urge to vomit whenever he remembered it.


    While the two of them were heading back, a loud voice boomed, "So you guys are here, huh?"


    Sasuke stopped walking then made a strange face. Hesitating a bit Sasuke was about to move back when Raito caught him, "You aren''t a coward, are you?"


    Sasuke froze at Raito''s taunt. Raito voice sounded again this time becoming more magnetic, "Who or what are you afraid of, Sasuke? Those of your similar age, who go to the same place as you? Are you afraid because they are in a group or what?"


    Pausing a bit Raito again spoke, "We will help each other train, make each other stronger and maybe we can one day surpass the strongest ones. So come help us and we will help you in exchange." Then Raito brought out his warmest smile and extended his hand once again.


    Sasuke looked at Raito then looked at the people gathering in front of him, ''I can get stronger if I am with them, and Raito got strong when he was with them. Sure, there were those three but more people joined him and¡­.and maybe I can too? If I have to do this to get stronger faster then I will do it. Not for anyone else but for you brother.''


    Raito walked forward coming out of the bushes, "Kiba and Shino, is it? What are you guys doing here?"


    "You guys disappeared so we searched for you. So tell us what are ya all doing here? Can we join in on the fun here?" Kiba asked


    Shino, the silent one, walked towards Raito then asked, "My kikaichu, I can sense that they are alive but I can''t find their location and neither can their partner kikaichu."


    Ratio put his hands inside his pouch and took out a small bottle with fuinjutsu marks and very minute holed lid then gave it to Shino.


    "I wish that you respect other people''s privacy a bit. I am a sensor you know, sort of. Therefore, when I knew that something foreign was on me, I had no choice but to act on it. It was fine the first time when I came to the class I could forgive you on that but last Thursday and this morning made me mad." A smile still hung on Raito''s face when he turned back and walked towards the group.


    "Shino-san you bugged every single one of my friends here, just so you could find me or had you done it from early on?" asked Raito his words creating a rift.


    "I bugged them this morning after you disappeared. Since I guessed that you all will meet eventually, I thought it would be the most efficient method. I wished that I could talk to you alone but Kiba-san caught me. I would like to ask for forgiveness from my part for the troubles I caused Raito-san and everyone." Explained Shino then asked for their forgiveness.


    "Hahaha, No problem Shino. No harm done, so no problem. But why did ya attach bugs to Raito." Asked Naruto


    "It''s like going through a ritual. Aburame clan kikaichu will adapt to you chakra so it can recognize you in future, they can recognize friends or foe, to prevent attacking friends, locate them and sometimes also help them." Sasuke added as he also exited out of the bushes.


    "Sasuke-kun." Ino immediately went to fangirl mode.


    Sasuke stiffened then glared at Raito. Raito looked at the sky and wondered whether it would rain or not. Wait aren''t birds here prettier?


    "That''s that but you guys still haven''t told me, why you guys are here?" Kiba shouted this time, his voice feral.


    "Kiba-kun we are training here." Replied Hinata


    "Hinata you here training?" asked Kiba


    "Y-yes." Hinata replied her words stumbling.


    "See there is progress here. Ino is not jumping on you and Hinata is not shuttering that much." Raito whispered to Sasuke.


    "Shino who is on your team?" Suddenly Shikamaru asked


    Shino remained silent, after which Shikamaru looked at Kiba. Kiba immediately replied, "I am with Shino and Sasuke."


    "Kiba-san." Shino said his voice raised a bit higher.


    "Can''t you tell they have already shown us their team? So, what we are doing is, leveling the playing field." Replied Kiba his eyes narrowing into slits.


    Smiling to the scenery Raito looked at the academy then turned towards Naruto, "Naruto, the clones, make them go." As soon as Raito instructed the clones disappeared in smoke.


    "Everyone Iruka-sensei is going to be here in a few minutes so we should go..." Before Raito could finish his words he saw a blur coming fast catching him off guard.


    Iruka quickly caught Raito and disabled him from moving any further, "Yoshizawa Raito."


    "Y-Yo Iruka-sensei. Please let me go, you are hurting me." Raito asked weakly


    "Raito I know you are smart. Way smarter than your age group and you too, Shikamaru." Iruka smiled


    "I am proud of you. Your Genjutsu skills were top-notch but you could have learned more from them if you hadn''t escaped." Iruka lectured


    "Really?" Raito gave Iruka a deadpanned face.


    "I mean ''Konoha''s Genjutsu Mistress'' could not put me in a Genjutsu then sensei do you think someone, from that group, would be able to put me in a Genjutsu?" Raito asked and saw Iruka''s shocked face.


    Waiting for a few seconds Raito continued, "Then sensei what do you think if I were in a class what would I be able to learn? For me, it will be like looking into a board, a blackboard with nothing written on it. And according to school laws, under special act number 18, if I am able to clear the objectives set by the in charge at the time, I can remove myself from the program and instead do something else more productive."


    Releasing Raito and letting out an ugly groan, "If someone asks me who gives me more headache then I will definitely point at you, Raito."


    Taking a deep breath Iruka took out a bunch of paper chits, "Come up everyone in front of me, now."


    The students all around immediately made a three by three line dividing themselves by their groups, which surprised Iruka again.


    Thinking about the next in line clan heads and Naruto, Iruka thought that it was normal.


    "Well let me tell some things to you. First thing is that you all did well on your Genjutsu dispelling, so you guys don''t have to continue. Second thing, you have till next week to train, then come next Sunday, at training ground three by 7 in the morning and don''t be late." The final words he looked sternly at Raito.


    "Next is the preparation for next week. I advise you all to know about different herbs and plants in the training ground three. In addition, the different hunting methods to catch your prey like animals and fishes. Lastly, you have to learn about ways to make a shelter. It will be a weeklong survival trip so I hope you guys will be prepared. Next is the few Ninjutsu you have learned and in addition the Justus you have learned privately, hand seals and chakra control, other things you will learn from your Jounin instructors later. Therefore, you have time to learn what you know right now and level up it to the max." Iruka advised the group of students in front of him.


    "Cough, cough." Raito coughed a bit hearing the irony.


    Everyone made positive noises. Then Iruka looked at the Naruto and Raito.


    "Everyone go. I need to talk to Raito and Naruto." Everyone slowly went away looking at the Raito''s devilish smile and Iruka''s worried face.


    Between all of that, Raito made several hand signs, which only Shikamaru understood.


    After everyone left Iruka let out a silly smile then said, "Say why don''t I treat you a bowl of ramen."


    "Ehhh? Sensei but you said if Naruto was able to beat anyone of the boys in class you would give us five bowls each." Raito interjected in an innocent voice.


    "Oh, oh didn''t you also say that if I have 80% accuracy you would treat us ramen." Said Naruto in a happy tone.


    ''My poor wallet.'' Iruka cried for the loss of his salary. ''Maybe that''s why Hokage-sama gave me a promotion.


    "Naruto let''s eat to our heart content today." Raito cheered


    The group of three teacher and students went to Ichiraku, that night Naruto ate a whole week worth of ramen he had been missing. Iruka sighed looking at his empty wallet. Just as he thought that, he could be saving much more money.


    "Say Iruka-sensei, how old are you?" Naruto asked still slurping some ramen.


    "Hm¡­ I would be 22 this year. But why the sudden question?" Iruka answered and inquired.


    "Then when did you become a Chunin?" asked Raito


    "16, it''s been about 5 years now that I have been Chunin. But why are you asking Naruto?" (Iruka)


    Finishing the last bowl Naruto looked at Iruka, "Nothing, it''s something I read in one of the books Raito gave me."


    Iruka looked over Raito who was also eating his ramen and when Raito saw Iruka looking at him, Raito winked at Iruka.


    Iruka let out a happy smile and asked Naruto, "What have you been reading Naruto?"


    "Hm¡­ things about ninja, chakra, Ninjutsu, ninja weapons and tools, history about our village and some other village and other many more books. Hokage needs to be smart too." Naruto counted off the books Raito had been giving him.


    Iruka looked quizzically at Raito, who gave him a sush sign.


    "Well, continue doing so Naruto and you be Hokage in no time." Iruka encouraged Naruto


    After a few moments, they left the Ichiraku stand, making the Ichiraku father and daughter pair happy.


    Walking on the busy street the pair of three walked towards their home.


    "Iruka-sensei, after this survival exercise ends we are going to have our graduation exams right?" asked Raito


    Iruka looked at the boy then thinking for a bit he answered, "After the survival exercise you will have a week to prepare than you will have your graduation exams."


    "This time the exams are a bit late, you guys changing something in exams?" Raito again questioned


    "No Raito we are not changing anything on exams, it will be same as last semester has been," Iruka answered.


    Then he searched his jacket and took a small book with old green cover then handed it to Raito, "Here take it. Hokage-sama wanted me to give you this."


    Raito casually took the old green book and used ''Observe''


    [A Complete Guide to Chakra Control]


    A complete guidebook to chakra control. The book consists of several chakra control exercises and handwritten helpful notes by Sarutobi Hiruzen containing his insights.


    Written by: Sarutobi Hiruzen


    Owner: Yoshizawa Raito


    Read this book to learn higher-level chakra control exercises.


    Read this book to increase the skill level of ''Chakra Control''.


    Read this book to improve chakra control.


    Turning a few pages Raito smiled then closed the books. Looking at Iruka, Raito smiled, "Thank you sensei."


    "Hey, Raito gets the book. So what do I get?" asked Naruto eagerly.


    "Uh¡­. Why don''t I teach you my jutsu?" remaining silent for a while Iruka answered.


    "Your own jutsu? Really?" Naruto beamed in joy


    "But only after you pass ''The Graduation Exams''." Iruka interjected


    "Awww," Instantly Naruto''s mood fell.


    Raito looked weirdly at Iruka then opened his mouth, "Hey sensei, is there any difference between ''Graduation exam'' and ''Genin exam''?"


    Iruka smiled at Raito and chose not to answer that question.


    "Che, Stingy."


    Naruto looked at Iruka then voiced out, "Say Iruka-sensei, why not let me try your forehead protector for a while, just a few minutes?"


    Iruka got stunned then replied warmly to Naruto, "Sorry Naruto but I cannot give you mine. But after graduation, you can have your own forehead protector, and then you can wear it grandly, like any other leaf ninja comrades."


    Naruto pouted, "Fine.'' Then stretching out his hand Naruto pulled out his pinky finger put, "Then let''s make a promise. If you break it you have to swallow a hundred nails."


    Iruka made a silly smile and then they locked their pinky finger making a promise.


    Raito left the scene a little black book in his hands, his eyes focusing only on the book. The people passing by him hurriedly moved out of his way, some drunkards cursing him and some responsible elders stopping him and lecturing him. Raito asked for forgiveness to the elders telling them it will not happen again but a few minutes later he was again indulged in his little black book.


    Unknowingly his little reading had brought him to the quieter place of the village. It was none other than the civilian housing district. The place was near to a market but most of the time the route was empty. It was nearly the time for people, to close their shops or return from their work. But not a soul in sight for Raito''s sore eyes.


    Raito looked at the street then to the little black book. Closing the book, Raito kept the book in the inventory. Feeling out he could sense there were people in the surrounding. Some good and some bad, people were in their house. Some alone doing their works and some were with their family preparing dinner. Using the ''Chakra Sense'', he would peek into the house and use ''Observe'' occasionally. Some he would find amusing and some had a boring life with average stats.


    A slightly older civilian who had jobs, would have reached Level 15 with one stat more focused than others. Like a laborer or constructer had more stats on their STR and DEX while an accountant or a teacher would have INT and WIS. Raito was fascinated by their name and their description; while he did not know their names, the gamer ability would solve the crisis. Simply glancing at a person he would know the person''s name, level, nickname, and his profession.


    Not even asking the person anything he could get a lot of information about his target and after using the skill ''Observe'' he would get more information about the person which would also verify the information he had seen above the people''s head.


    To his extraordinary amazing ability, there were a few weakness to it. First would be the level difference between him and his target. Getting the name was possible but other than that, everything else was utterly impossible. Second, the people with the mask, it seemed like they were the nemesis of his skill ''Observe''. To Raito''s despair, only question marks were visible, not even a speck of dust worth of information was available.


    This time Raito reached the base of the Hokage Mountain, this time, he also trained his skill ''Stealth''. Not hiding in the shadows or anything too over the line but he walked quietly, making as little sound as possible.


    Soon he reached the top of the mountain where the heads of the four Hokage were carved. On one of the head, the last addition to the mountain, the head of the fourth Hokage, a person was sitting silently looking at the village below with an odd gleam in his eyes. He was Naruto, silently hugging his knees, looking at the village.


    Raito also quietly reaching to the Third''s head and sitting on it.


    Sitting on top of the leader''s head, the time passed quickly. The pair could see the sun going down and darkness covering the village. Soon the light from the sun was gone and the houses started to switch on the lights creating an amazing scene from the above. The wind c.a.r.e.s.sing their face, dusty smell of the ground covering their nose. Both of them stood up stretching their stiff bodies and when they looked at each other, they smiled and walked towards their home.


    Sitting in his office, Hiruzen Sarutobi retracted his hands from the crystal balls and smiled. Walking away from the inner chamber, Hiruzen stood near his desk and looked outside the window. Touching the window glass, he gave a weak smile. Then sitting on the Hokage''s seat Hiruzen gave a command. A figure appeared and bowed with respect, "Hokage-sama."


    "Call me Mari and Anko." His gaze and voice hardened Hiruzen commanded.


    "Right away," with that, the figure disappeared

 Chapter 20 - 20 – Training

    Chapter 20 ¨C Training


    Next day Raito woke up early, this day, his schedule a little bit different from the other days. Raito was in his training clothes, started warming up, and then started running in a direction. In the first hour he ran at a slow pace, he had to stop once in between. Tired from the long run Raito rested under a shed and downed a water bottle. Resting for the time being Raito meditated under the tree. Recovering from the fatigue Raito again started running and kept repeating the procedure repeatedly.


    Training grounds were only open to the ninjas starting from the Genin. The academy students were not allowed in the training ground or not allowed to learn from the active duty ninja and so many other things.


    Raito was currently running uphill on the back mountains. All of these would have been much easier with his 30 plus STR stat but he was strapping himself with some weight cuffs, which he had created. On each limb, there was the addition of five-kilo weight strapped on him. He was quite happy with the occasional notification about his stats up. The only thing that was bugging him and making him feel down was the description of the weights.


    [Extremely novice level ¨C Weight Cuffs]


    Weight cuffs made by the extremely novice Craftsman, with horrible design and even horrible ending making the weight cuffs extremely disappointing to use and look.


    Made by ¨C Yoshizawa Raito


    Owner ¨C Yoshizawa Raito


    Grade ¨C -10/10


    Weight ¨C 5 kg


    Durability ¨C 5/20


    Made from randomly scrapped metals mainly cast iron, Fire jutsu ¨C Camping jutsu ¨C spark, stolen hammer¡­more.


    Uses>>


    Flaws>>


    Pressing on the ''Uses'', another window popped up. It had only a few listings and the first listing was that the weight cuffs could be used as scrap metals for forging something properly usable. Then only in the next listing was there anything about being used as weight and training. Depressed Raito refused to look forward. Closing the tab Raito hesitantly clicked the ''Flaws'' on which a long list was present. Not even daring to glance Raito closed the tab immediately.


    Three hours after the start of running Raito stood at the lands of back mountains where he started using swords and at the same time, he was using clone technique to make many clones of himself until it hit the time limit. Doing the things just like Iruka-sensei had told him, Raito was trying to increase the level of all his skills.


    Leveling up all the skill took quite a time but the time eventually passed and the sun was above his head. Raito picked up his jacket and ran towards home.


    Just as he was about to enter his house Raito heard myriad of voices. Paying no heed Raito entered the house, directly went for the shower. ''Stealth'' was nearly reaching forty and he was easily able to sneak past all the people in his house.


    Quickly reaching the second floor, he showered and changed. He directly went to the back yard where all of them had gathered. On the table outside were many books, most of which were regarding plants and vegetation.


    Picking up a book Raito went to the group, "What are you guys talking about?"


    "Ino was telling about Asuma-sensei. She gathered some news about him." Replied Shikamaru


    "I also know about Kakashi-sensei too." Added Ino


    "You must have gained info from your dad, right?" asked Raito


    Ino smiled but did not answer.


    "You called us. So what was it?" Shikamaru asked


    Raito waved his hand in the air and brought out a few papers then passed it to everyone around him.


    "These are Jutsu that are going to be very useful next week." Raito answered


    Shikamaru scanned through the small stack of paper then smiled a bit, "These are definitely useful for camping."


    "So the name ''Camping Jutsu''." Naruto added


    "They were supposed to be taught in the academy along with Clone, Transformation and Replacement Jutsu but after the war ended, the civilian population inside the academy increased, the council decided that these Jutsu will be taught after the academy students become a Genin at least." Raito explained


    "Next is this." Naruto took out a paper tag, which had kanji for kunai written on it and showed it to the crowd.


    "Fuinjutsu?" asked Ino


    "More specifically a storage seal. This is a very small one so it can only store one item." Then Naruto made a hand sign and passed his chakra to the seal. With a puff, a kunai appeared out of the seal with the weapon kanji written on the seal disappeared.


    "Then in a bigger scroll we can keep more things?" asked Ch¨­ji


    "I don''t think it''s possible to take scrolls with us." Hinata added in a small voice.


    Everyone looked at her making her cower more.


    "Why can''t we take scrolls with us Hinata?" Naruto asked in his happy voice.


    "Because I-I saw it last semester, the earlier parts." Hinata said and dropped her head.


    "With Byakugan." Raito commented and Hinata nodded.


    "With Hinata''s knowledge about the survival mission, it would make it a bit easier for us." Shikamaru said


    "So what happens in this test?" Naruto asked


    Hinata took a breath and exhaled then explained, "In the training ground zero, there are two wooden cabins, one for boys and another for girls. Every one is checked thoroughly and things are such as kunai pouch or sealing scrolls or personal weapons are taken. Then we are divided into groups and the groups are initially given a specific region. Each Chunin teachers would escort a group to their specific region. After that, I couldn''t see more."


    "This sounds easy." Raito commented


    "Food will be problem." Choji commented


    "We will make plans accordingly; first let''s train with those Jutsu." Shikamaru said and started reading the paper.


    Everyone nodded and started reading the paper except for Naruto and Raito.


    Raito pulled Naruto and gave him three sheets of paper, "Give Kiba and Shino these, and¡­.." Raito whispered the rest in Naruto''s ear. After that, Naruto disappeared making two clones going different directions.


    Raito walked toward a corner and opened his skill list.


    His highest were Chakra Sense, Kenjutsu, False surrounding, Chakra control, Observe, Stealth, Clone, Teaching, and Reading


    Chakra Sense is always active and only a few times it would be off. Kenjutsu was used a lot in killing zombies, False Surrounding was also active most of the time, after it faded it itself Raito would gain notification then he would cast it again. ''Observe'' and ''stealth'' were used a lot more, like when he would go out for a walk, everytime. The leaf sticking was going to hit fifty soon and the main branch Chakra Control was going to hit twenty.


    Ratio brought out a stump a little less than his full size and sending a chunk of chakra in it. Raito went to the other side, made a few hand signs and called out "Replacement Jutsu". Looking at the skill level Raito saw an increase in 5% and after closing the windows Raito did it repeatedly. Exhausting his chakra, Raito meditated and recovered his chakra a bit faster, and then he would continue doing the same.


    Quite a while later Naruto returned his clothes dirty and his face bruised. And behind him was Sasuke who was also bruised and battered. Raito called out Hinata and Ino to try out medical Jutsus.


    "You girls don''t worry. Last time I healed you all right. Try to remember that time and start again. Mystical Palm Jutsu is really simple Jutsu, by sending the chakra to the wounds, you activate and speed up the body''s natural healing process, you don''t need to send a lot of chakra, only a little would suffice." Raito explained his voice soothing to hear, Hinata and Ino had been in a trance-like state because of their concentration they absorbed Raito''s suggestion quickly.


    Fifteen minutes later Ino and Hinata got out of the trance and had already healed Naruto and Raito to a good state.


    "Woah. I thought only Raito could do something like this." Naruto said in amazement.


    Sasuke also looked at his wounds in astonishment and carefully sized Hinata and Ino.


    "Don''t worry Sasuke; you can get treated again later when I beat you down." Ratio said smiling


    "Hmph," Sasuke snorted and suddenly threw shuriken flying towards Raito.


    Being prepared Raito took out a wooden sword and blocked them but in the cost of being wide open which Sasuke used. Sasuke not wanting to let go of the chance ran forward at top speed and tackled Raito in the gut. Groaning Raito fell down and the sword leaving his arm. Sasuke quickly mounted Raito and send a punch straight at Raito''s face but the punch was grabbed instead and another punch too. Raito raised his h.i.p.s and legs then caught Sasuke''s head and then let go of his hands. Feeling the weak grapple and his free hands Sasuke stomped the ground hard and flipped back escaping the hold. Raito also quickly backed off, hurriedly grabbing his sword along with it; Raito grabbed few pebbles with his free hand. Not waiting a bit Raito threw the pebbles towards Sasuke, but Sasuke also threw some pebbles towards Raito copying him. Stunned Raito quickly dodged the pebbles and decided to hide in the bushes.


    "Raito if Sasuke-kun got a cut on his face than I am going to tell his fan club about it." Ino shouted


    Both the boy paled considerably, one felt disgusted by the fact that a fan club was created for him and the other, felt his whole body tingling, thinking about the sheer number the club had.


    Raito quietly put away his wooden sword in the inventory then using the ''Chakra Sense'' to find Sasuke, he silently moved towards his blind spot. Then casually throwing the pebbles at random directions trying to distract Sasuke, Raito waited for a decisive strike. However, Sasuke from past experiences fighting with Raito did not act quickly; he looked around the area carefully waiting for Raito.


    Raito looked at Sasuke and cursed himself for using the same move countless times. Sighing a bit Raito dropped down and dashed towards Sasuke. But to his surprise Sasuke was making hand signs and looking at him, Raito deduced that there were two more hand signs left. Therefore, without wasting a single second Raito made two simple hand signs. Sasuke took a deep breath and exhaled and with it, a big fireball was expelled. The fire scorched a few trees and rocks and charred the ground black. Gradually the fire died down and silence fell. Sasuke did not saw Raito anywhere so he walked forward, his eyes scanning the surrounding for any traces. Not finding anything Sasuke decided to walk back but before he could, a figure appeared from below and punched him in the gut. The hit was far worse than he ever experienced and when he saw, he nearly fainted. Sasuke saw Raito''s hand covered with stone which was slowly morphing back to the normal. Other than his hair being a little singed, body covered with dirt and a few bruises, Raito looked all fine.


    "Man because of you I now have to get a haircut." Raito g.r.o.a.n.e.d


    Sasuke fell down holding his abdomen. Ino and Hinata quickly went beside Sasuke and started healing him. Raito also plopped down and started healing himself, ''Other healing Jutsu pales considerably in front of this healing skill.''


    On a distance away, Kakashi was standing on a water tank, looking at a certain house, one red eye watching the two boys fighting. He was surprised when the Uchiha could use, ''Great Fireball Jutsu'' and his sparring partner, Yoshizawa used ''Stone Fist''. But it was normal for a boy from clan to get some Jutsu before becoming a ninja but on the other hand¡­


    Fifteen minutes later the two sat opposite to each other and in between them was a shogi board.


    "If you don''t want to go all the way to the hospital for healing and want to get free heals from them, then just move the f.u.c.k.i.n.g piece." Raito shouted as he glared at Sasuke.


    "Why are you getting so angry for?" Sasuke asked calmly as he chewed his rice balls.


    "It''s been five minutes since you last touched a piece." Raito answered


    "How do you know it''s been exactly five minutes?" Sasuke questioned again


    "It''s just an estimation." Raito answered a bit slowly and asked, "Why are you questioning me?"


    Sasuke made a grunting noise but did not answer.


    "Look here Sasuke, those girls are doing Chakra Control Exercise and the boys back there are doing strength training and I am stuck with you playing a one-sided game where you don''t play." Raito said in exhaustion and grabbed a rice ball.


    Sasuke listened and moved a piece.


    Sighing, Raito made a move instantly, ''I used the same strategy against Shikamaru and he won in ten moves.''


    Raito brought out a leaf from his pouch and kept it in the center of his palm and started his chakra control exercise, changing it a bit Raito made the leaf to raise from his palm and spin.


    A bit later Raito heard a familiar ding sound.


    Ding


    A skill has been created through a special action.


    [Leaf spinning Lv1 (active) CP Cost 1 CP per second Exp 0.0%]


    A method of Chakra controlling, using the chakra to spin an object.


    Every 10 level will give an additional 20 CP.


    Listed under chakra control exercise.


    A shock ran past his entire body. He got a feeling that he could breathe a little bit more than just now. A screen popped in front of him that made Raito smile.


    Ding


    Skill ''Chakra Sense'' leveled up to level 50.


    [Chakra Sense Lvl 50 (Active) Exp 0.0%]


    The ability to sense the chakra outside the body, the higher the level greater the area of sensing and more precise.


    # Domain


    # Area Sense


    # Chakra Signature Sensing


    # Imaging


    # Physic sensing


    # Clarity


    # Area Expansion


    Raito smiled at the notification and checked the area his senses covered. Now he could sense Kakashi who was a kilometer away. Raito turned towards the Kakashi''s direction then smiled. Looking at the weird things Raito did, Sasuke was looking at him in confusion then made a comment, "You are weird." Then moved a piece.


    Looking at Sasuke who was giving him a weird face and ''you are weird'' comment. Raito flew in rage and hammered the board destroying the formation.


    Raito looked at the board and his face twisted in pain. Sasuke stood up with a smile on his face.


    "Hey come back we still haven''t finished the game."


    "Oioi Sasuke, come back you bastard."


    Raito shouted to Sasuke''s deaf ears and venting his frustration for a few minutes, Raito sat down and started his ''Chakra Control Exercises ¨C Leaf Sticking Exercise''.


    At the Hokage''s office


    Hiruzen smiled looking at his crystal ball then walked towards the desk where his clones were doing the paperwork, sitting in his comfortable chair he took a deep breath of smoke then exhaled.


    A figure appeared in front of him making his short break end. Sighing he looked at the figure, "Kakashi, anything?"


    Reading his book and with a lazy posture Kakashi answered, "He improved again."


    "Again?" Hiruzen questioned then frowning he walked towards a bookshelf then tracing the books he stopped at one and injecting a bit of chakra then pulling it out.


    Flipping a few pages Hiruzen read the text in it then gave the book to Kakashi.


    "Soon he would surpass his father." Hiruzen stated then sitting on his chair and sighed.


    "Kakashi take care of him." Hiruzen added his words slow and heavy.


    Kakashi, on the other hand, was flipping through the book, "Hokage-sama, if we compare Raito with his father than it would be a hundred times faster. Is that even possible?"


    Hiruzen did not reply and continued to look blankly at Kakashi, when suddenly his shadow clone disappeared.


    Two ANBU dropped down and stood by Kakashi''s side. Looking at the serious face of Hiruzen, Kakashi closed the notebook and placed it on the table.


    Hiruzen wore his hat and stood up, "Let''s go to T & I department, Inoichi has got things to tell us."


    "Hai, Hokage-sama." The trio replied in affirmation.


    And a moment later, the office was without a sound and a soul to be seen.


    Raito, on the other hand, was practicing the academy three. Looking at the Raito''s figure Sasuke looked confused then continued his training.


    CP: 10/950


    Raito''s chakra hit low levels and could not use Jutsus anymore. Checking at the skills Raito smiled happily.


    [Bunshin Lvl 30 (Active) CP Cost 30 Exp 0.0%].


    [Henge Lvl 45 (Active) CP Cost 20 Exp 0.0%].


    [Kawarimi Lvl 30 (Active) CP Cost 20 Exp 0.0%].


    ''I exhausted all my chakra, so now I should do physical training.'' So, Raito went towards the log and started hitting it at a rhythmic pace. At the same time, he was looking at the status tab and his eyes landed at the unused stat points. Looking at the status page, Raito sighed in confusion then closed the tab and continued hitting the log even harder while shouting "Sasuke".


    On the other side of the backyard


    Ino raised her leg high and hit Shikamaru.


    "I never felt Taijutsu would feel so good." Ino laughed while enjoying the feeling of hormone rushing.


    Choji helped Shikamaru stand and looked at Ino then said, "You are really getting stronger, Ino."


    "Damn that, Raito." Shikamaru cursed under his breath, right now he was breathing heavily, dust patches all over his body.


    "You should train harder, Shikamaru. Otherwise, Ino will beat you every time." Choji advised in a way Raito suggested him to do so.


    "You are learning bad things from Raito?" Shikamaru retorted then looked at a certain direction.


    "Shika."


    The direction Shikamaru looked at, a figure was hiding in the bushes. Sasuke was observing the people Raito said were improving greatly. He wanted to confirm his suspicions. ''Is training in a group is more effective than training alone?''


    Sasuke looked at Ino who had improved her Taijutsu greatly then his eyes landed at Shikamaru, who was also improving in his Taijutsu. However, they are improving in Taijutsu only or so Sasuke thought.


    ''My Taijutsu is already better than theirs, I can easily use Genjutsu after I unlock my Sharingan and for Ninjutsu my clan has a lot of it. They are doing the basics only, they will be useful as¡­..'' with dark thoughts, Sasuke retreated.


    Raito on the other side of the backyard using his, ''Chakra Sense'' at the same time practicing Taijutsu and Kenjutsu. The improved ''Chakra Sense'' allowed him to make clear image of the things in the environment real-time. So, he could see the somewhat disappointment at Sasuke''s face. Sighing lightly he ignored it and continued practicing.


    Minutes later Ino, Shikamaru and Choji arrived at the area where Raito was practicing.


    "Sasuke was observing us." Shikamaru said with a questioning tone.


    "He was¡­he was looking for answers, by looking at you guys." Raito answered


    "When a person has a question he will seek an answer, Inoichi sensei said once to me. He said I had eyes that wanted answers to question which I was unable to get. I asked him how he knew, he answered by telling me that he saw it in my eyes. I think I over-exaggerated when I asked him to join our group and now he is disappointed when he saw us training on basics." Raito explained more while continuing training.


    At that point, Hinata came slowly revealing herself and she was alone.


    "Hinata, where is Naruto that stupid?" Ino asked


    Hesitating a bit Hinata replied, "Naruto-kun said he wanted to go out for a bit." Her voice was low and one could feel that there was something else she had left out.


    "He went after Sasuke." Raito commented from the side.


    Letting out a sigh Raito said again, "Why are you worrying about them? Just worry about yourselves first."


    Grabbing a towel Raito went inside the house, "I am going for the bath first then."


    "Those three are problem." Ino commented


    Shikamaru and Choji nodded in affirmation.


    "Let''s do a few more rounds and end for the day. Hinata, want to join us?" Shikamaru told Ino and Choji then asked Hinata.


    "Mm." Hinata nodded then joined the trio.


    Meanwhile, Raito was in the shower, his fist clenched. The cold water from shower cooling his enraged mind. "Stupid Sasuke."


    Outside the house a few streets far, Sasuke was walking quietly and he had a disappointed face.


    ''Out of all of them, only Raito and Naruto improved dramatically. Only Raito can fight with me. Naruto, Shikamaru, Ino, Ch¨­ji, and Hinata may have improved in these past few days but they are far from me, definitely.'' Thought Sasuke


    Naruto was running and in a few moments caught Sasuke and shouted, "Oi Sasuke!"


    Sasuke looked back and replied blankly, "Naruto"


    Stopping, Naruto was breathing hard. After a while he started, "Why did you leave so fast? I still have got to fight you. Come back Ch¨­ji is starting to make some food, you may not know but his cooking is really awesome. And Ino- "


    "Shut up." Sasuke cut off Naruto with a shout. "I am going home." With that, Sasuke started walking again.


    "Wait we can still train. Ch¨­ji is super strong with his Clan Jutsu. Combined with Ino and Shikamaru, when they fight together they are super strong and even Raito cannot- "


    "Naruto." Sasuke coldly stopped Naruto. "I am telling you, I am going home."


    "Don''t you want to talk with us eat good food and enjoy." Naruto said once more with a soft and sad voice.


    "Damn it Naruto. I am telling you I do not have time to play with you all. I do not have time to waste, I want to train, train and train some more. If I stick with you all, I cannot improve and it is simply because you guys are all too weak. That is what I think, so stop caring about me. Just leave me alone." Sasuke exploded with anger and after ending his words, he left the area.


    "Sasuke, you bastard. I am gonna beat you really, really, really hard." Naruto shouted


    Breathing heavily Naruto looked at the direction Sasuke went off to and his angry expression turned to a sad expression.


    From a distance Ino, Hinata, Shikamaru, and Ch¨­ji were looking towards the area. Sighing lightly Shikamaru jumped down and went inside the house.


    Choji, on the other hand, looked as if he was looking at Sasuke''s back, his gentle, always smiling face had a frown on his face, "I really want to beat him." Then Ch¨­ji jumped down and went inside the house.


    Hinata and Ino looked at each other; they had a sad expression hung on their face...


    A few minutes later Shikamaru and Choji entered the bath.


    "I am not asking you guys to leave but this bath is really not that big." Raito said getting uncomfortable with Choji and Shikamaru in a small bath.


    "This tub isn''t as big as in my house but it is good enough." Choji commented


    ''Damn boasting again.'' Raito commented inside his heart.


    Extending his hand Shikamaru clenched his fist then slowly dropped it. Frowning lightly, Shikamaru tried to relax.


    "Raito, today Naruto and Sasuke¡­ talked and I think-"


    Raito interrupted Choji, "Choji don''t think too much about this all. Sasuke he, if he does not want to train with us all then there is nothing we can do to him."


    Saying that Raito stood up, "Make sure to drain the water, kay?" then exited the bathroom


    And just as he exited the bathroom, Raito heard two pair of footsteps coming towards him. Reactivating the ''Chakra Sense'', Raito ''saw'' two girls, Ino and Hinata, walking towards him.


    Ratio looked at himself not wearing clothes, Raito started to panicking. "Damn it."


    Then suddenly a blue light passed Raito''s eye, calming him down, and the sudden panic instantly disappearing allowing him to calmly think of the solution.


    Bullshitting that much by the author, Raito thought of the idea. He dumped his clothes inside the inventory then dragged the clothes icon at the avatar screen. Instantly he was wearing his clothes, even the belt was properly buckled.


    The pair of footsteps was getting near, Raito decided to open the door. When the door was opened, the girls were startled.


    "What''s the idea?" Ino shouted in anger and embarrassment.


    "Oy, oy I was just taking a bath just now. But still the Choji and Shika are still inside and I even announced that I was going for the bath. What are you girls doing coming here when all boys are taking a bath?" Raito explained and teased the girls making his escape.


    Hinata flushed red where an Ino gritted her teeth, she chased Raito while shouting, "Raito, come back here."


    "As if." Raito laughed while running.


    Ino chased Raito all over the house, later Hinata also joined but she was more passive always standing on a pincer position.


    Trying to dodge Hinata, Raito fell down but grabbed Ino dragging her with him. They were in an awkward position; Ino was on all four lying just above Raito. A few moments passed while the two of them looked at each other''s eye.


    But the mood was disturbed by a sudden bang and a happy Naruto came inside but froze by the sight he saw. At the same time Hinata, Choji and Shikamaru also came to the scene.


    Panicking Ino slapped Raito and jumped backwards, "Haha, I finally caught you."


    "I¡­ that¡­" Raito mumbled


    "Hinata lets go." Ino quickly grabbed Hinata''s hand and ran towards the bathroom.


    Raito stood up, glared at the three of the boys and coldly said, "Forget anything you saw."


    Shikamaru and Choji acted as if they saw nothing but Naruto did not understand and asked, "Oy Raito what were you and Ino doing, huh?"


    "I''ll go and make something." Choji said that and left the scene.


    Smiling lightly, Raito hooked his arm around Naruto and said, "Hey Naruto, I thought of a new training method that will help you get stronger quickly. Why not we start tomorrow."


    "Really? Then OK." Making a thinking pose, Naruto answered.


    "Oy Shikamaru wanna join us?" Raito asked the lazy boy.


    "Your crazy training? No way." Shikamaru answered as quickly as possible. Can running whole of Konoha wearing extra weights normal? Or hitting logs while tying weights on every part of body normal? Or asking people to hit you with wooden rods normal? No way. This Raito would think of only crazy training, if I train according to him I would quickly die and my name would be recorded in the tablet.


    "Lazy a.s.s."


    "So Naruto be ready for tomorrow and clean yourself, you smell really bad." Raito added


    "Really?" Naruto sniffed then smelling a really bad smell made an exaggerated expression, "YUCK!"


    Pushing Naruto to stairs, Raito forced Naruto to go up.


    Moments later screams and bang sounds were heard be everyone.


    Raito chuckled.


    Now let''s start my own training, "ID Create Wasteland ¨C Empty."


    Hidden grounds of Konoha ¨C T and I Special Department


    "Mizuki, you have really betrayed us. Years ago I had found what you were really doing and gave you a chance to change yourself but years later you are still the same." Hiruzen said, the clothes of Hokage and the hat giving him a much more dangerous look.


    The now chained Mizuki did not even turn his face or responded to the comment.


    "Rest well for now." Saying that Hiruzen left the room followed by the group of people.


    The door was slammed shut and the room was plunged into the darkness. But nobody could see the twisted expression on Mizuki''s face as his heart sank into the abyss.


    ''What a fine specimen I got here.''


    Outside the room


    Inoichi started taking out scrolls and so did his subordinates.


    Waiting patiently Hiruzen looked back towards the room. He could feel a small scratch in his heart but the feeling was different.


    "Hokage-sama, we couldn''t retrieve any knowledge regarding the person he is in contact with. All we got is a hazy figure but we were able to see a person and that is¡­ Orichimaru." Pausing for a bit Inoichi saw no surprise in his Hokage''s eyes and sighed internally.


    "The first contact with Orichimaru was three years ago just before Mizuki joined the academy, right after¡­" Inoichi continued to tell Hiruzen about the things that happened three years ago and listening to it Hiruzen face got darker and darker.


    Inoichi finished telling about Mizuki''s past, Hiruzen sighed about learning the dark history of his subordinates.


    "Inoichi, sometime back we talked about some kinds of therapy which heavily involved talking and giving advice, I now think that you were right about that. After this ends, I want to learn more about this." Hiruzen said once again looking at the chambers behind him.


    "Seal his chakra and send him to the ''Correctional Facility'' and inform his fianc¨¦e about this. I hate to do this kind of thing to our own men but what he has done till now and what he was planning, betrays the village. Everyone here come to my office tomorrow and someone call Iruka to my office tomorrow." Hiruzen gave out a bunch of commands to his subordinates and dismissed them.


    Another side of Konoha


    "A pawn has been caught, how interesting. But he is just¡­a failed experiment, should I try to go one step further?" a man spoke to himself.


    "I have finished doing most of my work here. On the other hand, Orichimaru-sama''s work may take several years before it is finished." Re-adjusting his glassed, "I may have to stay here longer than I think." Sighing the man closed his scroll sealing them then walked out of the room.


    On the residential district


    A man wearing a regular ninja flak jacket extended his hands towards the door, sent his chakra to the seals slowly opening it.


    "Hehe so easy." Laughing gleefully, the man walked inside and his shifty eyes swiped around the house.

 Chapter 21 - 21- Narutos First Fuinjutsu

    Chapter 21- Naruto''s First Fuinjutsu


    SPLAT! BANG!


    The door opened and the man got inside. As soon as he got inside, two seals on the ceiling and the floor glowed silently, releasing the contents stored inside it. A bucket of sticky fluid was dropped in less than a second then another seal was released, releasing white powder.


    The man stood there, dumbfounded, his body uncontrollably trembling but moments later, he burst out laughing.


    Looking at a side, the man pointed at the space near the stairs and said, "You are really good, Raito. You were able to make these seals, so much improvement in just a few months, good, very good."


    The space where the man pointed, wriggled and Raito appeared from there. Raito wore an unhappy face, looking at the man and he said, "Cheaters using shadow clones."


    The man looked a little shocked, after a silent pause he asked, "How did you know?"


    "Naruto also uses this stupid technique so now I am naturally able to differentiate between a real and a shadow clone." Raito replied blankly


    "Well, I don''t believe you. Ha! There are other five nations in the elemental nations but none of them are able to differentiate between a real body and shadow clone but you say that you are able to, I naturally won''t believe that." The man replied with his reasoning.


    "Believe it if you want to. Don''t believe it if you don''t want to, I don''t care." Raito replied yawning.


    Naturally, no one could differentiate a shadow clone and a real body. A shadow clone will create an exact copy of the user using it, and because the clones even create the chakra flows, neither Byakugan nor Sharingan being able to differentiate between shadow clones and real body.


    However, today, from the village hidden the leaf, an academy student, not even a fully-fledged ninja, was able to differentiate a shadow clone from a real person.


    In fact, it was simple for Raito he just had to read the name hovering above the person. Just now Raito saw the name and clone written in the brackets.


    Morikawa Shun (Shadow Clone)


    "Shun-nii, dispel the shadow clones, Mari-nee told me that you were coming so I made a bit more than usual." Saying that Raito took food out of the fridge and started heating them.


    The clone disappeared in a puff of smoke and moments later, a young man entered. He had tan skin, brown eyes and black spiky hair worn in a ponytail, wearing a skintight black bodysuit, regular flak jacket and a dark green pant with many pockets.


    Checking the surrounding for any traps, the man slowly walked inside and sat in a chair.


    "Shun-nii, you cheat. Even when coming to the house you use shadow clone." Raito said in a slightly angry way.


    Shun laughed, "Haha, as I always say, a good ninja is always prepared¡­of course to a certain extent."


    In annoyance, Raito replied, "Always prepared? My a.s.s. You forgot my birthday as well as Naruto''s. And no presents, no presents."


    Shun quickly pointed out, "It seems that you are more annoyed about not getting presents than me not coming to your birthday."


    "Hmph."


    Shun sniffed, "What''s that? It smells delicious."


    Thinking for a bit Raito said, "I''ll heat them for a bit."


    "Raito, give me a bigger share. Look (#holding his stomach) my empty stomach, I am starving. I came here quickly after entering the village, straight as a horse." Shun acted pitifully.


    "Liar, you went to Hokage tower than to Mari-nee''s than here. I can already see your priority." Raito quickly exposed his like making Shun scratch his hair.


    "Really? You have advanced that much? How much is the range? What else can you sense? Do you feel different from what you have learned from the notes?" Shun asked a rapid-fire question to Raito.


    "Why are you in such a hurry? I will tell you slowly. Let me serve the food, I have something amazing to show you."


    "Here." Raito gave food to Shun. His portion seemed much bigger than what Naruto gets.


    "Thank you for the food." Praying Shun started to gobble them down just like a hungry demon.


    "I don''t understand what how you eat that much but still look good, can you tell the secret to Choji too?" Raito simply asked in curiosity.


    "Thore¡­ is no secret, just pure hard work." Shun gulped big and answered.


    "Oh, this one taste soo good. Slurp¡­what is this warm feeling? What is with this meat? Did you add some drug to it? Holy mother, can a simple-looking salad this, taste soo good? What the hell is going on?" Shun asked as he frantically ate the food.


    "I read books about cooking and apply them, simple." Raito replied as he turned the page.


    "Hah¡­don''t you want to become a ninja? Why are you learning theses useless things? Don''t tell me you were serious about that!?" After gulping down a large amount of scented rice. He asked staring deeply at Raito.


    "Good food is required for good growth." Raito said in a somewhat annoying way.


    Shun shrugged, "As long as you train hard, it doesn''t really matter."


    Burping Shun patted his stomach; he made a satisfied face, "It feels really nice."


    "Now then as always, I will be washing them." Shun stood up and started gathering his plates and bowls.


    "Wait, Shun-nii, wait. I will do it." Hastily catching all the plates and bowl, Raito started washing the dishes.


    "You are acting different, lazy Raito." Shun commented.


    "Shun-nii, Hokage-Jiji and Yugao-nee, gave me Jutsu scrolls. Will they be in trouble?" Raito asked.


    "I learned about that. Don''t worry about those things, leave troublesome things to grownups." Shun answered


    "Hmph."


    Shun was not angered but had a sad look.


    "So what did you know about me from them?" asked Raito


    "Let''s see, you learned sword techniques and that from Yugao, learning dangerous things. You also learned ''all'' the camping Jutsu¡­''all''. Then Rock fist technique, beating the Uchiha." Shun quickly pointed a couple of things then stared at Raito before saying.


    "You grew rapidly after Naruto joined the house."


    "Yeah¡­What? I did work hard even before Naruto came."


    "Did something else happened?"


    Cleaning the last plate, Raito simply replied, "I got a bit motivated."


    Slapping his head, Shun asked, "Forget what I asked, why don''t you show me what you wanted to."


    "Hehe, then be ready to be amazed." Raito dried his hand, waved once in the air, and then there was a ball in his hand. He threw the ball to the puzzled Shun.


    Again waving his hand, a bigger rock appeared and with another wave, the rock disappeared.


    Looking blankly at the air then eventually at Raito. He simply shouted once, "What the heck?"


    "It''s a kind of storage technique."


    "Like a storage seal?"


    "Yeah but better."


    "Pfft, hahahahaha." Shun laughed his a.s.s off.


    "You wanted to show me that. Well it''s a nice trick but look at this." he added.


    Shun raised his hand in front of his c.h.e.s.t, with a puff of smoke a kunai appeared in his hand, then gave it to Raito.


    "Huh?"


    "Now see carefully, with a high level of chakra control, there would be no waste." Shun replied.


    Crouching down a little, Shun turned his body little to the left, his right hand below the elbow of the left hand and the right above the shoulder of the right hand.


    "See carefully brat, hehe."


    Waving his hands in a striking position of making an arc, two long dark katana suddenly appeared. This time with no chakra smoke. In the end, Shun had two katana in his hand standing straight like a spear.


    "Che, show off." (Raito)


    The katana disappeared quietly then looking at Raito, Shun said, "Iruka reported something like that you did that in class. Little brat please be a little normal and don''t show off."


    "I am not¡­showing off."


    "Oh, then tell me. Why all ANBU are telling the tales about the fight between you and Sasuke." Shun questioned Raito.


    "It was just a spar, spar you know." Raito defended. Then added, "I did not even beat him that bad."


    Sighing Shun said, "Though you didn''t beat him that bad, you¡­" then didn''t continue.


    "Sorry." Raito murmured.


    Shun then patted Raito''s head then said, "Hide it, hide your skills. This village is different, very different as compared to what it is seen in the day. The village was built to live under one roof in harmony. It was a hope but¡­there is always this¡­hate. So, I hope you understand that and hide yourself."


    Raito had at some point looked at Shun''s face. Gently, Shun pushed the head down trying to hide the dark gleam from his eyes.


    "Remember, deceive everyone, spare none, strength is right but not everything."


    "Shun-nii."


    "Seal the room I will show you something." Shun said with a silent signal.


    Raito nodded and activated the seals in the room.


    "Follow me." Shun led the way, he walked quickly and reached the library. There, he stood in front of the mirror.


    Boar¡­Bird¡­Tiger¡­Boar¡­Snake¡­Rat. Chakra flared


    Secret Fuinjutsu: Sealed Mirror World ¨C Release


    Once the clear reflecting glass had complex markings covering all parts, which started to glow. Then the glass disappeared and stairs going down was seen.


    Shun took the lead again and asked Raito to follow him. At the end of the stair was a door with no handle. Just a big black spot in the middle of the door.


    "With your blood swipe as you send chakra." Shun instructed.


    "Okay." Raito did as he was told. This part of the house, this mirror he never knew, even with his ''Chakra Sense'' he could not ever see this window, this stair or this door.


    The seal glowed for a couple of seconds before fading, then the door opened on its own.


    In front of Raito was a large room with thick black pillars all over and every single one of them had a unique seal on them. The characters were so unreadable that even Naruto from before or now could not figure it out.


    Walking a couple of steps in, Raito asked, "What is this room?"


    "Your parents called it a training room. Not much of a name but it''s what it is." Shun replied.


    Then he added, "This pillar has fuinjutsu or that''s what I guess. You parents wanted to keep this secret."


    "Well it''s a big empty room; you can do whatever you want in here except sleeping." Shun said.


    "Why is that?"


    "This uh¡­room is unique. Because¡­that in¡­12 hours everything disappears." Shun replied


    "What?"


    "Yeah, everything disappears in 12 hours."


    "Even-"


    "Even humans."


    "Okay then, I will not mind the fact that once in this very place a human disappeared, never to be seen again."


    He pointed in a plain grey-bordered clock and asked, "What is that clock doing there?"


    "That tells the time." Answered Shun


    "Wrong time apparently."


    "Nono it''s meant to be like that see the long hand it''s in 1 it means the room was opened 5 minutes ago. You have a full 12 hours to do things. Make sure you watch the shorthand." Shun reminded Raito about the room.


    "How big is this place?"


    "No one knows. I once wall walked for an hour vertically before giving up."


    "Where is this place? I know for sure that this isn''t my bas.e.m.e.nt." Raito asked.


    "Stop asking the question I have no answer to." Shun replied helplessly.


    "Do you know anything else?" Raito asked to end this.


    "Well, this place is really sturdy. You can throw an S class Jutsu and it will be like nothing ever happened."


    ''Observe.''


    [Room of Null]


    A fortified cubical room


    Owner: Yoshizawa Raito


    Special traits


    The room cannot be destroyed


    The room resets every 12 hours. (Modifiable)


    ''So little detail, it is the first time.'' Raito said inwardly.


    "What are you daydreaming for? Just train here in future."


    ''Do I even need this?'' Raito asked himself.


    "You and Naruto have so many secrets, so we thought that this would be perfect. Isn''t this awesome?"


    "Shun-nii?" Raito called Shun in his best I am a god boy voice.


    Instead of feeling good Shun looked at Raito with some fear, "Yeah?"


    "What about my gift?"


    "What are you talking about this room here is your gift." Shun spread his arms to show the big room.


    "Eh? But this isn''t a gift because I already had it with me." Raito replied.


    "Selfish brat." Shun mercilessly rubbed Raito''s head then from his c.h.e.s.t pocket took out a scroll. Unrolling it, one could see a very, very complex storage seal inscribed on it.


    Cutting his thumb, Shun made a kanji for hidden with his blood pouring massive but precise amount of chakra in it.


    From outside to inside the ink gathered together finally making a big black spot in the middle. Then the black spot disappeared forming a chakra cloud.


    "It''s done." Swatting the lingering cloud, Shun picked up a bracelet, what seemed to be made up of a thick rope and a wooden chip.


    "Oh."


    "Ahem, Ahem. Let me tell you how I got this thing?"


    "Can''t you just give it to me?"


    "Do you want it or not?"


    "Want, want."


    Shun coughed for the mood and started, "It was after finishing the last mission, me and my team, were returning to the village but we had to stop at the capital because my teammates wanted some action. You know what I am saying right."


    Raito looked blankly at Shun.


    Coughing lightly to hide the expression, Shun continued, "Ahem¡­Right. Because they wanted to, we all decided to stop at the capital. After we reached there, they abandoned me, alone in an unknown land... just kidding."


    "Shun-nii this¡­" Raito wanted to stop Shun from continue but Shun continued anyways.


    "So when I was left alone, I decided to visit the shrine there. After praying and enjoying the scene in the shrine, I roamed around here and there. And you know I encountered an interesting scene, a young woman with scars on her face, sitting under a tree near the park. Beside her was a banner made up of white cloth, it said, "Please give me a hundred thousand Ryo, I cannot give you anything but I will pray for your lifelong wellbeing daily."


    "A hundred thousand Ryo?"


    "Yeah, a few people looked at it some people wanted to help but decided against it, some people were scared and there were other people spectating. Various sounds of mockery and disgust were being thrown to her but to the very last, she remained the same not talking even a word. A few minutes later, some guards came and requested her to quit or move to another place but the girl remained the same. It looked like they were going to use force so I decided to step in."


    "Hero saving a beauty?"


    "Not exactly. After I decided to step in the people there went; ''Shinobi-sama, shinobi-sama, so cool and such. Awesome right? The guards stepped down and the crowd also dispersed."


    "I reached to the girl and asked what she needed money for." Shaking his head, "I felt chills from her answer. She said it was for her mother who died a couple of days ago. The body was still in the house still waiting for the coffin and she wanted to burn real money for her mother."


    "Real money for the dead family but isn''t that¡­?"


    "Yeah it''s not a good omen but do you know what was even odder?"


    Raito shook his head, as he was no completely immersed in the story.


    "I exactly had a hundred thousand stored in my scroll."


    "No way."


    "Yup."


    "Shun-nii¡­um¡­you didn''t just give that girl the money right?"


    "Yup I gave her."


    "¡­Baka-nii, baka. If Mari-nee knew, she would beat you to an inch of your life. You didn''t think she could, ugh¡­right, maybe she used some Jutsu on you."


    "You think low of me, don''t you?"


    "Then tell me why did you give the money to her?"


    "Because of the look in her eyes."


    Raito facepalmed, "Really?"


    "Let me continue, after I gave her the money she said she would not pray for my wellbeing. I was stunned then replied with no problem. Then she took out a pouch from her b.r.e.a.s.t pocket, yup a big one definitely the size of watermelons. Ahem opening the pouch, she gave me this bracelet."


    ''Really this bracelet¡­''


    [Shai''s Mark]


    Unique equipment


    Increase LUCK stat by 1 for every 2 levels.


    Bound equipment


    Binds permanently to the first user


    Raito quickly snatched the bracelet and stared at it inspecting every corner, "I''ll be taking this."


    "If you want to truly use this bracelet then meet her.'' Raito looked at Shun in puzzlement.


    "That bracelet is for you, it was meant for you¡­ if you want to meet her go to the capital her name was something like Sai or Shai¡­"


    "Yup, Shun-nii is definitely a baka and a big one at that."


    "If I was in your place, I would have definitely not given her the money."


    "Haha, little Raito¡­this continent is so full of mysteries, in time you will be able to judge what is good or what is bad."


    "Baka-nii, for bringing me this, I will let you have a sample of the new sweet I learned from the traveling merchants a few months back. I didn''t even let Anko-nee taste it, so you are the first one."


    "Oi don''t call me Baka."


    "This is a sweet called ''Gulab Jamun'' from the lands beyond wind country." Ignoring Shun, Raito continued.


    "From lands beyond the Wind Country. I have heard about it but for you to get its recipe, what did you trade?" Shun also quickly asked.


    "Shun-nii do you want?" Raito asked.


    "Um¡­but don''t tell Anko ¡­ if she knew ugh." Remembering the few times, Shun shuddered.


    "I accept any and all form of payments." Raito smiled


    Shun left Raito''s house and went back.


    Seeing that Shun left the house, Raito activated the seals and went upstairs. Opening Naruto''s room where he saw Naruto in is pajamas, sleeping in a difficult position, snoring loudly. His room was full of mess, books, and scrolls lying everywhere on the floor with cups of ramen and kunai pouch.


    Switching off the lights Raito closed the door. Entering his room, which was very different from Naruto, a cleaner room with books and scroll on the shelf. In a corner, there were some weights, kunai pouch and other trinkets on the table.


    A sense of exhaustion fell on Raito, with heavy eyes Raito fell on the bed covering himself


    Akashi help me


    Little seedling¡­for you¡­only one string¡­so¡­


    I am certain¡­the first has made sacrifice¡­to connect the new one to¡­me. He already knew what would be happening.


    Little seedling¡­he should be¡­last one¡­I seek forgiveness.


    Inside a dark deep hidden room, hidden deep inside the frozen capital.


    Han Jee Han, the true gamer, sat on a chair when suddenly he felt the loss of connection. Something like a rope which was tied around his waist was suddenly cut.


    Looks like I have lost one more, "I am truly thankful." Then Jee Han also closed his eyes.


    Outside the chamber.


    I felt that.


    It was from above all.


    Could be Gaia herself.


    Shut up.


    No one leak anything.


    Just make sure to keep the spaces intact between each world.


    We understand.


    "Observe." Raito used the skill on a fruit bowl near him. With a gaze, Raito closed the window and moved to another item. But just as he was about to screens popped up.


    Skill "Observe" leveled up.


    Skill "Observe" has reached level 50.


    [OBSERVE]


    Skill [Observe] combined with skill [Analysis].


    Skill [Observe] has new functions.


    [OBSERVE]


    Observe Lvl 50 (Active/Passive) CP Cost 50


    A skill used to display information about a specific individual or item.


    ''Observe'' combined with ''Great Sages Wisdom'' allows additional knowledge.


    Due to skill ''Observe'', ''Analysis'' and ''Great Sage''s Wisdom'', the library hidden function has been opened.


    Item blueprint and formula can be obtained.


    Monster drops can be confirmed.


    Purchase is available.


    "Something amazing happened right now." Raito said out loud on the dining table.


    "What happened?" Anko asked quickly.


    "Nothing, wash the dishes, please Anko-nee" Raito quickly finished his food.


    Calling out his skill list, he checked the ''Observe'' skill.


    Checking the new skill, Raito was amazed.


    The skill ''Observe'' may not rival ''Sharingan'' or ''Byakugan''. I will say it is even better. Can ''Sharingan'' know people''s name? Status? Chakra level? Oh, wait both can know the chakra level. But Dojutsu could never compare to the skill ''Observe''. Hmph.


    ''I get to buy now?''


    "Oi brat what are you staring at?" Anko jumped and grabbed Raito from the behind.


    "Nothing I was thinking you know, THINKING."


    "Liar." Anko gave him a word.


    "We are here." Voices came from the door, calling the residents inside the house.


    Sitting lazily on the sofa, Mari and Shun ate the cookies Raito made, "My cooking skills leveled up quite a bit."


    "Yeah, more into cooking than training." Shun said in a low voice.


    "The chocolate is quite good." Mari commented as she took another cookie.


    ''I¡­I didn''t made the chocolate.''


    "So, where is Naruto?" Mari asked.


    "Upstairs doing something I don''t care." Raito replied placing a glass of flavored milk at the table.


    "Something about making his own ink or something like that." Raito added.


    "An Uzumaki tradition, preparing everything oneself." Shun made a comment.


    ''Helping him did level up my crafting skills.'' Raito said to himself.


    "After Jii-chan gave the okay sign, Naruto has been¡­ going crazy for the past couple of days."


    "I FORGOT!" Mari shouted.


    "What!?" Anko asked.


    "You can start doing Fuinjutsu too." Mari said slightly embarrassed.


    Giving a blank stare Raito said, "I can already do Fuinjutsu, you know. Last night, a clone of Shun-nii was a victim of it too."


    The two women looked at Shun asking for confirmation. "It''s true and the activation speed was also quite fast." Replied Shun.


    "Raito." A gloomy voice called Raito from the back. "Since when have you been practicing?" Mari asked.


    "Um since¡­ I promised Anko-nee." Raito answered honestly trying not to look at Mari''s eye.


    Shun and Mari made a slight smile hearing Raito''s confession. Anko grabbed Raito hugging him and slowly whispered, "Thank you" in his ear.


    The bliss didn''t last long as Raito''s head was grabbed.


    Slowly turning around Raito, one could see Mari clad in the purplish aura, "Didn''t I tell you that time, that you mustn''t make a seal without permission?"


    "But all did was read." Patting the hand grabbing Raito lied, straight.


    "You¡­promised, you promised you wouldn''t do fuinjutsu. Ugh¡­when did you turn bad?"


    "I must probably be learning from you all." Raito replied.


    Hearing the reply Mari wanted to punch Raito''s head but the next moment Naruto''s voice made everyone look, "I am ready."


    All the attention was now centered on the yellow-haired blue-eyed boy.


    "I worked for the last few days with normal paper and ink. But now that I have mastered the seals¡­I am proud to show you all this most awesome super Naruto style fuinjutsu seal." He worked the words and took out a scroll and a rectangular paper. "This is my improved explosion seal."


    "Make it fast, Naruto." Interrupting Naruto, Raito shouted.


    "My entrance." Naruto grumbled.


    Shun intervened seeing the two, "Continue Naruto, just don''t make this lot longer than needed." His warm smile melting thousand-year ice.


    Sitting on the side of the table, Naruto clapped his hand in prayer mumbling a few phrases. Taking a deep breath he exhaled loudly, "Let''s start."


    Hearing the declaration, Raito and Anko took a huge step backwards. Seeing their action, Mari gave them a glare.


    "What? We are just taking protective measures."


    Shun looked the two in disdain, "I am a level eight seal master, if anything will happen I can take care of it easily."


    "How, How can it be? Damn something must not be right in this world; Naruto is an Uzumaki I can understand but Shun-nii too¡­" Raito made an exaggerated surprised expression.


    Shun had his nose high which looked like it was growing.


    "How can a baka like Shun-nii be a seal master? Just how kami-sama?" Raito looked up in prayer asking his question with earnest devotion.


    "Oi who are you calling baka, you baka."


    "Shun-nii baka, bakakaka-."


    Both Shun and Raito were chopped at the head, "Play nice, Naruto is going to do his first Fuinjutsu according to an Uzumaki tradition, and pay attention."


    Rubbing their head they nodded.


    On a bright sunny day, Naruto sat on the floor. In his hand a brush, which he dipped into the ink slab, rolling it few times then moving it into the side making a trail. Taking a huge breath of air in, Naruto started drawing the seals, one word after another. Very quickly a dozen of lines were filled up with seals. Exhaling a mouthful of air, he wiped his nonexistent sweat, then he took out a smaller rectangular yellowish paper from the side. Placing it in the middle of the dozen of the lines, with another brush and ink, he made four lines on the corner of the paper.


    Shun''s muscle tensed in action.


    Placing the brush on the stand, Naruto made the half rat seal and half tiger seal. Chakra concentrated on the thumb Naruto place it in the center of yellow paper.


    "Fuinjutsu ¨C Seal"


    Seconds passed and nothing happened, then just as he was about to remove his hand. Shun shouted, "Pour a bit more chakra."


    Making a sound in agreement, Naruto poured more chakra.


    Doing so the seals in the scroll started to move towards the yellow paper, towards Naruto''s thumb.


    "Imagine the seal and press your thumb a bit harder."


    The ink under Naruto''s thumb spread all over the small yellow paper, then slowly the ink started forming new characters.


    ''I did it.'' Naruto''s eye lit up and his mouth opened in joy, then his thumb rose up leaving the yellow paper.


    "No, wait." Shun wanted to stop Naruto but it was already late.


    The character in yellow paper lit up in glowing light.


    Snake. Tiger. Rat. Pressing both his hand on the table ink started forming character spreading from his hand.


    "Fuinjutsu ¨C Core Overwriting."


    The glowing seal dimmed down, probably stopping the explosion.


    "It''s suppressed."


    "It''s not going to go KABOOM anymore, right?"


    "¡­I am sorry." Naruto said in a sad tone.


    Shun had a stern expression, unsealing a stick he made Naruto sit in front him. "You have things to reflect."


    Shun went into lecturing mode and listed faults to Naruto.


    "You should train your calligraphy; it''s still not good enough. You want to talk about chakra control; I have only one word - poor. Now let''s talk about the talisman¡­"


    Shun continued to point about things relating to paper, the ink, then his brushing technique. He continued pointing out while Naruto with his head down would earnestly nod his head.


    On the side, Raito was using a small notebook to write numbers. "Shun-nii is telling the exact thing that observe has in the flaws section.


    ''Observe-sama, are you a god?" Raito inwardly cheered.


    Shun and Naruto were as teacher and student enveloped in a special aura while the others were labeled as bystanders.


    "Anko-nee, Mari-nee, I made some new sweets, wanna try?" asked Raito his voice reaching to everyone.


    Everyone''s eye twinkled in anticipation.


    ''Cooking skill is the best.''


    [Cooking Lvl 35 (active/passive)]


    Perfect combo food will have attractive force, o.r.g.a.s.mic effect; will cause a d.e.s.i.r.e to eat.


    Now the ''Cooking skill'' had one more amazing, incredible effect.


    Raito hummed a tune while taking out two bowls, one having three fried dough balls covered in sugary syrupy water. The fragrance of the sweet-filled the room; sweet, herbal and melting.


    Sniffing the sweet and tasting the liquid, they replied in unison, "Sweet." Immediately, both women ate all "Gulab Jamun" along with syrup water.


    "There''s some¡­what''s this taste¡­herbs?"


    "Yup, it''s just some herbs added later on. How about it? Isn''t it great?"


    Then looking at Anko specifically, he asked, "What say Anko-nee, this or¡­dango?"


    "Of course, it''s¡­it''s you know¡­it''s. It is Dango. I am not going to be tempted by the food of the devil."


    "Dango is goodness, dango is the only food for god, dango is¡­is¡­"


    Anko kept mumbling, staring at space.


    "Hehe." Raito chuckled evilly. "Naruto an Anko-nee will both turn one day."


    Looking at the scene, Mari sighed deeply.


    "And lastly this part, you see, you have to be careful. Image, the image, make the character in explosion talisman hundred times." Raito heard Shun giving Naruto pointers.


    Shun while explaining, made several side-glances, where Mari and Anko were eating.


    Raito was standing on the side, listening to Shun talking about the seal, helping Naruto. He would write a number then again other times he would just cut the number.


    Closing the notebook, pulling it to close to his c.h.e.s.t, Raito turned and the book disappeared.


    Mari had noticed Raito''s action when nobody had.


    *SFX for Eagle''s caw*


    Anko walked outside and saw a blue ribbon on the eagle''s leg. Making Raito fill her bowl once again she ate all in one go.


    "Midori-chan, we are going."


    The white snake slithered out of the Raito''s body. Making eye contact with Raito, she said, "Raito-sama, remember the ''Poison Hall'', you must visit."


    Raito nodded and followed them out.


    "Raito give me some more." Mari asked.


    "Sure wait a minute."


    Concentrating chakra on her ears, Mari tried hearing Raito''s footsteps but failed, a sweet smile hung on her face. ''He has improved.''


    On her side, Shun walked holding a small bowel. He looked at the dazed Mari then activating his chakra, he switched the bowel in an extremely quick speed.


    Feeling the subtle change, Mari looked down at her bowl then on her side. Shun was drinking last of the sweet water, "Wow, it''s something different."


    Mari found that Shun''s lip had touched the very same her lips had touched, which was marked by her lipstick. In embarrassment, Mari punched forward but was caught by Shun. Jerking her towards him, with his lightning-fast speed, Shun grabbed her perfect waist from behind, his face on her neck.


    "If you two are going to do something, then do it in your own place." Raito came to refill Mari''s bowl saw the scene and gave suggestion carefully.


    Realizing the a.d.u.l.t mentality, Raito turned around and said, "I am not looking."


    Hearing Raito say that with an innocent and shy voice, Mari turned red and grabbed Shun flickering away.


    Bring a bowl from the cupboard, Raito filled it with sweet water and fried dough balls. Bringing it in front of Naruto he asked, "Would you like some?"


    "Mm." Raito nodded and started eating.


    When Naruto took the first bite, he was shocked. His small tongue l.i.c.k.i.n.g the corner of his lips, his eyes smiling in happiness. Taking a few sniffs, he ate the other half.


    "Wow, these are amazing." With that, Naruto grabbed another one and ate it whole. Lastly, he drank all the water.


    Letting out the stream of hot air, Naruto faced Raito and asked or begged, "Raito, why don''t you try making ramen?"


    Feeling amused Raito acted wisely and chopped Naruto''s head, "Maybe later."


    Waving his hand Raito walked outside. Outside the house, Raito looked at his inventory, finding lots of zombie skin, eye, and ribs. A bunch of books in a box, some clothes, weapons and skill scrolls.


    Looking at the requirements of the skills, Raito wanted to use the status points, badly.


    Closing the status page, Raito opened the inventory and selected three logs. Feeling the heaviness, Raito threw them into the ground. Injecting the strand of chakra into the log, Raito activated the Chakra enhancement throwing the log. Then again injecting the strands of chakra on the other logs, he threw them on the other side.


    With a few hand seals, Raito activated the ''Replacement'' technique, switched with the log. Once, twice, Raito kept on repeating until his chakra was exhausted.


    Sitting down in exhaustion, Raito wiped away his sweat, drank a mouthful of water and started meditating.


    Looking from the window of the house, Mari smiled brightly. Shun who was watching over Naruto also walked towards the window and said, "He has been doing it for over two hours."


    "Hmph, I like this." After a while, Mari added, "He is not wasting his time with those ''games'' anymore."


    Shun looked at Raito and said, "We never got to know who that foreign traveling merchant was. After registering for the first time, he never came back. Raito searched for him but knowing about that made him¡­heartbroken."


    "It''s fine, our village is not accepting those ''games'' right now or in the near future."


    "After he wasn''t able to buy those games, he bought books."


    "Aren''t books good?"


    "Only if he selected, but he brought all on the shop. Thank kami the traveling merchant didn''t have ''the nicer ones''."


    Shun and Mari then made small talks while looking at Naruto and Raito, after some time Mari left.


    "Shun-nii, look here. I did it, I made the explosion talisman." Naruto approached towards Shun and showed the talisman.


    Seeing as Shun had no replied Naruto looked at Shun who had a silly smile on his face. "Definitely looking stupid."


    Grabbing his head, Shun said, "You''ll know in future, brat."


    After enjoying the moments of bliss, Shun grabbed the talisman and scrutinized for a long time, then said one word, "pass".


    "Really?"


    "Yay I did it, I did it ya dattebayo."


    Outside the house, at the backyard


    Raito opened his eyes stood up and directly went inside the house. He saw Shun talking with Naruto but stopped soon after.


    "We were talking about fuinjutsu; do you want to join us?" Shun asked.


    "Nope I am fine, Jii-chan told that everyone had their unique style of sealing arts. Hmm¡­like learning the basics before branching out. Something like that. " Raito replied.


    Shun sighed than grabbed Naruto, facing him he said to Naruto, "Looks like Raito has turned to old man''s side. Don''t be like that Naruto, kay?"


    Rolling his eyes, Raito took out water bottles from the fridge, storing them in the inventory, went outside.


    After a while, Naruto also came out and started his throwing training. Raito, on the other hand, focused on replacement Jutsu.


    Watching the two, Shun took out a scroll from his jacket pocket, he drew one more line before storing it back.


    Raito threw the log once more but this time, but this time it landed near Naruto. Startled Naruto shouted, "Oi Raito, be careful where you throw that log, it nearly hit me."


    "Oh! You were there, Naruto? I didn''t see ya there. But do you think the enemy are going to give you time to ''just'' let you to throw shuriken¡­So why not consider this training."


    Laughing evilly, Raito threw the two logs over Naruto, dodging the logs Naruto also made some blunted shuriken and threw them towards Raito. How considerate. Raito smiling freely made a seal and used the replacement Jutsu, replacing himself with the log directly appearing at the back of Naruto, "Watch out". Giving a warning, Raito threw the logs again at Naruto.


    As Raito continued using replacement Jutsu, his chakra reserves were going empty. On the other hand, Naruto, the chakra freak was spamming shuriken shadow clones.


    "Naruto you cheater, using shadow clone technique to make shuriken." Raito shouted still continuously dodging the shurikens.


    "You made me do it, inventory." Raito mumbled. Bringing out a bucket of marbles, Raito started his counter attack, throwing a bunch at the same time, only a few hitting Naruto.


    "Ow, Ow." Naruto cried in pain, the roles had reversed and Naruto was now running and dodging.


    Naruto would roll, ump, slide or duck to dodge those marbles and in midst of it, he would collect the marbles, returning the gift.


    "It hurts."


    "Definitely."


    Looking at the mess they create, Raito asked for Naruto''s help in collecting the marbles.


    Shun appeared at the background and looked at the two boys. Walking to the two, he kneeled down and started healing them.


    A warm glow covered Shun''s hand and connected to Raito and Naruto.


    "Shun-nii, your healing Jutsu feels different from Mari-nee''s, why?" Raito asked he has now experienced the cold healing of Mari and the warm healing or Shun, combined with the knowledge from his healing skill, Raito felt curiosity. His own Heal was completely different from them.


    "Hmm¡­it''s because I am a man and Mari, she is a woman, that''s why. But it''s just the feeling, they both do the same thing." Shun answered.


    "Nono I am asking why, why does it feel different?" Raito asked again clarifying his question.


    "In-depth answer huh? You should ask this to others. Let me explain, although there is no true answer, there are some theories. In a normal situation, a man has greater yang chakra and women have greater yin chakra, mostly determined by birth and development. Yin and Yang, these two mysterious chakra groups¡­you will learn later but¡­just remember for now, that they have different chakra nature.


    In healing Jutsu, we utilize our yang and yin chakra mixing and pushing them forward with intent. Because the amount differs in individual and gender, the feeling is different.


    Usually, a man has greater yang and lesser yin chakra. Dominated by yang chakra, the healing Jutsu usually have yang attribute. The feeling is because of the yang and yin attribute, nothing much." Exhaling a mouthful Shun looked at Raito for any further question.


    "Shun-nii, is there any difference in yin and yang healing Jutsu?" Raito asked once again.


    Shun made an ugly smile and said, "You are asking a Chunin level question now. Why don''t you ask them later¡­like 5 or 10 years?"


    "Wa, Shun-nii, please tell come on, even Mari-nee tell me the theory behind Jutsu if I ask her."


    "¡­Then listen. For yin attribute healing, the chakra mainly evokes the body natural healing process and accelerate while providing a little amount of chakra. Therefore, it is more about chakra control. As for yang attribute healing, more energy is provided to the tissues with the energy necessary for healing and while it requires chakra control to make changes to chakra, it''s not that much as¡­but the chakra required is quite large." Shun replied lazily but it looked like he was trying to add things up as he explained.


    "These things are not written in the books." Said Raito.


    "Of course not, these type of things are usually written in ''R and D'' papers you know, they are researching more about it. Before you ask any more¡­I don''t know anything anymore." Shun said went inside the house.


    "Let''s go for a bath, Shun-nii you coming?" Naruto asked.


    "Nope, will be waiting here." Shun replied as he switched on the TV.


    Naruto and Raito went upstairs to take a bath while Shun sat on the sofa watching TV.


    "Shampoo, shampoo."


    Shun quietly stood up and walked towards the inner room, activating the mirror seal and went inside the room of NULL. Taking out a bunch of files and a packet full of the photo, Shun placed them on the floor then went back to the sofa and continued watching TV.


    Bored from waiting for the boys, he took out a bowl from his seal near his heart. He looked at it like a fool smiling from ear to ear.


    ''He is doing weird things again¡­baka-nii.'' Raito sighed.


    Startled Shun sealed the bowl and smiled, "You boys ready?"


    "Yeah."


    They left the house and ate at Ichiraku. Naruto may have broken his record of 23 bowls of ramen making father-daughter duo happy and making Shun-nii wallet a bit lighter.


    T & I department


    Knock. Knock.


    An ANBU waked inside, dropped a few files and whispered into the ears of Anko then left the chamber.


    Smiling evilly Anko said, "We got some news for you, Mizuki." Looking for any reaction, she continued, "Just now, you wife, fianc¨¦ or whatever filed for nullity of marriage."


    "That women¡­" the hanging restrained Mizuki growled.


    "We found something else. So you remember just a few months ago, she halted her mission and has been visiting the hospital." Anko picked up the paper and at the same time told Mizuki.


    "Look at this paper, positive for pregnancy." Anko showed Mizuki a paper then a white man-made stick in a plastic bag.


    Raising another paper, "We had her do it, it''s DNA testing, test for bloodline and special power, using for paternity. I don''t know much but here, this line says that this baby is yours."


    "This child is about 3 weeks old."


    "The medics say that''s it''s probably a baby girl."


    "I am here to accompany you. Next, Ibuki and Inoichi will come to scour through your memories once again, then maybe again, and again, and again."


    "For the member of our own village, Hokage-sama isn''t willing to let me play with you. He is giving you time, if you want to come clean, then your punishment will be reduced."


    Hearing the certainty, Mizuki shook.


    "My hands are tied. Only allowed to talk and hear, doing grunt work."


    "If you wish to tell me, I am right here."


    "¡­Not for you, not for the women, you call dear wife, or ex-wife but for your future daughter."


    Sweeping the paper, Anko sat quietly, staring at Mizuki.


    Knock. Knock.


    An ANBU entered the room once again this time pushing a TV placed on a moving table. Staying silent, he inserted the cord and opened the TV. On his hand a videotape, which he inserted in a video player.


    The video played and there was Tsubaki in a hospital room, in her hand a paper, her eyes filled with tear.


    "Sound?" the ANBU asked.


    Anko nodded.


    Mizuki heart felt a prickling pain, making it harder for him to breathe, his stomach and intestine twisting.


    Mizuki didn''t dare to look forward.


    On the corner of the chamber, a shadow listened to the conversation and with his ability to hear the thoughts of the evil and the desperate; he could tell that a small light was lit in Mizuki''s heart.


    The creature in shadow just smiled and hid itself in the shadow, bidding his time.

 Chapter 22 - 22 - Meeting Gai and Lee

    Chapter 22 - Meeting Gai and Lee


    Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, was in a big room, training with his clone. One punch would come blocked, followed by another a kick from below, jumping and attacking with a B¨­.


    Outside the room, in the office, one clone was going through a scroll, his brows deeply furrowed.


    KNOCK! KNOCK!


    "Mariko, come in." The m.a.t.u.r.e women entered the room, with her, a small stack of files.


    "More papers to sign?" Hiruzen asked calmly as he closed the scroll, his face having a bitter smile.


    "It isn''t, Hokage-sama, these are from the Intel department about the things happening all over the continent, the biannual report." Mariko replied happily. The paperwork Hiruzen always feared had now decreased, maybe it was because of the clone or the people from the Intel department or some rough handling to the people who had been responsible for sending the useless paperwork.


    "Why is it now? It''s a month early." Hiruzen complained.


    "They said it was because of the new seal work." Mariko replied.


    "Even if it was because of that they didn''t need to make it a month early. Tell them to maintain the schedule, neither early nor late." Hiruzen said sternly. Then he added, "Going overboard when having the ability."


    With a puff of smoke, the clone disappeared and minutes later from a corner door Hiruzen appeared, wiping his sweat. As Hiruzen walked towards his seat, Mariko went through the papers and continued.


    "In the past half-year, the land of the sun has its next inheritor chosen. Land of the moon has opened multiple greenhouses and laboratories, the research is about a flower blooming in the golden moonlight.


    Land of birds¡­


    Land of Mountain¡­


    ¡­


    Village hidden under the moon, under the sun, under the star, under the moonlight, in the grass, in the valley, cider village, and bamboo village, newly emerged village hidden in the sound and in caves has decided to participate in the Chunin exams conducted by the village hidden in the sand. Rock village and cloud village refused the invitation for Ch¨±nin exams yet again.


    The capital of the land is focusing on the new minerals and newer energy sources. Four explosions occurred killing hundreds. A large scale sacrificial ceremony was conducted in the ninth month to calm the population.


    Land of water. The lord of the land is still not showing himself to the population causing chaos. Many sightings have confirmed that he is still alive and well. However, he has hired a lot of missing Nin for his protection than relying on his hidden village. The land has been selling rare and unusual herbs to the buyers, mostly to lightning and fire.


    Land of water. The lord is still unhappy with his hidden village, cursing them in his chambers. Decreasing the mission to the village, allowing mercenary groups to form in the outskirts of the capital. Three mercenary establishments have yet be registered at the capital.


    Land of lightning. Patrolling spies have not gained much, only rumors. Jiraiya-sama has contacted that he would be providing Intel about the village and capital in his next meet.


    Our village hasn''t gotten missions from the mud, the cloud, the dream tree, the gold, the Sakura, the sky and key countries. So new information is not available on them, others are here."


    Finishing her words, Mariko gave Hiruzen the paper and stood by for any commands.


    After a full fifteen minutes later Hiruzen put down the last of the paper and let out a big sigh.


    Looking at Mariko, he commanded, "Tell civilian and ninja council to hand over their reports as soon as possible. In the previous time, only the Intel department would be late but now¡­. Tell them to control themselves."


    "Hai Hokage-sama." Leaving the room Mariko immediately acted.


    "If anything important happens, call me." Hiruzen commanded and went back to the training room. Weaving hand-seals, he made a small cut, blood leaking from his hand catching the air in front of him, he called out.


    "Summoning jutsu ¨C Monkey king Enma."


    "Hiruzen." A heavy voice called. A huge monkey with body and tail covered by white fur which protrudes from his sleeves and pants. He has long unkempt white hair that reached his back and long sideburns and a goatee, wearing a black suit with mesh armor underneath, over which he wears a sleeveless kimono shirt with white fur trimmings and markings reminiscent of tiger stripes on it, which is held closed by a red sash. The big guy also wearing a Konoha forehead protector.


    "Enma...it''s been long since I last called you."


    "It has been, my friend¡­. You look like you need some help."


    "Yeah¡­ these old bones of mine needs your help,"


    Giving a long stare, Enma let out a rare smile, "I am always here to help you."


    HOUSE


    Sitting on the floor, wearing yellow and black, Naruto picked up his brush and wrote a dozen of words in a few seconds.


    "Morning, Naruto."


    Coming out of daze due to Raito''s call, Naruto replied in greeting.


    "Naruto what do you wanna eat?" Raito asked as he stood in front of the kitchen.


    Perking up Naruto answered, "Raa-men."


    "Oh, we still have some chicken and this soup. Didn''t I buy this¡­?" Raito opened the fridge grabbing the bowls and eggs.


    "But what about rame-."


    Ignoring Naruto, Raito started cutting, mixing and stirring. He completed everything in a fluid-like motion, while still doing chakra control exercise.


    [Chakra Control Lvl 46]


    "Tomorrow we have to go to training ground zero, survival training¡­ ai¡­" Ratio sighed as he scrolled through his inventory, "Maybe I need more snacks."


    "It would be an easy survival training. I had shadow clones learn all those books you gave me. There will be no problem."


    ''As if it would be so easy.'' Raito rolled inwardly


    "With your jutsu, we will have an easy time." Naruto laughed in joy as he ate the food.


    ''Am I depending too much on Inventory?'' Raito questioned himself inwardly.


    Raito quietly checked his status as he ate his food. His chakra was already at 1200 points. It was already a fourth of Naruto''s monstrous chakra. Closing the status tab, he took out the scroll for ''Shadow Clone'' jutsu. Unrolling the scroll, Raito quietly read. Holding his temptation down, Raito focused on reading.


    After eating, the two parted ways, Naruto going to back hills. Sending Naruto off, Raito opened cupboard taking plates and cups, casting a ''False surrounding'' changing the color of cups and plates. Spots appeared on the surface of the cup and artistic paintings appeared on the plate surfaces. Looking at the artistic drawing he felt satisfied. Then from the inventory, he took out a few things.


    [Added weight jacket]


    Novice level, tight-fitting, added weight jacket.


    Owner: Yoshizawa Raito


    Modified by: Yoshizawa Raito


    Weight: 33 kg


    (#LOG ¨C Improvement seen)


    [Added weight bracelet]


    Novice level, added weight bracelet.


    Owner: Yoshizawa Raito


    Modified by: Yoshizawa Raito


    Weight: 7.8 kg


    With novice level skill of Yoshizawa Raito, heating and twisting the bar of iron to make a bracelet like structure.


    (#LOG ¨C Improvement seen)


    "Hehe." Raito laughed evilly.


    Wearing the jacket and bracelets, Raito walked out and sealed the house then he started running.


    Somewhere inside the village


    "Sensei, are you really letting us join the Chunin exams?" the voice pausing for a bit and continued, "I mean we are not¡­"


    "Karu, what are you saying? Be more positive, POSITIVE." said a girl''s voice.


    "Damn it, Ami. You know how difficult it will be. It''s not like you will go inside and get the certification in an instant." Karu replied mumbling mostly with a bitter face.


    The J¨­nin who was watching them had one hand on his pocket while other held a cigarette. He watched the two Genin quarreling then looked at his third Genin.


    Sighing lightly he stopped the two, "Shut it, you two." then looking at the boy who was in deep thought, he said, "Gennai, what do you think?"


    The boy after a long time raised up his hand and looked at his J¨­nin instructor and asked, "Fumio-sensei, where will you place us among the Genin from Konoha who may be going to Ch¨±nin exams."


    Fumio sighed, looking at his team he said, "I will place you guys on top 10 right now."


    Ami was overjoyed, "Really!" She squealed.


    But Gennai and Karu had dark faces.


    "You guys are above the middle of your batch. So you may have some choice." Fumio said.


    "I am not going." Gennai raised his weak voice.


    "Me too, sensei." Karu added.


    "You guys¡­" Ami was confused


    Fumio looked at the girl of the team and asked, "Ami, your choice."


    Struggling with herself, she reluctantly replied with a hint of rejection, "I am with the team¡­ so let''s train hard and¡­.and in the¡­ next Ch¨±nin exam we will show them."


    "We may have C-rank in the next week or so as lots of groups will be going out, for now, let''s do D-ranks."


    "Yes"


    "Let''s go."


    Looking at his team, he threw the cigarette on the ground stepping on it. "Go and register, I will be there on time."


    Getting the instructor command, the trio ran away.


    Seeing the group, Raito turned around.


    "Hey, little buddy. Eavesdropping is a bad habit, you know." The ninja looked lazily at a direction, the smoke coming from the cigarette.


    "Ah." in shock Raito jumped but couldn''t do it completely due to the weights, bearing him down.


    Embarrassed, about getting caught, Raito answered, "I didn''t mean to eavesdrop."


    "Are you Academy student?" the J¨­nin instructor asked.


    Raito nodded.


    "You''ll be graduating soon?" he asked again.


    "Let me give you some advice."


    "Sure."


    "If I was an enemy ninja and you had not prepared an escape route, you would have been killed, your body left to rot. Maybe after someday, someone would come, discover your body, creating a state of alert in the village but much time would have passed, the enemy would have fled taking valuable Intel with him, causing damage to the village." Fumio tried to make Raito feel difficult talking about death, disgust, and guilt but Raito stood there silent, staring at him at all time.


    "But kid, you are good, better than my students it seems, you have good stealth technique."


    Then pausing for a while, Fumio said, "You heard us discussing about Ch¨±nin exams when you were there (#pointing at a corner). You had brains to figure out that you needed this information and you had guts to act on it. And¡­ ¡­ you are using a transformation technique right now."


    Smiling he added, "If only you had an escape route, I would have given you a perfect 10."


    "Who said I didn''t have an escape route planned?" Raito asked.


    One a.d.u.l.t and one kid stared at each other. The J¨­nin instructor yawned and said in exasperation, "Ahh¡­ I give up. You win, kid."


    "If I waste any more time here, then they will surely call me lazy." Turning around, Fumio walked away. "See you later, Yoshizawa Raito¡­. Take care of Shikamaru."


    "Damn it." Releasing his transformation, Raito sat down and went over everything on his hand.


    "From that corner to that end, he could have seen me at any point. J¨­nin such as himself, has greater environmental sensitivity than others. Also that Nara brain of his¡­ way too smart.


    Using the video function of his gamer ability, hiding in the dungeon Raito analyzed then summarized.


    "First, I tried forcefully to not move my head but my eyes turned towards them. That''s a strike. Second, I slowed down in the middle of walking there. That''s another strike. I made too much noise separating the bush and I was wearing weights that made my foot sound heavy." sighing lightly Raito remembered Inoichi''s words - ''Reflecting on my actions, refining to improve, better than yesterday, blooming in full might.''


    Then smiling lightly he thought, ''I managed to fool the three Genin. I have time, I should focus on raising my strength and vitality right now.''


    AFTER HALF AN HOUR


    Gasping for breath, Raito thought,'' I never knew, Hokage tower was this far.''


    Maintaining a slow pace, Raito kept running. Beads of sweat on his forehead, falling on the ground as he took the next step, "Control my breathing, Control."


    Drinking half a bottle of water, Raito wiped his sweat.


    "Gai-sensei, look, look. Someone is training using weights, just like us." a loud excited voice was heard behind Raito. Looking back Raito saw Rock lee, the dead last of the last semester, running wearing with what seemed to be a green dress.


    "Ohh! Lee, let''s learn from the fellow shinobi. It seems that we need to increase our training more. It should be at least a five times." the man next to Rock lee was also wearing a green jumpsuit, with bowl-cut hair and big eyebrows.


    "Hai, Gai-sensei, at least a five times."


    "But Lee, you can''t do that much right now."


    "Gai-sensei, if I can''t do that than I will do five hundred push-ups, with one hand behind my back and if I can''t do that, I will run all around Konoha ten times and if I can''t do that..."


    Lip twitching Raito blocked Lee''s voice and started running once again.


    Frowning, Raito made a hard right towards the Hokage monument to escape the duo. But Lee''s voice followed just behind and it seemed the voice was getting near.


    "Gai-sensei, this new friend is going to our place?" Lee asked.


    "It seems so, Lee-kun. Let''s ask him."


    Gai ran catching up to Raito and Lee followed behind.


    "Raito-kun?"


    "Lee, do you know this youthful youth?" Gai asked his face showing confusion.


    "Hai, Gai-sensei, a few months back Raito-kun asked me some question about my situation." lee answered truthfully.


    "Raito-kun, it''s nice to meet someone as youthful as you. Training right now, you seem to have a truly youthful spirit." Gai stared at Raito, a twinkle in his eyes.


    Jumping in front of Raito and making Raito stop, Gai stood straight, legs spreading slightly, left hand at his h.i.p.s and right-hand thumbs pointing at his face, giving a toothpaste white worthy smile, he declared, "I am the youthful spirit as the leaf, People who know me call me as the green beast of Konoha. Full of youthful spirit flowing in my body, I am the inheritor of Leaf Hurricane Taijutsu of my generation. I am Maito Gai."


    Raito looked at the man in front of him and felt respect for this weirdly J¨­nin in front of him, Maito Gai, Taijutsu master, renowned for the leaf hurricane Taijutsu style, practitioner of the forbidden hidden gate, expert of the frontal assault. Speed, strength, technique are exceptional, Low on chakra, Ninjutsu, and control. Counted with the top J¨­nin in the leaf village. Also renowned for his destructive performance.


    Bowing his head, Raito said, "It''s nice meeting you¡­ Gai-sensei."


    Coming out from his daze, Gai said slowly, "Raito-kun, Yoshizawa Raito, I knew your father very well. He was my training partner, we used to spar every now and then. Raito-kun how about after you become a Genin, why not you visit me. I may not know much about other arts but for Taijutsu, I know much more than anyone in the village."


    "Gai-sensei?"


    "I, at the very least, wish to teach you your father''s technique." After hearing Gai talking about his father, Raito seriously wanted him for his J¨­nin sensei.


    "Hai, Gai-sensei, I would very much like to." Raito replied as he bowed. His father style, he would definitely inherit that if he could.


    "Gai-sensei..." from the side Lee called Gai.


    "Let''s go." Gai shouted.


    "Hai." Lee chirped.


    The three started running, Gai and Lee slowing their pace to match Raito''s.


    Glancing sideways, Gai felt confusion then he said, "Raito-kun its better if you use chakra as low as possible."


    "While breathing press the tip to your tongue to the top of the mouth, then breathe. Create that resistance and hold it." Gai would continually give Raito pointers, even stopping at times for Raito to catch up.


    [VIT raised by 3 points.]


    [STR raised by 3 points.]


    "Gai-sensei, thank you for advising me. This type of training is more beneficial than I usually do. Raito thanked the green beast and asked for leave.


    "Raito-kun, I want to share my youthful spirit with you, I request you for a spar, please accept it." Rock Lee asked with a bow.


    Name: Rock Lee Lvl 23


    Title: Genin of Leaf Village


    HP: 3600/3600


    CP: 400/400


    STR: 123


    VIT: 112


    DEX: 140


    INT: 45


    WIS: 43


    LUK: 29


    Raito focused eye, dimmed and frowned, his mouth puckered.


    Sighing he began, "I want to Lee but I can''t." (Raito started making excuses.)


    "You are a Genin under supervision of a J¨­nin. But I am a student in the academy and a civilian. So we cannot spar right now, I am sorry."


    "Right Lee, civilian against civilian and ninja against ninja." Gai explained in simple words saving Raito. The level difference was just too great.


    ''Truly a smart kid.'' Gai added a card to Raito.


    "Then let''s spar in future, Raito-kun (autocorrect in the libre office gave Raito-kun¡­...traitor-kun)." Lee extended his hand. Raito followed and shook his hand in acceptance.


    "I have already accepted Tenten''s challenge and now I have accepted yours. I am truly sorry for what I have to say.... I will say it bluntly ¨C may it be you or Tenten, I will not fight in your field of your expertise, I will use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu, whatever I feel like will defeat you. Tenten is good at Bukaijutsu and you are good at Taijutsu. You are weak at Genjutsu and Tenten is bad at Ninjutsu."


    Raito became even fiercer, "If you don''t cover your weakness I will pursue them, exploit them and defeat you."


    The fierce expression disappeared and a smile replaced it, "So make sure to cover your weakness, okay?"


    Lee stood there stunned, staring at the back of Raito as Raito ran back where he came from.


    [Quest Complete] Green Suits


    Provoke Rock lee (Complete).


    Quest reward ¨C 30 EXP


    ''One more complete.'' helping chain quest came like waves giving little rewards but still, Raito did it. Only he thought ¨C ''even though it is a drop, it will fill the jar.''


    Quest ¨C Cherry Blossom


    Quest ¨C Mind Hacker


    Quest ¨C Food Miracle


    Quest ¨C Floating clouds


    Quest ¨C Burning shadow


    Quest ¨C A drop of poison


    Quest ¨C Sword world


    Quest ¨C Sweet tooth


    Quest ¨C Prank Hazard


    Quest ¨C Buggy station


    Quest ¨C Fangs on you


    "Renji, why are you distracted?" the older men frowned as the boy in front of him missed yet again a number. "Stand straight, make the stance, hands more back¡­ argh, do everything again."


    The old men turned around in exhaustion and said, "The three year is going to end soon, we will be¡­ going back to our place soon. After we reach there, we have to show that your swordsmanship has improved and make the council of... elder believe that..."


    Then he turned quite.


    "Father."


    "Right¡­ we¡­ Ahem, do it again¡­ I want to see you complete it perfectly, no wasted movement." the old man gained control then instructed the boy once again.


    "Yes, father."


    Raito in the house


    "I am hungry." patting his stomach, Raito walked towards the house.


    After 3 hours of running with added weight, Raito was finally at his comfortable house.


    [CP 10/1260]


    [Abnormal Status ¨C Extreme Exhaustion]


    As soon as he stepped inside the house, his leg gave out causing him to fall to the ground, face first.


    Rolling sideways, Raito tried pushing the ground but failing to do so. Making the jacket and bracelet disappear, he started breathing heavily.


    "I am going to be a ninja soon. Going to be forced into a new world of danger, but I am going to survive, survive in this ruthless world."


    "Hup." Raito flipped up.


    Raito gripped his fist tightly and loosened. "I really feel exhausted." Resting for tens of minutes, Raito brought out a paper which had various things written. "Okay then. [Record video].... Experiment number 5."


    "Inventory (A box screen appeared.)


    One bite rice ball (5 of the small box got highlighted out.)


    1 (The first one was selected.)


    1 (from the 99 of the first highlighted one was selected.)"


    A few seconds later, a small white spherical ball appeared in front of him. The rice ball was in the air for 3 seconds after which it stopped dropping. Raito quickly grabbed the ball then kept it in the inventory.


    "Maybe." thinking of an idea. Raito grabbed a small plastic bag and stuffing it with some food, went to his neighbor''s house.


    KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!


    Raito kept on knocking but the other side was as silent as the deep mountains. For a whole five minutes, Raito knocked on the door without resting. At the very end, he heard a voice, "Who the hell is awake this early?" a women''s lazy, angry shout could be heard outside.


    "Kayoka-nee, it''s already eleven, open the door." Raito replied.


    A woman wearing a plain white T-shirt and gray short pants opened the door. Her green eyes narrowed as she opened the door, the ray of light hitting her face. Groaning, she covered her face.


    Raito kept on knocking on the side of the door even after the door was opened.


    "Cut it, brat." When she spoke there was the smell of alcohol coming from her. Grabbing Raito''s hand, she asked, "What do you want?"


    "I brought some food." Raito handed a paper bag to her. Kayoko stared at the paper bag before she released his hand and grabbed the paper bag.


    "Make yourself at home, I''ll make some tea." She said simple before walking back,


    "I already had tea Kayoko-nee, I came to ask for something."


    Keeping the bag on the table, the women looked at the boy and said, "If you want me to give you jutsu, poison, weapons, Intel or training then the answer is ¨C ''No''. So, tell me what do you want?"


    Rolling his eyes, Raito handed out a cloth and rope, "I want you to cover my hand tie with rope. I am doing escape techniques, I have already done it without the cloth but..." making a face of difficulty Raito answered.


    "Done." Kayoko covered with the cloth first then tied with the rope, tying a complex structure knot.


    "K...Kayoko-nee, isn''t this a bit too much?"


    "Try and you will know." After saying that Raito was pushed outside and the door was closed.


    Raito went back to the house and tried the sequence once again. The rice ball once again appeared in front of him for a few seconds before falling on the ground. With a thought this time the rice ball appeared in his hand. Again, this time, the rice ball appeared in his mouth. Chewing and swallowing the rice ball, Raito commented, "Nice flavor".


    Following the series again, the rice ball fell on the ground, this time to a hands distance away.


    "Well, I knew I couldn''t be that fortunate. Now let''s open this knot."


    Ten minutes later the knot was getting tighter.


    Ten minutes later, "Damn it, it''s too difficult." Raito''s face was red and now he was panting. On the floor, two hands bond and also a foot now.


    ''Inventory. Kunai. 1.'' A kunai appeared in his hand after which he struggled and cut the rope.


    "How did she do that?" Raito grumbled then jumped in shock.


    [Stop recording]


    [Video experiment no 5]


    Raito watched all of it and later tried on tying the knot in the same way Kayoko did.


    DEX raised by 1.


    "Hei...hei didn''t I buy that book about knots and rope technique back then?" Raito then quickly went upstairs to find the book. (For all those dirty minds...¡­.)


    On one training ground of Konoha, Rock Lee, was punching the stump of the tree continuously, in a daze as if in deep thought. Watching his student, Gai on the side didn''t say anything.


    Stopping his punching routine, Lee looked at Gai and asked, "Gai-sensei, I felt that what Raito-kun said is right but I don''t know¡­ if I can do anything about it¡­. I don''t know what I should do."


    "Lee¡­that''s what I am for, ask me for things and I will help you. That''s what instructors are for. What Raito-kun said was extremely blunt but at the same time true. Without him telling you, you all would have experienced in future." Gai said as he looked at Lee.


    "You have weakness, Tenten have weakness¡­.even Neji have weakness¡­.weakness, everyone has one even me or Hokage-sama."


    "Even you or Hokage-sama?"


    "Yes."


    "Then, how?"


    "There is no straight answer, as you work hard, you will definitely learn about them." turning stern, Gai made Lee train harder and also planned for Tenten and as for Neji, he didn''t want to think more. Neji only accepted strength training but never wanted to learn other techniques.


    HOKAGE TOWER, HOKAGE OFFICE.


    "So young yet so talented, still hidden like a snake..." the man continued, "Failing academy two times then failing Ch¨±nin exams four times. No one gave him a glance, high-level Iry¨­ Ninjutsu, meaning high level chakra control but the J¨­nin leader never put up his name for field promotion."


    Pausing for a couple of seconds, the man scrolled through the papers and continued, "Amazingly has an approved room in the academy and also in the tower. Working as an aide, helping his adoptive father in hospital and chambers."


    Inoichi stared at the paper, going through them a few more times then he put the pen in his hand on the stack of paper.


    "Since when has the tower allow an individual a separate room? Since when¡­.was a medic Nin was so easily allowed to treat ANBU? Since when is this all happening?" Hiruzen asked, the marble under his finger sinking in the wooden table.


    "Approval was given by you, signed by you, Hokage-sama." Inoichi pulled two paper and place it on the table.


    Hiruzen looked at the approval letter then at his signature, anger clear on his face. Looking once again at Inoichi, Hiruzen asked, "Mizuki, his mindscape, Kabuto was there?"


    "Yes, Hokage-sama, Kabuto, this person has been on so many of the Chunin exams but refused every time, just before going on the stage. His mission reports show that he has very less involvement in the frontal assault, always going for support and medication."


    "Mizuki had a mind seal on him blocking most of the memories. But I definitely saw this guy, Kabuto after deep diving." Inoichi sat on the seal and said straight.


    CAT ANBU appeared from behind Inoichi, looked at the table. Reaching out to photo and examining it for a while, she spoke, "T and I department, Ayoma Mari met with the suspect ''Kabuto'' she said having bad vibes from him, believing that ''Kabuto'' is big trouble, wanting Raito to never meet this Kabuto."


    "Put a detail on him for now, the rooms¡­.leave it but limit the ANBU division. Use discretion. As for Mizuki.... Prepare to send him to the correctional facility in the west." commanding Hiruzen at a side before giving a signal to everyone in the room.


    Bang!!


    The door banged open, Naruto walked inside with a jovial smile and skipping steps. In his hand, he held was a stack of yellow paper.


    "Jii-chan, I did it!" Naruto barged inside the room, shouting at the top of his voice.


    Hiruzen who was looking at his papers, now looked at the bundle of happiness. As Naruto quickly entered the room with his talisman, he had shouted, announced his happiness.


    "Jii-chan, look at these, I made them." Naruto gave Hiruzen the talisman he was holding. Hiruzen took the talisman, looking at it as if it was a rare item.


    In a shock, Hiruzen asked, "Naruto, what are these talisman¡­.aren''t they very similar to explosion talisman?"


    Placing a fresh scroll on the desk then the talisman on top of the scroll, he looked at Naruto and asked, "Can I?"


    "Of course, it is newly type of explosion talisman. From the Uzumaki clan, born from my greatness. I made this one all by myself." Naruto laughed as he explained.


    Pressing his index finger to the talisman, the chakra filled the talisman. The ink started to spread covering the scroll filling the twelve columns. Hiruzen smiled as he looked at the scroll before closing it, "I will be keeping this."


    "Okay."


    HOUSE


    "ID Escape."


    "ID Create" and "ID Escape" leveled up.


    "ID Create" and "ID Escape" has reached level 15.


    Instant Dungeon: Wasteland


    Instant Dungeon: Wasteland ¨C Zombies


    Instant Dungeon: Tribal lands


    ''I wasn''t able to get all of them to fifty but I unlocked a new dungeon.'' Raito checked his skill list and smiled. Stuffing everything in his inventory, Raito started preparing for tomorrow. The mattress, blanket, utensils, quick snacks and everything.


    ABSOLUTE CHEATING TOOL.


    Raito was in absolute glee, everything needed for the survival exams was in his inventory. But didn''t he fear the Ch¨±nin in the survival exams who would be watching his team? Nope not a bit, in survival exam, everything depends on you, cheating also depends on you. If you have the way to do it, no one could stop you.


    After packing everything, Raito looked at the clock. It was already 7 and Naruto was still not home.


    Raito brought out food from his inventory, placing it on the table and covering them. Raito then placed a card near it, few words were written, "Reheat".


    Exiting the house, Raito walked the streets of Konoha. As he walked by, he would use ''Observe'' every now and then, may it be a man, women, dog, cat or stone from the side of the street, the trash on the side on the road.


    Emotions written in words, how can it be like, a person will show them so easily on their face. There would be anger written but there was calmness on the face. The nervousness will show a worried face, hesitation in the steps, sometime it would be hurried. Women with sadness tag would show signs of sadness in her everything from how she walked or how she talked. But some may show no signs, the face will still have that same smile when she was with her parents, when she ate her favorite food or when she fell in love for the first time. How complicated can a human be? One face, hundreds and thousands of thought, wearing a mask, how would I know?


    If one starts walking he could see a lot of things. Raito walking in the street, he saw men and women who were, maybe returning from their work or a hospital staff going to the hospital. Buying vegetables, drinking with friends, eating snacks. Men would go to drink with their friends and tell their tales, or go homes to be with their family, hugging his wife, kissing her and saying ''I love you'' or playing with his baby girl and boy or helping them with their studies. Men with tingling tails would visit the houses of night ladies, grab one of the ladies, entering the room to make noises of union. Drinking for sorrow, drinking for fun, drinking for friends. I drink to life for I have sinned.


    Raito walked the bustling streets, looking at men and women, singles and couples, every single one of them were¡­. Living their life.


    Walking into the Yamanaka flower shop, he saw Ino who was starting to close the shop.


    "We are closing for the day. Please come tomorrow." Ino said as she took off her apron.


    "Hey." Raito called out.


    Hearing the familiar sound, Ino turned around to see Raito standing.


    "Raito." happily shouting she went forward. "What are you doing here?"


    Stunned Raito watched Ino as he was seeing a stupid person. Recovering he asked, "What would I do in a flower shop?"


    In anger, Ino made a threatening fist, seemingly wanted to punch Raito. "What do you mean?"


    "Nothing."


    "Don''t waste my time, today we have a clan gathering." pausing for a bit Ino asked, "What do you want?"


    "Two blue belles please." Raito answered quickly as it was an everyday matter.


    Ino kneeled down picking two of the whitish-blue flower, wrapping them lightly in the paper, then giving it to Raito.


    Paying her Raito directly walked out but just as he was about to go out, Ino called out, "Don''t be late tomorrow, and be there at seven."


    Raito didn''t turn but waved his hand as he exited the flower shop.


    Ino watched as the back of Raito faded in the crowd of people. Only after a long time Ino moved, closing the door, she went to the clan residence.


    Raito arrived at the memorial stone, before stepping up he began to tidy his clothes. Walking a few steps forward, Raito could see dust and leaves gathering on the steps. Taking out a broom from his inventory, Raito started sweeping. Looking at the clean area, he finally nodded, crouching down Raito place the flowers on the vase in the corner.


    Raito sat down cross-legged and started speaking his every word, soft and pleasing to hear, the tune of his life that no one could hear.


    "¡­.I will be going to survival exams for nearly a week so don''t worry when I am not here." Raito said as he heard the footsteps.


    The silver-haired J¨­nin, Hatake Kakashi was quite far from the memorial stone. Stunned looking at the sitting black-haired young man in front of the black stone.


    "It''s a coincidence, I swear¡­." Kakashi said to no one.


    Kakashi walked silently and approached Raito. Looking down at the boy, he said, "You are here a lot¡­.and when I say a lot¡­.it is a lot."


    Raito looked at Kakashi and said, "You are the one to say¡­."


    "I don''t come here that often just occasionally." Raito added.


    "Haha." Kakashi laughed dryly.


    After a long pause Raito asked, "Say Kakashi-sensei, do you think all the names in this monument are actually dead?"


    Kakashi narrowed his eyes but went back to his lazy eye smile.


    "I don''t know about all of them but I have seen people die¡­.some with my one eyes (#tracing the names of his father, his team, his sensei, his colleagues¡­.) one by one their names kept being inscribed into the stone."


    *SFX for eagle screeching.


    "That''s my call." saying that Kakashi disappeared.


    Turning his head back Raito looked at the name, Uchiha Obito.


    Raito turned around, walking back, slowly. As he reached the house, he could see two images in front of the house, Hiruzen and Naruto waving, calling for Raito with a wide smile.


    Saturday Morning


    "Nom Nom Nom" Naruto made loud sound as he ate his food, in a hurry.


    Today was the start of exams in the academy. The first will be a survival exam, although the points from this exam will not be added at the end, it will, however, determine the future of the soon to be Genin.


    Raito stood at the backyard in a happy mood as he looked at the plank in his hand. The plank had seals inscribed into it, its work was to release water in a specific time. This was Raito''s first experiment with time seals. First seal for sealing chakra, second for gathering water, third for sealing the water, fourth for releasing the water and lastly the time seal, firstly describing time, then setting a specific value. If it happened right, then in a specific period of time, the gathered water would expel the water.


    Naruto on the room looked at the clock before running out, sealing the house and grabbing Raito to run for the training grounds.


    TRAINING GROUND ZERO


    In front of two small huts, in a line, Ch¨±nin stood there in attention. In front of them stood Iruka, in his hand a clipboard and in his face, anger.


    In front of the row of Ch¨±nin, the students stood in groups with friends like Ino-Shika-Cho, while other preferred to be alone like Sasuke and Shino.


    One of the Ch¨±nin in a row, in annoyance, said, "Can''t we just start without them?"


    Iruka at the front just gave one sentence, "According to Hokage tower clock, ten minutes left to seven."


    "Now where are those two? It''s nearly seven." Iruka who held the name list looked at a distance, after quite a while he crossed the remaining last two names.


    Students waiting for the exams, everyone just as usual except the ones from the clans, wearing three upper and three on the down.


    As Shikamaru looked southward, he yawned then looked at Hinata. Hinata who got the signal used her Byakugan answered, "They are coming."


    "Even though I said him to be at seven, he is taking his time." Ino said with a bit of anger.


    "If it wasn''t for Naruto, he would be even later." Shikamaru made a comment as he rested himself on the tree.


    "It isn''t like he would fail anyway." Ch¨­ji commented from the side, his hand and mouth never stopping, stuffing his mouth with food.


    Hinata stood on the side rarely speaking a word, she stood on the side using her eyes to look at the area behind the massive wooden fence.


    Sasuke who was on the side silently leaned on a tree, secretly eavesdropping them but didn''t have any change in expression. Shino who was on the side, at this time looked at the distance before giving a signal to Kiba. "Kiba-san".


    "It''s Naruto alright." Kiba patted Akamaru as he sniffed, Akamaru replied with a happy yelp.


    The orange bundle dragging a dark greenish bundle stopped in front of the crowd before sighing in relief. After an exaggerated sigh, Naruto faced his friends greeting them in process, as Naruto greeted, Raito followed. As the process completed they had already formed groups, Ino-Shika-Cho at a side and Naruto-Hinata-Raito at another.


    "It will be like this."


    Ch¨­ji dragging Raito at the side, he brought out a very, very big bag of snacks. With an unwilling face, Ch¨­ji finally gave it to Raito to keep them in his inventory.


    "Don''t use your inventory too much, okay? It''s just like a cheat." Ch¨­ji made a tearful expression as he opened one more packet of ch.i.p.s. "You are definitely not allowed to eat my snacks."


    "Who says I am going to cheat using my inventory. I am a just, hardworking, plain ninja in training not using cheats to make it easy." Ratio said as he thumped his c.h.e.s.t but just as he said that his face turned ugly.

 Chapter 23 - 23 – Surviving the first day

    Chapter 23 ¨C Surviving the first day


    The once jovial smile turned into an ugly and bitter frown. Just as Raito was singing his tune, he unknowingly had accepted a challenge and had sealed his fate for the next five days.


    Challenge accepted


    Inventory locked until the end of survival exam.


    Reward: 500 points


    "Nononono, cancel challenge...Close...Stop...Damn stop." The blue rectangular tab hovering in front of Raito, the longer he looked at it, the angrier Raito got.


    Plopping down and sitting cross-legged, Raito tried out various methods to call out inventory but was stopped on the very first step. However he called out inventory, the tab would not form in front of him.


    Ch¨­ji looked at Raito, who was in front of him trying various hand movements, sometime Raito would call out ''inventory'' and sometime Raito would stare at the space in front of him. Seeing Raito like that, he remembered the feeling was something like when he would finish the bag of ch.i.p.s and remember that it was the last one, "Raito, what happened?"


    Coming out of a daze, Raito looked at Ch¨­ji bitterly and said, "Nothing, something happened¡­.that inventory ¨C."


    "Yoshizawa Raito, Akimichi Ch¨­ji, you two get in line." Iruka shouted on the top of his voice as he looked at the distance where Raito and Ch¨­ji had gone.


    The two lines in front of him had already started entering the cabins for search but the two boys still had not joined the lines.


    After a couple of seconds, the two boys hurriedly came and joined the line.


    As Raito and Ch¨­ji joined the line, Raito glared at Shikamaru and Naruto and asked, "Why didn''t you call us?"


    "When did you two disappear? I thought you were right behind us." Shikamaru easily lied and seemed uncaring.


    Hearing Shikamaru, Raito wanted to beat him into the ground but held himself back. On the side, Ch¨­ji asked, "Where''s Naruto?"


    "Iruka sensei couldn''t stand Naruto so he was sent in early." Shikamaru replied.


    "Nara Shikamaru." Iruka called Shikamaru, after which he entered the door.


    Raito switched with Ch¨­ji and stood at the last. Activating his ''Chakra Sense'' Raito could see the inside, a fat man and thin man, trying to make Shikamaru angry. Raito had only one word for the poor act of the thin men ¨C ''boring''.


    "Call me Eichiro, my team will be responsible for holding your belongings for the period of this survival exams. I will be checking for anything you try to sneak into the exam." waiting for confirmation, for a second, the fat Ch¨±nin continued without receiving the confirmation. "Any weapons, water, food, books, ropes or compass."


    Smiling Raito gave his weapon pouch to the Ch¨±nin and waited. The fat Ch¨±nin checked the items inside and after counting he gave it to the thin Ch¨±nin behind. "One set of shuriken, five kunai, two sealing tags, and ten exploding talismans." when he said the exploding tags he looked at Raito with a bit more serious face.


    "Oh! Exploding talismans? Can a student buy them? This kid must have brought them from the black market." the thin Ch¨±nin said in exasperation as he checked the talismans.


    The fat Ch¨±nin and Raito looked at the thin one with ''Are you stupid'' look.


    ''A kid knowing black market in Konoha? Oh dear Kami, even I know, no one would dare sell him.'' the fat Ch¨±nin glared at the thin one.


    "What creativity, wow uncle you are really¡­.smart." Raito gave a thumbs up to the thin Ch¨±nin.


    "Stop talking¡­. Jackets and shirts off." Eichiro gave a command and Raito followed. Handing the jacket and the t-shirt to the Ch¨±nin behind. He grabbed Raito''s face with one hand and with another hand-checked for anything etched on the face.


    The thin Ch¨±nin also checked for the jacket, checking one side then another, then the collar and the borders. After he checked everything, one hand glowed with chakra searching for any Fuinjutsu seals on the clothes. "Found one" at the inside of the jacket, at the lower part, the thin Ch¨±nin found a storage seal, passing chakra into it for quite a while, the thin Ch¨±nin got annoyed and called Eichiro, "I can''t open it, captain."


    Eichiro also passed chakra into it and seeing it was of no use, he looked at Raito for a while and commanded, "You must be a seal master¡­.open the seal."


    The thin Ch¨±nin behind Eichiro gave a disbelieving expression and spoke softly, "Captain even if you say that¡­."


    "Keep quiet, Kenichi." giving his subordinate, Eichiro looked at Raito.


    Nodding Raito sent out chakra opening the seal, from where a lighter appeared. Grabbing the lighter Eichiro kept it in a plastic bag, he ordered Kenichi to search thoroughly.


    In the next few minutes, Kenichi found a grand total of five seals on the clothes. Eichiro looked at Raito before commenting, "It seems you cannot draw seals on your body just yet."


    "Give the kid back his clothes and store the items." Eichiro commanded and left the cabin.


    Kenichi gave Raito his clothes back then started labeling, "Lighter, compass, rope, medicine kit, a knife."


    "You really came prepared, huh? Too bad I was in charge of checking." Kenichi gave a victorious smile and kept everything at the cabinet. "Top Fuinjutsu, a brainy, but¡­. You are still stupid, hehe all this planning wasted¡­. Do you think we will let you do as you want¡­?"


    As Kenichi continued spouting non-sense Raito ignored him and checked his status and everything. Everything was fine except for the inventory. "Oi Oi¡­..one more sissy." saying that he left the cabin.


    Raito twitched as he watched Kenichi leaving the cabin.


    On exiting Raito cursed Kenichi, hundreds of time. Inventory and the sealed items were taken, now Raito could only use the things he had learned to survive in the exams. Sighing Raito continued trying to cancel the challenge and opening the inventory.


    Outside the cabin, the students gathered in groups of three, divided by Iruka. As Iruka saw Raito coming out he commanded, "Raito join Hinata and Naruto, you three will be team thirteen."


    "They took my bandages."


    "Plastic bags."


    "Food, my food."


    "My needles, too."


    "Who the hell needs needles?"


    "You never know."


    Raito asked Naruto if anything was taken. The answer was everything, the same as his.


    "What about Inventory?" Ch¨­ji asked from the side.


    Hearing her Raito''s face turned ugly, giving a bitter smile the answered, "I cannot open the inventory."


    As he said that the five looked at him in shock and anger. The anger was from Ch¨­ji, quickly grabbing his collar, Ch¨­ji asked, "How? Why? A-Are you lying?"


    "C-Ch¨­ji, I am not lying. I-I¡­. It was just after you¡­.gave me the ch.i.p.s." Raito was totally depressed now, the tears from his eyes were just going to drop.


    "Ch¨­ji, stop."


    Shikamaru looked at Raito and asked, "What happened?"


    "I don''t know but after Ch¨­ji gave me his ch.i.p.s to store, I couldn''t open the inventory anymore." Raito answered leaving about the ''challenge accepted'' thing.


    "No-No way it can''t be¡­.but It- it just can''t be." Ch¨­ji seemed as he finally understood what was wrong.


    "Did you do something?" from the side Ino asked an evil aura covered her. I concerned her beautiful hair and her good night sleep.


    Hearing the sweet poisonous tone of Ino, Ch¨­ji became even more afraid and stammered.


    "Groups¡­.divide¡­.attention." as Iruka commanded from the stage, everyone scurried and formed groups before coming into attention.


    "Masami Iwasawa.


    Abarai Renji.


    Haruno Sakura.


    Enter."


    The three were approached by a Ch¨±nin then the group entered the training ground.


    One after another, the teams kept entering accompanied by the Ch¨±nin. Raito got bored as he waited, in the end, it was only Raito''s team and Sasuke''s that was left.


    After everyone left, Iruka approached the two and said, "Both groups have good tracking and scouting ability, so Hokage-sama thought that these two people will be able to hold their ground against you two." then Iruka gave a signal and two men with ANBU mask appeared. "Please". Then Iruka went back to the group with the rest of the academy teachers.


    The group of students looked at the respective observers standing in front of them. The two ANBU didn''t say anything but walked through the gate. The students looked at each other before following the ANBU.


    "Hey, hey ANBU-san, what''s your name? Is it cat, dog, sparrow, bull¡­?" Naruto asked the ANBU in front of him, trying to get any reaction from him. But to no avail, the ANBU walked without saying a word. The path was flat with no foot trails. Deeper they went, the louder the noise of the animals became but what Raito found shocking was that there were no ferocious animals, there were animals like chicken, duck, goose, rabbits, boar, deer, etc. The mix of animals was quite confusing, it was like a man-made area. The fruits and vegetables were also abundant, growing with companion crops, here and there, about every 100 to 200 ft. in small groups, very much spread.


    "I see sweet potatoes there." Raito made a comment and pointed at a direction.


    "Fruits like apples and banana are also there." Hinata added and wanted to walk towards another direction.


    "I''ll go." Naruto shouted and was about to go but was stopped by the ANBU in front. "Don''t".


    The commanding tone of ANBU made Naruto flinch and he didn''t dare to go.


    "Even if he can''t his clone definitely can." Raito said and made a signal to Naruto.


    "Yeah." Naruto made a shadow clone jutsu hand seal and was about to activate his chakra but was once again stopped by the ANBU in front.


    "No deviation until we reach the destination point." ANBU added, the mask completely hiding his expression.


    "Rule book." Raito directly gave the ANBU in front of him with a nickname but the ANBU remained the same.


    Exchanging glances with Naruto and Hinata, Raito started speaking, "With height of about 5 foot and about 6 or 7 inches, not even 6 foot a typical low height problem, short brown hair, very, very common, no unique style, you must be currently.....(with a long pause) a total single." The figure trembled but Raito continued speaking, "And with that attitude of the rule book, any girl dating him will definitely break up with him within 4 months, not lasting more than that." the figure trembled, even more, the mask-wearing ANBU wanted to turn but restrained himself.


    ''This, this¡­.works?'' Raito had used one of the techniques Inoichi had taught him, but was looking at the figure in front of him with a d.e.s.i.r.e to laugh. "Hai girls definitely-"


    The trembling figure calmed down, looking back he said, "¡­.Stop talking."


    After a few minutes of the silent treatment, Naruto was truly bored, so he asked, "Wasn''t the ANBU with Sasuke''s team Inu (Dog)? I remember him, he used to come to play with us. Although he didn''t know how to play many games, he was a good person."


    Raito from the side having puzzled expression asked, "Didn''t Inu have white hair, like an old man?"


    "Nope, it was him alright. The smell is just the same." Naruto replied.


    "Who cares?" Raito ignored Naruto walking forward and as he walked, he gathered the small pebbles from the ground.


    Seeing what Raito was doing Hinata also started walking on the sides, using her good chakra control to break the neck of the berries, and catching as she walked.


    Naruto saw the two and was instantly depressed, searching around for the things he could do, Naruto also went on the side grabbing leaves and buds in random. Hinata who was grabbing berries saw Naruto and seeing he was plucking leaves and buds, she went toward him to verify.


    "Naruto-kun these are?" Hinata asked as she pointed.


    "Uh these are herbs, I remember this can be used to repel mosquitoes and insects if burned and this¡­.um this bud can be eaten, I think." Naruto said proudly trying to show off his knowledge he has gotten from reading dozen of books.


    "Naruto-kun¡­.these buds are not edible, they are poisonous. And this leaf will cause itching¡­..so it''s also a poison." Hinata replied breaking Naruto''s pride.


    "Those books, all waste." Raito made a comment from the behind, an arrow hitting Naruto''s heart.


    "Aah. Future Hokage not even knowing the things in his village." Raito made a mournful sound then continued.


    "Maybe Hinata who knows about the herbs will become a good Hokage?" Raito made an exaggerated sigh and continued.


    "N-No I don''t want to¡­.I-I¡­." Hinata in fright replied but couldn''t continue.


    "But I read all those books¡­.but still¡­."


    "Things that require practice will need practice, learning from books alone is not enough." ANBU who was walking in front said.


    "It requires practice Naruto-kun and the field of herbology is really vast, it''s natural to get confused. If you want why don''t I help you?" Hinata explained then offered her help.


    "Then how did you learn?" Naruto had a tone of not giving up, so he asked again.


    "Hyuga clan is from a big clan of the village. Their resources are large and Hinata herself is also hardworking from when she was small not like you reading books just for a couple of days." Raito was merciless but Naruto didn''t mind, turning to Hinata he asked, "Hinata-chan help me learn."


    Hinata smiled happily and nodded. On the way, she would help Naruto pick up various leaves and she would explain their uses and how to differentiate them.


    After two hours of walking, Raito who was walking one the back gathering small pebbles, had already stopped gathering and was provoking ANBU.


    "Oi ANBU-san, aren''t we there, yet?" it was umpteenth time Raito had asked in the past hour.


    "We are here." the ANBU in front stopped and walked in a small open area. In the middle of the open area, there was a small wooden box. On top of it, there was an A4 size paper written.


    Objective ¨C Survival exams for four days.


    Open the box to accept the mission.


    Hinata read the content of the letter out loud, the looked at Raito and Naruto, for an answer.


    "Hey ANBU-san, do we-" as Naruto was about to ask, he paused, then looked around searching for the ANBU.


    "He''s gone." after checking with his ''Chakra Sense'', not finding the person, he was slightly amazed in his heart. Then he looked at Hinata for confirmation. After getting the signal, Hinata also checked for the ANBU but failed to do so. "He is not here."


    ''Maybe.'' after making a wild guess, Raito faced Hinata and said, "Hinata I can''t sense through the ground, can you?"


    "I can." after a long time, she still replied the same.


    Naruto on the side had already opened the box but seeing the bad face Raito could conclude that it wasn''t anything in the box. "Naruto?"


    "Compressed biscuits, some food pills and a bottle of water." Naruto replied blandly.


    "And?" Raito questioned.


    "Nothing else."


    Gathering in a circle Raito, Hinata and Naruto sat, making a plan.


    "What do we need?"


    "Food, Shelter, water." Naruto replied in lightning fast.


    "And warmth."


    "Let''s divide work, for now, Hinata, Naruto, you two look for shelter and water." then he started to empty the box then with a reminding tone he said to Naruto, "Listen to Hinata and let your shadow clones do the work, okay? I will gather the food."


    Raito, after saying everything left them, with a box in his hand, he walked back to gather the vegetables and fruits.


    The two looked at Raito''s fading back, a little bit of sadness invaded their heart. With Hinata''s help, Naruto also started working. Creating clones Naruto helped with scouting and Hinata with her Byakugan also started.


    In front of Raito, everywhere he could see was grass and even more grass. If he didn''t have his skills, gathering food would not be this easy, pulling a bunch of grass looking thing, be carrots and radish. "Carrot and radish at the bottom and tomatoes on top."


    "The apples were here." running around, Raito quickly gathered food, mainly those that do not need cooking. Finding food was easiest for people like Raito, Hinata, Shino, and Kiba, who had the ability in scouting.


    The wooden box was completely filled and it felt a little heavy. Sighing Raito searched for the two before walking towards them. On his way, Raito saw many sources of protein like rabbits, chicken, and boar, which was truly suitable. "Lizard, bird and squirrel, it''s best not to mention them, girls will definitely not like them."


    As Raito was nearing them, the two suddenly took off. "Really? Damn." Seeing the two take-off, Raito stopped running and continued walking.


    Naruto and Hinata were in an open area, the trees around them had stab and slash markings, made by weapons of the academy Ch¨±nin. Luck on their side, chipped kunai and shuriken were littered everywhere, not the best but usable. Gathering the kunai and shuriken, they found out that most of those were not usable, from the bundle, only half were usable.


    "Raito-san is coming." Hinata who was checking the surroundings reported.


    "Raito, here." Naruto called for Raito. Putting down the box filled with food, Raito lay down on the ground, panting heavily.


    "Look we found weapons everywhere." Naruto showed the weapons to Raito.


    "Only a few are usable, we can''t use the rest." Raito checked with his skill and said to the duo. There were some that looked usable but were on the verge of breaking. Again from the bundle, Raito selected some and in there end only four kunai and three shurikens were usable.


    "Ano Raito-san, Naruto-kun there are more things up." Hinata who was using her Byakugan commented.


    "More?" Naruto and Raito both shouted.


    After deactivating her Byakugan, Hinata stood in front of the tree, raising one foot, she placed it on the tree then her another foot hovered above the ground. She was defying gravity, her foot sticking on the trunk of the tree as if ready to walk on its surface. She raised her foot and made a step, then another and another. Within seconds she walked towards the branches. On there she lifted the wood look-like cloth and recovered a large cloth.


    Bringing down the bundle Hinata placed it down and quickly opened it. Water bottle, clothes, money, some rations, and a box was inside the bundle of cloth.


    "We can use this cloth and the water bottle." Raito commented.


    Acting on Raito''s word Hinata grabbed the cloth and the water bottle, placing them on the wooden box. Naruto, curious, went to open the small box but was held back by Raito. Raito checked the box with ''Observe'' and found that the owner of the box was Nara clan and it was a stolen item.


    "Hinata can you see what is inside that?"


    "There is a tube with pink water inside."


    Naruto crouched down and pointed on a symbol on the box, "Hey, isn''t that symbol from Shikamaru''s house?"


    "From Nara clan." Hinata added from the side.


    "We can''t keep it." Raito said then looking all around him he shouted, "ANBU-san".


    The hidden ANBU appearing from the blind spot of the three suddenly entered Raito''s ''chakra sense'', making Raito turn around and take action. The backhand made by Raito was grabbed by the ANBU, holding the wrist, ANBU pushed back making Raito take a few steps back.


    "It''s ANBU-san." Naruto stated the obvious and helped Raito.


    "You shouldn''t attack randomly, moreover an ally." The ANBU said in his masked voice.


    "An ally who I don''t know much and appearing on my back." Raito said in a somewhat angry tone, although no HP was lost, he still felt a little bit of pain.


    Ignoring Raito he watched the other two and asked, "Why did you call? Does your team want to quit?"


    "No way, dattebayo."


    "ANBU-san." Hinata after getting the attention from ANBU said, "This¡­.we wanted to give you this box¡­.it looked like it was from Nara clan. It is a tube with a pink liquid inside it."


    The ANBU looked at the box, opening it he saw the tube and closed it. "I will see that Hokage-sama gets it."


    "Now?" Raito asked


    "Yes." Answering the ANBU disappeared


    "Yesh, not even a thanks."


    After that, with the help of shadow clones of Naruto, carrying became one of the least worrying things. Few on the sides, held varieties of foods, dry branches, and tall grasses.


    "AHA!" Shouting in surprise, Naruto drew the attention of Hinata and Raito. Looking towards him Hinata asked, "What happened Naruto-kun?"


    "I found the waterfall and there is even a small cave for us to sleep for the night." Naruto replied excitedly.


    "How far is it?" Raito asked.


    "Not very far, about...about 1...2¡­.around half an hour away." Naruto tried explaining how long the distance was but couldn''t so he opted for the time needed. He always had trouble regarding numbers and estimating distance, things like that. Everyone was taught the same, but for some reason, it was especially difficult for Naruto.


    The group walked towards the waterfall and every now and then Raito in spite, would ask Naruto how far it was. The first, cheerful Naruto when replying felt that ignoring Raito was the best thing now. He didn''t think that he, himself was this annoying when he did it. He would just ask for knowing and had no ulterior motive.


    "Naruto-kun, your clone is there waving at us." Hinata who was picking herbs on the way also used Byakugan frequently, seeing the clone, she quickly informed them.


    "Oi, that''s my clone."


    "Whose can it be, if not yours?"


    Uzumaki Naruto (Clone no. 4.2)


    Durability: 4/25


    CP: 40/80


    "Boss, I have been waiting for you all for a while now." after saying a single sentence the clone disappeared. A bit dazed Naruto didn''t take too long to absorb all the information the clone had.


    "Follow me." Naruto with his clones ran towards the area, leaving Hinata and Raito behind to follow.


    Catching up to Naruto, they reached the waterfall. The waterfall was large but not too large, the surrounding cliff and hills with the waterfall would make a crescent shape leaving one side to flow, and the mouth was also big enough. The waterfall made a large noise and along with it a cool wind blew around it.


    Finally reaching to the original Naruto, he was in front of the cave staring it with a strange expression. The cave-in front of him which could not be called a cave was just enough to fit three people tightly. Also, it was already wet, making it already impossible to get in and sit. It was easier to make a shelter using as a wall on the back but for five days it will be quite difficult.


    "I didn''t see it properly. I thought it was big enough." Naruto said with a bit of guilt.


    [Quest created ¨C Home sweet home ¨C 1]


    Expand the cave.


    Quest reward ¨C 50 Exp


    Accept quest?


    [Yes| No]


    "I can expand this cave?" Raito questioned himself out loud.


    "You can?" Naruto also asked.


    Pausing for a while, Raito checked his skill list and replied, "I think I can."


    "Get more long grass."


    "Are we having fish?"


    "This water is full of fish."


    "We also need a place to make fire."


    ¡­.


    After the work was divided, Raito was at the cave while Naruto and Hinata went out to get other things done.


    "Earth release ¨C Earth pit."


    Raito placed his hand at the back of the cave and activated his chakra, the soil within the circle was gradually pushed back making a crater. Now on the natural, smooth, curved surface of the cave had a small circular crater with about a hand depth.


    CP ¨C 1220/1260


    Let''s try 50 points of chakra. A new hole was made into the wall. Seeing the hole Raito immediately placed his foot into it. "Woah, half of my leg."


    After quite a while there were holes everwhere, making it quite unsightly to look at. By the end even he wanted to level everything, he couldn''t. Raito''s chakra was already at the end.


    "Kami-sama, I am envious." crying at his low chakra Raito wished for an increase in chakra.


    Meditating to recover chakra.


    Peeking out Raito was at the middle of the cave. Placing his hand on the sidewall, Raito called out, "Earth Pit" (Just a bit, just a bit)


    The hole instantly became big, slightly off the mark. The jutsu made a big hole at the side of the entrance, making a small window.


    ''Let''s leave that for now.'' While the jutsu was still active, his hands move downward slowly, the surface was also pushed backward. Chunks of rocks with soil were being pushed back. The sides and back, could be said to be expanded, somewhat.


    The touch was far smoother than it had been previously due to the jutsu.


    But the problem was that the cave had now extra opening. Also, the floor had few pits which were half a leg deep.


    "I have 300 points of chakra left. Expanding cost me less than I thought." As Raito looked at his status page he continued expanding.


    [Skill ''Earth Release ¨C Earth Pit'' has reached level 7]


    "Hey, what is with this hole?" a loud voice entered Raito''s ear, which made Raito cancel ''Earth Pit''.


    "Holes?" Hinata didn''t say much but hit the center with one word, making Raito depressed beyond imagination.


    "I tried to make the cave big using the camping jutsu, ''Earth release ¨C Earth Pit''. But from this....I guess it will take a little bit more time."


    "Woah the cave just got big." (Naruto)


    "It''s not that big, you know." (Raito)


    "Just if there were no holes on the floor." (Hinata)


    "Ugh." (Raito)


    "If we all hug each other that it will be all comfy." (Naruto)


    "Sure, sure." (Raito)


    "H-hug? Hugging Naruto-kun." Hearing that Hinata got her brain fired and she fainted.


    Raito''s lips twitched, "Really?"


    "Oi Hinata, Hinata, what happened?" Naruto became frantic and shook Hinata.


    "Of course we are all sleeping together, after all, we have only one blanket." Naruto said in a matter of fact like.


    "We also brought some fish and leaves." Naruto added.


    Raito looked at the fish then at the leaves. Then looked at the two coconuts at the side. Grabbing them Raito shook them, hearing the milk inside moving.


    "We also got some coconut. The tree was so big but Hinata ran up grabbed few and¡­.and it was so cool." Naruto said in a slightly awed voice, his eyes sparkling.


    "Naruto-kun, Raito-san, tree climbing is a chakra control exercise. I am good at them so¡­.so if you don''t mind I can teach it to everyone." Hinata explained and offer her knowledge, her voice getting softer at the end.


    "Really!? Thanks, Hinata." (Naruto)


    "Thank you Hinata-san."


    Raito looked back to a somewhat messy cave with pits. Then he said, "I''ll start making fire¡­. Hinata why don''t you prepare the coconut and we''ll eat fish with it."


    Raito started preparing to make fire, clearing the area and putting the stones in formation. While Naruto brought the sticks and woods, Hinata removed the outer bark and made a cut at the top revealing the milk and the meat.


    The area was cleared, the stones were in formation filled with dry grass and sticks pointing at the circle. "Naruto keep the rest of dry grass on the cave." Then facing the dry grass and stick, Raito made hand-seals, right hand on the sticks, "Fire Release ¨C Fire spark".


    Removing the bad innards, cutting the fish in parts, wrapping them with leaves of a banana tree, Raito placed them near the fire. "Big fishes are worth a hundred."


    Now waiting for the fish to cook, he washed the fruits and the vegetable to eat. Stunned as the bottle became empty, Raito realized his bad habit of washing vegetables properly.


    "I know the water condensation and water purification jutsu, Raito-san." Hinata from the side pulled the bottle and said.


    Raito nodded.


    Sitting on the stones, around the campfire, the three held fish on their hand. Raito held one coconut while another was held by Hinata.


    "Hey, where is mine?" Naruto looked around.


    Raito shrugged.


    "Give me half, Raito." Naruto pointed at Raito and said.


    "No way." Raito covered his coconut with another hand.


    "Then I am not going to get any? I want to."


    Raito didn''t reply but stared to deliver the answer.


    "I will share with you Naruto-kun." Hinata from the side said sweetly.


    "Wah! Hinata you are so good¡­.unlike someone certain here."


    "Hmph."


    After bickering for a while, they started eating. Hinata and Naruto were surprised at how delicious the fish was. Raito on the other hand felt it was not so delicious.


    "Wow, this fish taste so delicious."


    Hinata nodded from the side vigorously, showing her amazement.


    "Delicious water." Hinata surprised shouted out loud, making Raito and Naruto looked at her weirdly.


    Hinata gave her coconut milk to Naruto, after which he also made a yip.


    Taking a sip from his own coconut milk, he felt it was only ordinary. "It''s not that great, just okay."


    Ignoring Raito took a bite from the carrot, the taste was at another level, "Hey, this carrot is delicious."


    [Carrot (+1)] A normal carrot enhanced by pure water.


    [Coconut milk (+1)] Ordinary coconut milk mixed with pure water enhancing its taste.


    [Coconut] An ordinary Coconut.


    ''What is this pure water?'' "Hey, Hinata what did you do to this carrot?" Raito asked his words felt like interrogation making Hinata nervous.


    "I washed them with the water¡­.that''s all." Hinata answered.


    Grabbing the bottle, Raito checked the water with his skill.


    [Pure water (+1)]


    Water containing no harmful substances. Contain trace amount of chakra.


    Uses>


    "Water purification Jutsu?"


    "Yes, I washed them with that and also added the water in coconut milk." Hinata again replied trying to explain herself.


    "Wow." Raito also exclaimed in surprise.


    Removing all the worries from his mind Raito ate his fish which was steaming, winds from the shore, heat from the fire and crackling from the branches.


    Chewing the fish drinking from the coconut bowl and living under the star. A picture perfect, only if¡­


    Mixing the coconut milk with pure water, Raito drank everything in one gulp.


    CP +40


    "Wow, it had this effect."


    "Yup it''s really delicious."


    Taking out a cleaned kunai Raito started taking out the white meat.


    "Give me yours too." grabbing the coconut Raito easily took out the meat inside.


    Just outside the cave, Raito placed his hand in front of the hole, channeling his chakra, Raito called out, "Earth cover".


    The soil around the hole shifted, the hard rock stretched to join together, covering the hole altogether. Then Raito covered the holes on the ground and it looked like the ground has no holes but tapping the places with holes a sound indicating there was space was still heard.


    [Earth affinity has leveled up.]


    [Earth affinity has reached level 5.]


    [Due to earth affinity being the primary affinity, a skill has been unlocked.]


    [Earth Element Control (Active/Passive) Lvl 1 Exp 0%]


    Control and manipulate the earth element around you to your command.


    Higher the level, more control and variety.


    Raito went into dazed for a while and the box appeared in front of him.


    From behind Naruto tapped Raito''s shoulder and asked worriedly, "Raito why are dreaming? You made that hole¡­.disappear?"


    "Tomorrow I will make this cave even bigger Naruto. Maybe even a nice door or a fireplace. Is should also make water jars¡­.." Raito was again lost in his thought, hundreds of ideas invading his mind.


    The foundational and basic knowledge filling his mind. After a while, Raito came out of a daze, the cave was filled with grass and blanket, Hinata and Naruto sat discussing things.


    Seeing that Raito was out of a daze, Naruto called him. "We already went to the toilet."


    "Bakanaru."


    INO-SHKIA-CHO


    "They are not here." Ino looked at the river upstream and voiced her thoughts.


    "That means they must have found a waterfall." Shikamaru poured the water, dowsing the fire.


    "We will follow the river tomorrow, after breakfast." Shikamaru added.


    "Four more days." Ino sighed.


    "You have to live four more days without your shampoo." Ch¨­ji from the side revealed the point.


    "I am a Kunoichi, I can handle this."


    "Even if we reach there, Raito can''t use ''inventory''." Ch¨­ji said his mood depressed.


    "That''s not final, maybe he can use now." Shikamaru thought out loud.


    SASUKE-KIBA-SHINO


    "Cave on one-sided, food on another, fishes on the river, we are so lucky." Kiba said as he bit on the fish and letting Akamaru take another bite.


    "Sasuke-san, should we move to a new location to find other and team up¡­.. or stay?" Shino, as he looked out of the cave, asked without turning.


    "¡­.We are fine, here."


    "Oi Sasuke, tomorrow after we collect for food, you and me, let''s fight. Simply surviving is stupid we should go wild."


    "Hn." Sasuke took a bite from a tomato, making a small sound for confirmation.


    IWASAWA-RENJI-SAKURA


    "Renji-san, should we quit tomorrow?" the purple-clad girl asked as her charming countenance looked at Renji.


    The boy with a wooden sword had a stiff expression, nodded and said, "Okay why not? My father has also decided that it''s time to leave Konoha." pausing to look at the girl sitting on the rock, there was a hint of admiration in his eyes.


    Hesitating for a bit Renji asked, "Can I ask for your origin, miss?"


    "I am afraid I cannot answer your question." the girl then watched the wooden sword and said, "Your sword dance is very fun to watch." Pausing the girl had a glimmer, "Especially the formless sword formation."


    "Thank you for the praise."


    "Pick up your sword." Iwasawa gave a command and Renji obeyed, he picked up his sword and started his flow.


    From the side Iwasawa looked at the plain sword technique dance and smiled brilliantly, pausing a bit she let out a string of words, which felt sharp.


    ''Path of the sword is limitless. A razor of wind, a thousand cuts, flower blossoms, flower withers, just the cycle continues. Time passes, the sun and moon will change but the art of the sword will always be supreme. Remaining at the top, looking down from the peak, the cold eyes, always alone, always aloof.''


    The gentle wind turned sharp and slash marks appeared at the ground. The wind swirled around Renji and the wind moved according to his movements. With a wave a sword mark would appear, with a stab stone will be pierced.


    "How amusing, Chakara¡­.is really amusing."


    Closing her eyes she went into meditation. If we zoomed out, we could see her sitting on a rock slab which had a smooth surface and one the side was another piece of stone which would fit perfectly on the first rock slab.


    Outside the cave, Sakura didn''t dare to enter inside. She was trying to lit a fire using the sticks and stones.


    "It''s cold, cold." She trembled.


    When the survival exams started, Sakura along with Iwasawa and Renji, were brought to the area. After that, the Ch¨±nin disappeared. Renji and Iwasawa teamed up and being from the same section, they quickly adapted to each other.


    As for Sakura, she was the odd one out. Iwasawa gave instruction but Sakura failed to do so again and again. Her natural intelligence and her vast theoretical knowledge failed her. Her lack of strength and stamina was the main problem. She couldn''t catch up with the two, naturally lagging behind.


    Unable to break thick branches, lift stones, catching animals or fishes, collecting foods. Worse was her personality, she would complain after every task and suggest moving towards other places to team up with others. She would complain about water being cold, trees being too high, the rock being heavy and animal and fishes being too fast.


    Iwasawa couldn''t take it anymore, she had seen people, many, many people, but what she despised the most were people like Sakura.


    Without any hesitation, she directly asked Sakura to leave the group. Renji didn''t question or took a side. Sakura got angry, took a swing at Iwasawa but before she knew, she was thrown out of the cave. And whenever she tried entering, something invisible would block her from entering.


    Alone, hungry, cold and in danger, a painful teardrop fell on the ground, before she cried to sleep.

 Chapter 24 - 24 – Upgrade

    Chapter 24 ¨C Upgrade


    As the Ch¨±nin responsible for the group, watched Sakura crying to sleep, he felt awkward. Sighing, he chose to ignore her, closing his eyes, he went to sleep.


    ''She can survive until tomorrow morning.'' the Ch¨±nin concluded.


    On the other side of the forest.


    A boy asked as he pulled his jacket, "Are we just going to sleep under this tree, with nothing else?"


    "We should have collected that grass." The girl from the side said with her soft low voice.


    "Che, quit complaining. We will get those straws and other things, first thing in the morning." The boy with blue scarf said snappily as he got annoyed. Then closing his eyes shut, the boy tried going to sleep.


    Another group.


    "Taka-chan, I am hungry."


    "Me too."


    "Fruits are not enough."


    "Sora we will get more food tomorrow. It is already so dark, even if we want¡­.Just¡­. Just sleep it off tonight."


    Another group.


    "I want to go home."


    "Hey, don''t complain like a girl." The boy shouted pressing the timid boy''s head.


    "What do you mean!? You, big head." the girl who was at the side with rock knife retorted.


    "Oi you ugly." the rude boy not wanting to lose also retorted.


    The Ch¨±nin observing the group sighed heavily. Massaging his temples, he asked himself, "Am I really supposed to look after them?"


    Same thoughts appeared on various Ch¨±nin causing to sigh endlessly.


    Hokage tower.


    "Most of them will definitely go to Genin corps or join other departments. It would be best for them to go basics all over again, in a more practical way. Some will need a little push, while these¡­.some are only good at theoretical." Hiruzen looked at his crystal ball monitoring the training ground made comments regularly, but the more he spoke, the darker his face became.


    Hiruzen turned around facing Iruka, sighing heavily he said, "Do you see, Iruka? How we have failed them, so much lacking, so much¡­..."


    Iruka was standing in front of the desk, silently listening to the Hokage talking. As he kept listening, Iruka felt guilty.


    Opening the drawer, Hiruzen gave the file to Iruka.


    "Iruka, after this semester ends, implement these plans. Go." Hiruzen gave out a command and waved his hand, signaling Iruka to leave.


    [You have slept in a makeshift bed. HP and CP has been restored. Abnormal ailments and negative status have been cured.]


    Opening his eyes, Raito could see the brownish roof and smell the wet soil, the blanket covering him was slightly cold. The dry leaves and long grass had covered him, sticking on to his clothes. Raito could see his two teammates facing upward, mouth wide open with drool coming, Naruto and by his side, in a fetal position, sleeping in a cutely way, sticking to Naruto like a glue¡­ no like paper to paper, Hinata.


    After observing his surrounding, he opened his status to check the time.


    [TIME 5:03]


    ''Perfect timing again.''


    Activating his chakra, water condensed in his hand. Another hand-seal a layer of water was peeled off. Slightly excited Raito used ''Observe'' but the result disappointed him once again.


    [Pure Water]


    Plain Water containing no harmful substance.


    Sighing lightly, Raito murmured, "I don''t have that ''plus one'' that Hinata could make."


    Water in his hand, he washed his face, the cold making him shiver. Raito took off his jacket, searching for a place to keep it.


    "Of course I could just make a hanger." placing his hand on the side of the cave, he released his chakra making horns appear from the rock. "It''s so easy now." Hanging his jacket, he walked out.


    Looking back at the two sleepy heads, he thought, ''I have some time left. So, why don''t I try and make some things.''


    After quite some time, Hinata woke up, rubbing her eyes she looked around. Naruto was sleeping by her side but Raito, who was supposed to be sleeping by Naruto''s side, was not there.


    Looking outside than Naruto by her side, she decided to wake up Naruto. Shaking him for few moments Hinata successfully managed to wake Naruto up.


    Still groggy, Naruto asked, "It''s morning already?"


    "Mn, it''s already morning. Raito-san has already left." Hinata replied as he folded the cloth.


    "What!? Raito left." Naruto exaggeratedly searched the small cave before cursing Raito.


    As Naruto looked all over, he saw hangers for jacket. Placing his jacket on the hangers, Naruto rushed out. Hinata looked at the hangers and she decided not to.


    Outside Raito was holding the stone which was slowly turning into a cup. Hearing the noise at the background, Raito placed the stone down then watched the two coming over. But his gaze lingered on Hinata with a hint of confusion.


    Grabbing the twigs, he gave it to Naruto and Hinata. Then Raito gave them the cups made up of stone.


    "How did you make this cup?" Naruto asked excitedly.


    "Stop questioning and brush your teeth." Seeing that the two were not grabbing the cup Raito shouted. Then in a low voice, he answered, "Just like how I made the cave bigger, I also tried doing¡­.."


    "Another jutsu?" Shocked Naruto made a loud cry.


    "Now we can make plates and bowls. Isn''t that awesome?" Raito explained


    Sending the two away, Raito turned to look at the water vats, after which he used ''Water Purification Jutsu''


    [Skill water purification has leveled up.]


    [Skill water purification has reached level 5.]


    [Water Purification Lvl 5 (Active) CP Cost 20]


    # Remove any harmful things from the water body.


    # Infuse water with energy make water beneficial.


    Use>


    The jutsu had leveled up and there were new effects. Raito laughed loudly, "I finally did it."


    Raito continued gathering water then purifying them. Soon the vats were full and his chakra was near the end. Thinking for a while, Raito closed the lids of the two vats. Then with a jug made up of stone, he scooped the water and splashed it on the wall of the cave.


    From far, Naruto spat and gargled. Looking back at Raito, he saw what Raito was doing. Feeling that, what Raito was doing was fun, Naruto joined him. Hinata as she watched the two, smiled and walked around gathering essentials for the day.


    Raito and Hinata sat near the firewood, baking the wild potatoes and cleaning the raw vegetables. Looking at this, Raito felt bad, ''Only if I could use my inventory.''


    "Raito-san."


    "Hm?"


    "Umm¡­.uhh¡­.that I-I." being alone with Raito, who had an aura saying a big ''NO'' it was hard to talk to him.


    Raito sighed, activating his chakra, his voice called out, "Calm down¡­.breathe¡­.breathe in, breath out." Deactivating his chakra, he waited. Seeing Hinata coming out of a daze, Raito asked, "What is it Hinata-san?"


    "Ah¡­. Raito-san, I found bamboo, a distance away and tall grasses near, I was thinking if we could make the cave big enough, with the¡­.your jutsu. We could make a bed with those bamboo and using the grass and the blanket, we can even a pillow." Hinata voiced out her thoughts, with the help of Raito''s skill Hinata was not shuttering.


    "Oh¡­.let''s do that. I will try and make the cave even bigger." Raito said and when he saw Naruto coming, he cleaned the carrot and the potato then threw it towards Naruto.


    Biting the carrot, Naruto asked, "This again? If we could have¡­."


    "We have radish, tomato, onion, cuc.u.mber,-"


    "Stop, stop. I''ll go and catch some fishes. Want to go with me, Hinata?" Naruto gave up asking Raito, if he could use his inventory. Hungry for some meat he decided to go fishing. Going alone would be boring so he decided to ask Hinata. But even after asking Hinata, she looked at a distance following riverside. Naruto wanted to pull Hinata but was stopped by Raito, who gave him a big glare.


    "Ino-san, Ch¨­ji-san and Shikamaru-san, they are coming. If they are walking with that speed¡­. It will take them for nearly two hours, no a little more than two hours." Hinata mumbled.


    Raito and Naruto looked stunned, Raito was fine but Naruto who was very bad with distance and all, pouted. Feeling the gaze, Hinata looked back to see the two boys, understanding what she did, she tried explaining. "Every member of the clan are taught things like this. Distance measuring, lip reading, multitasking, these type of knowledge is useful when used with Byakugan so most of us had learned these skills."


    "Ahh¡­.Cheat, cheat."


    "I want to learn too."


    Raito and Naruto cried for unfairness. After eating, Naruto and Hinata left Raito alone to gather food and materials.


    Raito stretched his body. With a smile, Raito walked forward activating his chakra.


    Ino-Shika-Cho


    "Ino, apple."


    "Thank you, Ch¨­ji."


    "Shika, how long do you think?" asked Ch¨­ji as he took a bite from the apple.


    "An hour at the very least¡­. No, it should take even more time." Shika looked at the sun and then the river that they were walking by and answered.


    "We have enough food. It is fine even if we don''t find them today." Ino swallowed and said.


    "No, we will find them." Shikamaru after pausing for a while added. "We have thirteen groups and we are ninth group, Raito and Sasuke''s group will definitely be the last group. According to Hinata from the last year, the first group was the nearest while the last group was at the end."


    Shikamaru''s eye followed the river which curved in the front and the back. "This river is very long and curvy. A few distance away, there are fruits and vegetables, the animals are also abundant in number. With no carnivorous animals on the training grounds¡­.hehe it''s definitely man-made."


    "You mean this training ground was made by someone?" Ino asked as she stopped biting into her juicy apple.


    "You should know about the high level elemental jutsu, Ino. With earth and water jutsu it is really easy to create hills and mountain. Bending the river flow or making a new one is really, really easy." Shikamaru said as he looked back at Ino.


    "Why wouldn''t I know that, it''s just that these trees¡­." Ino voiced out her questions.


    "Trees¡­.it''s not like there is¡­.no¡­.was no one that could control tree." Shikamaru said then was interrupted by Ch¨­ji''s shout.


    "Look Shika, Ino." Ch¨­ji shouted calling the two over.


    "It''s Naruto, alright." looking at the picture made on the ground, Ino laughed out loud.


    Naruto had made a chibi version of himself on the ground with a ''v'' sign.


    "What are we waiting for? Let''s go." Ino clearly in a hurry walked forward.


    "We should catch some fishes as presents."


    "Mm." Ch¨­ji nodded and made a hand-seal.


    "Let me help you. If I help you guys, it will be faster." Shikamaru patted Ch¨­ji as his shadow started extending.


    Shocked Ino and Ch¨­ji looked weirdly at Shikamaru before joining him.


    [Genius] Nara Shikamaru


    IWASAWA-RENJI-SAKURA


    "Instructor-san, we would like to quit the ninja program. Let us out." Renji spoke out as he raised his right hand. The scene looked quite comedic and Iwasawa who was by the side giggled.


    "Are you sure, young miss?" The men wearing Ch¨±nin jacket appeared suddenly and asked Iwasawa directly.


    "Yes." She spoke a word before giving a letter then took out a fan from her hip.


    The man kept the letter then looked at Renji and asked once again, "Are you sure?"


    "Yes."


    "Then I will escort you out and fill your forms as soon as possible." then his eyes wandered to Sakura, walking in front of her, he asked, "And what about you, Haruno Sakura?"


    As she was called out, Sakura shivered. The rations on her hand, she closed them. Under the gaze, she felt small. With a small voice, she replied, "I-I want to stay."


    Renji raised his hand once more and asked the instructor, "Instructor-san, we are quitting the ninja program wholly but she is not. She should still be eligible to continue, am I correct?"


    The man looked at Iwasawa for confirmation. Then only after she nodded her head he replied, "Okay then. There are two groups gathering at the waterfall. (Pointing at a distance) One more person won''t trouble them.


    Iwasawa walked forward, nearing Sakura. Sakura felt quite difficult but the man and Renji didn''t care much.


    Iwasawa caught Sakura and whispered, "Pathetic little girl." Then her eyes turned golden, lasting for a few seconds. Sakura stood there in a daze, her eyes losing their l.u.s.ter.


    Grabbing Sakura, the man disappeared.


    Iwasawa turned around and looked at Renji. Then she said, "Until he returns, why don''t you show me something entertaining."


    "Ugh." Renji g.r.o.a.n.e.d and took out a wooden sword strapped on his back then started performing.


    ¡­.


    "Cat."


    Looking back at the man wearing a Ch¨±nin jacket, the ANBU looked back and asked in a muffled voice, "Zero. What is it?"


    "This girl is joining the group, for now. Her teammate are quitting the ninja program." Pushing Sakura towards the ANBU, he added, "I am going."


    Sakura watched the ANBU nervously. The ANBU also after a short while focused on Sakura. Taking out a water bottle he said, "Clean yourself, now."


    After a short while, Sakura was again good, except her face was a little pale and there was dark circle under her eyes.


    "Follow me." after commanding the ANBU moved forward and Sakura followed him.


    Waterfall Area


    "Raito." Naruto''s loud voice woke Raito from his meditation. Peeking his head from the entrance of the cave, Raito saw his team and the Ino-Shika-Cho trio with them.


    Coming out, Raito waved his hand and complained, "You guys are finally here. So slow, it''s already past nine."


    "He sees us and the first thing he does is complain." Ino huffed, feeling displeased at how Raito called her.


    Raito filled the cups made from the stone with purified water from the vats. "Here, drink some water."


    They were all surprised it see the everyday items made up of rocks. Shikamaru looked at the cup and found that it was smooth to touch, then he asked, "Raito, Oi what''s this? You made this cup and those things too?"


    Raito smiled widely and replied, "Yup, I even wrote your names there, see." (Pointing at the lined characters)


    "Oh, I found my name." Ch¨­ji traced the characters on the rock and shouted.


    Ino took a sip suspiciously but after taking a sip, she shouted, "Wow, delicious. Much, much better than what we had to drink."


    Ch¨­ji patted his c.h.e.s.t and had a relieved expression. Quickly from the back, he brought out a stick where few fishes were hanged and a box, then said, "We brought food."


    "Ah." Raito shouted in surprise as he looked at the big fishes and the box. Hurriedly pulling Ch¨­ji inside the cave, Raito opened the lid of the box at the cave, where there was another box inside and surrounding the box was water between the two boxes. Placing the fruits and vegetables down, he smiled satisfactorily.


    "Say Raito is that still¡­." from the side Ch¨­ji asked with a low voice.


    "Ugh¡­.yeah I still can''t open it." Raito replied simply.


    Outside the cave Shikamaru saw everything around; the stone steps, the water vats, bowls and plates, and asked rather stiffly, "What happened here?"


    "Uh, it like¡­.this¡­.. Definitely¡­..Raito did this everything." Naruto thought of explaining but at the end pointed at Raito.


    "Raito-san used the camping jutsu ¨C Earth Pit and Earth Cover at first but later he made all this." Hinata answered but she had not seen Raito do everything, so she couldn''t explain much.


    "Cups and plates, flower pots and hangers. What the hell is doing?" Shikamaru rubbed his forehead as he looked everywhere. Shikamaru felt like going crazy, looking down he felt that the stone had quite a geometrical shape. His sharp gaze landed on Raito who was coming out of the cave with Ch¨­ji.


    Without any delay, Shikamaru ran forward and grabbed Raito, "How did you do this all?" Shikamaru pointed at the things around the cave.


    "Isn''t this simple, I used the camping jutsu." Raito answered simply.


    "Are you joking?"


    "No, I am not. I am creative."


    Dragging everyone, Raito showed them the cave. The earlier sleeping area was now just a walking area. On the right was the water vats and the box, similar to the fridge. And to the left, a rectangular room.


    Everyone walked inside, feeling the sides and corners, how smooth they were. There was even a window and a small fireplace.


    "The cave got bigger." Naruto said in amazement.


    "Is this even possible?" Hinata felt the corners of the room and then looked at the entrance, she remembered that just yesterday, the cave was so small they had to squeeze together, but now¡­.


    On the opposite side of the cave, the ANBU watched the students, and let out a deep breath. "Just this morning¡­.from nothing. This boy, Raito did all of this."


    Looking at the girl behind, he said, "You will be with them. You will be scored accordingly." grabbing her shoulder the two of them disappeared.


    Ino clicked her tongue and looked at Raito, "We need to make bedding."


    "Ah bed, Hinata already has plans." Raito replied as he pointed at Hinata, which made Hinata a bit embarrassed as everyone looked at her.


    As everyone sat in the circle they made plans for the day, before ending. Ino whispered, "My butts gone cold."


    "Then Naruto with his clones will look for food and materials needed later, for now, scout the area. Ch¨­ji will start preparing for food, Hinata will look to restore water, Shika and I will make sure to make this place livable."


    "Hey what about me?" Ino asked as she didn''t hear Raito calling her name.


    Looking at a distance, Raito had an ugly expression, "Ino, I think you can get ready. Go, shoo."


    "What the¡­." Ino was about to burst but Raito ignored her.


    Raito lazily pointed outside, where there was ANBU and Sakura. Although Sakura was well-groomed, Ino''s discerning eyes could see that Sakura was not having a good time, pale face, dark circle under her eyes.


    "Kami-sama, Sakura what happened to you?" Ino ran towards Sakura and grabbed her, looking all over. Although she asked Sakura her gaze lingered on the ANBU.


    "Renji Abarai and Masami Iwasawa, have¡­. quitted the ninja program, leaving Sakura with a choice. She chose to continue, thus, she is here." Giving the students a vague answer, the ANBU disappeared.


    Raito glared at the cat ANBU silhouette, before ignoring the situation altogether and started discussing with Shikamaru.


    Tuck sitting at the ground, Sakura ignored everyone and started crying. Ino gave everyone a signal walking towards Sakura. Understanding the signal, everyone walked back. Ino sat by Sakura silently, patting Sakura''s back and using her clan''s secret techniques, sending chakra to Sakura''s body, calming her down.


    A few minutes later, Sakura looked at Ino and said sorrowfully, "Ino, I am truly useless. Iwasawa and Renji, they-they could do everything, but I-I wasn''t able to do anything. I am useless."


    Pausing for a bit she grabbed herself tighter and said, "I know how to make shelter, but I can''t make one. I know how to make fire but I couldn''t make one. I even tripped, spoiling the food gathered. I can''t do anything right, I am so useless¡­." Her words were slow and carried hints of self-blame, the more she said the more her hold became tighter.


    "Hush, don''t say anymore." Ino hugged the crying Sakura.


    As Ino consoled Sakura, Raito who was quite a distance away, looked resentfully in a distance. "That ANBU just left her here."


    Shikamaru who was by Raito''s side called him and asked, "So, what do you want my help with?"


    "I have never made a house before so¡­.everything."


    "Sob, Sob." Just as the two were discussing, Sakura''s crying sounded once more, making Ino distressed and Shikamaru to look at their direction.


    [Quest ¨C Cherry Blossom (3)]


    Sighing Raito walked towards Sakura with mashed banana in a bowl and water. He crouched down looking at Sakura, gave a look to Shikamaru and Ino.


    Focusing on Sakura he called out to her, "Sakura, it is me Raito, calm down, okay. I brought you some food to eat."


    Seeing no response he sighed. Then using chakra he called out once again, "Sakura, it is me¡­. Raito, calm down¡­.stop crying and eat this." Using his skill ''Hypnotic wave'', Raito gave her water and the bowl of mashed banana. Making a few hand signals to Shikamaru, Raito waited.


    Quickly after, Shikamaru brought a packet of compressed biscuits. Opening one packet Raito handed those biscuit to Sakura.


    Making another hand signal to Shikamaru, Raito turned to face Sakura. Shikamaru who was made to run chores, glared at Raito for a moment. But what could he do, except obeying? Grabbing a jug he scooped water and filled Sakura''s cup.


    After Raito used his skills several times and confirmed that Sakura had calmed down and can be reasoned with. He looked at her and asked, "Sakura tell me, what is the objective of the exam?"


    She sniffed once and replied, "Survive for five days."


    Raito smiled but quickly hid the smile, "Now I am going to ask you some question and you have to answer me either yes or no. Do you understand?"


    "I understand-"


    "Just yes or no."


    "Yes."


    "Good first question then. Do you still want to take this test?"


    "Yes."


    "Do you want to fail this test?"


    "No."


    "Do you want to stay in the wild alone?"


    "N-No."


    "Would you like to join our group?"


    "I-that."


    Shikamaru shot a look to Ino. Understanding the signal, Ino placed her hand to Sakura''s shoulder and gave her an encouraging smile.


    Gaining confidence, Sakura looked at Raito and nodded, "Yes."


    "But Sakura I cannot let anyone join the group." Raito who had a smile made this sentence.


    [Emotion: Sadness¡­.] Sakura eye''s dulled and the gleam was lost.


    "Don''t misunderstand me. For me, anyone who is not willing to contribute to the group destroys the harmony of the group and are not worthy to join the group. If you want to join the group, it''s very easy. You just have to help us, in any way you can, but more importantly, you cannot make trouble in the group."


    Pausing for his words to sink in, Raito continued, "These are the rules so that we are able to safely pass the remaining four days, pass this survival exam and continue our road to become ninja¡­.Can you do that, Sakura?"


    It took quite a while for Sakura to answer. It looked like she was thinking much, much more in her small brain. Her closed eyes suddenly opened and she shouted, "I can do that."


    "I promise to help and not create any problem."


    "Good. Now clean yourself. We have a long day and a lot of things to do." Saying that Raito walked back towards Shikamaru, his face had a stiff smile which turned back to nothing.


    "Sakura-san, Ino-san." Hinata called out with her small cheerful smile.


    "Hinata?" Sakura checked the familiar-looking girl and asked. The Hinata she remembered was shy, timid and weak. Although Hinata defeated her last time, she reverted back to being the lovely meek girl she always was. From the very first year, she had seen Hinata being bullied by other students because of her eyes, of her clan, her huge background, and her kindness.


    "She has changed a lot, don''t you think Sakura." Ino asked turning around, she had a smile big enough to show her happiness.


    After looking enough at Hinata, she looked at Ino for quite a while and said, "You have changed too, Ino."


    "Mm. I have taken my training seriously Sakura because I want to be a Kunoichi, you know."


    There was a pregnant silence before the slightly pale Sakura asked, "W-What about Sasuke-kun?"


    "That¡­.I don''t know, for now, I only want to focus on becoming Kunoichi first." turning around she asked Sakura, "What about you Sakura, do you want to be a Kunoichi?"


    "I¡­."


    "Hey Hinata, that bossy Raito has instructions for us." Ino swiftly changed her topic not wanting to make it awkward. She knew why a girl like Sakura joined the academy perfectly well.


    "Ino-san¡­.let''s do our best." Hinata replied once again with her smile.


    "Ah, a workaholic." Ino immediately labeled Hinata, sighing sorrowfully then stuck with Sakura for comfort.


    Outside the training grounds


    Iruka looked at the boy and girl, then asked, "Where is Sakura?"


    "Iruka-sensei, we are quitting the ninja program, directly. As for Sakura, she has decided to continue the exam. So please understand." Renji said plainly.


    "You two at this time, such troublesome. Couldn''t you have don''t it after the exams?" Iruka complained but quickly jolted down all the information on the clipboard.


    Sighing he called the Ch¨±nin at the side, giving him the clipboard and some instruction, before running towards the Hokage tower with the three in tow.


    Waterfall


    "Shika, I want to make a bath." Raito who was following Shikamaru''s instruction to make the cave better suddenly voice his thoughts.


    "Sure¡­.EH!?". Stunned Shikamaru who was drawing lines with the help of charcoal looked at Raito as if looking at an idiot.


    "Yeah two big one and about heating the water, we can use the heated stones or even use a smaller tub to boil the water." Raito explained Shikamaru about his plans.


    Seeing that Raito was ignoring everything else, he sighed, "Troublesome, acting on your wishes¡­. Oi Raito do you even have chakra left?"


    "Oh¡­.I''ll recover in a bit."


    Giving annoyed look, Shikamaru went out.


    ''Meditate.''


    [HP and CP recovery by 2 per second.]


    Chakra Sense activated.


    Fast thinking activated.


    [Chakra consumption decreased by 50% in a meditative state.]


    ''Hey, it''s getting clearer, it must be because of ''clarity''.'' Wandering around Raito saw Shikamaru. Naruto with Ch¨­ji, Sakura, Hinata, and Ino cutting bamboos and weaving grasses to make ropes.


    [Chakra Sense Lvl 54 (Active/Passive) CP Cost 25 per minute]


    ''It''s leveling up slowly now.''


    [Earth Chakra Control Lvl 18 (active)]


    [Earth affinity 25]


    ¡­.


    Raito stood with Shikamaru, both of them had dug two areas, just big enough for it to easily fit six or seven people. There were two dug area, with stones on the edges and even more stones on the side.


    "Hey, Shika it''s easier when you help." Raito said honestly as he wiped his sweat.


    "Earth (Doton)"


    The ground slowly loosed a layer, pressing below and making the soil hard below. Slowly the earth got pressed down making a somewhat of a circle shape.


    Shikamaru jumped inside and using a stick drew a circle, which was just enough for people to sit inside the pit. Jumping out, he watched and got inside, changed some. "Do it." Feeling satisfied with it Shikamaru shouted.


    Raito once again activated his chakra and the earth was pressed down. The earth is harder than before.


    With constantly moving stones, Raito gained an increase in STR stat, but later with Shikamaru''s advice he changed the rocks into round shaped, making the transportation much easier. The stones were finally moved into the pit.


    Under Raito''s will the hard rock became soft, the irregular shape became thick fluid-like, covering the pit surface, making it as flat as possible. "Done."


    "This still amazes me¡­.even now I feel like I am dreaming." Shikamaru watched and said in amazement. Then making himself active he shouted, "This part should have gaps¡­.beads like in this place¡­.here, here."


    "Shouldn''t this be a little bigger?"


    "I feel like that too."


    "Hey, we didn''t make a shower area."


    "You want a shower. Get lost."


    "If only I had a brush and ink, I could make a temperature regulating seal."


    ¡­


    "Finally finished."


    "It''s not bad at all."


    "No, it looks good."


    The bath was attached to the cliff. The divider extending from the cliff dividing the two baths. Each had two circular pits, one big and another small. Near to the smaller pits, there was area for heating the stones. Directly opposite the heating area was the bath area, which had a large vat holding water and a long jug. The bath was again encircled by rock columns.


    The ANBU on the opposite side looked blankly at the students and sighed heavily, "If I didn''t know, I would assume they were on the vacation." Quickly unsealing a camera he took a picture.


    Back to Raito''s group, Shikamaru and Raito took a bite from the apple and rested.


    "What if this ''inventory'' never comes back?" As Raito filled the bath with purified water and herb mixed he heard Shikamaru questioning.


    "I''ll use storage seals." Raito answered calmly.


    "That ''inventory'' is like a big storage seal but you don''t have to use chakra for it?'' Shikamaru asked as if remembering.


    "Yeah"


    "What about-"


    "Shika."


    After a long pause, Shikamaru replied, "I understand." and no longer asked.


    "Oi! We are back." Naruto shouted, with him, Ch¨­ji and girls followed. Naruto and Ch¨­ji carried a lot of bamboo sticks, ropes, and the grasses.


    Behind, the girls came, tiredness covering their face. Hinata and Ino were relatively fine when comparing to Sakura. Their hairs were not so clean. Even their clothes had some muddy patches and dirt stains. All in all, they were in bad shape when comparing to their academy self.


    "So tired, if only I could take a bath."


    "I miss the hot springs."


    "..."


    By how Sakura was freely talking and had a smile on her face, Raito deduced that she had returned to being her usual, normal self but his gamer''s ability stated that she was still sad. Finding the things too complex and even more, the situation was about a girl that he didn''t like very much, Raito decided to put the matter to the side.


    "Oi!! Everyone." Raito waved gaining attention.


    "Ne, ne, Raito look we make the bed now. With this rope and bamboo, we can make the bed." Naruto placed the bamboo, ropes, and foods inside the cave.


    "I am going to make fish." Ch¨­ji announced and grabbed the fishes. When it came to food, Ch¨­ji had endless energy to make and eat food.


    "Wait! Ch¨­ji." Running inside, Raito brought out a knife made up of stone and gave it to Ch¨­ji.


    "A stone knife!?" Ch¨­ji held the knife and felt its weight. With a frown, he said, "Quite heavy¡­.not very sharp¡­.but still usable."


    "¡­.yeah but it''s still better than using a kunai or not using anything." Raito mumbled.


    [Stone Knife]


    A knife made up of stone, using basic control to change stone to into a knife. Incomparable to a real knife.


    Made by ¨C Yoshizawa Raito


    Special Characteristic - Made by chakra manipulation


    Durability ¨C 40/40


    Uses>


    Flaws>


    "Raito, you made this?" Ino went inside the rock column and saw the bath area. She was shocked for a long time before calling Raito.


    "Yeah, awesome right? I wanted to train my elemental control, so I made this." Raito replied proudly as he watched Naruto, Hinata, Ino and Sakura''s awed faces.


    "Isn''t element control for high level Ch¨±nin?" Shikamaru asked.


    "Hehe." Laughing Raito explained, "It''s all about chakra control, I read it from the book that Hokage-Jiji gave me." Pausing it for a bit he used ''Chakra Sense'' to look at Shikamaru, seeing that he still had those eyes, Raito added, "It was not an ordinary book but books directly from Hokage-sama''s library vault contained the notes regarding the training regimen of an earth elemental control."


    "I did hear from my old man that Hokage-sama was a primary fire elemental but later on when he decided to touch everything, his first choice was earth elemental." Shikamaru explained.


    "Then the book that I got must be¡­." Raito exclaimed but waited for a moment.


    "Yeah, most probably his enlightenment, experiments and results." Shikamaru added his thoughts.


    "Earth transforming into a shelter, a house. It already at the level of high Ch¨±nin." Hinata while at the back said softly making it hard for anyone to hear.


    Raito felt satisfied as he watched the awed faces of everyone. Failing to find Ch¨­ji among the crowd, he saw that Ch¨­ji was going to chop the fish. In reflex, he shouted, "STOP!!"


    Making a nasal sound, Ch¨­ji stopped and looked at the origin of the sound. In confusion, Ch¨­ji asked, "What happened Raito?"


    "Ch¨­ji, you were going to make a big mistake."


    Looking down he saw the fish, looking back he said, "But I marked at the right place."


    "That''s not it. We are going to take a bath first, then eat. You should read more, Ch¨­ji. It''s clearly said that¡­." Raito went into explanation mode making the group''s head dizzy.


    ¡­


    "The bath water is hot and ready."


    "Herbs are ready."


    Heaving out a heavy sigh, Raito quickly weaved a set of hand seals, mostly relating to ''control'' and ''earth'' and activated his chakra. Placing a rock near the heated vats, Raito changed it to a pipe and for strengthening the pipe he used more rocks to be compressed into the pipe.


    "I hope it would be okay." then Raito made the connecting part of the pipe and the vat to open, making the water gush out freely. The durability of the pipe decreased by quite a lot but it was within a manageable range. Checking the durability of the vats, its durability had also decreased by quite a lot.


    The water soon filled the tub and again making a pipe added the cold water to maintain acceptable temperate. After finishing one side, Raito did the same on the other side.


    "Bath in the middle of the training ground, it''s like we are on a vacation." Ino said as she played with water.


    "It''s because of Raito-san." Hinata who was at a corner said.


    "Yeah, he can do so much." Ino said softly. The looking at the divider she shouted, "Raito, thanks."


    "What, what did you say, Ino? I didn''t hear you." Raito from the other side replied back feigning that he didn''t hear anything.


    Ino then didn''t say anything after that but she was fuming a bit.


    Walking out of the bath, Raito stretched a bit and used chakra to remove excess water from himself. Feeling dissatisfied he said, "I want a jutsu to help me with all this."


    "You want to fully rely on jutsu? Maybe that''s possible." Shikamaru who was still in the bath said.


    "Nope, there must be someone lazy enough who has made it." wearing the jacket and outer pants he turned to Ch¨­ji and said, "I''ll go around and get some banana. I feel like I have seen them not far from here. Kitchen utensils are inside on the right, kay?"


    "Okay, Raito. But if you find some wild chicken and boars, note their location." Ch¨­ji said as he started getting out.


    "Okay." Agreeing to Ch¨­ji Raito walked out directly running towards the opposite side.


    Walking around, he looked left and right, slowly surveying the area. Trees, trees and more trees, everything around was only tree and nothing else. Using the skill ''Observe'', Raito finally found what he was looking for.


    [???]


    ''Hehe got you.''


    "Hey ANBU-san, come out. I know you are there. Come out or I will start attacking." Hearing nothing and seeing that the ANBU was not responding to his threat, Raito weaved through a set of hand seals and activated his chakra. "Earth Release ¨C Rock Fist."


    Rocks appeared covering Raito''s hand, the rock had a black color with shiny hue. "Sigh it looks like I have to really do it."


    Walking in front of a tree, he punched through, making a hole in the tree. "See that ANBU-san, next I will hit where you are hiding."


    Walking in front of the tree that had questions, Raito raised his hand, ready to strike. But his hand was caught, making him unable to move. The cat mask-wearing ANBU grabbed Raito''s hand, sighing lightly, he asked, "What do you want?"


    Angrily retracting his hand, he asked, "Why is Sakura here?"


    "Because her team members have quit-"


    "No, I am just asking why is she here and not anywhere else? Why do you have to bring her here?"


    Looking at the boy in front of him, the ANBU sighed, "There was no reason."


    Turning around Raito walked off huffing and puffing. Using chakra to reinforce his body, he quickly disappeared from the area.


    The ANBU after sensing that Raito had gone quite a distance made a hand seal and activated his chakra. Slowly from his shoulder wood came froth to collecting at the side, making a similar looking wooden puppet, colors slowly filled the wooden pocket and the clone gained consciousness. Nodding at each other, one integrated with the tree and the other one followed Raito''s direction.


    The video ended and Raito woke up from his meditation. Looking around he saw that there was no one he could see, he jumped off from the stone and walked forward, ignoring everything else.


    "Is he a Senju? Only the first Hokage had Wood release, even his brother, the Second Hokage, didn''t have wood release. Then maybe brother or cousin of the Sannin, Senju Tsunade." Raito thought inwardly coming to various conclusions but by the end, the WIS stat didn''t increase by a single point. Meaning that whatever theories he had made were false.


    ¡­.


    "Everyone fish is ready, set the table."


    Two bananas, a bowl of mixed vegetable, a baked sweet potato and fish, berries and nuts. One plate had all this things.


    Sitting on the chair made up of rock, everyone clapped hands and prayed for the food, "Thank you for the food."


    Everyone ate fast, even the girls, from morning beside fruits they had not eaten anything much.


    Burping Naruto and Ch¨­ji happily patted their stomach. Throwing the chopsticks at the fireplace, everyone rinsed their plates.


    "Oi Shika did you guys learned about tree climbing chakra control exercise?" Raito asked as Ino and Shika would need more chakra control as compared to others.


    "Yeah for the coming jutsus, we need more control so¡­."


    "So how are you faring?" Raito asked in interest as he cut the bamboo in half, making two semi-circles.


    "Just so-so, I only learned it a day before coming." Shikamaru replied as he poked holes in them.


    "So you know something about it?"


    "Yeah, you could say that." Raising his eyebrows, Shikamaru stared at Raito and asked, "Why are you asking so much?"


    "We will be learning tree climbing tomorrow." Raito said as he placed the bamboo on the cave floor.


    "It''s just perfect." Placing the makeshift bed Raito made it so that the bamboo was attached firmly to the ground.


    Jumping to the corner and fighting for the spot with Ch¨­ji, Raito announced, "My corner."


    "Than this place is mine." Ch¨­ji with Raito by the side announced loudly. Sighing Shikamaru could only join, taking the place by Ch¨­ji''s side.


    The room turned dim and everyone was gathered in the cave, inside the room. Naruto could only be the border, Ino seeing the chance, she pushed Hinata to the border, then Ino and Sakura went to another corner.

 Chapter 25 - 25 – A Women’s Anger

    Chapter 25 ¨C A Women''s Anger


    The ANBU who was responsible for watching Raito''s group saw that everyone went to sleep, today again they hadn''t started training, slightly disappointed as he had rated them much more. Creating a clone for replacement, the ANBU left and with a high speed movement disappeared completely from the area.


    The opposite part of the training ground from the waterfall was about six kilometers, for a high level ANBU, it took just a little more than an hour to reach there.


    **


    On a cleared area, Shino stood silently watching the two of his teammates fighting. Comparing Taijutsu against his two teammates, he would the lowest but comparing to the entire of his class, he would be at the top five. At the academy, he would mostly be paired with the low leveled students and at other times it would be either Kiba, Sasuke or Raito, who had a higher level of Taijutsu.


    Close combat fight was never Shino''s positive points. His best abilities were being patient, stealth, observing and analyzing, the same thing his clan, Aburame Clan was famous for and of course, their family techniques.


    Shino silently watched Kiba and Sasuke fighting, analyzing in his mind. Kiba''s highly offensive style of fighting, where every move was aimed to cause massive damage and Sasuke counterattacking type of fighting technique, where first things would be slow and later would be offensive. It would be tenth or twelfth fight now, but the result would be the same, every, single, time ¨C Sasuke''s win and Kiba''s loss. Sighing, he brought forth his hand near his face where a small bug made some sounds.


    "It''s same every time, no matter what." Sasuke sighed as he once again dodged the tackle and the claw. Throwing a strong kick to the gut from below, he planted a kick to Kiba''s face. This type of fight was indeed too boring. When fighting Raito he would learn a few tricks and make improvements, every single time there would be an improvement, every time he will be filled with the d.e.s.i.r.e to improve and try his best, hoping he would not be left behind.


    "Oof." Coughing out, Kiba rolled back from the force of the kick. Rubbing his face, he lay on the ground breathing heavily. By his side, Akamaru licked Kiba''s hand and waited with his little tails moving.


    Taking out his hands from his pocked Sasuke walked towards Kiba. "Hmph." snorting Sasuke pulled Kiba before walking away.


    Watching from a higher landscape, the silver haired ANBU sighed, "They only fight, eat and sleep. Soo boring, don''t you think Tenz¨­?"


    Kakashi turned around and watched as the short brown haired ANBU dropped down from a tree.


    "Senpai, you are sharp as always." Tenz¨­ spoke as he removed his mask.


    "Damn those from the research department really made something useful this time." Kakashi clicked his tongue as he closed the scroll and kept it in his jacket.


    Bringing a thermos, Kakashi opened the lid. Steam from the hot coffee exited from the thermos giving a refreshing smell. Kakashi filled his cup with the coffee and started drinking.


    Tenz¨­ stood foolishly for a little while before reaching out. But before he could grab it, his hand was slapped away. Then heard Kakashi speaking, "Tenz¨­, don''t you have a cup? You know, I don''t share a cup with anyone."


    Patting everywhere on his body, Tenz¨­ scratched his head and laughed embarrassingly. So after a bit of thought, he channeled his chakra, making a cup, which was slightly bigger than the Kakashi''s own.


    Giving him a lazy eye smile, Kakashi filled his cup. "I never thought about this." then drank his own.


    "Senpai, this idea was actually from a kid from the academy." looking at the steam coming out of the cup, he recalled the boy and said.


    "And¡­.who is it?" going through his mind, Kakashi had a boy in his mind.


    "Yoshizawa Raito, Akeno and Michio''s son." Tenz¨­ replied with hints of sorrow.


    "What did he do?" intrigued he asked.


    "You wouldn''t believe me senpai but that kid is too abnormal. Using elemental manipulation, he made a big room, a fireplace, table, chairs, a bath and what was with that bird fountain. Even a bird is having a better time than me. He used the stones, lying around to make all that."


    "Truly amazing senpai, truly amazing." Tenz¨­ added.


    "Hmm¡­.not that amazing, you know. You made those all when you were younger than him and I made my own jutsu when I was younger than him. Isn''t that much better in comparison?" Kakashi said, which had pride all over it but also sorrow.


    "Senpai, how is the team you are looking after?" Changing topics, Tenz¨­ asked.


    "Are you talking about them? Just boring, fighting, eating and sleeping is all they do. I have so much free time that I finished all my books." Kakashi waved his book showing Tenz¨­.


    "Are you talking about Jiraiya-sama''s books, senpai?" looking at the familiar looking book, Tenz¨­ asked. Even though Tenz¨­ read in his free time, he wasn''t like Kakashi reading at all times, so he still had a lot to be read.


    "The last book of Icha-Icha series ''Full Blossom'' was really good. I wonder when is Jiraiya-sama''s next book is going to be released?" closing the book Kakashi placed it in the storage seal carefully. It looked like, he wanted to frame the book if he could.


    Nodding his head, Tenz¨­ sighed but later was stunned. "Senpai, don''t you know? Jiraiya sensei plans to release a new book. The title of the book was released last week, it was ''Night Castle''."


    "Eh!? Ehhhh!?" due to all the spyin- working Kakashi had missed a lot of things.


    After being shocked for a while, Kakashi recovered.


    "That kid is probably a hidden gem." Tenz¨­ who was drinking his coffee sighed and added, "Seeing the students working hard I feel like I am getting old."


    "You are getting old." Kakashi attacked heartlessly and Tenz¨­ who gave him an odd look.


    "Even Yugao and Hayate are getting married." Tenz¨­ sighed in his own worry.


    "Asuma and Kurenai are dating too." Kakashi added.


    "That too. *Sigh. There is a thing that I have been wanting to ask. You know that¡­.ano that." hesitating face Tenz¨­ tried speaking up.


    (It looks like he wants to talk about a girl.) Kakashi took a sip and said, "Tenz¨­, com to the point." Kakashi filled his cup once more.


    "There is a girl that I have been wanting to see." Tenz¨­ said with some hesitation and remembered about what Raito said at the beginning of the test.


    "Eh!?" ''See right through you.'' Kakashi acted shocked but inside he sighed in his super predicting abilities.


    "Fuyuko Fumihiko, she is from the intelligence department. We went on a date last time but I had to¡­.go on an emergency call. Hokage-sama called so what could I do. So I said sorry and ran." Tenz¨­ started telling his story.


    ''He went on a date?''


    ''What am I doing with my life?''


    Kakashi inner thoughts were now messed up. For as long as he could remember, he spent most of his time in missions, his lovely books and then lastly¡­.Gai, thinking about what he did Kakashi couldn''t help but think seriously.


    "Since then she won''t look at me. Now she has been ignoring me, senpai¡­..Senpai what should I do?" Tenz¨­ asked his all best senpai.


    ''No, no why are you asking me this?''


    Even though it was a difficult topic for him, Kakashi tried his best to give advice to his cute k¨­hai.


    "When was the date?" Kakashi started with investigating tone.


    "Two weeks ago." Tenz¨­ answered truthfully.


    Taking a deep breath, Kakashi sighed and started his bullshit, "Tenz¨­, you have to be straight about it. We are a ninja so it would be easy to find information on her. Wear something good and proper, grab flowers she like, find out the day she has leave and also ask someone to take the shift for you. Don''t ask her, but tell her to come with you, give her flower and kiss her and...."


    Tenz¨­ nodded and scribbled in his paper, "This seems like an awesome idea."


    ''I am at that age too.'' Kakashi questioned himself on the inside.


    [You have slept in a makeshift bed. HP and CP has been fully recovered. All abnormal status and negative ailments have been restored.]


    Raito woke up and looked at the clock with dissatisfaction. Walking opposite of the bed area Raito crouched down and placed his hand on the small stone chamber. Injecting a bit of chakra, an opening was created from which smoke appeared. Using another hand seal, he used the ''Erasing Wind'' to clear the smoke. Grabbing bundles of logs, Raito threw them in the chamber lighting it up, then closed the opening. The chamber was connected to the pipes all over the cave room and exited from an opening at the roof which was made slightly curved.


    Stretching his body, Raito went out of the cave. Grabbing a brushing bush, he started brushing teeth and with chakra enhanced water, rinsed his mouth and washed his face.


    Inside the cave, Shikamaru woke up due to Raito all making noise, which wasn''t much. Feeling the stiffness in his neck, Shikamaru woke up uncomfortably and grumbled in pain, "We definitely need pillows."


    Outside Raito placed his index and thumb fingers in the water on the water vat and activated his chakra, "Fire release ¨C Fire spark". The water in the vat after some time released some steam. Feeling curious he willed for more chakra into the jutsu and soon nearly a fifth of the chakra was exhausted when the water started boiling. Alarmed as his HP was decreasing rapidly, Raito quickly pulled back his hand and started healing himself. Seeing that the wounds in his hand started healing and his HP returned to normal, Raito sighed in relief.


    Name: Yoshizawa Raito Lvl 13 Exp 70%


    Title: Ninja Academy Student (+25% Exp till level 10)


    Age: 12


    HP: 1500/1510


    STR: 38


    VIT: 43


    DEX: 36


    INT: 47


    WIS: 40


    LUK: 33(13+20) #20 is the equipment bonus from the lucky star#


    Stat points: 30


    Yoshizawa household member: Additional +50 HP per level +2 INT & +3 VIT per level.


    Holder of the lucky star (Bound Equipment): additional +1 LUK per level.


    "I need more training on STR and DEX, I thought that with all those training I would have high STR. I wanted more chakra so I invested most of my time on INT." Raito summarized, closed the status page and tried opening his inventory but failed in doing so.


    "Oi Raito, you are awake so early." from the back Shikamaru called, still holding his neck.


    "Eh? Shika, you can wake up so early, what happened?" Raito turned around with some hints of astonishment in his face as he saw Shikamaru coming over.


    "Nothing, my neck feels so stiff right now, it''s hard to even move my neck." Shikamaru complained as he pressed his hand on the neck with a bit of force.


    With glowing green chakra in his hand, Raito reached out to Shikamaru''s neck and used heal on it. "Try moving."


    Shikamaru tried moving and freely moved his neck with ease. "That feels good."


    "After resting for a bit, you will be all fine, Shika." Raito removed his hands and the green glow vanished.


    Shikamaru looked at Raito with determined glare and said, "We need pillows."


    Not wanting to laugh out Raito held in his laughter and said, "Sure, anytime. If the blanket didn''t get wet, I would have already made it."


    Shikamaru also grabbed a bush and held a cup of water to brush his teeth.


    "Shika can we make some ink and a brush?" Raito asked as he looked back at the cave.


    Bush in his mouth he looked at Raito asking for what he needed those.


    "For Fuinjutsu." Raito answered simply and explained further. "With Fuinjutsu we can make a temperature regulating seal, preservation seal and fortification seal."


    "That''s level three seals. Can you do it?" Shikamaru asked with some suspicion.


    "Of course I can." Raito said proudly and added, "I can already make the harder level three seals now. So it would be easy with them."


    "And Naruto can also make seals?" Shikamaru asked with a questioning tone.


    "Level two to be exact." Raito answered.


    "You are abnormal, Raito." Shikamaru rinsed his mouth and commented without even looking at Raito.


    "What''s so abnormal about learning Fuinjutsu? There are lots of people doing Fuinjutsu." Raito retorted.


    "That''s not what I meant, but you clearly told me last time that you just wanted to read Fuinjutsu theory. But how come you know how to make seals now? The books I gave you didn''t have a Fuinjutsu formula. Everything was just theory." Shikamaru stared like he know everything.


    "¡­.I slowly took from jiji''s bookshelf." Raito said reluctantly.


    "Did you steal them?" Shikamaru asked in a daze.


    "Did you go stupid?" Raito rolled his eyes.


    "I did something and Jiji gave me a book in return." Raito said proudly.


    After a long pause, Shikamaru sighed and said, "I will look for things around."


    "Sure." Grabbing apples from the box he gave one to Shikamaru and took a bite himself.


    "I will be back in a few hours." Saying that Raito ran away.


    Seeing his back Shikamaru could only resign to his fate, to wait for someone else to wake up.


    At a place where chickens were walking with some panic. Raito tried some traps made using earth control but after trying out various things, Raito could only give up. Because the trap activation was so slow and failed in catching even one chicken.


    [Earth Spike Lvl 1 (Active) CP cost ¨C 250]


    Even though the technique that Raito created using just earth manipulation and chakra control without any hand seals, he wished it to be like super powerful but the activation time and piercing power were too weak. Every time the jutsu was activated, the wild chicken would dodge the spikes and run wild.


    Frustrated, Raito changed few stones into a sharp circular disk and threw them instantly chopping their head off.


    Eyes twitching he instructed himself, "I need to incorporate hand seals with these techniques I created."


    Catching a couple of chicken, draining their blood, Raito dragged them together and brought them back to the shelter.


    Seeing that Raito brought the chicken back, the first to react was Ch¨­ji. With a furious wind, the three chicken in Raito''s hand was snatched away in a blink of the eye. With the rock knife, Ch¨­ji started preparing the chicken and gave Raito a list of things to bring. Grumbling Raito went back to collect the necessary ingredients. Tomatoes, ginger, onion, chili pepper and various other spices.


    As Raito collected the ingredients, he saw a silver haired ANBU sitting on a stone lazily, right hand holding his face, "Is today some party? Are you guys making chicken? Am I invited?"


    "Kakashi-sensei?" Raito asked without even looking. "What did you do with ''rule-book''?"


    "Rule book?" stunned Kakashi laughed after understanding.


    "Why are you here?" Raito asked as he started picking herbs.


    "Me? I swapped places with the ANBU." Kakashi answered plainly.


    "Why?"


    "Because I wanted to."


    Stunned by the answer, Raito chose to ignore Kakashi and return back to the shelter. On the way back Raito grabbed a few edibles which could be eaten raw and baked easily.


    "Say Kakashi sensei, who made all this training ground?" Raito asked.


    "Some Ch¨±nin and J¨­nin. One just needs earth jutsu and water jutsu." stunned Kakashi replied after making Raito wait for half a minute.


    "What about¡­..the trees?" Raito asked again this time with more of interest.


    "The trees? They grew themselves." Kakashi replied smoothly without needing to think.


    [Lie detected]. The lie was so obvious that even though Kakashi lied, it was directly revealed, even though the level difference was so high.


    "Liar." Raito shouted in low voice then continued in his path.


    Reaching the shelter area, Raito saw that Ch¨­ji had already cleaned the chicken of its feathers, the innards had been removed and the body was stabbed with a rock skewer. There were few herbs inserted on the underlying skin, which looked like a tightly fitted glove.


    Seeing that Raito was coming, Ch¨­ji waved his hand to call him. Handing Ch¨­ji all the ingredients, Raito was again issued with another job of making mortar and pestles.


    Finishing the job quickly Raito saw that the experience bar for ''Earth Element Manipulation'' was quickly filling up. Happy Raito made few things that he didn''t need like a nice looking statue of Hiruzen and balls. In his few experiments, Raito made the rocks with near big volume compress until it was the size of a marble, while not all were successfully turned into the size of a marble, their size decreased. With the increase in level, the power to compress increased accordingly. Now with a palm of one''s hand, holding a small bead with the weight of hundreds. If they were used with the skill ''Throw'', the result will definitely be extremely dangerous.


    Laughing loudly, Raito moved all of them inside the cave. Making flower pots, Raito decided to put his ideas into test. These days when the vats were full of purified water and his chakra was full, Raito would splash the water on the wall outside the cave. To his amazement, on the wall, there were green sprouts. New green life ready to blossom. Making flower pots, Raito placed a plant in it and watered it with purified water. Such treatment of nobility in the wrong direction making people vomit.


    In all his experiment, Raito couldn''t smell the delicious smell coming from the chicken, but the smell from Ch¨­ji''s cooking could be called heavenly as the small pug like dog with brown fur and a dark brown snout and ears, wearing blue vest with the heno-heno-moheji seal and a Konoha forehead protector, sitting at the top of the tree at the cliff, twitched his nose and disappeared from the spot landing near Ch¨­ji''s cooking area.


    "A ninken?" Ch¨­ji watched the brown pug and placed himself between the chicken and the ninken.


    "That smells nice." The ninken spoke making Ch¨­ji jump in surprise. Ch¨­ji quickly leveled the ninken ''high level''.


    "I made it." Ch¨­ji replied with some hesitation.


    "My name is Pakkun, the new supervisor''s summon looking after you all." Pakkun introduced himself, raising his paws, which were soft pink.


    "That chicken smells nice, mind sharing?" immediately after introducing himself, Pakkun asked with d.e.s.i.r.e, coming from his eyes.


    Seeing the d.e.s.i.r.e, similar d.e.s.i.r.e rose in Ch¨­ji''s eyes and he nodded heavily


    "If there are more of you, you have to bring chicken yourself." the side ingredients that Raito brought were abundant but the number of chicken were limited.


    Nodding his head Pakkun disappeared from the area.


    Meditating, Raito used ''Chakra Sense'' and saw the whole thing, now with the individual and environment being extremely clear, he got a passive skill, ''Lip Reading''. With the help of skill, lip reading was much easier. But as for the lip reading of dogs, it was not possible, for now.


    Watering the plants, Raito left the cave and went towards the open area, where everyone was training. Reaching the area, Raito was totally stunned. Naruto, Hinata, Ino and Sakura had already started doing the ''Tree Climbing Exercise''. But what was more surprising was that Ino and Naruto were struggling, Naruto having more difficulty. And Sakura standing on the branch at the upper part of the tree.


    [Haruno Sakura Lvl 8]


    HP: 350/350


    CP: 175/300


    [Yamanaka Ino Lvl 8]


    HP: 525/525


    CP: 400/600


    [Uzumaki Naruto Lvl 10]


    HP: 3600/3800


    CP: 4000/5000


    Seeing Naruto''s large chakra pool, Raito was filled with jealousy, wanting to increase his INT points with status points. But his Gamer''s mind helped him calm down, letting him think calmly.


    "You guys have already started, not even waiting for me." Raito cried in mock anger.


    "Raito!!" Naruto shouted as he jumped from his lying position. Scratching his hair he added, "It''s so difficult, chakra control is so difficult. I wish I was smart like Sakura." Naruto''s last sentence was said in such a low voice, only he could hear. But with Raito''s lip reading, he easily knew what Naruto was saying.


    Going in front, Raito smiled warmly with the position ready to hug him. Confused Naruto also smiled and spread his arms wide open and closed his eyes with a happy smile. The hug never came but a fist hit Naruto square at the head in full force decreasing HP by 40. Grabbing his head in pain Naruto cried out, "Don''t hit my head, I will become even more stupid."


    "Don''t say useless things." Saying that Raito walked in front of Hinata and asked her to teach him. Shuttering the entire process, Hinata finally said it all. Being able to get the tab for the tree climbing exercise, it proved that Hinata had a high level in this exercise, being able to teach others.


    [Tree Climbing Exercise (Active/Passive) Lvl 1 CP Cost ¨C 120 per minute]


    # Using chakra as a powerful adhesive force to stick to the tree and maintain internal system balance.


    # +50 CP permanently every level.


    "Hehe, it''s so easy." Raito laughed as he ran up and down the tree.


    Naruto and Ino, looked at Raito in annoyance. What they couldn''t learn in a long time, Raito learned in a few minutes. This was really angering the two to death. On the side, Hinata had her small mouth open for a whole minute seeing Raito''s comprehensive ability. From the side tree, Sakura stood panting holding the tree, resting. Doing two times was already her limit, if she tried for once more she would feel the strain on her chakra system.


    Seeing Raito freely walking the tree made everyone feel slight awe. His ability to comprehend was really too godly and even flaunting, please care about your image.


    Raito was very happy right now, this skill gave him another chance to raise his chakra pool. So without caring for the depleting CP, he walked the tree until his CP was exhausted. The skill leveled up a few times and his chakra pool increased permanently by a couple of hundreds.


    Hinata from the side asked, "Raito-san, why are you exhausting your chakra to the lowest point?"


    "Why not? It will fill up quickly. So I have to train as hard and as fast as I can." Raito answered not knowing that it wasn''t naturally so.


    "Raito-san, if one exhausts their chakra halfway, he or she will naturally recover chakra in a fast pace but if one fully exhaust his chakra pool then it will take a minimum of a day rest." Hinata said in a low voice but was easily heard by Raito.


    "That may be so. But chakra recovery will be fast for me and will not take a lot of time. If you want to, you can calculate the time for me." Raito answered Hinata, directly giving her task.


    Thinking for a while an answer appeared in his mind ¨C Gamer''s power.


    In the midst of recovering his chakra, he ''saw'' Shikamaru coming.


    "Food is ready, come and eat." Shikamaru shouted grabbing everyone''s attention.


    Hearing the announcement, Naruto dashed first followed closely by Hinata then Ino and Sakura. Seeing that everyone left, Raito slowly walked towards Shikamaru and waited.


    "Ink and brush, both are ready." Shikamaru said lazily.


    "En, I will make a temperature regulating seal and an illumination seal." Nodding Raito said as he counted his fingers.


    "It''s not like we really need them." Shikamaru walked forward.


    "Nope, those are the must." With that Raito also joined him.


    In front, Sakura and Ino were chatting.


    "I would have shown you pictures, just like Mari-sensei had shown me but I don''t have them with me right now."


    "Really? But dieting is-"


    "Didn''t you see Hinata''s? She doesn''t diet at all and she is not fat at all. All are at right places too."


    "That''s right."


    "You know Kunoichi are more beautiful than any other civilians."


    "Really."


    "Training is like sculpting body, just the way you want. Eating is like providing the body with energy to sculpt."


    "But didn''t you say before that muscle training will make girls look like brutes?"


    "That was before." Ino replied with an awkward smile.


    The beautifully made chicken gave a fragrant smell. The smell was so intoxicating that it made Naruto and Ch¨­ji drool badly.


    When Raito looked at the cooking area he saw six chicken, not three that he had originally brought.


    After Ch¨­ji had brought down the skewers, the ninken appeared in a swift, holding the skewer, they disappeared with the skewers.


    "What the hell was that?"


    "Our chicken." Naruto shouted as he started searching around frantically.


    Ch¨­ji ignored the two and continued cutting the chicken into standard pieces and plating them. After finishing all only he answered, "Those were the ANBU''s summon. They brought chicken so I made it for them."


    Raito simply shrugged and ignored the issue. The only one who had dog summon except from the Inuzuka clam was Kakashi in the village and the affiliation clearly said Konoha.


    After eating the fill, everyone did their training separately or in groups. Shikamaru and Ch¨­ji, Ino and Sakura, Hinata and Naruto trained in group leaving Raito alone. Raito choose to do this himself.


    Without anyone telling him anything, Raito walked facing the cliff and questioned himself, "Can I walk on the cliff, same as I walked on trees?" for increasing chakra pool, Raito thought of different things, he even thought of walking the waterfall but quickly canceled the idea. He knew that water walking was an exercise completely difficult than tree walking, waterfall walking, was that even possible?


    Feeling that he was on the right train of thoughts of getting chakra, Raito touched the cliff and closed his eyes.


    ''Chakra the warm ball of light pass through you, let it pass through your feet and cover it. Will it, ask it, order it as you see. It is a part of you and you are a part of it. Raise the leg, push it to the wall, it will stick, you don''t have to worry. Raise another leg, don''t worry about anything, just take a step forward.''


    One step, two step, three, four, five.... Without much problem, Raito had already walked to the top of the cliff.


    Due to a special action, a new skill has been created ¨C [Rock Walking].


    [Rock walking (Active) Lvl 1 CP Cost 120 per minute]


    # Using chakra as a powerful adhesive force to stick to the rocks and maintain internal system balance.


    # +40 CP permanently every level.


    A new skill has been unlocked ¨C sub [Chakra Control] ¨C [Chakra Adhesion].


    [Chakra adhesion (Active) Lvl 1 CP Cost 40]


    # Using chakra as a powerful adhesive force.


    # +10 CP every level


    "Not bad kid." a voice shocked Raito as he was looking through notification.


    "Wah!!" Raito instinctively jumped back, pushing the rock below his feet.


    Feeling the gravity acting on him, the sense of falling down, the feeling of weightlessness, the feeling of the earth coming to slap you and the feeling of helplessness. Raito thought that he would be overwhelmed by all of these things but a lifesaving skill had already been activated, ''Fast thinking'' and ''Chakra Sense''. Mainly it would be because of the gamer''s mind.


    Useless actions disappeared in a moment and Raito moved his hands, in his thoughts quickly passing that he had no weapons to use. Twisting his body, Raito forced his hands to touch the jagged rocks. The cuts from them making blood appear and also reminding him of his precious life. Activating the chakra and skills, he had learned just now, he stuck to the rock wall.


    "Raito let go." a big hand caught Raito. Letting go of the rocks, he handed his life to his chubby friend.


    "Hey who is there?" Naruto shouted.


    "Show up."


    "Hinata can you see who is there?" Shikamaru asked.


    "Hai¡­.there is a dog." Hinata looked and answered.


    "Stop!" slightly out of breath Raito shouted and looked at everyone, he apologized, "I am sorry that happened. I was lost in my own thoughts and it all happened because of my carelessness."


    [Yamanaka Ino]


    Emotion ¨C worried, terrified, angry¡­.


    Bringing Raito''s hand towards her, she picked out the small stones in his hands. Looking over, Hinata had already brought water to clean the wound.


    After cleaning the wound, Ino started channeling her chakra to her hand. Her hand glowed greenish-blue and gave a slightly cold sensation.


    -1 HP


    -1 HP


    Raito smiled and started his own healing technique, which acted way faster. His hands glowed and the wounds and scratched started to close.


    Removing her hands, Ino gave Raito an embarrassed look.


    "After you become a Genin, you can join the hospital medic group to learn about healing techniques." Raito told Ino as he caught her hand, his chakra enveloping hers.


    "Baka Raito, I already know that." saying that Ino gave a very hard slap on Raito''s head calling him stupid and useless.


    At the top of the cliff.


    "That was quite bad."


    "Yeah, seriously bad. They are going to be with you for at least six months, you know, Kakashi."


    "Let''s go Pakkun." Kakashi grabbed Pakkun and jumped down.


    He put Pakkun down and coughed lightly, "Pakkun has something to say."


    Grumbling Pakkun walked forward and reached near Raito, "Sorry there kid. Didn''t knew you would be so jumpy."


    "A-A talking d-dog?" Sakura shocked voice grabbed everyone''s attention.


    Everyone gave Sakura an eye of confusion asking, ''so what?''


    "Of course I can talk, I am a ninken after all and a proud member of the village, nearly as old as him. If the Hokage gave me a rank I would probably a special J¨­nin." Pakkun pointed at Kakashi and said proudly.


    "You girl pinkie, you are quite smart, aren''t you?" sniffing lightly, Pakkun faced Sakura and asked.


    "Me? Yeah, you can say so. But really how did you know?" not thinking about the failures she experienced, she remembered her top scores in the exams and asked.


    "Of course because you use the best choice shampoo, ''Floral Green Shampoo'', same as me." Pakkun said cheerily.


    "I-I use the same sha-sham-poo as a dog?" Sakura kneeled as her soul flew out.


    Turning around Pakkun faced Raito once again and coughed lightly, "So kid, as compensation I will let you touch my paw."


    "Your paw?" Raito raised his hands and touched Pakkun''s paw.


    "Soft and¡­.pink. Really comfortable." Raito assessed and said out loud.


    [Increased relation with Pakkun]


    As Raito played with Pakkun''s paw, he scooped Pakkun, facing Kakashi, he said, "I will take Pakkun for a day."


    "Eh!" Kakashi wearing ANBU outfit made a sudden shocked noise in which his chakra fluctuated. "That I don''t think will be suitable."


    "Kakashi?" Pakkun looked at his summoner asking for confirmation.


    Felling a headache Kakashi sighed, "Okay but don''t interfere." saying that Kakashi disappeared.


    Pakkun in his hands, Raito turned around and with everyone returned to the resting area.


    It was 3 PM, with makeshift brush and ink in front of him, Raito took out a paper from the wooden box from the first day.


    [Chakra Infused paper]


    [Makeshift Brush]


    [Makeshift Ink]


    Pakkun was sitting on Ch¨­ji''s head, wanting to see a nice show. He was very much interested in the boy that made so many things around.


    Everyone was inside the cave room, sitting in a circle. Raito had paper ink and brush in front of him. Turning to Naruto he said, "Naruto, everyone it will be the first time I will be doing Fuinjutsu in front of someone. See how I do it."


    Grabbing the brush, Raito dipped it at the ink slab and rolled it then dragged it to the edge.


    "Fuinjutsu." Sakura who was from the civilian background had never seen anyone performing Fuinjutsu. She was mesmerized by the seals that Raito was drawing.


    "Fuinjutsu ¨C Thermal Seal"


    "Shika." Shikamaru quickly performed a set of hand seals and sent a pulse of chakra to the seal.


    [Nara Shikamaru ¨C Primary Fire and Earth Affinity]


    With a pulse of chakra, the character distorted and changed into a straight black line with a single red dot at the center.


    The sudden appearance of another color really surprised Sakura. But seeing that no one had any question, she kept quiet, she didn''t want to make them call her stupid.


    Next again, Raito drew a set of seal on the paper and sent a pulse of chakra.


    "Fuinjutsu ¨C Illumination Seal"


    "Ino." Raito called Ino, who made a set of hand seal and sent a pulse of chakra towards the seal.


    [Yamanaka Ino ¨C Primary Lightning Affinity]


    "Done." Raito smiled happily and using chakra he stuck the illumination seal on top of the cave then the temperature regulating seal on the back of the cave.


    With his chakra sense, Raito felt the connection and activated the two seals. Then there was light from the seal at the top and coldness gradually disappeared, making the cave room warm.


    "T-This is Sealing¡­.technique?" Sakura was shocked from what was happening.


    "Ah, the warmth." Ino immediately fell down stretching on the bamboo bed.


    Naruto pulled Raito and asked, "Raito what was that red dot on the seal?"


    "That''s¡­." the corners of his eyes fell on Sakura who was looking at the seals and a feeling of disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e appeared in his heart, "¡­.a secret. I will tell you later." the later sentence was said in a low voice that only the near ones were able to hear.


    The one who was the most absorbed would be ¨C Shikamaru. He looked at the seals then on Naruto and Raito, his gaze making Raito feel goosebumps.


    Outside the cave, Raito walked on the tree and rocks, leveling up the skills. Jumping down, Raito saw that Ch¨­ji was again making chicken and there were six of them, again


    .


    "Ch¨­ji why do we have so many chicken?" Raito asked in confusion.


    "Pakkun and his buddies brought it."


    Going around the cooking area Raito saw ninken and eight of them.


    [Pakkun] [Bull] [Urushi] [Shiba] [Bisuke] [Akino] [Uhei] [Guruko]


    Of all shape and sizes, the ninken all kept themselves in a line.


    "You all are Kakashi''s summon?" Raito saw the group and asked in curiosity.


    "Yeah. It''s like we got him and he got us." Shiba spoke up.


    "Can I help in any way, Ch¨­ji?" turning around he asked Ch¨­ji in boredom.


    "Not for now Raito. Everything is prepared."


    "Okay then."


    Walking further in, at the open area. Naruto and Hinata were practicing, she was instructing him to tree walk. After observing for a while, he returned back and stood near a big rock.


    [Record]


    Recording his experiment Raito made progress bit by bit.


    ''Small¡­.small¡­.small.''


    ''Not bad but they are still big.''


    Making the big rock into a small rock, then changing the small rock into a big rock.


    "Why do you want small heavy rocks?" Pakkun asked trying to push one of the smaller rocks but failed to do so.


    "To train, of course." Raito replied smoothly, whatever anyone asked he would tell the same thing.


    On a secret path outside the village.


    Mizuki was escorted by four ANBU members through a secluded pathway, taking him to a correctional facility.


    Mizuki fell down as he walked, his face covered by mud, his hands shackled behind were not helping him anytime soon. The surrounding ANBU just watched him struggling to stand up, not even forcing him to stand.


    "Not even helping to stand up. What heartless bastards. Crappy¡­." Mizuki grumbled.


    The way the ANBU wearing men look at you, just looking at you, not talking, with no sound and no signal is just creepy. Bunch of masks looking at you.


    "Damn bastards. If only I had left this damned village and followed Orichimaru-sama at that time. I could have slaughtered you all easily. If I get out would go kill that Uzumaki brat and his little demon worshiper." Mizuki shouted as he struggled to get up.


    ''More anger, hate, disgust¡­.'' the mysterious sound, maniacal voice reverberated in Mizuki''s ear. He remembered his parents brutally killed by the demonic fox, the feeling of being an orphan, the feeling of losing everything in just a day, the sympathetic look at the streets by the a.d.u.l.ts and the friends. Ridiculing eyes from the clan members, disappointed eyes of the teachers in the academy and the J¨­nin instructor. The pitying remarks from the Hokage after failing the mission, the first kill, enemy, friends, one, two, three, hehe.


    Hokage''s eye of disappointment and the smiling face of Iruka. Orichimaru, Danzo, Kabuto.


    "The demon fox, the demon worshiper. Kill, kill, kill.


    "###### - Rage."


    "###### - Confuse."


    "Ha!!" a black light expelled and knocked the ANBU down, then the black light traveled a kilometer before disappearing.


    "What a waste, stupid constructs, curses¡­.using, the great me as search magic, I curse you." the marker on the Mizuki''s back disappeared.


    Breathing heavily Mizuki regained his consciousness, his mind still in a state of confusion.


    Standing on a cliff, tall beautiful women, with her long black hair waving in the wind. The veil covering her delicate oval face, only letting her golden phoenix eyes visible. Her blue dress covering her body, her beautiful feet without a covering, resting on a crystal.


    "How many more before I get my sandals back?" the women pouted then bursting into moths of light, she disappeared.


    Mizuki ran as fast as he could, "Whatever it was, destroyed the seal and knocked the ANBU down...¡­.First Tsubaki and my child."


    On a secluded house, outskirts of the village


    "Tsubaki¡­.Mizuki is being taken to the correctional facility." Iruka was standing outside the door and with a weak voice, he announced the words to the women standing in front of him.


    "¡­.Iruka, is there any chance¡­.he can return?" Tsubaki had tears coming out of her eyes as she asked.


    "Tsubaki I don''t think there is any." closing his eyes he answered in a bit of sorrow for once he called that man-demon, he called a friend.


    "He admitted his past crimes and at the same time cursed Hokage-sama and threatened to kill the people of the village." then he added with hints of anger.


    "Tsubaki¡­.Hokage-sama wants you back on the active roster. Report to the tower after a week." After a long pause, Iruka finally made a command and turned around intending to leave.


    Touching her elbow, she tried to answer but couldn''t.


    "Students are undergoing exams so I will be going to oversee them."


    "Everyone is trying hard. You should too." Saying his final words, Iruka left the house leaving the women standing at the door.


    Mizuki, hiding into the bushes watched the scene and was furious beyond belief. If only he had ignored the Tsubaki and his child, he could have already gathered his belonging and left the village already. Wasted so much time here.


    North West correctional facility


    "It''s about time but they are not here, send the messenger pigeon to the tower." the ninja wearing flak jacket watched the direction ordered his subordinate standing in front of the desk.


    "Yes." the subordinate quickly shouted and left the room.


    "ANBU are never late, some unfortunate events may have happened." Turning around he went back into reading the book.


    ¡­


    Mizuki-Tsubaki Houses


    "Tsubaki, are you pregnant?" Mizuki grabbed Tsubaki from the behind in a chokehold and asked in a cold tone. Her stomach wasn''t big nor any other signs, but still he wanted to confirm this.


    "Mizuki why are you here?" Startled Tsubaki tried struggling but Mizuki''s hold only became tighter.


    "Answer me." Mizuki shouted pushing her down.


    "N-No... I am not. I am not pregnant." Tsubaki had tears coming out of her eyes.


    "Tch, go to sleep." Hitting her to unconsciousness, Mizuki started searching the house. Slamming the hidden compartment shut, he shouted, "Why are there no weapons?"


    "I thought I would meet you here." a calm voice sounded from outside the house.


    Hearing the voice, Mizuki turned around and said, "Kabuto?" "What are you doing here?"


    In his cold voice, Kabuto spoke up, "Orichimaru-sama has a job for you. He wants you to meet him after you obtain the Scroll of seals."


    "Orichimaru-sama." Mizuki mouthed the name and smiled lightly then said, "I''m ready."


    Opening the scroll, Kabuto placed the scroll at the table and said, "Due to your actions, the ANBU are searching frantically for you except those responsible for observing the village. The ninja in the shed have also decreased but Hokage tower is strict as usual."


    "There will be a seal when you uncover the false slate at the ground, you will need this." Pointing at the blood on the small bottle. "Place it over the seal and send a bit of chakra. The scroll will come out, if it doesn''t work abandon and run."


    "I understand."


    After Kabuto was done with the briefing, he packed everything and walked out.


    "Which route will you take?" Kabuto asked with a slight smile.


    "Training ground zero. I have supplies there and something Orichimaru-sama gave me."


    "The academy teachers will be there. Are you able to take care of them?"


    "Piece of cake." Mizuki smiled wickedly.


    "Mizuki I will send you help. He will be there at the shed. You will know."


    "What!? Why?" Mizuki asked


    "Because I want you to kill someone for me."


    After a pause, Mizuki asked, "Who?"


    "¡­.Yoshizawa Raito."


    "¡­.Huh!? Why?"


    "Mizuki." Kabuto glared at him and walked away.


    Mizuki was stunned for a while as his mind went blank. Wiping his sweat, he took a glance at Tsubaki and left the house.


    After an hour.


    Inside the Hokage tower, an ANBU suddenly appeared disturbing the discussion between J¨­nins and Hokage.


    "Boar what is it?" Hiruzen asked.


    "Hai¡­.Area Prime 1 has been destroyed. The scroll is missing. Death-0, injured-2."


    "Who was it?" Hiruzen asked.


    "According to the stationed ANBU, one was Mizuki and another was an Inuzuka."


    "Which Inuzuka member in specific?" Hiruzen asked and at the same time signaled Iruka to give a visit to Tsubaki again.


    "We don''t have confirmation, Hokage-sama." the Boar ANBU looked down and waited.


    "Alert all J¨­nin in the village." Hiruzen said and waved his hand. A fierce gust of wind blew making the participants in the room disappear. Then he walked towards the crystal ball with a deep frown.


    Shelter ¨C Dining area


    "Thank you for the food." everyone shouted and prayed for food.


    "Woof! Woof!"


    Everyone ate heartily, competing for who would finish fast except for the girls, of course.


    Hatake Kakashi, couldn''t resist the delicious smell and joined the group.


    "Hey ANBU-san, can you not eat like that, OPEN THE MASK." Raito shouted seeing the weird way Kakashi was eating.


    "Sorry I can''t." Raito''s words were like plunging into cotton having no effect. Kakashi replied after gulping down and drinking water and answered with a head tilt.


    "We know who you are so what''s the point in all this?" Raito pointed with his chopsticks.


    "We know?" Sakura said in a surprise.


    "Silver hair, dog summoner. There is only one who matches in the village." Sighing Shikamaru looked at Sakura and added again, "You don''t even know the top ninja of your own village."


    "What''s with this water?" out of blue Kakashi asked stirring the water inside the glass.


    "Purified water." Naruto answered.


    "Go away if you are done, sensei." Raito felt that Kakashi was absolute bothersome.


    "What''s the hurry?"


    Kakashi after eating left his dishes and roamed around the shelter.


    "Wow, you have such nice rooms, is that a fireplace? Seals? And plants? You grew plants?"


    "Yeah, sensei Raito made all this." Naruto said with his ever present cheery smile.


    Seeing that Naruto would answer easily, Kakashi turned to face him and started asking him.


    "How did you grew this plant, Naruto?" touching the plants he faced Naruto and asked.


    "That was done by Raito." feeling no remorse, Naruto sold the information to the demon.


    "The seals?"


    "Raito."


    "What about the bath outside?"


    "Of course Raito."


    Every time Kakashi would ask, Naruto would reply in one word ¨C Raito.


    "Can you stop asking?" Raito massaged his temples and shouted. "Bakanaru, go and get some firewood."


    After everyone went to different directions, Kakashi didn''t ask any more questions and let them do their work.


    "Can you not stare, Kakashi-sensei?" emptying the last of a drop of water on the vats to the flowering pot, Raito asked Kakashi.


    "I am curious, why is there a Genjutsu casted on the stone?" without touching Kakashi watched the stone attached to Raito''s shoulder and asked.


    "Training." Raito asked plainly, not wanting to divert his attention and making the stone fall.


    Raito saw that the water in the vats had finished. Expelling the breath that he was holding, he activated his chakra and gathered water. "Water Condensation Technique"


    ''Sharingan''. From inside the cloth covering his eye, the magatama on the red iris spun. But what he saw made him jump in fright. He was seen something totally unique, only he couldn''t believe what he was looking at.


    The pulse of chakra pushed the bad things out of the water and after that, a silver of white chakra was left in the water.


    "What the hell? How can this happen?" after the advancement of technology and use of the filter system the use of ''Water Condensation Technique'' was not much used except in exams such as this. And even more, so Kakashi had never taken part in such a babysitting mission before, looking after a bunch of academy students.


    Previously he had drunk the purified water but it only felt refreshing, nothing more. But now that he thought a bit deeper, a trace amount of chakra had recovered. Shaking his head, Kakashi disappeared from the area and reached the top, where he started writing the report with additional information on the ''Condensation Jutsu'' and ''Purification Jutsu''.


    *SFX for Eagle screeching.


    Kakashi watched the eagle and his face turned a little bad. The eagle had a yellow ribbon tied on its leg rating it a level 3 threat.


    Sighing he called his summons and asked them to take care for the time being. Then without any delay used the high speed movement ¨C Body flicker and disappeared, the speed faster than Tenz¨­.


    It was already late nine and Raito with the gang had entered the cave room, preparing to sleep. Before this, they were training crazily, while Sakura was crazy about getting beautiful others were training for another reason. Cutting the chakra flow, the room soon turned dark and everyone fell into the sleep except Raito, who was in a daze. It was quite a unique feeling. Like every day he d.e.s.i.r.ed to sleep but the sleep didn''t get him. Nearly awake for the whole fifteen minute, Raito got anxious and woke up, drinking a cup, Raito again tried sleeping but failed to do so.


    Thinking of games, he played back then, Raito had a bad feeling. The only time when the characters get to have time exceeding the normal time, is the time of an EVENT. That was bad, extremely bad. If it was a game, then he would be happy beyond belief, but clearly, it was real life. Events in real life, means the chance of death.


    Raito didn''t sleep and woke for a whole hour but nothing happened. But just as he was calming down, Raito with his ''Chakra Sense'' saw that Kakashi looked up at the sky and had a frown on his face. After giving a few instructions to Pakkun, he ran towards the exit, following which Pakkun also left in a direction.


    Leaving the cave, he quickly reached outside. Standing still for few minutes Raito raised his right hand and said, "We give up on survival exam." Even after waiting for a while no response came.


    Thinking back as to how fast Kakashi had left, the bad feeling grew exponentially and the breathing became irregular. On the bed, Shikamaru couldn''t take anymore, waking up directly, followed Raito towards outside of the cave and saw Raito destroying all his creations, returning to their original form.


    [Earth Break (Active) Lvl 1 CP Cost 200]


    Looking for a while Shikamaru finally questioned, "What are you doing?"


    "¡­.I am destroying traces of us being here." after a long pause, Raito finally answered.


    "Kakashi-sensei is not here, he saw a messenger bird and went, probably something happened. But I have a bad feeling about this and ¡­..More importantly I-I¡­.can''t sleep." Raito added.


    Looking at Raito, Shikamaru didn''t know what to say. Finally opening his mouth he said, "Aren''t you being a little too¡­.paranoid?"


    "Tch." Raito clicked his tongue and continued destroying the stone architecture.


    Shikamaru looked at Raito who was destroying everything and sighed. Saying ''whatever'' in his mind Shikamaru started helping him to remove traces.


    Soon all the noise alerted the people sleeping inside the cave. One woke up another and by the end, everyone was fully awake.


    "Ahh, what are you doing, Shikamaru?" Ino shouted as she saw Shikamaru destroying the small garden by the water vats.


    Naruto stared in shock, after quite a while he asked, "Oi Shika what are you doing?" His voice turning heavier and shouted, "Stop it." "Oi, stop it." Shouting Naruto ran and caught Shikamaru, stopping him.


    "Why!? Just. Why? Raito did so much, he worked so hard. Why!?" Naruto at this moment started howling in rage.


    "Naruto if you have so much energy, then help me destroy." from behind Raito''s lazy voice caught Naruto''s attention, making him turn back.


    Naruto released Shikamaru, making Shikamaru sigh in relief. Picking himself up, he gave a signal to everyone and explained little of what the situation was. Also adding about ratio''s declaration, ''I can make everything easily''.


    "What is he thinking?" Ino bit her lips and began helping in move thing.


    Ch¨­ji and Hinata looked at each other and started helping too. Sakura looked at the scene in a daze, looking at everyone running around.


    "I asked him to do it." Raito said as he faced Naruto.


    "Ba-But why?" Naruto couldn''t understand why Raito was doing such.


    "I don''t know but I have this bad feeling. Like something¡­." Raito was finding words to explain himself.


    "Are you having stomach problem? Do you need to go to toilet?" Naruto asked and silence prevailed for a period than a ''bang'' sounded.


    "Nope, I think something bad will happen tonight." Raito said in a grave tone, his words had a certain type of feeling making Naruto gulp and nod.


    Walking further Raito stood in front of the bath area, which could be Raito''s highest achievement. Unwilling to destroy it, Raito used all his chakra, making rocks extend from the wall behind and covering the bath as a whole. Pouring last bit of his chakra, Raito remodeled the surface of the cover to mimic the natural rock formation.


    "The chimney is also covered." Shikamaru wiped his sweat.


    "It''s good that we didn''t use weapons, otherwise the marks from it would be hard to conceal." Ino tried controlling her rapid breathing.


    "I-Ino¡­.?" Sakura called out weakly to her only support in the group.


    "Sakura?" Ino turned to her long love rival, who was standing in confusion.


    "We were not taught in the academy, how to do all this. How did you¡­."


    "This¡­.we learned it in the clan. Although it will not come into exams but still it is very much required for ninjas in their life." Ino said with a tone of an elder lecturing a junior.


    Raito immediately ignored them and signaled Shikamaru before entering the cave to recover chakra in a meditative state.


    Now everything looked back to how it was a few days earlier except the cave entrance, which had a door like opening left. Shikamaru caught Naruto and went to the hiding place where Kakashi was earlier on and Naruto used his ''Erasing wind''. Reaching down they waited for Raito to recover chakra and after Raito was somewhat recovered, Naruto used ''Erasing wind'' once more, this time consuming large amount of chakra, creating wind large enough to reach several kilometers. Then Raito closed the door mimicking the wall formation. But not feeling calm Raito used the ground and shifted the rock below and added them to the door area of the cave. Now it was already a couple of meters thick, pressing them and making the wall surface hard.


    Wiping his sweat Raito quickly went into meditation to recover chakra. After doing all this Raito was somewhat relieved but the people surrounding him was very much in confusion. Raito''s action, the sudden change was too drastic but they didn''t question Raito much. Although the girls had too much to say, they reeled themselves.


    Sakura with Ino and Hinata looked at Raito weirdly then she said in a whisper, "Isn''t this being too paranoid?"


    "Raito-san must have some thoughts, doing all this." Hinata said hesitatingly.


    "This¡­. Raito always has reasons for what he does. Shikamaru believes in him, so we also believe in him." Ino said showing support said for herself and Ch¨­ji.


    "But what about Shikamaru, he is just a lazy guy, just passes his theory exams, his practical exams are also average and also he has never shown any unique skills." Sakura quickly pointed out Shikamaru class grades and asked in confusion, "Why do you believe in Shikamaru so much."


    Looking at innocent Sakura she sighed, "First of all he is from Nara clan, known for their knowledge and strategy. His father is Jounin commander and chief strategist in an Emergency situation in the village, in the same way as it has always been for the past how many year. The Nara clan has been holding that position from the beginning of the village, simply because every single one of the member of the clan deserves it and I am sure that Shikamaru is also the same."


    "Shikamaru''s clan was so awesome? In the class, we were told that clans had more ninja and held important roles to support the village. But I never thought... this¡­."


    On the side Shikamaru was in his special thinking pose, breaking in sweat, clenching his teeth. He couldn''t understand on what basis had Raito came to this conclusion. Was it simply the case of paranoia or conclusion of complex thinking?


    ¡­.


    Inside the cave, Raito and Hinata did a survey every three or five minutes. Hinata still had confusion written all over her face. Just because no one was saying against Raito, she had also decided to believe him.


    "Ah!" her sudden shout made everyone alert.


    Very quickly Raito also used ''Chakra Sense'' and saw Mizuki with an Inuzuka member rushing towards their direction.


    "It''s Mizuki-sensei." Hinata announced.


    "And an Inuzuka clan member¡­.without partner." Raito added.


    "Tch¡­.Mizuki-sensei is supposed to be locked up. Why is he here?" Ino questioned with a worried face.


    "What!? No way." Sakura was stunned when she heard that Mizuki had been locked up. She was still in disbelief, so Raito immediately labeled her as dead weight and started thinking of plans.


    "We got a tracker and a teacher who know this training ground like the back of his hand." Raito said in worry and frustration.


    "What are you worrying so much for, if he comes with bad intentions, we just have to beat him up real bad?" Naruto who was silent till now preparing for fight said, his words uplifting everyone''s spirit.


    "Mm. We will just beat whoever comes." Ch¨­ji also declared.


    CP 1500/2300


    ''In comparison to this morning, I have a lot of chakra. If only I had powerful jutsus.'' Raito thought inwardly.


    "Earth Release ¨C Earth cover" the earth moved, covering their head.


    **


    The Inuzuka man landed near the waterfall and sniffed the air. "It smells like people were here and someone in the group knew wind jutsu." He analyzed.


    "Academy students do not know much about Jutsus. Only one slightly able is Sasuke, who also only know fire jutsu. It must be a Ch¨±nin instructor." Mizuki concluded and walked behind the waterfall.


    "Okay, just reminding you. After all its somewhat fresh." the man replied then kept silence and followed.


    Mizuki picked up a stone and passed his chakra inside it. Pressing it in the hollow of the wall, he backed off. Slowly the rocks fell on the ground and some got thrown on the water, revealing a long passage.


    "Hehe, if what you said is true then I couldn''t wait to try it." the man chuckled softly, his smile devious.


    Walking inside the passage, it ended in a circular room which had a stone slab in the middle with geometrical patterns.


    Mizuki patted the slab and smiled. Taking out a box from the bag he opened it revealing colorful stones. Placing the stones in the circles, he poured the liquid in them and tilted the slab.


    "Is that it?" the man asked in anticipation.


    "Don''t shout. Everything is done. After the fluid mixes together with the blood and stone, it will fill the test tube and we are done here."


    "Good then it will be that kid Yoshizawa Raito." the man spoke in somewhat of a sinister manner.


    **


    "It looks like they are doing some sort of experiment." Hinata said looking at the flask she had a bad feeling and looked at Raito and Naruto.


    "They are out." Raito gritted his teeth. "Go, go, go away fast." Raito wished but not all wishes come true.


    **


    "Two, no it''s three, three girls in total." the Inuzuka man said as his eyes turned somewhat red.


    "Three girls, then it has to be three groups, maybe six boys." Mizuki answered.


    "They are not in the forest, no shelter anywhere I could see. And this wind jutsu, it''s messing up with the smell." The man grumbled.


    "We don''t teach them high-rank jutsu and all, in the academy, like it was back then."


    "Academy is shit thanks to you and your friends."


    "More thanks to the civilian council."


    **


    Inside everyone was in full attention, even the hyperactive Naruto. But just then Sakura coughed lightly twice then hurriedly covered her mouth. Everyone looked at her with a hint of annoyance. Raito in his heart cursed Sakura and looked at the Inuzuka man. But after he looked at the man, Raito knew that they have been found out.


    **


    The Inuzuka man smirked and shouted, "I know you are listening, your smell is here too. You are sweating, you are worried, and you are in fear. I know that too well. If you don''t want to get killed, do as I say and come out, right now."


    Even after waiting for a few minutes, no one answered. That was to be expected, no one wants to die, even if you said that you won''t kill, who would believe so naively.


    The Inuzuka man looked at Mizuki and said, "Mizuki blast this wall off. Your prey is right here."


    Taking out two explosion tag from his coat pocket, Mizuki channeled chakra, sticking them to the wall.


    "I am gonna explode this wall with this tag. If you don''t come out. Hehe." Mizuki laughed wickedly.


    "Kastsu (Explode)."


    Boom! Boom!! Rumble! Rumble!!


    The explosion destroyed the rocks leaving a big hole. Ch.i.p.s of rock fell down showing the damage done.


    "No one is there." Mizuki asked softly.


    "I am never wrong. Years of experience is never wrong."


    Taking out another tag, Mizuki said, "This is the last one."


    "Quit whining and do it."


    "Damn." "You all listen to me and come out now. I don''t want to hurt you." Mizuki made inquiries.


    Inside Raito rolled his eyes, "Like hell will believe you."


    BOOM!!


    The wall collapsed more and reached the room. With chakra enhanced punch, the man destroyed the opening and walked inside, the cloud of dust still obstructing his view.


    Chakra running his body, his nail grew and became pointed, veins throbbed with a large amount of chakra. Stepping inside he was ready to counter any attack if those students dared. But when he stepped inside what greeted him was empty dark room.


    Mizuki stepped in and looked around, with a cold tone he spat. "Empty and I wasted last of my explosion tags."


    Grumbling Mizuki turned around to walk out. Just then the man, raised his hand and with full force punched the ground. Soon cracks appeared and the ground fell, revealing a hidden chamber. Looking around he saw that the chamber was again empty. Smiling evilly he traced the wall of the room and at the same time sending chakra to his hand.


    "Playing hide and seek with a scout and infiltration specialist, what a joke." stopping at a place he punched the wall, revealing yet another passage.


    Smiling he said, "Traced." then popping a pill he crouched on all four and activated his chakra.


    ''Four-Legged Transformation ¨C Beast Mode''


    Growing more canine features, the man started spinning at a rapid speed, soon resembling a spinning top. Jumping forward he drilled the walls with force.


    ''Piercing Fang''


    Inside the small area where Raito and group were hiding, the earth rumbled and cracks appeared. Sand trickled down and stones fell down.


    "Raito we need to get out, now." Naruto shouted and Shikamaru agreed forcing Raito to make a pathway.


    Raito gritted his teeth and made a passageway and in another moment everyone was out safe and sound. The Inuzuka man drilled his way out from the same hole as Raito and the group had. Mizuki had already made a distance from the cave, making his safety the first priority.


    The explosion cleared and the group started running towards the trees.


    "Little shits."


    The man quickly sped up destroying the tree and the part of the stone wall, still drilling and chasing.


    "Damn it." Raito cursed and activating his chakra, a wall of earth appeared blocking the view of the man.


    But on the other side which was open, Mizuki took the chance to attack. Using the acc.u.mulated chakra, he was going to grab Ino, who was near and from what he remembered the weakest in the group.


    But just as he was about to grab a ginormous punch landed on his body, the force throwing him in the river.


    The wall was being destroyed and the man''s sinister voice could be heard, "It''s going to be fun killing you all." the last wall broke and the man also stopped rotating, standing in front of Raito and the group.


    "Say your prayers." the man launched his fist ready to pierce when ''Raito'' smiled, with a poof, Raito transformed into Naruto, which seemed to shock the man.


    "Even smell?" the man murmured and noticed that the rock stones near him has also transformed into Naruto.


    Five to ten Naruto surrounded him and with a bird hand seal shouted, "Wind Release ¨C Multiple Gale Strike" the center being the Inuzuka man took the greatest damage but the clones on the two sides also dispersed from the jutsu. Cuts appeared rapidly on the man''s body but the blood didn''t came out as imagined.


    "Don''t underestimate me. Water Release ¨C Water Bullet." Mizuki who was thrown towards the river, now stood on the water surface and on his hand gathering large amount of water, which was now projecting towards the group.


    "Partial Expansion." Ch¨­ji stood in front of the group, his body swelling up. Because the time was pretty tight, Ch¨­ji had no choice but to be a meat shield and face the water bullet head on.


    "Earth wall."


    [A special skill has been created through special action.-


    Swipe.


    Raito poured most of the chakra into the wall forming in front of Ch¨­ji, creating a defensive barrier. The water bullet destroyed a few of the earth wall but was eventually stopped.


    Meanwhile, the Inuzuka man had jumped far standing on the pool near the waterfall, on his hand a test tube, containing red liquid.


    "Oi Tokiji, you bastard, that''s mine." Mizuki shouted.


    Hinata helped Naruto to collect himself using minor healing jutsu.


    Tokiji let out an animalistic howl and his body started changing. He grew taller, his short black became long wavy went down to his much broader shoulder. Muscle on the upper body bulged, the clothes were ripped. Swirling patterns of the ink-covered his back before disappearing. Blackish fur and nails started to grow. His body overall started to become more like a wolf demon.


    Shaking his head, Tokiji let out evil maniacal laughter, howling loudly, causing winds to kick up.


    "This power, it''s awesome. It''s oddly similar to those head members used in the past." clenching his fist he gave a punch striking the thin air.


    His wild eyes locked onto the girls, pressuring them, "You will be my chew toys." It looked like his animalistic side was flaring up.


    "No¡­.Noo." Sakura ran away from the group, escaping the grasp of Ino.


    "That stupid."


    "Sakura don''t."


    "Sakura-chan."


    Tokiji smiled and with a tap of his foot, he disappeared form the spot and in a blink of an eye had caught Sakura, before returning to Mizuki''s side. There was an untraceable frown which quickly disappeared.


    "This speed¡­.I could have never achieved, while remaining the part of the village." Tokiji standing in front of Mizuki with his right hand grabbing Sakura by her neck and pressing her against his c.h.e.s.t.


    "I like girls with long hair. They try so hard to maintain it, making smooth and shiny. What a waste." Playing with Sakura''s hair, he bit the hair pulling it making Sakura cry in pain.


    "That''s disgusting." Raito commented.


    Feeling something hitting her lower back, Sakura paled in realization. It was similar to what she had seen in Genjutsu. In terror, with all her might she kicked at the back. But alas, dodging her legs, Tokiji stood up straight, in process, Sakura was also lifted from the ground, his huge hand choking her.


    Mizuki at the back, grabbed the large scroll strapping it on himself.


    "See this hand, I can freely control it." the free left hand, he showed quickly grew nails which were straight and sharp easily a couple of centimeters long.


    "Your b.r.e.a.s.t are very small¡­.but n.i.p.p.l.e, hehe. What if I pierce these nails to your b.r.e.a.s.t, what sound will you make." the terror was clearly visible on Sakura''s face. She panicked and strongly struggled. Only letting more perversion to appear in Tokiji''s face.


    "Naruto, Ch¨­ji, can you do that?" Shikamaru asked


    "I''ll hold them."


    "Hinata, Raito attack."


    "Ino, focus on Mizuki."


    At the middle of all Shikamaru whispered to the group and shared his plans.


    Raito quietly made a ram hand seal and feeling the connection activated his chakra. The dozen of stones big and small in between Tokiji and Mizuki lit up before exploding. The broken pieces flying in all direction, hitting Mizuki and Tokiji''s back, freeing Sakura.


    A group of Naruto clones acted catching Sakura and at the same time distracting Mizuki and Tokiji. Meanwhile, Ch¨­ji with his jutsu had jumped up with his hand enlarged, rolling at a fast pace.


    "Okay ''Shadow Paralysis'' Success." Shikamaru has successful caught Tokiji but he was having a hard time controlling him.


    Hearing Shikamaru, Ch¨­ji started falling down, directing all the energy into his fist. The heavy fist pounded hitting Tokiji, creating a big cloud of smoke.


    "Shit." Raito cursed.


    "I am gonna beat him down." Naruto ran with his clones in tow.


    "No, Naruto. Stick to plan. Damn, he doesn''t listen." Raito cursed.


    Shikamaru got a heavy backlash from his jutsu being f.o.r.c.i.b.l.y canceled. Kneeling down in pain, Shikamaru looked at the scene in worry. Biting his teeth he tried standing up.


    Tokiji had grabbed Ch¨­ji''s fist and escaped from Shikamaru''s shadow. Swing Ch¨­ji he easily destroyed Naruto''s clones and as well as slamming Naruto to ground.


    "Hah." Behind Mizuki who was controlled by Ino attacked Tokiji but was backhanded.


    "Ino!" Sakura shouted reaching Ino''s original body.


    "She is fine." Sakura felt Ino and said. Raito let out the breath that he was holding.


    Raito along with Hinata had already crossed the distance when Tokiji was all confused. Hinata attacked with her Gentle fist strike while her Byakugan was flaring. Raito attacked him with his palm, plain and simple.


    From the corner of his eye, Tokiji smirked and grabbed the wrist of two and said, "Hyuga and their nasty little fingers-"


    Raito caught the hand and activated the skill, ''Lightning Palm''. Causing Tokiji to get shocked. Tokiji had misread the attack causing him to get shocked. In anger, he hand turned into a spear, his nails becoming the spearblade ready to strike the two in front of him.


    Alarmed Raito caught Hinata with force and activated his chakra. ''Replacement''.


    Tokiji spear thrust pierced the stone breaking them into pieces.


    "Damn. He is still at it."


    [Inuzuka Tokiji Lvl?]


    HP: 10,000/14,000


    CP: 4,000/6,800


    [Toji Mizuki Lvl 23]


    HP: 4,600/6,800


    CP: 4,000/5,000


    "This guy is just too strong."


    Hinata tugged at the sleeves of Raito and said, "ANBU-san is coming. In about minutes with his speed."


    Naruto and Ch¨­ji had long retreated and grouped with Ino, Sakura and Shikamaru. In front stood Hinata and in front of her Raito.


    Catching the stone, Raito had anger written all over his face. Tokiji was also in alert, this bunch of kids had given him some action. If there were more surprises, it would make his job even more difficult.


    Throwing the rock with force, it splashed on the river and Raito shouted, "Why? Why? Why are you doing this?"


    "Huh?"


    Raito sat down and asked loudly, "You are from Inuzuka clan, right? Why are you with, Mizuki, that stupid bastard? I thought that Inuzuka clan people are all good guys, all fiercely loyal to the village, but you, why?"


    Tokiji''s anger growing up, feeling his heart going to burst, he shouted, "Why? Why you say? I ask you why not? It''s not like you know who I am, why do you care? I am just a small fry trying for some real power. I am just a small fry who you don''t even know so why do you care?"


    "I don''t know you? Me? I know you, or I used to know. You are Tokiji from the Inuzuka clan. You served the most in the Emergency duty. You with your partner, Takahiro, saved a lot of ninjas in trouble, from their deathbeds. Ninjas caught in traps or encountered mercenaries or whatever the bad situation, you saved them all. I used to frequently go to the gates to see all of you. One day you came back with a ninja on your shoulder and your partner had two ninjas being carried, you had dozen of cuts, but you still smiled and gave them to the medic-nin. I somewhat admired you, I even thought of joining the emergency duty group to help ninjas in trouble, just like you did¡­. I don''t know why you are teaming up with that traitorous bastard like Mizuki¡­.or why you have the scroll¡­.or where you are going." Raito read the description in the ''Observe'' made up a story. Later the gang would ask him how did he know, he would simply answer with some bullshit.


    "You should come back to the village."


    "You still have chance. Everything would turn as nothing happened, things would return to what it was always." Now Raito was relying on his mouth to save all but before Raito was finished, Raito heard Mizuki shouting.


    "Water Release ¨C Wild Water Wave ¨C Great Destruction"


    Water rose and fell, the water in the pond circled around Mizuki, acting on his wishes. The water rose in height and threatened to crash Raito and the gang.


    In a hurry, Raito poured the remaining five hundred points of chakra into ''Earth Cover'' creating a dome shape, covering all his friends.


    But under the bombardment of the water, the dome soon collapsed filling it with water sweeping them out.


    "Tokiji kill them all, kill them." Mizuki shouted in rage.


    Raito activated his chakra and stuck to the stone wall, with remaining chakra he restrained the gang with small earth wall.


    "Jutsu is dying, kill them before it is too late. Once we kill them, we can leave this village and join with Orichimaru-sama. Orichimaru-sama can give us so much power. Women, money, power and everything we d.e.s.i.r.e, will be ours." Mizuki shouted in his crazed state.


    Squatting down, one hand to the knee while other hanging, slowly moving in a pendulum, Tokiji growled in anger.


    "I will kill you, get out of this shitty village and then¡­.the rest I don''t care." gust of air surrounding him, his hair dancing wildly. Destroying the ground, Tokiji rotated accompanied by the winds.


    "Tornado Fang ¨C Overkill"


    Lifting off the ground, Tokiji destroyed everything in his path, aiming tear Raito in shreds.


    Raito tried moving his sluggish body but was stunned to see the fainted gang behind him. He tried using chakra but there was not even a single drop for him to use. Gritting his teeth, Raito stood up, with stone in his hand, he threw it all hope but the stone turned into countless small pieces as soon as it touched the rotating Tokiji.


    With despair, Raito faced Tokiji head on. ''What a stupid way to die.''


    Tokiji neared Raito, just a dozen of meters left in between.


    And just as the time came.


    "Wood Release ¨C Great Pillar"


    Before Tokiji could pierce Raito, he was blocked by the thick tree stump like. Unable to drill through, Tokiji backed down cl.i.c.k.i.n.g his tongue, he shouted, "Mizuki, run, it''s the ANBU."


    Mizuki quickly fled using all his strength.


    Raito fainted as he relaxed as he felt the presence of ANBU. On the other hand, Naruto woke up to see all his friends unconscious. Shaking the boys, Naruto called them out but to no use.


    The brown haired ANBU called out Naruto and ordered him to follow Mizuki who had fled with a high level village secret.


    [30% of HP and CP has been recovered. All negative status or alignments has been recovered.]


    Waking up, on his right Raito could see, thick walls made up of wood. Peeking from it he could see the brown haired ANBU and Tokiji fighting.


    [Urgent Mission triggered]


    Objective ¨C Capture Mizuki and Obtain the scroll of seals.


    "Where''s Naruto?" Raito looked around to see everyone else but Naruto.


    Ino ¨C [360/800] Unconscious, Mildly Injured


    Ch¨­ji - [1000/1820] Unconscious, Mildly Injured


    Sakura - [250/500] Unconscious, Injured


    Hinata - [900/1300] Unconscious, Mildly Injured


    Shikamaru - [700/1100] Conscious, Slightly Injured


    Healing Shikamaru twice, Raito woke him up.


    "So everything is taken care of. What do you want to do?" Shikamaru asked.


    Pakkun who was hidden appeared, resting on Raito shoulder said, "Capture Mizuki, I will lead."


    Nodding Raito and Shikamaru first dragged everyone to a corner in a safe place and followed Pakkun to where Naruto and Mizuki was.


    Not so far inside the forest, Naruto and Mizuki faced each other. Naruto had the scroll with him and Mizuki had a bruise at his face.


    ''Damn I am out of chakra and there is that ANBU, pretty high level one. Damn, damn. My body feels weak right now.'' Mizuki cursed in his mind then facing Naruto he started hatching a plan.


    Breathing heavily, Mizuki wiped his face, changing his expression into more likable one and said, "Naruto, come with me and leave this crappy village."


    "Pfft." Naruto laughed and looked strangely at Mizuki. "I am not that stupid ya know. Why would I even leave the village?"


    "Huh?" letting out a low chuckle Mizuki continued, "Do you know about your parents? Where they are now or are they even alive or dead?"


    Naruto didn''t speak but it was clear he was affected. Everyone has parents, so he should have had one too, right?


    "Jiji will tell me later anyway." Naruto''s clenched fist relaxed, finally letting go of his thoughts.


    "It''s not like anything will change even if you knew about them. They have long rejected you, leaving you all alone. Haha." Mizuki laughed.


    Seeing that Naruto was reacting the way he wanted, Mizuki added, "Do you know, Naruto, what they call you in the village."


    Taking out a cringe worthy kunai, he shouted, "It doesn''t matter what they call me."


    "No, Naruto. It does matter because it not because of just a handful of people but all of the village call you that. They call you a twelve year old, a demon."


    Naruto bit his lips in anger and some grief.


    "They call you a demon because simply, that''s who you are." Letting out a chuckle Mizuki took a few steps forward.


    Grabbing the shuriken on his back, Mizuki added, "Twelve years, from the moment you were born. People have been lying to you, keeping secrets from you. Even Hokage-sama¡­."


    "Jii-chan?" Naruto looked surprise, as his fallen gaze looked at Mizuki.


    "Yeah, he even created a law especially for you. If anyone reveals the truth that you are the demon reincarnate of the nine-tailed demon fox, then he or she will be severely punished."


    "Even Jii-chan I-I fox? Me?" it became heavier for Naruto to breathe.


    "Mizuki." An angry loud roar alerted the two and Mizuki took a few steps back dodging the shuriken and kunai, he jumped back to the tree, cl.i.c.k.i.n.g his tongue.


    ''Iruka? I was so close.'' cursing Mizuki slowly gathered his chakra readying himself for next step.


    "Naruto. Don''t listen to Mizuki. He has already betrayed the village and stole the scroll of seals, which you have right now. It contains forbidden jutsu of the village. If it gets out it would create big trouble for the village. Go Naruto, take the scroll back to the ANBU." Iruka shouted, taking out more kunai from the pouch ready to attack, hoping to get time for Naruto.


    "I-Iruka-sensei. I, I am¡­."


    "No Naruto you are not the fox, you never were and never will be." Iruka tried but Mizuki interrupted.


    "Whatever you tell him Iruka, it will not change the fact that he is the fox spirit reincarnate. The people of the village are the evidence itself." focusing on Naruto he added, "Naruto, don''t you felt odd that the villagers hate you, treating you like dirt, hated your very existence itself."


    "No Naruto that''s not true. It''s not the villagers- Argh." Iruka cried out in pain as shuriken and kunai cut into his flesh and embedded into his body.


    "Iruka you will do everything to mislead Naruto, even now. And why won''t you? You want to keep him inside this village, torturing him, his entire life, making poor Naruto suffer. That''s your revenge to the fox for killing your parents."


    "I-I no." Naruto trembled, remembering all the bad things that had happened in the village, for the past few years. Also remembering that time when Iruka was cold to him, ignoring him at all cost. Feeling overwhelmed the chakra activated, releasing in waves, "Noo!"


    ''Chance.'' Mizuki shot out the giant shuriken throwing straight at Naruto. Shocked out of anger, Naruto saw the shuriken heading for him, he turned around and tried running but the berserk chakra messed up his body, making him fall on the ground. "No-Noo".


    Naruto closed his eyes in despair but the pain never came. Slowly opening his eyes Naruto saw that Iruka was covering for him. His shoulder impaled with the giant shuriken and blood leaking out of his mouth.


    The blood from Iruka dropped on Naruto''s hand. The warm gooey red fluid felt hot and heavy. Looking at Iruka, Naruto cried out with tears escaping his eyes, "Iruka-sensei".


    Iruka smiled and weakly said to Naruto, "Run, Naruto. Go."


    Still sobbing Naruto ran. But before he could run any further he was caught. Seeing Raito and Shikamaru, he was dumbfounded, they were not focusing on him but on Iruka and Mizuki. Even after hearing everything on what happened, they were acting the same as always. Seeing that Naruto couldn''t help but gather tear and started sobbing, but was stopped by Raito''s sudden chop to the head. "Shh! The drama is going on." adding, "Only if I had some popcorn."


    "You still want him to run, Iruka? Don''t you understand, he is a demon. He will use that scroll to obtain power and bring destruction upon this village. The calamity will befall on this village once more and it will be your fault." Mizuki grinned and watched Iruka, in his weakened state, an unknown p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e filling him.


    Pulling the shuriken from his shoulder, Iruka sealed the blood coming out and gave a laugh to Mizuki and said with some pain, "Demon? Naruto?" throwing the shuriken, which Mizuki easily dodged, his sight never leaving Iruka. "A demon would indeed do that¡­.but not Naruto, he will never do that. He will do just opposite of that, he will protect this village, someday he will be the Hokage and I will be watching him grow up to that stage. He is not a demon¡­.He is the ninja belonging to the village hidden in the leaf." at the end he ended up shouting making Naruto smile in happiness and on the side Shikamaru and Raito had small smile hanging on their lips and wanted to clap similarly to when a program ends. Pakkun pawed for the twentieth time to Raito to take action.


    Cl.i.c.k.i.n.g his tongue, Mizuki felt displeased, not getting to see Iruka in pain, "What a stupid¡­." picking the last giant shuriken from his back, Mizuki started spinning it in great speed, "Have a good time in afterlife, Iruka."


    Dashing forward, Mizuki swung his body aiming at Iruka''s neck.


    "Do it." Raito voiced out, throwing a stone at the shuriken, making it go in totally opposite direction without aim. Shikamaru''s shadow connecting to Mizuki''s shadow, restraining him and Naruto jump kneeing to Mizuki''s face.


    "If you dare hurt Iruka-sensei, I will¡­.absolutely kill you." Naruto said in his heavy voice dropping the scroll in the ground.


    Walking towards Iruka, Raito waved his hand to ascertain that Iruka was still conscious. "You have seen better days, Iruka-sensei."


    [Umino Iruka] Poisoned, Heavily Injured.


    Cl.i.c.k.i.n.g on the ''Poisoned'' more information was obtained.


    [Umino Iruka ¨C Poisoned]


    Mild paralytic poison causing muscle paralysis acting on the neuromuscular junction, causing blockade in the transmission of >


    Treatment >


    Immediately using heal, Iruka''s HP was nearly half, when Raito sighed for his depleted CP. Somewhat guessing and taking his abilities into consideration, Raito said, "You will be fine in the next hour."


    Meanwhile, hundreds of clone filled the area, taking their turn bombarding Mizuki with punches and kicks.


    **


    At the waterfall area, Kakashi stood at a stone platform, "Didn''t I tell you those kids would be fine?"


    "What troublesome bunch. Good luck senpai."


    Closing his book, Kakashi looked at the deflating Tokiji and shouted in a slightly shocked voice, "Isn''t that Tokiji?"


    As the deflation continued, the skin turned darker and the muscles and fats from the body got destroyed, making him look like a mummified corpse.


    "We have to take him to the hospital." Tenz¨­ said in worry.


    Raising his forehead protector, Kakashi observed with his Sharingan. "We shouldn''t touch him for now, his chakra system is going haywire. Even touching him will give an intense reaction."


    "I will ask for medics." Tenz¨­ took out a scroll from the storage seal and started.


    "Pakkun." Kakashi caught Pakkun who landed directly in front of him.


    **


    "I really can''t believe." Iruka sighed once more making Raito glare at him as he was healing Iruka.


    "I can''t believe that a lazy bum, a skipper and a prankster. Being an academy student were able to beat a Ch¨±nin. It still feels wrong, just wrong."


    Healing the last of the damaged shoulder, Raito asked him to move his shoulder. Iruka tried moving and was really, really surprised and looked at Raito''s nonchalant face.


    Waving his hand, Iruka called out, "Come here you three."


    "Eh?" Coming forward wishing for reward Naruto and Raito stepped forward.


    Laughing, Iruka grabbed the three and hugged them tightly. "I am glad you all are safe. I was so worried."


    Free from the hug, Raito stretched, "We are also glad sensei that you are not totally dead."


    "Dumb a.s.s." Shikamaru hit Raito at the back of the head and Naruto elbowed him in the gut with force.


    Iruka laughed and looked at Mizuki with pity.


    "Sensei do you have a brush and ink?" Raito asked hurriedly as he looked at Mizuki lying down.


    "Of course I do." taking out a storage scroll, Iruka took out a brush and ink quickly and gave it to Raito and looked suspiciously at him.


    "Naruto can you make a paralysis tag?" Raito questioned him and seeing that Naruto was nodding vigorously, Raito handed the brush and ink to Naruto.


    Iruka watched in fascination as Naruto started drawing seals.


    "Naruto knows Fuinjutsu." Shikamaru said softly from Iruka''s side.


    "Did you three know, Basics of Fuinjutsu is an advanced Ch¨±nin subject you could take? And it''s more like a self-study class as we don''t have proper experts in Fuinjutsu. An expert level teacher like Jiraiya-sama have a lot of works outside the village, so the new generation are fumbling on their own."


    "It''s that bad?" Shikamaru question but as he remembered a team of Fuinjutsu experts in his clan he started questioning himself.


    "Fuinjutsu is a very complex subject. The result of failure is sometimes death or even leads to handicap. So not many of them take Fuinjutsu classes."


    "They must be pretty damn stupid then." Shikamaru inwardly thought that he was getting more and more affected by Raito and cursed himself.


    "You can say that- hey language." Iruka let out his true thought but covered himself after.


    "Sorry but even Naruto can do Fuinjutsu." Iruka couldn''t say anything, so he kept quiet and watched Naruto drawing seals like water.


    **


    "Where the hell were you all?" Ino roared.


    "Naruto-kun." Hinata waved.


    "Fangirls." Raito murmured with dark thoughts.


    Iruka and Shikamaru laughed a bit seeing Raito''s dark mood.


    Kakashi and Tenz¨­ joined Iruka and discussed for a bit. Raito and Hinata joined them and explained everything in detail. Hearing them Iruka sighed, taking a side glance at Sakura.


    "Okay then, everyone gather around." Iruka waved and everyone was gathered together.


    "I officially declare that the survival exam is over and you all can choose to leave." Iruka announced and at the same time Raito also was awarded and his inventory unlocked.


    In his happiness, Raito missed most of the congratulation and speech from Iruka. Facing the students, Iruka asked them, "Anyone not willing to stay, can come with me. You can stay here but remember that you have your exams on Wednesday. If you miss that you will fail the exam as a whole."


    "Who wants to stay?" Iruka asked once more and saw that everyone had raised their hands except Sakura.


    Sakura was still in a daze, her feeling in turmoil. Even though earlier Ino had tried to calm her down and stabilize her, it was unfortunately not successful.


    Tenz¨­ walked forward grabbing her shoulder, for which she had some odd reaction but became normal instantly. Then they disappeared in another moment.


    Iruka called other teachers and told them to do the same to other students then left the area.


    Kakashi walked forward in front of them and smiled, "You six passed."


    "Then Sakura?" Ino''s first thought was about Sakura.


    "She neither passed nor failed." Kakashi replied and added, "You will know more later."


    "And?" Raito asked.


    "That¡­.your survival time has extended." Kakashi said it simply which made the group a bit angry.


    "You can do anything in this training ground, just don''t leave the fence." Kakashi added.


    "Our shelter is destroyed, nowhere to sleep and after a tiring fight for survival, we are hungry and it''s already night time." Ino quickly listed out a hundred things to say but Kakashi replied with, "Sorry but we can''t help."


    With lazy ''sorries'' Kakashi vanished.


    Waiting for a while everyone gathered around to plan. But Raito stood in place smiling all time.


    Seeing that Raito was smiling, Ch¨­ji and Naruto had a good feeling but Ino roared, "What are you smiling for?"


    "I can use my inventory." Raito''s simple words made everyone cry in delight.


    "I have everyone''s favorite too." Raito took out an Ichiraku''s shop sealed special delivery ramen and showed it to everyone. Before Naruto could attack Raito kept it in the inventory again.


    Hinata pushed everyone to the side, even Ch¨­ji and Naruto, and went in front of Raito and asked, "Even Cinnamon rolls?" Her twinkling eyes and bold stance making Raito hatch a plan.


    "O-Of course." seeing her reaction Raito was slightly afraid. Mom''s word of wisdom ¨C ''Never get between women and her food.''


    Hurriedly Raito took out a batch and gave it Hinata. Taking a few bites, Hinata slumped on the ground, tears leaking out of her eyes.


    **


    "I smell cinnamon rolls."


    "What?"


    "Cinnamon rolls, Kakashi. Even ch.i.p.s and ramen."


    "Pakkun, in the middle of nowhere from no source. Your nose tut tut." Kakashi shook his head.


    **


    After recovering his chakra, Raito decided to use the previous area for the shelter and within a few hours, finished making the shelter. But the sun was nearly going to light, the gang outside leaned on each other, dozing off.


    "Hey everyone, it''s ready." Raito''s call waking everyone up. They went inside and were stunned at the luxury of the room.


    The room was much bigger and there were even the names imprinted on the walls too. The ground had carpet and on the raised area, a big futon able to hold them all, blankets and a small chakra stable heater, ch.i.p.s, snacks, manga books and shoji board too.


    Looking at the room everyone was dumbfounded, the variety and luxury was just too much for a survival exam. Not caring for anything else everyone jumped into the futon. The good room temperature, nice bed, fluffy pillow then blankets, what could a ninja want after a long night of being under sighed?


    A long day of practice then half or so hour of agitation and fear, then attacks from an overpowering enemy and lastly cleaning of the destruction, really took a toll on everyone. Blinking once, twice then sleep came to them, instantly everyone was asleep. Although Raito was feeling fatigued, he didn''t feel that much of exhaustion as everyone else. Laying down he manipulated the earth around him to make various shape and size. He even managed to make small chibi version of everyone, which he felt was rather cute.


    Looking at his creation, Raito smiled happily then closed his eyes. ''Eight would be fine, right?'' was his last thought before Raito slept.


    **


    Hiruzen looked the body of Tokiji and had a frown on his face after feeling the pulse and pinching the body in various areas, Hiruzen shook his head and said in a solemn voice, "Its Orichimaru."


    Taking out two vials form the shelf, he gave it to an animalistic looking women. She had long, spiky, untamed brown hair, vertical slit-like pupil, elongated canine teeth and nails with clan fang markings on her cheek and over her eyes, she looked even more dangerous in this lightly lit room. "The research manual of my student is still here, and because his area of damage was so high, we had made antidotes and vaccine. Let him take one in the morning and one before going to sleep." Pausing for a while, he let out a sigh and said, "This is your clan matter and this is your choice, Tsume. Once you go through it, I hope you don''t feel regret."


    Tsume looked at the floor hiding great anger inside her, she looked at Hiruzen and said with some ferocity, "Tokiji was never like this. He was one of the best member of the clan, his talent was great and had nice, gentler personality unlike other members in the clan. I had even decided to hand over the hand of my daughter to him but now¡­."


    Her nails grew and veins popped on her hands. With a swift swipe, the head was removed from the body, the blood escaping and marking a small area.


    Sighing Hiruzen left the old room before giving a glance at the one hand missing Mizuki, the missing hand was currently held by the canine with wolfish appearance.


    Tsume covered the body and head with a white cloth and moved towards Mizuki with her demonized hands towards Mizuki. Her every step was accompanied by hellish fire. Removing the shackles binding Mizuki, she said in a cool way, "If you want to run then run now." saying that she exited the old room and walked outside the house.


    The house was at the outskirt of the village made up entirely of wood. The fire quickly burned and swept everywhere. Mizuki gritted his teeth and with his left hand held the part where his right hand was present, with the chakra on his body he sealed the wound. The fire had already engulfed the whole house, looking at the headless body, Mizuki felt somewhat terrified.


    Clutching his hand Mizuki somehow reached outside the house. Not finding anyone around, he heaved a sigh of relief and walked opposite to the village. A pair of cold eyes looking at Mizuki from the dark, Tsume waited for her partner, who she had given a task. Thinking about what she was about to do made her laugh slightly.


    ''Ambushing my people and making me kill my people, do you think you can die so easily?'' She remembered, a few months ago clan members were ambushed and many members were killed brutally. They said a name at that time, Orichimaru and when she went there to investigate, it was indeed him. The dark and killing thoughts was so wild that Mizuki who had covered some distance felt it and sped up is pace.


    Kuromaru, the wolfish canine, appeared in front of Tsume and gave her a red vial. Taking the red vial she dipped her nails into it one by one and with chakra dried it.


    "The clan was unwilling." Kuromaru said.


    "This is my husband''s creation, it doesn''t matter, what they think." Tsume growled, her long spiky hair grew and reached her lower back, giving off a shiny l.u.s.ter and her body turned slimmer, nails prolonged and eyes turned red. She gave a demonic air as she walked.


    "I will be enough." with a nod she disappeared and reached near Mizuki, giving him a cut, only as deep as skin.


    Though the cut was shallow, it gave Mizuki a burning sensation, making him scream in pain. He fell down and lost control of his chakra. The bleeding continued from his right shoulder.


    Looking down Tsume smiled and sprinkled a grayish powder on Mizuki right shoulder and forced a blood-red pill, which gave a pungent smell, down Mizuki''s throat. The bleeding stopped and minutes later the convulsing Mizuki also stopped. Not waiting for another moment, Tsume gave him two cuts, making Mizuki scream in double this time.


    Every time Mizuki stopped, Tsume gave him a blood rejuvenation pill, food pill, and another cut. Making Mizuki conscious enough, Tsume gave him another cut. Whenever Mizuki was going to lose consciousness, she would sprinkle some salt and dump a globe of water to wake him up and continue to cut him.


    The screams never stopped until the noon of the next day, when her transformation stopped. Hiruzen on the wall of the village sighed at the scene. He made it so that area around, a couple of kilometers was as silent as it could be. He could not let the population or any ninja see the pain, vicious style of the matriarch of the Inuzuka clan, not even her clan members.


    Tsume looked at the disfigured Mizuki and waited silently as she sat on the rock.


    "Kill¡­.ki-kill me¡­..ja just kii-kill me¡­.plase." Mizuki begged, he begged for not his life but for his death, his voice so small and heavy, the quivering making it impossible to hear what he said.


    Tsume looked at Mizuki with her lazy smile and said, "You like harming young pups, huh?"


    Mizuki shivered hearing her but he didn''t reply.


    "You made my clan look bad in the village." another label on poor Mizuki.


    "You made me kill my own clansmen." as she said this, the chakra inside her exploded and her right hand demonized. "But you have suffered enough. Even though you were to blame, that shit was equally to be blamed."


    After a long pause, she asked, "Was it Danzo and Orichimaru?"


    Without hesitation, Mizuki nodded. Even though he didn''t know, he nodded.


    "Very well." This time she didn''t just use one finger but used her whole hand, starting from the legs, once, twice, thrice,¡­..thirty and reaching to the upper t.h.i.g.h area. Looking at the minced leg, she started with another leg and the howls of pain continued to reverberate from the forest. There are hundreds of way to save a life but there are thousands of ways to make a life disappear.


    With chakra and her clan''s secret techniques, Tsume made him conscious and stopped the blood flow until the very last moment, she kept him alive. Then feeling bored, Tsume, ended with a stab to the heart. Looking at the corpse, she felt no joy but even more anger.


    Calming down she burned the body with a simple fire jutsu and then threw her clothes and burned it too. With a globe of water she cleaned herself and wore new clothes, Kuromaru had brought.


    Hiruzen brought his ANBU away and Tsume also went back to her clan. Nobody else knew what had happened at an area near the village, the villagers continued to live their life happily, some cursed, and some cheered. Women bickering, men brawling, drunk on alcohol and love, everyone continued living.

 Chapter 26 - 26 – Beyond a Student

    Chapter 26 ¨C Beyond a Student


    [You have slept in a makeshift bed. HP and CP fully recovered. All negative alignments and abnormal status have been restored.]


    [08:00]


    Waking up Raito looked at the clock and thought inwardly, ''As I thought. It depends on me when to wake up.''


    Before walking out of the cave, Raito brought out a few baskets from his inventory and placed them opposite to the bed. Stretching out, Raito he brushed his teeth and washed his face. The breeze of the untouched nature was as fresh as it could get and the light from the sun giving a warm feeling, making Raito feel the start of a fresh, new day.


    Yawning, Raito walked for a while and reached an area with plenty of rocks. Activating the earth elemental manipulation Raito changed the structure of the rock making it into a water tank, below there was a curved pipe. Smiling happily at the level ups, Raito took out a brush, ink, and scroll. In a few moments, Raito made a five-line seal and with a pulse of chakra, the seals turned into a line marking the curved pipe. Activating the seal, a layer of earth formed inside the pipe blocking the way.


    [Earth Element Manipulation Lvl 19 (Active)]


    [Fuinjutsu Lvl 28 (Active)]


    Feeling satisfied, Raito used the water condensation and water purifying jutsu to fill the water tank. Injecting the chakra on the seal, Raito washed his face using a face wash.


    "That''s some high-level Fuinjutsu and your storage technique is also unique and would have made your wildlife easy¡­.but the question is why didn''t you use it earlier?" Kakashi sitting on the rocks, with his hand on his chin, Kakashi asked in curiosity.


    Raito gave Kakashi a brilliant smile and coughed lightly, seemingly preparing for a big announcement. Raito waving his hand answered, "I don''t wanna boast but I wanted to try and do it without my storage. I find that if I used my storage technique than this survival exam will be as easy as breathing. But I didn''t wanna do that, if a great genius like me depended on such a cheating technique then people might go crazy."


    Kakashi felt ashamed hearing that, so he also coughed slightly.


    "So what happened yesterday, was a little too much¡­.How do you feel?" Kakashi asked with his usual lazy style.


    Thinking for a long time Raito answered, "¡­.I don''t know, what to really feel. I mean we survived, no one died or had any serious injury." Raito shrugged while cleaning the rock table and put a cloth on it.


    "I remember dad telling me stories of missions. Of course, he would take out the bad stuff and all, but coming home in bandages and scar marks says much. I remember the last time he came back home. Although there were no wounds, the clothes had a lot of cuts and were even scars on his body. Scars happen because the skin and muscles are damaged. Now after learning about it, I feel how hard it was becoming a ninja." Raito started the fire and continued.


    "When it was time for me to enter the ninja academy, mom gave me a bit of advice ¨C ''If I wanted to live long, I should not enter the academy''. In the end, I was a whole week late because my mom didn''t want me to enter the academy." Raito let out a soft laugh.


    "Well, I am glad that you all aren''t affected by yesterday''s incident." Kakashi sighed and looked at Raito with a glimmer in is his lone, lazy eye.


    "I was already a ninja when I was at your age, this kind of things happened frequently before but it has somewhat decreased in recent years."


    After a long pause, Raito asked Kakashi with some hesitation, "...Then Kakashi-sensei¡­.what happens if one wants to quit? Or give up on the village or betray the village?"


    "¡­.You mean the people like Mizuki and Tokiji?"


    "Yeah, but not only the traitors but also those regular who want to retire early." Raito tried explaining.


    A vague idea formed in Kakashi''s mind but he quickly denied the idea. After leveling a gaze, he said, "Traitors to the village, will have their chakra sealed off and sent to a correctional facility."


    "Just that?"


    "That''s for normal traitors. For ones who are beyond dangerous, a much severe punishment will be given out." After that, there was a long silence.


    "And?" Raito stopped his work and looked at Kakashi.


    "You will know when the time comes. As for those who want to retire, looking at the condition of the person, decisions will be made." again ending halfway, Kakashi with a step back disappeared from the area.


    Raito waited for Kakashi to continue but he didn''t. Instead, Kakashi with his high physical capabilities had disappeared from the spot.


    "That was¡­.cliffhanger?" throwing things in anger, Raito cursed.


    Pakkun who was on a branch looked and made a comment, "Tasteless."


    After everyone woke up, they found their baskets which held a brush, paste, bag of clothes and other necessary items. Ino was so happy that she cried while hugging the basket. Hinata wasn''t different either, although the reaction was not much, she hugged her basket with a vice grip.


    Seeing the two Shikamaru only gave a yawn and Naruto scratched his head with a confused face.


    Ch¨­ji walked out and saw that on the regular stone table was a table cloth spread on it and lying on it were various utensils, like pots and pans, and basic necessities like oil and salt.


    Shikamaru couldn''t help but walk in a hurry and grab a container with a green cover. Seeing his own action, Shikamaru gave a weak smile and said to himself, "I never thought that I would be so happy to see tea leaves."


    "T-That''s RAMEN!" Naruto shouted and dashed to grab the ramen container, tears leaking out of his eyes.


    "¡­.but just where is that Raito?" Ino questioned from behind.


    "Raito-san has gone east with Pakkun, he is wearing weights." Just as Ino was ready to prepare for a bath, she heard Hinata''s weak voice. Smiling happily, Ino grabbed Hinata and went to the open area.


    The previous explosion had not only created destruction to shelter but also the bath and the surrounding area. This showed how dangerous the ninjas could get, if someone of higher rank was against them than it was even possible that every one of them would be evaporated, drowned or buried hundreds of meter below.


    On a direction not far away, Raito was running while wearing his weights and following him quite a distance away was Pakkun. Using the method Gai had taught him, Raito ran for half an hour making a few circles around the shelter.


    Sitting down and breathing heavily, Raito fished out a water bottle and downed it in one quick gulp. Watching the increase in his STR and VIT by one, Raito was happy. Standing up, before he could walk any further, a low tearing sound came and the weights strapped fell down, hitting Raito''s foot.


    "Ouch." quickly holding his leg Raito watched venomously at the metal plates. "Ow, it even hit with the sharp end. ''Heal''." taking off his shoes Raito looked at the wound and used the healing skill.


    [Extremely novice added weight] - (Common)


    Durability ¨C 0/50


    Watching his creation turning into scraps, Raito felt sad. Sighing, he stored it inside the inventory, and after wearing the shoes, Raito went back to the shelter.


    Coming back to the shelter, Raito found that Naruto and Shikamaru were doing physical training exercise, while for Naruto it was an everyday thing but for Shikamaru to do it and even in the early morning, Raito felt it was quite funny. Looking around he found Ino doing tree walking and Hinata hitting the tree with her finger strikes, each strike making a small press into the tree.


    "I need some food in my system." Looking at the table, Raito found that items were mostly not even touched. Some food pills, fruits, and dried meat were gone.


    "Haa!" a loud roar was heard but it didn''t disturb others, only causing Raito to turn his head.


    THAP!


    A loud sound was heard, this time it sounded like someone had heavily stepped on the ground.


    Walking towards the origin of the sound, Raito saw Ch¨­ji who was carrying a boulder roughly around his size and jumping back and forth. In his training gear, Ch¨­ji was sweating heavily with his skin red and steam coming out from his skin.


    Eyes widened and mouth wide open, Raito was staring at Ch¨­ji, he had no words to speak. "Damn that''s J¨­nin."


    Feeling the gaze, Ch¨­ji turned and saw Raito. After which he stopped and threw the stone down, making a bang sound, when it hit the ground. The redness on his skin and steam coming out of his body stopped and sweat came out of his body for a long time.


    It took quite a while for Ch¨­ji to come back to normal. The whole time Raito stared at Ch¨­ji in awe. It looked like some kind of rare and secret technique to cultivate the body. After Ch¨­ji opened his eyes he patted his stomach, which seemed to have gone down a few inches and said, "I am hungry again."


    "Training to point of steaming¡­.if you did it regularly then you surely would lose some weight." Raito joked and passed some meat bun to Ch¨­ji.


    Holding the small basket Ch¨­ji glared at Raito and asked with an angry tone, "Raito¡­. Did you just call me fat?"


    "Ch¨­ji, why are you calling yourself fat?" Raito with his innocent, confused looked asked back.


    Ignoring Raito, Ch¨­ji looked at the meat bun in his hand, taking a bite, tears came running down. And while crying he quickly finished the small basket of meat bun, which held about a dozen. After the last bite, Ch¨­ji wiped his tears then hugged Raito. Looking at Raito as pitifully he could Ch¨­ji said in a tearful voice, "Raito never leave me. I wanna be in a team with you."


    Hearing the shameful words Raito quickly pushed Ch¨­ji and said, "You are too sweaty."


    Back in the shelter girls had already entered the bath while Naruto and Shikamaru were training. Rolling his eyes Raito ignored them and walked towards the girl''s bath and shouted, "Ino, Hinata."


    "Eep!?"


    "Raito?"


    Tumbling and splashing sounds came from the inside of the bath making Raito sigh again.


    "Did you heat the water? I forgot to leave the lighter." Raito asked


    "Hai Raito-san, Shikamaru-san used the fire jutsu to heat the water," Hinata replied then again the sounds came.


    "Eh!? He did that?" Raito exaggerated.


    Then, Raito went to the boy''s side of the bath and heated the water. Taking out a small green pill from a bottle, he crushed it and let it mix with the water.


    As everyone sat in the bath, Raito saw that the mood wasn''t quite right. So he asked, "Hey, why are you all so off?"


    "Raito¡­."


    "Hey."


    Shikamaru swatted the water and asked, "What if the help hadn''t arrived?"


    "Eh!?"


    "What would have happened if the ANBU didn''t come, what would...Tokiji have done to you or us?" Shikamaru shouted which made Raito flinch just a bit.


    "Hey, nothing happened-"


    "Don''t you dare say that." Naruto from the side stood up, pointed his finger and shouted.


    "O-Okay." Raito wasn''t going to waste his breath anymore and let Shikamaru and Naruto vent out a little bit.


    Ch¨­ji smiled and said, "Then we just have to take this as a lesson and train to become strong. Because we trained, we were able to last that long, if we hadn''t trained they would have killed us in a blink."


    Ch¨­ji''s word which felt like encouragement turned a ninety degree and made the three uncomfortable.


    Resting his elbow on the edge Shikamaru said after giving a bitter chuckle, "If we met with those two before our training then I am a hundred percent sure that we would be dead."


    Raito had an awkward smile hung on his face. Before one could say anything Shikamaru continued.


    "But because we trained, we were able to last until the help arrived. This time we can be considered lucky but¡­. I don''t wanna place my bet on luck."


    "You are not the only one." (Looking at his luck stat.) Raito also voiced out in the agreement.


    "We need cool jutsu and training to power up," Naruto shouted. "If we are stronger we can kick their a.s.s anytime and that type of thing would never happen."


    "Yeah what Naruto said is right. We need to train more and more." Ch¨­ji supported the idea.


    "Yeah we need that but what we need more is¡­. ''Teamwork''," Shikamaru said with a stern tone.


    "Konoha is famous for teamwork, never leave a friend behind," Naruto remembered and said in a solemn way.


    "Oi¡­.Shika, you Ino-Shika-Cho group has it good, with all heritage of fighting together." Raito leaned back.


    Naruto''s spirit was dowsed but then he heard Shikamaru say.


    "Ino-Shika-Cho is a star team of Konoha. There are other teams who have no heritage of fighting in a group but still has shown great results."


    "I don''t know any." Raito refused to listen but Shikamaru continued.


    "The Sannin. They went countless battles and fought enemies of higher ranks."


    "The fight with Hanz¨­ the salamander?" Raito said his one eye staring at Shikamaru.


    Shaking his head, Shikamaru continued and Ch¨­ji and Naruto got closer.


    "You know the Nara clan has all the battle records made into a library. One of the fights the Sannin had was with ''The Five Evils''."


    "Five Evils? I have never heard of them." Naruto said and Raito also shook his head.


    "They are the five evil monks from a Buddhist temple known to have come from ''Land of the Earth''," Ch¨­ji explained.


    "These monks were a group of master and disciple. One master and four disciples, although they didn''t practice discipline, they practiced martial arts. They were talented and around their thirties, they had learned everything they could from the temple, even their master was already above the level of the head of the temple. It is said that the group of five one day had descended down the mountain, ate meat and drink alcohol. Then at the next descent, they killed men and enjoyed the women. Their acts grew larger and the head of the temple heard about the matter. When the time came to confront, the five killed everyone in the temple and roamed around the village. Wherever they went, their actions would follow, bringing fear and destruction. The Tsuchikage didn''t look at the matter at first but some deaths occur to his ninjas. Furious, the Tsuchikage sent his ninja to kill them but because they were in the middle of the war, Tsuchikage only sent a couple at a time. The five evils also found that their action had drawn the attention of the Tsuchikage, fled the country and entered the ''Land of Fire''. They had decided to pay more caution this time and keep away from the Konoha and the fire country and enter the ''Tea country''. But before it could go that way the evils had done it once again, killing and raping. At that time the nearest squad present were the Sannin."


    Pausing Shikamaru looked at the three and saw the interest in their eyes.


    ''He is not making this up.'' Raito waited for the pop-up or any notification but it never came.


    "Then, then, the Sannin beat them," Naruto said in an excited voice.


    But Shikamaru had a ''hard to digest'' type smile at his face. "No, Naruto they didn''t win¡­."


    "No way, not even the Sannin?"


    "Not at first anyway. It was Jiraiya-sama, it was said that using special arts, he reached the place where the five evils were staying, leaving his teammates behind. Thinking that the enemies were weaker than him, but contrary to his belief, the five evils were strong, far stronger than him. The four of the evils played with him and were going to kill him when Orichimaru and Tsunade-sama came in just the right time to save him."


    "That was stupid," Raito said.


    "Even the Sannin."


    "After letting her summon heal Jiraiya, Tsunade-sama and Orichimaru went to confront them but this time the result was just a little better than last. The master of the evil monks had intervened and this time Orichimaru had been injured. Tsunade-sama took Orichimaru and met up with Jiraiya. After that, the three took a couple of days to heal but on the other side, the evil monks also had to rest for a few days to recover themselves. Finally, the three Sannin decided to attack together with their summons ambushing them at the ''Valley of Star Gazing'' which is now known ''Fall of Evil Star''."


    "But what about that master? Easily capable of saving his disciples, he should be strong enough?" Raito questioned.


    "With all working together surely they should have won, right?" Naruto also asked it seemed like the story had affected him deeply.


    "Yeah, they won but don''t you want to know how they won?" Shikamaru asked.


    "How?" Naruto and Raito asked.


    "It was like this first, only Jiraiya and Tsunade went attacking the four monk disciples. Later Orichimaru joined and attacked the monk master with the summons."


    "Divide and conquer," Raito commented.


    "Yeah, after the monk master was busy with summons, Orichimaru joined Tsunade-sama and Jiraiya-sama to kill the four evils, which was far easier without the monk master. Later the monk master went into a frenzy, making killing moves. The three Sannin worked together with their summons and after working for quite a while was able to defeat the monk master and capture him."


    "The Sannin and their summons." Naruto''s eye shined with intense light.


    "To go against one monk master, three Sannin and their summon. The monk master was on quite a high level." Raito muttered.


    "Yeah whole level higher than the Sannin, they said that the Evil monk master was only somewhat weaker than the Hanz¨­." Shikamaru said and looked at Raito secretly.


    "So working in a team to fight stronger enemies?" Naruto questioned.


    Raito stared at Shikamaru and Ch¨­ji for any kind of expression.


    "Didn''t we all work together to keep ourselves alive?" Shikamaru didn''t answer but replied with a question.


    Raito stood up and dried himself. And just as he was about to go out Raito said, "I somewhat understand, Shika."


    "Food, food, food." Smiling happily Ch¨­ji also went out to prepare food.


    Shikamaru and Naruto were still inside the bath, they both looked at each other, smiled and did a high five.


    Outside Raito helped Ch¨­ji and the girls with making food. And after he was done with what he could help, Raito held a stone and changed its shape constantly, while he was deep in his thought. Raito ate with everyone then again went to train.


    Everyone also did the same, training with all might. The event of the night before seemed to have a large effect on them. But for Raito, he didn''t have any mental pressure, maybe it was because of the ''Gamers Mind''. He just increased his training to match others.


    While training he thought that, while going solo was fine to defeat the enemy, but when playing with the party it was indeed easy defeating the same enemy. ''Games have so much knowledge''.


    Looking back at everyone practicing, Raito looked at one of his skills and grinned. "The time is just perfect to see what I get next."


    [ID Create Lvl 15 (Active)]


    -Instant Dungeon: Wasteland


    -Instant Dungeon: Wasteland ¨C Zombies


    -Instant Dungeon: Tribal Lands


    With a smile hung on his face, Raito went up to Shikamaru and called out, "Oi Shika, I think you were right."


    Shikamaru who was standing on a tree trunk looked at Raito then jumped down.


    "Teamwork is definitely important," Raito said with a smile.


    Shikamaru still looked at Raito trying to figure out where he was going with it.


    "More importantly we have to know how to fight in teams¡­.so you know I came with an awesome plan." Raito gripped his fist in front of him and said loud enough that everyone could hear.


    Raising his eyebrows, Shikamaru waited.


    "Of course it is¡­.dungeon."


    "Dungeon¡­.like in your games?"


    "Hey remember that I showed you last time, monster, small ones, and big ones."


    "Yeah. So, that''s a dungeon, huh?"


    "You can fight and improve in that place, better, we will fight in teams."


    "Fighting those zombies¡­. I don''t think-"


    "Who said fighting the zombies, this time it''s something¡­.different." Raito cut him off and steered.


    "Different? You mean a different kind of monster?" Shikamaru asked with interest.


    "Yeah, wanna go?"


    Shikamaru kept quiet for a long period of time before replying, "Okay".


    "I wanna go too!" Naruto jumped from the tree and shouted.


    Ino dragged Hinata and shouted, "We are going too."


    "You lot are seriously bad at stealth techniques." Raito looked at everyone and said seriously.


    "I will make a lot of food then." Ch¨­ji quickly turned around and went to make food.


    "But I have already a lot in my inventory," Raito muttered.


    "Really!?" Ch¨­ji image appeared in front of Raito, grabbing his shoulder.


    Raito pushed Ch¨­ji while Ch¨­ji asked Raito to show what food was stored inside.


    "Why not? Let''s go right now." Shikamaru after thinking for a long time said.


    "Yosh."


    "Yatta."


    "But I wanted to let Ch¨­ji learn this first¡­. Ch¨­ji, learn this¡­.''Rock fist''." Raito brought out a small book and gave it to Ch¨­ji.


    "But it''s yours." Ch¨­ji looked at the book in front of him and rejected.


    "Huh!? What are you talking about? It is just a jutsu. Even more so it is from the village, not from my parents. See no problem." Raito played it down and forced Ch¨­ji to learn the jutsu.


    Turning around Raito looked at everyone and had an apologetic face. With that, he said, "Sorry I don''t have jutsu for you all."


    Shikamaru scratched his nose and said in a small voice, "Um¡­. I have a fire jutsu I know but I never practiced it."


    Raito looked at Shikamaru with a blank look, the corners of his eyes twitching.


    "Naruto beat him for me," Raito shouted and Naruto also acted beating him playfully.


    Raito then turned to look at Hinata and Ino.


    Hinata slightly dropped her head, with tears gathering in her eyes, she said, "M-my fa-family¡­.my family¡­. Cant-"


    "Ah, your clan.... (everyone giving him an eye) let''s learn in secret then." Raito laughed awkwardly.


    "Yeah as long as your clan doesn''t know about it, it will fine." Naruto also spoke while holding Hinata''s shoulder.


    Everyone was waiting for Hinata to faint but she only blushed hard. Her face looked like a tomato, making everyone laugh silently.


    Then Raito finally looked towards Ino which made Ino whistle nervously.


    "I know Genjutsu," Ino said simply and waited.


    "Hehe, killing with Genjutsu." Raito laughed evilly.


    "Yeah, that''s exactly so." Ino harrumphed.


    Deciding everything the group started preparing and Raito helped Ch¨­ji learn the ''Rock Fist''. Naruto on the open field was using his shadow clones to read up every academy books, preparing for the exams.


    "I''ll show them, I will top the exams. Damn it." Naruto mumbled and continued reading the books.


    Sitting on the top of the waterfall side, Kakashi sipped his hot chocolate and enjoyed the little ninjas training. Sighing Kakashi commented, "Inefficient."


    "Too bad, Hokage-sama told you not to interfere." Pakkun from the side said


    "I will give them thirty." Saying that he turned back and waved his hand. Tenz¨­ was standing behind with a clearly bored face.


    "Senpai, why don''t I watch over them now?" it looked more like pleading from Tenz¨­.


    Kakashi after hearing Tenz¨­, stared at him like Tenz¨­ had stolen his favorite book.


    "Tenz¨­ we exchanged," Kakashi said.


    "That may be so senpai but they are originally my mission." Tenz¨­ rebutted.


    "Tenz¨­."


    "Senpai."


    "Tenz¨­."


    "Ahh."


    Seeing Tenz¨­ jump, Kakashi looked behind and quickly jumped down, even letting Pakkun search for the children.


    "Damn it they disappeared. I am reporting to Hokage-sama." Tenz¨­ quickly took out the scroll ready to write down but his hand was suddenly grabbed by Kakashi.


    "Senpai what are you doing?" Tenz¨­ frowned looking at his grabbed hand.


    "Don''t go hostile now. Pakkun, go." turning around he waited for Pakkun.


    "They disappeared from here, not even a trace remaining." Pakkun clawed the ground marking it.


    "You can report to Hokage-sama but you are not allowed to write it down. It''s a ranked-secret after all." Kakashi said releasing his hand, walking inside the cave shelter.


    "What is this...happening?" Tenz¨­ created a clone and sent it to report it to Hokage.


    Walking inside the cave Kakashi could see that the cave as well made with seals for temperature and light. Also, there was a small room for foods and changing room. There were also a big futon, heater, light source, all kinds of entertainment items and so on. Kakashi walked slowly taking everything into consideration, not even moving too much, going as far as to coat his sandals with chakra.


    "There must have been some kind of restriction," Kakashi concluded then walked out.


    On with the group of Raito, they were standing in an open area with gigantic trees, bigger than any seen on the Konoha. The sky was navy blue with no clouds but had two moons, one red and another grayish.


    Raito stood on a branch near the top of tree hiding himself properly but still watching the two moons which were in the totally opposite direction. Reading the notification in front of him, Raito went into thought.


    "Hinata-san, take over."


    Jumping down Raito concentrated on the notification.


    [Return Point created. After returning from the dungeon, will be returned to the entry point]


    Confirm


    YES - - NO


    Without further thought, Raito accepted and regrouped.


    "What are your thoughts?" Raito asked with a smile.


    "It''s definitely different." Shikamaru checked the surrounding, checking the leaves and trees then added, "We are definitely not in Konoha."


    Hinata jumped down with a red face and reported, "T-There are monster." her voice shaking and eyes had a bit of tear.


    "So¡­.what are they like?" Ino asked patting Hinata and comforting her.


    "Um¡­. Small gray hum- no monster, about a meter tall, thin and weak looking, in the group of three, two with a sword weapon and one with a bow." Hinata explained and looking at her she looked like she was going to say more but her face reddened more.


    Giving Ino a hand sign, Raito used his chakra sense to find the group and continued where Hinata left. "Hmm¡­.The monster with a height of about one meter. Short with little muscle mass, look weak¡­.has a big head with long nose and ears. The archer is very aware of the surrounding, the warriors in front are walking forward with no hesitation, looks like they are searching for¡­.food?"


    Naruto and Shikamaru sighed when they heard Raito speaking. Raito was doing it again, giving the job to others and using game terms. Raito gave Naruto ¨C ''The Brawler'' and Shikamaru ¨C ''The Strategist''. It was because Naruto told Raito to go straight ahead and use attack, attack, and attack whereas Shikamaru would check the enemy''s stats and use tactics to defeat the enemy. As for Ch¨­ji, he was not interested at all, only interested in food.


    "Raito-san! They...they have chakra network." Hinata shouted grabbing attention.


    Stunned Raito paused for a bit then ran towards the group of monsters. Seeing them in flesh Raito felt a bit disgusted, ignoring him Raito used the skill, ''Observe''.


    Goblin Warrior Lvl 16


    HP ¨C 4600/4600


    MP ¨C 500/ 500


    STR ¨C 40


    VIT ¨C 40


    DEX ¨C 30


    INT ¨C 30


    WIS ¨C 30


    LUK ¨C 10


    Weak looking monster found in the forest, mountain or mines. Usually hunts in groups and are subservient to any hobgoblin in the group. They are very greedy and have a high libido. While raiding human carriages, they kidnap women to fulfill their d.e.s.i.r.es. They have knowledge regarding all kinds of weapon and skills.


    Raito pressed on the MP and found more about it as it was different from his own CP


    [Magic points, mana points or in short MP used to trigger special skills or spells].


    "It''s Magic." Raito gasped. In excitement, Raito pressed the ''magic'' word and waited for further notification but the description was not generated.


    "Magic?" Shikamaru asked.


    Raito froze, turning around he saw Shikamaru looking at him with curiosity. Gamers mind started working and Raito calmed down.


    Looking at Hinata Raito asked while himself checking with his jutsu. "Hinata that is not chakra¡­.right?"


    Hinata didn''t speak for a long time, then spoke suddenly, "That¡­.is not chakra."


    "Chakra is like fire and water going through tenketsu points but it looks like a crystal ball and looks like water inside the crystal ball." Hinata tried her best explaining.


    The group of Raito stood on the branches silently watching the goblins and hiding. Raito pointed at Naruto and gave him a hand sign. Naruto rolled his eyes and made a clone, which jumped down and attacked the goblin.


    Naruto clone jumped down and kneed the face of the goblin warrior.


    Kuwak!


    The other goblins roared and another warrior swung his saber and slashed towards the clone, which the clone dodged. Taking out a shuriken, Naruto threw it towards the warrior 1, which was blocked by the saber.


    Kuwak!


    Warrior 2 roared, the goblin, as well as his saber, glowed red, dashing towards Naruto clone. The speed had increased and the saber fell on the clone cutting Naruto into half before the clone could react, letting it revert back to chakra smoke.


    "Raito-san, the water inside the crystal ball decreased."


    Raito nodded and looked towards the goblin warrior.


    MP ¨C 200/500


    Not finding the body, the goblins were confused, dividing themselves, they searched for the body.


    On the tree branch, Ch¨­ji frowned, signaling towards the group and approached the warrior goblin. Ch¨­ji hid in the trees and waited for the warrior to come towards him. Using partial expansion, Ch¨­ji jumped down and crushed the goblin. The Health points dropped to zero and the warrior turned into black smoke.


    "They aren''t much different from the zombies. Just a bit smarter and have better battle skills." Shikamaru commented.


    WOOSH


    An arrow with a strong gust of wind neared the group.


    "Down." Raito acted fast and shouted alerting everyone.


    Goblin Archer Lvl 16


    HP ¨C 3800/ 3800


    MP ¨C 500/ 500


    STR ¨C 30


    VIT ¨C 40


    DEX ¨C 40


    INT ¨C 30


    WIS ¨C 30


    LUK ¨C 10


    Weak looking monster found in the forest, mountain or mines. Usually hunts in groups and are subservient to any hobgoblin in the group. They are very greedy and have a high libido. While raiding human carriages, they kidnap women to fulfill their d.e.s.i.r.es. They have knowledge regarding all kinds of weapon and skills.


    "Goblin archer just used some kind of magic right now," Raito shouted jumping to another branch.


    Naruto used a bunch of clones to suffocate the goblin archer. With sheer number and jutsu, goblin archer was easily defeated.


    "Naruto-kun," Hinata shouted calling Naruto.


    Naruto looked towards Hinata but seeing her expression his expression changed. Rapidly turning around Naruto saw the warrior goblin, who was glowing red with his saber launching down, ready to chop Naruto into two.


    But before the saber could descent, an object pierced through the goblins head, with enough force making the goblin stagger back. Seconds later the warrior fell down and disappeared in smoke.


    Naruto, while shivering, fell down. Hinata, worried, jumped down and hugged Naruto.


    Raito gave a bitter laugh and just said, "Fangirls".


    Ch¨­ji walked towards Naruto and waited until Hinata had her fill. Standing with a serious face, he made a fist and hit Naruto at the head.


    "Ow." Naruto cried in pain.


    "Stupid Naruto." Then Ch¨­ji sat down, facing one side of the forest.


    Ino jumped down and kicked Naruto with full force, making potato grow from Naruto''s head.


    Shikamaru looked around but didn''t find anything, so he clicked his tongue. If there were bodies then he could have analyzed things.


    Raito jumped down and lightly hit Hinata on her head.


    "You shouldn''t have just call out. In a situation such as this, where life is in danger, you have to calm down and give instruction, instead of calling out." Raito earnestly gave suggestion to Hinata.


    "H-Hai." with tears from her eyes Hinata nodded.


    Everyone gathered in a group and started ''educating'' Naruto.


    Raito watched the pitiful Naruto being educated and smiled happily. But before he could enjoy more, his ''Chakra Sense'' saw a bigger monster coming towards their direction. So he immediately made a few hand signs and disappeared in treetops.


    Everyone looked down towards the direction Raito had pointed. There, they saw a muscular grayish green monster of about two meters tall, muscular built and two small horns coming out from his forehead. Wearing a bone necklace and a huge club, the monster moved forward and stopped for a long time where the goblins had died, searching around for a few minutes in the same area, he moved forward.


    "Damn." Raito wiped his sweat looking at the stats.


    Hobgoblin Lvl 26


    HP ¨C 28,000/28,000


    MP ¨C 3,000/3,000


    STR ¨C 80


    VIT ¨C 80


    DEX ¨C 40


    INT ¨C 35


    WIS ¨C 40


    LUK ¨C 20


    Evolved from the goblin, adept in using various weapons but mostly use heavy blunt weapons. The creature of the forest is adept at hunting and act on their d.e.s.i.r.e and instincts. In a nest of goblins, hobgoblins lead a group with three goblins.


    After he was gone, everyone regrouped. Raito looked towards everyone and asked, "Can we do it?"


    Naruto didn''t speak and neither did anyone, only Raito had sparkles in his eyes. After a long, long time, Shikamaru finally opened his mouth, "Why not?"


    Raito smiled back and used his three kilometers far ''Chakra Sense'' and said, "There are three groups of those goblins and hobgoblins in this two-kilometer radius."


    Hinata using her Byakugan looked towards a distance and said, "Those goblins are patrolling more towards east and less at the west. So, maybe, their main camp is there."


    "We need a plan," Shikamaru added.


    "These monster can think and act, not like those dead monster. So I am guessing Genjutsu works on them and maybe I can use my clan jutsu on them." Ino also chipped in.


    "But first we need to prepare ourselves," Ch¨­ji said as he patted his stomach for which Raito made a sound of acknowledgment.


    "Ah¡­.maybe..." Naruto tried speaking but Ino glared at him with her fist pumped up.


    "Naruto-kun what is it?" Hinata asked with her sweet tone.


    "Don''t go telling we should jump and attack all of them together." Raito harrumphed.


    "I am not that stupid!" Naruto shouted and after calming down added, "Why not use my shadow clones and Exploding talisman? That way we can easily take them down."


    "Stupid."


    "I knew Naruto was stupid to this extent but he didn''t even know¡­."


    "I fear that he may not pass the academy exams."


    Hinata quietly went forward and whispered into Naruto''s ear what was really happening.


    Raito walked forwards and from his inventory pulled out a smaller bag full of seals. Then handing the bad to Naruto, he said, "What you say is good, Naruto. We can indeed use these to kill them fast. These are half of the explosion talisman that I have made. Make good use of them."


    After that Raito and the group started preparing for the fight.


    The hobgoblin frowned as he walked around the forest. He had been calling his subordinates for quite a while but still, they hadn''t returned. But still, he continued to patrol, just like he had been patrolling for as long as he could remember.


    On a distance away Raito placed the wooden sticks on the ground then disappeared from the area. He had already placed wooden sticks on different places already, minding the different routes the hobgoblin could take.


    Soon enough the hobgoblin walked towards one of the areas with wooden sticks. The hobgoblin flinched but didn''t change his route or even care a bit.


    Raito watched as the hobgoblin passed through the area, his hand in half ram seal. Quickly hobgoblin reached an area with even more wooden sticks. Before taking a step forward the hobgoblin hesitated and decided to walk back.


    "Unseal".


    One after another, fire lit on the wooden stick like a mysterious ritual. The hobgoblin took a step back and his attention changed to the direction towards the newly lit fire. He gripped his club hard once again and slowly retreated back.


    Raito whispered, "Do it, Ino."


    Her hand in a diamond pattern and blood on her indexes, she locked on to the hobgoblin and sweat trickled down from her forehead.


    "Mind-Body technique: Mind-Body disturbance ¨C Confuse"


    After activation of a large amount of chakra, the hobgoblin''s eye shook. Then he started smashing everything around him, attacking the trees with his club then after his club was broken be punched with his fist.


    After five minutes only, the hobgoblin calmed down and returned to normal. Looking at himself, the hobgoblin shook in fear. He feared the abnormal happening in the forest, so he escaped or tried to.


    After a series of hand seals, Raito activated his chakra and called out his skill softly.


    "Demonic Illusion ¨C Hell viewing technique".


    The technique affected the hobgoblin, which made him rampage around making quite a loud sound. But after some time the hobgoblin raised his fist and hit himself hard.


    "Damn." Raito cursed.


    "It seems my family technique is far better." Ino pulled out her small tongue teasing them.


    "Keep sticking your tongue out and I will bite it," Raito spoke venomously, clearly in a bad mood.


    Ino quickly covered her tongue in shock then backed off. But the next moment she pointed towards Raito in anger.


    At the tree, Shikamaru saw what had happened and quickly reacted. Jumping down with hand seals, shadows gathered under his command, which was quite large due to the shadows from the fire and quickly attached to the hobgoblin. Weak from the rampage and the self-harming blow, the shadows successfully paralyzed the hobgoblin.


    Without any pause Ch¨­ji who had expanded his hand and was covered with stones, his fist landed on the hobgoblin, creating a devastating blow, making the earth below shake.


    After the dust settled down, they saw that the hobgoblin was in a rather weak and pitiful state.


    But what Raito saw was that the hobgoblin had only few hundred of health points, but resigning to his bad luck he saw Hinata who had landed behind the hobgoblin with her Gentle fist attacking stance, making a consecutive fifty or sixty strikes.


    "Uzumaki drop!!!" Naruto rolled as he dropped down from the tree, hitting square at the hobgoblin''s head.


    With a little resistance, the hobgoblin disappeared in smoke.


    Raito had a mouth wide open. He just realized that a group of ten to thirteen had just killed a level twenty-six monster. Not even a single point of damage. That was huge, huge.


    [You killed a Lvl 26 Hobgoblin]


    You obtained 30 EXP.


    You obtained a club.


    You obtained a vial of hobgoblin blood.


    You obtained cloth of hobgoblin.


    [HELP: Experience point to the gamer has been allocated with the percentage of contribution to the challenge.]


    "Too much work, just to kill one." Shikamaru murmured


    "Let''s divide into groups and take them on. We can do it and also we should work towards strengthening our own groups." Raito said, his eye emitting blue light.


    Raito smiled then said, "This time we will work in a group of three in our original groups. For the next three days, we will fight these goblins in teams. And for the finale, we can raid the camp using Naruto''s idea."


    Three days later


    [Yoshizawa Raito]


    [Lvl 13 > Lvl 17]


    As Raito looked at his status page and the acc.u.mulated status points, he laughed happily and closed his eyes.


    On midday, outside the training ground, the supervisor, as well as the academy teachers, stood in front of the student with Iruka standing ahead of them. He had a small smile hanging on his lips as he looked at his students.


    "Everyone, congratulation." Iruka clapped and the group behind him also clapped.


    "I am proud to see you all standing before me. Sadly out of thirteen groups, only eight groups lasted till the original time period, then two groups and two members quit the exams. So to the students, being able to stand out, I congratulate you all on passing."


    Everyone who passed cheered and discussed among themselves.


    "Alright, alright. Let me continue." with a loud voice, Iruka continued, "You have three days off, for rest, then we are going to have academic exams where you will pass to step foot in becoming a ninja of Konohagakure. So, everyone, I wish you luck."


    Iruka stepped back and another Ch¨±nin, who was slightly fatter came forward. "Make two line, girls and boys, then enter the cabin to take your things."


    The previous thin Ch¨±nin handed Raito his things and said in a low voice, "If you able to do three-seal Fuinjutsu then, even when someone tries to look for them, they would not be able to find anything."


    Quickly giving a tip to Raito, the thin Ch¨±nin pushed Raito out and met others. Raito shrugged then regrouped with everyone.


    Raito saw that Ino was lecturing Naruto to read the books properly and not play pranks on the people and Naruto was also laughing bitterly as he accepted with everything Ino said.


    After the ending at the Hokage tower.


    Raito peeked inside the Hokage office. Seeing the elderly figure, he called out and directly went to sit on the chair.


    "Raito-kun, you seem happy. Did something good happen?" Hiruzen asked with his kind smile.


    "Nope, nothing. I am just happy that the exams ended. Now I can stay home and laze around for a few days." Raito replied with a thought.


    "Then I will not take much of your time and go straight to the point. I want you to tell me everything that happened from the time, Mizuki and Tokiji arrived, to the point, Mizuki was captured." Hiruzen asked as one of the ANBU held a clipboard and pen ready to jot down.


    "Well¡­." Raito dragged.


    "Tell me everything and I promise you will be rewarded, not only for catching and defeating the village traitor but also recovering secrets of the village."


    [Quest Created]


    Raito thought of accepting and focused on Hiruzen.


    "We couldn''t do anything about Tokiji and that scroll was fake from the beginning," Raito muttered in a low voice then explained all the happenings to Hiruzen, some points exaggerated and some points downplayed.


    Hiruzen nodded and the ANBU from time to time also noted several points.


    "You used a healing jutsu?" Hiruzen asked in curiosity.


    "Yeah." Raito nodded.


    Hiruzen took out a scroll and pointed on a part before sighing, "And Iruka told me that the healing jutsu you did was ''amazing'', if not for the limitation of chakra pool, you would have healed him in an instant. I really didn''t dare to believe that."


    "That''s what healing jutsu does right?" Raito replied simply.


    His perception locking to space above, Hiruzen continued, "Raito-kun, jutsu are the wonder of the human mind, making impossible, possible. The healing jutsu you performed, how to say it, maybe I am praising it too much but it may rank in the top ten in the village."


    "Top ten? Doesn''t that mean it is really awesome? Jii-chan, what other top healing jutsu are there?" Raito asked in excitement.


    "Hoho, maybe you have read it but my student, Tsunade has quite a name regarding healing arts." Hiruzen started touching his beard.


    Head hanging down, Raito sighed, "Of course I have, but Jii-chan, you are getting too old. You are just too long-winded."


    Hiruzen just laughed it off.


    "She has one technique called ''The Yin Seal'', which lets her recover in an instant. That''s how powerful it was, any wound or fatal injuries healed in an instant. That technique was a wonderful feast for the eyes." Hiruzen sighed.


    "Wow, for something like that to exist. I can''t believe it." In his excitement, Raito just wanted to say ''Give me''.


    "You will know it sooner or later but the jutsu are wonders, created by humans. In this vast continent and beyond, people hundreds of ways they use chakra to accomplish the impossible. The only limitation is the user, himself." Hiruzen sighed then added with unbound curiosity, "How about a demonstration for this old man?"


    Raito paused for a moment then nodded, "Who should I perform on, then?"


    "Hmm¡­. How about¡­me?" Hiruzen folded his sleeves and took out a kunai.


    The ANBU were alarmed, acting quickly one of them grabbed Hiruzen''s hand. But then quickly retreated with hints of fear, shown in his body.


    "Jii-chan, if you do that, I am not going to demonstrate, let you bleed out and die" Raito turned his head.


    A purple haired ANBU jumped down, unsheathing her sword and asked, "Then how about me?"


    "NO." Raito directly gave a reply without even bothering to think.


    Like a perfect cliffhanger, knocking sounds came from the door, grabbing everyone''s attention. Ibuki entered the room, His big body, tanned skin and scarred face giving everyone a faint sense of pressure.


    Looking at everyone in the room while pausing a bit long to Raito, Ibuki stated, "We have confirmation."


    "Ibuki-oni."


    Ibuki looked at the chair and his eyes twitching replied, "Little Devil".


    "CAT take him into my chambers," Hiruzen ordered and CAT followed.


    "Nee-"


    *Glare


    "CAT-san, what do you think about my jutsu?" Raito asked playfully.


    "Life-saving," CAT spoke few words and kept silent.


    Unable to bear the silence, Raito walked around the room to search for anything when his eyes landed on the crystal ball. Moving his hand forward, Raito touched the crystal ball.


    Would you like to learn ''Telescope''?


    YES - - NO


    Would you like to use ''Telescope''?


    YES - - NO


    "Only Hokage-sama can use that crystal ball, it was said that not even the fourth was able to use it." CAT looked at Raito, shaking her head she explained from the behind explained.


    "¡­.Say what if I can use this?" Raito asked.


    After a long pause, she replied, "Any jutsu of your choice."


    Raito waved his hand then asked, "Even S-rank and A-ranks?"


    After one longer pause, CAT shivered then replied, "Yes."


    "S-Rank Jutsu, be ready, here I come." Raito cheered then pressed ''YES to use''.


    Feeling the chakra leaving his body, the crystal ball shined brightly and the scenery changed.


    "It''s the view from Hokage monument." Raito''s eye widened as the crystal ball showed the view from the Hokage monument.


    [5 CP per second]


    Academy. The hot springs "So, that''s how he peeks." Training area. The gates. ''Kotetsu Hagane'' and ''Izumo Kamizuki''. Raito was even able to use his observe skill with the crystal ball.


    "Stop, Raito." Hiruzen stern voice made Raito quickly cancel the connection. Hiruzen stood there with a stern face, determination in his eyes, he waved his hand and a thud sound was heard.


    "Activate the seal and clean the room. Label it as a Class A secret." Hiruzen ordered and everyone started working.


    "Raito, we need to talk about things¡­.but later."


    Closing his eye in contemplation, he added, "Use that jutsu to disappear and go to the house. I will meet you there, stay inside and keep yourself busy¡­.and Naruto too." as Raito was stunned for the moment, he added Naruto''s name too.


    Hiruzen pushed his chakra, forcing Raito to arouse out of stupor. After staring for a while, Raito muttered words and disappeared from the spot.


    "Kakashi, Tenz¨­. Can you tell how he did that?" Hiruzen asked.


    "I couldn''t, Hokage-sama," Tenz¨­ answered after a long time.


    "There was a shiver in his chakra but nothing else. There was no space fluctuation that I could see," Kakashi answered but the magatama in his iris still moved as if searching frantically which caused him pain.


    Hiruzen sighed, "Make someone clean this mess and be with Raito unmasked. Take people with you, celebrate or anything and keep him busy." Hiruzen ordered to whom it was concerned.


    "Hai." But before disappearing, she said in a soft voice, "You never scolded him before."


    Hiruzen dragged his exhausted body, sat on the main seat and lit a smoke to handle his coming nonsense.


    "Sorry old friends."


    Time passed and with a knock, Mariko entered the room. Her head slightly lowered, she announced, "Hokage-sama we have members of the elder council here, councilmen Mitokado Homura, councilwomen Utatane Koharu and head of the civilian council, Shimura Danzo."


    Sighing lightly, Hiruzen replied, "Let them in."


    A man wearing bandages, covering most of his upper part and one eye, hiding his bandaged right arm in the clothes and with a walking stick, he entered the room with two others elderly figure, one man with grayish black hair wearing glasses and one woman with grayish black hair made into a bun, held by a red hairpin.


    He walked forward and stood in front of the table with two elderly figure behind him and asked, "Hiruzen, you should know why we are here?"


    At the same time, Raito returned back home with tunnel vision. He just had one question in his mind. Jiji was angry, was it the scroll? Orb? Or the secrets he has been keeping?


    Raito questioned himself and suddenly appeared in the house which frightened Naruto.


    "Hey Raito that scared me. What happened? You look pale." Naruto looked at Raito and found that he was acting weird. Naruto grabbed Raito''s hand brought him to the sofa.


    Taking a huge breath, Raito calmed down and said, "Jii-chan told us not to go out, for now, he will be coming to talk with us."


    Mechanically, Raito moved towards the kitchen and then began the endless journey of Raito becoming the food king.


    **


    "So that''s how it rains? How simple, that teachers in the academy definitely don''t know how to teach. You are definitely the best at teaching, Raito." Naruto harrumphed.


    "Only if you read properly, you won''t need teachers." Raito sighed as he stirred the pot. The soup gave a nice fragrance, which gave a refreshing smell.


    Knock! Knock!


    Without even needing to open the door, the door was blasted open following Anko''s shouting. Following her, Yugao and Mari entered the house.


    "Congratulation, you two."


    Anko held alcohol bottles, big enough to go all night long.


    "It''s just survival exams, you know?" Naruto looked at everyone and said.


    "It smells food here." Anko directly ignored Naruto and walked forward placing the alcohol bottle with care on the table and went to the kitchen top.


    "Here, have some cake." Mari placed the boxes with cake on the table.


    Anko took a deep breath as she started opening the lids of pots and pans.


    "Jiji didn''t come?" Raito asked his emotions complicated.


    **


    "What do the three of you need?" Hiruzen asked eyeing his face menacing and with the Hokage robes, making the situation even direr.


    "We just wanted to know what is happening in the village," Danzo answered, his eyes still closed.


    "We want in too, Hiruzen."


    "We were in the same team, have some trust."


    The two elderly also chimed in.


    Hiruzen sighed and commanded, "Prepare" to the ANBU near him.


    "I alone will handle it. There is no need for you all to involve yourself. Go back to your residence and prepare for tomorrow meeting, just like every day" Hiruzen turned around in his seat and added.


    Danzo stood up and shouted, "But why did you-"


    "Kill him? I wanted the three of you to know (standing up he stared at the three, his voice turning heavier, the killing intent flooding the room) that those little ''pests'' here, I have tolerated enough."


    "I just wanted to remind you that, while you two are the part of the elder council, I have the hat, I have the seat. And I have the power to do things, in my way."


    "Those little birds you send here (looking at Danzo) may not return to their nest at the end of the day, returning to the ground as ashes.


    "Danzo, you are representing the civilian council. Tell them, tell each and every single one of them. Any more of those little tricks and I will have to deal them without sensei''s method, the old way." Hiruzen gritted his teeth as the words escaped from his mouth.


    "Keep playing like you always do." Saying that he passed the three.


    "Hiruzen!" Danzo struck the ground with his stick, making a loud, crisp sound.


    "What?" Hiruzen replied calmly but the pressure building forced Danzo to take a few steps backward.


    "Calm down, you two." the two elderly tried to placate the two.


    "Hiruzen, we only came here to know who was it that made you mobilize such a large force. We may be able to help." Homura with his calm voice said.


    "My old friends, I still want us to be friends till the day I see light."


    Danzo gritted his teeth, even after so much of sacrifice, using Shishui''s eye and the life of his trained soldier. ''Shishui''s eye is not that powerful, although this eye has powerful Genjutsu capabilities, what I wanted is still not this.''


    Danzo quickly exited the room and replied in a low voice, "I understand."


    Homura and Koharu, walked forward standing behind Hiruzen and said, "Hiruzen, our grandchildren, thank you."


    **


    A few hours later.


    "Hokage-sama Kabuto has disappeared. ANBU medical chief is also found dead. No other casualties." ANBU reported.


    "Report to me of all the happenings," Hiruzen replied calmly as if everything was as anticipated.


    **


    "Hey just asking but is Jii-chan not coming?" Raito looked at the clock for the umpteenth time and asked making everyone feel nauseous.


    "Well¡­. it''s already seven now but you have to understand that Hokage-sama has a lot of work." This time Mari replied with an ''I give up face''.


    "He will be here. If the old man said he will be here then he will be here." Biting on the meat, she replied.


    "Yes, Anko. I keep my words." A voice alerted Anko from behind.


    "Eep." Anko jumped at the voice like a frightened rabbit and backed away. The meat on her hand flew in the air, which was grabbed by Hiruzen.


    "Hokage-sama." Mari and Yugao bowed.


    "Jiji." Raito and Naruto cried out.


    "You two." Hiruzen weak voice and his weary look made him look like an old weak man, making Raito somewhat sad.


    "Yugao, go to the ''room'', it needs you." Hiruzen waved, making Yugao act.


    Yugao walked and approached the two and said with a gentle voice, "Behave, okay?" then went out.


    "Anko takes Naruto inside, I want to talk to Raito alone for a moment," Hiruzen said making the room turn heavy. Nodding Anko and Naruto went inside a room.


    Hiruzen took a seat in front of Raito. And Mari took a seat at the side, a stern aura emitting from her.


    Hiruzen laughed and waved at Mari, asking her to calm down. Looking at Raito in front of him, Hiruzen sighed.


    First, he started with Raito, "Raito, you are stupid."


    "Eh?" Raito was shocked.


    Hiruzen smiled and continued, "Your new skills and new training, everyone can feel the difference. The change in attitude and behavior, everyone can sense. Everyone has secrets, we don''t mind but you have made many mistakes."


    "Do you think that the back of the house had magical hiding power? And even if you try to hide your abilities, people will still figure it out if you show off too much. You even involved the Ino-Shika-Cho clans, making quite a large chaos in the village. You disappeared from the backyard, Kakashi who was watching with a telescope saw that and when you returned he saw you again. You need to be aware that there are Byakugan and sensors in the village, which can watch from a far distance. There are also Ch¨±nin and J¨­nin who have great eyesight. These people can be out of your range and at the same time spy on you. Science and technology have developed in the last decade, camera, TV, video recorder, there are ways to find your secret."


    Letting the words sink in, Hiruzen took out a scroll, where there were multiple storage seals. Channeling chakra into a seal, a book appeared.


    Picking up the book Hiruzen went through a couple of pages. Waving his hand to call Raito, Hiruzen made him sit near himself, patting Raito''s head, he started, "From now on, before you use that jutsu, you will make sure to be prepared for everything. Mostly I wish if you could do it inside the house. Here, you even have the room." at the end Hiruzen gave Raito a book.


    "I told you that I would be giving you an A-rank or S-rank but not, for now, you have to wait," Hiruzen whispered to Raito''s ear, his voice so soothing to hear.


    Hiruzen smiled then hugged Raito, "You are smart but still inexperienced but time will change that. I believe in you Raito, I believe you would be a great man and outlive me. Your name will be known through the whole elemental nation for the path you decide. Let the enemies fear when they hear your name and let your families and friends may be filled with joy when they see you. You have a long journey and you have just started, you may fall from time to time but you must never give up."


    Raito was shaking greatly as he heard Hiruzen speaking. He couldn''t believe how stupid he could be. Raito started cursing himself and promised that he will think of his actions. Words kept pouring and the hand patting his head felt heavy. Listening to the words, Raito felt small again, when his mistakes were just mistakes. Tears came pouring out of his eyes and his heart felt heavy.


    A new title has been acquired.


    [A Seedling]


    - Easier interaction with elderly and young.


    - Easier gaining knowledge and passing knowledge.


    - 10% Increase in Stat and skill experience points.


    - Gain extra 1 stat point per level.


    [A Special title has been unlocked. Points gained. 250 points.]


    Releasing the boy, Hiruzen said, "Now go to your room for a while with Mari. I have something to speak with Naruto."


    Raito''s eye shined but still walked with Mari to his room. Upon reaching the room, Mari sealed the room with her own version of sealing techniques.


    Jumping back in bed, he eyed Mari and said, "I already know about it, Mari-nee."


    Mari rolled her eyes and grabbed a chair, "Just stay in the room for ten minutes."


    "Shikamaru knows it too." Raito continued. "He is smart, his father is smart but a lot of people are a fool."


    Sighing she crossed her legs and said, "More than half of the village is a fool, then."


    "But I want to ask Mari-nee, how can someone seal a tailed beast like ''The nine tails'' into a human ''Naruto''?"


    Mari kept quiet but seeing that Raito was still pressing forward she decided to explain it all, "The tailed beast is called bij¨± or Chakra Monster, they were present from a time long before the village or any civilization known. And the host that the bij¨± are sealed into is called Jinch¨±riki, the power of human sacrifice. There are nine chakra monsters going from one all the way to nine represented by the number of tails they have and so there are nine Jinch¨±riki altogether housing one bij¨± each. Just like Konoha has Naruto, the Jinch¨±riki for Ky¨±bi, there are others too."


    "Like Killer B of Hachibi?" Raito asked with interest.


    "Yeah, he is one of them."


    "What about others?"


    "We know about some due to their appearance in the third shinobi war. But others, we don''t know, they have not made many appearances in public."


    "Why are we not taught about that in class, Mari-nee," Raito asked seemingly confused.


    "Everyone is not so understanding about this subject. But mostly it is because the civilian council rejects them."


    "If you have any more question, ask away. I am feeling lazy?"


    Raito closed his eyes seemingly in a deep thoroughly. Opening his eyes he asked with a heavy heart, "Just¡­.why Naruto?"


    At the ground floor, Naruto had a letter and a picture of a pregnant red-haired woman in his hand and as he read, he cried in happy tears. The doubts that clouded him, slowly disappeared. He had parents, parents who loved him, cared for him, he was not abandoned. Hiruzen hugged the crying Naruto for a long, long time. Part of Hiruzen felt relieved, he had fulfilled one of his promises, the reason he was still alive. He had feared that he couldn''t live the day to give this letter to Naruto.


    **


    "Because he is an Uzumaki," Mari answered.


    "Because he is an Uzumaki? Are you really telling me everything?" Raito questioned not feeling satisfied.


    "Why don''t you think of this as a son or daughter inheriting a family business?" Mari tried changing direction.


    "What do you mean?" Raito asked.


    "Before Naruto, the Jinch¨±riki to Ky¨±bi was none other than his mother Namikaze Uzumaki Kushina."


    "And what about before that?"


    "The wife of the first Hokage, Senju Uzumaki Mito."


    "¡­.Damn." Raito could only curse. Every Jinch¨±riki was related to Hokage somehow.


    After a long pause, Raito asked with a silly face, "So next Hokage is going to marry Naruto?"


    There was a long pause when Raito said that. A twitching smile hung on Mari''s face before laughing out loud.


    Wiping her tears, she cursed. Rubbing Raito''s hair, she brought out a scroll but when Raito saw that he immediately tried snatching it.


    Toying with Raito, she removed the red knot on the scroll before unrolling. "Let''s see."


    Unrolling the scroll, there were lines and lines of characters drawn on the scroll with various circle and lines. From the simple storage seal to the more complex storage seal, looking at the complex characters, Mari sighed. Activating the chakra, the scroll rolled back and the knot was tied back.


    Raito quickly snatched the scroll back and gave a dissatisfied snort. Although it looked like Raito was angry, he wasn''t. This scroll was one of the research decoys he had placed in the house.


    "You shouldn''t keep such precious things randomly in the house," Mari said as she took out a slightly bigger scroll and placed it on the floor. Inside the scroll, there were numerous storage seals present with unique characters in it.


    "I saw that your katana was broken, what did you do with it? Hit a rock? Go ahead and see if you like anyone." Mari shook her head and opened her hands, the weapon in front of her each one of different shape and size.


    Looking at each one, Raito salivated.


    [War Hammer] (Uncommon)


    ATK ¨C 200


    Durability ¨C 2000


    [Throwing Knife](Uncommon)


    ATK ¨C 30


    Durability ¨C 300


    [Katar](Uncommon)


    ATK ¨C 45


    Durability ¨C 1900


    [Ninjat¨­](Uncommon)


    ATK ¨C 140


    Durability ¨C 2800


    [Katana](Uncommon)


    ATK ¨C 120


    Durability ¨C 3000


    [Spear](Uncommon)


    ATK ¨C 80


    Durability ¨C 2500


    And there were many more. Mari sat on the ground with her scroll unrolled. Weapons stood on the scroll seal with their handles on the top, letting the observer freely try them.


    "Mari-nee, you are¡­.a walking armory." Raito looked at each and every weapon on the scroll, watching their attributes and letting out a silly laugh.


    "Choose." Mari hissed.


    "Um¡­.then I choose all." Raito spread his hand indicating all weapons.


    "Only one. Make your pick." Mari glared.


    "Haai." Every weapon was uncommon, so Raito had no choice but to sigh and choose a substitute for his katana.


    "In Konoha, we have a lot of specific techniques for Ninjat¨­, if you want techniques relating to katana then they are more abundant in ''Land of Iron''," Mari advised as Raito grabbed the katana.


    [Sword Mastery Lvl 2]


    [Subset ¨C Katana mastery Lvl 20]


    Sword with a curved, single-edged blade with a circular or squared guard.


    Lvl 25 ¨C Skill Locked


    Raito smiled and shook his head then grabbed the katana pulling it towards himself.


    [Katana](Uncommon)


    ATK ¨C 120


    Durability ¨C 3000


    Special - (+5 DEX)


    Made by ¨C Ayoma Mari


    Owner ¨C Yoshizawa Raito


    Katana made by Ayoma Mari, a newly ranked blacksmith. A sharp edge with a heavy back, with a long handle two-handed attacking, is possible to deliver damage with greater force.


    Made using black iron¡­.


    Uses>


    Flaws>


    Raito swung the katana with a gentle movement but for Mari, her heart was in pain. She had started smithing as her new hobby and these were the best weapons she could make right now. To part with her weapon, made her feel some sense of loss.


    Raito felt happy with the katana he had selected then seeing the face Mari had made, Raito brought out a bowl from his inventory. A meaty smell came from the bowl, noodles as a base and covered by shredded meaty gravy with chopped scallions on the top. Handing the bowl he gave her chopsticks and a bottle of purified water.


    Smelling the meaty flavor, Mari couldn''t hold back. Quickly diving, she chewed, slurped and swallowed, and in minutes the bowl was all empty. Breathing out, she opened the cap of the bottle and took a sip. With a gulp, she was astonished, her chakra network was activated and sped up, and she felt a trace amount of chakra recovering. Closing the cap she looked at Raito with heaps of question.


    Raito smiled and started explaining about the water. Of course, most of it was from the skill itself. After learning the skills, basics about the skills will be in his brain, which is mostly about the activation of the technique itself. Then after gaining a new effect to the skill, there would be another knowledge endowment, explaining how the effect came to be.


    Night came and everyone left the house leaving Naruto, Raito, and Anko alone in the house.


    Raito opened the door and walked in Naruto''s room, which was still lit. Naruto was sitting on his bed with a picture frame in his hand. He was trying to open the picture frame but was failing to do so.


    Raito walked forward and snatched the picture frame turning it around and opening it before giving it back to Naruto. In his regular orange clothes, which was now a little dirty, Naruto cleaned the photo of the red-haired women with extreme care and inserted it in the frame. After cleaning the table Naruto placed the photo frame in the middle of the table.


    "She is my mom." Naruto voice cracked in the deep of night.


    "Mm." Raito simply replied before walking back.


    "I have a¡­.a big fox inside me." Naruto with his head down and a weak voice said it to Raito.


    "The Nine-Tailed Demon Fox." Raito smiled and continued, "But still you are ramen loving Naruto. I know what sealing techniques are, don''t compare me with those stupid people." With that Raito closed the door.


    Raito walked down the stairs where Anko was standing in anticipation. Happily walking forward, she grabbed Raito and turned him around. Facing him she spoke, "Take me there."


    Tilting his head as saying he was confused, Raito asked, "Where?"


    "To where you disappear," Anko spoke with a bit of sternness in his voice.


    "Jii-chan asked you?" Raito asked with a strange tone.


    Anko didn''t know what to say but decided to tell the truth. "Yeah he did but I want to know too. Before he told us not to ask so we didn''t ask."


    The notification didn''t arrive and he didn''t find any hint of a lie in Anko. But what could he see with his low level to detect the lie? So kicking it out of his mind, Raito smiled happily and said, "Okay".


    She was wearing a dark blue top and pants with lots of seals, which were skin tight. Hiding them, she was wearing a dark overcoat.


    Extending his hands, Raito grabbed Anko''s shoulder and activated the skill. Another second later, Raito and Anko appeared in a deep forest with towering trees and blue skies with two moons.


    Ignoring her, Raito walked and reached a branch, playing with Midori happily. Anko also did her work scouting the area, finding monsters and killing them in a blink of an eye.


    After some time had passed, Raito felt bored. So he searched for Anko and walked towards her. Standing on top of a branch, Raito sighed as he watched the scene.


    Anko dance as she made cuts after cuts. The group of hobgoblin walked forward to attack but would be sent flying away, instead they would get two or three cuts every time. But they knew no fear, based on their memory they attacked the women. Acting on d.e.s.i.r.e and instinct, the continued to fight.


    Raito felt a little angry at what Anko was doing. Earlier when they went for the nest, Raito used a lot of exploding talisman and with help of Naruto clones destroyed the hobgoblin base in an instant.


    "Anko-nee, come back. I wanna go and sleep." Raito called out.


    Anko stopped and with a dragon fire jutsu burned them all to a crisp.


    Raito gave up at that moment. Huffing, he turned around, ignoring Anko all the way. Taking out a bowl of noodles, he ate it.


    "Oi, what happened?" Anko questioned the sullen Raito.


    **


    Days quickly passed by, Naruto and Raito enjoyed the days by training, eating and reading. Raito completely forgot certain someone as his days were filled with joys. Slowly one by one Raito''s stats increased considerably and he considered himself as strongest in the current batch of students after comparing status with everyone. In this period of time, what Raito focused more, were his chakra pool and Fuinjutsu.


    **


    At the Hokage tower.


    CAT knelt in front of the Hokage desk as she reported, "Raito may have some surprise in the coming academy exams. He spoke of a new type of Fuinjutsu."


    "That kid." Hiruzen threw the hat on the table and rubbed the bridge of his nose.


    "No worries, make sure Iruka is accompanied by ANBU tomorrow. No matter what I would like to see what he has." Opening the drawer, Hiruzen grabbed a purple patterned scroll with a red string and gave it to CAT.


    "I did promise. But¡­. I have a feeling that I would not be able to give him that personally." Hiruzen added with a weak smile.


    "Hokage-sama."


    Hiruzen shook his head then took out another scroll, "He never showed me his healing skill, check how good it is." lighting his pipe Hiruzen looked at the orange glow.


    "Only if my students were capable." Hiruzen turned around and watched the bustling village.


    **


    Early morning on Wednesday students filled the class, without making a single noise. Two papers with a pen in front of them. A serious aura filled the classroom making most of the students nervous. Iruka stood with two other Ch¨±nin by his side, watching students with their vulture eyes.


    "I will say it only once, listen carefully. Your first exam is the questions in front of you which deals with Math, History, geography, language and Shinobi code of conduct. For a total of a hundred marks, you have two hours and fifteen minutes. Then for your practical, you will have shuriken and kunai throwing, then Genjutsu breaking followed by Taijutsu, then we will be ending with Ninjutsu, which will compromise for another hundred marks. Exams will begin from nine and end by three."


    Iruka voice was met by the nodding of students. He continued, "I will list out the rule and you will follow them. Number one ¨C no cheating. Number two ¨C You cannot ask anything. Number three ¨C fill the boxes with answers and tick mark the multiple choice. If I find any of you cheating, I will be deducting marks, but only once. Then next time, you will be thrown out. This exam will determine when you will become a ninja, so be aware."


    Ting! Ting! Ting!


    The metal rod hit the bell making heavy noise.


    Looking at the clock, Iruka shouted, "Turn your papers and start."


    Heat flared, students picked up their pen and flipped the papers.


    Raito went through one question after another, filling the box full of the perfect answer. "It''s surprisingly easy." he yawned.


    "Ehhh!? So easy." Naruto cried out.


    "Naruto!" Iruka shouted. "Shut up."


    Glaring back at Raito, Naruto went back writing answers.


    Raito chuckled and continued filling his answers, failing nearly all of his multiple choice questions to prevent topping the exam. After finishing everything, he looked around and saw Shikamaru already sleeping and Ch¨­ji copying him, Sasuke glaring at the paper then scratched a number. Sakura, Hinata, and Ino tried their best to finish everything perfectly.


    Everyone below level ten tried their best to stock up the answers, while everyone having INT below fifteen had a problem to even complete their papers.


    ''She is all patched up.'' Raito looked at Sakura and frowned lightly.


    Spinning his pen, Raito yawned and looking at the clock, half an hour more left to end.


    [Chakra Sense]


    [Fast thinking]


    Once again, Raito felt the sense of detachment, observing as a third person point of view. Going forward Raito standing beside Iruka he watched everyone fighting against questions.


    Ting! Ting! Ting!


    "Pens down," Iruka shouted and the three Ch¨±nin started collecting answer papers.


    "You have a forty-five-minute break. Practical from twelve, now go." saying that Iruka left the room with others.


    As soon as the Ch¨±nin teachers had finished collecting the papers, Naruto who was in front, behaving nicely, attacked Raito. The conclusion? Naruto was thrown out of the room, directly.


    "Damn you, Raito."


    Everyone left the room except for Sasuke and Raito who stood in direct opposition to each other.


    Scratching his head Raito turned around to leave the room.


    "Wait," Sasuke called out.


    Raito also accepted and turned around. "What does the great Uchiha Sasuke wants?"


    "After exams.... let''s fight," Sasuke said with a smirk.


    Raito rolled his eyes then explained, "We are going to a barbecue house, which is quite famous right now to party."


    Sasuke frowned as he heard about it. "I am way stronger than before. Let me show you how much I have improved," he shouted, shouted for his d.e.s.i.r.e, d.e.s.i.r.e to fight, improve and be better.


    "Let''s meet sometime later." Raito frowned slightly but exited the room.


    On the academy grounds, everyone was discussing the exams, some worried and some happy. And there were students who didn''t care, such type was also divided into two kinds, one who don''t have any hope and others who don''t care for the marks.


    Hinata opened the lunch boxes dividing them to the one surrounding her, with a sweet smile hung on her face. Naruto glared as he saw Raito coming but Ch¨­ji waved his hand. It was more like a picnic in the lands of death. The students who were around them saw what they were doing, whispered among themselves, creating much noise.


    Ignoring them Raito sat on the cloth and took a box placed in his direction. Many students were eyeing them, making Raito fell quite difficult to eat.


    Annoyed he commented, "Aish, how sad, future ninja." before eating, Raito laughed happily. His ridiculing tone made everyone mad but didn''t take action.


    A small pup jumped and arrived near Hinata and yipped.


    "Akamaru?"


    Hinata gave Akamaru some meat, which made him happy. Akamaru jumped and disappeared with meat in his mouth.


    But a few moments later Kiba who dragged Shino with him arrived near the group of Raito and sat down.


    "Hey, do you have any extra, we forgot to bring ours," Kiba asked in a rather straight forward way.


    Raito ignored Kiba and Shino as a way of showing his anger towards Sasuke. Hinata looked through her boxes but didn''t find anything, most of the food had been eaten by Ch¨­ji alone. With others also having their fill, there was nothing left. Hinata shook her head, which made Kiba a little sad.


    Unable to tolerate Kiba''s and Akamaru''s sad face and whimpering, he brought out a few lunch boxes and gave it to them. Moments later they finished everything and even went as far as to lick the box clean.


    "I am sorry for my manners but I have to say that the taste is really good." Shino licked his chopsticks and complimented.


    "Man, you got some great food. If only we had some alcohol." Kiba patted his stomach with one hand and with another player with Akamaru.


    "Alcohol?" Naruto looked at Kiba with confusion.


    "You drink, Kiba?" he asked.


    "Of course I do. Everyone in my family does. Even Akamaru had a lick before." Kiba laughed as he explained.


    Scrolling through his inventory Raito brought out a couple of rice balls and gave it to Shino. "Give it to your teammate, he likes it."


    Shino held the rice balls and looked at Raito for a few moments before walking away. When Shino was on the corner of his eye, Raito pulled out a camera and followed him.


    "Oi Raito, watcha'' doing?" Kiba seeing the abnormal behavior asked immediately.


    Raito didn''t answer but activated his stealth skill and took turns around the tree. After much turning, Raito completely disappeared. The smell also disappeared which shocked Kiba a bit.


    Hiding in the bushes, Raito held the camera, one eye going through the small hole. Index finger on the button, which was trembling, ready to take actions. And in front of him was Sasuke, silently eating the rice balls.


    "Hehe, I am letting you be a part of my great plan."


    Snap! Click!


    Sasuke who was biting into his onigiri, jumped up and frantically looked around. He knew what that sound was, that was the sound of incoming disaster. He remembered a few months ago he had heard the same sound, later he found the photos of himself exercising early morning. Then the second time it was his swimming, then shuriken throwing and so on. So when he heard that devilish sound, he quickly searched around.


    "Raito. Where are you?"


    "Don''t you dare."


    "I am warning you."


    Raito couldn''t hold back and let out a laugh.


    "Oops." Raito immediately abandoned and ran with all his might. Immediately taking out a marble from his inventory and changed its shape to look like a camera.


    Running around the grounds Raito hid the ''camera'' behind the tree and under a couple of rock slabs.


    Sasuke saw the abnormality in Raito''s running, so, he searched around and found the ''camera'' and destroyed it, throwing it to the ground. Laughing wildly, he stepped on the broken ''camera''.


    But to others, the scene was quite confusing. What everyone saw was, Sasuke throwing a rock to the ground before stepping it.


    "Damn my camera." Raito cried out grabbing Sasuke''s attention, which made Sasuke start chasing Raito once again.


    [Yoshizawa Raito]


    CP ¨C 2000/3300


    "That one seal took a total of thousand Chakra." Raito sighed and continued running away.


    Watching Sasuke smirk and go his way, Raito let out an evil smile.


    Naruto clapped Raito''s shoulder and dragged him to the academy training ground.


    Later.


    "Yoshizawa Raito, five shurikens, five kunai." The Ch¨±nin instructor gave Raito shuriken and kunai, then stood by the side.


    Raito felt the shuriken and kunai then without further ado threw them in succession, hitting seven inside the marks, the three hitting slightly to the side.


    "Seven out of ten for shuriken and kunai. Pass." Announcing the result Ch¨±nin instructor asked for the next one to come forward.


    Sasuke watched from the back with a blank look then ignored it.


    As Raito retreated back, he heard the girl hawkers talking.


    "I knew it, only Sasuke-kun can do it."


    "Yeah, only Sasuke-kun has full marks in shuriken and kunai throwing."


    "Sasuke-kun is the best."


    "That Raito will never as good as Sasuke-kun."


    Girls squealed with zeal, making the academy training ground noisy. Hearing the girls, Raito''s face twitched.


    Then Raito stood in front of the member from Genjutsu squad and waited for a long time for Ch¨±nin instructor to announce.


    "Top for Genjutsu detection and breaking."


    Raito then fought with Ch¨±nin instructor with weaker strikes and holds, which made Ch¨±nin instructor for the Taijutsu to curse at Raito for not trying.


    Sighing in Raito''s action, he announced, "Needs more training in Taijutsu. Passable for Taijutsu."


    Everything else was finished, ready for his Ninjutsu test, Raito walked inside the classroom and stood in front of the teachers seated in the bench.


    [Umino Iruka]


    [??? ANBU]


    Raito watched the ANBU in confusion, for a really long time when Iruka coughed lightly.


    "Yoshizawa Raito, perform a clone technique, then body replacement technique and lastly a transformation," Iruka said for the umpteenth time today.


    "Okay." Not even weaving a hand sign, Raito already performed the basic three and waited.


    "Congratulations, Raito. You did well and if I add marks from this, then you will be the overall fourth of this batch." Iruka smiled happily and gave him a forehead protector.


    Raito accepted happily and again waited.


    "Then, if there is a technique you wish to show, you may." the ANBU from the side voiced out.


    "Okay." Raito made a half ram seal and activated his chakra. And they waited and waited for a long time.


    "Raito, don''t joke around." Iruka slammed his table and shouted.


    "Iruka?" an old heavy but kind voice called Iruka. Astonished Iruka immediately came to attention and greeted Hiruzen.


    "Hokage-sama?" the ANBU at the side frowned and called out but ''Hiruzen'' didn''t answer.


    Activating the seal, he called out, "Hokage-sama?"


    "Jackal, that''s a¡­.. Genjutsu. Bring Raito upstairs." a voice sounded from the intercom at the ear.


    Jackal grabbed Iruka and passed chakra, freeing Iruka from the Genjutsu.


    Coming out of the daze, Iruka sat down and penned down what happened. "That was beyond an academy student," Iruka commented.


    Scribbling down in the register, Iruka grabbed a new Hitai-ate from the small box and gave it to Raito.


    Raito grabbed the Hitai-ate and felt its heaviness. Quickly Raito wore it on his forehead and smiled happily. "Iruka-sensei, first step, complete." with a v sign and a hearty smile, Raito announced.


    Jackal who was sitting down, grabbed Raito''s hand while saying, "Hokage-sama wants to see you." Then went out to tear away a piece of paper, then went upstairs.


    Entering the room Raito sat on his usual chair and Hiruzen on his main seat, a Fuinjutsu talisman in front of him.


    Hiruzen''s voice trembled, "What is this?"


    Raito smiled happily then said, "You can unseal it."


    "Then I will." Hiruzen picked up an empty scroll, opened it and placed it under the tag. Biting his finger, he placed it on the character seal. Chakra pulsed through and the character deformed, the ink spread covering the whole of the white of the scroll.


    Shaking his head, Hiruzen burned the scroll.


    "Jii-chan the scroll was small, you need a ''plus three size'' scroll," Raito said after everything was done.


    "Hmm¡­. Raito would you contribute this to the village?" Hiruzen asked.


    "¡­.Should I?" Raito asked back.


    "If you contribute this, I can give you things related to Fuinjutsu and sometime jutsu that is even better than this." indirectly saying ''definitely you must''.


    "Okay, I will come sometime later. We are going to a barbecue house."


    Hiruzen smiled happily and let go of Raito.


    "Kakashi be prepared. This type of sealing techniques¡­..should be researched more." Hiruzen called Kakashi.


    Then taking out a kunai he gave it Kakashi, "One day, sometime in future, he can have it. You decide."


    "Hai." Kakashi took the unique kunai and stored it in the pouch.


    "Hokage-sama¡­.I don''t want to be rude but¡­.the way you are acting nowadays¡­."


    "Kakashi I know in future that he will be powerful. He has already shown signs of becoming strong but I don''t know if I will last that long." Hiruzen''s weak and heavy voice made it hard for Kakashi to hear.

 Chapter 27 - 27 – Anger or Tantrum

    Chapter 27 ¨C Anger or Tantrum


    Raito and Shikamaru looked at each other with a helpless look, then at the food served at the table and sighed. Scratching his head, Shikamaru asked, "We have one more test to become real Genins. So why are we partying now?"


    The room was already paid for and the food was also served. So there was no turning back now. Thinking like that Raito teased, "Shika, this party is to thank Kami-sama that Naruto didn''t fail the exams today."


    Hearing that Naruto quickly came to realization and pounced on Raito.


    "You said a bunch of things would come in exams. So I studied extra hard but what came were easy questions. I could have passed the exams without studying so much book. Dattebayo." Naruto attacked Raito and made a large fuss.


    Tolerating for a while, Raito quickly pushed back Naruto with a single move and said with a stern tone, "You passed because you studied."


    "But-"


    "No buts." Punching back, Raito continued. "You failed the last two exams and you are still not convinced?"


    Shikamaru looked lazily at the two before sitting down on his seat. With a quick movement, the door was opened and everyone else from the group walked inside. Ch¨­ji ignored the two fighting and took a seat near Shikamaru, chopsticks in his hand ready to start anytime.


    Ino looked at the two and a frown started forming. Waving to Hinata, Ino caught Raito and forcefully made him sit. Hinata also used her ''Gentle Fist'' and dragged Naruto to her side.


    "Ungrateful Naruto, I helped you pass the exams. I helped you!" With a harrumph, Raito also held his chopsticks.


    Naruto was going to shout but with Ino glaring at him, Naruto also picked up his chopsticks.


    Everyone picked up their chopsticks and prayed for the food on the table.


    Ino looked at the door and sighed. She had called Sakura, wishing her to join the party. Smiling a little sadly, she picked up a sliced beef and placed it on the heated panel.


    Just then a knock came from the door and Sakura voice can be heard. "Ino?"


    Jumping out of her seat, Ino opened the door and saw Sakura wearing a light pink dress having a branching pattern.


    Everyone inside the room looked at Sakura and had a confusing face.


    "Now I think about it. This table is a bit long, why is that, Naruto?" Raito who was eating looked at Naruto and questioned.


    Naruto ignored Raito and continued eating his food.


    Raito frowned but before he could speak, few knocks from the door grabbed everyone''s attention.


    This time it was Naruto who opened the door. And it was Kiba, Shino, and Sasuke, who walked inside under the dumbfounded gaze of Raito.


    "Why?" Raito gritted his teeth and asked. He wanted to ask more but he could only ask in a word.


    "Because it is more fun with a bigger group." Naruto answered cheerfully.


    Everyone greeted one another and chatted. Sitting in a group, making noise and ate to their heart''s content. The hostess brought more food as time passed.


    While others were eating happily and talking about things no one cared, Sasuke barely ate anything, but from time to time took glances at everyone, especially Raito.


    Raito snatched another meat piece from Ch¨­ji''s plate and ate while laughing happily. Ch¨­ji''s angry face and his rampage caused Raito to smile more and more.


    "Sasuke-san¡­" Shino saw that Sasuke had put down his chopsticks and was staring at Raito intensely.


    Raito who had already sensed Sasuke looking at him chose to ignore him and continue his relaxing time.


    Hinata was happy putting food in Naruto''s bowl and Naruto was also happily eating the best pieces from all the meat. Feeling embarrassed, Naruto also looked around and found a nice looking meat piece and placed it on Hinata''s plate. Hinata looked at what Naruto did, she blushed a bit and smiled, then happily ate the piece.


    Ino chatted with Sakura while Sakura stole glances of Sasuke from time to time. Ino always had something to talk about, whether it was about the a.d.u.l.terous couple or a priest from the temple.


    Kiba and Ch¨­ji ate like today was the last day of the world, eating merrily, finishing the plates. In front of them, the plates stacked one after another like a small mountain.


    Sasuke calm face frowned, little by little and after it reached his limits, Sasuke banged the table and stood up. Pointing at Raito, Sasuke called, "Raito I challenge you. Fight me!"


    Raito who was talking and eating happily frowned and looked at Sasuke with a little dissatisfaction. "Sit down and eat your food, Sasuke. You need enough energy to train to defeat me." Raito smirked.


    "Take it seriously, Raito. I don''t have time to waste at this little party, celebrating for something so simple. This is stupid, partying. I am a lot stronger than I was before-." Sasuke with anger shouted.


    "Oi." Raito shouted and banged the table with a little anger. "I already told you that we will spar when we have free time. Not today, not tomorrow but definitely sometime next week." With a long stare and a leveled gaze, Raito added, "I have things that I want to do. I will train and have spars but I don''t want my life to be filled with training only. I want things that I want to do and those things will not end because you say so." His loud voice made the silence, even more eerie.


    Sasuke who was seething calmed down and said, "If you are done playing around with these weaklings than come find me on Uchiha training grounds."


    Raito in anger jumped straight up and faced Sasuke, pointing he shouted, "You arrogant prick!"


    "Come, I will be at the Uchiha training ground as always." Sasuke with a smirk left the room.


    Raito wanted to move but Shikamaru had already placed Raito in a strong shadow bind. But Raito was still trembling, making it clear that Raito was stronger than Shikamaru right now.


    "Stop it. You will just fall in his trap and end up fighting him." Shikamaru advised.


    "It''s not me who will be losing anyway." Raito again tried breaking the shadow paralysis.


    A strange scene happened when Sakura was glaring at Raito. Raito suddenly punched in the air then fell down with a thud.


    "At last."


    In his struggle, Raito heard Sakura banging the table next.


    "Sakura?"


    "How can you say bad things to Sasuke-kun?" Sakura roared.


    "You have no right to talk with Sasuke-kun like that." Her voice reaching a peak.


    Sakura''s tone and words made all the eyes in the room to look at her with a bit of dissatisfaction.


    "What rights do I have?" Raito chuckled after recovering.


    "I will do whatever I want. Why should I care about some rights? What is he? Is he some kind of god? Or Devil?" Raito asked his eyes menacing. His voice mixed with chakra scaring Sakura.


    "Raito!" Ino shouted dispelling the Genjutsu.


    The room went to a strange silence. The only sound that was heard was chewing, coming from Ch¨­ji. "Meat is going to get worse, eat first then everything else."


    Sakura ran out followed by Ino, who looked at Raito for a while before leaving.


    Naruto sat there on one end with silence, held back by Hinata.


    Shino and Kiba too stood up, gave an apology then exited the room.


    "I-I am sorry. I didn''t know something like this would happen." Naruto sobbed.


    Shikamaru fell back and closed his eyes, "What a drag."


    "That''s what happens when we try to bring that prick with us." Raito chewed more vigorously.


    "If we remove his annoying personality, bad attitude towards others, the look telling others that he is superior and his extreme d.e.s.i.r.e to train. Then I guess he would not be a bad person." Ch¨­ji commented on making Shikamaru and Raito chuckle.


    "If he didn''t open his mouth, it would have been great." Raito said putting down his chopsticks then standing up he added, "Jiji asked me to be at Hokage tower. Ch¨­ji is paying today." Then disappeared from the room.


    Everyone else left in the room exchanged glances and sighed.


    Raito walked towards the Hokage tower while looking at the stars. How many stars are there in the sky? One, two, three¡­millions in coming, like drops of water in an ocean.


    As Raito reached the Hokage tower, most of the anger had subsided and now he could think straight. Walking towards the office, he saw that ninja wearing Ch¨±nin flak jacket were walking around, some in groups while others worked individually. Everyone gave young Raito a look but didn''t stop him.


    Hokage office was strangely silent today. Raito couldn''t see Mariko who always sat on the front desk and gave him a small smile. But sensing nothing out of line, Raito decided to just walk in.


    "Jiji." Entering the room he called out to Hiruzen, who was smoking in leisure.


    With a lazy turn and slow movement, Hiruzen kept the pipe on the table, then took out a talisman. The talisman was the same that Raito had used in the academy exams, which was previously all damaged beyond repair.


    "Raito-kun, do you know what this is?" waving the talisman paper in his hand.


    "That is my seal work." After confirming with his ''Observe'' skill, Raito answered.


    Hiruzen waited then pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "You sealed a jutsu in a piece of paper. A paper."


    "From the way you speak, I guess it is really, really important or really, really dangerous." Raito hesitated then said.


    Hiruzen looked at the boy then sighed, "Raito, I have told you about ''The Yin Seal'' and you know from the academy, the ''Flying Thunder God'' of the Fourth Hokage. What do you think is common in them?"


    Raito tilted his head then said, "Well, they are both high-level jutsu and well¡­uhh¡­"


    Seeing that Raito was stuck, he nodded and answered for him, "They are both Fuinjutsu and made by the Uzumaki."


    "So?" Raito asked in confusion.


    "The Uzumaki village is no more. They are destroyed." Hiruzen announced.


    Raito''s face turned ugly. Feeling nauseous he asked, "Then Naruto is¡­"


    "Naruto, very well, maybe one of the few surviving Uzumaki in the continent."


    "But why? Why would anyone?"


    "Because of fuinjutsu and their alliance with us in the war."


    A bit dumbfounded, he asked, "Fuinjutsu?"


    "Yes, Fuinjutsu. The Uzumaki clan were the allies of the hidden leaf, from the point of establishment of the village. We have a long history with them and as Mito-sama got married to Hashirama-sama, our bonds were even more strengthened. We were bestowed with their vast knowledge of fuinjutsu. The explosion seals, reinforcement seals, supporting seals, telescope jutsu, bij¨± sealing techniques, the flying thunder god and many others. All of them were given to us by the Uzumaki clan and there are many more which are still being researched, but only by a few."


    After a very long pause, digesting the new information, Raito asked, "Jii-chan, how did they all die?"


    "¡­Raito." It looked like Hiruzen was unwilling to answer.


    "Jii-chan, if you don''t tell me I will find it on my own." With strong determination, Raito stared back at Hiruzen.


    Hiruzen did a little staring contest with Raito then sighed, "What I am about to tell you is village Class-B secret, known to the specific percent of the ninja in the village. Do you still wish to know?"


    [Ruined Island ¨C Quest 2]


    "I do." Raito announced with determination.


    "Before you know what happened, let it be known that you may not act in any way using this reason."


    Raito nodded in understanding the hidden turn in words.


    "In the second shinobi war, the leaf village was in trouble. We had our village surrounded by all sides. Our strongest were on the war fields, trying their best to protect us but the power of many against one is always with the many winning. We were surrounded and in danger, we thought that it was the end of our village. But then the brothers and sisters from Uzumaki clan came to help us. They sent their strongest and killed hundreds of thousands of enemy ninja with their small number. Although, the Uzumaki had a whole village the clan itself had no more than a few hundreds. They came in like the wind and used jutsu of devastating power, helped in healing our people and wiping out the enemies. But, after two nights of defending, a piece of news came which shook the Uzumaki and us equally. The Uzushiogakure, home village of the Uzumaki clan, were attacked by groups of villages. When we heard about that, we urged that they should go and defend their own village. Do you know what did they say?"


    Hiruzen looked at Raito who was in tears and nails digging to his skin. Raito furiously shook his head and waited.


    "We are comrades, we leave no one behind in danger, even if it means we put ourselves in danger."


    "Then with our ninjas returning from the front lines, we were able to successfully defend our village¡­But for the Uzushiogakure, we received the news that¡­everyone in the village died. Our village was also in ruin, almost half of our forces were dead and half had varying degree injuries. The Uzumaki ninjas left the leaf village to pursue the killers¡­. I was there¡­I was Hokage at that time. I asked them to stay but they asked me for one thing and one thing only¡­to just let the survivor of the Uzushiogakure live peacefully in the leaf village." Hiruzen pressed the table desk a little hard with his finger causing a deep dent to be formed.


    "That''s stupid, stupid¡­killing everyone because they are too powerful. Stupid."


    "We went after everything was over and what we saw, terrified us¡­ only three hundred of Uzumaki clan had killed almost a hundred thousand. On the western part of the island in the steep mountain, there rest the three hundred members of the Uzumaki clan. As for the hundred thousand of the enemies, their ashes never got to reach their homes." Hiruzen eyes turned cold as he ended.


    "Just a few hundred going against hundred thousand¡­" Raito murmured.


    "In the third shinobi world war, ''Yellow Flash'', ''Red Death'', ''Leaf Princess'' and ''Mad Sage'' went on a killing spree, killing thousands from Kumo, Iwa, and Kiri. The fourth used the Flying Thunder God from the Uzumaki Clan to kill a whole army of Iwa Shinobi. ''Red Death'' with her ungodly swordsmanship and fuinjutsu skills destroyed the Kiri."


    "Flying Thunder God is a Fuinjutsu?" Raito asked, just a word more he would have asked for it.


    "¡­Yes."


    "Follow me." Hiruzen stood up and walked inside his training room then through a small door at the corner of the room.


    Raito followed Hiruzen in a daze with a question in his mind, ''Why something so important was never taught in the academy?''


    Inside there was another door which had candles lit on the side of the door. Opening the door, Raito saw a long narrow room with candles after every few steps and a table made up of wood attached to a side of the room but surprisingly there were no seats. A few potted plants and pictures of the Hokage with their wives. Strangely, the second had not married and so there was no photo of his wife. There were photo frames kept at one corner of the room but no photos, presumably they are to be used to frame the photos of the coming Hokage.


    "No one cleaned this room for past hundred years, no one changed the candle ever nor had anyone extinguished the candle. From the very first day of the creation of its room, the only thing done here was making seals." Hiruzen explained.


    "Amazing." Raito gasped as he watched in fascination.


    [You have entered a ''Unique'' Dungeon.]


    [Not having ''Senju'' ''Uzumaki'' ''Sarutobi'' and ''Namikaze'' bloodline has decreased your total stats by 20%.]


    [Fuinjutsu has been boosted by 20%.]


    [Preservation Seal]


    [Fire Ignition Seal]


    [Fortification Seal]


    [Humidity Control Seal]


    [Temperature Control Seal]


    There were dozens of seals placed inside the room. One after another they were all made for controlling everything inside the room. To maintain this small world just like it was the day before.


    Raito went to one seal after another adding them to his directory.


    Hiruzen watched in fascination as Raito went to one seal after another, the scene had reminded of himself when he was first brought to this small but amazing room. Kakashi had quietly arrived and stood beside Hiruzen watching Raito.


    "It''s going to take time, right?" Kakashi asked still staring at Raito.


    "When I was first brought to this room by Mito-sama, I was even more¡­childish. This room is that fascinating." Hiruzen chuckled.


    Kakashi placed a scroll on the wooden table then unscrolled it, extending it to the other end. Raito gave Kakashi a slide glance but continued his work.


    Reading different kinds of Fuinjutsu books and also with the help of the gamer power, had helped Raito be better than anyone at the same level.


    "Wow, so many new seal and also so much variety."


    "That''s right, we all have different style by which we use sealing techniques. These seals are¡­. Let''s say edited as new stronger seals can replace them." Hiruzen explained from time to time.


    "That aside, do you want to start, Raito-kun? Everything is ready, we are just waiting for you." Hiruzen placed the pot of specialized ink and a fine brush on the side.


    "Say Jii-chan, does Kakashi-sensei really use a thousand jutsu?" Raito asked randomly.


    "What say you Kakashi?" Thinking for a while Hiruzen, turned and asked Kakashi.


    "I use a variety of jutsus but I have preferences." Kakashi answered.


    Standing on the right corner of the room. Raito held the brush in his hand, dipping into the ink. He began drawing seals, each seals consuming a small amount of chakra.


    Dividing the seal work into three parts. Chakra Storage, Jutsu formula and lastly specification.


    Chakra storage took the smallest space, which is in a circular or a square pattern. The more detailed the pattern was, the more chakra it could store.


    The Jutsu formula is simply an interpretation of jutsu in an equation. This is simply not possible without the gamer power. The Uzumaki clan who had made the flying thunder god and many others were the most amazing that Raito could think off. Without the cheat powers, if someone is able to do the impossible, what could you say?


    "You are nearly empty." Kakashi said.


    "Yeah, let''s stop for now." Finishing the last of the jutsu formula. Raito sat down and entered meditation.


    Kakashi didn''t stop but continued using his Sharingan. And after what he saw, Kakashi seriously thought to want to give up and become a normal farmer for the rest of his life.


    Raito was nearly full again in fifteen minutes.


    "Next is the specification." For this, Raito made a weird and complex seal, then urged his mental chakra, which had a blue color into the weird pattern. The pattern was then quickly filling with black ink.


    "Now what we are going to do next is¡­"


    "There is more?" Hiruzen and Kakashi asked simultaneously.


    Raito again went into meditation and filled the chakra level once more. Then taking out three scrolls he placed them on the bigger scroll. One on top of the chakra storage, another on the jutsu formula and lastly on the specification.


    Raito poured the chakra on the first scroll then controlling the chakra so that it does not collide with other parts compressed the whole of the chakra storage into one seal.


    Then again the same action is done to jutsu formula and specification.


    There were now three seals namely ¨C ''Energy'', ''Ghost'' and ''Knowledge''.


    The first scroll was now empty and the three smaller scrolls had one seal each. Placing a yellow talisman paper on top of three, Raito manipulated his chakra and compressed the three into one single talisman.


    [Sealed Jutsu ¨C False surrounding] (Special Rare)


    A special sealing formula able to produce the sealed jutsu, ''False Surrounding''.


    Effect ¨C Cast Stored Jutsu


    Made by ¨C Yoshizawa Raito


    Owner ¨C Yoshizawa Raito


    Flaws>>


    Cl.i.c.k.i.n.g on the flaws Raito was quickly angered.


    Flaws


    1. Breaking the flow of making process caused the item to be imperfectly made.


    2. Chakra consumption to activate is too high.


    3. Jutsu formula is imperfect.


    4. The intention is not clear.


    5. Chakra storage not big enough.


    6. Seal character does not match.


    Quickly closing the tab, Raito controlled his breathing.


    Hiruzen held the talisman in his hand, then after a period of time, he activated it.


    What followed was a solid mirage of himself standing in front of him, giving a warm smile.


    "It''s good." Hiruzen tried touching the mirage but failed to do so.


    Exhaustion in his face Raito gave a weak smile then said, "Jii-chan I am going home."


    "Wait, Raito." Hiruzen immediately stopped Raito then gave him a bottle of water


    "Yes?" Raito grabbed the bottle and looked in confusion.


    "Kakashi is going to try and recreated it, okay?" Hiruzen explained.


    "Like right now?" Raito asked a bit dumbfounded.


    "He has Sharingan after all and he was once called a genius, as I called you now."


    "Mm."


    "Raito watch carefully the magic of Sharingan." Hiruzen who stood beside Raito said softly.


    Replicating the same actions as Raito did, Kakashi finished all of it in one go. Kakashi''s penmanship was faster than Raito''s and his chakra pool big enough to complete it in one go.


    "One flaw down." Raito watched the tab in front of him and with a notepad cut the first number.


    "Sharingan can remember everything the user had seen and also recall with clear vision." Hiruzen explained.


    "Another flaw down." Raito counted again.


    "Kakashi himself has very good control over his chakra. Of course, good chakra control is one of the requirements for J¨­nin promotion."


    "Three." Raito counted, then closed his eyes.


    ''I am comparing with the wrong group.'' A thought popped in Raito''s mind.


    "Let''s try it." Hiruzen nodded towards Kakashi.


    Half Ram seal. "Activate".


    One Sarutobi Hiruzen was facing another with a serious face. After enough time had passed Hiruzen turned, then Kakashi deactivated the seal and gave it to Hiruzen.


    "Kakashi can you see through it?"


    "Yes." Kakashi replied simply.


    Raito watched the whole thing, his breaths heavy. After a few minutes of stupor, Raito took a few of the books from the bookshelf and disappeared from the spot.


    "Kid''s angry."


    "Maybe we should have waited till he went home." Kakashi stared at the spot where Raito disappeared and said.


    "¡­No need, if he takes it as a lesson, he will grow up faster." Hiruzen paused for a long time before replying. ''A gem is cut hundreds of times and polished thousand times.''


    Sitting on the toilet seat, Raito watched the whole video again and again¡­and again. In the end, he sighed, long and hard. In class when you are best at a subject for a long time but suddenly a new student comes and topples you. Raito was feeling something like that.


    "Only I can make them with the help of gamer powers." Raito reassured himself.


    Clenching his fist he added to himself. "Sharingan, Byakugan, I have to find a way against you all."


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    "Raito open the door. Damn! Open it." Naruto cried out.


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    Raito pushed the door open and walked out. Naruto ran in and closed the door then let out a big breath.


    "Hey, I will be going out. I may be a little late." Raito shouted for Naruto to hear then left the house.


    Standing on the balcony of an old building and wearing a pitch night black cloak, and a wooden mask, which looked a bit more demonic.


    The demon mask-wearing person, looked down to see twenty or thirty girls of the last and second last semester .


    Chuckling evilly, Raito walked forward making his presence known. Using chakra to change his voice, he called out. "Welcome, dear guest in a once in a three-month auction of the old building."


    "We, this auction, has photos and information, just like always. But! As this will be our last sale, we will be giving album of ?photos and information book, more complete than any of our last sales."


    "We advise the customers to group up because it will be¡­PRICY!"


    The group of girls made noise then crisscrossed forming groups. Immediately three groups were formed.


    Seeing that Raito smiled.


    A girl with ordinary features stepped forward and raised her hand, "Can we have someone verify the authenticity of what you are saying?"


    "Hehe, bold enough. Come, come, dare step up and come." Adding Genjutsu to his voice Raito called out.


    A girl wearing a black half mask, covering her mouth walked forward and in few moments reached the balcony. Looking at the demonic mask and the night black cloak, she cowered a bit but stood straight.


    Raito took out two books from his inventory and gave them to her.


    The girl flipped through a couple of pages of the album and her eyes brightened. When she was about to turn further, she felt a cold metal touching her neck.


    "W-What are you do-doing?" she shook in fear.


    "You have already seen, what you should see." Raito voice was icy making the girl shiver.


    Taking back the album, Raito pointed to the notes.


    The girl went through a couple of paragraphs and her shoulder raised and she quickly went through a couple of pages without reading. The paragraph was full and the first sentence of every paragraph was different noting different timelines.


    Her eyes shining with brilliant light, she looked at the Raito in front of her then at the crowd below. Then she nodded furiously shouting, "This is gold."


    "Now stop right there, little missy." Raito grabbed the notes and then placed them in an earthen stand.


    "Shall we start?" He asked after which loud noise erupted.


    All but one group shouted. One of the girls from the silent group raised her head and walked forward.


    The crowd stopped shouting and Raito looked towards her.


    "Hey, can you like¡­wait? Someone was supposed to join us but she isn''t here." The girl asked.


    The other girl group started making noise then shouts came.


    "Hey, let''s start."


    "Start, yeah."


    Another girl grabbed the girl and asked in a low voice.


    "Satsuki, what are you doing?"


    "Sakura isn''t here."


    "So what, let''s finish this and go. We still have orientation tomorrow. If Sakura isn''t coming then it''s her fault."


    The girl who looked like a leader walked forward and patted the girl''s shoulder. "It has already started. We can only forget about her."


    The girl nodded then looked around, "Ino is not here too."


    "Let''s start. First, we have this album, a grand total of forty pictures in there. More private than private life, exotic photos for you all. Draining deep in the woods, showering in the lake training in a tank top, sleeping Sasuke, sweaty Sasuke, just everything you want is in here.....And the price is mere¡­..thousand Ryo.


    After a short silence and the girl on the balcony nodding her head off, the crowd burst into chattering.


    "Three thousand."


    "Just three thousand? I am willing 3,500."


    "Damn 5,000¡­no 5,500. We ''The Love World'' will be taking the album." One girl announced with her loud but lovely voice.


    "Oh! High Price, high price. The Love world has decided to own this album with a hundred photos of Sasuke''s life. If no one is willing, then¡­." Raito announced.


    "Once¡­twice¡­-"


    "We! The dark love is willing to use 8,000 Ryo for this album." A girl from another group after discussing shouted with the top of her voice.


    "Oh."


    The other groups kept mumbling, discussing the album and trying to deciding to buy or not. There is still another item to buy which may even be more pricy.


    "SOLD! Thank you, Dark love, for a grand total of 8,000 Ryo." Raito clapped.


    With a swift throw, the album landed on the hands of the leader of the club. The leader of the club flipped through the album and revealed a dreamy look. The members surrounding her also peeked then passing went to several girls quickly.


    Raito watched and hidden inside a mocking smile. The girl beside Raito quietly walked towards her group and gave a quick detail of what she saw written on the notes.


    The noise started to grow, which attracted Raito''s attention. Adding his chakra to his clap, the sound of the clap buzzed grabbing everyone''s attention.


    After looking at a distance, Raito started, "Now for the final item of this old building auction house. Everything, everything you know or you didn''t know about your Sasuke-kun. It is all in here, in this single book. We have stalked for hours, went through the sandstorms, waited all night, even when it was raining, we did everything to get this information. We did all of it so that¡­we can give it to you all, so that¡­your wishes can be fulfilled. For the next future Uchiha, the bid starts from¡­10,000 Ryo!!"


    The girls screamed in fervor and soon they were thinking of money as plain paper. Raito watched in fascination as the gang of girls bid against each other for things that are basically worthless for him.


    In a distance away, there was a group of Ch¨±nin that watched the group of girls, with some facepalming and some giggling.


    "I love this guy, this time its finale. And it seems that he is a high Genjutsu user."


    "I don''t know who this guy is but we have to catch him¡­just for our promotion test."


    "It''s already been one and half years¡­Hokage-sama did say it has to stop but we were not allowed to use force."


    "This little bastard just disappears¡­like-"


    "Hokage-sama sure is hard on us. Giving this impossible mission."


    The Ch¨±nin discussed as they readied themselves. The ninja who was wearing a full, dark blue bandana and a senbon in his mouth sighed heavily.


    He cleared his throat to grab attention, then said, "This is his final auction, as he said. You guys don''t have to act, just make sure that there is no¡­umm nothing dangerous happening."


    The group of Ch¨±nin looked at the senbon chewing ninja then looked at each other before relaxing.


    "Yeah, it''s not like he kills them or anything."


    "He is just selling stuff."


    "And Hokage-sama did tell us he is from the village. Also, the buyer is also from the village."


    "Can''t you just all shut up and just watch." A Ch¨±nin who looked more like from Nara Clan said in a rather lazy voice, leaning on the tree.


    ''That''s a Nara for you.'' The man chewing senbon thought inwardly.


    Raito who could already ''see'' what the Ch¨±nin were doing gave a sigh in relief. Looking back at the girls who had started to quieten down, Raito shouted, "Dark love has the highest bid at 25,000 Ryo followed by the Bits Beauty by 22,000 Ryo. If there are none who want to bid any more then¡­the winner of the final auction is¡­Dark love!"


    The group cried out in joy as Raito again threw the notebook with hundreds of pages toward the group after receiving the money. Looking at the roll in his hand Raito smiled inside the mask.


    "We got nothing." Said the members from the Bits Beauty.


    "We don''t have that much money, after all."


    "Maybe that guy still has things that he could sell to us."


    With the skill ''Lip reading'' Raito could already guess their plan of actions.


    Not waiting for them to act, Raito shouted, "Ladies, fair ladies, as this is our last visit. I would like to gift you all with a parting gift. Not just one but to all of you."


    "Now please if you don''t mind I would like to ask everyone to be inside the four sticks, placed on the ground." His voice filled with chakra, Raito asked everyone.


    There was discussion, which was eventually stopped. The first to take actions were the Bits Beauty who didn''t win anything at the auction. Following them, the other two groups joined inside the area.


    ''My level is still not high enough.'' Raito looked at the few girls who had a thousand Chakra points at the level of his ''Hypnotic wave'' which had already reached a new record of eight.


    Smiling wickedly, Raito clapped his hands, which looked normal to others but he had already activated his chakra and formed connections to the seal work on the fire sticks.


    "Sealing technique ¨C Earth style." Raito activated the seals and watched the magic happen.


    Soon the earth beneath the group of girls disappeared like a trap door, dropping them in a big cube. The girls who had a bit of talent tried to jump off and reach a safe distance felt that their feet were glued to the ground. Looking above and around, the walls were smooth and filled with all kinds of sealing marks.


    Some of the smarter ones urged the stronger ones to jump out and call for help. The stronger ones agreed and again tried jumping out but the walls were too smooth and the end was too high for their physical capabilities. Everything seemed to go against them, everything inside the earthen room looked like it was tailored according to their capabilities.


    Raito with his notepad out jolted down a few numbers and walked near the edge. Seeing the man above, the girls gave out the worst of curses, vile and disgusting. Even the Ch¨±nins who heard them were slightly shocked.


    Raito smiled at their display and made a half hand seal. "Unseal."


    Half of the seal glowed for a tenth of a second letting out a black liquid, which quickly covered the group of girls.


    "Eww, what''s this?" One girl rubbed the black sticky liquid then looked at the others.


    "Disgusting."


    "This¡­" One girl who seemed to know about the black liquid looked in horror at the figure above.


    "Please¡­" She cried out.


    Raito watched at the girls then said, "Unseal"


    The remaining portion of the seal at the wall glowed. This time releasing rainbow-colored liquid, splashing the girls once again.


    "Noo." The girls who cried out earlier shouted as tears streamed down her face.


    The girls who were previously confused were enlightened, then tried extra hard to remove the black and rainbow-colored liquid.


    A few moments later, the deep cubical pit was starting to give off a disgusting smell, making Raito choke. Looking down at the girls, Raito said, "Everything is settled today. I hope that when I see you in the future¡­I begin with a zero." Saying that Raito turned around and walked inside the old building.


    The girls continued to cry and rub out the horrible smell, coming from their bodies.


    "Woah, it seems like the kid held some kind of grudge against those girls."


    "Yeah, if only we got to know the full story."


    "Even though he was a businessman in the beginning."


    The Nara looked at them then said, "You guys are missing the point right now¡­He just used high-level Fuinjutsu and from earlier we know that he also has high-level Genjutsu powers. Not just that, he is probably a sensor and an earth user."


    "That''s a big list of ifs''." Senbon chewing ninja looked at the old building.


    Ordering the few to help the girls, senbon chewing ninja and the Nara, walked inside the building and stopped after taking a few steps.


    "Strange."


    "Not really."


    "Genma, this kid or man, disappeared here?" the Nara member asked.


    "Seems so." Walking forward Genma pressed on a wooden board revealing a false passage.


    Using a torch to look around and after walking forward, Genma concluded, "It hasn''t been used in few days or weeks."


    "Shoko, what do you think?" Genma asked.


    "If you just give me all the info, maybe I can." Nara Shoko replied to the question.


    "Look at everything, for now, only Hokage-sama can tell about it all." Genma walked out to see the distressed Ch¨±nins and even more distressed academy student girls.


    The girls had patches of their hair and skin turned into rainbow color.


    "Noo, it won''t go off."


    "What? Just what the hell is this?"


    Some girls ran while others asked for help from the Ch¨±nin.


    "A stink bomb kind and a dye modified one though." Shoko asked for confirmation.


    "Take samples and go back to report." Genma ordered.


    Raito who had long reached home, was sitting on the chair furiously brushing the last of the seal down on the big scroll.


    "It will take a bit more time." Looking at the scroll, Raito waited for the ink to dry before closing the scroll and keeping it in the inventory.


    Closing the lights, the room turned dark and the moonlight from the window giving illumination. Night time are dominated by darkness and there was once a time we sought protection under the brilliance of the moon. Who knows until when it will last? Will the time come when the brilliance of the moon will be forever lost? Or will a time come when we will no longer need the protection of the moon?


    Hiruzen closed the book he was reading. Putting the book down he glanced at the shadows created by the darkness of the night. He didn''t look at the few corners where his ANBU had already fainted due to some bizarre occurrence.


    "Still so secretive¡­.madam of the ''Poison Hall''." Hiruzen looked at the figure shrouded by the purple mist.


    "Hiruzen." The voice as sweet as honey carried a tone of heaviness.


    After calling out, there was a long pause. After which she continued with hints of sorrow mixed, "It very well, maybe very last time we meet."

 Chapter 28 - 28 – True Genin Test

    Chapter 28 ¨C True Genin Test


    At exactly five in the morning, Raito opened his eyes and swiped the transparent box or notification in front of him. And then just like a machine with his eyes closed, Raito worked everything with Naruto joining him at late sixes.


    Sitting in a chair, Naruto chowed down the food in a hurry whereas Raito sat in the opposite, slowly eating his food.


    "Eat slower." Raito sighed.


    Gulping down the lump in his throat, Naruto replied, "No way, we will be late if we eat any slower."


    "Che, if you are in a hurry go on your own." Raito waved his hand.


    "Today is an important day for us. So, we should be there a bit earlier." Naruto added.


    "You, me and Hinata are going to be in a team, with Kakashi as our sensei." Raito replied.


    "Really!?"


    "Yeah, everyone knows."


    "Why didn''t anyone tell me?"


    Raito looked at Naruto wanting to punch him on his head. Not willing to act on it, Raito basically ignored him.


    Naruto washed the dishes and pulled Raito to the academy.


    On the way to the academy, the people on the street watched with an angry and dissatisfied glance towards Naruto. But Naruto as if not hearing them walked with wind under his feet.


    "How can Hokage-sama let that¡­become a ninja?"


    "Che, killer trying to become a savior."


    "Damn, damn, damn."


    Raito glanced at the one who had displeased and angry on their status tabs. Pressing on the star button of the status tab of the few of the people who had ''Murderous Intent'' on their status page.


    Buying a few of morning snacks, which equals to about two big bags, Raito entered the academy.


    Students looked as Raito sat at the end of the room with Shikamaru, Ch¨­ji, and Naruto. Bickering, making noises they quickly gained attention and addition with the smell of the delicious snacks, everyone had already taken a few steps towards them.


    "Ch¨­ji, chew, you should chew your damn food."


    "These snacks are good but not as good as what my clan makes. You should buy from the Shinobi stores. They have more variety and they can be bought cheaper."


    Meat bun in his hand, Raito sighed, "As if I can buy from the clan stores."


    "Raito needs a ninja identity card to buy from the clan stores cheaply. The stores sell at quite a high price." Shikamaru rummaged through the bags and took out a bun with green outer cover.


    "We need to register and get a number soon." Raito replied as he fixed his headband.


    "Woah a feast." Ino walked in them and grabbed the meat bun that Raito had just fished.


    "Hey that-" Raito shouted but Ino had already taken a bite from the bun.


    Raito grumbled then grabbed another, quickly biting into it.


    "They sure are late." Raito looked around and seeing that Iruka-sensei had not come on time made him somewhat annoyed.


    The upper floor of the academy was a small nice garden which was directly connected to the Hokage tower. Inside the Hokage room, in the secret chamber there group of ninjas, some standing leisurely and some quite seriously. They were standing looking at the crystal ball which was glowing and showing the academy classrooms.


    Hiruzen looked at the crystal ball and said, "Most of them will have to do over."


    Nobody spoke but some nodded their head.


    "It seems that something has happened with team 8, team 7 and 10. We already know that they capable, so I want these three teams to have some competitive spirit but don''t hate each other."


    Sighing Hiruzen looked at the room resting on Kurenai and Asuma, then frowning he looked towards the door then at the window. "Asuma, Kurenai, work together and try to help them work together. And someone gets Kakashi and tell him the same."


    Kakashi, on the other hand, was in a small room at the attic, looking at the students from a hole. From time to time, he would look at the students before going back to reading his book.


    Raito got that annoying feeling of someone looking at him. So he used his ''Chakra Sense'' but couldn''t find anyone who was looking at him so intently.


    Minutes later Sasuke and his group entered the room and Sasuke quickly glared at Raito, who also ignored him.


    BANG!


    After Sasuke and group entered the room and sat, the door opened Iruka with a group of Ch¨±nin teachers following him.


    Seeing that the teachers had entered the room, Raito quickly swiped the bags and kept them in the inventory. And making his face as blank he could get.


    "Sit down." Iruka once again stood out and stood in front of the podium.


    "I would like to congratulate all of you students who have worked so hard for all these years. Worked so hard to learn all those boring books (small laugh) and train body and mind and polishing skills, to reach a level that¡­now it is time for you all to pass on from the academy to become ninjas. But the hard work doesn''t end now¡­you will be in a team of three, under the command of a Jounin ninja, an elite of the village."


    "We will be dividing you all into groups of three, each group is made to be balanced. Now let''s begin."


    "Team one¡­.


    ¡­


    "Team seven Uzumaki Naruto, Hyuga Hinata, and Yoshizawa Raito. Your Jounin-sensei will be Hatake Kakashi."


    "Team eight Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino, and Uchiha Sasuke. Your Jounin-sensei will be Yuhi Kurenai."


    "Next team ten as team nine is still there from last semester. Team ten Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino and Akimichi Ch¨­ji."


    After teams were formed, everyone left the room except the three. Ch¨­ji grabbed Raito wanting to leave the room and Ino also urging him to do so.


    "Oi, coward." Sasuke called out.


    Raito frowned slightly, his muscles twitching the slightest.


    "We¡­no I am going to leave you eating dust." Sasuke announced and left the room.


    Exhaling a deep breath, Raito walked back and took out the big bags and placed them on the table.


    "Thank Kami, he went out. It would be a pain if we had to go out." Raito joked and opened the packaged foods.


    "Raito, fight with him and get over with it." Naruto wanted to continue but with Raito glaring at him made him freeze.


    "I don''t wanna. So who is gonna make me."


    After the break, students sat in the classrooms as one after another Jounin instructor came and took a team.


    "Team ten, meet me at the Yakiniku Q in an hour." Asuma eyed the group.


    "Team eight, follow me. We are going to the dango shop." Kurenai waved her hands.


    "Wow, she is beautiful." Kiba commented and followed her.


    Before Sasuke went out, he looked at Raito with a provoking look.


    Corners of Raito''s mouth twitched remembering Sasuke. It was almost an hour and all other groups had gone with their Jounin instructor. Raito slept on the table and Hinata looked for Kakashi using her Byakugan.


    "He is soo late." Naruto wined.


    "Anything, Hinata?" Raito asked for which she shook her head.


    And there was a long, long silence in the room. Rubbing his hair vigorously, Raito shouted, "Naruto, Hinata, let''s go. We are going back home. Kakashi is a J¨­nin, so, maybe, he knows our home."


    "Argh better than being here waiting." Naruto jumped.


    Looking at the two, Hinata was slightly horrified about their actions.


    Opening the window Raito and Naruto were ready to jump. In the end, Naruto grabbed Raito''s jacket then looked back. "Hinata, are you coming?"


    "Yes...N-no. I mean- ah¡­please wait." Hinata fumbled and after a lot of breathing exercise, she added, "We should wait for Kakashi-sensei, maybe he hii- I mean maybe he is doing some work?"


    Raito and Naruto looked at each other, they both had distressing expression. After thinking for a while Naruto said, "Jiji always has the answer to everything."


    Kakashi who was hiding inside the small room at the above the classroom was alarmed and quickly used ''Body flicker'' and disappeared from the spot reaching the classroom door.


    Raito who was s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e to chakra due to his ''Chakra Sense'', felt the activation of chakra and a figure behind the door. Silently he focused on the door, making Hinata and Naruto also look at the door.


    SWISH!


    "You three¡­my impression of you guys¡­definitely a troublesome bunch." Kakashi who opened the door commented making the trio roll their eyes.


    "Let''s go to the rooftop. The air is much fresher there." Kakashi said and started walking his speed making it look like he was running.


    "Run!" Raito shouted and the three ran following Kakashi.


    When they reached the rooftop, the three were slightly winded. Kakashi looked at the three and thought, ''14 seconds, four floors and they are only slightly winded.''


    They sat down facing Kakashi in the opposite.


    "Well let''s start. First, why don''t we start with introductions? Name, likes, dislikes and what are your goals for the future...Let''s start with you Hyuga."


    "H-Hai! My name is Hinata Hyuga. What I like- I like my family, especially my little sister and (glancing at Naruto)¡­.and I hate bullies¡­traditions. When I have I love to do flower pressing and¡­and¡­ For future¡­I want (again glancing at Naruto) (Then with a sudden turn in an expression) I want to be a great Kunoichi¡­and my clan''s cage bird seal, I want to destroy it."


    "Oh." Kakashi paused for a bit then pointed at Naruto.


    Naruto looked at Hinata for a long time before looking back at Kakashi then smiled.


    "My name is Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto, dattebayo. I like ramen and Raito''s cooking. I like spending time with Raito and my friends, and of course with Jii-chan. I hate to wait for three minutes for ramen to cook and also I hate bullies. For future¡­ I have only one- I wanna be the Hokage."


    "Hokage, huh? What about you?" Kakashi faced the last black-haired boy.


    Lazily Raito answered, "Me? Yoshizawa Raito. Like? I have tons of things I like but if I have to name, there are few things I like, training, eating and playing video games. Dislike? One word right now ¨C Sasuke. As for the future, I don''t have many plans, maybe a J¨­nin?"


    "Sasuke?" Kakashi tilted his head in thought then added, "You can call me Kakashi-sensei but if you have nicknames you want to call me, feel free to do so. I like to read my books and for my dislike, there is one absolute taboo, which I will tell you later. I don''t have much ambition for the future."


    "What? Don''t you wanna be a Hokage or something else?" Raito questioned.


    "Even Sannin?" Naruto asked and Raito blushed, didn''t know whether it was for anticipation or embarrassment.


    Kakashi looked at Naruto wanting to say something but in the end, he kept quiet.


    "Nope."


    "Now let''s talk about something else. Though you have graduated as an academy student ¡­.you are still not a Genin." Kakashi watched the blank faces with no surprise he continued.


    "Let''s go for some special survival mission, then." Kakashi added.


    "Kakashi-sensei, we already did the survival test. Are we going to do it again?" Naruto asked.


    "Well¡­this mission is not as simple as¡­you are going against me." Kakashi pointed at himself with a big eye smile.


    "You?" Naruto shouted then got slapped at the back by Raito.


    "Yeah me. But there is a catch. If you can fulfill the mission criteria, you will be fresh new Genin from tomorrow ready to do mission and all, but if you fail¡­you are going back to the academy or may even have to quit."


    "No way, we have come so far. Not now." Naruto shouted.


    Kakashi watched Naruto and continued, "Academy exams are for selecting students who have capabilities to become a ninja. But this survival mission or popularly called ''True Genin Test'', is for choosing who will be Genin and who will be going back. In these few years, only about 33% of students have passed from each batch to become Genin, rest have been sending back to the academy for a quick course or something else."


    "Liar." Raito shouted, "There are no failed senior students in our class."


    "Why would they keep the old students with new students? And you may have seen those old students walking at the academy." Kakashi asked.


    "Y-yeah."


    "There are many more old students, some with forehead protector and some¡­" Raito slowed down.


    "Then let''s meet at the Training ground 7 in an hour. I will be waiting for you." Kakashi said and disappeared from the rooftop.


    "Raito-san, Naruto-kun. Let''s try our best." Hinata tried cheering as she saw that Raito had turned gloomy and even Naruto was affected by looking at Raito.


    Raito looked at the two who were also looking at him. Taking a deep breath, he nodded and said, "Let''s go."


    At the end of the hour Raito, Naruto, and Hinata entered the training ground seven and with the help of Byakugan, found Kakashi.


    "When I said in an hour, you guys took it literally and even dared to come at the last moment." Kakashi watched the three and said.


    "Un."


    "So what are we going to do?" Naruto asked.


    "It will be you guys against me." Then took out two, tattered bells and continued, "Your mission is to get these bells from me. The ones who get the bell stays, as simple as that."


    "It seems easy." Naruto commented as he started stretching.


    Hinata raised her voice, "Sensei, you have only two bells?"


    "Yeah."


    "But you said that the one who gets bells stay¡­that means¡­."


    "Yeah, Hinata your thinking is right, it means that out of you three only two may pass." Kakashi explained.


    Raito who had already understood the meaning behind the words had his gears started working. ''Only two?'' Even after thinking for a lot of time, the doubt still remained making Raito''s head hurt. ''But there is no way that¡­.''


    "Hey, that''s not fair¡­" Naruto shouted in anger.


    "You have fifteen minutes to decide then you have to come and take these ''two'' bells."


    Naruto and Hinata had a sad expression on their faces. Raito grabbed the two and walked away from Kakashi.


    Kakashi glanced then took out a book from his pocket and started reading it.


    After making quite a distance away, Raito looked at both of them and said after shaking his head, "Naruto, Hinata¡­.You guys believed him?"


    "Huh?"


    "Try to remember what Iruka-sensei said about teams in Konoha."


    Hinata eyes again filled with hope, answered, "Three ninjas and one captain."


    "Yes, in an ideal situation, there will always be four members in a team. Remember Naruto when we bunked classes a few months back, when we pranked the gate guards. There was a team just before we did that¡­" Raito looked at Naruto.


    "Yea, I remember. One big, stupid guy followed by three like us." Raito tilted his head and closed his eyes in thought while answering.


    "Field promotion day. Raito-san, Naruto-kun, you skipped class that day? I remember that someone had spread itching powder that day. Did you do that?" Hinata asked with a bit of anger in her voice.


    "Itching powder?" Raito looked at a distance. ''Yup! I can make a home there.''


    "Itching powder? Those stupid¡­" Naruto growled.


    "Raito-san!"


    Raito raised both of his hands and said, "Let''s talk about that later. Right now let''s get those bells. I have an idea of what it really is."


    ''Raito-san and Naruto-kun are both very hardworking and they are¡­but what about me?''


    ''Damn Raito is acting but I know that he going to do something stupid. Hinata and Raito both are so talented. Someone stupid like me¡­."


    "Got it!!"


    "Come close." Raito signaled everyone and they huddled together.


    Kakashi was standing in the middle of the field. One hand in the pocket and other holding his book. His eyes following the text and at the same time counting down.


    SHO!!


    Kakashi swung his arm and caught the kunai then used it to block the shuriken. Looking at the kunai, he thought, ''Powerful throw.'' But when he continued, years of trained eye, caught the mix of ink making a seal in the kunai.


    "Explode!"


    BOOM!


    "He switched! 10! Bird!" Raito shouted.


    "On it." Naruto with his clones chased Kakashi, clones attacking one after another but they were only serving as cannon fodder, slowly dragging Kakashi to the destined place.


    "You guys are better than other teams. I was thinking of not using both of my hands but¡­"


    Unknowingly the Naruto''s Taijutsu slowed down and the stones surrounding Kakashi transformed to more Naruto.


    "Wind Release ¨C Gale Palm"


    Five clones used gale pal causing the currents of air to land on Kakashi''s body. Then again Kakashi turned into smoke and in Kakashi''s place, there was another wooden log.


    "Damn, just how many are there?"


    "Raito-san below you?" Hinata shouted.


    Shocked Raito jumped and disappeared in a dungeon.


    "That works almost every time." Kakashi appeared from below and jumped up, looking at the ground.


    ''ID Escape.''


    Raito appeared above Kakashi, his hand covered with rocks, ready to strike Kakashi.


    "Haa!"


    "Not good enough!" rotating Kakashi caught Raito''s rock hand then with a spin threw Raito hard on the ground.


    "Hah!" Hinata strike with her palm on Kakashi''s back, only to be kicked away. Instead of seeing Hinata kicked away, Kakashi saw her grabbing his leg, desperately, her hands stretched towards the bells, releasing chakra trying to cut the threads of the bell.


    But before she could do that, Kakashi spun and kicked with the leg Hinata was strapped to into a tree.


    A pained sound came from Hinata and Raito appeared out of nowhere, throwing shuriken. In a blink of an eye, Raito had grabbed Hinata and they both had disappeared. Feeling the wave of chakra, Kakashi quickly dispelled the Genjutsu and looked at the surrounding.


    "Uzumaki drop." Naruto dropped down and one after another hit Kakashi, each clones creating pain to Kakashi.


    With a forceful stomp, Kakashi backed away.


    "Hehe." Naruto laughed lightly but Kakashi was immediately alarmed and used substitution. The wood immediately exploded into pieces, making Raito who was watching from a distance frown.


    "How many left?" Raito asked


    "Four more." Hinata answered signaling Naruto to regroup.


    "Where is he?" Raito asked and Hinata pointed towards a distance.


    "Tell Naruto to be ready. He must do it. Jounin is far powerful than that." Then Raito stood up and ran towards Kakashi. Facing Kakashi face to face, Raito used a kick to the gut but was immediately caught which was quite loose. Twisting his body, Raito used the right leg to kick at the crotch from below with full force. Releasing one leg, Kakashi grabbed another leg, protecting his privates. Again twisting his body, Raito grabbed Kakashi''s right leg and with a power kicked at Kakashi''s chin. And there it was a clean hit, the first clean hit or so he thought, Kakashi turned into a log and disappeared.


    "Hinata?"


    "Naruto-kun." Naruto was trapped in Genjutsu created by Kakashi.


    Hinata tried to use her own chakra to dispel the Genjutsu but she was blocked by Kakashi who had one hand on the back and other in a knife-hand strike.


    "You guys have real combat experience. I should have gone a bit harder." Kakashi rubbed his chin and said.


    "Haa!!" A wave of chakra blast pushed Kakashi forward, making him stumble.


    "Tch, so much chakra." Kakashi used the push and pursued Hinata with one hand.


    ''Lightning palm.'' Raito pushed forward and helped Hinata fight Kakashi off.


    "Taijutsu is good but¡­" leaning back Kakashi swept with a powerful leg strike.


    One leg was on air and another slightly above the ground, when Naruto jumped down rolling and hitting Kakashi on the head.


    Raito immediately clapped his hand and used his chakra. The ground below Kakashi disappeared and he fell down.


    Kakashi stood in a circular room with an opening on top. He stood there as he rolled his shoulder. "These kids are something else. Yosh!! Let''s-" Just as he was about to do anything, he looked at the walls and found that there were seals, about ten of them?


    "Naruto, now!!"


    "Explode!!"


    The circular room lit in a fire creating a low burnt smell. But there was no Kakashi or Naruto.


    Kakashi used replacement, barely dodging the hell hole. But that is not what Raito thinking was, he saw that Kakashi had only one bell attached to the pouch.


    "Kakashi-sensei?" Raito walked forward cutting the lone bell hanging from his pouch and showed off.


    "A seal?" Kakashi asked.


    "Yup. It''s a paralysis seal. It took me quite a long time for me to make you use those substitution. It was a pain, you know, PAIN!" Raito laughed happily while looking at the bell in his hand.


    "Where is the other bell?" Kakashi asked still stuck in the seal.


    "Here" Naruto cried out. In his hand a bell without string.


    "So you got both the bells, huh?" Kakashi asked and suddenly moved forward and plopping down.


    Raito stared at Kakashi and asked how.


    "That? I just overpowered it with my own chakra. The seal is a battle between chakra and technique." Kakashi answered and looked at Raito who held the two bells in his hand.


    "So it''s time. Who gets the bell and who goes back to¡­academy?" Kakashi asked.


    Raito walked a step forward and threw the bells back with a bit of force and waited for a while as Naruto hurried in search for them. "I am quitting on being a ninja, I give up."


    When Naruto heard that, he quit searching for the bells and ran forward pushing Raito. "If Raito is quitting then I am quitting too."


    Looking at the bell in her hand she threw it far away and with tears in her eyes shouted, "I¡­I am quitting too."


    Rubbing the tip his nose, Kakashi thought, ''What the Hell!?''


    "What the hell are you two saying?" Raito lashed out.


    Pointing at Hinata, he shouted, "You- if you are not a ninja then you will have no say what happens in your clan. They will mark you and sell you as a bride. Do you want that, baka-yaro?"


    Then punching at Naruto, with a paralysis tag then again at the Hinata. Looking a bit sad, he turned around and continued, "You will train hard, do mission and do a lot of shitty work and become a Hokage in future."


    "D-Damn¡­rem-remove it, remove¡­.it, right now!"


    Kakashi asked himself, "This is¡­too much?" He didn''t act, he didn''t want to, he liked this group. After all this drama, he should give them the good news.


    "Listen now-" Before Kakashi could finish, Raito had already disappeared from his spot.


    Unable to find Raito, even after using his Sharingan, Kakashi sighed and looked at the sky. "I am going to get an earful again."


    "Hah!" Hinata destroyed the seal then destroyed on Naruto''s too.


    "Naruto, Hinata, listen." Kakashi tried.


    "No!! Stay away." Naruto growled as he panted heavily, ignoring everything else. Trying to use his brain to find Raito, ''Home? Monument? Tower? Gate? ANBU HQ?''


    One after another idea came and went.


    Hinata used her Byakugan searching every corner of the village trying to find the shadow of Raito. Her eyes were turning red and she was going low on chakra.


    "NOW! LISTEN!" Thunder boomed as Kakashi shouted.


    Getting attention, he quickly shouted, "You all passed."


    Naruto still in anger shouted, "Who cares!? I quit."


    Hinata who was calmer asked in hope, "All?"


    "Yeah, but Naruto just quit and Raito he¡­"


    Ignoring her talking sensei she slapped Naruto on the face and said, "Naruto-kun, we all passed. Even Raito-san, we pass as a team."


    "EH!? Ehh!?"


    "Calm down you two." Kakashi made some hand signals wishing that Hokage-sama was watching.


    "Let''s find Raito-san." Hinata used Byakugan to her top form.


    "Mm, he must be using that technique." Naruto guessed.


    Bzz! "He will be in the Hokage office." From the earpiece, someone said something.


    "Zero?" Kakashi guessed.


    Zero wasn''t someone of the leaf villages but he was someone from the ''Poison Hall''.


    Saying nothing, Kakashi watched the two in front of him for some time before grabbing them and using ''Body Flicker'' disappearing from the training ground.


    Raito walked the empty halls of the Hokage tower, with confusion and sadness, towards the Hokage office.


    *Ding


    Quest Completed


    Rewards


    Formation of team seven.


    Bounty system unlocked.


    Abyss shop unlocked.


    Increase relationship loyal to Konoha by 200 points.


    Bonus: 50,000 Ryo, Skill book ¨C Seismic step.


    Raito looked at the list of rewards and made a small dance. Looking at the skill book he this time, first opened the book and went through it, only to find the gibberish language and understandable picture.


    "This seismic step looks really dangerous." Thinking for a while, Raito closed the book and kept it in the inventory.


    Then the realization hit Raito. "Team seven is formed, can it be that I passed too? If I pass then they¡­"


    Raito went to the notification and pressed the highlighted words ''Team 7''. Pressing it, he saw that it was all three of them and Kakashi-sensei.


    "I am already here, might as well go." Raito thought and exited the Dungeon.


    With a joyous mood, Raito appeared at the broken stall of the bathroom. Reaching the Hokage office, Raito saw Mariko sat on the chair with a joyful mood. But when she saw Raito, her joyful mood changed quickly and an angry expression appeared.


    She glared, "You are finally here."


    "Ah, Mariko-nee, What''s wrong?" "Oi, you look scary, oi." Taking few steps back Raito tried running back.


    Inside the Hokage office, Hiruzen looked at the two Genin, Hinata and Naruto then at Kakashi, with his slightly scorched uniform, reading a small orange book.


    "Ow, ow, oww. Stop, stop. My ear, my ear. Mariko-nee I am really sorry please."


    "Cat." Hiruzen called and sounds of shuffling were heard outside.


    Moments later, the door opened and everyone could see, the secretary, Mariko tearing the ear of one pitiful Raito.


    "Jii-chan, help me. I can''t take it anymore. My ear, it''s going to, going to-"


    Hiruzen enjoyed the scene for a while before ordering Mariko to let go.


    Before letting go, she bends down and pats down his clothes, "If you do anything stupid like this again in future, I am going to tear your ear off." Tidying the clothes one last time, she hissed, "Now go, Behave!"


    Holding his right ear, Raito walked in grumbling.


    "It''s good that you joined us, Raito." Hiruzen called out.


    Raito walked slowly and joined Naruto and Hinata. Naruto immediately held Raito, not letting him go.


    "Soo¡­You passed and all three of you are a part of team seven from now on." Kakashi explained.


    "Oh." Raito expressed blankly.


    "Raito." Hiruzen called out, hi gaze showing his anger.


    "Rash, still rash." Hiruzen voice out his comments and a figure appeared behind him, staring at him.


    Letting out a breath, Hiruzen continued, "For now go with Kakashi. Tomorrow get yourself registered."


    "Okay." The three nodded and Raito nodded extra hard looking at Hokage and the women behind him.


    Later, everyone was back at the training ground seven in front of a black stone with names written on it.


    "You three passed and from now on to the very end, you are team seven with me and no one can change that."


    "What about the bells, then?" Raito asked


    "Bells? They are just bells and nothing else. I don''t care that you get bells or you have skills to take the bells from me. I was looking for you three to work as a team. Even though you all had reasons of your own, you worked in a group as a team, showed sacrifice you can make for each other and surprisingly there is someone like you, Raito. That may have been a little¡­but it doesn''t matter."


    "Before you guys, I have failed six other teams, some fought among themselves while others backstabbed one member of the team and some were just¡­too horrible. And I failed them all."


    "You guys¡­Naruto, Hinata, you both trust Raito hold the bells and you, Raito, sacrificed yourself for them, chaos happened you quit then they quit. You knocked them down and disappeared. If it was possible, I would like to make a drama out of it." Kakashi ended with a warm voice and a hidden warm smile that could be expressed through his eyes.


    "From tomorrow onwards, you will start your life as a ninja, true ninjas. Following the shinobi code of conduct and representing the Hokage and the village. Don''t disappoint us all."


    "If you break them, you will be known as sc.u.m among the ninjas¡­ But there is something even worse¡­that is betraying your comrades, friends. If you betray them¡­then you will be worse than sc.u.m."


    "Read history, it tells us what not to do."

 Chapter 29 - 29 – Sword Drawing Arts

    Chapter 29 ¨C Sword Drawing Arts


    Smack!


    Raito''s chop landed on Naruto''s head causing him to yell painfully, causing Naruto to fall back and clutch his head.


    "You need to guard, you know." Raito clenched his fist then stretched his hand.


    "I know but¡­" Naruto shifted his eyes and watched as the door to the backyard opened as Hinata walked out.


    "I have refreshments." Hinata walked with some cookies and juices.


    Naruto quickly walked towards her and grabbed a few of the cookies. Hinata watched Naruto for a while as if looking at the most beautiful gem.


    Raito waited for a while as the two looked at each other before making an annoying sound. Hearing the sound, Hinata woke from her daze and walked towards Raito, folding her sleeves.


    "You finally decided to come," Raito said in a teasing voice.


    Hinata blushed for a moment before replying, "I was just thinking of something."


    With a stomp, Raito dashed forward, his open palm aiming straight for her face. Hinata with a horse stance made a guard then pushed the palm aside. And as she was going to retaliate, she heard Raito speaking, "Does ''something'' involve a boy with yellow hair, blue eyes and whisker marks on his face?"


    Raito''s face had a teasing smile causing Hinata to blush and making her counterattack with an unorganized attack. The finger strikes were aimed at the c.h.e.s.t, which Raito caught easily. But soon, Raito let go the wrist and looked at his hand where there were red marks.


    Raito looked at the HP bar and found that the attack had decreased his HP by a mere five points.


    "Grappling is no good for you." Raito made a guard stance and waited for Hinata to attack.


    Hinata came with a flurry of finger strikes. Some were pushed by Raito but others hit Raito making him grimace. Raito pushed both of his palms forward after reflecting Hinata''s strike then pushed her on the shoulder, making her stumble. With a stretch forward, Raito turned around and using a reverse sweep, attacked at Hinata''s leg. Hinata, while she stumbled back after the push, watched carefully at Raito''s action and dodged the incoming sweep.


    "You are better than Naruto, you know?" Raito shouted making Naruto jump in anger.


    Hinata went back to Hyuga family stance. Knees slightly bent, one arm straight and others slightly curved with the palm facing forward.


    "I will be using palms next, please be careful." After giving a warning, she immediately dashed forward and used a palm to strike one after another.


    Sweat began to form as Raito guarded against Hinata''s strike. But each strike was causing Raito to feel a bit of pain and a bit of HP to drop every time. In a small frame of time, a hundred points of health were gone, making Raito frown.


    Sighing, Raito activated his ''Chakra Sense'' making it far easier for Raito to dodge and counter-attack. Hinata had already gotten body hits, making her take several back steps.


    "Raito started using his special technique. Be careful Hinata!" Naruto warned while waving his hand.


    "Naruto." Raito glared but focused back as Hinata activated her Byakugan.


    Raito and Hinata faced each other ready to strike. But as they were about to jump at each other, Kakashi appeared in front of them sitting in a thinking position.


    "Kakashi-sensei?" Hinata relaxed after checking with her Byakugan.


    Raito had already remembered his chakra signature. So he was sure that the person in front of him was Kakashi. But without his ''Observe'' skill, Raito was not sure that it was a shadow clone or not.


    "Sensei why are you here?" Naruto asked.


    "Hmm¡­I got bored." Kakashi answered which made Raito twitch a little.


    "Then teach us something," Naruto shouted with fervor.


    "You guys¡­wanna learn?" Kakashi questioned looking at everybody.


    The three nodded in sync making Kakashi smile.


    Kakashi pulled out a small ball then gave it to Raito.


    Raito looked at the ball and then at Kakashi with some confusion, "A ball?"


    "Yup. I will be working on your teamwork for today." Kakashi explained with an eye smile.


    "Teamwork? With a ball?" Hinata asked with a head tilt.


    "Hey sensei¡­aren''t you supposed to teach us about jutsu?" Naruto questioned.


    "Or even body conditioning or tactics?" Raito added.


    "Those? You will be learning them someday." Kakashi replied nonchalantly.


    Raito looked at the sky with a sad ''I give up'' expression.


    Minutes later, the three played ball. It was just passing the ball to the other member of the group and at the same time walking towards the Hokage tower.


    People in the streets, watched as the new Genins walked towards the Hokage tower. The scene looked comedic as the three followed the balls, sometime they would knock on peoples and some time on the stalls. Some villagers rebuked the three and some, who already had seen Gai, training told them to watch out.


    To reach the Hokage tower, which only took just ten or fifteen minutes to reach, took almost an hour, quadruple the time. The result made Raito and the group felt like it was really, really far. But Kakashi thought just the opposite, ''When Minato-sensei made us do this training, it took us whole three hours from the park and we made many mistakes during the training.''


    "Next time let''s do it without making any mistakes next time." Raito raised his fist.


    Hinata who held the ball nodded vigorously and Naruto also did the same.


    Kakashi who looked at the group sighed then smiled.


    In a room, Hinata faced straight with a straight face looking at the camera. The cameraman took the picture and thought for a while before taking another picture.


    Naruto and Raito had finished filling out their forms and now were waiting for the Identity number to be inscribed on the forehead protector.


    As they waited for the work to be done, Raito had already pulled out a bento box and gave it to the desk clerk. She ate the food enthusiastically and gave various remarks about how delicious the food was. Raito smiled happily as he heard her praising the food.


    While Naruto was reading the fuinjutsu book, Raito was also reading a book about the theoretical aspect of the hand seals and their relation with chakra. Raito was so focused that he didn''t notice Shikamaru walking in and asking the desk clerk something.


    "Shika." Naruto called out alerting Raito.


    "Oh, it''s Shikamaru." Raito closed his book and waved his hand.


    "Naruto, Raito, you two are already registering, huh? That means, you already have passed the Genin test." Shikamaru commented.


    "Yup, we are waiting for numbers to be engraved." Raito replied.


    "But what are you doing?" Raito continued with a question.


    "Nothing, I was trying to find out what cigarette Asuma-sensei likes the most." Shikamaru answered truthfully.


    The test that Asuma had given the three were not hard but¡­it was the Shikamaru''s luck that was bad. Shikamaru had to find out what cigarette Asuma liked them most. At first, he wanted to ask Kurenai but she was also somewhere giving her Genin some test. So, he went around the different shop but the shop, which sold Asuma the cigarette was closed down for the day.? Asking a few people but gaining no confirmation, though he found that the clerk may know. So after coming here and finding out that even she didn''t know, he was ready to give up.


    "So, you have to find out which he likes the most huh?" Naruto asked.


    "Even I have a difficult time when I have to choose for ramen. Miso, pork, they are all good." Naruto continued his nonsense.


    "Favorite cigarette? I may know. I seem that is¡­ ''Red flags''." Raito answered Shikamaru with confidence.


    "Red flag, huh? That was my first choice too." Shikamaru replied.


    "I have seen that Asuma-sensei cigarette cover has a red flag with a white background many times. So, I know of it." Raito explained. Raito knew about it through his ''Observe'' skill but to explain it to Shikamaru he lied.


    "Thanks."


    "Here." The desk clerk handed them the forehead protector with a big smile. "Please do your best."


    "Hai." The three shouted with excitement.


    "Photos, registration, engraving, all done." Raito broke his fingers.


    Kakashi was leaning on the balcony when the three exited the room. Walking forward, he gave the three ball and asked them to repeat the exercise.


    The group of three easily completed the exercise flawlessly. Raito kept giving advice from time to time and Naruto''s shifty eyes were also of great help in dodging the angry villagers.


    Reaching the training ground seven they took a rest and did a little warm up. Kakashi who had left them after reaching the training ground appeared with straps in his hand.


    "What''s that?" Naruto looked at the straps with curiosity.


    "Those are weights." Raito answered with just a look.


    "Correct." Kakashi handed the three straps and asked them to wear it.


    "These leg weights are from Maito Gai. So, be sure to thank him later." Kakashi educated.


    After wearing the weights, Raito felt that they were a lot heavier than what he had made. Each strap weighted about ten kilograms. That was a total of twenty kilograms with both the straps and adding to the metal bracers on Raito''s hand, it already equaled to thirty kilograms.


    "It''s a bit heavy." Raito tried to move around but the movements were far slower than he thought.


    "Keep wearing those metal bracers too. You have nearly adjusted to them." Kakashi from the side commented.


    Naruto and Hinata struggled to move with the extra weights on their body, each step making them sweat a little bit.


    "Use chakra only when there is absolutely needed to. Or use healing jutsu only after you feel the strain from working out too much." Kakashi advised.


    Seeing that the three were listening to his advice and nodding in response, made Kakashi have a new feeling in his heart.


    Smilingly, he said, "Then let''s run a l.a.p around Konoha for today.


    Some time passed as the students looked at the teacher and the teacher looked at the students.


    "L.a.p around Konoha, sensei you have got to be kidding us." Raito retorted.


    "Nope, I want you guys to circle Konoha once." Kakashi replied.


    "For getting stronger!" Naruto shouted then dragged Hinata and Raito with him.


    "Oi, don''t drag, Naruto." Raito shouting made no effect on Naruto who''s CP has nearly doubled to that of last time, reaching a grand total of six thousand.


    Soon Naruto was tired and panting heavily. Raito and Hinata caught up to him then Raito gave Naruto a disapproving look. "That''s what happens when you don''t listen."


    Panting hard Naruto turned around and with a louder tone, he replied, "Something like this won''t stop me. I''ll get first place." Declaring so, Naruto again sprinted away.


    "Naruto-kun, you will hurt yourself," Hinata shouted but Naruto had already run very far away.


    "That numb skull." Raito also increased his pace.


    Hinata was left behind, feeling a little lonely.


    "Boys are like that and those two of them are quite extreme. Walk on your own pace to reach to them." Kakashi who had appeared behind Hinata, advised.


    "Hai." Hinata who had been using her Byakugan from time to time was not shocked by Kakashi appearing out of anywhere. Instead, she was calm as a still ocean and with her glittering eyes, Hinata took a step forward, one step at a time. In a distance away, Raito who was holding Naruto down looked at Hinata''s figure, waved his hand and called her out.


    "Look at this, Hinata. This dumbass Naruto thought that he can finish this on his own." Raito criticized Naruto while sitting on him.


    "Mm." Hinata nodded with a smile. Looking at her, Raito pressed his knees and stood up. Then dragged Naruto to stand up and quietly healed him in process.


    "You are so heavy, Raito." Naruto commented as he looked at Raito.


    "Of course, I am. I eat as much as Ch¨­ji...that maybe not but I eat a lot." Raito thought for a while.


    It was already the scene of the sunset as the group of three made their second l.a.p around the village. Their stomachs were grumbling and they were drenched in sweat. As soon as the foot inside the gate, the three fell down in exhaustion.


    "It was a bad idea to do the second l.a.p," Raito commented between gasping for air.


    "I can already feel myself getting stronger," Naruto shouted causing the Ch¨±nin who was at the gate to look over.


    "Kakashi-senpai, these three are yours?" The Ch¨±nin standing from the booth asked.


    "Kotetsu? Yeah, this group finally passed the test and now they are team seven." Kakashi answered.


    "Oh! Someone finally passed your test, sempai. I thought that you were always giving excuses when Hokage-sama asked¡­" Kotetsu replied truthfully getting elbowed from his side by another Ch¨±nin, who had long hair, covering hi one eye and wearing a bandana type of forehead protector.


    Kotetsu brought back his focus and looked at the group, then said, "Please enter, we were going to close the door, soon."


    The three held each other as they dragged themselves inside the village door.


    Raito looked at the metal braces and leg straps as he checked their weight. "He again increased the weight." Feeling the weight, Raito grumbled.


    [Training Weights (Leg)]


    Weight ¨C 20 kg


    [Training Weights (Metal Bracers)]


    Weight ¨C 10 kg


    Kakashi had replaced Raito''s weights many times and now Raito was wearing about a total of 50 kg. Every step for him was like walking in sand or in mud or like walking with shackles bound to a rock.


    "So unfair." Raito wined.


    "It''s for your sake." Kakashi said it for the umpteenth time to Raito.


    "I know¡­ but even so¡­" Raito looked at Naruto then at Hinata and didn''t continue.


    Seeing that Raito had finally stopped wining, Kakashi sighed in relief.


    "Why don''t I take all of you to eat for our first day together?" Kakashi suggested after pondering for a long time.


    "Ichiraku Ramen!" Naruto shouted in an instant with a joy, seemingly all the fatigue had disappeared.


    "Nice spirit, Naruto." Kakashi praised.


    Raito and Hinata were so exhausted that they couldn''t even answer to Kakashi''s question or go against Naruto''s choice. Not like Hinata would even want to do so.


    Seeing that Kakashi had smile hung on his face Raito asked, "Sensei I think my weight is just a bit too heavy. How about I-"


    "No." the smiling Kakashi immediately rejected.


    "No one is allowed to remove the weights they are wearing¡­Only during some important time, you are allowed to remove them, and even that will be under my orders only." Kakashi immediately made the rule and looked at the three with a questioning gaze.


    "Sensei what about my clan?" Hinata asked meekly as she knew that her clan was stricter to outside things.


    "Hyuga clan, huh? It won''t be much problem. They won''t be going against the training between a Jounin instructor and the Genin, who are under the Hokage-sama, himself." Kakashi said with a smile but the threat was out in the fields.


    "You can do whatever you want. Hokage-sama is behind us, anyway." Kakashi shrugged as he started walking to Ichiraku.


    Naruto and Hinata followed behind Kakashi leaving Naruto alone for a while. Raito narrowed his eyes as he looked at the Kakashi''s back.


    Sometime later, in Naruto''s and Raito''s house. They walked into the study before disappearing entirely from the house.


    "Multi shadow clone technique." Naruto with his several clones and went to kill the zombies.


    Raito took out a katana from his inventory, the very same one he had taken from Mari.


    One step, two steps¡­soon Raito was running and attacking zombies as he stopped, gaining mosquito meat. Slowly but surely the ''Katana Mastery'' skill was reaching level 25 and a new skill was going to be unlocked.


    One killing made from katana would increase the skill by about 0.05%, making it a long tiring process.


    Soon the smoke was gathering in a spot, changing into a bigger zombie.


    Raito stared at the big zombie with a smile on his face. Raising his katana to his c.h.e.s.t, he called out, ''Chakra Enhancement ¨C Earth Elemental''. The chakra flowed to the katana with a yellow-brown l.u.s.ter. Feeling the increase in heaviness, Raito used his connection and felt the logs placed at the different areas then took out explosion paper bombs.


    Naruto had also summoned his clones circling the big zombie. His hands were ready in seals and there were few explosion talisman papers hanging out from one of his pockets.


    The black smoke coagulated into a mass and the shape was finally visible.


    RAWRR!


    The big zombie roared and looked around. And Naruto who was fully ready immediately activated the jutsu and activated the technique. ''Multi Shadow Clone ¨C Multi Gale Palm''


    Razors of wind strike the big zombie, who roared in pain and moved messily, easily destroying the buildings around him. In Raito''s vision, the HP decreased at a fast rate, easily reaching half of the total Health Points.


    Raito who was crouched down and held a snake hand seal stood up and started running towards the big zombie. The zombie was clearly in rage, swinging his big arms and sweeping the stalls and parts of the building. As Raito approached near the zombie, it looked in Raito''s direction.


    [Sprinting activated.]


    [Title ''Zombie Slayer'' activated.]


    [Title ''Sword User'' activated.]


    One after another various notification was activated, which Raito didn''t saw as he was dodging the monster slow but powerful stomps. Raito while dodging the zombie attacked with the sword cutting the leg muscles of the zombie. Soon the zombie was on his knees facing Raito with hate. Raito who saw the scene looked at the monster with a smile, charging forward, Raito raised his sword, in a position Yugao had taught him, ready to strike.


    But the zombie was clearly not done as he threw the surrounding items towards Raito, which Raito had to dodge and stop his charge. After seeing that the zombie had nothing to grab, Raito again went for a charge aiming at the zombie neck, when suddenly the zombie roared, slamming the ground with his hands. Raito ignored the zombie''s roar and ran forward, aiming for the final strike, when suddenly the zombie grabbed the walkway and threw it towards Raito.


    Raito who was in a daze looking at the massive chunk of the road immediately used the replacement technique and switched to the log at a distance away.


    Sensing that his prey had run, the zombie looked around and immediately located on to Raito.


    Raito frowned as he felt that the distance between him and the zombie had increased. "And what the hell was that attack throwing that¡­rock."


    Raito grumbled for a while before leisurely approaching the zombie''s area. The zombie turned hostile as he roared and tried to walk forward.


    "Let''s see if you can survive this," Raito shouted as he made a rat hand seal and activated his chakra.


    The ground beneath the zombie disappeared and the zombie fell down. Something so big and heavy, falling down and hitting the earth below made a huge noise and the land shake for a while.


    Needless to say that the zombie was already dead, which was confirmed by the notification. But sadly the ''Katana mastery'' had not leveled up.


    The world faded back and now Raito and Naruto were back at the study, at the house.


    "I think I am getting used to this ''Multi Gale Strike''." Naruto said looking Raito.


    "Mm." Raito was looking distracted as he made some noise in reply.


    "I also think that your, earth jutsu is really dangerous." Naruto made another comment which Raito replied again in the same manner.


    Naruto, dissatisfied and now with a pout, immediately punched towards Raito but immediately after, Raito had countered with a lock, pushing Naruto to ground.


    "Make some shadow clones for me Naruto. I wanna train." Raito asked Naruto for clones after which with all the clones Raito appeared once again into the ''ROOM OF NULL'' (I don''t know what to call it).


    The original Naruto sat with him never-ending Fuinjutsu book of Uzumaki. From time to time, he was flinching, as his clones were getting destroyed.


    After long grueling four hours, Raito looked at the notification with excitement.


    [''Katana Mastery'' leveled up.]


    [''Katana Mastery'' has reached level 25]


    [''Katana Mastery ¨C Katana Skill, First level unlocked]


    [Skill ''Sword Drawing Arts'' has been unlocked.]


    [Sword Drawing Arts]


    108 ways to draw a sword out of the sheath. Acting after opponent but reaching before the opponent. Aim to disable, aim to kill.


    After the new skills were unlocked, Raito was filled with new knowledge about drawing a sword in a fast and swift manner. As Raito raised his katana, a strange feeling enveloped him. Soon he sheath his sword, then left a hand on the sheath and right resting on the handle.


    Naruto who saw that Raito was again going to deep thinking mode, he chooses to act and jump on Raito. Naruto clones jumped on Raito but in a flash, his clones were destroyed. The original Naruto touched his wrist then on his c.h.e.s.t and lastly on his neck. Even though the attacks made by Raito were shallow, the clones were too fragile for katana.


    "Oh!" Raito looked strangely at his sword then looked at Naruto. "Again."


    Naruto nodded and with a cross-hand seal, dozens of clones ran towards Raito with a kunai in their hands and shuriken thrown with force.


    [Fast thinking activated.]


    The surrounding slowed down as Raito''s CP fell. The trajectory of the shuriken was seen through his ''Chakra Sense''. Left hand rose with katana, still in sheath, blocking all the shuriken. After all the shuriken were blocked, Raito kept the katana back. As Naruto appeared in front of Raito, kunai ready to plunge into Raito''s body. Raito lowered his center of gravity and pulled the sheath back with his left hand and at the same time pulled the handle with the right hand. The drawing time was greatly reduced and with a wave destroyed all the clones. Raito targeted the neck and heart of all the clones and with the help of his ''Chakra Sense'', Raito had a hundred percent guarantee.


    "Wow!" Naruto was in awe as he watched Raito casually destroy his clones. His lips trembled as Naruto so much wanted to ask.


    Seeing that Naruto had something to say, Raito first tried to deduce it himself. Not getting many ideas based on his knowledge and experience, Raito decided to use his ''Observe'' skill.


    Looking in puzzlement, Raito faced Naruto with a smile and said, "We should buy you a sword, Naruto."


    Naruto blinked for a long time as the eye was filled with tears. Biting his lips, Naruto nodded his head vigorously.


    Raito looked at the clock then nodded his head. With a warm smile, he grabbed Naruto and went back to the real world.


    White fluffy rice with a good smell, then there was gravy made with beans, potato, and meat, giving a mouthwatering and stomach rumbling smell. Naruto gulped a few times as the smell filled the room. With the rain outside, giving a cool breeze and the ''Pita, Pita'' sound and the smell of the wet soil, Raito opened the window and sat to eat with a happy heart.


    In the middle of the night, Raito scribbled the characters on the scroll, quickly filling the scroll.


    [Complete]


    The check system of his gamer ability was really good making him smile. Placing the scroll on the floor and unrolling it completely, Raito placed the chakra paper on top of the scrolls. Quickly the chakra paper was filled with ''Character Seals''. Then bringing out a talisman paper, Raito placed the talisman paper on the chakra paper. Raito used a vast amount of chakra and created a new character seals on the talisman paper.


    [Sealed Jutsu ¨C Shadow Clone Technique]


    Raito looked at the ''flaws'' and again he was filled with sighs. Meditating to recover chakra then holding the talisman in his hand, Raito activated the talisman and a carbon copy of himself appeared in front of him.


    Both of Raito touched the others hand and were shocked by the other.


    Raito slowly murmured, "Observe."


    [Clone No.1]


    Durability ¨C 10


    CP ¨C 1,250


    STR ¨C 43


    VIT ¨C 46


    DEX ¨C 40


    INT ¨C 52


    WIS - 44


    LUK - 36


    Clone of Yoshizawa Raito.


    The original Raito pointed his finger on top of his head and asked, "Can you see this too?"


    The clone nodded his head and added, "I can also use the inventory."


    Raito who went into thinking looked at his clone and said, "Let''s leave everything for later. I want you to watch me sleep."


    Then Raito pulled the drawer and gave his clone the seals for chakra storage. "If you need them."


    Raito took a long breath¡­. Then slept.


    [You have slept. HP and CP has been fully recovered. All negative status and ailments has been fully recovered.]


    Raito woke up and quickly looked at the clone who was sitting in a chair and reading a book about ''Traditional method of maintaining Katana''. A small smile hung on his face, stretching Raito nodded at his clone who also nodded back at him and disappeared in smoke.


    In a blink of an eye, memories of looking at his real self then reading the book and thinking about myriads of things appeared in his brain. And there was even a feeling of his chakra being compressed due to being excess.


    Massaging his temples not because of the pain but because of needing to remember. Raito saw himself sleeping normally with no changes at all. Thinking that everything would recover to normal, Raito thought that something would have happened to him, like some glowing or suction like thing¡­but nothing had happened the whole time.


    Walking to the chair, Raito picked up the talisman with a frown on his forehead. "My skill didn''t level up, after all."


    [Shadow Clone (Active) Lvl 1 CP Cost ¨C 500]


    Dividing the chakra into two equal halves, the user is able to create a real copy of himself. The clone has the original stats of the user and Health point is replaced by the Durability.


    *Durability increases with the level of the skill.


    Number of the clones ¨C 1


    "What a shitty technique." After comparing his own shadow clone technique with that of Naruto, Raito was quite unhappy.


    Jumping down to the back yard, Raito practiced his sword techniques for a while. The sun was already high, shining on the beautiful katana blade.


    Naruto also arrived after Raito did and practiced Taijutsu stances. The weight was no longer bothering him anymore like he was used to it.


    Raito and Naruto did not bother with each other as they practiced their own techniques. The morning wind blew across the backyard, the clouds moved slowly and the grass sway. The birds were chirping and the two boys were working hard.


    Sweat dropped as Raito panted hard. Feeling the weights drawing his body down he had the sudden urge to allocate his stat points on the STR. Raito closed his eyes and did some breathing exercise to recover. Putting the katana into the inventory, Raito cleaned himself him up and prepared the breakfast.


    Soon Naruto was also done cleaning himself up and joined Raito to the table.


    A bowl of rice, a mix of mixed vegetables, a bowl of meat and lastly a bowl of soup. The rice was mixed with some ghee and vegetables contained carrots, turnips, bean sprout and some pieces of mushroom. The l.u.s.ter given by the food immediately made Naruto''s stomach growl and saliva drooled from his mouth.


    Raito frowned and with a paper fan hit Naruto on the head immediately and said in a stern voice, "Behave!"


    Naruto rubbed his head and looked pitifully at his food. And just as Raito was digging into his food the knocking came disturbing him. Raito frowned as he saw Hinata on the opposite side. He looked at his food then at the door.


    Naruto who saw Raito was unwilling, stood up and ran towards the door, "Opening!"


    Raito ignored Naruto opening the door and quietly ate his food. Under the sunlight from the window, the steam from the food made Raito marvel as he held another meat piece. Blowing lightly he ate the piece happily.


    "Good morning." Hinata bowed as she entered the room.


    Raito who was enjoying his food quickly filled the bowls and placed them on the table, then again sat on his chair, holding his chopsticks, once again.


    "Sit." Raito called out to the two and again focused on his food.


    "But¡­I already ate." Hinata refused as she looked at the food on the table.


    "Mine is better." Raito added then no longer focused at Hinata.


    "Ya, Hinata. Raito food is better than any other." Naruto gave a thumb ups to Hinata and then sat on his own seal. Picking up his chopsticks, he looked at Hinata with a smile and made hand signs telling her to eat.


    Hinata sat down touching her stomach then looked at the food. But as soon as she did, her mouth slightly salivated. She subconsciously held the chopsticks and took a bite from the vegetables. Soon her hands were out of her control and everything was finished and as did Naruto''s.


    Only Raito was eating slowly, enjoying his food. It was not that Raito was not finding it delicious but he was using his skill ''Chakra Sense'' which has increased the range a lot from the last time reaching a little more than five kilometers.


    The information was so much that Raito was getting a headache. There were people and people, the trees were also big and Raito focused on some of the forbidden parts of the village, at first, he was able to go through but he found that the area was hazy as in covered by the fog.


    Raito finished eating then handed the dishes to Hinata who was already was washing. Then taking out a notebook, he wrote down those places.


    Walking out of the house, Raito felt a new feeling that he couldn''t describe.


    "Let''s go." Raito and the group walked towards the Hokage tower for their very first mission.

 Chapter 30 - 30 – D-Ranks and Binding Techniques

    Chapter 30 ¨C D-Ranks and Binding Techniques


    Reaching the Hokage tower with struggle from the weights, Raito and the team were finally in the mission room, sitting, standing in the corner as other groups came and received their mission. One after another, the groups came, the Genin with their J¨­nin instructor, took the mission and before leaving looked at them with hints of joy.


    Soon enough Sasuke with Shino and Kiba walked in with their J¨­nin instructor Kurenai.


    Raito watched intently as team eight took the mission scroll.


    "This is stupid." Naruto spat as he looked Sasuke group take the mission scroll.


    "Maybe¡­we can get the mission ourselves," Hinata suggested, she also felt exhausted after waiting for a long time.


    Raito shook his head, if there was any possibility, he would have already done it. The register needed the signature and registration number of the J¨­nin instructor.


    "Yo, Naruto, Hinata, Raito, why are you guys standing there? Wheres yar J¨­nin instructor?" Kiba asked in his usual loud voice.


    The Ch¨±nin behind the mission looked towards their side but then again he returned to do his own work.


    "Kiba-san, we are waiting for our sensei?" Hinata always polite answered Kiba.


    Kurenai signed on the register and walked towards team seven and spoke, "Kakashi has always been like that, you will need¡­patience, lots and lots of it." With that, a giggle escape from her mouth.


    Raito turned and punched the wall.


    Kurenai grabbed Hinata''s hand with care and asked with a gentle voice. "Hinata how are you doing?"


    "I am good Kurenai-nee¡­no I mean Kurenai-sensei," Hinata answered while correcting herself. Raito smelled history between them but it was not important right now.


    Kurenai looked back at Raito and Naruto and suggested, "Maybe you guys should do something till¡­he comes, like reading something new or some light exercise."


    "Hey does that mean you got a flatbread for a teacher?" Kiba asked, loudly not thinking carefully that he had just disrespected one of the strongest ninjas in the village.


    Kurenai frowned and immediately reprimanded, "Kiba! What did I tell you about your language?" her hand latched on Kiba''s ear, pulling it fiercely. Even Akamaru who had been carefree till now whimpered.


    "What is taking you so long?" Sasuke annoyed and heavy voice called out. He had already reached down but seeing that no one had followed him, Sasuke had walked back all the way.


    Kurenai and Kiba said their goodbye and joined their team leaving the Hokage tower. Raito could see Sasuke smirking towards his direction at all time. To his punchable face, Raito just rolled his eyes in response.


    About fifteen minutes later team ten appeared for their mission scroll. Asuma with a cigarette dangling in his mouth looked at the group without the J¨­nin instructor called them out.


    After grabbing the scroll and handing it to Ino, his eyes locked to Raito and asked, "Raito, right? It was you who gave Shikamaru the answer? That''s quite an eye you have. Can you tell me now what brand I am using right now?"


    "Nice to meet you, Asuma-sensei." Hinata bowed in respect which was followed by Naruto.


    Raito also followed custom and bowed lightly. "Umm¡­Black cherry?"


    "Spot on." Asuma took out the cigarette packet and showed it to Raito. "The taste isn''t bad at all. It has a little bit of¡­"


    "Oi smoker of a sensei, don''t try to corrupt others." Ino punched Asuma to his side to which he turned his head.


    "Smoking meat is a good technique but smoking a cigarette is bad." Ch¨­ji opened a packet and said.


    "You three are totally different from this three." Asuma rubbed the heads of Ino and Ch¨­ji and said, smile hung on his face.


    Letting out a cloud of smoke, he continued, "Your J¨­nin instructor is Kakashi Hatake, everyone in the job knows that he is late for every mission below A-Ranks. He is lazy, loves p.o.r.n and is totally a-"


    Naruto began to tremble in rage as he heard Asuma speaking. He pointed towards Asuma and shouted in anger, "Don''t say a bad thing about Kakashi-sensei."


    "Oh! What a lively boy." Asuma played with his cigarette blocking a few of Naruto''s punches.


    "Nice punches. Put your back on the punch." Asuma played with Naruto for a while and left with his team after some time.


    Raito walked across the room for quite a while before laying down in front of the mission desk.


    The ninja sitting on the chair couldn''t take it anymore, rubbing his temples and he shouted, "Stop."


    Rubbing his sore neck, the man looked at the three and said, "Go away and don''t be a bother." His voice was filled with annoyance.


    [Takeshi Kota Lvl 20]


    Angry, Hungry, Irritated¡­


    Raito sighed as he read the description using the ''Observe'' skill. Everything can be solved with food and good food means good mood. Thinking that Raito choose a heart full meal in his mind and scrolled through his inventory.


    "Here Kota-sempai." Raito gave Kota a bento box and a juice bottle. The rectangular black box and the bottle filled with orange juice gave a strange allure to Kota.


    The stunned Kota looked at the bento box and after hesitating for a little while took the bento box.


    "Sorry¡­for that stupid thing that I did earlier." Raito apologized, clapping his hands.


    "Please open it." Raito made hand signs.


    Kota nodded still stunned at the scene and opened the bento box. Immediately an aromatic smell enveloped Kota making his stomach growl, hard. There was rice with fish, beans, carrot, and various other vegetables.


    "It looks so delicious and this smells¡­" Kota let out a big breath and gulped.


    "They are, aren''t they, sempai? Please, Eat up." Raito passed the chopsticks and took a step back, signaling the two behind him.


    After Kota took a bite he couldn''t stop. The rice was fragrant and the vegetables were well seasoned and delicious. Taking bite after bite, soon the bento was finished and Kota drank the juice finishing it at once. The juice was even more amazing, the fruity taste and refreshing feeling.


    Kota let out a large breath and his tense body finally relaxed.


    Seeing the chance, Raito started. "Kota-sempai, why were you so irritated?"


    Patting his stomach, Kota replied with somewhat a m.a.t.u.r.e aura, "I am clearly an administrative ninja, you understand, right? We are working in shift and making sure that the mission desk and other facilities in the tower is active day and night. My shift was supposed to end two hours ago but it seems that the ninja who was supposed to come has some problem. Just like Kakashi-sempai, she is too late."


    "Oh, right. You three are with Kakashi-sempai, right? Hokage-sama has been trying to give him a team but none of them passed his test."


    Shaking his head, Kota managed the paper on the desk, "The bell test¡­ (Sigh) that''s the most difficult test in the village. It is said that very few have passed that test including the Sannin. And since you three passed the test. That''s awesome, you know." Kota gave a thumbs up.


    "Say, Kota-sempai when is Kakashi-sensei gonna come?" Naruto asked from behind.


    "Soon, soon, it''s already two hours so any time now." Kota thought for a while and answered.


    "There is even a routine?" Raito asked somewhat stunned.


    "Yup, didn''t you know? Kakashi-sempai is always late for C''s and D''s. There was one time that Gai-sempai and Kakashi-sempai were punished for destroying the new project. Hokage-sama gave them D rank for a whole week."


    "Destroyed a project? What''s that?" Raito questioned.


    "D-ranks for a week?" Naruto was amazed.


    Hinata who had a shy personality kept quiet and listened to everyone talking. If she wasn''t cute enough, she could rival Shino for the minuscule presence.


    "Yeah, you may have seen them running around the village or even¡­other things. They are the best in the village but¡­the antics. Haha¡­"


    "Kakashi-sensei did D-ranks for a week then?" Raito asked with a strange excitement.


    "Yeah, but¡­we had to suffer¡­ because he would always report late¡­like a whole week late." Kota replied smacking the table.


    "A week late!? We can do that?" Naruto shouted.


    Kota who was somewhat excited jumped in anger as he heard Naruto and shouted, "You can''t."


    Raito who saw Kota jump also leaned forward while frowning, he asked, "Kota-sempai, why doesn''t anyone do anything about Kakashi-sensei?"


    Kota who heard that looked at Raito then sat with a sigh, "Because he is good at what he does. He may be late for D''s and C''s but he is never late for B''s, A''s and S''s."


    "B, A, S?" Naruto breath hurried as he repeated the letters.


    "I have not seen the reports myself but I have heard that he has never failed a mission nor anyone has died when doing the mission with him," Kota added with hints of admiration.


    "My sensei is that awesome? I never thought that lazy-sensei is that good." Raito replied.


    "Top of his generation," Kota added.


    "Not his class but his generation?" Naruto and Raito looked at each other than at Kota for the answer."


    "Yup, he is one of the best of the best in the village." Kota now looked like more and more of a chatty housewife in Raito''s mind and a feeling to run away appeared in his heart.


    Retrieving the bento box and empty juice bottle in the inventory, Raito took out a book with a purple cover and a sword symbol.


    "That''s convenient. Are you a fuinjutsu practitioner?" Kota asked in astonishment.


    "Yes, I am," Raito replied truthfully.


    "So young, yet so talented." Kota was truly jealous because fuinjutsu was truly one of the most difficult subjects along with medical and spatial techniques.


    "Not only I am a fuinjutsu practitioner¡­ but Naruto too is a fuinjutsu practitioner." Raito hooked Naruto on the shoulder and said.


    "Two fuinjutsu practitioners in a team, that''s quite¡­unique." Kota didn''t know what to say anymore.


    Looking at the girl behind, Kota somewhat shrank back, "And even Hyuga, is this the team of elites?"


    "Even elites begin as a normal soldier." A voice interrupted the chatting ninjas.


    "Kakashi-sempai/sensei." It seemed that Kakashi had come in just as Kota had some bad impression to Hyuga.


    "You are late," Naruto shouted.


    "Am I?" Kakashi asked with his head tilt and lazy eye.


    "Yeah! We have been waiting here for you for about two hours. Two! Damn! Hours!" Naruto after shouting hard was panting hard.


    Raito had already walked towards the mission desk and grabbed one of the many green-cover scrolls with his left hand and his right hand had already picked up the pen, writing down his registration number.


    "Kakashi-senpai." Kota who was sitting behind the mission desk called out.


    "Please." He sighed and pointed at the register.


    "Oh! I was teaching my students so, I got a bit distracted." Kakashi pointed at Naruto and walked forward as he explained.


    Naruto who was made scapegoat was dazed for a moment. After being called by Hinata, he woke up from his daze and walked forward.


    Kota began filling the register with mission serial number and said, "All done, please remember to report back."


    As Naruto wrote down his registration number, a woman wearing a Ch¨±nin vest ran in.


    "I am sorry!" She immediately bowed, her long hair falling forward.


    Kota looked at her with some hesitation. Clearly, he wanted to say something but held himself back.


    "I''ll be going." Kota sighed then signed the doc.u.ments before walking out with team seven.


    "Ne, ne, Raito what''s the mission?" Naruto asked his face full of disguised happiness.


    Raito shrugged then cut the serial number paper sealing the scroll. Opening the scroll, he read the content then was stunned. Kakashi waved his hand in front of Raito then held the scroll, reading the contents.


    A laugh escaped from Kakashi. Looking at his team/students, he said, "Bathing puppies."


    "Eh!!?" Naruto cried out.


    Hinata also stood stunned, just for a while.


    [A mission quest has been accepted]


    [''D-Rank'' ''Bathing puppies'']


    [The manager of the new shop ''Moonlight House'' is a regular customer to the Hokage tower and has been issuing mission of variety as D-Rank to the new Genin¡­]


    Raito massaged his temples to calm his growing anger.


    "Well seems like you guys have chance to play with puppies." Kakashi waved his hand and walked forward.


    "Bathing puppies? Why?" Naruto glared at Kakashi''s back and cried out.


    Raito patted on Naruto''s shoulder and shook his head. Glancing at Hinata, Raito nodded and walked forward.


    In front of a huge building, a tall man wearing a clean suit was standing in front. Seeing team seven coming, the man waved his hand and asked, "For puppies?"


    Kakashi nodded and opened the scroll in his hand, showing the man the scroll. The man nodded and the group walked inside. There were a few of the Genin, cleaning the house, pulling on weeds and preparing the stages. They were not under their J¨­nin instructor but under a people of master of jobs.


    A somewhat chubby woman was ordering the Genin on what to do. Moving the tables, chair, and other furniture. Then cleaning the floor, wall, and window, Genin practiced with their house cleaning. It was clear that the Genins who did this mission would be a great help in their homes.


    Another woman, sitting on a chair with crossed legs. The woman instructed the Genin in gardening. She seemed to know what everyone was doing when a Genin was going to pluck a flower, she would ask them to stop and if someone had left a spot, she would instruct them to do so.


    Lastly was a muscular man and the Genin under him were holding many types of equipment. They ran around, tightened the bolts, fitting the planks, placing the lights and on. The muscular man shook his head from time to time and instructed them, correcting their mistakes but he never moved his hands himself to correct the problems.


    Raito''s eye darted from place to place and his hands tapped at his teammates and with that Naruto and Hinata also looked around. They slowed their pace and analyzed the surrounding, which was true for Raito and Hinata and as for Naruto he looked everything with happiness and anticipation.


    "Where are J¨­nin instructors?" Raito asked to no one.


    "They are inside¡­enjoying their¡­time." the tall man replied with some hesitation.


    Looking at Kakashi, Raito commented, "While J¨­nins are enjoying, the Genin are going to be working."


    "That''s exactly what D-Ranks are for," Kakashi replied.


    "Please." The tall man bowed and his hand pointing at a direction. The yips and cries of dogs came from the room, making Naruto and Raito shiver.


    A woman with her hair tied in a bun walked out. Jade skin, an oval face, small nose, everything needed for a beauty. Wearing a kimono and holding a fan, she looked at the three and said with her sweet voice, "Come in, we have lots to do."


    Raito, Naruto, and Hinata walked in the room and see tens of puppies walking all over the room. There were small bathtubs all over the place. Shampoo, brush, combs, whatever needed for bathing a dog was needed was there.


    Naruto rolled his sleeves and pulled his pants up. "The faster we finish this, the faster we can get out of this."


    Raito exhaled loudly and the puppies all turned towards him. Slowly the puppies surrounded Raito and yipped from time to time. The woman wearing kimono looked in surprise then smiled.


    "A puppy can tell between a good person from a bad one." She also rolled her sleeves and carried the bath wares, handing it to Hinata.


    [Dog]


    [Black Golden Retriever]


    Raito waved his hand and the puppies moved to the movement of his finger. The way the puppies moved and sometimes fell in a cute way made Raito smile. Raito looked with amazement as he made a sign to call one of the puppies. Soon a puppy from the crowd walked in front towards Raito. Black and golden fur, pink nose and pink tongue, cute eyes, and cute walk. The puppy looked at Raito for a long time before yipping and jumping onto him.


    (Author goggling ¨C Today I found that yelp and yip are different and opposite.)


    Raito quickly caught the puppy who yipped with a happy tone. The puppy struggled and Raito''s hand loosened, the puppy licked Raito on his face making Raito let out a happy smile.


    Soon after that, the puppies all ran and joined Naruto and Hinata. The woman stood at the door as if she was afraid of getting her dress wet. From time to time she instructed the three on how to bathe the puppies. The puppies were playful and soaked Naruto and Hinata. Only Raito who was surrounded by puppies was bathing them without getting himself wet. The puppies also wagged their tails in joy and yipped from time to time.


    Raito rubbed the snow white puppy with a towel and let out a big breath. "Finally."


    "It took you three, only two hours and ten minutes." The beautiful woman announced and looked at the puppies who were surrounding the three, especially Raito. It seemed like Raito was natural in handling puppies or animals.


    The woman was lost in thought as she looked at Raito.


    "They did a nice job." Kakashi''s voice broke her out of her thought.


    "Yes, yes, they did." The beautiful woman stammered, grabbing the scroll and with a hanko pressed on the confirmation. Then she went back and brought a ticket. "Please."


    Somewhat hesitating, Kakashi grabbed the ticket and replied, "We may not be able to attend."


    "I understand." She bowed. "Please try." While bowing, one could see her soft skin and deep cleavage.


    The tall man in suit led them out and bowed. The puppies also tottered out as if wanting to leave with Raito. Raito waved at them and walked with the group.


    Team seven walked out of the tall building and went to the library. The library was located at the side of Hokage tower and J¨­nin quarters of the village.


    Walking inside, they saw the librarian, middle-aged woman with short hair and a medium perky nose, frowning as she saw Naruto. It seemed like she wanted to lash out at Naruto, just like she had been doing for all these years. Immediately, irritation appeared on Raito''s face as he felt hostility. Raito wanted to slam the desk and startle the women, intent appeared and action followed. Raito raised his hand but someone was even faster than him.


    But just then an old woman with a hunched back appeared as swift as the wind, jumped and hit the librarian on the head. As she landed, her purple robes fluttered and the walking stick slammed on the floor making a thundering noise.


    "You don''t need to come from tomorrow." The old woman shouted, which not only shocked the women but also Kakashi and his team. The women looked at the group sternly and for a moment no one spoke.


    Kakashi felt awkward looking at the old woman. Rubbing at the back of his head and giving a silly laugh, he tried to speak first, "Kiyomi-baachan¡­its team-"


    Slamming her can down once more, she cut off Kakashi, "Finally! Finally, you came."


    Looking at the Genin beside Kakashi, she nodded, "Good seeds. Finally, there is someone who passed that stupid test."


    "Kiyomi-baachan, that test is really important." Kakashi tried explaining.


    Smack!


    "Important? Important?" Kiyomi continued hitting Kakashi with her cane and Kakashi tried blocking with his hand weakly.


    With a harrumph, Kiyomi walked off and Kakashi followed him.


    [Keeper of Secrets]


    [Kiyomi Lvl ?]


    Kiyomi paused and looked back, her gaze locking at Raito, "Little guy, don''t get perverted thoughts."


    Raito who was walking forward nearly stumbled hearing that. ''Who is looking at you!?'' Raito cursed heavily with everything he had learned from Anko.


    Raito continued to walk ignoring the comment from the old woman. He still kept a distance of half a meter around him, dodging the people walking with him or opposite to him.


    Kakashi sneaked glances a few hundreds of times from the building, to the way to the library and inside the library. Raito seemed like he was training on his own. Thinking that, Kakashi approached to a door along with Kiyomi. The door was located on the second floor at the back and guarded by the Ch¨±nin. The Ch¨±nin only glanced at them then returned to reading his book.


    Kiyomi tapped several points at the wooden door. The points that were tapped were depressed and the door was opened.


    After the door was opened, they walked down the stairs and another door was opened. Kiyomi who was beside them jumped and sat on a high seat.


    "Hatake Kakashi, Team seven, Hyuga Hinata, Yoshizawa Raito, and Uzumaki Naruto. Cubicle number seven, every time after D-ranks. Total of twenty-eight days, minimum of two hours every time."


    Kiyomi gave a token to Kakashi and looked at the three behind him. "Learn properly. After twenty-eight days, you are going to come here for another month to read¡­more."


    Then shooing away the four, the old woman wore a spectacle and started reading her book. Same orange cover and the same kind of giggling, Raito felt his face twitching involuntarily.


    The group walked forward passing several cubicles, there were other teams, some with J¨­nin instructor and some without. All of them were studying books, they were on tactics, formation, jutsu, and theories behind things. There were team eight and ten were all there. Everyone had J¨­nin instructor teaching them but Raito found the scene comedic. In one of the cubicle, Asuma held a book in his hand and teaching his Genins but Raito found that no sound was leaking and Asuma was only moving his mouth. Raito found it extremely funny.


    Kakashi sighed and dragged back Raito who was laughing silently watching Asuma teaching. The cubicle was a small room with a board behind Kakashi and the two sides had books stacked all over. There was a small seal at a side where Kakashi pushed chakra and a layer appeared at the end of the cubicle creating a barrier separating the cubicle from the outside world.


    "This small cubicle is for team seven and no one. After you pass out to become a Ch¨±nin you naturally will have another cubicle at a lower level." Letting out a big breath, Kakashi looked miserably at the book to his right and Raito''s left. "We will be finishing them all in a twenty-eight hour." Then watching his left, "You will be reading all of them on your own."


    It looked like Naruto wanted to burn all the books down, looking at them with disgust.


    Kakashi shook his head and continued, "Now for some good news. You will have to take at least three mission every week and the next day will be your training day. Then for our group Saturday is a holiday, you can do whatever you want."


    Raito felt miserable, now he had to work and read. Compared to this academy life was way more comfortable.


    "Kakashi-sensei, who is the woman outside?" Hinata asked. It seemed that the ever silent and shy little girl had shown signs of changing.


    "That old woman¡­is Kiyomi-sensei. She was here way before I became a Genin and has been guarding this library till now." Kakashi gave minimal detail then grabbed a book from the bookshelf.


    "You three are in for an info dump today. Try to remember as much as possible." Kakashi turned the pages and said slowly.


    Raito immediately brought a couple of plastic cups and a water bottle before filling the cup.


    Exhaling deeply, Kakashi started, "In these six months, before Ch¨±nin exams, you will be working inside the village and inside the fire border, sometime you may also get a mission to go outside the ''Land of Fire''."


    He sighed at his fate then continued, "For C-Rank mission, you have to complete a set of D-Ranks and need approval from the J¨­nin instructor, me and Hokage-sama."


    "That means better mission," Raito commented.


    "We have a chance," Naruto shouted.


    "We should choose a far one," Raito said looking shiftily.


    Kakashi sighed, he felt the oncoming headache. "A regular C-Rank is fine but there are irregularities too. A C-Rank can easily go to ''B'' or even an ''A'' rank."


    "Oh." Naruto, Raito, and Hinata voiced out.


    Kakashi waited for more but the three didn''t continue. Looking at the three, Kakashi shook his head and continued, "You guys have no sense of danger."


    "For D-ranks, only Genins do them and, Ch¨±nin and J¨­nin who are punished. For C-ranks Genin group and Ch¨±nin groups do them. For B-rank, a J¨­nin with Ch¨±nin group or a high B-rank a group of J¨­nin is necessary. For A-Ranks, a J¨­nin group. For S-rank, there is a need for mobilization of a few J¨­nin groups."


    Kakashi felt thirsty after talking for a while and drank the water to soothe his throat.


    Raito waved his hand and said in a lazy tone, "Continue."


    Kakashi felt like hitting Raito, his glabella in pain.


    "That''s all for mission ranks now. If you want to know more, you can read on your own. Next is tactics and team formation."


    Kakashi continued pouring knowledge, directly reading from the book and sharing his experiences while using those formations and tactics. Kakashi gave examples of his achievement and defeats.


    At the end of the day, Raito, Hinata, and Naruto were bored to death.


    "Raito, it''s so late."


    "Yeah, (sigh) let''s go. Everyone should be at Yakiniku Q by now."


    Later at Yakiniku Q, team ten and team seven sat in opposite seats Ch¨­ji and Raito fighting for grabbing the meat.


    "We did parcel delivery. Maybe thirty or forty, I lost count." Ino pressed her temples.


    "We washed puppies, small puppies about thirty of them, thirty," Naruto added.


    "They were cute though." Hinata chimed in from the side.


    "Puppies?" Ino was shocked. While her team had to deal with heavy moving and long walking, Raito and his group only had to bathe puppies.


    "Shika, when are your days off?" Raito asked his chop attacking Ch¨­ji''s.


    "Tuesday," Shika answered then continued looking for meat pieces.


    "We need about a minimum of twenty-five mission to sign up for Ch¨±nin exams," Shikamaru added.


    "Ch¨±nin exams? I don''t wanna." Raito voiced out.


    "Hmph!" Ch¨­ji snorted and in a flurry grabbed a couple of meat pieces.


    "Damn." Raito cursed and attacked.


    "Genin, Ch¨±nin, J¨­nin then Hokage. I want to join." Naruto slammed the table lightly.


    "If you are Ch¨±nin, you don''t have to do D-Ranks" Shikamaru voiced out.


    "Don''t have to do D-Rank?" Everyone looked at him and a couple of table around also peeked.


    "We must become Ch¨±nin." Raito looked at two of his teammates and his fiery gaze made them slightly uncomfortable.


    Returning home, Raito opened the door to face Anko who was taking a big gulp of beer and bites from the meat, sitting in a comfortable sofa and enjoying herself to treats.


    "Anko-nee?" Raito called out.


    "Raito, Naruto, hic." The room smelled like alcohol and Anko was tipsy as a widowed man.


    Naruto walked in front of Anko and pushed her slightly before getting knocked down on the floor.


    Raito brought out a pouch and brought out a grayish cube and placed it in front of Anko''s nose. Naruto immediately pinched his nose and Anko who was asleep frowned before waking up with a jolt.


    Anko jumped and coughed a couple of times before glaring at Raito. Naruto who was pressed down hurriedly woke up and ran upstairs.


    Taking out a glass and spring water, he gave it to Anko. Anko took huge gulps directly drinking from the bottle.


    "Why are you here?" Raito asked.


    "What? I can''t come here?" Anko showed anger.


    "¡­" Raito stared, giving Anko the creeps.


    "Okay, okay. I had too much work, stressing me up. So I came here to hide." Anko confessed but Raito felt like that was not the whole truth but as long as it was not a lie Raito wouldn''t care.


    "Anko-nee¡­I want to see." Raito spoke with seriousness and Anko sobered up in an instant like she was never drunk.


    After a long time of staring, she hung her head and asked, "Up or down one?"


    Raito felt his muscles twitching slightly. Facepalming he added, "I want to see that seal."


    "Raito." She mumbled as she crossed her hand and grabbed the seal place. Looking at Raito, she could see that Raito wanted to help. The seal was one of the reason for Raito to continue forward.


    Pouting, she dropped her trench jacket. The fishnet top gave a sense of freedom, not hiding her bountiful b.r.e.a.s.t. Calling Raito to come forward, she took off her fishnet top and covered her b.r.e.a.s.t with her hands.


    "First is this." Anko channeled her chakra and three magatamas with a center dot appeared on the neck to the right side. The magatamas turned red and a searing pain fell on her. A pain of tearing a muscle, nerves snapping or vein bursting.


    "That''s the ''Cursed Seal of Heaven''." Her voice was full of pain, gritting her teeth she explained.


    When Raito saw Anko''s face, he gritted his teeth and used the skill.


    [Cursed Seal of Heaven] (Locked)


    A seal made by Orichimaru, one of the three Sannin. The cursed seals are the result of his d.e.s.i.r.e to use the natural energy of the world and to become a sage.


    -Activating the cursed seal, physical power and chakra level with an increase to a high level.


    -Activating the seal, activates the hormones to increase growth and change body structure.


    -Activating the seal, ''Soul Erosion'' and ''Soul Invasion'' is activated.


    -Activation the seal, negative emotions are heightened.


    "I understand." Raito starred/bookmarked the tab as he saw that Anko was in pain.


    Anko activated another seal then the three magatamas were surrounded by three curved lines. The three curved lines had centipede-like seals crawling to her back shoulder.


    "This is the Evil Suppressing Seal made by Hokage-sama." Anko voiced out, this time there was less pain. "It''s almost perfect."


    [Evil Suppressing Seal] (Modified) (Incomplete)


    Seals made to suppress one''s evil self in oneself. Seal modified to suppress the cursed seals of Orichimaru, modified by Jiraiya.


    -Helps to dampen the negative emotion on activation of the cursed seal.


    -Suppress the activation of cursed seal spreading.


    -Restrain Chakra level and physical capabilities.


    -Resonate with specific chakra and suppress foreign chakra.


    ==


    Evil comes from greed.


    Evil comes from love.


    Evil comes from hate.


    Evil comes from justice.


    Intent is root of all evil.


    Sealing the intent to seal the evil.


    O'' Broken will,


    Swirling tides ¨C Broken lands.


    Flaws 103>>


    Use>>


    After taking notes and looking at the seal structure in the tab, Raito asked Anko to wear her clothes and gave her a warm tea.


    "This evil suppressing seal is the best that Hokage-sama and Jiraiya-sama could do. They said if only the heritage of Uzumaki were not lost, destroying this seal would be no problem." With a green ceramic teacup on her hand, Anko said with a little sadness. She struggled in the blanket, even more, searching for a comfortable position.


    "Don''t worry. I will work on it. First I will seal it completely then¡­destroy it...even if it means I have to kill Orichimaru." Raito''s voice was heavy and filled with might, his eyes burning with great determination.


    Anko gave a weak smile and said, "Don''t throw your life away. If you meet him...run, just run." The hand holding the glass tightened and cracks appeared on it.


    Seeing that Raito was not agreeing, she added, "That man is not a human, he is a monster. Even if you kill him¡­he will not die. He is just like a c.o.c.kroach, hard to kill."


    "Is that even possible?" Raito was filled with confusion.


    She nodded her head and told, "Jiraiya-sama used his ultimate technique and destroyed his head but a year later he was again seen in some part of the continent."


    "Why does it sound like, you are making this up?" After asking Raito added, "Even first Hokage, who had a strong life force, wasn''t immortal."


    "You can ask Hokage-sama one day," Anko replied weakly.


    "That''s not a lie?" Raito questioned inwardly.


    "If I take a Fuinjutsu Master Exam, then I will be at level four," Raito said, revealing one of his secrets, not even readers knew much about this or maybe the author had revealed something relating to it.


    "I even made new seals myself." Raito threw a talisman towards which Anko caught and activated it. A figure of herself appeared in the front sitting in joy and eating dango.


    Anko moved her hand and tried touching her image. She thought that the Genjutsu would disappear but she felt it, she felt touching the skin and saw that her image had looked at her.


    Anko was shocked, she knew what the talisman was for. Old man Hokage had told her about it but wasn''t it supposed to be just an illusion? Wasn''t it supposed to just disappear?


    "Hmm¡­it''s something like the river will not always follow the same path, humans have the power to turn the river. Something like that."


    "I can make modification too." Raito smiled happily.


    Anko stopped channeling chakra and the figure disappeared. "What is this talisman name?"


    "Name? I didn''t think about that. It''s just a sealed jutsu." Raito replied.


    Anko shrugged and after chatting with Raito for an hour went to sleep.


    Raito also went to his room and used his ''Chakra Sense'' to check everything then disappeared from the house.


    Sitting in his house in the wasteland, Raito took out a scroll, chakra paper, and talisman paper ready to make a seal.


    [Create Fuinjutsu activated]


    One after another explosion talisman, barrier seals and various other simple seals were created. Raito woke up till two ante meridiem and had stacks of twenty with six different seal set.


    "About one twenty." Raito massaged his muscle and stretched his body.


    "[Destroy Fuinjutsu]" Raito grabbed a seal and a red light covered the seal totally destroying it.


    [Destroy Fuinjutsu Lvl 10 (201/1000)]


    Inhaling a deep breath Raito continued the boring and laborious process of destroying the seals he had just created.


    [You have slept in a bed.]


    Raito looked at the ceiling and felt depressed.


    "Skill list. Fuinjutsu."


    [Fuinjutsu Lvl 29]


    I thought that I could get a skill but¡­it''s so disappointing."


    [Destroy Fuinjutsu Lvl 10 (320/1000)]


    "This is too slow." Raito walked out of the room and opened the door to Naruto''s where he saw Naruto in his boxer and vest drawing seals.


    "Hey, Raito. Morning."


    "Hey morning." Raito replied somewhat in a daze.


    "What''s up? You look like you have some plan." Naruto asked somewhat excitedly. He dried the seals and placed the brush down.


    Raito smiled widely and grabbed Naruto, "Naruto, why don''t we make some seals today. We should help that old man in the shop earn some money."


    Talking about seals, Naruto eyes had glitters shining as he announced, "Let''s do it. I was always thinking about that."


    Raito smiled even more widely.


    Later that day Hinata walked in the house and saw clones of Naruto sitting and making seals. Raito was also present and the stacks of seal in front of him were far more than Naruto and clones of Naruto had.


    "We ran out of chakra paper." Clones shouted in alarm. One after another they announced and soon the room was filled with panic and alarm.


    Raito immediately finished his seal then slammed the table. Taking out some money he gave it to one of the clones and asked him to buy some more from the shop.


    Raito took a huge breath then his gaze landed on Hinata who stood at the doorsteps shocked. Naruto and clones waved towards Hinata and Raito also looked at her with his wide smile.


    "Hey, Hinata, Naruto and I, are already learning Fuinjutsu. Do you want to learn too?" Raito asked.


    "Yeah, Hinata, if all three of us learn fuinjutsu then it would be so cool." Naruto chimed in.


    "I can learn Fuinjutsu?" Hinata asked after being stunned for a while then sadness filled her. "My family doesn''t practice other technique than gentle fist. I have been practicing healing techniques, which is already going against them¡­"


    "Your family can''t be that bad and not let you learn, right? They can''t be watching you all the time just to make sure that you don''t practice other things." Naruto asked his brows furrowed.


    "My family¡­" Hinata murmured with sadness.


    "If you are worried about them finding out then you can just practice inside the house." Raito shrugged.


    "My parents went a little overboard making this house. Try using your Byakugan, you cannot see through that wall and similarly, no one can see from outside to inside." Raito added.


    "This place is perfect for playing hide and seek with Byakugan user." Raito watched at the astonished gaze of Hinata and smiled. He felt proud of explaining his parent''s achievement but at the same time, he was a little worried that she may reveal the secret to her family.


    Hinata''s face had a mixture of emotion playing. Raito couldn''t wait so he went back to making the seals. Naruto also looked at Hinata in a funny way. His clones who had chakra paper left were still working and those who didn''t have chakra paper left were doing things else.


    "Pfft." Hinata let out a laugh and rubbed her face. She turned to Naruto and said, "It''s breaking the rule. I-I have never done it."


    "Oh! Don''t worry Hinata. We have broken many, many rules. So we, the experts can help you." Naruto said in a confident manner, puffing his c.h.e.s.t and beating it.


    Raito rolled his eyes and shouted, "Less nonsense and start teaching her from basics."


    After looking at Hinata for a long time, Raito said in a solemn way to Hinata, "Your clan also practices Fuinjutsu. They have one which I know¡­ ''Caged bird Cursed Seal''. Jiji told me about it and since your clan members are learning¡­I personally think you can too."


    Naruto who heard about the seal felt bitter and frowned. Naruto did know about it as he was present at that time when Hyuga member asked Raito about it.


    "I brought a chakra paper." Naruto clone shouted as he entered the room.


    But just as the door opened a shadow also entered in a lightning fast speed. Raito who had always activated his chakra seal stood up and faced the direction of the shadow.


    "My dear Genins, what are you doing?" Kakashi voice sounded as the shadow cover was lifted and his figure was revealed.


    After checking that he was indeed Kakashi, Raito felt relief. So he sat down and ignored Kakashi, opting to better use his time and make seals.


    Naruto also ignored Kakashi and dragged Hinata, taking out a book and started teaching her.


    "Oi, Naruto. Don''t teach her wrong stuff. I don''t wanna clean up your mess." Raito joked.


    "Raito-san I have some knowledge regarding fuinjutsu." Hinata voiced out.


    "I-I secretly learned a few times." She added with a low voice.


    Then Naruto continued teaching and Raito kept drawing seals.


    Kakashi never thought that he would be totally ignored. He scratched his head and looked at them, doing their own things.


    As Kakashi kept on looking at them working. He couldn''t help but feel shocked at their talent. One after another seals were drawn and talisman was made. Layers after layers stacks after stacks.


    Naruto would bring something to eat from time to time and also would give to Kakashi. Raito increased his speed and soon a total of two hundred talisman and seals, was made at the end of the third hour, form Raito alone.


    On the other hand, each Naruto clones had a stack of eighty seals. With ten of them and a high level of chakra, almost eight hundred seals were made by them.


    After all cleanup, the messy room was much better and the stacks of seals and talisman were on the table. Raito looked at the table and his skill panel.


    Facing Naruto, Raito bit his lips and with his voice shaking, Raito called out, "H-Hey Naruto."


    "Raito?" Naruto looked at Raito with confusion. He never heard Raito with that tone.


    Taking a deep breath, Raito asked for it directly. "Can you give me five hundred seals?"


    There was silence in the room as Naruto looked at Raito. After a long time, Naruto asked with a head tilt, "Why are you asking? You are really acting weird."


    "Take how much ever you want. But what are you going to do with them?" Naruto''s nonchalant manner was making Raito feel ants crawling.


    "¡­Destroy them." The answer Raito give stunned not only Naruto but also Kakashi.


    But after a while, Naruto gave the same answer, "Okay."


    Nodding Raito sat down and the clones helped move seals in front of Raito. He picked a seal in his hand and with a red glow the seal was destroyed in pieces.


    "Woo." Naruto was truly amazed at the scene. Hinata who was sitting with Naruto grabbed Naruto''s arm hard then she looked back at the book Naruto had given her.


    Raito kept eye on the skill panel and kept destroying the seals. One after another, with a red glow, the seals kept getting destroyed.


    Kakashi who had silently pulled the forehead protector, using his Sharingan to analyze what Raito was doing. But it was useless, all in vain. Just like how Raito disappeared from the spot that time in Hokage tower, now the destruction of the seal was another mystery. But now a more baffling thing happened. Kakashi was able to see the chakra flowing in the past but now he only saw the darkness, only pitch black.


    [Stealth Lvl 50 CP Cost 40 per minute]


    An essential skill for all shinobi. This skill allows the user the ability to move around undetected. Remain undetected, not to be heard or seen. Power of life and power of darkness.


    -Sound cancellation. (On activation, the sound made by the movement of the body will disappear. Also applied to the equipment.)


    -Dark Cover. (Passive. A layer of darkness hides everything the user want. Limited to oneself.)


    Every skill was evolving, after every ten or twenty levels, new lines would appear which made Raito want to increase his level more and more. There would be some skill which would add additional skill under them and there would be some skill which will increase in effect and


    Giving gifts to do work, just like motivation. Gifts are skills and stat points.


    In games, played or to be played, there is just one goal, defeat the opposition party. Ina game to kill, kill. In a game to rule, rule. Farming, management, racing, fighting, puzzle, card, shooting, tower defense. Every single one of the game had one goal and that was to defeat the opposition.


    Kakashi saw the destruction of the seals and couldn''t help but feel pain. Raito was destroying treasure, life-saving treasure. But what could he say, Naruto had already separated a part of the seals to be sold to the village.


    But to him, Raito was turning into more and more of a mystery, just like his parents who came from nowhere and joined the village.


    Reminiscing back, Kakashi couldn''t help but feel bitter. Pulling back the forehead protector, Kakashi continued reading his book.


    In an hour, Raito had already finished destroying more than half of the seals they had made. But Naruto kept on making more seals on and on. When Raito destroyed about five, Naruto would make one.


    Hinata who had just started was already practicing her calligraphy.


    [Destroy Fuinjutsu Lvl 11 (112/1200)]


    "Let''s stop for today." Raito stretched.


    Fiery red orb of light slowly sank. Threads of light lingered in the sky, mingling with the rolling clouds, dyeing the skies orange and red. The breeze from the eastern lands carrying leaves with it, once it goes and next it goes down. Leaves from east appear at west. Birds flying in the sky with the intent to return to their nest. Men and animals returning home alike.


    Slices of meat marinated in spices and oil. Colors added on meat strips, giving watchers think of infinite possibilities. Mouth salivating and stomach rumbling.


    Pan with oil and vapors coming through. As the meat slice touched the oil, a sizzling sound caught the crowd attention. One after another the sizzling sounds increased and an aroma covered the kitchen.


    With tongs, Raito turned the meat slices around and a new song was created.


    "Ow." The flames burned and pricked Raito. But only one point of Health Point was lost.


    "Hmph. Rock Fist." Soon both of his forearms were covered with rocks sparring the palms of his hand.


    Looking at the scene, Kakashi couldn''t help but shake his hand. Even he, sometime would use jutsu as such. Like replacement and clone techniques to trick Gai, to escape from his challenges. Using ''Fire spark'' instead of lighter to light the gas for cooking. And many more that Kakashi couldn''t even remember. He had copied hundreds of techniques which had many practical values.


    Picking out the fried meat, Raito placed them on a plate with a base of salad of various assortments and topped off with a little gravy. Along with meat, there was rice, soup, and vegetables.


    The dishes and bowls were placed on the table. Four sides, four dishes, and four people.


    Raito felt slightly difficult as Hinata and Kakashi joined the table.


    He bought new bowls, plates, and chopsticks. Cleaned them with spring water and using earth control carved their names on the items just like what he had done to all who walked in.


    With Kakashi keen eyes, he had already found about it but what was there to say. It felt like he was once again a part of a family, a small but pretty cute family.


    Wearing normal civilian clothes, Kakashi looked like a handsome brother but the mask was still causing people to look at him weirdly. Some knew him but many didn''t and for Raito, it was somewhat confusing.


    Hinata in her white dress looked like a flower blooming in the darkness under the moonlight, just like a light at the endless darkness.


    Waving her goodbye the three walked towards the busy street of Konoha market stalls. Raito brought food from time to time, not knowing that he already had spent thousand. As they walked, the streets got quieter and Kakashi stood in front of a building for J¨­nins.


    He looked at Raito before asking directly, "Do you need seals?"


    "Yes." Raito wasn''t modest at all.


    "To destroy?" his lazy voice had hints of curiosity mixed as he kept on questioning Raito.


    "Yes." Again one word one intent.


    "Wait a while." Kakashi walked up to his floor and came back with a few scrolls in his hand.


    "Take it." Kakashi tossed the scroll towards Raito and Naruto. There was a couple of dozen of scrolls.


    Opening the scrolls, Raito found each of them were storage seals. Every one of them were intermediate level storage seals. One could fit a small room of things inside it and capable of storing five hundred of the same seal.


    "These¡­"


    Pulling back his forehead protector, he said, "This eye remember everything. I have seen many sealing techniques in my time and mastered every single one of them easily with Sharingan¡­. But¡­ I am not able to create new seals. Jiraiya-sama also said that I have no creative talent for Fuinjutsu but with Sharingan, I could compensate for it."


    There was silence for a while. Kakashi continued, "But I have never stopped practicing, I tried again and again and have acc.u.mulated this all."


    Raito was seriously thinking and was confused, "If you have so many seals so why didn''t you sell them?"


    Kakashi looked sideways. There were hints of awkwardness between.


    Raito rolled his eyes and used observe skill.


    [Hatake Kakashi Lvl?]


    [Emotion ¨C Embarrassed]


    Storing the scrolls in the inventory, Raito picked out one and pushed his chakra into the storage seal.


    Tag, seals, and talismans appeared in front of him, having one, two and three characters each respectively.


    [Illumination Seal] (Uncommon) (Low Rank)


    Made by Hatake Kakashi


    Grade: 1/10


    [Burning Seal] (Uncommon) (Low Rank)


    Made by Hatake Kakashi


    Grade: 1/10


    [Paralyzing Tag]


    [Blood Clotting Seal]


    [Explosion Talisman]


    As Raito looked at them, heaviness landed on Raito''s eye because each and every one of them were the worst, the lowest grade.


    "These are seriously bad." Raito commented as he held a seal in each of his hand.


    "That''s how it is." Kakashi shrugged.


    Raito destroyed the seal and saw that there was progress in the skill. Immediately feeling happy, Raito stored the rest and thanked Kakashi.


    Kakashi advised the two boys for some time before walking upstairs. Raito and Naruto waved Kakashi goodbye before walking upstairs.


    "Ne, Raito, why do you want so much of them?" Naruto asked in confusion. Naruto had given Raito all the worse seals he had made but then again Raito wanted more.


    "I want to learn how to destroy seals." Raito replied simply.


    "You want to learn how to destroy seals?" Naruto was flabbergasted. While he was trying how to make seals, Raito was more focused on how to destroy the seals.


    Shaking his head Naruto decided to just leave it be. If there is isn''t anything that he didn''t understand, the reason will be he didn''t need to.


    Wearing an orange t-shirt and white short pants, Naruto had a small smile on his face. With hands behind his head, Naruto looked at the moon on the way back home.


    One after another, seals glowed in red and destroyed in ashes. And after a long time, he finally heard a clear melody.


    [Fuinjutsu Lvl 30]


    Skill ''Binding'' unlocked.


    [Binding techniques]


    Yeah because the author didn''t know how to write about it so, he just left it blank.


    Raito again went blank in the calm surrounding. His brain was filling with new information, maybe or maybe these ideas were never introduced in this world or was lost in the history of time.


    The gleam in his eyes was rejuvenated. Jolting straight, Raito quickly went to find a notebook with yellow pages with a black cover and golden sides. There even was a golden Yoshizawa family seal at the middle of the cover.


    The notebook was old and the sack in which it was kept was even older.


    Patting the black notebook in his hand, Raito placed it on the table and nicked the thumb of his finger. Gathering chakra in the drop of blood that was forming slowly, Raito dropped the blood on the Yoshizawa family seal and soon the drop of blood got slowly absorbed. After the blood was absorbed the golden yellow family seal changed into a blood-red color.


    [Binding Successful]


    [Book of Secrets]


    Owner ¨C Yoshizawa Raito (Bounded)


    A simple book, made by chakra paper, bounded by a blood ritual to Yoshizawa Raito.


    The introduction was short and not very detailed. Everything depended on Raito in what he wanted to do next.


    Raito sat in front of the small table and played with the brush in his hand. On the table, there was a scroll with characters inscribed in it. After thinking for a while, Raito continued inscribing characters in the scrolls. He would stop for several moments then again continue.


    Time past and it was now midnight. An eerie silence with darkness pushed by the moonlight glow. In a certain house, the light lit up in a room seen by a window.


    Raito had a black book in his hand which had a heavy aura. Leaving the first-page blank, he turned the page. A drop of ink at one side then a drop of blood at other side. Instead of spreading and making a mark on the paper, the ink and blood was gradually being absorbed.


    The scroll at the table which was filled with characters were being gradually turned into a single character, under the control of Raito''s chakra. And soon there were no characters on the scrolls. Only one seal ''Shadow Clone''.


    With chakra storage seals on the table, Raito was fully ready to start the final stage. After performing a multitude of handseals, Raito concentrated the chakra at the index finger of his two hands. His hands separated and a thread of chakra was created linking two fingers.


    The scroll with the ''Shadow Clone'' seal was at a side and laying at other side on the scroll was ''the book''. The indexes of his finger touched at the characters and then on the ink drop side of the book. Soon the character disappeared from the scroll and appeared in the book. While the character disappeared and reappeared, he had already used the chakra storage which could hold about five thousand points of chakra each. At the other side of the page, there was a black circle with a red dot at the center.


    One page had the character seal while other had a circle.


    [Binding Successful]


    Raito closed the book and used ''Chakra Sense''. He could see that a very thin thread linked himself and the black book.


    [A secret technique has been created.]


    [A new technique has been recorded under the ''Book of Secrets''.]


    [Technique ''Shadow Clone'' has been recorded.]


    [A goal has been achieved. 200 points gained.]


    "Hidden Sealed Technique ¨C Shadow clone."


    As Raito pushed chakra on the book, a clone appeared in front of his.


    [Raito''s Clone No. 1]


    Durability ¨C 150/150


    CP ¨C 1200/1200


    "Hey."


    "Hey."


    "Can you¡­"


    "Yeah, I can do that and everything else." Clone answered before Raito could finish.


    Raito picked the table and placed it inside the inventory then looked at his clone. His clone also pulled out the table placing it at its original position.


    A smile hung on Raito''s face as watched the scene. "We have a lot to experiment."

 Chapter 31 - 31 – Gifts and Inheritance

    Chapter 31 ¨C Gifts and Inheritance


    [You have slept in your bed.]


    [HP and CP have been fully recovered. All negative status and ailments have been cured.]


    "Yawn!" Raito stretched and looked through his skill list.


    [Fuinjutsu (Active/Passive) Lvl 30]


    [Katana Mastery Lvl 25]


    [Shadow Clone (Active) Lvl 10 CP Cost 100]


    Laughing happily, Raito started his day.


    Outside the Hokage tower, at the training ground, Raito threw the punch trying to hit Naruto. But Naruto used his shadow clone to distract Naruto and subsequently counter-attack him. From the side, Hinata swiped Naruto''s legs destroying his clone.


    "Hey!" Naruto jumped and got hit by Raito''s strike, making him stumble back.


    Swish! Hinata''s finger acted fast and landed just before Naruto''s neck. Barely a few inches away.


    "You lose." Raito announced shaking his head.


    "Naruto-kun, you need to work on your techniques." Hinata commented.


    "Uh¡­" Naruto nodded then sat down in the shade of the tree accompanied by Raito and Hinata.


    "You should have defended when I attacked you at the face¡­" Naruto, Raito, and Hinata discussed on their fighting techniques, trying to improve their fighting styles.


    A ninja wearing a Ch¨±nin jacket stood at the corridor looking out of the window and watching the three. The ninja was exactly Iruka, who had a slight smile on his face.


    "Cute, aren''t they?" a lazy voice from behind asked.


    "Kakashi-sempai, I believe keeping them in a group is well deserved." Iruka turned and watched Kakashi who was reading the orange book.


    Iruka sighed and started, "And¡­Kakashi-sempai, please go to the mission desk for today''s mission. Please stop making trouble for them."


    Kakashi closed his book and stared at Iruka. Turning to look at Raito and the group he smiled slightly, "They can do those D-Rank any time. I am just letting them enjoy their time."


    Iruka rubbed his temples and after some random chit-chatting went to teach his class.


    Kakashi watched the Genins training and couldn''t help but feel an itch in his heart.


    After discussing, Raito and Naruto attacked Hinata, forcing her in a defensive situation. And the same thing happened when Raito was ganged up. Time went by and soon it was noon, neither Kakashi disturbed them and neither anyone interrupted them.


    At noon, academy students started walking out as the classes had ended. Not wanting to be looked at by other students, Raito made hand signs and walked out. Hinata was puzzled by it and she was in a daze for a while. Naruto who had started to walk out, pulled Hinata and answered her, "That hand sign means ''move out''. There are lots of hand signs we use when bunking classes and running from the Ch¨±nin patrolling the village."


    "Naruto-kun, I-I know a little bit of those hand signs. Where did you learn those from?" Hinata asked with thought. She had learned the hand signs from Kurenai when she was under her.


    "Anko-nee and Yugao-nee taught us. They say that we need to learn those in the future. Anyway, why not learn them now?" Naruto answered while climbing the stairs.


    "Me, Raito, Shika, and Ch¨­ji. We all have learned them." Naruto continued joyfully.


    Hinata looked towards Naruto and opened her small mouth seemingly wanting to ask him to teach him but she was worried that Raito would refuse her.


    "What''s the point of learning a bit?" Raito who was walking forward turned around and asked.


    "We will help you learn them." After saying that Raito continued forward.


    As the three climbed the stairs and walked in front of the mission desk, they heard a lazy voice, "You three finally came."


    Kakashi sat on a chair, lazily reading his book and playing with a stone bead on the other hand.


    "Hey, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto called out loudly.


    Hinata bowed with her hands grabbing one another.


    Raito also nodded then looked at the woman opposite him.


    "Ne, Nee-chan, were you late today¡­too?" Raito asked in a nasal voice.


    "Eh?" the woman revealed a shocked face, looking at the kid in front of her.


    Smiling Raito added, "Kota-sempai said you were always late like Kakashi-sensei, I wonder why?"


    The woman''s face turned and she looked down. It was true that she was taking advantage of Kota who was soft-hearted to just sleep of an extra few hours.


    Taking a scroll and entering the scroll serial number, he jolted down his own identification number.


    "I don''t think you should do that. Kota-sempai is a naturally good-hearted person. As you are sleeping a few hour extras, he is sleeping a few hours late." Raito mumbled his chakra influencing her.


    Kakashi who was sitting was now by Raito''s side, his hand pressing on Raito''s shoulder.


    "Don''t go being mean again, Raito?" Naruto shouted.


    "Uh¡­Lady, don''t listen to him. He is just speaking nonsense. If you want to sleep, sleep more. I am sure that no one will mind that. Hmph, isn''t it just sleeping a bit more?" Naruto said with a smile then questioned with a harrumph.


    Raito stood petrified as he could feel his chakra slow down, starting from his own shoulder.


    Raito glared at Kakashi who looked back at him with a smile. "Ah, I think I forgot about that¡­"


    "There isn''t anyone around so I¡­" Raito said in mosquito voice which was heard by Kakashi alone.


    "How could I forget my ID number?" with a laugh Kakashi entered his number and tore open the scroll.


    "It''s chopping down firewood." Naruto and Hinata entered their ID number and followed Raito and Kakashi who had already left the mission desk leaving the woman alone.


    "Why are you using that technique?" Kakashi asked.


    "She is a selfish person and I think it was really unfair for Kota-sempai." Raito tried explaining.


    Kakashi sighed, "Kota already knew what was going on. It was his choice to not do anything."


    "But¡­"


    "It''s his choice. Let it be." Kakashi rubbed Raito''s head slowly.


    Feeling anger boiling inside him, Raito hit the hand away and walked towards the mission destination using the Gamer''s power.


    "Hey, where is Raito?" Naruto asked form behind.


    Kakashi looked at the distance and said, "He is going ahead."


    Hinata used her Byakugan and searched for Raito. Seeing that Raito had been walking towards the mission destination, she sighed in relief.


    Raito ran forward with his breath heavy and hot air coming out of his nostrils. After a couple of minutes, Raito was already at the edge of the village, where houses were sparse and trees were more.


    Walking forward, Raito found that the mission was from a two-storied plain wooden house. There was a big busty woman who was hanging the clothes to dry.


    As if feeling the gaze, the big busty woman turned around to meet Raito''s eye.


    "Little ninja, who are you?" The woman dried her hands and walked forward.


    "Ah, Ahem. My name is Raito and I am here for a mission." Introducing himself Raito took out the scroll and gave it to the woman.


    The woman quickly went through the scroll and gave it back to Raito. "Where is your team, little ninja?"


    "They will be here soon. I just was a bit too excited." Raito lied with an embarrassed face.


    The woman looked at Raito for some time then waved her hand calling him. Raito followed her to the house, where he sat waiting for Kakashi and others to appear. He could feel the occasional prick at the back of his neck. He would look back from time to time and even use his ''Chakra Sense'' but even so, he couldn''t find anyone and that scared him.


    Raito stood up and walked forward, slowly walking out of the courtyard.


    "Where are you going?" the busty woman from behind called.


    "Nowhere, my team was late so¡­"


    "Raito!" Naruto''s loud voice tore through making Raito and the busty woman turn around.


    "Oh my, Kakashi-san. It''s you again." The busty woman walks forward and slapped his arms.


    "Isako-san." Kakashi made a slight bow.


    "Still the same." Then she laughed out loud.


    "These kids, yours? And this one¡­is a bit wild." Isako looked at the three then pointed at Raito.


    "And look at him, it seems like he was totally angry with something." Isako gave Kakashi a side glance.


    "You are chopping firewoods for me. They are at the back like always. I''ll be back by the end of the day." Isako pointed to the back of the house, then grabbing a basket, left the home carefreely.


    The big busty woman, Isako talked a lot like a chatterbox then in an instant went out of the house like a wind.


    "Uh¡­that''s¡­"


    Walking the back of the house, Kakashi called out, "You lot have tons of work to do. Follow me."


    Raito who was holding an axe in his hand, looked at the log in front of him with a smile. Bringing the axe overhead, Raito with full force hit the log while activating the skill. ''Power Strike''


    THUD


    The axe split the log into two equal half and hit the stump below making a loud noise.


    Naruto who was at the side flinched for a second before placing another log on the stump.


    Raito who had a devious smile on his face, continued to split the logs for a long time before Kakashi asked him to stop and let others try.


    [Power Strike (Active) Lvl 5]


    Strikes the target with a strong force.


    75% Increase in Attack Damage.


    10% Increase in Critical Rate.


    "Down!" Naruto shouted as he spilt the log.


    Raito closed all the tabs and looked at his status page. Except for INT which has already reached above, 50 and the next highest was VIT which was 49.


    And then looking at the acc.u.mulated stat points, Raito decided to use one point, just to test.


    VIT which was 49 turned to 50.


    [Blood Vitality]


    HP +2000


    Increase HP Recovery Rate by two times.


    Raito closed the tab then looked at the status page before closing it quickly. Even after closing it, Raito could feel his d.e.s.i.r.e clearly, wanting to increase his stats. Patting his c.h.e.s.t, Raito took a few deep breaths.


    There was a moment when he wanted to, no, a d.e.s.i.r.e to increase his stats.


    Sticking into a tree, Raito waited for Naruto and Hinata to finish.


    "You are using your time wisely." Kakashi who was sitting on the branch said.


    "Huh? Yeah¡­somewhat." Raito who was in a daze replied in confusion.


    Kakashi who was reading a book, closed the book and looked quizzically at Raito and asked, "Do you have something on your mind?


    "N-No not-nothing." Raito denied it fast after coming out of a daze.


    "Don''t think about Kota too much. He will be fine." Kakashi said for the sake of saying.


    "Kota-senpai¡­No, I am not thinking about him. I understand that what he does is for himself. Even though a nice person like him is getting taken advantage of." Raito waved his hand and dropped down. Taking out a wooden katana, Raito started practicing doing the same stance.


    Kakashi looked at his book and blinked a few times. ''Naive but it has some effect, it leaves a bad taste.''


    "Man, how much is left?" Naruto blew at his hands which were now a bit red.


    "A lot more, Naruto-kun?" Hinata replied as she stuck the axe at the stump.


    "Give me." Raito took the axe and stood in front of the stump.


    "Hehe." ''Power Strike'' Raito activated the skill and split the log easily.


    For about 3000 CP using about 100 CP every time and using the skill 30 times. After a couple of times of resting and working with skills, the skill raised by two levels which made Raito happy.


    Looking at Raito who was meditating and felt the recovering chakra, Kakashi sighed in sorrow.


    Naruto already had high chakra reserve and Raito now had high chakra recovery rate. And Kakashi who was poor in both of the department felt jealous.


    While Raito split down the logs, he had a leaf stuck on the back of his hand and by doing so he got another skill unlocked.


    [Multitasking (Passive)]


    ''It feels quite easy after I got the skill.'' Raito took out another leaf and stuck it on the back of his left palm.


    "And there is no skill level." Raito checked the skill multiple time, comparing it with ''Sword Drawing Arts''.


    "Little ninjas, how are you all doing?" Isako carrying a basket walked towards them.


    Handing each of them a couple of bread, she checked the firewood. "Good, good. A lot of them have a clean line."


    Looking at Raito, she commanded while pointing at the log on the stump, "Show me your best shot."


    Raito raised his eyebrows then looked at Kakashi. Kakashi looked at Isako then back at Raito nodding back at him.


    Raito picked up the axe then marked the surface of the log. Raising the axe high in the sky, the axe fell down, coming in contact with the log then quickly reaching the surface of the stump, splitting the log in clean half.


    "Wrong, wrong." Isako shook her head then went towards Raito, her eye scrutinizing the confused Raito.


    Raito naturally wanted to step back under Isako gaze but before he could, Isako had caught his hand and said, "Grab that axe, properly."


    "H-Hai." Raito gripped the axe with both of his hands slowly lifting it up.


    "Dominant hand should be up." Isako added from the side.


    "Okay." Raito followed her instruction and changed his grip.


    "Raise the axe high up and use chakra on your forearms, shoulder, and back." Isako instructed further and Raito obeyed, following her instruction to ''T''.


    "Ha!" The axe landed on the stump with a loud sound.


    [Split (Active) Lvl 1 CP Cost: 120]


    Cut down into half.


    40% increase in Attack Power


    "Good. Little ninja, you are a quick learner." Isako praised Raito then instructed Naruto then Hinata.


    Raito and Naruto continued to split down the logs, one after another, making one clean cut after another. Whereas Hinata who struggling as compared to them, split the log but continued to do physical training under the guidance of Kakashi.


    At the Hidden Library


    "Argh!" Naruto shouted holding the book.


    Kakashi sighed as he closed the thick book and massaging his forehead. "Naruto, stop. We need to finish this book today."


    "It''s too much. I can''t." Naruto cried.


    "Naruto-kun." Hinata wanted to encourage.


    Raito sighed, turning around he brought out an item.


    "Let''s take a break." Kakashi placed the book on the table and took out a scroll.


    Sniff, Sniff.


    "Ramen!" Naruto''s s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e nose focused on the direction of Raito who had cup ramen.


    Raito smiled and gave Naruto the ramen cup. Turning to face Hinata, who was frightened by his sudden action, Raito sighed then brought out a bento box and gave it to Hinata.


    Hinata grabbed the box and opened it slowly. As soon as she opened it, she couldn''t help but cry out in joy. It was cinnamon rolls, her delicacy.


    Watching them Kakashi turned in anticipation.


    "I really don''t know what you like, Kakashi-sensei. But I have this regular bento box." Giving Kakashi a bento box Raito focused back on his own food.


    ''This is punishment?'' Touching the somewhat plain bento box, Kakashi cried silently.


    After a whole two hour of studying on formation, tactics, and whatnot, they finally left the library heading home.


    Looking at the dark clouds gathering, Raito could feel that he was not going to have an easy time.


    Walking in a familiar way, Raito took frequent turns gradually reaching to the clan district. But before clan district was a small market district. Raito passed by Yamanaka flower shop, which was closed, right now.


    As he walked on, he saw Ino who was knocking on a door, a bit frantically.


    "Sakura! Open the door!" Ino banged on the door


    "Damn." She cursed, huffing and puffing.


    "Oi, Ino." Raito called out.


    "Raito?" Ino went through her and hearing someone familiar calling out turned to see Raito.


    "What are you doing?" Raito looked at the beads of sweat covering her forehead, her slightly labored breathing, and her tired face which was a little pale.


    Looking at the house, he sighed and took out a bottle of spring water and gave it to Ino. "Drink and wait."


    Ino absent-mindedly grabbed the bottle while Raito walked into a store. Ino felt a bit angry waiting for Raito. In anger, she twisted open the cap and took one big gulp.


    "Ahh." Ino felt the soothing water inside her mouth cooling her, energizing her. Looking at the bottle alone made Ino think that Raito was a bit blurry.


    Moments later the door to Sakura''s house opened and from inside came Raito, which clearly surprised Ino, who had her mouth opened.


    Ino quickly walked in after recovering from the shock. Looking intently at Raito, she turned and Ino called out to Sakura but received no answer.


    Walking past Raito, Ino searched around the ground floor. Raito looked around seeing there were dishes and plates in the sink. A couple of bowls and chopsticks. Using ''Observe'' Raito found that they were last used in a different time and all of them were used by Sakura alone. Looking at the rice cooker, he found that it was last used three days ago. In fact, nothing was used three days ago.


    Looking up Raito expanded the chakra bubble and extended, reaching Sakura''s room. "She is upstairs."


    Ino looked at him. Nodding walked upstairs but before she could open the door, she retreated. Looking back at Raito with some fear.


    "What are you waiting for? Sakura is still inside and alive." Raito replied with some distaste.


    Ino huffed, opened the door and walked inside.


    "Sakura!" With a shout, Ino ran inside.


    The room was dark and had a musty smell which made Raito frown. Walking inside, he saw Ino in a corner with Sakura, who was hugging her knees. She looked pale and, her clothes and hair were dirty.


    Ino was going to start using ''Mystic Palm Technique'' but was stopped by Raito.


    [Haruno Sakura]


    HP: 500/1600


    CP: 250/600


    [Malnourished, Fatigue, Stressed, Weakening¡­]


    There were tons of negative status on Sakura.


    ''Heal.'' Raito''s hand glowed green and the green light linked with Sakura''s skin.


    HP: 1000/1600


    "¡­I-Ino." Sakura''s hollowed eyes moved and looked towards Ino.


    "Sakura." With tears in her eyes, she gently hugged Sakura and started to sob. "You dummy."


    Raito walked forward, opening the curtains and the window. Then Raito used the ''Erasing Wind'' to force out the musty smell from the room.


    "I will bring something for her to eat. Clean he up." Raito went down towards the kitchen and started cleaning.


    "Sakura." Ino called her gently as she stripped the clothes on Sakura.


    "I¡­" Sakura was still hollow, sadness filling the room.


    Ino used her clan''s technique to correct her mind and body, nourishing her, slowly.


    "Ino¡­what, what am I¡­do¡­what am I going to do?" Sakura cried in despair.


    Ino who was helping Sakura to wipe her body saw numerous scratch marks; abrasion and contusions which were healed by Raito''s healing technique.


    Downstairs Raito took out few pieces of bread and put those in a wooden basket filled the bottles with spring water and even the soup was made up of spring water.


    Pressing the table with his hands, Raito frowned, "Why the hell am I doing this?"


    Raito grabbed the newspaper and letters from the mailbox, Raito walked inside, going through them.


    He placed all the newspaper and letters down, holding one letter in his hand. "Stupid." Raito opened the letter and went through it. Cl.i.c.k.i.n.g his tongue, Raito brought out a new paper and with a pen started writing, imitating the handwriting.


    A tray in his hand, Raito walked upstairs reaching the room. With few knocks, he entered and place the tray at the table. Sakura was sitting on a chair while Ino was brushing her hair.


    Placing another chair in front of Sakura, Raito gestured Ino to sit and take the tray from his hands. Agreeing, Ino tried feeding Sakura but he barely responded.


    Raito sighed once again. He grabbed the letter opening it, he read. "Haruno Sakura, graduate of ####BN0144, I, Umino Iruka, congratulate you on passing the academy exam and wish for you to attend the Genin Corps. The academy and the Hokage tower is willing to help you develop if you are willing to join the Hospital. For further plans please meet me in the Academy."


    Raito closed the letter and gave it to Sakura, who had tears coming out of her eyes.


    Mixing chakra to his voice, Raito said, "Eat, prepare yourself and go. I think hospital suits you very well¡­ And if you do well, you can also become a field ninja."


    After saying everything, Raito faked looking at his watch and ran in a hurry saying he was late. Raito couldn''t see Sakura''s grateful eye and Ino''s smiling face.


    "Now that he is gone, let''s prepare you for tomorrow." Ino grinned as he handed Sakura the food tray.


    In an area slightly close to the village center, Raito walked towards a big courtyard, where he was stopped by a person.


    "Raito? You are finally here." The man with short dull yellow hair walked in front of him, blocking his way.


    "I was called by Inoichi-sensei." Raito not wanting to talk more directly stated the facts.


    "Fine, fine. But know that the elders are not very fond of you." The man''s voice directly appeared in Raito''s head.


    Raito gave an eye then being led by the man reached Inoichi''s house.


    Knock! Knock!


    Raito knocked on the door and entered the room. Directly walking to the room inside the house in a familiar manner, Raito opened the door to the room to see Inoichi who was sitting on his knees and reading the thick book.


    "Inoichi-sensei." Raito bowed and waited.


    Closing the book, Inoichi stood up and grabbed a couple of scrolls from the shelf and gave it to Raito.


    "This will be the last time you will be coming here." Inoichi had hints of sadness when giving the scroll to Raito.


    Grabbing the scrolls, Raito said, "Thank you." Then placing the scrolls on the table, he started reading it.


    "Rank-A. Extermination Bandits of the Northern Black hills. ANBU ¨C Team ''A'' ¨C 31, 36, 41 and 42 involved.


    Northern Black Hill, on the northeastern area close to the ''Gambling'' Village and Land of the Hot Springs with an area of five hundred meter square. No roadway, only pathway. Bandit nest present at the four-minute mark from the foot of the hill. Walls and house made up of woods only.


    Northern Black hill bandits. Total of two hundred men. 100 Genin level. 80 mid and high Ch¨±nin level. 20 J¨­nin, 4 high levels, 6 mid-level, and 10 low levels.


    Estimated deaths. Four minor villages destroyed. Approximate death calculated. Child ¨C 2,800. Middle age ¨C 6,800. Old age ¨C 1,100 Male ¨C 5,500. Female ¨C 5,200. Mostly normal villagers and village guards present.


    Patrolled by Genin and Ch¨±nin level bandits. Killed using stealth tactics and disguising techniques. The illusion of ''everything fine'' till last moment. Used high level elemental jutsu to kill Ch¨±nin and J¨­nin level bandits."


    After reading the summary, Raito took a huge breath then again continued reading the full view of the mission. It was typical extermination. Group of ANBU reached the hills and using stealth and disguise killed the patrol gradually going upwards, killing most of the Genin and Ch¨±nin. Most of the high level Ch¨±nin and J¨­nin stayed in the small shelter at the hillside, playing with women and drinking alcohol. They used high level jutsu to kill the bandits. The fight was extremely detailed explaining as much as possible.


    Raito went through a couple of the scrolls and finished them all in half an hour. Tying the knots to the scroll, Raito placed them back to the shelf.


    Inoichi walked and gestured Raito to walk out to the streets.


    Inoichi sighed as he reached the flower shop, "I suppose you won''t be coming here anymore."


    "I will definitely join your Ch¨±nin classes." Raito replied in positive view but the answer was very clear.


    "This past one and a half year, I was very grateful to be your teacher." Buying coconut water, Inoichi gave one to Raito and with the help of straw, s.u.c.k.e.d.


    "You have been reading all those case files in this past year and I hope it may have helped you. If you want more of them go to the Nara clan, they have lots of it."


    "Yeah, Nara clan are second storage house for information. I know." Raito replied s.u.c.k.i.n.g his coconut juice.


    Seeing that Raito was not very interested in his talks, Inoichi sighed then said, "As I promised your father¡­I have somewhat helped you and for the family jutsu. I have it here." Inoichi took out a scroll dangling in front of Raito.


    "You are not going to give it to me for free?" Raito asked rolling his eyes.


    [Quest Created]


    "What do I have to do?"


    "Nothing, just answer my question."


    "Come with me." Smiling Inoichi let Raito sit on a bench.


    With candy in his hand, Inoichi pointed at the couple with his gaze. "You see that couple?"


    "If you want me to name them, I can." Raito started first.


    "NO, I don''t need their name but I want your conclusion."


    "I knew it wasn''t going to be easy."


    "Look at that couple. The wife is hiding behind the stalls and the husband buys flower every another day from the shop, white, yellow and red. I want you to tell me if he is a cheater or not."


    "Seriously?" Raito stared at Inoichi.


    "Yup. You can even guess but you have to answer right." Inoichi replied with a big smile.


    Looking at the man and at the woman next, Raito answered plainly, "He is not a cheater."


    "Yes, you are right." Inoichi looked at the man and sighed.


    He continued, "He goes to the graveyard from time to time but his wife always follows him and watches him buying flower and going to the graveyard.


    There is this; husband and wife.


    There was another household; a man, a woman, and a servant."


    "Can I not listen?" Raito asked pitifully.


    Inoichi ignored Raito and continued, "The husband loved the woman and the servant was his best friend.


    The man loved the wife and had tried many times to court her but was rejected every time."


    "SO?" Raito drawled and was immediately met with Inoichi''s glare.


    "One evening¡­the servant went out with the husband to drink late at night. The wife meets with the woman during evening shopping. She was called by the woman to the house where she was fed with foods laced with sleeping drugs. The wife is passed out and the man comes in picking the wife taking her to someplace."


    "This is some bad story." Raito voiced out with sour face.


    The serious face of Inoichi turned bad and bonking Raito continued his bad story.


    "But in all this planning the man didn''t think that the servant was a bit of nice person. He told everything to the husband and got punched by him. The husband ran and in time crashed the house. There he saw the woman who he loved but he also noticed his wife''s struggling sound inside the room. Blood rushed into his head, he rushed and grabbed a knife, slamming open the door the husband and man struggled and at the end, the man got stabbed, died within minutes. The woman who saw the entire scene was shocked, struggling. She pulled out the knife and looking at the couple hugging, she killed herself, plunging the knife in the abdomen."


    "It''s stupid."


    "Yeah but it just doesn''t end there. Seconds later the servant came home and see the woman dying. He took the knife from her hand and-"


    "Killed himself?" Raito asked plainly.


    "Yeah, Ninjas were involved with the ''Village Police'' and it was decided that¡­the husband was not guilty."


    "But the penalty code¡­"


    "Although it is not in the penalty code, we think about all the things that are the cause and the reason that has led to the end. Looking at the end, origin and progress is the correct thing to do." Inoichi raised his finger and said sagely.


    "Um¡­I have already answered your question. So, that means¡­" Raito looked at the couple who were walking towards the graveyard then looked back at Inoichi.


    "Yeah, yeah." Inoichi took out a scroll from his jacket and gave it to Raito.


    [You cannot learn ''Mind Voice Transmission'']


    [Requirements ¨C VIT: 90, WIS: 100]


    [You cannot learn ''Mind Maze'']


    [Requirements ¨C INT: 80, WIS: 80, VIT; 80]


    "It will be quite a while when you learn that." Inoichi said with a bit of sadness.


    "That''s from elder-"


    "Yeah, they gave these."


    "The jutsu is not for attack then? Maybe more of a support." Raito asked plainly.


    Inoichi sighed then facing the flower shop he asked, "You got the inheritance, didn''t you?"


    "That''s my next destination." Raito kept the scrolls inside his jacket then stood up.


    Facing Inoichi, Raito bowed deeply and said in a very sincere voice, ignoring the crowd behind, "Thank you for everything. Everything that happened for the past year, I will remember it forever."


    Inoichi was looking at Raito. He remembered two years back what Raito looked like. He was a mess, a true mess. Locking himself in a single room, ignoring everyone else. And when the room was opened, forcing open the seals in the house, Raito was seen hugging his knees in a small corner in a small room.


    Then it was a grueling process of healing and now two years later, Raito was standing in front of him better than ever, more brilliant, shining, dazzling and amazing him.


    Reverting to his position, Raito looked at Inoichi and asked to end his curiosity or he hoped, "Inoichi-sensei, why didn''t you help Sasuke?"


    ¡­


    Inoichi placed the water can on the stand and sighed as the remembered Sasuke, who he was supposed to help.


    At the Hokage Tower


    Raito sat in a chair in front of a desk, looking at the woman who was trying to find the specific item.


    He g.r.o.a.n.e.d, "It''s on the third row, the bottom line."


    "Can''t you wait? I think I am getting into it." The woman kept searching the entire section before coming in front with a box in her hand.


    The box was plain, not too big with brown color and seal of leaf village on top of it.


    Raito looked at the box and one could see his face twitching. "Is this it?"


    "Yeah, sign this paper." The woman gave Raito a doc.u.ment and a pen to sign it.


    Scanning over the doc.u.ment which took a longer time than needed and the woman was getting bored.


    "Please sign it. The doc.u.ment just says-"


    "I know what the doc.u.ment says." Raito quickly signed the doc.u.ment.


    "Thank you." Sighing she brought out a storage scroll and gave it Raito. "You can use this to store and open them after going home."


    Raito looked at the woman, shrugging he grabbed the box and placed it in the inventory. Leaving her behind, Raito left the room. J¨­nin and Ch¨±nin from the inventory room to outside. Everyone gave Raito side looks every once a while because Raito was a scene to be seen, he was panting, hard and trembling every once a while.


    Raito went into automatic mode and reached the house, quickly, silently and stealthily. Most people didn''t even notice him and a few who noticed him didn''t interrupt him, letting him walk.


    Inside his room, Raito took a large breath and exhaled loudly. In front of him, a plain brown box with village seal on top and the side, instructions.


    "So I have to drop blood and with a Rat hand-seal send chakra to it."


    Raito immediately followed the instructions and opened the box. And inside there was a scroll, a small one, though.


    [Inheritance Storage Scroll]


    Raito quickly went through the inheritance, one after another. The more he looked, the more confusion appeared on his face.


    There were weapons at one side and jutsu scrolls on another. Notes on jutsu and new techniques on another, and lastly there were two forehead protectors in front of Raito.


    "Why?" With a frown on his face, Raito opened the scrolls one after another, hoping that a letter or a note left in between them.


    Crossing his arms, in frustration, Raito closed his eyes. After searching the house and now the inheritance, he still didn''t find even a letter, the last words, advice or anything.


    Raito used ''Observe'' on each of the items before grabbing the forehead protector


    [Michio''s Hitai-ate]


    ID no. ####VA4411920


    [Akeno''s Hitai-ate]


    ID no. ####VB4411999


    After using the skill Raito found a small mechanism, where after pressing, the Hitai-ate split into two, revealing a space inside with a paper note. Doing the same to another Hitai-ate, Raito found another space with a paper inside.


    With trembling hands, Raito opened the paper and read the message. A tear trickled down his face, wetting the paper.


    "Hey! Raito!" Naruto''s shout reverberated in the house making Raito panic a little.


    He quickly cleaned everything, including himself. Walking out, he let out a big, warm smile and reaching Naruto, he gave him a big hug.


    Naruto feeling confused, ignored his confusion and accepted the hug. "What''s the occasion?"


    "I got a bunch of jutsus and weapons." Raito answered half truth.


    "Jutsu?" Naruto jumped.


    "Yeah."


    "Wanna look?" Raito asked.


    "Of course."


    That night Raito and Naruto, woke up the entire night, reading through the jutsu and started learning a bit of everything.


    Sitting on the sofa with scrolls scattered everywhere, Raito and Naruto had smiles on their faces.


    "These jutsus are suitable for Hinata." Raito placed a couple of scrolls to the side for Hinata.


    Naruto was a bit frustrated looking at the pile of scrolls, "Why aren''t there more of wind jutsus?"


    Raito shrugged, "My mom and dad, none had wind affinity. Papa had earth while mama had water."


    "I now have a lot of high-rank jutsu for me." Raito boasted.


    "I only have two C rank." Naruto pouted.


    "Just try to do those ''Camping Jutsu'' first. Mari-nee did say those jutsu are used to build affinity with elements." Raito took out the camping jutsu scroll and gave it to Naruto.


    Naruto took the scroll but still looked dispirited.


    "How about we get a lot of wind jutsu from jiji''s library?" Raito suggested.


    "Really!? But¡­" Naruto wanted to agree but by doing that he would be taking all the benefits.


    "Don''t worry, Naruto. Don''t you remember? I am a genius who can do all element jutsu from the camping jutsu." Raito boasted mildly.


    "Boaster." Naruto pouted but soon remembered something very important that he jumped and ran to his room in a hurry.


    Raito tilted in confusion then looked at the jutsu scrolls. There were more than twenty jutsu of earth and water combined in front of him but there were less than ten if he wanted to learn using his gamer power.


    [Would you like to learn ''Earth Clone''?]


    [Would you like to learn ''Stone Spikes''?]


    [You cannot learn ''Earth Fissure''.]


    [You cannot learn ''Swamp of Underworld''.]


    [Would you like to learn ''Gun Shot''?]


    [Would you like to learn ''Water Trumpet''?]


    [You cannot learn ''Moon Water Mirror''.]


    [You cannot learn ''Weight of Ocean''.]


    "So many." Raito quickly separated the ones he could learn right now and the ones he couldn''t learn now.


    "Raito, look." Naruto came down running with a katana in his hand waving it freely.


    "I brought a sword with the money I saved." Naruto showed the sword which had orange braid on the handle and sharp blade.


    [Golden Wave] (Rare)


    "Wow, it looks so great." Raito commented as he watched his hazy reflection in the sword.


    "I spent a lot on this." Naruto added.


    Taking out a few wooden swords from his inventory, Raito gave them to Naruto. "We are going to train with the wooden sword first then we will use the real one."


    Grabbing the bunch of wooden sword, Naruto burst into joy thanking Raito heartfully.


    The moon was sky high and it was already midnight. Raito and Naruto promised and went to sleep. They had a lot to do the next morning.


    Morning came by and Hinata joined them soon. Kakashi, although he was late for missions, he was never late for training his Genins. Training included; physical, mental and even spiritual.


    With the help of Kakashi''s crazy training routine, Naruto, Raito, and Hinata grew steadily. Especially Hinata who was thought to be the weakest by Naruto and Raito, sadly they were wrong, very wrong. As the days passed by Hinata was able to barely keep up with Naruto''s stamina and against Raito, she was able to force him to use more power, along with ''Chakra Sense''. The battle of Byakugan and Chakra Sense were nearly equal.


    Raito didn''t want to admit it but Hinata was getting stronger. He brought Hinata and Naruto to the dungeons to fight against zombies and goblins. They were successful every single time and now they no longer needed to use tricks to defeat the monsters.


    Soon a month had passed by and the group was stronger than before. Raito was already level twenty and Hinata and Naruto were only steps away from level twenty. Though their level didn''t matter or correspond their strength.


    Name: Hyuga Hinata Lv 18


    Title: Genin (+50 Increase Reputation with Konoha Alliance)


    HP: 3,200


    CP: 2,150


    STR: 34


    VIT: 34


    DEX: 55


    INT: 43


    WIS: 56


    LUK: 26


    Hinata is a very kind but very shy young girl who comes from one of Konoha''s four noble clans. Trained in the art of the Gentle Fist at a young age, a renowned and deadly Taijutsu. Currently the member of team seven along with Hinata, Raito and Kakashi. Her love for cinnamon rolls is said to rival Uzumaki Naruto''s love for ramen.


    Hyuga main family member: +75 HP per level, Increased affinity to Gentle Fist Style, 40% Increased Taijutsu learning speed, +2 DEX per level and +2 WIS per level.


    Byakugan: Byakugan is the Dojutsu kekkei Genkai of the Hyuga Clan giving the user a near 360o diameter field of vision; penetrate through any solid objects or obstructions.


    ==


    Hinata''s drastic increase in her stats had made Raito confuse and jealous for a full day. But later looking at his stats, he left it for another day.


    ==


    Name: Yoshizawa Raito Lvl 20


    Title: Genin (+50 Increase Reputation with Konoha Alliance)


    HP: 3,800


    CP: 4,800


    STR: 49


    VIT: 64


    DEX: 47


    INT: 71


    WIS: 48


    LUK: 40


    Stat points: 64


    Yoshizawa Raito, son of Yoshizawa Michio and Yoshizawa Akeno, aiming to the top of the food chain, is in group seven along with Naruto, Hinata, and Kakashi. He aims to be stronger, strong enough to take revenge and protect.


    Yoshizawa household member: Additional +50 HP per level +2 INT & +3 VIT per level.


    Holder of the lucky star (Bound Equipment): additional +1 LUK per level.


    ==


    Raito was a couple of stat points from gaining new powers. So, nowadays, he was focusing on strength, dexterity, and wisdom. And as for luck, he could only hope to level up his level slowly. With various chakra control skills, body conditioning techniques and nutritious cooking skills, his HP and CP was much more than average.


    But the biggest development was neither Raito nor Hinata, it was Naruto. Naruto with good food and godly techniques had a great increase in his stats. His health had skyrocketed and as for his chakra crossed the moon.


    ==


    Name: Uzumaki Naruto Lvl 17


    Title: Genin (+50 Increase Reputation with Konoha Alliance)


    HP: 6,600


    CP: 12,000


    STR: 37


    VIT: 53


    DEX: 42


    INT: 50


    WIS: 33


    LUK: ??


    Uzumaki household member: Additional +300 HP per level, additional +300 CP per level +2 INT & +3 VIT per level. Higher affinity towards yang techniques, decrease CP cost for yang techniques. Increase HP regen, 40% learning speed while learning Fuinjutsu


    Jinch¨±riki: Increase HP regen, +500 CP per level, -40% chakra control(increase CP Cost) Stage 0 (Increase by age)


    Prankster king: Increase experience gain to stealth and trap making, decrease reputation gain


    Uzumaki Naruto is the son of Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina. Currently the member of team seven along with Hinata, Raito and Kakashi. He loves ramen and friends. And he aims to be strong enough to protect the one he holds dear and be the Hokage of the village.


    ==


    Raito harvested the carrots grown in his garden. The carrot was about nine inches long and three fingers thick. The beautiful orange color had grains of soil on the surface. Grabbing the carrot, Raito swiped it giving superficial cleaning then washing it with the water inside the tub, the carrot gave a slight alluring smell.


    After cleaning the carrots, he kept them inside the inventory. Moving to the next field, he harvested tomato, bell paper, and other food items.


    [Tilting Lvl 5]


    [Planting Lvl 5]


    [Watering Lvl 10]


    [Harvesting Lvl 5]


    Taking off the gloves, Raito stretched and gave a lazy yawn. "Gardening is a good habit. Will I have strong bones doing this?"


    "Raito! look my flowers they are so big and so colorful." Naruto watered his flower plants happily.


    Hinata who had a small field for herself had also grown a variety of flower, more colorful than a rainbow and more fragrant than honey. Birds and butterfly gathered around her field of flowers making it look like a holy land.


    Whether it was Hinata or Naruto or Raito they knew it was all because of the spring water made by the jutsus ''Water condensation'' and ''Water purification''.


    Kakashi who sat on the branch of the tree had already made a report about these techniques but still, there was little progress. But his three students were far beyond the researchers in the village in this matter. Even the Hokage had permitted for more rest day for the sake of research.


    It felt like countless D-rank like cleaning the park, delivering letter and packages, painting the house or fences and on and on. Kakashi also felt like being stuck in the village for two months doing nothing but enjoying life was making him feel old.


    Gathering team seven decided to go to Hokage tower to take the mission of the day.


    "Ne, Hinata what type of mission do you think we should take?"


    "Naruto-kun¡­how about¡­ano-Ah, where is Raito-san." Hinata who was thinking hard thought of asking Raito about it but when she turned around she found that Raito had disappeared.


    Naruto who hadn''t notice turned around and cried in anger, "Argh, he..even now. Kakashi-sensei we-"


    Naruto wanted to say further but when he turned around he found that Kakashi was no longer in front.


    Hinata who had already activated her Byakugan and found Kakashi and Raito at the graveyard. She told Naruto about that which made him mad, "Raito and that Kakashi-sensei, they¡­argh."


    Naruto gnashed his teeth and Hinata consoled him, slowly. She was rather happy that Naruto and Kakashi had left them alone. Her slightly red face made Naruto lose his anger, sighing he dragged Hinata to Ichiraku for some ramen. Hinata was more than happy to accept the offer.


    "Say Kakashi-sensei, why did my parents want their bodies to be burned, unlike others?" Raito who was looking at the stone slate asked.


    "¡­I don''t know." Kakashi answered. He was also present when their body was burned. At that time, Kakashi felt like going against their words and bury them just like everyone else.


    "I don''t know but I felt like coming here." Raito said in a rather heavy voice.


    Another Kakashi, specifically his clone was at the Hokage tower reporting to Hiruzen.


    "Let him be." Hiruzen sighed. The lingering faint smoke today was much more compared to any other day, making Kakashi feel slight unease.


    Naruto and Hinata walked in a roundabout way going to the western bakery to the eastern Ichiraku. Moving the flap Naruto couldn''t help but jump in shock, "You? Raito!"


    "Yo'' I was hungry." Raito lied and finished another bowl. "One more."


    "Raito, that''s your fifth bowl." Teuchi let out a laugh and continued his work.


    "Ahh, Teuchi-san, you have improved once again. The more I come, the more I have to come." Kakashi sitting by Raito''s side praised Teuchi''s skills.


    "Old man, five bowls of miso for me." Naruto announced grabbing a seat for himself, still glaring at Raito.


    "My favorite costumer, Naruto, finally here." Teuchi just like Naruto for who he was.


    "Me too, one chicken bowl." Hinata took a seat with grace.


    At the Hokage tower, Hiruzen sat along with Kota and Iruka in the mission room. Hiruzen had elbows resting on the mission desk and chin resting on his knuckles. The darkness slowly covering his face. Iruka and Kota on the side were gulping nervously, cursing many times over to team seven mainly Kakashi.


    "Kakashi." Hiruzen called out and Kakashi along with his team of Genin flickered in the room.


    Kakashi was nervously rubbing the back of his head, with some fear.


    "Why are you late, Kakashi?" Hiruzen asked with a glint.


    The seemingly nervous Kakashi straightened his back and made a salute. "I, Hatake Kakashi, of team seven would like to request for C-Rank mission."


    There was a deadly silence in the room as Hiruzen watched Kakashi still the same as ever. Iruka and Kota looked at Kakashi with disbelief, not wanting to believe what Kakashi had just said. His Genins looked at him with disbelief and some expectation in their eyes.


    Naruto quickly raised his hand and shouted, "Yea, we can. We want a C-Rank."


    Raito looked weirdly at Kakashi and then at Hiruzen. He felt like this was a play, which was long-planned.

 Chapter 32 - 32 – C-Rank

    Author - Sigmarc


    "I, Hatake Kakashi of ''Team Seven'' would like to request for C-Rank Mission."


    Kakashi''s request reverberated in the room, confusing everyone except Hiruzen who was looking at him with the same wise old eye.


    BANG!


    Iruka stood up glaring at Kakashi, pointing towards him, he shouted, "They are just Genin. What the hell are you thinking Kakashi?"


    Kota who was by the side placed his right hand on the table and a frown on his face. "Kakashi-sempai, I too think this decision is too¡­absurd."


    Kakashi ignored the two looking at Hiruzen waiting for his answer.


    Hiruzen smirked inside, leaning on his chair, he hummed, "Accepted."


    "Hokage-sama!" Iruka turned to look at Hiruzen who had for him accepted an absurd and illogical request.


    "Hokage-sama, these three are just children, Genins, lowest of the low in our system and C-Rank means they are going out of the village where there are troubles and dangers. If it was three or four months after, no, it''s because¡­it''s been only one month after they have graduated that I am not accepting this request." Iruka argued and Kota nodded in agreement while facing Hiruzen.


    "Iruka." Kakashi called out, his voice heavy and his single lone eye had changed into a serious one. "I am not asking you."


    "You had your hands on them when they were your students when they were in the academy. But now they are not students, they are beyond it. Beyond being a student, they are ninjas, a Genin, for now."


    "What are you afraid of? Do you fear that it is too early for them to kill? I had already started killing when I was eight and by twelve, when I became J¨­nin, I had a hundred on my hands. And after that, it was war¡­"


    "¡­ That''s not¡­They are not strong enough, they are weak. If they go out now they can die. There are a lot of stronger people outside the village" Iruka argued for the sake of arguing.


    "If you think like that then they will never leave the village. There is always someone stronger and there are people stronger than Hokage-sama himself. Do you, Iruka, think that, even I shouldn''t go out of the village?" Kakashi turned calm and his words were filled with sarcasm.


    "Iruka, sit down." Hiruzen commanded giving him a side glance.


    Iruka grudgingly sat down, looking hatefully at Kakashi.


    "Hey, Iruka-sensei." Naruto called out with a big smile on his face. "We have been training really, really hard, ya know and I have stopped playing pranks. I have grown up¡­no, we have grown up. We are no longer those who bunk class or play pranks. We have truly grown up, Iruka-sensei."


    "Naruto¡­you." Iruka held his breath, feeling difficult to breathe. The small bundle of orange during these five years ago was a bit different now, he seems to have m.a.t.u.r.ed. Feeling warmth growing inside him, he sat down with a huff and said, "Fine."


    "Kota." Hiruzen called out with a wave.


    "Hai." Kota quickly gave Hiruzen C-Rank mission scroll and Hiruzen went through the scroll.


    "C-Rank: Escort." Hiruzen announced.


    "A C-Rank wow." Naruto jumped in joy holding Hinata''s hand.


    And as for Raito, he was...¡­reading a book in leisure.


    Kakashi sighed as well as Iruka and Hiruzen. Kota was just too busy preparing a doc.u.ment for C-Rank for Genins.


    Feeling the stares on him Raito closed the book and looked at everyone. "You guys finally are done talking?"


    Eyes twitching, Kakashi hit the back of Raito with speed far surpassing Raito''s.


    "Ow!" Rubbing his head, Raito glared back at Kakashi. "What was that for?"


    "Not paying attention. If you don''t pay attention, you will miss a lot of things. And that is what makes you an incompetent ninja." Kakashi glared back.


    The book in his hand disappeared and Raito''s hand snatched towards Kakashi''s shuriken pouch. "Who can say I wasn''t paying attention?"


    "Then Raito¡­tell me what are those people outside the tower doing?" Hiruzen asked with a smile.


    "¡­" Raito was left speechless.


    "C-Rank, Escorting a Merchant group to the ''Tea country''." Hiruzen ordered and gave Kakashi the scroll.


    Going through the scroll, Kakashi looked quizzically at Hiruzen then he bowed. "We accept."


    "Team seven, here." Kota gave Kakashi a scroll to sign and similarly to the group.


    "If team seven doesn''t return within fifteen days then we will be sending a search and rescue, emergency team." Kota did what he was supposed to do in C-Rank.


    Iruka gave a light cough to get attention. Raising his finger, he spoke, "After leaving the Hokage tower team leader will meet the mission issuer and discuss the plan. As this is your first time, the whole group will go and observe. Understand?" Iruka ended with a question.


    "Hai." The Genins shouted with excitement. The month of strict monitoring reigned in Naruto a bit.


    Standing in front of the big building, Raito looked everywhere in interest. And walking inside there was a tall man looking at the four entering and by his side two muscular warriors; one wearing a loose robe and the other wearing common tight t-shirt and pants, looking with a disinterested glance.


    "Kakashi-san, I good to have you here once again." The tall man stood up shaking hands with Kakashi.


    Looking at the rest with curiosity, he asked, "And they are?"


    "My Genins." Kakashi answered with a smile.


    "Genin?" The man frowned slightly before his expression returned to normal before sighing. "As long as you are there."


    After introducing each other, Kakashi and the tall man discussed the time, route and other various little things, which took more than an hour. The two men behind the tall man also interjected from time to time. And in the entire time, Raito, Naruto, and Hinata sat silently, Raito making conversation with the gentle woman who was also sitting by the side.


    Outside the building, in front of Kakashi''s apartment building, Raito asked, "Sensei, Junichi-san, he already has bodyguards, why are we needed?"


    Kakashi looked at the side and after a long time, he answered, "¡­Junichi, he is a good businessman but likes to show off."


    "¡­We are escorting him so that he can show off?"


    "Yeah."


    "Hey, sensei, is he really an important person?" Naruto asked.


    "Yeah, he is the biggest trader for the tea leaves in the whole eastern part of the continent. He even has an official post, although it is a name only." Kakashi answered.


    "Ano, sensei. Will there be any problem in the way?" Hinata asked with her Byakugan active and frowning.


    Giving a side glance, he replied, "There shouldn''t be. The two people behind him are also famous mercenaries and with me, you three don''t have to do much."


    "Oi, are you telling us that we are useless." Raito glared.


    "Your interpretation is very¡­odd, Raito. Think more positively. How can you think of yourself as useless?" Kakashi, amused, replied to Raito.


    Irritated Raito threw a punch only to get counter-held. Tightening the hold, Kakashi added, "Don''t get angry, so soon." Quietly.


    Face-palming, Raito said, "You don''t need those all and you clearly can''t carry all those and at the same time protect the client."


    Hands on the chin, Naruto was in a thinking position for a while before looking at Raito with his shiny eyes. "You can keep everything in your space jutsu."


    "It''s called ''Inventory'' and no I am not gonna carry your thing." Raito massaged his temples in irritation and replied.


    "But your jutsu is soo convenient and you are sooo good to me¡­" Naruto asked in a cute way.


    "Ew." Raito directly kicked Naruto and walked upstairs.


    Knock! Knock!


    The door was knocked and Raito turned around. "It''s Hinata."


    Naruto rushed to open the door. Hinata walked in carrying a bag and looking a bit nervous. She looked at her back while using Byakugan, which was extremely suspicious in Raito''s eye.


    "Hinata? You brought your things?" Naruto circled Hinata and closed the door.


    "Come, come let me help you." Naruto tried grabbing Hinata''s bag but she using her quickness walked several steps.


    Looking at Raito, she called out, "Raito-san."


    Irritated his facial muscle twitched causing him faint discomfort, "Idiots, both of you. Even after learning Fuinjutsu¡­ (Sigh)."


    "Ano¡­Raito-san I came here to make seals." Hinata asked after understanding that Raito was getting the wrong idea then she added. "I want to make an intermediate level storage seal. Please guide me."


    "Guided you?" Raito looked in confusion. This past month by teaching Naruto and Hinata, his ''Teaching'' skill has leveled up by quite a bit already.


    "Yes, I feel that when Raito-san teaches it becomes easier for me to understand." Hinata said earnestly. It was because of Raito that Hinata had learned much and improved most of her skill.


    "Now, she said that I feel that Raito is way better than those stinky, stupid academy teachers." Naruto commented with lots of comical gestures.


    Raito felt growing headache listening to the two talking. But he was little motivated as Raito could increase his WIS stat easily.


    "You two are seriously lazy." Raito said as he walked down taking out a scroll from his inventory.


    Hinata blushed whereas Naruto was looking as he was going to shout. Raito gave him an eye and Naruto shut up, dragging Hinata to sit on the sofa.


    Pushing chakra on the scroll, the seal was broken and the scroll was unrolled. Giving it to the two of them, Raito started, "Uh¡­ so intermediate level¡­it''s just the same as low-level storage seal but there are some changes."


    Raito sat in the middle and soon began teaching them. Hours passed by and Raito was looking at Hinata and Naruto drawing a character on the scroll.


    The first one to finish the seal wasn''t the studious Hinata but Naruto who was tweaking the seal as he liked.


    After recording the Fuinjutsu, Raito ignored Naruto and watched Hinata working. Naruto who was happy with his seal work, sat quietly beside Hinata looking her working with her seal.


    "You can do it, Hinata." Naruto cheered and Raito gave Naruto a disapproving glance.


    Naruto cheering would not benefit Hinata but distract her and since Raito didn''t want to waste more time on this, he gave Naruto a dirty look. But kicking the common sense out of the window, Hinata was doing better and better.


    It is common sense that if someone interrupts a person doing Fuinjutsu, the Fuinjutsu will naturally fail as there will be a slight disturbance in chakra. Soon she was finished with the storage seal.


    "I did it." Hinata breathes out, sweats walking down her face.


    [Intermediate Storage seal] (+2)


    [Intermediate Storage seal] (+1)


    ''This again.'' Raito frowned.


    Falling back on the sofa, Raito yawned. "You two need to seriously read books."


    Naruto and Hinata smiled with their storage seal on their hands. They quickly sealed their items in the scroll. Hinata taking out few of her low-level storage seals, she emptied it and again sealed it in the intermediate seal.


    Picking out a few of the desserts, Raito ate with relish.


    [Modifying bring forth new possibilities]


    Raito blinked and the notification box was gone. Raito muttered and took out a scroll, trying tweaking his seal, attempting to work on one of the flaws. The seal he was working on was ''Anti-bleeding'' tag to stop bleeding.


    ''I have to think that the tag can be used not by the intervention, activating by chakra but by the condition of the body.'' Raito quickly drew out the base of the Fuinjutsu. Compared to when his Fuinjutsu skill was low, now he was already in level thirty and had more knowledge.


    [Anti bleeding Tag]


    Log ¨C Improved, Modified


    Rating ¨C 5/10


    Improved by Yoshizawa Raito. The tag activates on its own, when there is sufficient blood loss from the body, sufficient to cause a change in the vital status of the body. The user can also activate the seal himself or herself by pushing chakra into it.


    ''Well, it''s progress.'' Raito watched the seal forming, the corner of his lips raising.


    "Hey that''s an anti-bleeding tag, isn''t it?" Naruto asked from behind. "Though, something is different about it."


    "I think it''s the same." Hinata commented.


    "Nope, I modified it a bit." Raito answered giving Hinata and Naruto one each.


    "Unseal." Both of them studied and soon gasps of surprise came about.


    At the Hokage Tower


    "I hope it not going to blow up." Kakashi along with a few other J¨­nin went through a stack of paper.


    "Tea Country is just fine, Kakashi. Though bring me some good tea leaves." Asuma put the paper down and went for his smoke box which was stopped by the glaring Kurenai.


    "This is C-Rank, first C-Rank of a Genin team and you know what happens in this kind of¡­" Kakashi placed down the papers. Not feeling his heart calm down, he again went through them.


    "Kakashi, don''t get so much worked up. If you are too much worried then why did you request for C-Rank?" Kurenai asked.


    "It''s because they are good." Kakashi said it with confidence.


    "They are just Genins, Kakashi." Kurenai frowned.


    "I understand what you are saying. If my Genins weren''t lazy, I would have taken a C-Rank too." Asuma chuckled.


    "Asuma." Kurenai called out, her frown deepening.


    Asuma immediately made a sign of sealing his lips.


    Throwing down the papers, Kakashi sighed, "I don''t see any problem with Junichi and Tea Country."


    "Being prepared is good." Kurenai sat up and walked out the door. "I still have a team to train."


    Asuma and Kakashi nodded and went back to their talking.


    "You really think they are good enough." Asuma asked with faint seriousness.


    "Yeah." Kakashi replied quickly and confidently.


    "It''s same with my team." Asuma looked up at Kakashi then added, "I hear they get together once occasionally, do you know about it?"


    Leaning back, Kakashi replied, "I looked into it and it was a fun type of training they did. Like hide and sneak, Tags, and once there was even a fight between Sasuke and Raito. Hmm¡­ and there were delicious foods."


    "I wanted to see but now they are a bit strict." Asuma chuckled, "I at least wanted to see it for myself, once."


    "Hokage-sama gave them some instructions." Kakashi grabbed the bundle and started walking out. "Well, at least I am a prepared ninja."


    "Don''t forget that there is never an ideal situation." Asuma walked with Kakashi then went on his own way.


    Looking at the back figure, Kakashi muttered with sadness filling his body, "Curse of first C-Rank, I can never forget."


    The lonely figure and the desolated atmosphere around Kakashi made many take steps back.


    Next early morning, Raito stared in front of him at a tree and below stood a small girl.


    "Please, oni-san. Please help her. She is afraid of heights." The small girl pleaded, her eyes full of tears.


    Raito raised his hand forward and waited for something to happen. But seeing that nothing was happening, Raito looked at his own hands in confusion.


    Sighing, he tree walked and soon reached the branch that the cat was stuck on. "Here kitty."


    The cat who was called looked at Raito circled Raito''s leg and meowed lightly. Scooping him up, Raito jumped down and gave the cat to the girl. "Here."


    "Wah!! Thank you." Hugging the cat she thanked Raito before leaving.


    Sighing he looked at the Konoha gates and walked towards it, "It''s already been ten stops. I hope they are not angry."


    "He said he wanted to buy some ramen so I let him go but I didn''t know this would happen." Grumbling Naruto strapped his bag on the horse driven carriage.


    Hinata who was using her Byakugan to track Raito had odd expression every time Raito stopped to help someone. Except helping cats come down and bring down the balloon, he also helped old lady bring her items to her house which was directly opposite to the mission point.


    "We should start moving." The muscular man frowned and placed his hands on the big sword on his belt.


    The fan holding, robe wearing man didn''t say anything but looked at Kakashi, waiting for the explanation.


    Kakashi who felt the gaze, returned the look with a smile. "Raito will be here soon."


    As soon as Kakashi stopped talking, a gust of wind forwarded in front of him. "Anyone called for me?"


    Raito was wearing a shin length black pants with numbers of pockets, a grayish t-shirt and a combination of dark green and light blue jacket with a Konoha village symbol on the back.


    "Hey Raito! You are late?" Naruto jumped in front of Raito shaking him in mock anger.


    "I couldn''t help it. This little girl was asking me for help¡­I couldn''t say no, could I?" Raito tried to reason.


    "A little girl!?" Kakashi and Naruto gave Raito an eye.


    "I saw it." Hinata helped Raito pointing to her eyes.


    "Helping is good. What a nice boy." The man wearing robe smiled and walked forward. "Junichi-san wants to move as fast as possible, shall we?"


    Kakashi nodded and placed his book inside and walked forward. In front of his Genins, Kakashi gave out simple orders.


    "Hai." The three jumped and sat with the coach of the carriage.


    Hinata was in the front with Kakashi on the second. Naruto and Raito on third and fourth respectively.


    Inside the second carriage before Kakashi had sat with the coach. The two mercenary and Junichi sat discussing.


    "Kakashi is good, too good." The robe man sighed.


    "And the three¡­they are also strong. The pale eye one is from the Hyuga clan." The muscular man said with his voice trembling.


    "Hyuga, huh? They are known to be Konoha''s strongest clan right now." Junichi commented.


    "Those two other kids are not normal. They have above average chakra." The robe man sighed.


    "That''s the difference between systemic learning." Junichi shook his head.


    "But they don''t look like they have much experience."


    "They are just kids, just like you were once." The robe man glared making the muscular man shut up.


    "You¡­"


    "Stop it, you two. If the need comes to fight, corporate with them. My family and I am depending on you guys." Junichi smiled at the two of them and gave a light bow.


    The two eyed each other before walking out, "You are paying us and we are just doing our jobs."


    Raito sat together with the coachman and used twenty five per second of chakra to envelop a large area to sense. "I should have started with the second volume."


    "Did you say something?" the coachman asked.


    "Nope, just talking to myself." Raito shook his head and explained.


    Before going to the carriage Raito checked everyone and they were affiliated with Konoha and the trading firm. And the mercenaries, they were affiliated with the trading firm and their mercenary group.


    Looking inside the carriage, they were filled with boxes checked and authorized by the gate guards. Using his technique, Raito found that there were silks and delicacies, some contained incense and some contained some play things.


    The muscular man with a long sword climbed the carriage and sat at the back end, giving Raito side glances.


    [Okudo Hanshiro Lvl 35 Senior level Sword User]


    HP ¨C 21,000


    CP ¨C 1,000


    Although HP was high, CP wasn''t that high at all, just average.


    Raito nodded which surprised the muscular man. He also nodded back in reply after getting out of a daze.


    Kakashi who was in the second coach looked down at his book frowned a little.


    The robed man sat on the back of the second coach and said to Kakashi. "Junichi-san and his family are in this coach and others have valuable items."


    Kakashi nodded, he had already checked what he was going to deal with.


    This small journey to tea country could be attacked by the bandits. After all bandits and thieves depended on these merchants for their livelihood.

 Chapter 33 - 33 – Journey to Tea Country (1)

    Author - Sigmarc


    "You lose." Raito yawned and flipped his last card in his hand.


    A six against five of the opponent.


    The muscular mercenary who wasn''t so talkative before looked at the ridiculous scene in front of him.


    Staring at the stack of cards at Raito''s side and none at his side, the man gritting his teeth asked, "Just how?"


    Smiling brightly, Raito answered which made the muscular man mad, "I am just lucky."


    "I heard ninja are really good with this kind of tricks." The muscular mercenary snorted and went back to his back seat.


    "Ehh? Uncle, why are you in such a hurry? Here, I made it myself." Raito brought his signature attack; ''The Bento box''.


    Looking intensely at Raito, the man turned around and said, "I have my rations, here." Patting his pocket on the side, the man again crossed his arms and closed his eyes.


    Sniff! Sniff!


    The muscular mercenary as well as the coachmen involuntary sniffed the smell and let out a m.o.a.n. "Ah."


    The mercenary turned his head and the coachman also turned his head.


    ''Shit.'' Raito immediately realized the situation and shouted, "Focus!"


    The carriage which had gone off the trail immediately repositioned and the coachman sighed in relief.


    The coachmen and the few guards looked back at the last carriage in question.


    The coachmen asked for forgiveness repeatedly and gave a sorrowful glance at Raito.


    "What? I just wanted to eat." Raito grumbled after a couple of pairs of eyes looked towards his direction.


    "What food is so good that you were going to destroy goods thousands of Ryo?" The guard who had a muscular body walked with a frown and pushed the coachman.


    Junichi frowned at the action and gave a signal to the robed mercenary. But before the mercenary could do anything, Raito grabbed the guard''s hand with a bit of force.


    "H-Hey what are you doing?" the guard tried to free himself but he felt weak in Raito''s grip.


    "Raito!"


    "Raito-san!"


    Hinata and Naruto quickly walked forward and looking at the scene with confusion and some fear.


    Naruto who didn''t fear anything asked, "What are you doing?"


    "I am holding hands with him." Raito replied with a smile, making many people choke.


    "If you continue that, you will break his wrist bones." Kakashi commented still sitting in the first carriage.


    "Ugh¡­" The guard g.r.o.a.n.e.d feeling the pain.


    Hearing Kakashi, Raito loosened the grip before tightening it again. "If I break it, I will just have to repair them."


    "Please stop." The coachmen whispered lightly but Raito was able to hear it perfectly.


    Activating the ''Heal'' skill, Raito healed the guard. "Guard-san, though you are strong, I think I can¡­" Raito tightened his grip making the guard feel the pain again.


    The robed man walked forward grabbing the shoulder of the guard and giving a nod to Raito. Facing the guard with a small smile, he said, "Salary halved. Company policy; Respectful, Logical and Loyal."


    The man rubbed his hair a bit roughly before letting out a large breath. Turning around to face the coachman, the guard bowed, "Sorry for my temper."


    "Everyone, we still have two hours of riding to reach a rest stop. So please continue." The robed man announced then went back to the carriage at the front.


    After Raito and the coachman went back to the carriage, the muscular man spoke, "Their salary is mere five thousand Ryo. They gain more by the commission, like this guard mission."


    Raito looked at the coachman trying to read him.


    In front of the line of the carriages, Kakashi read his book without letting out much. The robed man faced Kakashi and asked, "Were you really not worried?"


    Giving him a side glance, Kakashi answered in a lazy voice which sounded a little arrogant, "Why should I?"


    Stunned by the response, the robed man turned back grumbling, to his own thinking. ''People shouldn''t boast too much.''


    On the last carriage, Raito who couldn''t eat his food took out a book from the inventory and started reading it.


    "Hey, muscle uncle¡­why is this carriage which has tons of expensive stuff, not in the middle but at the last?" Raito called out to the muscular mercenary who looked at him with a bored gaze.


    "Don''t go calling me whatever you like." The muscular mercenary snorted then answered, "It''s because, among these four carriages, this one is the least valued, simple."


    "Heh¡­worth hundreds of thousands of Ryo and is the least valued." Raito probed the other carriage and was immediately answered.


    The first carriage had some guards and a box full of doc.u.ments while the second had Junichi and his family; a beautiful wife and curious little girl. The third carriage had food to be eaten as well sold and finally the last carriage which a variety of assortments, had not much value.


    "Hey kid¡­" the muscular man called out.


    "Name''s Raito." Raito gave him a side glance.


    "Yeah, yeah. Don''t you feel that this trip is just too calm?"


    "This is my first-time mission outside the village. How would I know?" shaking his head, Raito answered the muscular mercenary.


    "What a bunch of softies." The mercenary cursed under his breath.


    "Softies?" Raito raised his eyebrows.


    Sighing heavily, the muscular man covered his face then with a deep breath explained, "Junichi-san is a merchant with large assets in the ''Tea Country'' and the ''Fire Country''. Merchants have money, even small merchants have money. If not money than it''s the goods or even the weapons and armors of guards. Everything is a treasure if you can think it through."


    "Do you mean that we are going to be attacked?"


    Raito closed the book then spent a whole five hundred points of chakra using ''Chakra Sense'' and scanned through the area.


    "Though there are some group of people in this area, there are farmers mostly and some others." Raito opened his eyes and replied.


    Raito made a quick swipe of the people in a kilometer radius and while he marked some people, he didn''t reveal them.


    Shaking his head the muscular man, "How can you know without¡­Oh!"


    The muscular man stared and sighed, "Those tricks¡­You ninjas sure have lots of tricks to play."


    "They are called jutsu, not tricks." Raito corrected.


    Closing his book, Raito faced the muscular mercenary.


    [Senior level Sword User]


    HP ¨C 21,000


    CP ¨C 1,000


    "Uncle, call me Raito. What''s your name?"


    "¡­Raito, huh? Sure. Feel free to call me Hanshiro." Hanshiro replied with his heavy voice.


    "Hanshiro-sama, you really have that sword. Soo big¡­awesome. Can you teach me?" Raito immediately asked¡­no pleaded with clapped hands.


    Hanshiro looked at Raito with a twitch in his face. Hanshiro started, "Why should I teach you?"


    Stunned for thought, Raito breathes in, "¡­Because I am a genius."


    "Cough. Cough." Hanshiro coughed for a while and the coachman also reacted a bit.


    "You don''t believe it? Then you can ask my teammates." With his nose held high, Raito waited.


    "A happy go lucky and that shy girl?" Hanshiro raised his eyes.


    "It would be better if you learn from your village. I think they will gladly teach you." Hanshiro sighed.


    "We''ll leave it so. But I wanna ask if there are ninja are after Junichi-sama or not?" Raito asked resting on top of the carriage.


    Shrugging, Hanshiro brought out his double-bladed sword and started polishing it. Not hurrying, Raito waited for a while.


    "There are some times when ninja attack Junichi-san but they are always low leveled who are after money. With no power and money, most do anything they can. Even something like going on a suicide mission or dangerous experiments."


    "Junichi-sama has a seat on the council in the ''Tea Country''. Isn''t-"


    Looking at Raito, Hanshiro seemed to know the trouble to be with Raito. Sighing he added, "Council in tea country means nothing. Only the Daimy¨­ has power, the title is given as a show of friendship. What did you think? Ninjas will come to kill Junichi-san for the seat? Haha." Hanshiro laughed as he saw Raito''s face which was turning sour.


    Turning around in a huff, Raito replied, "It''s better this way. We don''t have to fight with ninjas far higher level."


    Bringing out his own katana given by Mari, Raito started copying Hanshiro and started polishing his katana.


    "I hear that ''Land of Iron'' has many sword users and many sword techniques. I once wanted to join the iron country."


    "Then why didn''t you?"


    "¡­Because they felt that I had already wasted my potential." An awkward silence followed making Raito feel guilty asking the question.


    "They are probably right. I didn''t have systemic training when I was small. I traveled and learned about the sword, joined groups and hunted for bounty. I am self-taught and have not progressed much for a long time now. After not progressing for so long I understood that I have exhausted my potential. Those words I have finally accepted it." The mood turned heavy and feeling of exhaustion fell on Hanshiro.


    Patting the coachman Raito made some gestures telling him to focus ahead then Raito took out a bento box. This time the box was purple and gold cover with a ribbon at the top.


    "Here." Raito gave the bento box to Hanshiro and also a pair of chopsticks.


    As Hanshiro grabbed the box, his hand also touched Raito''s hand a little.


    Raito could tell that the rough hands of Hanshiro had gone through a lot. Looking at the roughed and hardened palms and the webs of his hands, Raito felt like that sword training was really hard. Then again looking at his own hand which was not so hard, Raito felt that he was not training enough.


    "I once read in a book, it was written by a swordsman or so I thought. He talked about practicing sword techniques from small to the day his body gave up. ''There are no limits, fueled by d.e.s.i.r.es, I walk on a journey to the path of the sword. I laugh at people who say; you can''t, you won''t, you never will. I pity them who are limited by their thoughts, their culture, and the rules and the law they create. With a sword in my hand, what can I not do?''


    I have that book with me and the writer was Tsukahara Bokuden. If you want I can give it to you." Raito took out a worn-out book and gave it to Hanshiro.


    Shaking his head, Hanshiro sighed, "Those writers¡­" But looking at Raito who had stars in his eyes, he couldn''t refuse. Grabbing the book, he was soon immersed in it.


    A heroic story of a man who started as a boy then slowly with a sword in his hand he faced the hardship of life, some ups and some down. The story made the muscle head man enjoy as the thing he loved ''Sword'' was all over it, on every page.


    In the first carriage, Hinata who was using Byakugan turned around and called Kakashi. Kakashi nodded and turned around making hand gestures which were tailored for team seven.


    Nodding both Raito and Naruto jumped. Naruto jumped into the second carriage with Hinata where Junichi and his family was. While Raito and Kakashi had disappeared into the trees.


    Junichi and his men saw the hired ninjas disappearing, immediately started preparing. The two mercenaries also stood on the top of the carriage.


    The farm areas around had no men working, the chimneys were dry and the birds were flying away.


    Soon the carriages were stopped as the roads were blocked by the fallen trees. The horses neighed and the guards rushed out, guarding the family carriage.


    "Merchant!!" A loud roar came from the trees to the side.


    "Give up!! Leave your wealth and we will spare you death." One after another head popped up, wearing a bandana and with sword and sabers, they surrounded the carriage.


    The guards tensed and dropped their center of gravity into a stance ready to attack.


    [Bandit Lvl 19]


    [Bandit Lvl 17]


    [Bandit Lvl 20]


    [Bandit Lvl 19]


    [Bandit Lvl 19]


    [Bandit Lvl 21]


    [Bandit Leader Lvl 28]


    Around twenty bandits surrounded the carriages and the bandit leader looking tall and menacing voiced out his demands once again.


    "Hand over or Die!" The jealousy in his eye couldn''t be hidden. The bandits slowly targeted the guards who were few, to begin with. With numbers on their side, the bandits were ready to strike.


    The two mercenaries quickly blended with the guards covering the important places and while Naruto loved to go out and get into action, he was held back by Hinata, reminding him of the priority of the mission.


    "Damn, I should have acted fast." Naruto felt stupid acting slower than Raito.


    Junichi walked forward then asked coolheaded, "What do you want? How much do you want?"


    "Negotiating? We want everything you have." Waving his hand to back, an arrow went for Junichi.


    "Ah!" Naruto and Hinata shouted pulling Junichi behind.


    Before the arrow could fly to the target, it was intercepted by a stone from above, from the trees.


    "Who!?" The bandit leader charged forward with his gang of bandits and the battle erupted.


    The bandits charged their swords falling down to meet with the blocks of the guards, Hanshiro looked passively and only acted when the guards were overpowered. His every sword move would make a lethal strike, heavily injuring the opposing party. The robed man was even lazier as he swung his whip, tearing the clothes, armor, and flesh of the bandits.


    The bandit leader charged with his saber as his gang started to break down. Seemingly in a berserk, he swung his blade down, directly aiming for the small guards.


    The mercenaries were busy and Raito and Kakashi were nowhere to be seen.


    "Shadow Clone!" Smoke covered the carriage and tens of Naruto bombarded the bandit leader. Despite his high level and his rich battle experience, he could not win against Naruto. With some hardcore Taijutsu and Ninjutsu, the bandit leader was defeated quickly.


    "Hah! That was easy, dattebayo." Naruto sat on the bandit leader with a big smile.


    Standing on the branches, Raito and Kakashi looked at the scene with a sigh.


    Kakashi turned sideways and said, "It seems you three have already known beating and killing."


    Raito looked at Kakashi but didn''t answer. His silence was also an answer for Kakashi. They both jumped down and Raito helped the guards tie the bandits. His skills in tying people amazed, such solid and simple knots made the guards want to learn about it.


    The bandit leader struggled, trying to free himself from the rope but the more he struggled the more the rope dug his neck, making it harder for him to breathe. Seeing black, his consciousness faded and he plopped down onto his knees.


    Raito loosened the ropes and healed him a bit then checked his description.


    Back at the mercenaries, they were going through the wanted poster. Soon the robed man stopped at one of the paper and walked towards the bandit leader, exposing him here and there, checking for significant marks.


    "This guy has a bounty for 30,000 Ryo." Raito announced.


    The robed man looked back then again started checking.


    Junichi sat at the seat and sighed. "And its just the first day. If we continue with this speed and rest at some places¡­we will be able to reach Tea Country by the day after tomorrow. With the guards, mercenary and the ninjas, it would be a safe journey."


    "Nice one Naruto." Raito gave a thumbs-up as he passed by.


    "Good job, Hinata." Kakashi praised Hinata and then went inside the carriage to talk with Junichi.


    Hesitating Raito gave her a thumbs up then walked to the guards who were injured and healed them.


    "A-Amazing!!"


    "MY arm ¨C My arm doesn''t hurt."


    "My leg."


    The guards lined in a row and got treated by Raito. Hinata also joined him but by the time she arrived most of the guards were healed.


    "Thanks for the save there." A guard came up to Naruto and thanked him earnestly.


    Naruto tried to keep his straight face but his face had already started to melt. Thumping his c.h.e.s.t he announced, "That''s my mission, ya know."


    The bandits were tied and dragged to the nearest bounty station and slave house by the guards and mercenaries.


    After rushing all the way south, they reached a small village which was quite well off. The rooms were booked for the merchant family, guards, mercenary and the ninja. Although every group had a room, not all dared to rest. The guards divided into three groups; one group resting whereas two groups guarded the merchant family and the carriage. The mercenaries, one sat at the lobby while other walked out.


    And as for team seven, they were inside the dining room below enjoying the meals, which were mostly seafood.


    "Wow, these tempura are soo good." Naruto with mouth full praised the food.


    Raito tried various dishes, tasting all kinds of food. But as he tried notifications kept on popping one after another.


    [Dish ''Tempura'' added to ''Book''.]


    [Dish ''Sushi'' added to ''Book''.]


    [Dish ''Kaki Fry'' added to ''Book''.]


    As the new notification kept on popping, Raito simply switched off the notification.


    Skill Unlocked


    [Cooking Lvl 40 (Active/Passive)]


    [Chef''s Sense] (Passive)


    Look, Smell, Taste, Enjoy. The sense of a master Chef can discern various things relating to food.


    Although it was not much help on ninja work, Raito feels that it was really great. Then Raito checked on the notification that was ignored for the past few days.


    Firstly the stats gave Raito some few benefits.


    [WIS - 50]


    [Mana Regeneration]


    An ability given to those of special heritage that allows faster recovery of CP.


    Effect: 100% increased CP regeneration.


    [STR - 50]


    [Beastly Strength]


    Strength of a mighty beast


    Effect: Increased 50% Attack power.


    [DEX - 50]


    [Ambidextrous]


    The ability to use both the right and left hand equally well.


    Effect: Deal additional damage to the attack to two weapons.


    "I got so many." Raito kept on scrolling the notifications. The next notification was about perks.


    [Perks]


    [Out of line] ¨C Get ideas randomly about seals.


    [Thin Air] ¨C Your presence is compared to the air.


    [Copper Skin] ¨C Skin as tough as copper.


    [Animal Lover] ¨C For every animal helped personally, get 1 stat point.


    [Fool''s Luck] ¨C For 1 point of luck, randomly get 1 item.


    [Strong Body] ¨C Can handle spoiled food and harsh training.


    [Coin Finder] ¨C Depending on luck stat, find coins.


    [Food Thief] ¨C Stealing others food, gain 1 stat point from 1 person and in front of them.


    [Concrete Bones] ¨C Bones as strong as concrete.


    [Big lungs] ¨C Have higher lung capacity.


    [Iron Stomach] ¨C Stomach that can handle spoiled food or drink.


    [Explosion Expert] ¨C Fire release and explosion type attacks deal 30% increase effect.


    After finishing the food the group sat around the table. Kakashi clapped his hand grabbing everyone''s attention.


    "So, let''s decide the roles." Kakashi looked at Raito and said, "Raito, you will be watching for inside the inn. Try to circle the rooms and the lobby. Don''t be stiff, try to make it easy¡­."


    Kakashi gave Raito few tips on how to patrol in ninja way, more exactly leaf ninja way.


    Then it was Hinata, she is supposed to look a few blocks surrounding the inn and lastly, it is Naruto who will be the main force if needed.


    "There are guards and mercenaries. So we may not have to do much but we must focus¡­." After saying much Kakashi also joined the guarding.

 Chapter 34 - 34 – Journey to Tea Country (2)

    Chapter 34 ¨C Journey to Tea Country (2)


    Sitting on a sofa at the lobby of the inn, Raito was holding a book but his eyes were shifting everywhere from time to time. Even though his ''Chakra Sense'' was active, the countless Intel from Inoichi, read by him told that C-Rank mission could anytime go downhill.


    The robed mercenary who was sitting opposite chuckled looking at Raito, looking at someone new to the job. His fake smile of concern was extremely annoying to Raito.


    "Can you not act stupid?" The robed mercenary chuckled.


    "What?" Looking back at the man, Raito leaned back at the sofa and the book landed by his side.


    "Junichi-san may be an extremely important person but¡­there won''t be people coming to kill him." Closing his eyes, the robed mercenary picked his tea and drank it.


    Not understanding much, Raito asked in a low voice, "Then why do we need to do this much¡­?"


    Smiling, the robed mercenary replied to the question, raising his finger, "Pretending."


    "Pretending?"


    "Yes, that''s what Junichi wants. He wants us to pretend."


    "Four big carriages and a team of elite guards, mercenaries, and ninja. And the ninja is even the Kakashi of the Sharingan, ranked ''A'' in the bingo book." Cl.i.c.k.i.n.g his tongue, the robed mercenary shook his head.


    "Bingo book?"


    "You don''t even know what a bingo book is?"


    "¡­Of course, I know what that is but I have never seen one." Raito huffed turning around.


    "Catch." The robed mercenary threw a book to Raito then after looking at a corner, left the lobby. "I have much more to do than babysit a newbie."


    [Activate the ''Bingo Book''?]


    [Yes] [No]


    Raito also relaxed thinking about what the robed man just told him and also what Kakashi told him. Then looking at the notification, he pressed on [YES].


    [Bingo books are the compilation books released by the hidden villages and given to the ninja force of their village. These books contain list of individuals who have been exiled by the village or the individuals who have betrayed the village. It also contains people who are extremely dangerous, giving direction either to ''flee on sight'' or ''kill on sight''. The bingo books contain all the information recorded about the individuals pertaining to the physical features and details on their character, mood and affect, threat level and most commonly used jutsus.]


    [Activating the ''Bingo Book'' allows the activation of ''Bounty system''.]


    [Bounty list]


    Yaginuma Tadayoshi


    Yamaguchi Dayu


    Urushido Azumamaro


    Hase Kiyotaka


    Nakano Kaori


    Kano Gennai


    Miyamoto Yoshitoshi


    Tokunaga Kichisaburo


    Soma Shusui


    "So many."


    The list was endless proving that there were lots of people that wanted other people to die and as the list continued the bounty also increased.


    Sarutobi Asuma ¨C 35 Million Ryo


    Yuhi Kurenai ¨C 22 Million Ryo


    Namiashi Raid¨­ ¨C 22 Million Ryo


    ¡­


    Hatake Kakashi ¨C 63 Million Ryo


    "¡­Kakashi-sensei had such high bounty?"


    Just as Raito wanted to scroll more, Naruto came with his loud voice, "Hey nee-chan, is there ramen here? I have been asking around but¡­"


    Closing the screens, Raito stood up and called Naruto, "Oi Naruto, stop troubling the hostess."


    Raito bowed to the women wearing the purple Yukata, which she also returned then walked away.


    Naruto walked towards Raito grumbling all the way.


    "Here." Raito gave out the cup ramen he had in the inventory.


    "Is it my turn now?"


    "Yeah, Hinata just woke up." Naruto took the cup and filled it with water.


    "Then¡­goodnight." Raito returned to the room where he saw Kakashi reading a book. Hinata was also there with her Byakugan activated, her head turning around from time to time.


    "Sensei, Hinata." Raito called out before entering.


    "Raito-san." Hinata replied then again continued.


    Kakashi was sitting by the window on a chair while reading a different book than his usual orange color book. A medium size book with Konoha symbol at the front cover.


    "Read it before sleeping." Kakashi gave him the book then left the room with Hinata.


    [Biannual assessment on Five Element Continent]


    Made by Konoha Intel Department


    Looking at the time, Raito started turning the pages. The book was newly printed and had a nice ink smell to it. It covered in brief from all the nations and the hidden villages in the continent. Some had a lot of pages dedicated to it and some had few.


    Time passed by and two hours had gone by. Naruto barged in the room heading straight for the bed.


    Raito was still on the chair beside the window reading the book.


    "Ah! Damn!" Raito jumped from the chair and kicked Naruto awake.


    Falling down from the bed, Naruto was angered and was just about to shout but when seeing Raito''s serious face, Naruto immediately understood there was trouble coming.


    It was three in the morning when humans were the weakest physically or spiritually.


    A weirdly pleasant smell filled the room and the people inside the room felt drowsy.


    Raito who was rushing out bumped into Hinata.


    "Hinata." Naruto grabbed her and followed Raito with her.


    "There are some people with bad intention." Raito quickly reached Junichi''s room where few guards were standing.


    Every one of them was drowsy from waking up all night. They were physically and mentally exhausted right now. But as Raito made noise, the guards were immediately alerted.


    "Stop! What are you doing?" a guard steps out and push his hand forward.


    Frowning Raito wanted to flick the hand away but Kakashi appeared between them.


    "Some people have arrived in the inn." Kakashi explained in short.


    Hearing that, the guard turned around and knocked on the door before entering. Seeing that Junichi and his family were safe, the guard heaved a sigh of relief.


    "What happened?" Junichi frowned looking at the crowd outside his VIP room.


    Kakashi walked inside and explained about the people sneaking.


    "Hmm¡­what about mercenaries?" With Junichi''s question, Kakashi looked at Raito for an answer.


    "They are outside; muscle uncle near the stairs and the robed uncle outside the window." Raito answered.


    Junichi''s frown got even tighter as he called out the robed mercenary. "Why haven''t you acted?"


    The robed man ever with a smile on his face answered, "Junichi-san, you signed a contract with our mercenary company to protect you, your family and your companions, which is a great contract but it does not state to anyone beyond that."


    Junichi took a long breath then turned around looking at the ninjas. "Can you Kakashi-san?"


    Looking back at his Genins, Kakashi sighed, ''I knew it wasn''t going to be simple.''


    After waiting for a while in thought, Kakashi started, "Naruto, Hinata, Raito, with me."


    Hinata was the first one to speak after Kakashi gave her a signal.


    "There are about seven people on the ground floor and it seems they are searching for something. They have captured all the workers and men on the ground floor and they are being very careful about it, not making any sound and also they are cleaning everything back. They look professional." Hinata reported.


    "Everyone is almost Ch¨±nin level." Raito added.


    Naruto who didn''t have sensory skills kept quiet but one could see he was just too excited.


    Exhaling a big breath, Kakashi asked, "Can you?"


    The threes eyes shined, especially Naruto''s.


    Naruto who had already started turning was grabbed by Kakashi. With a ghostly eye and whatever part of his face, Kakashi said with heaviness, "This time I want you to do it stealthily."


    Seeing Kakashi very close to his face, Naruto panicked and nodded vigorously.


    The muscular mercenary had already left the lobby and was now in the room. So it was empty at the ground floor. People in dark tight clothing were standing guard after searching the ground floor.


    Two of the black-clothed people were standing in front of the manager''s room. And the two inside the room beside a hidden door.


    Hinata quickly informed her team while changing her clothes to a darker one. Naruto was also forced by Hinata to change his clothes into a darker one.


    [Black Wind Mercenary Lvl 22]


    [Black Wind Mercenary Lvl 22]


    [Black Wind Mercenary Lvl 23]


    [Black Wind Mercenary Lvl 23]


    "They are okay, not too strong." Raito reached the ground floor and quickly reached the manager''s room.


    "Demonic Illusion: False Surroundings Technique"


    For a moment, the mercenary who was guarding the door felt blur in their vision but after rubbing their eyes, everything was the same. Looking at one another, they shrugged their shoulders and roamed their eyes in alert.


    Naruto, Hinata, and Raito were standing in front of the two guarding the door. Naruto was covering his mouth, trying to hold back his laughter. Raito gave him a dirty look then patted Hinata, giving her confirmation.


    Standing in front of the door her two hands were pointing on both of the guard''s ribs. With her Byakugan active, she jabbed at the tenketsu. A total of three strikes and they were knocked down paralyzed. Raito and Naruto quickly grabbed them before they fell and tied them.


    Heaving a sigh of relief, Raito looked at the door then used his ''Chakra Sense''. Inside the room, the two mercenaries were standing beside the hidden door with a serious look. Their hands were holding their dagger, ready to strike at any time.


    Grabbing Naruto and Hinata, Raito disappeared in the dungeon.


    Destroying the door with ''Rock Fist'', Raito explained while pointing with his hands. Naruto immediately created dozens of shadow clones, surrounding the area where the guards were supposed to be.


    Raito also had brought out talismans already feeding it chakra. Hinata stood by Raito ready in her fighting stance and linking them all together was Naruto and his clones.


    "ID Escape"


    Naruto ambushed the two guards, knocking them out easily but that still made noise which was heard by the two thieves/mercenaries inside.


    "Hey, you two?" one of them called out.


    "Argh, run." One thief shouted.


    "Damn I need more time, stall." One of the thieves inside shouted. He seemed to be working on a safe, which seemed quite big.


    "Damn." The other thief took his dagger out and stood in front of the passageway connecting the hidden door and the inside room. "It was supposed to be just a simple mission."


    Outside Raito bit his teeth and looked at the seals he placed as a trap in the passage.


    "Raito-san." Hinata called him.


    "They are not coming out." Raito frowned. "Naruto, come."


    Inside the room, the mercenary sweated and his legs trembled. "Shit, shit, shit."


    "Hey! Do it faster."


    "Don''t shout."


    "Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing"


    Under the veil of Genjutsu Raito again casted the ''Hell Viewing'' to both of them. Then Hinata dashed forwards and as the two were screaming and stumbling, she hit their tenketsu and paralyzed them.


    "Hey Hinata, is the Genjutsu canceled?"


    Hinata turned to Raito''s calling then used Genjutsu to look at their chakra. Turning around she nodded, "Genjutsu was canceled, Raito-san."


    Naruto under Raito''s signal tied them while grumbling about not getting more action.


    Later Kakashi was outside looking at the scene. From time to time, he nodded in satisfaction.


    "Your kids are not bad but¡­since they didn''t deal a killing blow¡­it could have been troublesome." The robed mercenary walked checking the mercenaries and the one in the inside who fell to Naruto''s ambush was holding a knife trying to cut the rope. The robed man smiled while giving him a hard kick to the stomach.


    The man coughed out and the knife in his hand fell.


    "My Genin are not that stupid." Kakashi pointed to the talisman paper stuck at the back of the mercenary''s head on the ground.


    "A talisman?"


    The robed mercenary wanted to check but was immediately stopped by Kakashi''s comment, "Those talismans are highly dangerous. Some can even destroy a house, let alone a defenseless body."


    "Sensei." Hinata called out.


    "That was easy, dattebayo." Naruto shouted in joy.


    Whereas Raito dragged the last two mercenaries out of the hidden room.


    "Oh Kakashi-sensei¡­mercenary-san." Raito never got to know the mercenary name so he couldn''t just reveal it.


    The robed mercenary also ignored Raito and checked the thieving mercenaries. Eyes widened, he gulped, "They are from¡­"


    "Black Wind Mercenary Guild." Raito finished the robed mercenary sentence and gave Kakashi a metallic hand band with a name carved in it.


    "A mid-rank mercenary guild? And what do they want?" Kakashi kept the metallic hand band in his kunai pocket then looked at his Genin for answer.


    "They were trying to open this safe." Naruto pointed at the passageway towards the hidden room.


    Before the robed mercenary could say anything, Kakashi interrupted him, "Let''s clean this place and move out."


    It seemed like the robed mercenary wanted to say but at the end, he didn''t.


    Later the room was returned to the original state and the thieving mercenary were brought to a separate room in the ground floor.


    As soon as the manager and people of the inn woke up they were in a panic and making noises, as much as they could. The people on the ground floor were found to be tied, gagged, and shut in a small room.


    Cleaning everything up, it was past five in the morning and Junichi who was in his room, was now in the lobby standing in front of the guards, mercenary and the ninjas.


    "Ninja-sama thank you very much." The group of workers bowed to team seven making Hinata blush and Naruto feel giddy. For Raito, he felt warmth in his c.h.e.s.t that made his face red.


    "That''s what we, leaf ninja, are supposed to do." Kakashi made an eye smile and bowed back. Copying Kakashi the three also bowed.


    "Konoha?" the hostess of the inn looked at the forehead protector then again bowed deeply.


    The morning was exceptionally busy but with the help of Naruto clones and Hinata and Raito''s commanding Naruto, it was easy for the workers of inn to do the three hour work in just half an hour.


    And for all the hard work they made Naruto a huge bowl of luxurious ramen.


    Raito kept to himself sitting in the balcony. In his left hand the bingo book and on right an empty space. He kept on checking the information on the bingo book looked at the information provided by the gamer power.


    (Bingo Book)


    ==== No. 0022323 =====


    [Basic Information


    Name: Kazehaya Kunioa (Picture)


    Age: 26


    Gender: Female


    Height: 177 cm


    Personal Information


    Date of Birth: Unknown


    Village of Birth: Kusagakure


    Blood Type: Unknown


    Notable Traits: Blood red, shoulder long hair usually tied in a ponytail wearing black and red dress.


    Additional information


    Bloodline: Unknown


    Tool: Senbon, Short sword


    Chakra: Unknown


    Reason for Demand


    Missing


    Killing the Prince of Land of Bear


    Mass Poisoning


    Level ¨C A


    Order ¨C Wanted Alive


    Bounty ¨C 500,000 Ryo


    =============


    (Gamer yo)


    [Basic Information]


    Name: Kazehaya Kunioa (Picture)


    Age: 26


    Gender: Female


    Status: Active


    Organization: None


    Personal Information


    Date of Birth: January 14


    Village of Birth: Kusagakure


    Blood Type: B+


    Height: 177.8 cm


    Weight: 65 kg


    Notable Traits: Blood red, shoulder long hair usually tied in a ponytail wearing black and red dress.


    Additional information


    Bloodline: None


    Tool: Senbon, Short sword


    Chakra: Low level


    Known Elemental: None


    Specialty: Poison


    Reason for Demand


    Missing after killing the Prince of Land of Bear


    Mass Poisoning the village of bear


    Murder of 38 villagers 14 men and 24 women


    Level ¨C C


    Order ¨C Wanted Alive


    Bounty ¨C 500,000 Ryo


    Accept? [YES/NO]


    ==============


    "You really are working hard." Kakashi appeared out of nowhere scaring Raito.


    Raito was so absorbed into it that he jumped, "Kakashi-sensei, I''ll kill you if you ever do that again." Still clutching to his jacket, he shouted.


    "What? I scared you?" Looking amused, Kakashi grabbed the bingo book.


    "A mercenary kind bingo book?"


    "Yeah, the robe wearing uncle gave it to me." Raito answered after breathing out.


    "It''s exactly like our village''s." Kakashi replied giving him the bingo book back. Unrolling a scroll, Kakashi unsealed a book and gave it to Raito. "Give it to me after we go back to the village."


    Raito then totally ignored Kakashi and focused on the bingo book. Kakashi sighed then left Raito. ''Naruto is eating luxury ramen. Hope I can get one too.''


    "It''s exactly the same." Raito sighed after going through the bingo book.


    As thanks for the help, the entire group was given a beautiful service. The group finally left the small village and the small inn at the noon which delayed their journey.


    Naruto was brimming with energy after eating the luxurious ramen that now Kakashi had to personally restrain him.


    The happiest one was Junichi who had a contract paper in his hand. The inn owner had come personally to talk with him about some business dealing after finding out that he was involved.


    In his carriage, Junichi smiled like a silly man while his wife and daughter looked at him weirdly. His wife sighed then wrapping her daughter with one of her hand, she looked outside the window.


    "Husband¡­"


    Junichi who had already had his fill calmed down and looked at his wife. "Don''t worry wife, if it wasn''t because of this, I would never get to meet the owner of the inn."


    Kakashi who was outside sighed. The same with the robed mercenary.


    All of this plan and tricks had nothing to do with Raito who was sitting at the last carriage with small stone beads in his hands. The bead changed in shape and size making various structures like a kunai and shuriken.


    The muscular mercenary was totally absorbed in Raito''s ninja trick. For ordinary mercenary like them who hadn''t learned any systemic chakra or any other supernatural training, looking at someone who has was total torture.


    "Uncle your eyes are disgusting." Raito rolled his eyes and turned around then again thinking for a while Raito opened the carriage door and walked inside.


    The rest of the journey to the ''Tea Country'' was peaceful. Although there were some bandits who wanted to rob, they were easily dealt with by mercenaries.


    At the end of the third day of travel from Konohagakure, they finally reached the border of ''Fire Country'' and ''Tea Country''.


    As they reached the border Kakashi walked out and towards a check post. Kakashi gave the scroll in his hand to the Konoha ninja and the guard from the tea country which was then quickly processed. After meeting with ninjas patrolling the borders, Kakashi got some information to be reported back.


    The group left the border area and went to the first village for the stay for the night.


    `

 Chapter 35 - 35 – Small Tea Village

    The carriages stopped at the gate of a small village. Looking old and ready to fall down the gates of the small village had a signboard on top, the characters naming the village ¨C ''Tea Leaf''.


    This small village was the only village near the border of Land of Fire and Land of Tea. But most of the travelers would never enter this small village as a new and much more comfortable road was made at quite a distance from the village.


    Under the gate stood a thin, tall man wearing plain but clean clothes. He welcomed Junichi and his family then started talking about how long it had been and how the small village was developing thanks to Junichi.


    Junichi also responded from time to time with a smile. Their talks were going for a long time now and the Junichi''s daughter was in the carriage with her mother.


    Naruto who was already fed up with the long talk turned to look at Raito who was practicing with the small stone bead.


    "Hey help me too, Raito." Naruto whispered.


    "I don''t know." Raito shrugged then kept to his own work.


    Standing beside Hinata, Naruto grumbled. Then looking at Hinata, he asked, "Hinata do you know how?"


    Looking back at Raito then at Naruto, she shook her head. "If we ask sensei a bit nicely¡­he will probably teach us¡­this time."


    With a determined gaze, Naruto walked towards Kakashi while dragging Hinata holding her hand.


    Looking at Naruto who was walking towards Kakashi, Raito also leaned forward shifting towards that direction. He was also hoping that Naruto would succeed in convincing Kakashi.


    In this one month after the academy, Kakashi had retrained them on their fundamentals. Taijutsu, Genjutsu and the basic three Ninjutsu. Other than that, there were formations, basic ninja information, and teamwork and teamwork, which Kakashi focused mostly.


    The quota for the library study under Kakashi had just finished and their quota for self-study was still left. They didn''t get to learn new Ninjutsu or Genjutsu as Kakashi said ''Next time'' every time leaving it for another day.


    The life of a Genin was hard, especially the newly graduated Genin. Because of that Raito had not met with either Ino, Shika or Ch¨­ji. Busy with mission and library and all the other thing that is not shown in anime or manga. (Yup that''s my explanation)


    Without Ino, Shika, and Ch¨­ji, Raito had taken Naruto and Hinata into the dungeon to train. And now they can easily kill the hobgoblins, of course using teamwork.


    Looking at Kakashi, Raito had already given up on asking him to teach a Ninjutsu or Genjutsu. He was like a c.o.c.kroach who doesn''t know when to give in.


    Kakashi shook his head to Naruto and Hinata and said, "We are on a mission right now."


    Raito had tried to help Naruto learn several earth and water jutsus but it was too difficult for him. After trying for a full month.


    While talking with Naruto, Kakashi already made few hand signs, which he had taught to them, calling Raito over. Raito also looked around as he walked towards Kakashi. There were a few construction works going, making new houses and pipelines were being added. The tall, thin man would bring Junichi to the different areas, telling him a bunch of things that Raito couldn''t understand.


    Gathering the three in front of him, Kakashi pointed a finger in his palm. "Diamond formation."


    The three nodded then got to work. Naruto immediately tagged with Junichi slightly back whereas Kakashi stayed opposite to where Junichi was facing. Raito and Hinata were left and right.


    Eating while moving, Junichi let out a wide smile and looking at the development of the area. He hugged the man across the shoulder and sometimes patted his back. Junichi already had plans for this small village, developing it into a place where money could be made, skilled manpower could be developed and his name could spread.


    "So, Naruto, this is how guarding a very important person really is like, you understand?" Kakashi stood in front of Naruto while glaring.


    Naruto was looked down and nodded pitifully.


    "You are not supposed to glare at everyone who looks a little dangerous."


    Naruto nodded from time to time as Kakashi scolded him.


    "For punishment, I am not treating you ramen when we go back. Only Raito and Hinata will have ramen."


    Naruto made a huge scene as he cried his lungs out. Laughing at his misfortune, Raito made even more fun of Naruto.


    After eating a hearty meal, Naruto and Hinata went to sleep while Kakashi and Raito sat on the roof the entire night.


    Although Kakashi didn''t teach his Genin jutsus but he taught them various other things which are quite useful. The entire night Kakashi taught Raito various things which he could only teach Naruto and Hinata after some time.


    Raito yawned for the umpteenth time signaling Kakashi that he wanted to go to sleep.


    "If you keep yawning, I will not teach you jutsus." Kakashi immediately threatened to Raito''s deaf ears.


    Raito rolled his eyes at Kakashi''s threat then sprawling on the roof. "Can''t you just teach us jutsus?"


    Ignoring Raito, Kakashi went on his own pace changing the pace again. "It''s quite good that you can last this long."


    Rubbing his eyes, Raito shot him a lazy glance, "What?"


    "Nothing."


    "Now go down to the room and sleep. We still have three hours until everyone wakes up. We have to stay in this village for two more days before going to capital. So, take a day off and walk around. I will take Naruto and Hinata for guarding Junichi and his family." Rubbing Raito''s head forcefully Kakashi jumped down.


    Raito was now left alone in the rooftop. With a sweep of his ''Chakra Sense'' Raito found there was no one looking for him. With a five-kilometer range now, Raito finally felt relieved. Under the shadow of the ascending roof made from the illumination of the bright moon, Raito used ''ID'' and disappeared into the dungeon.


    ''Heal''


    Killing all of the zombies, Raito waited for the bigger S1 zombie to come but in the end, it didn''t appear.


    "Maybe he spawned somewhere really, really far." Using his chakra sense to swipe the area, Raito found an oddity which made his eyes shine.


    Crossing the big open gate, a notification popped up.


    [You have entered ''Special Grounds ¨C Tea Field'']


    After crossing the gate several columns of light sparks lit up and a monster that looked similar to zombies wearing plain clothes and straw hats were tending to tea plants. There were some who were carrying the basket to hold the harvested tea leaves.


    [Tea Monster Lvl 25]


    HP: 21,000


    CP: 1200


    STR: 40


    DEX: 70


    INT: 30


    LUC: 30


    [Monsters created from the dead spirits of the worlds. These creatures have been harvesting tea leaves for a long time before death and now after death, they are still doing the same.]


    Taking out his sword, Raito smiled and waved his sword. "Let''s see what can you give me?"


    ?"Stealth."


    CP dropped steadily and his figure seems to be transparent covered by chakra. Arriving silently towards the tea monster, Raito crouched down and crossed the katana across the other shoulder. Jumping up, Raito waved and cut off the neck of the monster insta-killing or so he thought. Just before he could reach the neck, the monster moved and turned sideways, causing Raito to cut into the c.h.e.s.t and shoulder.


    The monster shrieked then took out his sickle attacking towards Raito.


    Cursing, Raito reacted fast and pushed the ground. At the same time, Raito jumped back, the earth formed a wall, making a cover for Raito.


    The sickle rebounded letting Raito have an opportunity.


    "Rock Fist." While launching his fist, Raito casted ''Rock Fist'', instantly destroying the monsters face. With katana on his right hand, Raito swiped once again this time chopping off his head in one swipe.


    [You gained 680 Exp]


    [You gained one packet of Bad Tea Bag]


    "Eh!?" closing his mouth shut, Raito looked through his notification again then went on to his inventory to check again.


    [Bad Tea Bag]


    Rate 1/10


    # It can be used to slap at someone''s face.


    Looking at the up going hill, Raito started his killing. The more he went up the more tea bags he collected and the higher he went the better tea bags he got.


    Using ''Chakra Sense'' Raito found that there were just eight tea monsters but the first seven were the same with the same level and same stats.


    [Bad Tea Bag]


    Rate 4/10


    [Bad Tea Bag]


    Rate 5/10


    [Bad Tea Bag]


    Rate 6/10


    [Bad Tea Bag]


    Rate 7/10


    As Raito went uphill, the tea bags he got were of a higher rating.


    After reaching the top of the hill, Raito saw a tall man with a sickle and small spear in his hands, looking at him with anger.


    "Hu¡­man." Gripping the weapon tighter, the monster walked forward.


    Raito frowned then took out his sword. But at that one second was greatly capitalized by the monster. It threw the short spear directly aiming for Raito''s head.


    "Heh." Raito smirked then with meditation and fast thinking activated, he easily dodged the spear.


    "Throw." Raito threw a couple of high mass stone after changing their shape.


    But they were blocked by the sickle.


    [King of the Hill]


    HP: 35,000


    CP: 6000


    STR: 60


    DEX: 75


    INT: 40


    WIS: 40


    LUC: 40


    Mastery of sickle and short spear. Highly dexterous and proficient in sneak attacks.


    Skill ¨C Roar, Poison, Fury swipes, fiery slash, Rapid Stab.


    Reward ¨C 1300 exp, Good Tea leaves (2/10)


    Taking a few deep breaths Raito steadied his mental strength then stood straight with his sword on his h.i.p.s.


    "Heh, come." Leaning down a little, Raito started running towards the monster.


    The monster threw the sickle towards Raito then took out two short spears with one in each hand and ran towards Raito.


    The attacks by the monster were dangerous. Without the help of ''Fast thinking'' Raito wouldn''t have lasted for long. After one huge clash, the monster took a few steps back then with his spears glowing red, he waved it towards Raito.


    "Clone technique." Raito shouted and multiple copies of himself stood in a group confusing the monster.


    The monster didn''t stop but started hacking and slashing the clones. After the red glow dimmed, it again brightened and this time his attack was as fast as lightning stabbing few clones in an instant.


    [King of the Hill]


    CP: 4200/6000


    Raito laughed as he saw the monster wasting energy dealing with his clones.


    After destroying half of the twenty clones, the monster stepped back. But Raito had created even more of the clones surrounding the monster.


    "Earth trap." Raito mouthed and activated his chakra for the last time.


    The earth under the monster crumbled to nothing and the monster dropped to the huge hole whose depth couldn''t be easily measured.


    The monster struggled, letting out a large roar and Raito watched from above giving a satisfied smirk. He even dodged the short spear the monster threw and when Raito finally stood up thinking it was the end now, the monster jumped high at once and again threw numerous short spears.


    "You have too many spears. Just where do you hide them." Raito jumped back and with his sword blocked most of the spears but even so few got to him.


    "You like projectiles? Here." Raito casted ''Rock fist'' growing dark and metallic-looking stones to grow on Raito''s hand then he used ''Earth Bullet'' when the stones flew from his rocky hands. Some hit and some didn''t.


    Since the ''Rock Fist'' itself had leveled up pretty high, the stones made from it were far more damage-dealing than the normal ones.


    The monster staggered back at which Raito smiled. "Perfect." Then with a hand sign, he shouted, "Seal."


    The ground lit up with Character Seals crawling to the monster''s body.


    Raito waited for a short while before releasing his hand seal, "Paralysis Seal ¨C Complete."


    Wearing a devil-like smile on his face, Raito moved towards the monster and said, "That''s the only seal I am good at."


    "You should be proud because I even managed to paralyze a whole village of goblins with that." His finger moved up and down, humming, looking at his skill list.


    "I haven''t tried a few of them. So well¡­" With a few hand seals, an earth clone appeared beside Raito.


    The monster was trying to get up but all he could do was twitch a few time.


    Raito stepped down on the elbow then said to the monster, "It''s going to hurt a lot."


    "Seismic Step." Huge amount of Chakra gathered as Raito pressed down with his foot and as he came into contact, the huge energy suddenly rushed out and synchronized with his movement. Raito felt nothing as he pressed down but saw the earth cracking where he had touched. The monster''s elbow was destroyed and now it was turning into smoke.


    [Status ¨C Crippled (Permanent)]


    "Skill Grinding." Raito said with a clear determination as he killed the last monster, destroying his head.


    Finishing a bowl of rice once again, Naruto faced Kakashi and asked, "Kakashi-sensei, where is Raito?"


    Kakashi glanced but didn''t answer.


    "Raito-san didn''t come to sleep and I can''t find him." Hinata added after finding Kakashi not answering.


    Nodding his head, Kakashi spoke, "I told him to do whatever he liked."


    Hinata and Naruto blinked then looked at each other, then went back to eating.


    ''Heh.'' Kakashi smiled then continued with his book.


    On Raito''s side after defeating the ''King of the Hill'' he went on the next hill where the situation was just the same with the same rewards. But Raito continued using all kinds of skills he had learned deciding to level them up.


    One after another the hills were conquered and tea leaves were collected. But after all the investment Raito was disappointed because he didn''t gain much. After collecting three good tea leaf bags, there was no more opportunity, no more monster to kill.


    Grumbling, he left the dungeon and returned directly to his room in the house and fell on the bed.


    "That boy just came." The robed mercenary looked at the muscular mercenary.


    With his brows furrowed, he asked, "How?"


    The robed man was silent for a moment before shaking his head.


    "Ninjas sure are dangerous." The muscular mercenary gripped the sword hilt with a bit more force.

 Chapter 36 - 36 – Small Tea Ceremony

    Chapter 36 ¨C Small Tea Ceremony


    Raito woke up to Naruto''s loud ranting. Quickly after waking up, Raito kicked Naruto and ran outside.


    "Raito!" Naruto shouted chasing Raito.


    In the wild chase, Raito grabbed Naruto and disappeared into a dungeon. Throwing him down, Raito went for a straight kick. "That''s for disturbing my sleep."


    "Crazy!" Naruto shouted jumping and dodging the kick then as he landed, Naruto had already made a couple of hand seals. "Shadow Clone Jutsu"


    With the cloud of excess chakra, the hall was filled with Naruto clones.


    "You''ll pay, Raito."


    "Yeah!"


    "I am gonna beat you down."


    The clones charged forward towards Raito, some took out shurikens and some took out kunai from their hip pouch.


    With a quick chain of hand seals, Raito''s hands turned into rocks then he jumped towards Naruto and clawed at the clones just to scare them.


    "Tch." The clones stopped then looking warily at Raito specifically his hands then signaling everyone with small nods, the clones in front of Raito positioned kunai in front of them.


    With ''Fast Thinking'' activated Raito met blow with blow, guarding the kunai with his rock hands. "Heh"


    Suddenly the clone who was about to hit Naruto was suddenly grabbed at hands. Raito smiled at the clones and with a twist, he went under the clone''s belly lifting and throwing him off.


    "Taijutsu ¨C human throw." Raito shouted after attacking which made clones and Naruto look at him, ignoring that the throw had made few of the clones disappear.


    Raito stood still waiting and staring in front of the space, waiting for a notification to pop out but to his disappointment it didn''t.


    "Prepare yourself, Raito!" Naruto quickly warned Raito because he was going to use shuriken and kunai now.


    As Raito turned around, he saw a large number of shuriken and kunai being thrown towards him. In an instant he crouched down, several hand seals in between then, at last, both palms slamming to the floor.


    Just as the shuriken was about to hit him, the ground erupted and a solid earth wall erupted in front, protecting him. Then there were sounds of kunai and shuriken striking the earth wall and disappearing.


    Taking his kunai out from the pouch Naruto waited for Raito to come out and so did his clones.


    "Naruto~" Just as Raito raised his head, he was attacked with another wave of kunai.


    "Hard mode it is then." Raito sounded menacing as he placed his hand on the earth wall.


    "Naruto be careful or it''s gonna hurt¡­bad." With a half rat hand seal, Raito pushed the wall with another hand.


    The earth wall soon had cracks, ready to crumble. Naruto who saw this was ready to counter-attack, dividing the clones into small groups, like what he had learned from Kakashi.


    "Rock Bullet"


    Of course the power was toned down but even so, the rock bullet nearly destroyed Naruto''s army of clones. The small shower of rocks was aimed at real Naruto.


    "Ow, ow." The clones had disappeared and Naruto was flat on the ground, still getting hit from the rocks. "Ow, ow."


    Raito raised his eyebrows as he looked at Naruto lying down. His lips raising, Raito lightly kicked at the lying Naruto.


    "Oi, stand up." Then ''PUFF'' Naruto who was lying down turned into smoke.


    "Haah!" The real Naruto who was hiding above jumped down tackling Raito.


    Raito who was on the ground-mounted by Naruto let out a mysterious smile and Naruto who was ready to punch felt uneasy.


    An idea struck his mind as he punched Raito, which disappeared in a cloud of smoke.


    His mouth hung open, Naruto looked at the spot where Raito disappeared in disbelief.


    Raito appeared from thin air and pushed Naruto to the ground. "Hehe, I wanted to show you this for a long time now."


    "Y-you¡­" Naruto pointed at Raito in disbelief.


    "So how many can you make?" Naruto asked jumping.


    The question clearly made Raito sad. Turning his head, he said with a depressing tone, "One¡­just one."


    "One?" Naruto looked at Raito in a strange way.


    Crunching his eyebrows, he waved his hands in annoyance, "But my shadow clone is much more durable."


    "Like quantity vs quality?" Naruto asked.


    "Cough." Raito coughed lightly, "Yeah¡­ something like that."


    His mood ruined Raito grabbed Naruto''s shoulder and returned to the real world.


    [Shadow Clone (Active) Lvl 36]


    Naruto and Raito appeared in the room where they previously were. Instead of finding Hinata they found Kakashi looking at them.


    Kakashi sighed, shaking his head he said, "We are on a mission, behave. Today is the last day and Junichi is going to visit the local hall. Prepare yourselves.


    Naruto and Raito nodded all the time Kakashi was speaking and when he finally left, they released a large breath.


    "Stingy Kakashi. Bleh!" Naruto stuck out his tongue.


    Raito rubbed his messy hair and walked to the window. He could hear faint sounds of peoples talking. Upon looking down he saw a small mass of people standing in front of the house.


    The small mass was also divided into two. One group was with the tall, thin man and their group had small smiles hanging on their face, talking to each other with good spirits. And the other small group was made up of youths, who had frown on their face, their face covered with disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e.


    "We should have moved to the capital. This small village is going to be doomed."


    "If only they understood."


    The small group of youths quickly quieted down as Junichi walked out. The tall, thin man greeted Junichi and left the house.


    "You two go after them." Kakashi''s voice brought Naruto and Raito back. Looking at the side they saw Kakashi with Hinata.


    "Let''s go." Naruto quickly jumped out of the window and not waiting for Raito, chased after Junichi and the gang.


    Looking at the fading shadow of Naruto, he looked at Kakashi with some pitiable face then asked, "Can I not go¡­ please?"


    Kakashi stared for a while Hinata giggled. Taking a deep breath, he replied in a direct way, "No."


    Without waiting for a breath to pass Raito quickly asked, "Then how about a jutsu for compensation?"


    Hinata who was giggling just a moment ago, slightly gaped. But it didn''t last long as Kakashi grabbed her shoulder and disappeared in the wind.


    Looking at the place Kakashi and Hinata disappeared, Raito smiled lightly then jumped out of the window following Naruto''s trail.


    Kakashi looked back and sighed deeply, "Finally."


    "Um¡­ Kakashi-sensei, what happened?" Hinata asked innocently with a slight tilt of her head.


    Shaking his head, he answered, "Nothing"


    Then reaching to his pouch, he took out a pair of black gloves, "Then let''s start."


    "Mm." Hinata nodded and jumped back immediately going into a defending stance.


    On Raito''s side, he clicked his tongue. "Body Flicker"


    Then turning into a shadow, Raito''s shadow disappeared.


    The surrounding turned into a blurry. The perfect differentiation of color turned into a blur and become a mishmash of color. The sound faded and wind hit Raito''s face, the resistance making him feel pressured. But soon a patch of yellow appeared in front of Raito''s half closed eyes.


    [Uzumaki Naruto]


    "Stop!" Raito cried inside but at the end, he struck Naruto. The inertia and the force made Naruto jump but with Raito''s fast thinking, he grasped Naruto and used ''Chakra Adhesion'' in his foot and hands.


    Naruto who was flunked then jerked back made Naruto angry.


    "Raito-" "Mmph." Naruto who was about to shout, his mouth was quickly covered by Raito.


    With another hand, Raito brought out a ramen cup and shook it in front of Naruto. Ramen as a hypnotic agent, controlling Naruto was easy. Raito let out a breath of relief then looked at the scene in front of him.


    "Earth Clone"


    Ram. Snake. Ram. As chakra passed to the earth below, two earth clone formed fully resembling Raito.


    "Go." Raito commanded to his earth clones then looked at Naruto who was holding his ramen cup.


    "Hey, Raito can I get hot water?" Naruto asked with joy.


    The corners of Raito''s mouth twitch as he listened to the question. He stiffly accessed his inventory then gave Naruto the kettle. Naruto cooked his ramen and finished it quickly then looking at Raito who was looking at Junichi and the gang of villagers, Naruto spoke up, "They are just talking about changing this place and whatnot."


    "We just have to make sure nothing happens to Junichi-san right?" Raito questioned.


    "Yeah but¡­" Naruto wanted to ask more but Raito quickly waved at him and pointed at Junichi.


    The tall, thin man sat on a cushion wearing traditional clothes. On a small platform, capable of holding no more than ten people, on the other side sat Junichi, wearing his everyday clothes and a robe on top.


    Water was poured into chawan and chasan was soaked. After soaking a few times the water in chawan was taken out and it was cleaned with a cloth. With chashaku, two scoops of matcha powder were placed in chawan. Preheated water about one scoop was poured into chawan then with chasan it was whisked vigorously until there were fine foams were formed.


    Naruto watched for a full five or ten minutes before facing Raito. "That''s so boring."


    But Raito watched the full scene. The tall man way of holding the scoop, the way of giving, rotating slightly few times then Junichi holding the chawan and the way of returning again rotating slightly few times.


    Raito looked at the scene, seemingly giving the scene full attention but his hand was constantly moving, playing with the small stone bead.


    "What''s so interesting about drinking tea?" Naruto snorted then went away. Raito took a glance but returned to look at the scene.


    The scene was peaceful and almost mesmerizing.


    "Junichi-san¡­ thank you for the things that you have done for the village. Not only you used the money for making homes and schools, you also helped us develop the tea fields, not only that you even helped us sell them. I cannot help but thank you from the bottom of my heart." As the tall, thin man bowed others joined. The men and women who were sitting bowed and the one who was standing also bowed.


    [Junichi (Karma +1)]


    "Please, please stop. I am just a merchant trying my best." Junichi shifted forward reaching the thin man and held his arms, forcing him to stand up.


    "It is not only for you all but it is also for me. When I grow old and have nowhere to go, my weakened body and tired soul will return to this place to live the rest of my life peacefully here. But I also hope that not only I could live in peace but the people with me and all others could live in peace."


    Raito felt odd hearing Junichi talking but endured till the end listening everything. A weird smile appeared after listening to Junichi as he looked at the notification in front of him.


    [Lie detected - Junichi]


    "It''s still not finished?" Naruto brought with him a few apples and gave Raito some.


    Taking out a small container containing water, Raito washed the apples then cut it with a knife in half. Focusing his chakra in hand, Raito locked onto the seeds of the apple then extracted them.


    [Skill ''Chakra Control'' leveled up by 1]


    ''Finally.'' Eyes shining Raito quickly checked out the skill tab and found that the chakra requirement had dropped again by 0.5%.


    "Yugao-nee and others definitely know what is best for us." Raito spoke aloud his thoughts.


    "Yeah. Raito, you are really good with chakra control." Naruto said as he took a bite to the apple.


    "You just aren''t practicing enough."


    "But it''s really, really difficult." Raito pouted then took out a small black book from his hip pouch and started flipping it.


    "Have you completed it?" Raito asked as Naruto stopped in the middle of the book. A month ago Naruto was clearly in first few pages but it seemed to have progressed now.


    "What complete!? This book is so big¡­ no this book has so many things, no this book-"


    "Ok stop, stop." Raito tried peeking at the book but only felt disappointment.


    "I have been at the fourth level for so long." Naruto continued flipping the book.


    "I have been learning Fuinjutsu for two years and you who have been learning for a few months¡­ Argh!" Raito pinched Naruto''s nose in anger.


    "Ow, Ow." Naruto cried in his nasal voice then pointed at the place behind Raito.


    Looking behind Raito saw Junichi walking with the group towards home. So he left Naruto''s nose and followed Junichi.

 Chapter 37 - 37 – Rescue

    Sigmarc


    Junichi looked at the small figure following him from behind and with a calm voice, he asked, "So it''s you boy? What about that yellow hair and that girl?


    "That yellow haired is Naruto, he is near and Hinata, she is doing training today." Raito answered.


    "What do you think about it? About that tea ceremony." Junichi hummed and asked in a smug way.


    Raito''s face twitched little hearing the question. Then with a straight face, he replied with a voice that even he was proud of it, "You are good at telling lies."


    "Ho¡­ But I was telling the truth. I really want to live my retirement here." Junichi answered but his voice shook a little.


    Voice laced with chakra, Raito spoke up, "Let it out, if-"


    A figure reached out and grabbed Raito and disappeared. Junichi who was in a trance shook and looked around just to see Naruto running towards him.


    "What were you trying to do there?" Kakashi grabbed Raito and his chakra restraining Raito.


    Raito guiltily looked away, not answering Kakashi.


    Sighing Kakashi mumbled then running his hand through his hair, he started, "You knew that I was following you from the very beginning and it was all a trap just so I would act, perhaps? Or you got curious?"


    Sitting on the patch of grass, Kakashi pointed to the direction where Junichi and Naruto were.


    Immediately understanding the point, he answered, "They are heading towards the small shrine with the village leader."


    Weaving through a couple of hand seals, Kakashi divided his chakra and a small cloud of excess chakra appeared before disappearing.


    "So you made a clone and immediately dispelled it?" Raito asked while deeply looking at Kakashi, his ''Observe'' skill in full effect.


    "You saw that? Good. Now let''s talk about other things." Kakashi mood turned heavy.


    "You can''t do that to a client ever." Kakashi said in a stern voice.


    "A client who hired a mercenary group and made us fight with them. A client who may be harming a whole village?" Raito asked


    After a period of silence, Kakashi answered, "He didn''t make us fight. He gave us a choice and we accepted it. And it''s not like he made us fight with a high level ninja or like. As for this village, there are many youths who want to leave but are not courageous enough. What do you want to do? Make them courageous with your jutsu to make them go to some other village or capital and start from the beginning? Junichi has already started business opportunity for this village. If they work together with him, it will be just fine."


    Kakashi looked at Raito''s eye, meeting glare with still calmness and asked, "It''s not about Junichi, is it?"


    "Nope."


    "Jutsu? Why are you in such a hurry to get jutsu?" Kakashi asked fixing his forehead protector. "I would have eventually taught you." Kakashi sighed heavily.


    "I just can''t help Naruto find one that he can use. When I got jutsu from mom and dad, I told him that I will definitely help him learn one powerful one but¡­."


    "It''s Naruto? I clearly told you he just needs more control over his chakra for him to start learning more Ninjutsu." Kakashi explained with a sigh.


    "Just one jutsu and I will prove that he can do it. Same with ''Erasing wind'' and ''Gale palm''. He did those so easily."


    "What about Hinata? What do you think?"


    "Hinata? You are already giving her private lessons. Why are you asking me?" Unknowingly a frown was present on Raito''s face.


    Sighing Kakashi waved at Raito to sit down. "Your teamwork is perfect. It''s like you three were meant to be in a team. Coordination is great, tactics are great but sometimes I see that¡­ you don''t want her to be in the team and not only that it looks like you¡­."


    "¡­" Raito didn''t answer but looked at Kakashi with his calm eyes.


    "Is it because she is part of Hyuga clan?" Kakashi asked his voice growing louder.


    In a daze, Raito nodded ever so slightly.


    "You need to learn that she is not her clan, she is her-"


    "I know, I know¡­ I know Hinata is not like her clan. She is different ¡­ but she looks so similar to them. She and that Hyuga clan. That Hyuga clan was one of the reasons why my parents died." Raito''s voice shook ever so slightly.


    "We don''t know that-"


    "I know it!" Raito stood up. "Motive, reason¡­ there are."


    "Those eyes whenever I see it, it just¡­ I just don''t want." Panting heavily and with a red face, Raito fell down. "I don''t know, okay¡­ Even though I always try to control¡­ I can''t."


    Taking out a water bottle he splashed his face and waited, taking deep breaths and exhaling.


    "You know sensei¡­ Shikamaru and I used to stare at the sky and guess about the rumors whether they are true or not. He would give perfect reasons for everything and I would be asking him how he got to that conclusion. I learned how to do that slowly, so¡­"


    "I have thought about it so much, just so much¡­." Raito slowly raised his voice, frustration filling him up but a second later a blue light flashed in his eyes calming him down.


    "What did you do?" Raito asked in a calm voice.


    Somewhat surprised, Kakashi checked once more then asked, "You broke it?"


    Raito nodded.


    "It''s a type of provocation technique, it heightens one''s emotions. Mostly used in T and I department. I have been using it on you for a bit now." Kakashi sighed ready to explain.


    "Why?" Raito asked somewhat hurt.


    There was a long pause before Kakashi spoke, "Because you don''t need jutsu, you need to learn control."


    "That''s why for this past month you kept mentioning my parents either it be training or working." Raito came to his own conclusion.


    Kakashi signaled with his hands and started, "Your parents would leave things for you. Jutsu, Weapon, training notes and all¡­ you don''t need them from me. But I can help you in other fields."


    Raising his eyes suspiciously feeling that topic had deviated once more, Raito asked, "What about Naruto?"


    "He needs chakra control first." Saying that Kakashi stood up and faced Raito.


    "Don''t worry about Naruto too much." With that Kakashi disappeared in a silent thunder.


    "Show off." With that Raito also disappeared with a simple body flicker.


    The rest of the day was spent following Junichi and the village leader visiting various scenic spots in the village that can be developed.


    Using earth clones and Naruto''s shadow clone to do work, Raito and Naruto started a small BBQ session, eating to their heart''s content. When Kakashi found out that the two were being lazy, he seized all the BBQ and started monitoring them in open.


    Checking his back, Naruto pouted, "He didn''t have to do that."


    "Maybe he didn''t like the BBQ or maybe it was so good he wants more?" Raito played confused.


    Naruto laid down flat on the ground and let out a big yawn, "I never thought that guarding a VIP was really a boring job. It would be nice if¡­ uhh like¡­"


    "You don''t know, huh? Obviously, because you never went on one." Raito said sarcastically.


    "You didn''t too." Naruto glared.


    "But I have read books." Raito replied proudly. "There is a saying that one book is one world."


    Naruto looked at Raito blankly not know what Raito was talking about.


    "Follow." Kakashi from behind instructed.


    They followed Junichi and some of his guards that had joined him in between, then went back to the house.


    Every group had different room to sleep and a different room to eat. Raito happily ate the food delivered to them. While eating Kakashi spoke up about the things to be aware in tea country


    Tea country located at the edge of fire country is surrounded on three sides by the water. They have no ninja village but are famous for their archers among the small countries. This small country produces tea leaves famous in all the elemental nations. In the beginning, they were more focused on sea trade but after generations it turned on tea production. Now after years, their tea leaves were found in all the capitals and were enjoyed by all Lords and the commoners.


    Land of fire and land of tea had good relation as they were neighboring country. Land of fire provided land of tea with many things in which one was protection.


    "So we must act as not only guard for Junichi and his group but if we see any bad things happening like fights, killing, murder, and ****¡­ we need to act." Kakashi said with enough seriousness making the three nod like a chick pecking seeds.


    [Mission Created]


    [Justice]


    Raito rolled his eyes then accepted silently.


    Next morning the ninja team and mercenary team woke up early. Raito and Hinata scouted before they even left the village. Raito had calmed down and he even made a few jokes and challenged her to a race, making Hinata let out a breath of relief. She had also felt that Raito was getting hostile a little by little but today Raito seemed relieved, a bit brighter than the day before.


    They scouted the area and combined with their ''wider range of vision'' they had doubled their work in half of the time.


    One of the carriages was left behind in the village and three carriages left the village in early morning. Even leaving was grand, making Raito gape a little.


    "I heard that a kind of carriage was being made which didn''t use horses." Junichi was clearly excited as he talked with his wife.


    His wife who didn''t have the energy for business had stars in her eyes as she discussed energetically. "I have heard that those rich people in fire capital were investing money in it."


    "Sadly we couldn''t even put one finger in that pool." Junichi''s business mind was really saddened about it.


    They kept discussing with their voice loud enough that Raito who was jumping trees and walking by the road could also hear.


    Although the punishment looked harsh, Raito was really happy to do it. Taking a break every half an hour, Raito did it for a whole six hours. And at the end, he gained a total of three vitality stat points.


    Kakashi looked at Raito then asked him to come but Raito answered made him want to beat him up.


    "Don''t compare me with you, sensei. I can go for hours." Raito laughed loudly making Kakashi angry.


    Naruto competed with Raito but how could he understand the reward system of the brain. Raito would gain stat points and would get encouraged whereas Naruto would be panting and sweating at the end of all that endless running. Not getting any awesome feeling that Raito was talking about, Naruto jumped to his carriage and laid flat on top.


    Hinata also joined but gave up before Naruto. Raito stopped several times to wait for them clearly showing disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e in his face.


    The mercenaries looked weirdly at Kakashi then at Raito before minding their own business. The small girl in the carriage also popped out her head from the carriage window despite her mother''s admonishing, to look at Raito.


    Not knowing when Raito had brought out a rock to carry making everyone focus at Kakashi even more. Under the pressure, Kakashi happily read his book even giggling from time to time.


    "Raito is enjoying it. Stupid." Naruto spat and again joined him in training, just to tap out in few hours.


    At the end, when everyone stopped to rest, Raito finally stopped. His body covered with sweat and dirt. Walking away from everyone Raito took a dip in a container full of water. When Kakashi came to saw it, he shook his head. He will definitely add this on the verbal report and let Hiruzen handle it. With evil thoughts Kakashi went back to the camp.


    Early morning the three carriages and group of mercenary and ninjas reached the capital of Tea Country. The carriages and mercenaries were thoroughly checked. It could be said that everyone except ninjas and Junichi''s family were thoroughly checked.


    "Hatake-san, please sign here." The guard politely showed Kakashi what to do and the same for the Genins.


    "Junichi-sama, our lord have told us to keep an eye for your arrival, please come with us." A group of soldiers on horses guided everyone to the Lord''s manor.


    The Tea capital was same as Konoha but it was far more spacious. The main street having most shops selling a variety of accessory and food items, the winding road followed straight lead to a small hill and climbing it one could see a huge palace.


    The gate had guards walking inside there were even more guards stationed in a line. The mercenaries were forced to give their weapon which made the muscular mercenary angry.


    "It''s too much." Huffing he entered the palace.


    The inside of the palace had a scene of calmness. The fresh smell from around the palace made it feel like this place was above the realm of commoners.


    In front of the group stood a middle aged man with a strong body and deep eyes. He had a small smile hung on his face which seemed like it would always be there and the aura of calmness radiated from him. But with Kakashi''s eye, he could see that the lord was in distress.


    After exchanging greeting with Junichi and his family, then Kakashi, they walked to the room with nature''s view. Sitting on their respective seats, they were served tea by a beautiful lady.


    Waving his hand, a small girl walked and stood by the lord''s side. "Our little Saya has been wishing that you''d come."


    Junichi who was sitting also pushed his daughter and nodded his head.


    Soon the little girls went out with Junichi''s wife. Kakashi signaled Hinata after which she also left with a bow.


    Naruto and Raito looked at each other in some hesitation before sitting down.


    "Ninjas of Konoha, I thank you for helping Junichi in his travels." The lord of tea country bowed slightly.


    "Thank you." Kakashi didn''t add any words but bowed a bit more than the lord.


    "Please roam around our small country''s capital before going." Then looking at Junichi, he stretched out his hand.


    Junichi hurriedly nodded and gave the mission scroll.


    Adding a few sentences to the scroll, the lord looked at Kakashi and stretched out his hand again. Kakashi did not delay taking it. Taking a glance, Kakashi looked back at the lord then bowed slightly before leaving the room with Naruto and Raito.


    "So we are finally going back home. We should definitely look if the capital has some good ramen." Naruto stretched letting out a yawn.


    Raito looked at Kakashi''s back and kept quiet. Gathering Hinata, they left the capital quickly.


    "Thank you for coming, Hatake-sama." The guard bowed


    When they reached a kilometer outside the capital, Kakashi finally stopped walking then turned around.


    "Finally." Raito spoke. He was so frustrated guessing what that scroll was about.


    "Kakashi-sensei what''s wrong?" Naruto had already felt something was wrong. He didn''t know but he felt that Kakashi was somewhat in a hurry to leave.


    "No one is following us, sensei." Hinata reported from behind.


    "What''s going on, Hinata?" Naruto thought that Hinata knows what was happening so he immediately asked her.


    Upon his questioning, she just shook her head and looked at Kakashi.


    Kakashi sighed then gave the scroll to Raito.


    Raito grabbed the scroll and read it. Then looking at Kakashi, he gave the scroll to Naruto and Hinata.


    "The lord has three children, the little girl we saw today and with that the twins, one boy, and one girl. The twins were kidnapped yesterday morning and now the lord is being threatened. His wife who learned about the kidnapping lost consciousness and has yet to open her eye."


    "This kidnapping happened has caused much distress and now the lord wants us to save them without catching much attention. He also wrote that the kidnappers may be among his people."


    Hinata tied the scroll then gave it back to Kakashi.


    "I knew that first C-Rank mission would have some twist but this is too much." Kakashi sighed.


    Opening the Info book, Raito searched for the lord of tea country but he didn''t know his name so Raito immediately asked Kakashi.


    Kakashi who was preparing the equipment answered, "Shiraishi Eikichi"


    Going through the info book he immediately found the information.


    "Shiraishi Eikichi 39 year old, lord of the tea country, ascended on the age of 26 after marrying his current wife Shiraishi Kaori and had twins aged eight, Miyoko and Shigekazu."


    Kakashi massaged his forehead in thinking but still commanded, "Wear darker clothes, we have to search the village. Not much time is left and we don''t even have any pictures."


    "Wait." Raito called softly then took out a drawing paper and a drawing kit.


    "Raito, we don''t have much time and a lot of ground to cover." Kakashi said with seriousness.


    "I know what they look like." With his drawing skills, Raito immediately started.


    "How?"


    "I looked around." The answer was as vague as it could be but Kakashi knew that Raito''s jutsu and his behavior could save someone''s life. So, Kakashi only nodded, not disturbing him.


    "Done. Boy. Tanned skin color. Green eyes." Raito gave the drawing and described. "I don''t know about height.


    When Raito said about Kakashi finally relaxed his tensed state.


    "Girl. Lightly tanned skin color. Green and grey eyes." Raito gave another drawing.


    Since he knew what to look for Kakashi was a bit more relaxed. Pulling the forehead protector the red eye with three magatamas spun slowly, everything being printed in his brain permanently.


    Taking out two darker clothes from his inventory Raito gave it to Hinata and Naruto.


    "Since the gates are closed, we cannot enter at this time of the hour. So, we must enter stealthily." Kakashi''s looked at Naruto for a little longer


    "Naruto make clones to your limit and search for them¡­ cover as much land as you can." Kakashi looked at Naruto and ordered.


    "Hinata look for them inside the capital. Here." Kakashi gave her small black and red pills in a bottle. They were ''Blood Chakra pill'' which restored chakra at a fast pace but it had some minor side effect like exhaustion.


    "Only use it when you need it." Kakashi reminded her.


    "Then Raito-"


    "Outside I know." Raito shrugged.


    "The lord and his men has already searched his palace, the hidden dungeons and most of the western part of the capital."


    "Kakashi-sensei, the capital is so big. Can we even do it?" Naruto asked in worry.


    "¡­ We must." Kakashi sighed.


    Naruto immediately squatted and everyone looked at him. Looking up, he jumped, "I believe we can. Yosh let''s do it."


    Hinata smiled then looked at Kakashi.


    Kakashi nodded then looked at each of them. "Just one day, that means we are lucky."


    "Sensei¡­"


    "Raito¡­ try your best." Kakashi looked towards the village and signaled Hinata and Naruto then they went off.


    Raito was left alone. He sighed then took out a map. Keeping the map at the ground, he took out a black book with a golden seal in the front. Flipping the paper, Raito came to the second page of the book then with a deep breath activated the seal.


    "Hiden technique: Book of Secrets ¨C Shadow Clone"


    Two clones appeared before Raito but different to him, they had two circular seals on top of their hand.


    "How long?" Ratio asked.


    One clone looked to the side and answered somewhat an evil tone. "Four hours but with these two seals little more than eight hours."


    "Let''s divide and search." Raito commanded and the two nodded.


    Choosing a mountain path, Raito used his chakra sense to his fullest looking for anything and everything related to outlaws. The trees, the plants, the animal, the insects, small rocks then the big rocks. Raito looked through everything in that area then went to another area and did the same.


    After searching for most of the small mountain and several natural caves, Raito was irritated and exhausted.


    Resting on the big rock, he took a big gulp of water and looked at the rising sun from the east. "Stupid people."


    Raito had now come to a total of four kilometers from the capital gate and the surrounding paddy field.


    "Tea fields cover the whole of the northern part of the capital and there are new building being built in the south part." Using a skill ''Blood Seal Connection'' Raito had already known what the situation was in other parts.


    Feeling someone stepping in on his sensing range. He immediately focused there to see a man, plain looking, his hair and beard in a mess. The man seems to be grumbling but as he wasn''t moving his mouth Raito couldn''t interpret what he was saying.


    "That''s one lead. Maybe." Raito immediately dashed to the man''s area where he saw the man peeing in a relaxed manner.


    Using stealth as the man finished his business, Raito immediately jumped down from the tree and grabbed back of that man''s neck then dragged him in a dungeon.


    "What the hell!?" The man shouted and struggling wildly trying to free from Raito''s grasp.


    After learning that the man was a half bandit and half labor worker in the capital using his ''Observe" skill, Raito decided that he may have something to do with the kidnapping.


    Raito''s chakra immediately invaded the man''s body and as Raito tried controlling his chakra, he found that he could somewhat restrain the man. But it was difficult and with the whole night toiling, Raito just didn''t have any more patience.


    With a few hand seals, the earth below half swallowed the man, restraining him.


    "Hey, who are you? How can you act so lawlessly in the capital? Why you-" Just as the man wanted to shout more he couldn''t help but shiver continuously. Difficulty turning around he saw a boy with glowing red eyes staring at him.


    "D-d-d-Devil!!" The man was so frightened that he started crying and started asking for forgiveness.


    "Stop crying!" the voice felt heavy as it rang on his head giving him a headache.


    Raito looked at the man in front of him, who was in a totally dazed state and started asked, "Where are the twins?"


    The man replied after a long time in a monotonous voice, "At the hideout."


    "Where is your hideout?" Raito asked again feeling a headache coming.


    "¡­There is an underground cave here linked to the sea. Just about fifty steps from here, there is a small opening that goes down. Passing through it we can reach to the hideout."


    Still confused, Raito pulled him to the real world and asked one of his clones to find Kakashi and report to him.


    Conflicted to choose to go now or to go when everyone regroups. Raito didn''t even think about it for a second. He asked the man to show him the way but the depressing thing was that now his chakra was very much depleted.


    Under no one''s gaze, Raito brought out ice cream from his inventory and started eating it. Slowly the CP restored to the quarter of the total when Raito felt that it was enough.


    Following the man, as he took various turns, Raito carefully followed him with his ''Chakra Sense'' fully active. Soon Raito reached the outskirts of the hideout where he peeked through between the rocks.


    Looking down Raito saw a small camp, tents raised and meat roasted. Men walked, laughing loudly exploding vulgarities.


    Looking at his depleted Chakra, Raito immediately dug a small cave for him to recover. But before entering, he looked at the man before touching him on his shoulder and covering him with his chakra.


    Gritting his teeth Raito spoke, "Store." For a moment nothing happened but in the end, the man disappeared.


    Sighing in relief, Raito walked in covered the cave entrance and started meditating


    Breathe in


    Breathe out


    Activating the meditation skill Raito waited patiently as his chakra was slowly recovering.


    "Fast Thinking"


    "Chakra Sense"


    Using Chakra Sense Raito ''moved'' to ''see'' the small camp. Rounding up, he counted about thirty people outside the tent. The number made Raito feel that it was truly difficult. Using his blood seal connection, Raito found out that his clones couldn''t find Kakashi at all. Because he couldn''t use ''Observe'' when using ''Chakra Sense'' it was truly difficult.


    "I will definitely make a seal to track you." Raito gritted his teeth in anger.


    [Chakra Sense leveled up.]


    [Chakra Sense reached level 70. New skill unlocked ¨C Avatar.]


    [Avatar]


    While using Chakra Sense, for a price of 500 CP, create a body of 1000 CP which is perfectly connected to the user.


    Looking at the new skill unlocked, Raito was filled with joy. After reading it again and again, Raito''s eye shined brightly.


    "Hehehe." Laughing evilly Raito again closed his eyes again and activated ''Chakra Sense''.


    Going in as walking on the void, Raito quietly reached the main tent which was bigger than anyone else. Entering the tent Raito was ready to activate the skill but what he saw inside made Raito extremely shocked. Two men were locking body in the bed, one more active than other.


    "¡­" Raito immediately reached out then went on from one tent to another. Raito was dumbfounded as he saw that in one of the tent at the absolute end to see two children of seven or eight, one boy and one girl, to be sleeping in a bed, hugging each other.


    Raito who was looking at them felt confused, total confusion. Using the skill to check the name Raito confirmed that it was indeed the twins of the lord of tea country.


    "Original where are you?" Raito heard a voice from his clones.


    "Obviously underground, why?" Raito used ''Avatar'' and created a body of chakra which looked like a blue light bulb human.


    The avatar immediately touched the two and dragged them in a dungeon. Along with the avatar and the twins, Raito himself was also dragged into a dungeon.


    Jumping down Raito quickly reached to the tents and waited for a while to observe the twins.


    He saw that the twins were in an absolute panic when they didn''t find anyone around. But it seemed like the boy was smart one so he quickly calmed the girl.


    Annoyed by how long it was taking place, Raito walked out arriving in front of them.


    Immediately the twins were in a panic but the boy stood in front of his sister shining brightly as a brother.


    "Nii-san¡­"


    "Don''t worry, I will protect you."


    Raito rolled his eyes as he listened to the two. ''Why are you acting as if I am a villain?''


    "My name is Raito, from Konoha." Raito introduced himself pointing at his forehead protector.


    Mentioning Konoha''s name made the twin relax a bit and let their guard down.


    "I think you know Junichi-san, right? We came with him and¡­ uh, in short, your dad asked us to look for you."


    ''I am coming.'' Raito screamed in his blood seal connection.


    "From Konoha? Ninja? Are you Ch¨±nin? J¨­nin?" the boy with his eyes shining asked with shining eyes.


    "My team is up. Let''s go." Raito turned to look at the rocks above then started walking in that direction.


    "Oni." The girl tugged at her brother clothes.


    "Ninja-san." The boy shouted.


    "Huh? What happened? Let''s go."


    "How can we?" the girl''s voice was low but Raito heard it. It was shameful, absolutely shameful. He must never let Naruto know about it.


    "How about you two hold my hands?" Raito stretched his eyes.


    There was a pause and Raito started feeling that he was truly stupid. But in the end, they grabbed his hand.


    Sighing in relief, Raito manipulated the earth under him and made a platform.


    "Up." As to his command, the platform moved up quickly reaching the top of the rock.


    "Woah!" the twins gasped in surprise. "Amazing."


    Upon reaching the top, Raito dug out a small cave and told the twins to not say anything. The twins nodded vigorously listening to Raito''s command.


    "ID Escape."


    "Something happened." The boy voice out.


    "Mm." the girl also nodded vigorously.


    Raito looked at the two for a bit then said, "When we go out and if anyone asks, just tell them that I hid you both and sneaked you out, okay?" Raito unconsciously used his skill.


    The two nodded again.


    "Okay then." Manipulating the earth again, Raito opened the mouth of the small cave.


    After opening he was truly shocked. In front of him stood Kakashi, Hinata, Naruto and one of his clones.


    Raito who felt shocked still had calm face looking at them.


    "Konoha ninja?" the boy asked tugging at Raito''s hand.


    Raito nodded, "My team." Then looking at Kakashi he said, "Twins."


    "There are bandits down there. I sneaked them out." Raito explained.


    One couldn''t see but Kakashi who heaved a sigh of relief had corners of his mouth down.


    "Let''s go back." Kakashi after looking at his team and twins ordered.


    "Yes." The three answered then Naruto and Raito carrying each one, ran in high speed.


    Stealthily entering the capital, the team reached near the palace.


    Kakashi looked at Raito for a while but gave up. Raito also looked at Kakashi but he acted innocent.


    Walking in front of the palace, Kakashi waited as he predicted as someone would come.


    As he predicted the guards soon surrounded them.


    "Sir please let go of young lord and young miss." The guards looked at Kakashi and spoke politely.


    Kakashi looked at the two and nodded then took out the mission scroll, "We are to meet the lord."


    Upon looking at the seal on the scroll, the guard immediately bowed down.


    Raito who was about to release the little girl immediately tightened his grip and signaled Naruto to do the same.


    "Please follow me." The guard walked forward leading them to the palace meeting hall.


    The guards also followed them to the meeting hall.


    The guard who looked like captain turned around and said, "Please stay here, I will call the lord¡­ and young lord, young miss, please act with more-"


    "You don''t need to say any more just call lord father and mother." The boy spoke with the dignity of a lord''s son


    "Yes." The guard immediately ran upstairs.


    "Nii-san." The girl held Raito even more tightly.


    An exercised body and a not exercised body was clearly different. Raito and Naruto could easily hold them for so long.


    Raito who was clam, exploded, grabbing Naruto and Hinata, then he disappeared from the area.


    Kakashi who saw this smiled then lightning releasing from his body destroyed the small group of guards.


    Naruto, Raito, and Hinata along with twins appeared in the meeting hall far from the original position.


    Looking at everyone who were kissing the ground and Kakashi standing among them, Raito felt that one minute was actually too much. He shouldn''t have given Kakashi so much time.


    "You can open your eyes." Raito told the twins.


    "Shiraishi-sama is coming down with his wife and a few guards. The guards look different than¡­." Raito understood what Hinata was saying as he used ''Chakra Sense''.


    Shiraishi Eikichi looked at the guards who were on the ground then at the kids. He let out a small breath but when he wanted to walk forward, a figure had long passed him. Who else could it be but his wife?


    "Mother!" the twins hugged their mother crying their hearts out. A scene played out with the story of a reunion of family between mother and her child. The father was a hardened man who was soft inside. He didn''t go and hug his children but shed happy tears silently.


    Eikichi grabbed his wife''s shoulder then looked at his children. He didn''t say anything but kneeled on the ground.


    "Papa." They cried even loudly and jumped to their father''s embrace.


    Looking at the ground where the guards were at then at everyone in the room, Raito felt like the scene was very confusing.


    Kakashi who was focusing more at Raito than at the heart warming reunion scene, patting his shoulder and Kakashi said, "The world of politics is really difficult."


    Looking back at Kakashi and hearing what he said, Raito recalled a book that he had read in past about kingdom, war, and internal politics.


    "I thought those kinds of things only happened in books." Raito sighed then looked at the guards on the ground.


    [Tea Palace Guard Lvl 15]


    HP ¨C 0/0


    Seeing the corpse, Raito s.u.c.k.e.d in a huge breath then walked forward, grabbing the corpse and wishing it to keep in the inventory. The corpse disappeared in front of everyone. Even the lord and lady of the palace also gave a glance but didn''t say anything. Receiving a nod from Kakashi, Raito continued storing the corpses and soon the number reached ten.


    [New title unlocked]


    [Corpse Collector]


    [Increase ''Yin'' Affinity by 30%]


    [Increase chances of creating new spell relating to ''Yin'' by 20%]


    "It''s good that they have seen bodies. It comes with the seat." Eikichi as he hugged his twins thought that Raito didn''t want the kids to see the bodies, said with a heavy voice.


    Raito stood up and nodded but didn''t do anything.


    "Eikichi-dono, our mission is done and we have extended our stay at tea country." Kakashi spoke up.


    "I am thankful for the ninjas of Konoha to help in rescuing my children." Giving his kids back to his wife Eikichi stood up, walked towards Kakashi and gave him a golden scroll.


    When Kakashi got the scroll the felt more troubles coming his way. Looking at Eikichi, he saw that Eikichi didn''t have that warm smile on his face but it was replaced by a cold, black face.


    "This lord promises that there would be improvements in the relation between tea country and Konohagakure." Eikichi majestic aura was shining brightly.


    When Kakashi heard that he immediately nodded and left the palace. Outside the palace, Kakashi read the scroll then looked at his Genins.


    "Sensei, we have been awake whole night. How about getting some rest?" Raito asked.


    "Yeah, and I am hungry too."


    Hinata felt if she didn''t speak she would be left out also spoke up, "Sensei."


    "Let''s go to an inn." Kakashi put the scroll in the pouch then nodded at them.

 Chapter 38 - 38 – Assassination and Abyss

    Sigmarc,,


    "Burp!" Naruto patted his bulging stomach. The amount of food he ate was equal to the work he had done or so he says.


    Kakashi sat beside Naruto and looked at him, "You have to be ready for tomorrow. Do you understand, Naruto?"


    "Hai! Hai!" Naruto replied cheerily. "Going so long without eating Ichiraku ramen is making my stomach really angry." Naruto played with his stomach making Hinata laugh.


    "Hinata, here. Take Naruto with you and get some souvenirs. I heard that the shops near the harbor have a variety of shops." Kakashi looked at Hinata then gave her a roll of Ryo.


    "From next week, we are going to have a joint training with Asuma''s group."


    "Shika''s?" Raito asked.


    "Asuma has been telling me about this for a time now." Kakashi sighed showing his unwillingness about this joint training.


    Just as Raito had opened his mouth to ask something, Kakashi again started, "Also you three have to complete all those books in the cubicle in this month. I really pity you." Kakashi looked especially at Naruto, which made him angry for some time. Turning to see Kakashi, Raito felt that he was telling him not to speak for now.


    Keeping his mouth shut, Raito dived in for the sweets. Naruto who saw this stared in surprise, "How can you eat so much?"


    "Hum?" taking out the spoon from his mouth, Raito ate it once more and looked at Naruto, "Like that."


    Later that night Naruto and Hinata walked out of the inn. Naruto waved his hands and said, "I bring great-"


    "Don''t buy garbage." Raito immediately shouted, interrupting Naruto.


    "Raito!" Naruto shook in anger. "I''ll show you what good souvenir is called." With that Naruto ran.


    "Raito-san¡­ " Looking back at Kakashi and Raito Hinata waved her hands then rushed to meet Naruto.


    Raito waved his hands while smiling. But as they left, he looked at Kakashi and asked, "So what''s going on?"


    "So serious." Kakashi sighed. "Here." He threw the golden cover scroll to Raito.


    "Um, ah, ah. Sensei? You want me to?" Raito was dumbfounded as he read the scroll. It was about the assassination of the brother of the Tea Country''s lord.


    "If you go there, we would definitely fail the mission."


    "We are accepting it? And you are gonna do it?" Raito asked.


    Kakashi checked Raito and said, "We are accepting it and I am going to do it."


    "You made Naruto and Hinata go then why are you telling me to stay."


    "I want you to see." Kakashi finally said it.


    Raito put on a blank face and sighed, "Why me and why not them?"


    "You should understand." Kakashi nodded then went inside the inn.


    "A genius like me should understand." Raito sighed then went to prepare.


    Kakashi with his superb hearing felt his face twitching.


    In the eve of the bustling night, the roads were full of people and the lights in the shop and outside them made it look like the middle of a festival.


    But there are places similar to the lord''s palace where the guards roam around a huge palace.


    The man sighed then looked at the only maid in the palace and said, "Leave. Don''t disturb me for the night."


    The maid hurriedly bowed then left the room.


    The man played with a crystal ball in his hand and looked at the full moon. "Elder brother, you were always father''s favorite. Could it be that my children would also follow the same footsteps as me?"


    "You have already sent your children outside the country. Preparing everything is a good thing but¡­ Konoha had clearly stated that anyone who tries unfair means would be-"


    "Killed? I already know about it. But why should I restrain myself? Our tea country is not ruled by the Fire country. What we do, what has it anything to do with your Konohagakure." The man who was calmly sitting on the couch stood up and threw the crystal ball towards a dark figure.


    The dark figure grabbed it and shattered it to pieces, "If you hadn''t kidnap the twins then there would be no reason for me come here at this beautiful night to kill you."


    "Stop." The man sat on the couch taking a wine bottle and glass. Filling the glass, the man looked at the dark figure.


    Walking out from the shadow Kakashi revealed himself. Then from his pouch, Kakashi took out a folded paper. Taking out another glass from a seal and another wine bottle that had the same label, Kakashi filled it with wine then poured the powder before mixing it.


    The man clearly had an unwilling look as he took the wine glass.


    "Please."


    "Our village does not take mission against who hasn''t done anything." Kakashi answered hinting at some points.


    The man closed his eyes and drunk it whole. Now, the only thing he could do now was to wait, wait for his death.


    With a jutsu Kakashi made the wine in the cup evaporate the filling it again. Sealing everything he had bought, Kakashi cleaned everything before leaving. The surrounding guards didn''t see anything, the only feeling that this particular night gave out was cold, bitter coldness.


    Raito who sat on a rock few hundred meters outside the palace looked at the palace with a stiff expression. When Kakashi reached to where Raito was, he saw that and waited patiently for fifteen minutes.


    Grabbing Raito''s shoulder, Kakashi disappeared and the next moment he appeared in front of the lord''s palace. Looking at Raito, he saw that Raito was still in a state of shock. Sighing Kakashi waited for him to recover.


    Raito who was in a daze was jumping inside as he looked at the video.


    [Shadow Concealment technique recorded.]


    [Afterimage technique recorded.]


    [Lightning release ¨C Body flicker recorded.]


    "Whatever you were doing, only do that when you have returned to the village or¡­ to the place you disappear to." Kakashi waited after speaking.


    "Sorry sensei¡­" Raito stood up and nodded.


    Grabbing his shoulder they again disappeared reaching the main hall of the lord''s palace.


    Kakashi and Raito who were darker clothes and had their faces covered appeared in front of Shiraishi Eikichi.


    Giving a slight bow, Raito and Kakashi greeted, "We greet Shiraishi-sama."


    "Ka-" Just as he was about to call Kakashi''s released his chakra and locked onto Eikichi.


    "Mission accomplished." Then taking out the golden scroll, Kakashi gave it to Eikichi.


    "Thank you." Shiraishi Eikichi stamped the scroll then returned it back.


    Walking back, Kakashi bowed then grabbing Raito left the palace.


    When Kakashi and Raito returned to the inn they saw that Naruto and Hinata had just entered the building.


    Kakashi walked forward and came in front of Hinata and Naruto.


    Looking at Kakashi''s awkward smile, Hinata asked, "Sensei, what happened?"


    Rubbing his hair, Kakashi started explaining. Since they had sneaked in and not registered in the country. They were not officially allowed to be here.


    "Then can''t we just go and register?" Hinata asked again.


    "We had a period of six days. So we must be back or our pay would be halved." Raito spoke up as he walked forward in his hand a bag each for Hinata and Naruto.


    "Our pay would be halved?" Naruto jumped then quickly grabbed the bag, giving Raito all the shopping bag.


    "We will also be heavily punished by the council if they knew." Kakashi continued.


    After paying, they directly left the capital through a hidden passage.


    "And I thought that I could sleep together with Naruto-kun." Hinata murmured.


    "What was that Hinata? You have to speak up, ya know?" Naruto who was walking beside Hinata looked at her weirdly and asked.


    Raito for the first time checked the Info book and selected the skills tab. There were not much but it recorded all the skills he had learned till now even something like cleaning and cooking.


    After cl.i.c.k.i.n.g one of the skill, he found that the skill had various level under it. 1, 2, 3 ¡­ 30. The level was from one to till he had cultivated. Then checking for the skills he didn''t have but was still there, there were only a few.


    [Demonic illusion ¨C Dream Emotion Rampage]


    [Lightning Release ¨C Body Flicker]


    [Afterimage]


    [Shadow Concealment]


    [Heart Kill Combo]


    [Beheading Strike Combo]


    Raito checked all of them but none of them were that great but the man problem was points.


    [POINTS ¨C 200]


    "Hey Kakashi-sensei, how about you show me your strongest technique?" Raito asked with a big smile.


    "After we reach village." Kakashi answered then dug his nose to his book.


    Raito snorted then looked back at the road with grand thoughts in his mind, "Sharingan is nothing compared to this."


    Then taking out a big rock to carry, Raito started training.


    Giving him a side glance, Kakashi had a bizarre thought, "I fear when me meets Gai¡­"


    "Gai-sensei?" Raito looked back at Kakashi.


    "No, nothing." Kakashi sighed then looked at the setting sun.


    Sometimes it rained. "Damn it''s unlucky, unlucky."


    "Raito make a house."


    *Gururu. "Raito, I am hungry. Give me food."


    On the returning journey, Naruto annoyed Raito hundreds of time but Raito remained steadfast doing his own thing. Feeling that Raito was becoming stronger and stronger, Naruto also joined in his training. Hinata also joined them but would always lag because of the abnormal training schedule.


    Kakashi smiled looking at them. He explained that he was feeling good then used his acc.u.mulated experience in ANBU and trained them.


    Two days later, reaching the gates of Konohagakure, Kakashi stretched his body and let out a big yell.


    "Oh, Kakashi. You are finally back." Kotetsu stood up and shouted.


    "Yo." Kakashi nodded.


    "Did something happened?" looking at Kakashi, he seemed different.


    "Ah, you took a C-Rank but where are your Genins?" Kotetsu looked at Kakashi''s but didn''t see the Genins.


    "You got that Naruto brat, Hinata Hyuga and Raito. So where are they?" Kotetsu asked again.


    "Send a message to Hokage-sama. Along with a C-Rank mission, we also had to do an A-Rank rescue mission."


    "An A-Rank? Of course it''s ''First C-Rank curse''."


    "And there is a personal A-Rank." Kakashi gave the scroll to Kotetsu then waited.


    Kotetsu immediately grabbed the scrolls and ran towards the tower. As he was leaving he kicked Izumo asking to lookout.


    "Sensei, ora, ora, ora. RAMEN!" Naruto, who was carrying a bag in his front and Hinata on his back, ran with dust flying.


    Raito had already reached the doors and was checking his skill level.


    [Sprint Lvl 58]


    [Chakra Body Enhancement Lvl 44]


    Looking back at Naruto, Raito activated the veil technique, making it look like the gate was closed. Naruto who was at a distance away saw that the gates were closed. So he shouted, "Open the gates."


    Kakashi and Izumo looked at Raito. Izumo had his mouth open and Kakashi praised Raito, "You are really good at Genjutsu."


    "There goes our plan for this year''s exam." Izumo mumbled then went to register.


    Naruto tried stopping his momentum and stopped just inches away from the gates, "Safe!"


    Kotetsu came back running but at the end stumbled on Raito''s illusion and fell down crossing the ''gates'' and as a result, the gates disappeared.


    "Wa-What happened? Illusion? Genjutsu?" Naruto''s confused voice made everyone focus on him.


    Then asking Hinata to go down, he looked around to find Raito with a mocking smile. "Damn you! Raito!"


    Seeing Naruto jump and create another ruckus. Kotetsu grabbed Naruto by the collar and looked at Kakashi. "Hokage-sama says he wants to see all of you."


    But Kakashi had walked ahead with his Genin and disappeared in the crowd. Kotetsu wanted to search for them but Izumo grabbed him from behind, "I say Kotetsu, you have known Kakashi and you still want to tell him¡­. You are definitely stupid."


    Team seven sat on chairs, in front of a stall.


    Kakashi called out, "Teuchi-san, ramen on me."


    "Ichi, ra, Ku. Huhuhu." Naruto moved like a leaf blown.


    "I want my special, Teuchi-ossan."


    "A pork for me."


    After their small celebration, Kakashi instructed them to take a rest and meet at Hokage tower tomorrow.


    "But sensei, didn''t Hokage-sama asked us to come today?" Hinata looked at Kakashi with confusion then asked.


    "No worries, no worries. Hokage-sama is very kind. He will definitely understand that we had to travel a lot and I also made you do all those training. No worries, no worries." Kakashi replied with a smile then send them away.


    Naruto and Raito looked at Kakashi''s back view with disdain.


    "Maybe-" Hinata started thinking but she felt two hands on her shoulders.


    Raito looked at her with blank faces and shook his head.


    Hinata just said, "Oh." Then with Naruto and Raito went home.


    As expected next morning Team seven got an earfull and mouth full of scolding. Hinata was never on the receiving side of the Hokage''s lashing but she was on her clan elders and fathers. So he just looked at the floor finding it rather beautiful and as a matter of fact, it was rather beautiful. A place where a person, who controls the wind and rain of the whole village, definitely must have something a bit of luxury.


    Naruto and Raito were already used to it. They had been playing pranks and doing things that children shouldn''t be doing. So, they were here quite a number of time not only facing Hiruzen but also Yugao, Ibuki, Mari, Shun and Inoichi. Kakashi was even more amazing as he smiled throughout Hiruzen''s scolding.


    Hiruzen sat on his chair and drank a bottle of spring water given by Raito then looked at Kakashi with anger. But the spring water quickly acted and calmed Hiruzen. "Fine, fine. What can I even do to you all?"


    Taking out a paper, Hiruzen looked at Kakashi and signed a doc.u.ment and called Mariko. "Team seven will only do D-rank for a month."


    Mariko took the paper, bowed and left the room. The punishment was just in name as they would not get C-Rank for a long time anyway.


    "Now let''s begin with the report. Since it is an A-Rank, I will be hearing it. The missions having political interference or rank A and S will be directly reported to me." Hiruzen explained to the three Genins.


    The three also nodded and looked at Kakashi. Kakashi sighed than started, if it wasn''t a long practice, Kakashi would love using Genjutsu to show everything. He started from the very beginning, leaving the village, settling in an inn then reaching the border, the small village and lastly the capital.


    Everything was in such detail that a movie could be easily made. He even added the mission about assassination which made Naruto look at Kakashi in a resentful way.


    "That''s good. I hope the ''Tea'' remembers. They already used one of the golden scrolls, Konoha gave them." Hiruzen sealed the scroll in a big scroll given to him by an ANBU.


    "Rest for two days." Looking at the Genins, he gave them an order and made them go out.


    Naruto immediately looked back at Raito as they walked out, "Why didn''t he take us?"


    "How would I know? He didn''t take me inside. I was just waiting for him outside." Raito shrugged his shoulders.


    "Raito-san." Hinata pulled Raito then gave him a signal pointing at Mariko.


    "Mariko-nee?" Ratio jumped and grabbed Mariko''s hand. Taking out a small carving of a woman sitting in flower lotus, he gave it to Mariko. Seeing that Mariko, still wasn''t smiling he took out few bowls of food and only stopped after he saw the smile.


    "I totally forgot you, Mariko-nee. Since I wasn''t here there wasn''t anyone giving you good food¡­ How about marrying me? So I could feed you every day." Raito joked and dodged Mariko''s hit.


    After calming down, Mariko put all the stuff into the drawer then took out a paper and gave it to Raito, "Poison hall has been waiting for you a long time and they are getting impatient."


    Storing the paper into the inventory, he replied, "I totally forgot about that."


    Mariko sighed then looked at Naruto and Hinata giving them a paper each.


    "Hyuga Hinata, repot to the Sensory Monitoring division. Go to the information department at the top of mountain at noon."


    "Uzumaki Naruto, report to the Patrolling division. Go to the gates before the sun rises."


    "Since you have a two day rest, make sure to gather some information before going. A ninja must prepare."


    After giving them the introduction paper and the orders Mariko waved at them asking them to leave.


    Naruto walked down, turning corners. "Now what''s this? More work? But we still have a two day holiday. What do you think, Raito?"


    Not hearing Raito speaking, Naruto looked back only to see Hinata. Sighing he dragged Hinata for a long walk. Hinata was also happy being dragged by Naruto. Her hair had grown and now it was already reaching her shoulders.


    Raito stood in front of a huge fortress like house. The gate had a board on top "Poison Hall".


    "I should meet her too. How is she doing? ¡­Maybe she passed." Raito stood in silence and in confusion. He thought for a while then walked inside standing in front of the main door of the house.


    Knock! Knock!


    Raito pulled the handle then banged the wooden door twice and waited. He waited and waited for a long time thinking that since the house is so big the people will take a long time.


    "Tch." Looking at the big door, he activated ''Chakra Sense'' and expanded his senses. The invisible bubble expanded and got bigger and bigger. But what he didn''t expect was that the Poison Hall actually repelled his senses.


    Frowning for a while, Raito sighed, "I knew something low level as this would have some defects." With a giddiness coming from within ratio let out a small smile with his eyes shining, "In future, just like my father, I will modify it and make it even stronger."


    Then looking at the big door, Raito with a furrowed brows, he pushed the door and to his surprise, it was actually open.


    Peeking inside, Raito again tried using ''Chakra Sense'' but he couldn''t ''see'' anything.


    "Why is it soo dark here?" His eyes wandering, Raito waited for this eye to adjust to the light but still, he failed to say anything.


    Frowning, he opened the door allowing the light from outside to fall inside but to his surprise, the darkness devoured the light and the inside remained covered in darkness.


    "Forget it. Like I wanted to come here anyway." Raito humped and turned out to depart.


    "When you look at the abyss, the abyss looks back at you." There was a small giggle and the voice of a lady, which made Raito turn around.


    "This one is called ''ten'' and we welcome ''Yoshizawa Raito'' to the Abyss Hall."


    "Isn''t it called ''Poison Hall''? Why is it called ''Abyss Hall''?" Raito wanted to take a step back but he felt the door was already closed and he had taken a few steps in already.


    "We are called Poison Hall on the outside but we always have been called ''Abyss'' from the beginning."


    "Okkkayy. So can I go?"


    The women who called her ''ten'' took a step forward and the hall suddenly lightened. She was wearing a purple robe and her face was covered with only her eyes exposed.


    [???, Ten]


    "I don''t think that this young lord has ever seen me but let me introduce myself."


    "I am the one who manages the shop in the Abyss, ''Ten''." She closed her eyes then gave a slight bow.


    "A shop?" Raito face turned into confusion.

 Chapter 39 - 39 – Basic level

    "A shop?" Raito looked at the women and asked in confusion, his hands hidden behind his back, still searching for the handle of the door.


    "Yes, shop. We the Abyss have been in the business of buying and selling for a very, very long time." ''Ten'' acted as if she didn''t see Raito''s struggle continued.


    "After coming to Konoha and been here for these odd four years, there have been four purchase. As for this young lord, since you have come, I would like to show you what you can purchase."


    Raito turned around and finally saw that the door had no handle. In frustration, he turned around and breathed deeply, "I don''t have money to buy things, here."


    ''Ten'' smiled charmingly but a pity Raito couldn''t see it. "Someone has already paid for this young lord''s first purchase."


    ''ID Create.'' Raito called out in his mind but the skill didn''t activate, making Raito feel much danger.


    "Who paid it? Jiji? Kakashi-sensei? Mari-nee? Shun-nii? Who? And why the heck are you calling me young lord? I want to leave. Let me go." Raito cried out in anger and panic.


    ''Ten'' blinked her beautiful eyes then waved his hands. The door opened with heart scratching sound. Seeing the door opening, Raito hurriedly escaped.


    Standing outside the big building, breathing deeply, in and out. Calming down, he looked back then went to sit under a tree.


    "I was too scared, but why? Anko-nee, Jiji and Kakashi-sensei even told me that it was a good thing for me." Ratio staid cross-legged, eating and thinking.


    After finally gathering himself up, Raito opened the door and walked in. The women called ''Ten'' stood in front like a statue with her eyes fixed into Raito.


    Raito coughed to hide his embarrassment and said, "I had to do something so¡­" The lie wasn''t good enough and he knew it. Raito looked around and found that inside was normal to be said, the long corridors with door and a stair leading upwards.


    "Anko-nee told me that I was called." Raito ended the awkward silence.


    "Indeed, it was us who asked for you to come, young lord." ''Ten'' answered then turned around and walked forward to the first door.


    "Why are you still calling me young lord? My name is Raito." Raito tried explaining.


    "This is what we are supposed to call the customer." She opened the first door and walked in, telling Raito to do the same.


    After walking in, Raito saw that ''Ten'' moved to the other side of a small stall and wait.


    "Um¡­ ten-san? What are you doing?" Raito asked to the strange action of ''Ten''.


    "Once you stand in front of the stall, you will naturally understand." She said then closed her eyes.


    Raito turned to look around the room. The room was very, very spacious but there was nothing else. The walls were painted white and the floor had carpets covering the whole floor and lastly the ceiling had lights but only lighting brightly under the stall, other corners of the room only had dim lighting.


    Walking unhurriedly, Raito reached in front of the stall but before speaking, a notification popped in front of him.


    [We deal from thin air to everything possible.]


    [Once inside the Abyss Hall customer private room, the customer can browse the items ready to be shipped and sold. Please don''t ask for source as the sellers are not willing to reveal the origin.]


    [Would you like to browse the catalogue?]


    [Yes / No]


    "Ten-san." Raito was trembling.


    "I wish to ask."


    "Young lord, please understand, you are a very special individual. You have the special ability called "Gamer" that allows you to have a body that allows you to become like a game character, like healing from fatal injuries after sleep and distributing points to raise stats. Along with that you can also learn skills from the skill books and many other things."


    "How do you know about my powers?" Raito went directly with his questions.


    "Your power are bestowed by the planet''s consciousness, the Gaia."


    "Gaia? Do you mean mother earth, Gaia? Like it was said in those games??"


    "Yes exactly. Because you are here, we naturally are also here. We act as shops like in game, where young lord can buy things."


    "That means that ''Poison Hall'' is just a place for me to buy things?"


    "¡­ Yes." ''Ten'' looked at Raito and continued. What we say, what we do, everything remains in this four-corner and never get out. Young lord Raito about your power if fewer people knew it, the better it would be."


    Raito nodded heavily.


    "So, then would you like to browse the catalog?" in a sweet charming way ''Ten'' asked again.


    After a long while staring at ''Ten'', Raito nodded.


    Weapons | Armor | Accessories | Skills | Pets | Artifacts


    Raito looked over but instead of being happy, he began frowning.


    One set of Shuriken ¨C 5,000 Ryo


    Plain Katana ¨C 20,000 Ryo


    Black T-shirt ¨C 4,000 Ryo


    White T-shirt ¨C 2,000 Ryo


    Black tight pants ¨C 4,000 Ryo


    Silver earrings ¨C 13,999 Ryo


    2-day puppy ¨C 4,999 Ryo


    3-day puppy ¨C 3,999 Ryo


    4-day puppy ¨C 3,999 Ryo


    ''Even though I wasn''t expecting much.'' "Ten-san, what exactly is going on? One set of shuriken cost 2,500 Ryo and with Genin''s card, I can easily get it with 2,000 Ryo. It''s so expensive."


    ''Ten'' blinked her eyes and covered her mouth which had turned to an ''O'' then she waved her hands.


    The notification tab blurred and text began to appear again.


    [Basic Level Crafting]


    [Basic Level Pill Refining]


    [Basic Level Puppet Refining]


    [Basic Level Inscription]


    [Basic Level Farming]


    [Basic Level Taming]


    [Basic Level Angling]


    [Basic Level Medicine]


    [Basic Level Enhancement]


    ¡­


    There were so many ''basic level'' that Raito just closed them and turned to leave.


    "Young lord are you not going to buy anything?" ''Ten'' called out.


    "Did you look at the price?" The price was a heart attacker. Each of the ''Basic level'' cost about a Billion Ryo each.


    "I don''t want to think that how much the intermediate level or higher are going to cost me?" Raito breathe out and walked out.


    ''Ten'' sighed and waved her hand, with that the door was closed, "Young lord, why would you need Intermediate level or higher? You just need to buy the ''Basic level'' ones only."


    Turning around Raito looked into her eye and asked, "Why?"


    "And since you have a free chance¡­ why not try one?" Ten ignored Raito''s question then closed her eyes. No matter how many times Raito asked or what he asked, she didn''t answer.


    Raito was playing with his tongue in thought. After standing there for a while he walked to the small stall and looked through his choices and was left between hard choices.

 Chapter 40 - Power Up!

    Unknown, deep and powerful entities across the universe whispered their choices.


    Controlling Raito''s choices, they pointed at the ''Basic Level Enhancement''.


    [Basic Level Enhancement]


    [Anything in the world can be improved.]


    [Increase stat of the item.]


    The description couldn''t be more vague.


    [Basic Level Angling]


    [A rod, thread, and a bait.]


    [Basic Level Puppet Refining]


    [I believe in my puppets can show you a good show.]


    [Creating life that does not breathe, eat and talk.]


    Raito closed the description tab and choose ''Basic Level Enhancement''.


    "Young Lord, are you sure?" Ten asked as she brought up a thick book with a green cover.


    "Yes, yes." After getting the book, Raito wanted to store it in the inventory but he couldn''t open it. Raito sighed and held the book by the side.


    ''Ten'' cleared her throat and said, "Young lord, please learn the book right now."


    Raito gave a side glance but seeing that ''Ten'' wasn''t saying anything else, Raito sighed then held the book in front.


    [Do you want to learn skill ''Basic Level Enhancement''?]


    Raito chooses ''Yes'' then sat down.


    [Basic Level Enhancement Lvl 1 (Active)]


    [Increase stat of the item.]


    ''Ten'' walked with Raito to the door then pushing her two hands forward like asking for something.


    Raito blinked in confusion and waited. Seeing that Raito was waiting for her she spoke up, "Hand."


    Sighing he placed his hand on her hand. She grabbed it and said, "Please don''t leak anything that happened in here in whatsoever form."


    "¡­ Okay." Raito replied with a frown.


    [A contract has been established.]


    Raito looked through the contract and didn''t find anything problematic.


    The door shut behind sounding like a clap of thunder.


    "Jeez, that was not cool." Looking back at the door he muttered.


    Resting below the tree, Raito took out a stone bead, ready for his first enhancement.


    [Stone Bead]


    A round and smooth bead made by the manipulating stones and rocks.


    Made by ¨C Yoshizawa Raito


    Owned by ¨C Yoshizawa Raito


    Durability ¨C 800/800


    Weight ¨C 43 kg


    [Stone Bead +1]


    A round and smooth bead made by the manipulating stones and rocks.


    Made by ¨C Yoshizawa Raito


    Owned by ¨C Yoshizawa Raito


    Durability ¨C 800


    Weight ¨C 44 kg


    "¡­" Ratio stared at the description tab in a daze. "The heck."


    Raito took out another bead which was slightly heavier and used enhancement once more.


    [Stone Bead +1]


    Made by ¨C Yoshizawa Raito


    Owned by ¨C Yoshizawa Raito


    Durability ¨C 800


    Weight ¨C 51 kg


    "WHAT!?"


    [Apple +1]


    Apple grown at Raito''s backyard.


    Owned by ¨C Yoshizawa Raito


    Freshness ¨C 9/10


    [Kunai +1]


    A small hidden weapon with a sharp, pointed end and a ring end.


    ATK 16-18 > 18-20


    Durability ¨C 200


    "Now it''s good to call enhancement." Raito nodded with a small smile.


    [CP ¨C 4,800/5,200]


    "Each enhancement cost me a hundred point of Chakra points."


    Clutching into the enhanced kunai, Raito activated the skill again.


    [Kunai +2]


    A small hidden weapon with a sharp, pointed end and a ring end.


    ATK 18-20 > 21


    Accuracy +5%


    Durability ¨C 200


    "ATK increased to 21 only? And it costed me 200 points?"


    [CP ¨C 4,600/5,200]


    "Enhance."


    [Kunai +3]


    A small hidden weapon with a sharp, pointed end and a ring end.


    ATK 21 > 22


    Accuracy +5%


    Durability ¨C 200


    "I don''t like this, at all." Raito frowned hard looking at the increased value.


    [CP ¨C 4,300/5,200]


    Raito gritted his teeth. "What the hell is this? A billion Ryo can just do this?"


    Raito massaged his forehead and walked home.


    Inside the Poison Hall, ''Ten'' looked at the figure walking away shook her head and said, "What a hotheaded person, not like Han-Jee Han, at all."


    "Not at all." A manly voice corrected her from behind and explained. "He didn''t feel comfortable where his power does not work."


    "Then why did he use power in the courtyard?"


    "To let us see." The man seemingly had an answer to all the Ten''s question.


    Waving his hands a black spiral appeared in front of him, "Let''s go. We shouldn''t stay here for too long."


    Ten nodded and walked through the portal and disappeared. And as they disappeared the corridor, stairs and the stall also disappeared turning back into nothing.


    Raito who was grumbling and walking, after getting some distance used ''Body Flicker'' and reached home.


    "Ah! Raito." Naruto who was practicing his Fuinjutsu stopped as he looked towards the door and saw Raito but before he could say anymore, Raito disappeared.


    "So n" Naruto grumbled then went back to his Fuinjutsu.


    Raito closed the door with a big smile on his face. Taking out various things from the inventory Raito started his ''Enhancement''.


    [Rock Knife +1]


    ATK 9


    [Spring Water +1]


    (110 CP in 1 minute)


    [Spring Water +1]


    (110 HP in 1 minute)


    [Spring Water +1]


    (Fatigue recovery +1)


    [Standard Katana +2]


    ATK 75-80


    [Sharp Bicone Stone +1]


    Weight ¨C 26 kg


    [Small Bed]


    (Comfort +1)


    [Chair]


    (Comfort +1)


    [Table]


    Durability ¨C 500


    "I somehow like this ''Enhancement''." Raito let out a small smile.


    [Exploding Tag +1]


    [Dizzy Tag +1]


    Raito laughed in joy as he exhausted his chakra, enhancing everything he could.


    [CP ¨C 10/5,200]


    "I need more chakra." Raito looked at his stats then at the stat points that he used in a blue moon.


    "I should go for INT already." Raito played with the thought but rest it when he thought further.


    Walking down, Raito couldn''t find Naruto. Looking at the messed up room, Raito sighed then started cleaning the room.


    [Enhancement (Active) Lvl 1 99%]


    "A hundred enhancement for increasing one level?" Raito played with kunai in his hand.


    [Kunai +10]


    A small hidden weapon with a sharp, pointed end and a ring end.


    ATK 29


    Accuracy +10%


    Durability ¨C 200


    "For enhancing once, a hundred points. For enhancing to level two, two hundred and so on. Lastly for level ten, a full thousand points. From level one of enhancement to level ten it takes a total of five thousand five hundred chakra points."


    [CP ¨C 5,200/5,200]


    "Enhance."


    [CP ¨C 200/5,200]


    [Kunai +11]


    A small hidden weapon with sharp, pointed end and a ring end.


    ATK 30


    Accuracy +11%


    Durability ¨C 200


    (Pierce)


    "Both numbers increased by one and ''Pierce''." Raito gaze lingered on ''Pierce''.


    [Pierce ¨C Chances of ignoring defense by 10%]


    [Skill ''Enhance'' leveled up by 1.]


    [Skill ''Enhance'' reached level 2.]


    "Oh." His eye lit up in joy but seeing the depleted CP, Raito frowned.


    Keeping the kunai back he activated ''Meditation''.


    After half an hour with full chakra, Raito grabbed the kunai and once again activated his chakra. "Enhance."


    [Insufficient Chakra Points]


    "Eh!?" Raito stood up in annoyance and anger, his shoulder raising. But a while later, he sat down with another item in his hand.


    [Sharp Bicone Stone +1]


    Weight ¨C 26 kg


    Durability ¨C 50/50


    [Sharp Bicone Stone +10]


    Weight ¨C 44 kg


    Durability ¨C 150/1500


    [Sharp Bicone Stone +11]


    (Pierce)


    Weight ¨C 46 kg


    Durability ¨C 170/170


    "But I need to store my chakra too." Everything needed chakra. His book of secrets could hold a total of fifty thousand points of chakra then there were chakra seals in his body to use for emergency situation. Few points for the Genjutsu so it would continue to level up and finally to keep his ever activated ''Chakra Sense''.


    Raito thought for a while then left for the library. He still had a total of sixty hours of reading time which he had to use properly.


    At the Hokage tower, Sasuke banged the table, glared at the lady opposite, "Give me a C-Rank!"


    "Yeah." Kiba also grabbed the table and stretched himself to face the lady. "C-Rank."


    The lady frowned as she looked at the two. One had destroyed her whole morning work by punching on the paper whereas the other boy with the dog had covered her face with spit.


    "What''s going on here?" Iruka who was walking by saw the situation shouted stunning the two Genins and Hiruzen who was grumbling and cursing Kakashi in anger also saw what was happening. His steps quickly caught the attention of everyone and Iruka looked back with fear. He could feel that Hiruzen was releasing his chakra in a bad way.


    "Hokage-sama¡­"


    Hiruzen gave Iruka an icy glance making him shut up.


    "Team eight D-Rank for a whole month." Hiruzen said blandly and left.


    "No." Sasuke who woke up from daze and wanted to chase but Shino who have been standing quietly made his bug army envelope the two then took the mission scroll and left the room through the window.


    Hiruzen walked back to the office and asked Kurenai to come.


    Sometime Kurenai walked in with a frown on her face. The frown matched the frown in Hiruzen''s face. But as she walked in and stood in front of Hiruzen, she had unfurrowed her brows, standing like a true ninja.


    "Kurenai." Hiruzen''s voice had a steely edge as Kurenai sensed an ill foreboding.


    "Yes!" She immediately kneeled on one knee.


    Hiruzen looked at her with a bit of anger and asked, "When are you going to manage your Genins?"


    "And I see that your team has still not finished the basic learning course whereas team seven and team ten have already finished it."


    Turning on the pages, Hiruzen was still not finished. "And you even submitted a request for a C-Rank?"


    "I¡­" Kurenai sighed.


    Hiruzen turned the page and sighed, "Kurenai, you need to learn that the three you have chosen are¡­ a bit bigger for you."


    "I understand, Hokage-sama."


    "Now the reason you were not with your team when getting mission."


    "Yes. I was called by¡­ the Hyuga Clan head." Kurenai started.


    "How troublesome." Hiruzen''s face turned grim.


    At the western part of the village, Naruto was training but it would be better to say that he was getting beaten by Hinata.


    Kakashi who was on top of the tree, reading his books looked at Naruto with side glance and shaking his head.


    Raito could see everything that they were doing. Withdrawing back, Raito looked at the empty cubicle in the library then down at the books. Pouting, Raito kept everything in their place and walked out.


    "Shun." Mari called out pulling the man beside her.


    "Hm?" they stood on top of a tree above the Hokage monument looking at Raito.


    "I think he is sad."


    Pulling Mari towards him, shun replied, "Don''t worry. This is a normal part of those who are special."


    Raito walked down the streets of Konoha, quickly reaching a building behind the Hokage tower and in front of Hokage monument.


    Sitting in front of the building were two men, wearing a grey trench coat and a bandana type forehead protector. They were sitting with a clipboard and roughly crossing out the words written. One of the two frowned and threw the board down.


    "Damn." He cursed then took the clipboard and started working again.


    Raito looked at them in a strange way and continued walking. Opening the door of the building, he found that the reception was fairly normal with a lady sitting.


    Hesitatingly, he called out and gave her the paper given by Mariko to the lady.


    "Good." The lady had a slim body with blond hair and blue eyes. She was wearing earrings and her nails were nicely done.


    "We finally have some Genin coming to our department. It has been so long." She sighed then showed Raito a small emblem pin.


    Raito looked at the pin then at the lady with confusion. "What?"


    The lady stood up and walked a step back, covering her mouth, "What a rude person?"


    "umm¡­" Raito blinked.


    "What a bland reaction." She sat down dejected.


    Raito pursed his lips.


    "Okay then." She slapped herself then looked at Raito. "Raito, right? You need this emblem pin next time you want to come in."


    Raito nodded then pushed his hand out. But it seemed that the lady had no intention of giving him the pin.


    "What do you want?" Raito asked plainly.


    "Hmm, what I want?" the lady rolled her eyes in thought dangling the emblem pin.


    ''Fast thinking.'' Quickly acting Raito went for the pin¡­ but even in extreme thinking speed, the lady was casually waving her hand dodging Raito''s hand.


    "Rude." She spat her tongue out then pushed her hand forward.


    Raito eyed the pin then at the lady.


    [T and I department Emblem Pin]


    Specific pin used by the T and I department, used to grant access to the building.


    [Ijiri Haruko Lvl 38]


    [T and I Receptionist]


    Eyeing the new information, Raito closed them and looked at the lady. Since she wasn''t saying anything that means maybe he was asking the wrong question. So he asked again this time in a more pleasant sounding voice and slight eye contact, "What do I need to do to get that pin?"


    "Heh." Haruko smiled then said, "In two minutes, just two minutes, I want you to find out what my name is."


    "Name?" Raito was stunned as he never thought that he would ever encounter a situation like this.


    "Yeah, my name but you aren''t allowed to go out of this room."


    "So, I can do anything in this room?" Raito smiled.


    "Don''t smile while saying that, gross." Haruko looked at the clock then said, "Start."


    Raito rolled his eyes, looking at the clock then at Haruko.


    "Um¡­ miss what''s your name?" Raito scratched his hair and with embarrassed pose asked for her name.


    "Pfft, Hahaha what that? Miss?" she laughed loudly beating the table.


    "Ijiri Haruko."


    The laughter died down and Haruno looked at Raito in a threatening way. "Yoshizawa Raito, how did you know my name?"


    Raito smiled this time which looked somewhat arrogant. "I knew before I came here." Then picked the emblem pin.


    "Yawn." Inoichi walked out with a cup of coffee in his hand.


    "Oh, Raito?" Inoichi was really surprised when he saw Raito with the department pin.


    "Sensei?" Raito turned around and his smile widened.


    "Raito, why are you here?" Inoichi took a sip then walked forward.


    Haruko walked out of her seat then standing beside Inoichi answered. "This boy came to start experiencing in our department."


    Looking at the pin, Inoichi sighed, "More work?"


    "Anko-san and Ibuki-san said that they are free." Haruko signaled, looking at Raito with a dark smile.


    Inoichi waved his hand and walked out, "Don''t call me tonight."


    "Raito, just follow through for today."


    Haruko walked forwards opening the door. "I think Anko would suit you the most. Hehe." Her laugh made the sealed dark corridor feel a bit darker.


    Or so Haruko thought.


    "Simple Genjutsu." Raito looked at Haruko as looking at a stupid person and walked in.


    "Who the heck is he?" Haruko grumbled then walked with him reaching to a room. Opening the door, screams came gushing out.


    "Mooree!!" there was a man''s cry filled with hints of p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e and pain.


    "Oh, action." Haruko walked forward and stuck to the glass peeking inside.


    Raito also joined and he saw a scene which he may never forget. Anko was kicking a person semi-nude and with each kick the man would roll over, letting out weird noise.


    "What a pervert." Raito looked at the scene with a little disgust.


    Not wanting to see anymore, Raito turned around and waited. But even after five minutes, Anko wasn''t coming out and the man was continuing to let out weird noises.


    Shivering, he turned around and lightly knocked on the glass window. Haruko who was by the side was horrified, she immediately grabbed Raito''s hand and made an angry face.


    [-10 HP]


    ''Strong.'' Raito hissed than used chakra enhancement and strengthened his body.


    Bang!


    "Who the hell was that!?" the door was banged open and Anko walked out with an annoyed face.


    "It was this Genin, Anko-ma''am." Haruko quickly answered Anko pushing Raito forward.


    "Raito!" Anko shouted, her eyes twinkling.


    "Yes, his name is Raito¡­but how?"


    Just as Haruko finished, a white but long thing came out of Anko and disappeared inside Raito''s clothing.


    "Midori." Anko pouted.


    "What is happening here?" Haruko trembled as she saw Raito and Anko bickering about snakes.


    "I am here to gain experience." Raito answered to Anko''s question.


    "Heh, so you want experience huh? Come with me." Anko dragged Raito inside the smaller room and picked the man, throwing him into a chair.


    "Your gang stole the golden Buddha from the northern shrine. Tell me and we can end it now?" Anko cracked her knuckles looking a bit menacing combined with her chakra influencing the man, the man began trembling but he bit his own tongue then spat the blood and spit towards Anko.


    "Tough one, I have been giving him a good time for an hour now but¡­" Turning around Anko patted Raito''s shoulder and said, "Use all the techniques that you have been holding back on him. We want the location of the golden Buddha statue as fast as possible."


    "Generally a healer would rarely come here but¡­"


    Raito gave her a nod before pushing her out of the small room. "Hey, uncle what''s your name?"


    The man didn''t speak opting to remain silent, glaring at Raito.


    "You can glare how much ever you like but that''s not gonna change anything." He leaned the table then brought out a bowl and chopsticks placing them near the man.


    "The heck is this?" the man stared at Raito.


    "Aren''t you hungry? An hour¡­ you have been in this room for a whole hour. So, I thought that you must be hungry."


    Like a magic trick, various pots and pan appeared out of nowhere. Raito served the food then made the pots and pans disappear. Walking behind, he took out a kunai and cut the ropes off.


    "As long as you don''t try anything funny, I assure you that I will not beat you to your death." Raito''s voice mixed with Genjutsu made the man shiver for a moment.


    Picking the chopstick, he started eating but as he continued, the taste of the food overwhelmed him.


    "What''s your name, uncle?" Raito''s voice laced with chakra entered the man''s system reaching his brain.


    The man who heard the question wanted to snort but he felt the body was not responding properly. Feeling that another Genjutsu was in effect, he wanted to bite his tongue but this time, he couldn''t even bite his tongue. Soon after, Raito''s continuous monotonous heavy voice and chakra entering his system, his consciousness began to waken reaching a point when his central system was totally depressed.


    "Razan, they call me Razan. I don''t have any surname, no parents, no one to call my own."


    Looking at the paper in front of him, Raito started asking him.


    "That statue? That monk? Hmph, it''s made up of gold. We can sell it and make lots of money. And then I will go to the Red Marina District every night, play with two girls every night or even three."


    The o.b.s.c.e.n.e smile made Raito want to punch him. While the man was dreaming his life, Raito looked at the direction where Anko was with his chakra sense. Anko was looking at the scene had her lips curled. When she found Raito looking at her, she smiled and signaled him to continue.


    Raito let him smile and indulge in his fantasy before starting. "So where did you keep it?"


    "Heh, like I would tell you. We have hidden it and let the matter rest for a while. Err like waiting for second women at the brothel. Hehe."


    [Skill ''Hypnotic wave'' leveled up by 1.]


    [Skill ''Hypnotic wave'' reached level 20.]


    Affect unlocked ¨C Suppress: Fully suppress the consciousness of the target.


    Raito watched as the new notification popped up. This made things quite easier for him. An image appeared in his mind of an old martial arts master saying, "With this you can finish that stupid work faster. Don''t dawdle with those things. Get back to practice."


    Anko frowned as he looked at the scene. She felt that the end was so near but Raito went into daze once again. She cursed internally and looked at Haruko, then she was ready to open the door when she heard Raito speaking.


    Feeling that it was so, Raito activated the skill. "Just tell me." Words coming out like a decree hit the man''s consciousness.


    "To the east of the snake''s river. Following the river, a cave can be seen. We have buried the statue inside the cave." The words were jumbled but the answer was clear.


    Raito wrote everything on the paper then walked out then gave it to Anko. "Done."


    Anko looked at the paper then looked at Raito.


    "Haruko!" Anko called out with her stern face pushing out the paper.


    "Yes!" She immediately took a step forward, took the paper and disappeared.


    Turning around she watched Raito with smile hung on her face. "Not bad at all. Although a little bland for me¡­ but it works."


    Raito had a small smile hung on his face. Quickly remembering, he asked, "Un¡­ Anko-nee what will happen if the information you gave her is wrong?"


    "No problem. If you want to use the room, a deposit has to be given. If the information is wrong, that deposit will be gone to compensate the ninjas going on the mission. But is the information is right, we will get 20%."


    "It''s not like I am losing money." Raito shrugged then brought out a dango stick.


    Her hand which was going to hit Raito''s head went to his hand grabbing the stick.


    "So easy." Raito smirked.


    "It''s even more delicious." Dazing, Anko looked at Raito and mumbled something before there was a knock.


    "Anko, open up." Ibuki''s loud voice shook Raito.


    "What?" Anko opened the door and walked out, standing in front of Ibuki.


    Ibuki looked over Anko''s shoulder and looked at Raito. His smile ever growing, "Inoichi wants you kid. Go to the top floor second room on the right.


    "Ibuki-oni." Raito called out smiling and walked out.


    "Hmph. I don''t even know what that is?"


    Raito smiled even brightly as he took out a sketchbook from his inventory and started drawing. Within few minutes, Raito drew sketch of a monster with muscular body with scars. A club with spikes on hand and steam or smoke coming out of its mouth. Hair tied in ponytail and eyes dangerous.


    "You are a good painter. Quit working as a ninja and go to the capital. The nobles would love to buy these artworks." Ibuki looked at the sketch and felt like it indeed looked the same.


    Raito shook his head and walked towards the top.


    Inside the top of the building was a room with tight security. Only after confirming that he was himself and getting his chakra locked, Raito was able to enter the room.


    Inoichi was in the room with a cup in his hand, sitting in a chair letting out sighs.


    "Inoichi-sensei?" Raito walked in front and called the man.


    "Raito?" he smiled weakly. "This work is never ending." He sighed.


    "Oh." Eyes shining brightly, Raito walked behind Inoichi and pressed his shoulder, massaging them. Locking the arms, reaching the neck then the hand reaching the back then turning around.


    The simple brutal way of massaging made Inoichi take a huge breathe in. "That felt great."


    "Let me help you more, sensei." Raito brought out a comfy looking sofa then made Inoichi sleep on it. Massaging Inoichi, he brought out a variety of food and drinks.


    The people behind felt that this interrogation room was close to a massage parlor. Even the captive was speechless at the scene.


    [Kojuro Lvl 32]


    [Chakra Sealed] [Physical Restriction]


    The man shook as he walked in the center of the formation. Forcing him to sit, the two men walked back and joined the other two and Inoichi.


    Inoichi waved at Raito and said, "Watch carefully."


    Raito nodded then looked at the man. The man had many cuts on his face and body. His ruffian look and rough clothes made him look like someone from the streets fighting and living his day off. But what Raito could read was totally different. That man was the vice leader of a mercenary gang. Raito stood on the spot, gaping at the vast difference.


    ''Start Recording''


    "Earth Imprisonment Barrier"


    The four men activated the seals and the earth below erupted covering the man to his neck in dome shape.


    Placing their hand on the platform lines of ink spread out covering the dome.


    The Fuinjutsu covered the man and soon he closed his eyes. Inoichi stood with the men his hand on the platform.


    "Psycho Mind Transmission."


    Raito watched as the five froze for a long, long time. After thirty minutes, Raito saw them releasing their hands from the platform and releasing a big sigh.


    "So many dirty things."


    "Disgusting."


    "These mercenaries." One man shook in anger, his face clenched.


    "Write down everything." Inoichi was the only one sane enough to order.


    Walking to Raito, Inoichi patted Raito''s shoulder. "I will teach you that the next time you come."


    Raito rolled his eyes and left the building.

 Chapter 41 - Calling from the Wave

    "Huff, huff. Why am I being paired with you?" Shikamaru had a rat hand seal as his shadow latched onto Raito.


    "You think that your shadow will stop me, Shikamaru?" Raito clenched his teeth and struggled.


    "Damn, just give up." Beads of sweats dropped from his face.


    "Hehe." Raito made a small smile as he looked up just for a second then continued struggling.


    "I''ll not be fooled." Tiger¡­ Shadow Binding Cover


    Shikamaru pushed last of his chakra as his shadow turned a bit darker and thicker. Under Shikamaru''s control the shadow expanded covering Raito in whole.


    "Damn, I am not good at one on one battle." Shikamaru made a hand seal then walked towards the shadow ball.


    "I know." Raito appeared out of nowhere and placed a kunai on Shikamaru''s neck.


    "Tch. Troublesome." Shikamaru raised his hands slowly but Raito snatched the ball that was about to drop. "A dud?"


    "Heh." Raito took out small rock beads from his inventory and was ready to throw at Shikamaru.


    "This will hurt." Raito smiled mischievously.


    "¡­ I give up." Shikamaru raised his hand then fell on the ground in exhaustion.


    "Hehe." Walking towards Shikamaru, Raito brought out a sandwich and a water bottle.


    "Tch." Shikamaru grabbed them and started eating. "How come you became stronger?"


    "Why not? I am a genius after all." Raito acted smug and sat on the ground.


    "Everything started when Naruto moved in with you." Shikamaru didn''t ask but made a statement.


    "When we have time let''s go to a dungeon." Raito looked at a distance and patted Shikamaru to go. And while he was at it Raito used ''Heal''.


    The result was clear. Ch¨­ji and Naruto were equally matched but Naruto had the upper hand. Hinata won over Ino then lastly Raito won over Shikamaru.


    "That''s the fastest healing technique I have ever seen." Asuma commented.


    "I have no idea where he learned that from." Kakashi replied.


    "This kid knows a lot of unique techniques." Asuma threw the cigarette bud and steeped on it.


    "¡­ He sure does." Kakashi has seen a couple of techniques that Raito had done. Not even Sharingan could see through them.


    "Train with him. I''ll take the others." Kakashi walked towards the group.


    Asuma had a small smile as he walked towards the group.


    "Why am I with you?" Raito wore Black Half Finger Leather Gloves and readied his stance.


    [Black Half Finger Leather Gloves +11]


    (Rebound: 10% chance of physical attacks getting rebounded.)


    Durability ¨C 280


    "Oh, gloves to fight me?" Asuma pilled back his metallic hand bracelet and took a defensive stance. "Let''s see what you can do."


    ''Chakra Enhancement'' ''Hand to Hand Combat'' ''Body Flicker'' ''Crush''


    Chakra gathered around Raito''s fist and it started to get dangerous. In one sweep 800 points of chakra was used.


    "That doesn''t look good." Asuma watched as the dangerous fist reached him.


    "Ha!" chakra gathered as Asuma guarded the attack. Although he wasn''t send flying, Asuma was forced a couple of steps back.


    "Are you for real?" Asuma watched as the fist print was pressed on his sleeves. Rolling the sleeves, Asuma found a red fist print on his forearm.


    "You kid¡­ are really awesome." Asuma let out a helpless smile and waved his hand asking Raito to use his healing jutsu.


    "Enhanced your body with chakra more concentrated on your arm then you even used ''Body flicker'' then a straight brutal punch. Isn''t that right?" Asuma asked.


    "I should have dodged that."


    "You should have." Raito looked at Asuma then asked, "So why did you not?"


    "Hmm¡­ You looked really serious." Asuma answered with a laugh.


    "Serious?" Raito was stunned. "I looked serious?"


    "Yeah, you have that shining eyes when you started." Asuma laughed loudly then took out a cigarette.


    "You shouldn''t you know." Raito commented then took out a juice then gave it Asuma. "It is good for your health. It''s homemade."


    Looking at the stick in his hand then at the juice, he selected the juice.


    On the other side of the field, Raito saw the five Genin fighting with Kakashi. Kakashi was easily dodging the attacks of the five. Shikamaru had activated his jutsu as well as everyone and bombarding Kakashi with it.


    "Naruto Barrage." A group of clones ambushed Kakashi but each and every one of the clones were destroyed.


    The duo of Shikamaru and Ch¨­ji were confused by Kakashi''s multiple replacement techniques.


    Hinata continued to ambush Kakashi but after training with her so many times, Kakashi immediately defeated her. The battleground was like a wasteland. Fallen and destroyed trees, dirt covering the fallen bodies and a standing warrior.


    "This is what happens if a J¨­nin is seriously sparing." Asuma slurped then walked over to Kakashi.


    Kakashi looked at Raito then at approaching Asuma. Asuma stuck the bottle over his c.h.e.s.t then he revealed his arm, where there was a faint fist print. "It was like this after the brat used healing jutsu."


    "I heard that you and Kurenai are getting C-Rank mission?" Kakashi pulled the Genin with Asuma. Raito also walked in and helped using ''Heal''.


    "Yeah, Kurenai''s Genin are really getting out of hand." Asuma sighed.


    "Kakashi-sensei, our ban on C-Rank ends today. How about we get a C-Rank tomorrow?" Naruto who was getting healed got a punch to his head.


    "Ow, my head." Naruto cried out in pain.


    "Asuma-sensei it''s so painful. Maybe we shouldn''t-"


    "Still D-Rank for you guys." Kakashi was heartless making Naruto sink.


    "Are you ok?" Raito asked as he healed Ino.


    "Mm." Ino nodded her head. "Kakashi-sensei is too-"


    "He is a J¨­nin afterall." Raito whispered softly.


    As he was speaking to Ino, Raito ''saw'' a blur coming towards him. A spear hand reached his back but Raito''s conditional reflex helped him hit Kakashi''s hand at the very last moment.


    "My hand slipped." Kakashi smiled silly rubbing the back of his hand.


    "As if." Raito glared.


    Asuma gave Kakashi a roll of Ryo and said, "You win."


    Kakashi looked at the roll of money then at Genins. Looking at the expected eyes of some like Ch¨­ji, Naruto and Raito, he chuckled. "How about we all go to Yakiniku Q?"


    "Yay!" Even Hinata and Ino jumped in joy making them wince in pain.


    Next morning team seven walked in the Hokage tower and walked together with team eight and team ten to the gate.


    "Bye bye." Naruto waved them farewell. Their figure grew smaller as they went further.


    Raito turned around and walked towards the park grumbling about the trash in the way.


    "Stupid people." Naruto grumbled.


    "Disrespectful people." Hinata also joined in.


    "Lawbreakers," Raito said loudly.


    Kakashi sweatdropped, "It''s not that bad, right?"


    Next day.


    "I just love the holidays." Naruto, Hinata, and Raito sat under a tree in the backyard on their rest day.


    "Sandwich."


    "I want that has lots of meat."


    Naruto and Raito locked into one sandwich but before they could fight for it Hinata had cut it into two pieces with her chakra threads.


    "You can use chakra thread like that too?" Raito gaped as he was handed half of the sandwich.


    "Hinata is so awesome."


    "Hmph." Raito snorted then ate his sandwich.


    "Don''t you three need to go on you ''experiencing''."


    "That''s just free labor." Naruto angrily pointed at Kakashi who was sleeping on the branch.


    "I love my experience workplace." Raito stood up cleaning himself.


    KAW! (Sfx for eagle calling) (I don''t know what is the word used for that sound.)


    "It''s not good." Kakashi sighed.


    "Raito. I don''t think you can go to your workplace. Hokage tower. Let''s go." Team seven disappeared from the place and reached the tower where Hiruzen was frowning while looking at a scroll.


    "Kakashi." Hiruzen placed down the scroll and pushed it forward.


    "Hokage-sama." Kakashi stepped forward and took the scroll on the desk.


    "It seems that we have a client telling lies and Genins that can''t tell what is good for them." Hiruzen smoked his pipe and let out a cloud.


    "They encountered two B-Rank ninjas of the mist village; the Demon brother, G¨­zu and Meizu."


    "G¨­zu and Meizu mean that the demon blade might also be there."


    "Highly likely. And we have been hearing about mercenaries gathering at the nearby area. So after you meet up, I want you to take command. Try to resolve it, if not¡­" Hiruzen didn''t add anything because his gaze enough to know what he was saying.


    Everyone left the room and soon reached the gates.


    "Pack up enough, we may be gone for more than just a week." Kakashi turned around but was stopped by Raito.


    "Sensei, don''t we need to gather intel?"


    "It already close to five, if we are anymore late¡­. We don''t have enough time." Hearing that Raito started frowning but before he could say anything Kakashi started speaking.


    "I''ll send a clone with Naruto''s." with a cloud Kakashi''s clone appeared.


    "Now go. We will meet at the east gate in an hour."


    "Yes!" the three Genin disappeared going for their preparation.


    "That Sasuke got to fight two B-Rank ninjas." Naruto let out his suppressed anger as he packed for the go.


    "Baka." Raito who was across the room when hearing Naruto shouting cursed at him.


    After grouping with Hinata, they took their time reaching the gates. Even though they took time they managed to reach within the hour.


    Kakashi was already at the gates when they reached. Passing the gates, Kakashi actually lectured them about being on time or early if possible. The ninjas at the gate also nodded as they heard that.


    "Team eight of J¨­nin Kurenai and Genin; Uchiha Sasuke, Aburame Shino, and Inuzuka Kiba. We are going to follow, meet and take over." Kakashi''s voice was stern, even the two gatekeepers were doing their work fast.


    "Kakashi-sensei, why are we in such a hurry?" Hinata asked. "Didn''t team eight defeat the demon brothers? What other problems can be there?"


    Jumping trees, Kakashi answered, "Demon brothers are the lowest level of rogue ninja. According to what we know Zabuza Momochi, the wielder of one of the seven swords of the mist, Kubikirib¨­ch¨­, might also be there. They were working together the last time we saw them."


    "Seven swords of Kirigakure? Isn''t that like really, really important stuff for the Mist village?"


    "They are, they are. Those seven swords are very unique sword and very dangerous."


    "Then why is the mist village not taking it back?"


    "Not all question has an answer, Raito. Our ninjas who are patrolling the water country has found that the fourth Mizukage who was source of all trouble were finally getting killed."


    "A k-kage is dead? Who killed the fourth Mizukage?" Naruto asked in horror.


    "Probably the fifth." Raito reasoned.


    "Kakashi-sensei will Kurenai-sensei be fine?" Hinata asked with a troubled face.


    "She will be fine but she will definitely need reinforcement. That''s why we are at our fastest speed."


    Hinata heaved a sigh of relief. Then she began to increase her pace.


    Raito frowned a little seeing that. " Hinata."


    Raito''s voice calmed her down.


    "Everyone, we will move in a line." Kakashi ordered and soon they were in a line Kakashi in the front then Hinata, Naruto and lastly Raito.


    "Why am I always getting last place?" Raito cried out in injustice.


    During this trip, team seven passed through various small villages.


    "Sensei I can''t see much. We have to go through the main road." Raito spoke up but immediately stopped himself.


    "We are four hours away from the nearest port town." Kakashi waited for the three to take a break.


    Hinata''s condition was much worse. Even though they had taken several brakes, this type of long journey was not something they had experienced.


    "Kakashi, they took a carriage from here." Pakkun appeared out of nowhere.


    "That means they have taken the long road to the port town then they have to walk for several more hour to reach the new bridge construction site." Raito opened the book and started explaining. In one hand a book and in another lightning dancing on his hand giving illumination.


    "Should we rest, sensei?" Raito asked and the earth below started rising.


    Kakashi nodded, "Prepare a camp."


    Raito nodded and took out a bucket full of stone beads.


    Rat¡­ the stone beads combined exploding into a dome going around the trees and attaching to the ground.


    Kakashi looked at the temporary camp and knocked it a few time. "Good."


    Kakashi gave Raito a dozen of paper to read then sat on a stone


    "Have you three brought rations¡­" Kakashi looked at his bacon, dry biscuit and water then at his Genin who had few vegetarian dishes.


    Kakashi sighed then joined them for food.


    "Sensei why don''t you just store food in your storage seals." Naruto asked as he ate his food.


    "Because they rot. Food rots in storage seal." Kakashi answered while drinking hot cup of tea.


    "Sensei you eat too fast. Why not slow down?" Raito took another bite.


    Hinata had already finished eating as she was in a hurry.


    Kakashi gave Raito a few signs but he didn''t budge. Raito instead elbowed Naruto.


    "Ow." Raito glared at Naruto who didn''t understand the situation. "If we use ''Body Flicker'', we may reach in half the time." Raito spoke in a small voice so that Kakashi could only hear.


    But Kakashi only shook his head to Raito''s suggestion. "Naruto and Hinata cannot use it. And if we use and carry them, we will just exhaust ourselves."


    Taking out the big sofa from the inventory Raito asked Kakashi to lay on it. "Just what are you doing?"


    "Massage."


    After Kakashi, Naruto and Hinata also took the massage. At the end he massaged himself.


    "This massage is really good."


    "I feel that I can do anything.


    "Yes, yes." Raito waved his hand and the dome disappeared into a stone bead.


    "Improved."


    [Stone Bead]


    Weight ¨C 230 kg


    "But it''s too heavy." Raito tried picking up but with his strength, it was still heavy.


    Raito immediately split into two then stored them inside the inventory.


    "Let''s go."


    At this time, Team eight and a drunkard man got off from the carriage and arrived at the Port Town.

 Chapter 42 - Evil Evil

    "Now where, old man Tazuna?" Kiba with Akamaru stood at the gate of the port town as Kurenai, the J¨­nin instructor, worked with the doc.u.ments.


    "What a rude kid?" Tazuna looked at Kiba disapproving then sighed. "From this town, we have to walk for two hours then we are going to take a boat."


    "A boat? No one said about crossing sea!?" Kiba shouted a little louder making the surrounding men look at him.


    "Idiot." Sasuke walked by Kiba, ignoring them.


    "Another rude child." Tazuna took a swig then looked back at the two who seemed more capable members of the team.


    "Kurenai-sensei, where should I mark?" Shino asked still in a serious tone.


    "No need I have already written a report and left it in the hideout." Kurenai looked at Sasuke, Kiba and Tazuna then at Shino.


    Walking in front of a building, she said, "Remember this building."


    "Let out your bugs and make sure that when reinforcement comes, they take them to this building."


    "Hai." (Hai basically means yes. In the recent chapters, I was using ''yes'' but before that, I was using ''Hai''. ''Hai'' sounds way more Naruto-tic so I am sticking with it.)


    "Team, let''s go."


    "Tsunami, Inari¡­ just wait for grandpa." Tazuna walked with the group leaving for the wave country.


    After three hours, Team Eight and Tazuna left, Team Seven arrived in the ''Port Town''.


    "Woah! So ¡­ different." Naruto took a huge breath.


    "Sensei." Hinata was anxious the whole time as they reached the small town.


    "Don''t worry, Hinata." Kakashi patted Pakkun who was sitting on his shoulder.


    "She must have left details at the hideout."


    Team seven quickly reached the hideout where an old woman was cleaning the grounds. They walked into an alley as ninjas and when they walked out, they looked as ordinary as they could be.


    "I hope for a bountiful harvest." Kakashi bowed slightly towards the old lady as did the three Genin.


    "What does it says?" Hinata pulled Kakashi and looked at the paper.


    "Wave country."


    "Aye, small pitiable country." The grandma walked in and gave everyone a cup.


    "Where is it, grandma?"


    "Hm? Where, you say?"


    "Yeah, someone we know, might be in danger and we have got to save them." Naruto was serious as he was affected by Hinata in the past hours.


    Kakashi didn''t say much as he went through the papers.


    The grandma was calm looking at the ninja. She even smiled warmly looking at them, like your own grandmother would.


    "If you are going to the wave country, how are you going to cross the sea?" She asked as she sipped her tea.


    "Yes, sea and I don''t think that every one of you can water walk." She replied looking at Naruto.


    "Kakashi-sensei can carry me." Naruto replied to grandma''s question.


    "Then what about your teammates, even if they ''can'' walk on water¡­ but I don''t think that they can reach the other shore."


    "Then-"


    Raito immediately pulled Naruto back. Everyone was sitting on their knees so Raito walked on his knees, coming near the grandma. "Then what should we do grandma?" Raito asked in a plea.


    "What a good child."


    "You kid, are a seal master, right?" the grandma let them into a small shed.


    "A few months back, Jiraiya came with a broken-down boat, a small one and asked me to help him repair this thing." She walked inside the shed and stood in front of a small boat covered by a cloth. (For those who are wondering how the heck grandma has ability to do that, I want to say that couldn''t see employ some people. As for Jiraiya who is always moving, she is better choice.)


    Pulling the cloth down, a small boat fit for no more than seven people came into view.


    "I have found the tracks." Pakkun ran inside and informed everyone.


    "We will be waiting." Kakashi walked out with Hinata and Naruto.


    As everyone left the shed, Raito eyed the grandma and asked, "Grandma why do you think I can use such high level Fuinjutsu."


    "¡­ It''s not that I believe in you but¡­ I believe in youth." She brought out her right hand out then it came off.


    "Wah!" Raito felt the shiver going the spine.


    ''What the heck''s that?'' Raito quickly used ''Observe''.


    [Prosthetic Hand]


    Raito looked at the hand below then at the empty sleeve. He kneed down and picked the prosthetic.


    His gaze turned serious as he looked at the hand and his voice quivered. "I ¨C What happened?"


    "¡­ That boy killed everyone in the walls, leaving me with one armless."


    "Everyone?" Raito imagined a red haired boy walking in with big puppets with a maniacal smile.


    "A boy, a youth did that¡­ He alone went against all of us." Her voice was calm as if she was telling a normal thing.


    "That''s why youth are never to be underestimated."


    "W-What ha-happened to the villagers then?"


    The grandma looked with a deep glare for a while then she looked down, "Everyone disappeared."


    Raito felt chills going down his spine as two notification came into his view.


    [Quest Created]


    Kill! Kill! Kill!


    Reward: Puppet Refining Technique


    "Grandma. Is that youth called Sasori of the Red Sand?" Raito asked hiding his dark smile, covered by his hand.


    "Sasori¡­ that''s his name."


    Raito caught the small boat, covering it with chakra. ''Store''


    The boat disappeared and as Raito walked out, he said, "Sasori of Red Sand, killed and kidnapped people¡­ I think he is ready. Grandma, thank you."


    Raito walked out then regrouped with the group using ''Chakra Sense''.


    As he regrouped, Raito had already calmed down, his face full of tranquility


    "Raito?" Naruto walked by Raito''s side and called him.


    "Huh? What?" Raito looked back at Naruto.


    "Nothing, you looked weird, weirdo." Naruto sped up.


    "Weirdo? Me?" in anger Raito too sped up.


    On the other side of the shore, Kurenai, Sasuke, Shiba, and Kiba stood in formation with Tazuna in the middle.


    The fog covered them even suppressing Shino''s bugs. "My bugs will take time to clear this fog." Shino said in his small voice.


    "¡­ He is everywhere." Kiba sniffed and reported.


    Sasuke stood with two kunai, each on his hand his eyes darting around.


    Kurenai stood with a rat hand seal and her face was as still as clear water.


    "So many ways to kill. A cut to the jugular, a slit at throat a stab to heart or spleen, puncturing lungs. Beheading head, torso, leg. Hehehe." Zabuza''s voice reverberated, his intent to kill on full display. The wave of the killing intent was too heavy as the Genins and Tazuna felt heavy, their mind boggled with scenes of murders.


    "Kai." A wave of chakra hit everyone as they regained consciousness. But still, the Genins couldn''t help but look at their shivering hands.


    ''That was killing intent.'' Sasuke gritted his teeth and kneeled up looking at the vague figure in front of him.


    "Yuhi Kurenai." Zabuza walked out of the fog. He was a tall and noticeably muscular man with light grayish skin, short spiky black hair, dark brown eyes, and small eyebrows, wearing bandages like a mask over the bottom half of his face. Under his mask, he had a relatively narrow jawline and jagged-teeth and a forehead protector sideways on his head.


    "Zabuza." Kurenai''s face tightened as Zabuza walked forward. She stood still with rat hand seal and her chakra ready to activate.


    "You are a new J¨­nin from the Konoha, right?" Zabuza showed his sharp jagged teeth, a big broadsword on his back.


    "Give me the bridge builder and I will let you go." Zabuza pushed out his hand.


    "Never." Kiba finally broke out, glaring and shouting at Zabuza.


    But Zabuza never looked at Kiba. He was still looking at Kurenai, waiting for an answer.


    "You are no match for me, Yuhi." His frown was getting deeper and his other hand reached to his broadsword.


    "This man is important to this small country." Kurenai didn''t move or release her seal.


    "I don''t care. Give him to me or¡­ die." Raising his broad sword, his killing intent was released once again, this time more dangerous than the last one.


    "He-He will kill me. He will kill me." Sasuke trembled as he dropped his arms, his jaw moving up and down.


    Kurenai took a few steps back as sweat trickled down her face. Clenching her teeth, she was able to say, "You should know that Konoha will not let you go."


    "Hmph." Zabuza swung his sword, ready to behead Kurenai. "Die."


    "Hm."


    Buzz. Swarm of insects appeared between Zabuza and Kurenai, blocking Zabuza''s view.


    These insects didn''t attack Zabuza but blocked his vision. Getting annoyed, Zabuza went through a couple of hand seals then took a deep breath.


    "Water Release: Raging Waves"


    As Zabuza blew hard, the water smashed the insects, trapping all of them in it.


    "Konoha''s Clans?" Zabuza grew a little cautioned as he made a half ram seal. The fog started to become thicker and he disappeared in it.


    Shino stood by Kurenai who had a little concerned face. He had blood coming from his hands, which he stopped by putting pressure on it.


    "He is coming. I will be engaging." Kurenai leaned forwards as she took out some weapons.


    Using her extraordinary chakra control, she successfully found Zabuza and a small smile appeared inside her as she saw Zabuza not moving but looking at her then at where they were hiding.


    Forming hand seals, she activated her chakra. "Fire Star". The small flowers around lit in flames and started rotating then circled around Kurenai before they went on a direction.


    Zabuza waved his sword as the water on the ground was raised blocking the fire flowers.


    Appearing on the tree Zabuza waved his sword going for the kill, aiming at Tazuna.


    Ruff!


    Shino who was down the tree looked up in shock then jumped.


    "Hah!" Sasuke hardened his hand then guarded with his new weapon. Windmill shuriken.


    Kurenai looked up then threw kunai aiming at Zabuza.


    Windmill shuriken in front and kunai from the back, Zabuza was in a pinch.


    Without even looking back, the broad sword descended and struck the windmill shuriken. The power was so immense that Sasuke''s knee bent a little but he held it in.


    Ruff!


    At that time, Akamaru jumped and bit on Zabuza.


    "Tunneling Fan-" Kiba had prepared himself when Kurenai''s kunai reached Zabuza and landed on the back of his neck.


    But instead of seeing blood, Zabuza burst into the water, making everyone take a step back, especially Kurenai. The real Zabuza took a chance and used the back of his blade hitting Kurenai, throwing her to side with great force.


    "Stay right there and I will take care of this old man." Zabuza looked at the tree where Tazuna was standing supported by Sasuke, who was holding him by his shoulder.


    "First bug boy." Zabuza ran towards the tree Shino was standing in front of with his kunai.


    "Hm?" Before Zabuza could reach Shino, Kurenai appeared out of nowhere thrusting him with a kunai.


    Zabuza easily dodged the kunai by leaning forward and turning. "You have done it." Zabuza rotated on his toes and swung his broad sword cleaving Kurenai in half.


    Zabuza frowned as he didn''t see any blood. Just a moment of looking back, made Zabuza click his tongue as Kurenai''s figure disappeared into the mist.


    "Genjutsu." Then he looked at where Tazuna was supposed to be. Tazuna was replaced by Kurenai now. The more he looked around the more of Kurenai''s figure appeared.


    "Kai!" Zabuza immediately broke spending much of his chakra in it.


    "Passing Fang." Kiba who was rotating at a high speed looked like it could drill through anything.


    But to Zabuza, Kiba looked like he was coming to his death. Gripping his broad sword, Zabuza hit the side of the high speed rotating Kiba, making him crack a tree.


    "Great Fireball technique." A large fireball enough to swallow Zabuza appeared in front of him.


    With a few hand seals, Zabuza threw his broadsword to Kurenai''s direction then disappeared in front of the fireball which landed on the ground. ''Hiding in the water''.


    Jumping from Kurenai''s side Zabuza plunged his kunai to Kurenai''s stomach but weirdly there was no bleeding. Kurenai turned into a tree which gripped Zabuza.


    "Another Genjutsu?" Zabuza frowned and easily dispelled it. ''Something is not right.''


    When he looked around, Zabuza saw Kurenai in her battle stance and the Genins with Tazuna at the back. ''Definitely.''


    Zabuza ignored Kurenai dashing forward then started making hand seals. "I know that you are still inside the fog."


    Kurenai continuously stabbed Zabuza but he couldn''t feel anything. The long chain of hand seals finally stopped as he looked toward a direction.


    ''Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique''


    The water on the ground, the fog and even the moisture from the air moved under Zabuza''s control and forming in great amount, it rotated at high speed. The small whirlpool got bigger then under his command it launched in a direction.


    Kiba was carried by Shino and Tazuna was carried by Sasuke. They were running in the opposite direction, running away from Zabuza.


    "I don''t have much left." Kurenai looked at the Genins in front of her then looked back to see the massive amount of water in vortex coming for them.


    The vortex of water as though it could see them chased the group.


    Kurenai bit her lip then continued making hand seals. After a total of fifty one hand seals, she turned back and slammed her hand at the earth beneath.


    ''Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall''


    A wall of massive thickness erupted between Kurenai and the water vortex/waterfall.


    The sound of water grinding against rock looked dangerous as several cracks began to appear.


    Kurenai gritted her teeth and pushed in more chakra.


    Back at Zabuza''s side, he was also holding a rat hand seal, clear signs of exhaustion appearing on his face.


    At his side a person wearing kimono and a mask resembling Kiri hunter-nin. "Their reinforcements have come. We should leave Zabuza-sama."


    "Shut up." Zabuza roared as he pushed the last of his chakra to his jutsu.


    Kurenai who had heaved a sigh of relief was again forced to expend the last of her chakra to maintain the technique.


    Chirp, chirp, chirp.


    "Kakashi." Kurenai used the last of her chakra to make a spear projecting to the center of the water. The spear quickly reached the Zabuza making him dodge, making his hold on his technique weaken.


    "Zabuza-sama." The masked figure moved to guard but was stopped by Zabuza.


    "Chidori." A line of blue lightning passed by Shino, Kiba, Tazuna, Sasuke and finally Kurenai. From the wall of earth to the vortex of water. The lightning tore through the water, quickly reaching Zabuza.


    "Argh!" Zabuza released his hand seal then picked up his Kubikirib¨­ch¨­, slashing towards the incoming lightning.


    The blue lightning touched the Kubikirib¨­ch¨­.


    "Copy ninja Kakashi." Zabuza gritted his teeth as he used more power.


    Crack!


    "You die, Zabuza." Kakashi''s lightning broke through Kubikirib¨­ch¨­ breaking the blade into two.


    Zabuza used the force to back off as the lightning passed by him, which was supposed to destroy his head which went to just cut a bit of his face and shoulder.


    Then Kakashi went on with the inertia through some trees and rocks. The lightning disappeared as Kakashi stood up then started walking back.


    Zabuza grabbed his broken sword ready to fight with Kakashi but he was clearly panting hard and near his death bed.


    "Zabuza¡­"


    "Copy ninja." Zabuza panting hard struggled to gather power to defend.


    Swish!


    Before Zabuza could defend himself, he was hit by multiple senbon. Few to move him and others to hit him.


    Senbon hit Zabuza instantly killing him.


    Kakashi with his Sharingan looked at the figure who dropped down from the tree.


    The masked kimono wearing man walked out grabbing the broken blade and the handle part. As the man crouched down and felt the carotid pulse, he looked at the Kakashi and started explaining, "Kubikirib¨­ch¨­ is the property of the village hidden in the mist. I ask for forgiveness but I must take them."


    Kakashi nodded his head as he looked around. "You are from Kirigakure?"


    The man nodded as he pushed out his hand causing the water to gather in his hand then turning into ice.


    "Kekkei Genkai?" Kakashi was shocked to see a valuable person with Kekkei Genkai outside of the village, alone and not under supervision.


    A slab of ice appeared out of nowhere and the masked man dragged Zabuza with Kubikirib¨­ch¨­ then walked into the ice slab.


    Kakashi turned serious as they disappeared. Even with Sharingan, he couldn''t see through the jutsu, meaning that it indeed was Kekkei Genkai. After looking around for anything useful, he went back to the temporary camp made by Raito.


    Back in the temporary camp made by Raito. He was using ''Heal'' on Kurenai.


    "Kurenai-sensei, are you alright." As Kurenai was sleeping, Hinata was holding her hands and rubbing them, tear stains on the corner of her eye.


    "Hinata." Kurenai slowly opened her eyes and weakly looked at Hinata, after which she smiled.


    Seeing the HP bar full, Raito stood up and walked away quietly, leaving the two ladies. He turned to face the four; three slightly battered and one unconscious, not counting Akamaru who was biting on Kiba''s finger.


    Raito dropped down and rubbed Akamaru on the head then placed his hand above Kiba''s c.h.e.s.t and used ''Heal''.


    Not even five seconds passed as the wounds on Kiba disappeared, returning to healthy skin.


    "Such godly healing technique." Kurenai sighed as she looked at Raito while Hinata supported her.


    "Why is that, Kurenai-nee?" Hinata asked as she used her own healing jutsu.


    Kurenai shook her head then touched her own wounded areas and gasped a bit in surprise.


    Shino also touched his hand which just recently had a layer of skin missing. Then looking at the person in front of him, he softly replied, "Thank you."


    Raito looked at the body of Sasuke before deciding to heal him only at the end. Arriving at Tazuna, Raito found that he was just unconscious, even healing him was not working.


    [Tazuna ¨C Unconscious]


    [State of Unconsciousness, Using ''Hypnotic wave'' to pull the consciousness to surface.


    State of unconsciousness, Brutal slaps will help regain consciousness.


    State of unconsciousness, Slapping with water will help regain consciousness.]


    Raito found it surprising about the help being given. After thinking for a while, Raito shrugged his shoulders then used ''Hypnotic Wave''. After hesitating for just a bit, Raito called for Tazuna to wake up like a command.


    "Heck''s that (Ittai)?" Tazuna opened his eyes then breathed deeply. His shaking hands went to his backpack from where brought out a small bottle. Without looking at Raito who was beside him, Tazuna chugged the alcohol.


    "Hah!" Tazuna breathes out deeply then fell on his back, tears coming from his eyes. "I thought I was gonna die."


    "I won''t let you. We still have to complete this mission." Raito frowned and walked away.


    Naruto was the only one sitting beside Sasuke, "Raito, here."


    "Raito¡­" Sasuke looked up and muttered.


    "Heh¡­ do you need my help, Sasuke?" Raito smiled and sat beside assure with Naruto taking out fresh and juicy tomato from his inventory.


    "Naruto harvested these tomatoes, made in our backyard." Ignoring Sasuke who was gritting his teeth, Raito raised his finger and commented.


    "Those aren''t mine!" Naruto quickly shouted in defense. "I only look after my flowers."


    Looking at the two figures above him, Sasuke gritted his teeth and said, "Heal me."


    "What? Hey, Naruto did Sasuke ask me to do something?" Raito looked surprised, he turned to face Naruto and asked.


    "No way-Ow!" Naruto was hit by a shadow dashing past him.


    It was Kakashi who returned from his visit to Zabuza. After hitting Naruto on the head, he also hit Raito on the back. Raito was able to see the hit coming but he couldn''t move his body as fast to dodge it or guard it.


    "Ow!"


    Naruto and Raito grabbed their head and squatted on the ground.


    "Be ready to carry him or heal him." Kakashi glared at Raito until Raito meekly nodded then healed Sasuke.


    "Tch, what a pushover." Raito harrumphed in anger then went to sit beside the client, Tazuna.


    "What happened brat? Looks like you are in a bad mood." Tazuna looked at his small bottle for alcohol and asked.


    "Nothing, old man. Here." Raito took out a small bottle and gave it to Tazuna. Of course, it was homemade juice. What were you guys thinking?


    "A kid''s drink?" Tazuna pushed back the drink.


    "Old man you are in big trouble right now." Raito said in a serious tone.


    "What!?" Tazuna was a bit nervous when Raito changed his voice. His grip on the bottle became a bit stronger.


    "That man with the big sword. Do you know who he is?" Raito chuckled darkly.


    "Wh-who?" His hand retreated back and his eyes looked down.


    "Zabuza, the demon from the mist village."


    "Demon?"


    "Yeah demon. You may not know but he is a high B-Rank ninja."


    "B-Rank?"


    "Yeah, just a step away from A-Rank where the most dangerous ninjas are ranked. These A-Rank ninjas are¡­ you won''t believe but they are so strong that they can easily kill you¡­ like with the snap of their finger."


    Tazuna grabbed his own neck as his breathing increased.


    Bonk!


    "Stop scaring the client." Kakashi sighed as he turned Raito and pointed him in a direction. Raito left dejectedly taking a few glances back.


    [Mission 1/6 ¨C Discourage Tazuna from submitting false mission in the future.]


    ''My mission.'' Raito pouted as he regrouped with everyone. When he saw Hinata finally smiling, Raito heaved a sigh of relief. ''Women are dangerous.''


    Back as Kakashi saw Raito walking, he grabbed Tazuna and disappeared with a flicker. He sighed then sat down facing Tazuna, "That child is¡­ like that, always been. But what he said is absolutely correct."


    Kakashi grabbed Tazuna''s shoulder, making Tazuna slightly nervous, "If I hadn''t come on time, you would be surely dead but the main thing is that my colleague and her team would be dead."


    "I-"


    "When you give false information to us, we will categorize the mission wrongly and ninjas who don''t have¡­ enough ability would be sent for it. Just like what happened¡­"


    "I-I am ashamed of myself. I-we didn''t have money. We tried our best¡­ we really did¡­ we collected all the money from the neighborhood but we were only able to collect money for a C-Rank. I-I didn''t know."


    "Hokage-sama has given orders. You will be coming to Konoha within three years with the money for a standard B-Rank mission."


    "Ah- Thank you, thank you." The old man had tears coming out.


    "We understand that wave village will be dealing with us far more from now on. So (sigh) I hope that you do not falsify in any future mission."


    "I understand, I understand."


    Back with the group, Raito had s.u.c.k.e.d in the temporary camp into a ball and was waiting for Kakashi. Seeing Hinata smiling, holding Kurenai''s hand, Raito felt a bit annoyed.


    Turning around to see Sasuke and Naruto voicing out ''Teme'' and ''Dobe'', Shino staying quiet as ever and Kiba patting Akamaru''s head. Everyone was doing something, yeah well except for Shino.


    "I am not doing nothing." Came a ghastly voice.


    "Yikes! Shino. You are like a cat, you know?" Raito jumped in surprise.


    ''I hate when Kakashi restricts my chakra.'' Raito took out some dishes and handed one to everyone then looked at Shino. "What do you like?"


    "Wild grass salad." Shino answered immediately.


    "¡­ I don''t have that but I do have some other type of salads."


    "I''ll take that." Nodding Shino took the bowl and opened the plastic covering it. Taking a bite, he just commented, "Fresh" and started eating all.


    "You got something against my ramen?" Naruto shouted in anger pointing at Sasuke.


    "Hmph." Sasuke enjoyed his tomato and chicken combo, ignoring Naruto.


    "Ready to go?" Kakashi walked in with Tazuna.


    Before he could say anything Raito gave them a bento each.


    Walking the streets of the village.


    The big group of ninja followed Tazuna as they entered the village.


    In one word, the village was ''Broken''. Compared to colorful Konoha, this nameless village of wave looked colorless; black and white or grey.


    Walking in, people can be sitting on the roads. It may be an old man or woman with her children. Some alive, some dead. Death by hunger and cold. Many of the stalls and the shops were broken, even the remaining shops had very little things to sell. Children in groups, instead of playing were walking in street asking for food, some promising to do work and some ready to sell themselves. There was no bread shop in the market, shops had either vegetables looked like it was easily a week old and rice which was a little better.


    Hinata looked around, her heart feeling heavy as she grabbed the hand of the nearest person. Her eyes were covered by her tears. Naruto also shook in anger as he grabbed on Raito''s jacket. Raito was in a loss standing in between the two as one was going to crush his hand while others was going to rip his jacket.


    A small girl of seven or eight came walking weakly in her tattered clothes. She grabbed Hinata and looked at her with her cute eyes. Her face was dirty but it was clearly sunken, probably because of malnutrition. Drawing Hinata''s attention she cupped her hands asking for anything. The group stopped, everyone, having their own thoughts.


    Kiba was the angriest, biting his teeth in anger, showing his canines. Shino was standing calmly but the insects buzzing had increased but still not noticeable to anyone outside of few meters. Sasuke looked away, his face calm but the hands inside his pocket clenched hard. If he had a target to vent, he would have not let it off.


    In this group, the one who could relate to this situation the most was Naruto. Naruto searched for his pockets, grabbing a few sweets, ready to hand over. Hinata also took out a bun, ready to give to the little girl. Raito who saw their actions stopped them by giving them small jerks. It turned into an awkward silence as the girl stood by extending her hands.


    Tazuna who had a contorted look on his face changed to a relief one as they finally walked out of the village center.


    ''We will definitely come back.'' Raito swore in his heart then dragged the two, who were clearly unwilling.


    "You did the right thing." Tazuna finally spoke up in difficulty.


    Naruto tried to push away from Raito but Raito was angrier and his grip was stronger.


    "Gato''s men are everywhere in the village. One time some foreigners helped some of the villagers. Next we know, the foreigner was found dead and the family he promised to help died." Tazuna gritted his teeth in anger.


    "Who is this Gat¨­?" Raito asked, his tone low.


    "Gat¨­, the shipping magnate and founder of Gat¨­ Company, registered inl and of waves." Kakashi had already known about him.


    Tazuna shook his head then raising his voice a bit louder, he said, "That''s just a front. He uses his company to sell illegal goods and drugs."


    "¡­ We even went to the lord of the Wave Country, told him about Gat¨­''s deeds." And there was a long pause.


    "¡­ He threw us all out of his palace. Afterward, he told us not to interfere with Gat¨­''s work."


    "A drug dealer working with Daimy¨­ of the country." Raito let out a mocking laugh.


    "A Daimy¨­ is Daimy¨­ whatever the reason there is." Kakashi gave a signal to Raito.


    "What about the bridge? It''s already more than half complete." Raito asked looking at Tazuna.


    "One and half years ago, I along with many of the people of the Wave gathered funds and material. We didn''t hire workers but worked in itself as no one else from outside the village ever came. Gat¨­ didn''t interfere at all that year but after a year had passed and the bridge was half complete, Gat¨­ started targeting the people working in building the bridge. Threatening, blackmailing, he did everything and then people started to back out."


    "A group of five hundred from all the wave was reduced to a mere hundred fifty now." Tazuna took off the cap of the bottle, Raito had given him and finished in one gulp. Although there was supposed to be sweet taste, Tazuna could only taste bitterness.


    "Old man." Naruto spoke up.


    "¡­"


    "Oi, Old man!" Naruto shouted loudly and grabbed Tazuna.


    "Build that bridge, old man. We will help you deal with that Gat¨­ guy. We will protect you and every single one of those working to build that bridge. Believe it! " Naruto threw his fist forward, giving off a big smile.


    Kakashi and Raito facepalmed as they heard Naruto speaking his mouth off.


    "Naruto-kun." Hinata had hearts in her eye and blush on her face.


    "Pfft." Kurenai let out a small laugh, covering her face.


    Sasuke was the same as ever but Sasuke couldn''t help but feel annoyed hearing Naruto''s declaration.


    Shino just pushed his glasses but a small, very small smile appeared on his face.


    Kiba had a huge smile showing his canine.


    Ruff. Akamaru chimed in.


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    "Coming." The woman stopped cleaning, grabbing the knife on the knife stand, walked through the house to reach the doorsteps.

 Chapter 43 - Doing Deeds

    Chapter 43 ¨C Doing Deeds


    "Coming." The voice of the woman was just enough for the people outside to hear. She held a knife with one hand then opened the door with another.


    "Tsunami, it''s your father." Tazuna shouted as the handle started moving.


    The handle paused for a while before the opened in full. A woman with long blue-colored and wearing a short-sleeved pink shirt and a long blue skirt.


    She had tears in the corners of her eyes as she saw Tazuna. She immediately dropped the knife and jumped to hug Tazuna. "Father!"


    "Yosh, yosh." Tazuna rubbed her head softly and sighed softly.


    After she called down, Tazuna asked, "Tsunami, where is Inari?"


    "He went to ''that'' place." Tsunami sighed then looked around with a slight blush.


    She bowed deeply and thanked the ninjas for protecting her father.


    "Please stop bowing." Kurenai went ahead and stopped her from bowing.


    "Ah, please come in." Tsunami grabbed Kurenai and dragged her inside, which was followed by everyone.


    Kakashi nudged Raito, who made a sour face. Raito pouted and quickly reached the kitchen.


    "I can help." Raito used ''Hypnotic Wave'' then started helping her. Tsunami didn''t ask Raito to stop, and Raito also didn''t work for too long.


    He replaced the water with spring water and switched the tea leaves with ''good tea leaves''.


    "It smells different." Tsunami blinked her eyes then looked at Raito, who she barely noticed in these ten minutes.


    "I did a few things." Raito gave her a thumbs up and a small smile.


    The small family, who need just a few things in the house suddenly had more than double their number inside the house. so surely there was some deficiency. Tsunami looked at the cups then counted inwardly then a frown appeared on her face. Raito stretched his neck and sighed. He appeared behind Tsunami just before she was going to turn and used stealth.


    Tsunami turned around with slight embarrassment but to her surprise, Raito was no longer there. Even if she and Tazuna didn''t take the tea, the cups were simply not enough.


    But when she turned around, she saw that there were five more cups. "Ah."


    "We barged in, so please use them." Raito said softly then started taking out the cups and filling them with tea.


    In this bunch of ruffians who drank tea like water were two ladies, who drank tea in an elegant manner.


    After taking a sip, Kurenai opened her eyes then said, "Good tea."


    Tsunami looked at Raito secretly and questioned herself if that tea leaves provided by this boy was that good.


    "Father, I will be going to the village with the people from the neighborhood." Tsunami patted her hands dry, took a woven bag then walked out.


    The two J¨­nin looked back at their Genins.


    "I''ll go." Raito immediately took off without waiting for Kakashi. He already knew before Kakashi had to speak. The secret between teacher and student was so good then the rest was because Kakashi had already started signaling Raito using codes and hand signs.


    "I am going too." Naruto also rushed out following Raito.


    "Naruto-kun, Raito-san, please wait." Hinata also followed them quickly voicing out her answer.


    To the new side and improvement of Hinata, Kurenai smiled and nodded slightly.


    "What!? Why? They are doing OUR mission. It''s supposed to be our mission." Kiba was stunned for a while then started shouting.


    Kurenai''s glare seems to have worked as Kiba only let out silent grunts.


    Outside the house, Naruto nodded then made a cross-hand seal and activated his chakra. "Shadow Clone Technique."


    Three clones appeared in front of Naruto with a salute. "Clones ready for duty."


    Raito looked at his chakra then nodded. He still had more than enough chakra. After a few hand seals, a clone popped in front of him. This time, the clone had no weird marking on his forehead.


    "How long?" that was the first thing Raito asked his clone.


    "Slightly more than two hours." The clone answered after looking at the air.


    "Let''s go." Raito with his ''Chakra Sense'' found Tsunami and the Raito''s clone started running to her direction, jumping to trees. The three Naruto clones also followed him.


    After the clones left, Raito, Naruto, and Hinata also went towards the small village but slightly in another direction.


    As they ran towards the village center, Raito activated ''Fast thinking'' and opened the info book where he starred everyone in the village including the warrior looking people. Then he started reading their description


    [Observe (Active) Lvl 62]


    With the increase in the level of the skill, the description grew longer and it started containing all the important details about the person. The ''Observe'' skill basically included the name, age, s.e.x, level, job, titles, status, specialty, most used skills, emotion, detail, and background.


    When the trio finally reached the top of the building in the village center, Raito stopped them. Taking out sketchbook and color pencils from his inventory, Raito started drawing, adding details as much as possible.


    Naruto and Hinata hid and watched as the people huddled together and talked in secret. Looking at a certain distance, they showed fear in their eyes.


    "I have found that group of children." Hinata raised her voice slightly then looked at the drawing paper.


    "If you see them, just capture them." Raito said with seriousness as he handed them colored drawings. (It''s because of skill. In real life, it takes long too long for my taste. So respect to the artist.)


    "They are¡­"


    "Hmm¡­ traitors."


    "Naruto-kun." Hinata hesitated for a while before starting to search for them.


    "Food is limited here in this village. Most probably, only Gat¨­ and his men have enough food to eat. Gat¨­''s men, they control the village by fear, by limiting food and freedom to the people. Then people who are hungry can easily be controlled by food a bit of status."


    "Didn''t I gave you a book to read about a rich man killed by his own family member? It''s just like this."


    "I¡­" Naruto immediately started looking around. And before Raito could speak anymore, he questioned, "But how did you know?"


    "¡­ Because I read more." Raito answer was vague to Naruto. Naruto knew that Raito didn''t want to answer so he chooses to not ask anymore.


    "Raito-san, I found them." Hinata reported while looking back at the drawings in her hand.


    "We have to think carefully about this¡­" Raito sat down copying Shikamaru and closed his eyes.


    "We have to find those who really need food. We need a place to hide, the scent of food, we also need to hide them. The thugs of Gat¨­''s, they are dangerous too¡­"


    Raito continued mumbling and Naruto and Hinata nodded their head from time to him as if dividing tasks.


    "Hinata find a small farm where it has been recently trashed, better if these¡­ bandits aren''t there."


    "Naruto once she finds that place, you have to go and clean up with your clones."


    "I will go and find a place, like an abandoned building in some far place, at the edge of the village and start preparation."


    "Ra-Raito-kun¡­"


    "What?"


    "Our mission is to guard Tazuna, not do all this¡­ what if Kakashi-sensei finds out?"


    "¡­" there was an awkward silence for a long time. Hinata and Naruto looked at Raito for an answer,


    After a period of time, Raito blew out and said, "I don''t care right now."


    "Let''s help them first, Hinata." Naruto said with determination.


    Hinata nodded then started her search.


    Raito also started his search after getting ideas about the different groups in the village.


    On the far west of the village, near the river, there was an old building, perfect for his plans. After telling the direction he was going, Raito left the two, quickly reaching the old, abandoned building.


    Standing in front of the building, Raito took out his book of secret and turned the very first page. A concentrated amount of chakra released from the book and went down the earth.


    "Earth Manipulation."


    Under Raito''s thought, the earth changed and an underground started forming. "All for mission."


    Raito who was kneeling on the ground stood up and let out a breath. "Finally done."


    Walking inside, Raito looked around and found that it was satisfying. Taking out a brush from his inventory, Raito started inscribing seals on the pillar.


    On the other side of the village, Hinata and Naruto had found a small farm that looked abandoned as houses seemed empty.


    Naruto with his massive army plowed the soil. Hinata used the Water technique to gather water and wet the ground.


    "It should be good enough for preparation." Naruto wiped his sweat but as soon as he sat down, he felt one of his clones disappearing.


    Ignoring his dirty clothes, Naruto pulled Hinata and started running. "Tsunami-san and the neighbors are returning. We have to find Raito and tell him."


    "Raito-kun did something amazing." As she was being carried by Naruto, she had activated her Byakugan san saw what Raito was doing.


    In the past half an hour, Raito had gone to the village center and captured some people. Then he gave the small group some vegetables to eat and also left spring water in a container.


    "Don''t tell anyone about it, okay?" He rubbed the little girl''s head and looked at the small crowd of children. They were thin and weak, but everyone was toughened by the calamity named Gat¨­.


    When they first saw that some of their members were tied down. They felt angry but after Raito started explaining some children stepped forward and said that they had seen something about the captured having food and so on.


    Looking at the children in front of him, Raito felt how important the food really was. Sighing at the bad luck of the people of the wave, Raito told them the location of the new place he had created and asked them to go there.


    After regathering with Naruto and Hinata, Raito waved the children goodbye and went to Tazuna''s house. Naruto and Hinata gave few chocolates and cake rolls they had and gave them to the children. Seals were so good. Naruto and Hinata touched their storage seals and smiled all the way.


    When they reached Tsunami, they saw that the cabbage she had brought was small and wilted. Looking at other things, Raito let out a breathe then started.


    "Boo!" Raito lightly pushed Tsunami, which scared her as she let out a small scream and let go of the woven bag. Using stealth, Raito replaced the things and even added a few.


    "Sorry, sorry." Hinata and Naruto bowed repeatedly as they helped Tsunami stand up.


    "Ninjas are kids too." Tsunami sighed then picked up the bag but she found that it was more than slightly heavy.


    "What''s this?" Tsunami looked at the bag then as she was about to open the bag to see inside.


    Raito shouted from behind, "Is that Inari?" Making Tsunami look behind to see Raito pointing forward again.


    She hurriedly turned around but couldn''t see anyone.


    "I see a small boy." Hinata ran forward and Naruto followed. Raito disappeared making Tsunami alone.


    "Inari." Tsunami sighed then walked towards home with a small smile on her face.


    At the house, sitting on the table, Tazuna took a bite from vegetables in joy. "So good."


    "daughter just what did you make today?" Tazuna gobbled down the rice then vegetables, choking a little.


    Kurenai also looked at the potato slice then ate it, "It''s magical."


    Tsunami who was being praised looked at Team seven.


    "So, where is this Inari?" Naruto opened his mouth and looked at the bowls and plated, and asked.


    The door opened as Naruto asked and a small boy eight or nine entered the house. He wore a green jumpsuit with a yellow shirt and a simple pair of sandals. With a blue and white striped hat as cover, he looked at the people in his room.


    He neither greeted them or even looked at them for a while. He walked to his seat then sat down to eat.


    "Inari, these super ninjas saved your grandpa''s life." Tazuna was a bit loud as he tried to make his grandson talk. Tsunami shook her head from the side, signaling Tazuna to not force him.


    "Eat up and clean, we are going for training." Kakashi announced as he stood up taking his plate.


    "Ah, please I would-"


    "How can I let you?" Kakashi gave his famous eye smile and walked past her.


    Hearing the word training, the Genins sped up in excitement.


    "Those who know water walking to one side, tree walking to another." Under Kakashi''s orders, they quickly grouped themselves.


    Naruto and Shino to the group who didn''t know water walking.


    Hinata and Raito knew water walking.


    Sasuke clenched his teeth as he saw that he couldn''t compare to Naruto or Raito. he stood with Kiba who didn''t know either tree walking or water walking.


    "We just started tree walking a few days ago." Kiba quickly started explaining.


    "Oh." Taking out kunai, Kakashi threw them after enhancing them with chakra. The kunai quickly lodged on the top of the tree.


    "Continue with tree walking to the point you have no problem walking to the top."


    Kakashi then turned around to face Shino and Naruto then at Hinata and Raito.


    Hinata nodded and said, "I will follow Kurenai-sensei to the bridge and guard Tazuna-san."


    "I will take a walk." Raito whistled a tune and walked away.


    "Let''s go." Kakashi grabbed the two and went towards the small pond.


    Raito reached the house and after healing Kurenai went to the village center.


    The abandoned building had few children walking here and there. Only after scanning everyone, Raito heaved a sigh of relief then walked out, showing himself.


    The children walked around him with signs of hesitation. A big boy walked forward like a leader then bowed deeply to Raito.


    Raito was shocked and hesitant as he saw the boy bowing to him. Moving his hand to help him, Raito found that the boys and girls around him also bowed.


    "Um¡­ its no problem, stop bowing." Raito quickly waved at everyone then opened the small opening on the ground before walking in.


    The children gasped in surprise as they saw the ground opening up.


    "Magic."


    "It''s magic."


    "Like the water."


    "Yes, water."


    Raito smiled inwardly as he heard the children talking.


    "If you have parents then call them." Raito turned around to find that the children had sadness on their faces.


    Raito immediately knew that he said something wrong so he took out a big pot and batches of vegetables and bread.


    [Cook Lvl 53 (Active/Passive)]


    - Food tastes slightly better irrespective of the ingredient.


    - Food tastes slightly better irrespective of the combination of dishes.


    - Increase the reputation that eats the food.


    - A perfect food combo gives an o.r.g.a.s.mic effect.


    - Food has an extremely high nutritious value.


    Raito waved the big boy and asked him to distribute the bread. The boys trembling hand made Raito not wanting to give the basket to him.


    Frowning a little, he used his technique then commanded, "Calm down."


    The boy looked at Raito then seemingly calmed down. He bowed, "Thank you." Then he started distributing the bread to everyone.


    Without looking back, Raito started the fire then placed the pot on top.


    "So yummy."


    "Sniff, sniff."


    Raito ignored the kids then started his work. Peeling, cutting and doing all the menial work took no more than ten minutes. Feeding more or less than thirty children was difficult.


    Raito called in a few children who have an affinity for cooking and started teaching them. "These are basil, and these sage and these are thyme. They are used for¡­"


    Under Raito''s ''Teacher''s Aura'', the kids learned fast, asked questioned, made a happy face after learning new things and even cried a little.


    Raito gave other kids another mission. They were asked to take small bottles made up of rock filled with spring water and give it to people who needed them. These actions were similar to charity people in the bigger villages.


    In this nameless village, some people formed groups to support each other but the deteriorating condition made it difficult to manage.


    These kids knew how to hide and protect themselves. But even so Raito didn''t feel it was safe so, he called a clone asked him to follow the kids.


    The kids didn''t disperse but walked in a group with half of them wearing a cloth over hiding the water bottle. They walked slowly, looking around, searching for bad people and avoiding them. Humans learn, in one way or another.


    When they reached some people who in the past had given them food or shown some kindness they covered the person and had them drink some water.


    The small group of people carrying swords, walked around the village, scaring the people. There was time when those thugs would notice the kids walking suspiciously. So they would follow them but the clone would drop down and knock them unconscious, storing them inside inventory.


    These thugs were no higher than level fifteen, which made Raito''s work easier.


    After the water was finished, the kids followed Raito''s clone from alley to alley, reaching the abandoned building.


    The kids walked in still full off energy and with smiles big enough to shine. Only after walking into the underground room, they smelt a faint but rich smell making their stomach growling.


    Everyone was sitting on the floor with grasses and blankets, with a bowl in their hand. They took sips and moved their heads to the taste.


    "I can eat this forever." A girl smiled.


    The big boy walked to see everyone eating, surrounding a pot. Although the pot had enough of food, no one dared to take a second bowl.


    "Taka-nii, everyone." A girl looked at the figures coming and hurriedly ordered a few around to fill the bowl.


    "Rumi, what''s going on here?" Taka received a bowl, his eyes locked on to the food.


    "Nice big brother, told us to distribute this food among everyone. He will come next day."


    Then pointing on to a rock made plate trolly, she continued. "Big brother also said that there are loaves of bread for us to eat."


    "More bread?"


    "Um, now eat the veggies and soup." Rumi nodded then said with a serious ¨C child tone.


    "Mm." Taka and the children behind him gulped the soup and chewed the veggies. The soup was warming and refreshing, the vegetables were fulfilling.


    Taka rubbed his eyes and finished everything in one go before looking at Rumi, "Rumi, what''s big brother''s name?"


    "¡­ I don''t know. I didn''t ask." Rumi quickly had tears gathered in her eyes.


    "Ah, ah. Rumi-chan don''t cry. Yosh, yosh." A girl quickly grabbed Rumi then soothed her.


    "But I think big brother called all our names."


    "Yeah, he did." Another girl answered.


    "¡­ Maybe kami-sama." The girl covered her mouth quickly.


    "Big brother was sent by kami-sama." The noise grew and the children started walking around and inside the abandoned house.


    Raito stood on the water as his chakra decreasing two points per minuted. Crouching down, he placed his finger on the water surface from where chakra acc.u.mulated and turned into strings, which dived deeper into the sea.


    Using ''Chakra Sense'' and ''Chakra Threads'', Raito caught more than a dozen of fishes in one go.


    Raito was surprised as his chakra threads bound the fishes. After yanking them from the water, the fishes struggled for a time.


    "That''s easy." The threads connected to his fingers retracted bringing fishes toward him but found that both of his hands were connected to the threads. Trying to clench his hands he found that the threads were being super fast by that action so he stopped.


    With an idea, the fishes were covered by chakra and directly stored in inventory.


    "Super easy!"


    "Hey! Who is that!?" A rough voice from a small boat doing survey shouted.


    "What now?" Another person sitting on the side frowned, his hand supporting his head.


    "I think I saw a person." Answered the first one.


    "Even if you saw leave it." The man frowned more asking the boatman to return back to shore.


    "But Gat¨­-sama said-"


    "Argh!" the man stood up and slapped the other man''s head. "Shut your mouth." He was furious.


    Raito listened to them arguing. The talk was between two men, one loyal and another, the suffer of sin.


    Or so it looked like. [Lie Detected.]


    The arguing had stopped and the two men have been looking around. One of them shook his head then waved at the boatman.


    "Hmph." Raito had completed a series of hand seals, Taking in a deep breathe, he activated his chakra. ''Water Release: Whirlpool.''


    A large amount of chakra was released and the water was shaking. The boatman looked at the water and was shocked, "It''s impossible."


    "What!?"


    Before the thugs could speak, they found that the boat was moving and it was speeding up.


    Raito looked back at his masterpiece then smiled and left.


    It was only noon when Raito passed by the bridge. Kurenai and Hinata stood by the side, at a distance away, observing the situation. Kurenai slightly frowned as she looked at a distance. "He is here."


    "Who, Kurenai¡­ sensei." Hinata asked then used Byakugan.


    "It''s a Raito-kun."


    "Mm." Kurenai thought for a while before going back to her own work.


    Raito walked calmly to the bridge as people worked on their own. Some had bits of seriousness but others had unwilling looks on their faces.


    "Old man, would you like some juice?" Raito walked straight to Tazuna and asked him straight.


    "Brat." Tazuna gave him a glance before his eyes went back to the list.


    "It''s slow here." Raito commented, making people''s faces turn ugly.


    Tazuna slammed the clipboard on the table and asked with little anger, "Do you really think it''s slow?"


    "Yeah, if you tell me what to do I can do it a bit faster¡­ then anyone here." Raito smirked looking at everyone.


    "Tazuna, if this kid wants to work then let him." The man was young and had the muscle of steel as he alone dragged a big and long steel rope.


    Tazuna didn''t know if he wanted to laugh or not, "Okay, brat. Go and bring concrete from the shed."


    "How many?" Raito asked shaking his shoulder.


    "How many? Just bring all of them." Tazuna answered without even looking at Raito then asked one of the workers to bring Raito to the shed.


    Looking at the massive number of the concrete packets, Raito was dumbfounded.


    Raito twitched then asked the man, "Big bro, is this all?"


    The man asked by Tazuna to bring Raito started stretching but after hearing Raito''s question, he let out a small laugh, "Since you are calling me bro, I will call you little bro."


    "This pile is just a small amount. We need a lot more, lot more." In the end, his voice carried hints of sorrow.


    "Big bro¡­" Raito called.


    "Hah!" The man placed concrete bags on the wheelbarrow then went out.


    As Raito grabbed one bag, he thought for a while, deciding to choose from using them to increase his stat or using inventory and complete the work faster.


    Raito chose the later and covered them with his chakra, storing them in the inventory.


    Seeing Raito walk back with nothing on his hand, people in the bridge started laughing loudly.


    "Boy, did you gave up already?"


    "What youth? Hahaha."


    "Just a big mouth."


    Raito ignored the people then walk past Tazuna where the ''Big brother'' placed the concrete bags.


    Raito placed his hand forward then retrieved all the concrete bags.


    "Kami-sama¡­"


    Some people took deep breathe in and some let out a cold breath out.


    "Ninja. He must be a ninja."


    "Hey, kid. Are you a ninja?"


    The group of men had stars in their eyes as they asked Raito various questions.


    Raito took out his jacket then on his left hand, there was a forehead protector with the symbol of Konoha. "Yoshizawa Raito, Genin of Konoha."


    "Ninja of Konoha. We lucked out"


    "Ninja tricks, these are ninja tricks." Some of them were overjoyed.


    Tazuna who looked at the scene smiled for a while before slamming his clipboard on the table.


    "Everyone back to work." Tazuna glared making many laugh shamelessly.


    "Kid, next is the second shed."


    "You can tell me everything at once." Raito ready to walk turned and suggested.


    Tazuna nodded then replied, "There are fourteen sheds. If you can bring everything¡­ keep them with yourself."


    Understanding the vague situation, Raito asked, "¡­ When do they come?"


    "Once every few weeks."


    "Okay." After agreeing, Raito with a step disappeared.


    Tazuna stood in a spot as thoughts passed in his mind. With a determined expression, he nodded in his mind and shouted, "Folks, make haste."


    With Raito''s help, they sped up their work. Since more than three fourth part of the work was done and a ninja group to protect them, the people started working extra hard.


    After returning home, Tazuna bowed at Kakashi and Kurenai.


    "Please lend us Raito-boy."


    Kakashi raised his eyes as he looked inquisitively at Raito. In reply, Raito just shrugged his shoulder.


    "Shino and¡­ Naruto, you two will be on guard duty." Kurenai nodded and pointed on the two.


    "Use Raito however you like." Raito had long gone out of living and dining to the kitchen and had started deboning the fish.


    "Old man, we will definitely not let anyone cause trouble." Naruto announced once again, making Raito prick his hand. Taking a deep breath, Raito could only ignore him.


    "Kakashi-sensei, what am I supposed to do?" Hinata asked as she seems to have nothing to do tomorrow.


    "I am sure you will find something to do." Kakashi smiled.


    ''Abandoned building.'' An answer popped in her head as a smile appeared on her face. "Hai."


    Early morning next day Raito and Hinata went to the abandoned building, which looked a lot cleaner than yesterday. The children must have done it. When Raito saw that he manipulated the ground below to swallow the small trash pile.


    Before even coming to the area of the abandoned building, Raito did a sweep. He found that the number of children was same and they had cleaned the house. Since there were not many things it was quite easier. The group of children slept hugging each other as there were not many blankets. The big boy, Taka, was surrounded by little children, everyone on his body.


    When a girl saw Raito coming, she screamed with joy, waking everyone up.


    "Raito-san."


    "I have enough blankets." Raito checked through his inventory, then sighed in relief.


    "Hinata, I have to be quick. I have two hours left until I have to leave for the capital of the wave." Raito brought Hinata to the hidden underground where he saw the small bucket, where spring water was. To its side was the big pot Raito used to make the vegetable soup.


    Taking out a stone bead from his pocket, Raito was ready to execute his plan but the children came running out then entering the underground.


    "Its big brother."


    "There is a big sister as well."


    "Wah! big brother." The small girl with pigtails and a big smile, Rumi ran hugging him first. After that it was chaos, the children also joined her causing massive rampage.


    Seeing Raito who couldn''t deal with the group of children, Hinata laughed secretly.


    Getting out of the troublesome situations, Raito asked Hinata to fill the water then purify it.


    The children along with Hinata went around the village, giving a bottle of water to drink to different people.


    One bigger boy and girl help Raito in cooking food. Raito just watched, corrected and instructed them and the rest was done by the two. Meanwhile, Raito used his time manipulating the earth to make a fountain and inscribing it with Fuinjutsu seals, the same when Raito made a Fuinjutsu for watering flower with water at a specific time of the day.


    This time the fuinjutsu was a bit more complex. He changed a normal earth fountain to an artifact, a magical one at that. The whole of the fountain was seen as a single unit, having multiple layers. The bottom base had a collecting seal and the top of the tub part had a restriction seal the middle of the fountain then had a purifying seal. Connecting all three of them were timed activation and chakra gathering seal.


    The first activation was the water collecting seal. After the water had reached a certain level, the restriction seal would activate, stopping the water collecting seal then activating the purifying the water.


    (I am laying it out because Raito is going to do crazy things with Fuinjutsu.)


    After making a ladle to scoop out water, Raito looked at the children making food.


    "Let me taste it." Raito scooped out some in a bowl then ate it. "It''s lacking salt." Raito reviewed it honestly making the two quite sad.


    Pulling out a spoon Raito taught them how to measure salt for a person then for multiple people. Thank Kami that these children were smarter than Naruto, at least some of them were.


    Raito made a cabinet to put the spices.


    Walking out of the underground area, Raito saw that few of the children were playing with flowers and some were climbing a tree, not the ninja way (Sorry for those who thought that they could be ninjas).


    Raito sat with them teaching them about flower gardening and pomology. (FACT ¨C Pomology means ''Fruit'' + logy)


    Since they couldn''t learn more, Raito just told them to clear the weeds from time to time and water the flowers and trees with the water in the fountain.


    The four nodded vigorously then quickly went inside the underground and brought a stone bucket filled with spring water.


    Raito let out a huge yawn as he walked inside the building. Since most of the kids were out Raito quickly and silently went to the room where all of them were sleeping. Taking out twelve sets of blanket, futon, and pillow.


    Raito didn''t know when but he had stopped looking at the mission tab for this mission. After playing with few children, Raito left without waiting for Hinata.


    Back at Tazuna''s house, Tazuna wore his straw hat as he saw Raito coming.


    "Ready old man?" Raito smiled.


    "You bet I do. Our people in the capital are willing to lend us all the things that have been stored. We just have to go and get it." Tazuna smiled and raised his small alcohol gourd.


    Raito felt like the trip was not going to be very smooth but it was not going to be very difficult too. If it was difficult then, how was the bridgework going on?


    Raito looked up to see Sasuke glaring at him which Raito replied by a smile and wave. It was so much fun looking at Sasuke in anger, pain and trouble

 Chapter 44 - Doing Deeds 2

    Tazuna and Raito went to the bridge with Shino and Naruto, who were on guard duty today. After checking everything they left the village heading north-east towards the capital of this small country.


    "If you have a map, can you give it to me?" Raito asked while walking.


    "Don''t have it, kid. What do we need a map for? We just want to live in peace." Tazuna was awfully long-winded today. His eyes looking around, checking the side of the roads.


    "If we take this path all the way, we will reach the capital in no time. If we had a carriage, it wouldn''t even take more than an hour."


    Raito stopped hearing that as he grabbed Tazuna stopping him. "I can show you a magic trick if you want."


    "Magic trick? Like you did at the bridge?" Tazuna was mildly interested as he looked down.


    "Um, if you close your eyes, the next time you open, you will be near the capital." Raito explained plainly as his hands reached for the hip pouch.


    "Really?" Tazuna asked as he took a swig from his bottle. Looking at Raito, who was ready for action, he gave up and said, "Do your worst." Then he closed his eyes.


    "You are a nice, old man." Raito covered Tazuna with his chakra. After letting out a small smile he shouted in his mind, ''Store''


    Tazuna disappeared and the various men hidden among the trees also stopped for a brief moment.


    Raito turned back at the village and mouthed out the words, "Kakashi-sensei." Then a sword appeared out of nowhere. "I''ll do a little cleanup."


    Men in various shaped big, small, thin or fat jumped and attacked Raito using weapons like their hand, short knives, dagger, a club or arrows.


    Raito swung his sword cutting the thumb off his hand.


    "My thumb!!" The archer guy shouted in pain as he fell down the tree.


    The shouting alerted the men down as they looked up. Few of the people were good at aiming so, they threw small weapons like dagger and knives towards Raito.


    Raito didn''t move much as he pointed his sword sheath to touch the projectiles. After traveling against gravity and wind, the force behind the projectile was quite weak.


    Deflecting them, Raito sheathed back his sword then took out a few stone beads before throwing them towards them. The thugs below, jumped a bit dodging the beads.


    But Raito stood there with half a rat seal. "Lance."


    The small stone bead exploded on all sides. Thin but long pike/lance appeared piercing into the men all around. T.h.i.g.hs, shoulder, arms, everyone had extra two holes, some had additional pairs.


    Raito sends out chakra threads attaching to the stone bead. With a thought, the stone pikes reformed back into a stone bead which made the people cry out again. Raito waved towards a direction before using ''Body Flicker'' to disappear into a distance.


    Kakashi stood on top of a house as he saw Raito disappearing into a distance.


    Kakashi looked at his hand, remembering a few days ago, Raito had attempted to block his attack.


    "Let''s go back." With a silent gust, the two disappeared.


    The twenty men, who were on the ground, writhing in pain, finally stood up after half an hour. Pulling their weakened bodies, they traveled on carriages, finally reaching a big three storied building surrounded by few houses.


    "You bunch of trash, you stupid trash." A short man with shaggy brown hair and a pair of small, circular black glasses, wearing a black suit with a purple tie and closed-toed shoes, he stood behind a luxurious looking desk and a cigar in his hand.


    He had a frown on his face as he looked at the twenty odd men in front of him. "Who was it? Was it copy-nin Kakashi? Or the new J¨­nin, Kurenai?


    "It wasn''t them¡­ it wasn''t. It was a boy, boy with black hair and green eyes." One of the men, standing in front of the rest, answered.


    "A boy? A Boy!?" Gat¨­ grabbed one of the books behind him and threw, which hit the man in front.


    "Useless, truly useless." Gat¨­ jumped from his seat and walked towards the window, his two bodyguards walking forward with their sword on hand.


    "Z¨­ri, Waraji, let''s go." Gat¨­ after a long time walked out of the room.


    Z¨­ri is a light-skinned man with bluish-white hair and black eyes, tattoos under his eye, wearing a dark purple hat on this head, the top of which extends far beyond the top of his head. He has a blue handled katana tied to his waist.


    "Zabuza, that demon, should work after taking my money." Gat¨­ laughed.


    On a small house, a distance away from the building, Zabuza was sleeping on the bed and the masked man standing by his side.


    Bang!


    The door opened alarming the masked man but his head didn''t move, always facing Zabuza.


    "Zabuza! What the hell are you doing? They are still building that bridge. Tazuna is alive and now going to the capital.


    Gat¨­ waited for a while before walking in. Looking at the shabby hut, Gat¨­ clicked his tongue in distaste.


    Gat¨­ raised his foot and kicked the small bed. "All the money I have given you and this is what you have been doing with it."


    Gat¨­ caught the Kubikirib¨­ch¨­ and examined it thoroughly. "How many times will you repair this useless sword?"


    But he was immediately stopped by the masked man, his hand felt like it was going to be crushed into dust.


    "Stop disturbing." The masked man''s faceless face looked at Gat¨­, his voice dangerous.


    "Y-You da-dare." Gat¨­ shook his hand vigorously and escaped from the grip of the masked man.


    Z¨­ri and Waraji who were already in a battle stance unsheathed their sword, making an overhead swing, cleaving downward.


    A cold gust of wind appeared in the room chilling the frozen Z¨­ri and Waraji, as they saw their sword blocked by the masked man. He grabbed their sword descent with his fingers, in between his index and thumb finger.


    The coldness in the room increased once more as the figure in front of them changed into ice then broke down. Z¨­ri and Waraji felt heaviness pressing them down, making them tremble fiercely.


    "Go away and don''t disturb us." He finally let go of their necks and said softly.


    "Y-y-you take my money but don''t do your work. If-if you don''t kill Tazuna, I will not pay you this month." Gat¨­ trembled, pointing his finger and started to threaten them.


    But just as he finished speaking, Gat¨­ found that the air seemed heavier and breathing felt a bit difficult.


    Gat¨­ had to take a few steps back to maintain his whatever left bearing. The two guards grabbed Gat¨­ then left the small shack.


    "Zabuza-sama, you should rest." The masked man stopped beside Zabuza then grabbed his hand.


    "Hmph." Zabuza jerked off his hand then covering his shoulder, grabbed the Kubikirib¨­ch¨­ and sat on the bed.


    Looking at the ice blocks in the room, Zabuza scanned through them then called the masked man, "Haku, clean it."


    On the way to capital, Raito used ''Body Flicker'' fully and saw the improvement on it. The vague colors earlier were now had shapes and could be differentiated properly.


    Raito stood in front of the path near the capital passing by a few farm fields.


    "Retrieve."


    Tazuna appeared in front, his eyes still closed. After quite a while, Tazuna couldn''t stand anymore, still, with his eyes closed, he shouted, "Brat when are you going to start."


    Raito smiled, his hands covering his mouth. "We are already here."


    His hand shook as he brought it up to take a sip.


    His hands holding his face, Raito finally used his skill to calm Tazuna.


    "H-How? I-I was just there an-and now I am here." No longer trying to understand the situation, Tazuna finished the alcohol in the bottle.


    Raito just facepalmed to the situation. Sighing to his fate, Raito used ''Heal'' and ''Hypnotic wave'' to help Tazuna recover.


    Inside the capital, Raito walked in the shadows as Tazuna talked with a slightly plump man. The plump man had a face of good fortune and he gave a friendly but sad aura.


    They walked around for a long time before appearing in front of a chain of buildings.


    "Everything''s here?" Tazuna asked the plump man.


    "Yes, everything." The plump man nodded before patting Tazuna and secretly whispering into his ear before leaving.


    Looking at the chain of similar looking building which looked like a warehouse, Raito couldn''t help but take a deep breathe in.


    "Brat, these warehouses have all the things we need to complete the bridge."


    "Twelve building?"


    "Yeah."


    "Okay." Raito pulled out his book and activated the shadow clone technique.


    The clones appeared dashing into the buildings.


    "Ninja tricks¡­ how can we, ordinary people match?" Tazuna gulped his Adam''s apple moving up and down, his voice filled with bitterness.


    Raito looked back to see the amazed face on Tazuna.


    Tazuna walked in on one of the warehouses but found it empty. One, two, three¡­ every single one of them was empty.


    "This really makes my heart hurt." Tazuna faked the pain as he walked towards Raito.


    When Raito saw Tazuna coming, he had a sorry written on his face.


    "Hey, hey, what''s with the face? We have gathered everything. So, we can now finish the bridge now."


    Raito jumped appearing in front of Tazuna, grabbed him then stored him in the inventory.


    Swish!


    Raito dodged the arrow aimed at him. The more he moved, the more arrows fell down on him. Feeling that it was rather a warning than a killing shot, Raito stopped moving.


    Expanding his sense, Raito could see that, this small road was surrounded by hundreds of archers. But they seemed to be a mismatch of people.


    Raito waited for things to happen and just as he predicted, a group of people came into view on the road numbering more than fifty.


    "Everyone is between thirteen and fifteen." Raito smiled strangely as the thugs walked towards him.


    In the very front, a man covered with blood and dirt was being pushed by the people at the back. This man was the plump man who had left few moments ago.


    Raito shook his head then brought out a big plain cloth, covering himself with it. As the cloth covered him, the Raito disappeared to appear in front of the plump man forcing him into the inventory, then disappearing leaving no dust behind.


    Everyone was stunned. The thugs and the archers, they looked around for nothing as the figure was nowhere to be found.


    Watching from an empty building, Raito saw the archers searching for him. "I have starred all of you, how are you going to run away from me?"


    Raito wore a grim smile as his hand grew black and shiny rocks. With a jump, Raito disappeared into thin air (Yup, Dungeon), next time he appeared he was behind a thin man with long nose. Raito''s fist hit the man''s back and bones cracked before screams came out, Raito pulled him inside inventory.


    Maybe a few had heard the small scream, the thugs started walking towards the direction. Raito dropped a few stone beads then jumped into the shadows using a vanishing Genjutsu to hide.


    The thugs came into groups, walking all over the narrow alley.


    "Lance." The stone bead burst and pike/lance erupted piercing the thugs, incapacitating them instantly.


    Dropping down from the shadows, Raito picked one then stored them in the inventory.


    Seeing that one of their comrades has disappeared in thin air, the thugs were mad and also fearful. They started making a commotion.


    Frowning Raito activated one of the Genjutsu skills that he had learned in the previous month. "Genjutsu ¨C Turtle''s Pace"


    It was a mid-level Genjutsu but it was it consumed too much chakra points. The effect was clearly visible but the effect only lasted for less than a minute. And the main defect was that it only worked in someone who hadn''t practiced his chakra.


    When Raito found that he had wasted this month''s half quota, he was very mad, wanting to rob the library.


    "It''s okay." Raito quickly grabbed everyone, putting them in the inventory.


    First Raito pulled out Tazuna then explained to him everything that happened. Next he pulled out the plump man. When he was pulled out, Tazuna dropped down shaking the plump man.


    Raito rolled his eyes and pulled Tazuna, "If you do that, he will lose more blood."


    "Heal."


    Only after completely healing the plump man, Raito used his ''Chakra Sense'' in full power. He saw that a man was watching at him using a telescope. Standing at that man''s position he could see that the man only seemed to look at Tazuna as he was hidden by the wall.


    "My son¡­ they have my son?" the plump man who had walked with Tazuna and laughed with him was now in despair as he looked at the sky blankly.


    Raito felt like the words were heavy, hitting his heart, causing pain. Not knowing what to say, Raito found that Tazuna was looking at him.


    Raito nodded and called the plump man. The man calmed down and faced Raito, "What''s your name? What is your son''s name?"


    Raito wanted to ask what had happened but the man had already started speaking, "I''m Eda Seison. My son is called Eda Konosuke. Please save him."


    Even under Raito''s hypnotic wave, he had the ability to plead for his son. Immediately after Raito heard his true name, two profiles appeared in the info book.


    After looking at the 3-D picture, Raito used his upgraded ''Chakra Sense'' to cover the whole of the small capital. Raito had used extra chakra per minute to increase the range, quickly finding the small boy.


    Eyes shining, Raito grabbed the two grown men and pulled them in the inventory, not letting them to even talk.


    Disappearing into a dungeon, Raito appeared in front of a pub. Quickly walking down, he appeared in an underground bas.e.m.e.nt and took out an earth stick.


    [Earth Stick (+11)]


    Made by manipulating rock into a stick


    ATK: 33-34


    Weight: 42


    (Confuse: 10% chance of giving a ''confused'' effect.)


    Four bulky men stood guarding the door inside and outside. A boy was tied down in a chair, he had tear stains and was currently sleeping. Most probably, the boy had cried to sleep.


    Raito appeared in the middle of the two men striking the head with the stick. Getting hit on the head, the immediately lost consciousness and fell down, making a big sound.


    Ignoring the door being opened and the men screaming, Raito grabbed the boy and disappeared from their sight.


    "We have to inform them."


    "Quick."


    These men seem to have made a mad dash but there were other people in the pub who were waiting left for observing.


    Looking at these plays Raito rolled his eyes and went to an abandoned building, helping the father and son meet.


    Seison cried, hugged then kept saying ''sorry''.


    "Old friend if you want, you can come to our nameless village."


    Seison shook his head then began talking with Tazuna.


    Raito shook his head as he tuned them out opting to use ''Chakra Sense''.


    While using it for fun, Raito found a pair walking in robes dark in color with red patterns. They were wearing a hat, so, he was unable to know who they were. Getting his interest caught by other people, Raito turned around and continued exploring.


    Seison kneeled down with his child and said, "Young ninja, I thank you, really, really. If there is anything I can do I will do. This man and his son are forever in your debt."


    "I¡­" Raito had indeed immediately thought of those groups of children in the nameless village but in the end Raito just shook his head.


    "Old man Tazuna, let''s go." Raito walked out immediately and Tazuna followed him.


    "We wasted so much time." Raito sighed as he stood in front of the gates.


    Pushing his hand forward, Raito waited for Tazuna to grab his hand.


    "Brat, thanks for saving him."


    "No problem." Raito immediately grabbed him disappearing from the area.


    Raito thought that he had left hidden and not made too much noise inside but there was a figure looking at him couple of miles away from where he was standing.


    "What a technique." The man with his expressionless face jumped down and met with the taller member of the pair.


    "What happened?" The nasal voice was jarring but it seemed the expressionless man didn''t care.


    "I recalled someone interesting." The emotionless man with his red eyes looked back then walked away. (you know who that is.)

 Chapter 45 - Meeting Haku

    On the way back, Raito carried a man double his height and used ''Body Flicker'' on request. If it wasn''t for his ''Fast Thinking'' that was activated at that time, Raito would have been covered by vomit now.


    At the gates of the village, Raito stood a couple of meter distance away from Tazuna looking back at him with annoyance.


    "What''s with that look? I have already said ''sorry''." Tazuna made a sad face as he looked at the boy in front of him.


    Seeing the boy not changing colors, Tazuna sighed, "It''s quite late, huh."


    "Thanks to you, old man." Raito snorted as he expanded his chakra sense covering the bridge.


    There were bridge builders still working. He nodded his head then covered the abandoned building. The children were walking around the house, cleaning rooms and making beds to sleep. Hinata was there with Kurenai playing with the children. This level of freedom was toxic for Raito as he smiled happily.


    But happiness didn''t last long as he saw two figures running out of Tazuna''s house, one was Naruto and the other was Inari.


    Raito contemplated for a while before telling Tazuna, "Old man, there is some trouble."


    Tazuna was instantly alarmed, "Trouble? What trouble?"


    "Relax, it''s just¡­ two kids running out, crying."


    Tazuna looked dumbly at Raito, then after he spat on the side, he asked "Which two kids?"


    "Naruto and Inari," Raito replied casually as he walked towards the bridge. The bridge was important to complete the mission.


    Tazuna sighed then shook his head. Following Raito, he also started walking towards the bridge. Although he was a bit worried about Inari, the bridge came first for him now.


    "Ninja-boy."


    "Tazuna looks like shit right now."


    People laughed at the mess that Tazuna was right now. Tazuna glared back but it did little to the rowdy men, who had worked all day.


    "Report." Tazuna glared as he walked to the desk placed in the middle of the bridge.


    Raito took out a few bottles of water and distributed it to everyone around him.


    "Woah, I feel that I am full of energy."


    "Let''s do that remaining work."


    "Let''s go."


    Looking at the cheerful men, Raito smiled softly then walked towards Tazuna who was standing with a builder. His hands were on table and his eyes closed, his brows were pushed together seemingly in pain.


    The men who were working didn''t mind him, but they still had a concerned look on their faces. Many of them sighed, biting lips or gritting their teeth.


    "Hey, old man Tazuna, what happened?" With a frown, Raito walked forward and asked Tazuna.


    "Nothing!" After a shout, he left the bridge, helping in other forms.


    Raito looked at the side, where a young man was scratching the back of his head.


    Looking at him Raito asked, "Big bro, what happened?"


    "¡­" The man looked at Raito then sighed, "It''s no secret. Two men left the group."


    "Why is he so angry about then?" Raito shrugged two men among a hundred fifty something was an ''okay'' number.


    The man sighed then pointed at everyone, "It''s not just two. At first, we had five hundred and¡­ now it''s one-fifty. Our progress has been slowing down. Every single day, one or more would leave the group."


    "And it''s because¡­" Raito raised his brows.


    "Everyone who has left or is going to leave fears Gat¨­." He gave out a large breath.


    "Gat¨­?" Raito looked at the info book then at the man in front of him, "I have been hearing his name at all time now. Tell me, what''s the deal with him? He is just another man with some goons."


    "If you knew what happened here¡­ you wouldn''t be saying that."


    "Tell me, I have nothing to do."


    "You don''t but I do." The man huffed.


    "Don''t worry." Raito used his ''Hypnotic Wave'' and used ''Shadow Clone'' to transform into that man.


    "Now tell me." Raito forced a little. The surrounding men gaped a little but continued in their work as if they didn''t see anything.


    "Well, it''s a long story-" before the man could even finish, Raito had brought out two chairs and a small table, some snacks, and drinks placed on the table.


    The man smiled weirdly then grabbed the bottle he was so familiar with.


    The man looked at Raito but he couldn''t see anything through.


    "Then what happened?" Raito asked.


    "Gat¨­ started destroying the fields with the thugs and the people who tried to defend their fields were also beaten down. He smashed stores that sold seeds, food, and accessory. He destroyed every small business that helped the people."


    "Even the Daimy¨­ refused to help us. We had a young hero who stood for us but he was publically shamed and executed. If I had strength, I would kill that Gat¨­ and that dog of a Daimy¨­." The man roared as he stood up, the chair falling behind him, causing the illusion to fade away.


    "Hero." Raito mouthed the word.


    "Sit down, please." Raito helped the man calm down.


    "He took one for us but we couldn''t even avenge him." The man sat looked down as darkness covered his eyes.


    "What was that man''s name?" Raito stood up as he started cleaning.


    "Kaiza, we called him Kaiza. He was a hero to us, he helped everyone in this village. He always said¡­ ''If something is truly important to you¡­ even it''s heart-breaking, even if it''s sorrowful¡­ you keep on trying and trying, even if you lose your life, you keep on protecting it with these two arms!! ¡­Then, even if you die, you leave behind the proof that you are a man¡­ forever¡­'' That''s what he said." The man became silent as he looked at his hand, he clenched it then unclenched, a sorrowful expression on his face. "They broke his hand hanged his body in public and Cho¡­"


    Raito didn''t know what he should say in this situation. If Naruto was here he would have definitely said something like-


    "Kaiza¡­ did his best. Now it''s your turn and it''s my turn too. I don''t know about others but I will definitely be a meddlesome person." His voice turning dim, Raito crouched down and said in a whisper, "Gat¨­ will definitely die as this bridge finishes."


    Raito stood up grabbed the snacks then disappeared.


    The man looked at the distance Raito was walking as he stood up and returned to his work as if nothing had happened.


    Raito came to the abandoned building to see the children and found that they were being taught by Hinata on how to read and write.


    A child cried while rubbing his hair. "Big sis, it''s too difficult."


    "Um, big sis, we don''t know that¡­" a girl timidly raised her voice.


    Raito chuckled at the scene.


    "You seem to be enjoying." Kurenai appeared beside Raito and said softly.


    "I have my hands full with three Genins already," Kurenai replied with a smile.


    "How fake." Raito walked away and reached the place, where Hinata was teaching.


    "Big brother." A child jumped looking at Raito coming.


    "Big brother. Wah." Raito was immediately surrounded by the children.


    Hinata looked at Raito with a bit of sadness. Her small nose raised a bit with anger and sadness.


    "Hinata, how about I help?" Raito walked towards Hinata and asked her.


    She was a bit sad but gave the book to Raito.


    Raito sat down with children and started teaching them.


    Hinata who looked at the children felt saddened as she saw the heads nodding and smiles on their faces.


    Raito tapped her shoulder, which made Hinata jump. Raito shook his head then gave her some blankets asking her to place them in the room above.


    At the distant forest, Kiba and Sasuke hanged on the branches upside down, their eyes closed.


    Whoosh.


    A stone flew with force aiming for Sasuke.


    Opening his eyes in shock, Sasuke moved to side quickly to dodge the stone but losing the concentration made him slip forcing him to hug the tree and refocus.


    Kiba dropped down and rotated at high speed aiming for the figure below.


    "Tunneling Fang."


    "Naruto''s super spicy explosion bomb." Dodging the attack, Raito threw dozen of red balls, which exploded when they contacted Kiba.


    Whoosh, chink.


    The shuriken aimed at Raito was easily guarded by the stick.


    On the side Kiba remained unconscious and other, Sasuke glared at Raito.


    "Is that it?" Raito mocked.


    "Clone technique." Sasuke released his hold on the tree, jumping down as an illusion of himself, appeared around him.


    "Really?" Raito quickly found Sasuke hidden among his clones, then threw a stone towards him.


    "Argh! Raito, fight me without using these tricks, one-on-one." Sasuke caught the weak throw, then jumped towards Raito.


    "Take this." Sasuke with the running momentum jumped, aiming for Raito''s face


    "It''s boring alright." Raito let Sasuke kick him. He stood there without even moving.


    But at the last moment, Raito extended his hand blocking the kick then throwing Sasuke back.


    Laughing weirdly, Raito made a hand seal and said, "I am just a clone, you know?" With that, the clone/Raito disappeared in smoke.


    "Ahhh!!" Sasuke''s loud shout reverberated in the forest scaring a few things.


    While his clone was having fun, Raito was looking at Naruto, with Shino by his side.


    "Why are you here, Shino?" Raito asked blandly without even looking at him.


    "I was wondering why Naruto''s life-"


    "Why do you want to know?"


    "¡­ Naruto is special, isn''t he?" Shino asked to Raito''s question.


    "Everyone is special." Raito used a quote from a book then dropped down the tree.


    Shino thought for a while before going back to the house.


    "Now the people who know about Naruto grew. What am I gonna do?" Kakashi leaned on the tree with a leaf on his hand. As the chakra passed through it, the leaf first wrinkled, then was burnt to ashes. Plucking out another leaf, it turned into dirt.


    With a smile Kakashi left the area, giving two boys some space.


    Raito who was about to confront Naruto saw what Kakashi did. After thinking for a while, he looked at his skills with smile.


    [Chakra Control]


    - Leaf Balancing


    - Leaf Spinning


    - Tree Walking


    - Rock Walking


    - Water Walking


    - Water Pulsation


    - Adhesion


    - Propulsion


    Skills unlocked ¨C Chakra Body Enhancement, Chakra Sprint, and Chakra Thread.


    Skill locked ¨C Chakra Strength.


    [Nature Transformation] (Locked)


    "Naruto!" Raito shouted


    When Naruto heard Raito calling him, his attention wavered, which got him to be thrashed by his own clones.


    "¡­ Sorry." Raito apologized with a smile.


    "Cancel!" the clones turned into smoke. Naruto lay down on the ground, his clothes filled with dirt.


    Giving him a bottle, Raito sat on the side and asked, "So, what happened?"


    Naruto took a gulp then replied looking sideways, "N-nothing."


    "I saw that Kakashi talking with that stupid hat boy. He was talking about you, you know? How only you would understand what Inari is going through and-"


    "Stop, stop, you bastard." Raito jumped with redness in his face as he started punching the trees.


    "Heh." A smile appeared in Raito''s face as he disappeared from the place. "Train more."


    Walking on water, chakra threads appeared in his hands and grabbing fishes in the sea.


    "So easy. Only if I had learned then." Sighing Raito went back to the house where he helped Tsunami with food.


    "Thank you for helping out."


    "No problem." Raito waved the knife which led to Tsunami scolding him.


    "Sheesh, women are dangerous." Raito sat on the roof. With ''Chakra Sense'' there was nothing that he couldn''t see.


    Raito had decided that tonight will be a busy night for him.


    At night when everyone was eating together, Hinata looked at Kakashi then at Raito, from time to time. She played with her food for a long time before eating.


    Raito felt that he was getting gazes from all over. So, with annoyance, he replied, "Just leave him be."


    Raito cleaned his plates then walked towards the door. Ready to move out, Raito looked at Hinata then said, "Hinata¡­ I need your help."


    Raito looked at Kakashi before walking out.


    Sasuke ate his food then went out calmly. After reaching the forest, with a kunai in his hand, Sasuke continued his training. Kiba also followed Sasuke in his training.


    Shino stayed with Kurenai in the house, with his bugs helping him to express his emotion. "They are leaving me again."


    Kurenai tapped Shino on the shoulder then said, "Why don''t you learn something new?"


    The buzz died down as Shino faced Kurenai.


    "Genjutsu needs precise control of chakra and knowledge of human anatomy and physiology. The latter is needed for complex Genjutsu which has no criteria for amount of chakra. I assumed that you know about human anatomy and physiology."


    Shino nodded after a long pause.


    "Let''s start." Kurenai smiled.


    Raito stood with Kakashi and Hinata.


    Raito started explaining Kakashi what he was going to do. For a while, Kakashi was in thought before looking at two. He sighed and started, "That''s not our mission."


    Hearing that Raito''s eye flashed.


    "But we can''t just ignore it." Kakashi patted Raito''s shoulder and said, "This will not be in the record. So, do whatever you must. Everything you will do till morning will be written as ''sleep''."


    "Sensei." Raito turned back and jumped leaving the house.


    Kakashi turned to look at Hinata who was hesitating. Seeing her hesitating, Kakashi walked back to the housed saying, "Hinata and Raito are sleeping so early¡­so lazy!"


    When Hinata heard that, she jumped following Raito.


    Very soon they appeared in the village center. In the streets, groups of people, looking like thugs, walked like the god of the streets.


    Raito searched around to find any other groups but found that this was the only group moving around. So, Raito waited for them to move around.


    After waiting for a while, they finally reached a house, which had lights lit.


    One of the thugs pointed to the house and looked at a man near him. The man nodded before arriving at the window, breaking it with a metal pipe. He went on around the house, destroying all the windows.


    "Think carefully! We just broke your window, today. Tomorrow-"


    Before he could finish speaking, a force came smacking him to the side, probably breaking few ribs.


    "Who''s-"


    Before the others could speak, they fell down, paralyzed, unable to move their bodies.


    Raito looked at them before chakra threads latched on to them, storing inside the inventory. After cleaning for a while, Raito knocked on the door, planning to say that no one is going to threaten him and such but when the door opened, Raito felt his eyes twitching.


    "Little bro." The door opened to see the muscular guy, who showed Raito to the warehouse.


    "Big bro? This is your house?" Raito was surprised to find this muscular man today.


    "Yeah." He looked towards the window and sighed.


    "Since there are no more trouble makers, why don''t I help you?" Raito grabbed a few of the broken planks then took out a hammer and some nails and started repairing the windows. Hinata, who knows when started cleaning the surrounding and supporting as they had done in the other man D-Rank missions.


    Looking at the Raito, the big man felt like he had done it not less than hundreds of times.


    [Skill ''Repair'' leveled up by 1.]


    [Skill ''Repair'' reached level 12.]


    "Done." Raito fixed the windows then turned to the big man. "I''ll be going, big bro." With that Raito disappeared in wind.


    "Raito-san, what should we do next?" Hinata asked standing behind Raito.


    "¡­ Let''s clean up these trashes." Raito went around the village, gathering thugs of Gat¨­.


    "Hmph!" More and more men fell to Hinata''s Gentle Fist and while she restricted the thug''s movement, Raito grabbed them and threw them in the inventory.


    Hinata stretched with a small smile on her face as she looked at the men fallen from her strikes.


    "Raito-san, what are we going to do about them?"


    Raito who was practicing his chakra threads by collecting thugs looked at Hinata weirdly and asked, "What do you mean by that?"


    "¡­ Raito-san, you can''t keep all of them in the¡­ inventory forever." Hinata explains awkwardly.


    "¡­ I know that. Well, I''ll let them go, no¡­ I''ll bring them to the village." Raito said after hesitation, clearly he had not thought what to do with them.


    "¡­ Raito-san, they¡­ these mercenaries must have done this kind of thing because of money. They must have families waiting for them¡­ they-they¡­"


    Hinata stopped talking when she saw Raito looking at plain air. Raito looked through their detail tab and started separating who had family and who hadn''t.


    "Um¡­ Raito-san, what are you doing?" Hinata asked after a long time.


    Raito turned to face Hinata then closed his inventory and explained: "I am separating them, these people who have family and who doesn''t."


    "Say Hinata, can you find¡­ where this Gat¨­ is?" Raito asked looking at Hinata.


    "Raito-san, Kakashi-sensei said not to go finding Gat¨­. Zabuza should be near that place and he also has an accomplice looking like Mist''s hunter-nin."


    "Zabuza and hunter-nin?" Raito sighed at the thought. "Why doesn''t Kakashi-sensei just go and ki-¡­" Raito looked at Hinata after he stopped himself but she was looking at him, waiting.


    "Let''s go and see Naruto. He must be hungry."


    "Hai."


    While Raito and Hinata were working, Naruto who was deep in the forest was sleeping happily. Not knowing a figure had come near him, its hand aiming for his neck.


    The hand wavered for a bit, then it went to tap at Naruto''s face. "Hey, ninja-san, wake up. Oi."


    "Huh? Who? Five more minutes." Naruto turned to ignore the person.


    "If I was an enemy, I could have killed you in your sleep." The figure chuckled making Naruto jump in surprise and shout. "Raito! Dark humor."


    Blinking several times, Naruto pointed, "You are not Raito."


    "I am indeed not." The figure chuckled. With long loose hair, she wore a pink sleeveless kimono with pale red edges, decorated with small plum-colored swirls.


    "So pretty." Naruto blurted out then slapped his own mouth in embarrassment.


    She stood up picking up her basket, where a few herbs were present.


    "Herbs?" Naruto gave a look and asked.


    "Yes, you know these?" She sighed then started looking around.


    "Hey, hey, if someone is injured, there is someone who can help you heal in no time. Even though he has a bad tongue, he will help." Naruto blurted out.


    She stopped for a while looking at Naruto, biting her lips, she asked, "Is he a ninja too?"


    "Yup, like me from Konohagakure," Naruto said with a big smile. (Not the best ninja ever.)


    "He¡­ doesn''t like ninjas. So¡­" She shook her head.


    "Oh, okay." Naruto shrank back awkwardly then looked at the basket and said, "Then I will help you collect herbs."


    "Hm."


    Plucking one after a long time of searching, Naruto put it in the basket, then sat down and said, "Doing such tedious work so early in the morning."


    She looked up to Naruto and asked, "What were you doing so early in the morning?"


    With a smile on his face, Naruto answered with enthusiasm, "Training."


    She blinked her eyes a few times and asked, "Training? So early in the morning?"


    "Yeah."


    "But why are you training?"


    "Because I want to become stronger."


    The girl was silent for a while but she spoke, "But you look strong enough already."


    Naruto placed his hand on his c.h.e.s.t and said, "No, I want to become stronger and stronger." A huge smile on his face, determination in his voice.


    "For what reason?"


    "To become the number one ninja in my village."


    "One day everyone will recognize me."


    "Also, I need to prove something to someone."


    Naruto''s loud voice and jovial mood made anyone who listened to him, smile a bit.


    The girl also seemed a little interested. She leaned forward and asked, "Are you doing that for someone else? Or yourself?"


    Naruto was confused about what the girl was saying. Without any thought a "Huh?" came out from his mouth.


    Naruto''s confused face made her laugh.


    "Hey, what''s so funny?"


    The girl once again ignored Naruto''s question. She asked again, "Do you have someone that is important to you?"


    "Important, huh? What are you-" Naruto came to a speeding halt as he thought for a while.


    The same with the girl in front of him. After quite a while of silence, she stood up picked up her basket and said, "Ninja-san."


    "Huh?" Naruto woke up from his daze, as he looked at the figure in front of him.


    "A person is able to become truly strong when they choose to protect someone they cherish."


    A smile blossomed on his face as he recalled the people in his life, as he stood up, Naruto extended his hand forward, "Yeah, I understand that."


    "You will become strong." She extended her hand without hesitation, grabbed it hard and continued, "Let''s meet again somewhere."


    With a smile, she turned around and started walking.


    "Yeah, let''s meet again. I will introduce you to everyone." Naruto shouted at the walking figure.


    Just as she was about to walk out of Naruto''s vision. She revealed, "Oh, and I am a man."


    "Huh? Huh!?"


    "No way! He is cuter than Hinata-chan!"


    "Why? What an amazing world. This world is filled with mysteries." Naruto sat in contemplation about the mysteries of the world.


    "Naruto-kun!" Hinata came shouting.


    "Hinata-chan!" Naruto waved back.


    "We were so worried about you." Hinata sat down hugging Naruto.


    "Eh? We? You mean Raito is here too? Where, where?" as Naruto looked left and right, he felt that he was falling down. Even though he wanted to support himself, Hinata had grabbed so strongly that it was difficult for him to move. So without any further ado, he fell down. (Humpty Dumpty fell on the ground.)


    As for Raito, he stood in front of the pink kimono wearing man.


    "Hello." Raito started with a greeting and smiling.


    "¡­ Hello." The man replied with some hesitation.


    "You really look like a girl."


    "I have been told that many times." He smiled which made him look even prettier.


    Looking at the basket on her hand, he continued, "You woke up so early in the morning to gather herbs. Is it because of Gat¨­''s thugs?"


    "¡­ Yes." What could he even say?


    "Gat¨­''s men have done all kinds of evil in this village. Doesn''t they deserve to die?"


    "¡­"


    "Killing, oppression, ****, murder, torture. They did all those things but on the other side is¡­ Tazuna and these people building the bridge."


    "Bridge that represents hope, freedom, and life itself for these villagers."


    "I don''t know how many people have been murdered or how many have been threatened. I don''t even know what Gat¨­ is using this small village for."


    "What do you think?" Raito asked the question as plainly as he could.


    "¡­"


    Raito sighed as he took out a red bottle from his pocket. "Zabuza needs this." Then he extended it in front of the man.


    The man stood still looking at the extended hand. Raito sighed as he flashed like a lightning and made a cut on his hand.


    Not even able to dodge, the man looked at his hand from where the blood was dripping. From nowhere, he took out a senbon holding each in between the fingers.


    "I am strong, you know." Chakra threads as thick as ropes bounded the man as Raito walked forward pouring the red portion on the man''s hand.


    The man struggled but didn''t succeed.


    "Why isn''t my chakra activating? That''s what you are thinking, right?" Raito sound entered the man''s ear as the man looked at Raito.


    "Just look at your hand." Raito pointed at the man''s hand.


    The man gave up and slowly looked at his hand, where the skin which was cut, was already healing, and the edges stitching together.


    Placing the red potion on the man''s hand, Raito turned around to walk away.


    "I am Haku." As Raito walked by, he could hear him saying his name.


    "I know." A small smile appeared on his face.


    In the period of bullshitting with Haku, Raito had read about Haku, knowing much more about him.


    A small smile hung on Raito''s face as a plan grew in his head.

 Chapter 46 - Fights and Schemes

    Sitting by Naruto''s side, Hinata brought out a bento box, given to her by Raito.


    "Raito''s not coming?" Naruto looked at the bento box then, asked Hinata.


    "Raito-san had something to do. After he finishes it, he will come here directly." Hinata explained. Picking up an eggroll with chopsticks then she pushed it torwards to Naruto.


    With a slight blush, Hinata stammered but finally said, "Na-Naruto-kun say ''Ahh''."


    "What? Oh um. Ahh." Naruto opened his mouth.


    As the two were having their early date, Raito was standing on a plain ground with ten or so men in front of him. His chakra threads were still binding them and hence they were unable to move.


    "Don''t trouble the bridge builder, otherwise¡­" Raito threatened them before disappearing.


    The ten men looked at each other before walking some distance away. ''Luckily'', one of the men was a hunter, good in catching prey and all that, so he looked around.


    Sitting together, they discussed and hatred grew as they continued.


    "We don''t have enough." Said one of the men.


    "Are you talking about men? Gat¨­, that short bastard has enough."


    "Don''t forget about that ninja he hired."


    "Also that masked man."


    "But the ninja Tazuna hired are strong and they are from Konoha."


    "Yeah."


    "Yeah."


    "After we kill that Konoha-nin, we must kill Tazuna and his family."


    "Yeah."


    As these men gritted their teeth in anger, on the other side of the village, Raito stood in front of another group of ten people.


    He grabbed one of the man''s neck throwing him forward.


    "You lot are far weaker than Zabuza. Such pieces of trash, why are you still alive?"


    With that, he left them. The men couldn''t help but feel anger swelling inside them.


    Of course, they knew, how strong Zabuza was. Even the small masked man beside him was enough to kill tens of them, but due to Raito who had unnatural skills, they were lost in their anger, a seed of hatred burrowed deep inside them.


    "What are you doing, Raito?" Kakashi tapped Raito''s shoulder from behind.


    "Sensei," Raito called dejectedly as he held a leaf in his hand.


    Looking at the leaf in his hand Kakashi smiled lightly as he sat beside Raito.


    "How''s your chakra control?" Kakashi asked as he took a leaf from the pile.


    "It''s about eighty," Raito answered directly.


    "Eh? Eighty?"


    "Um. If the total number is a hundred I am at eighty points." Raito explained.


    "¡­ That''s quite¡­" Kakashi didn''t know what to say about it.


    After hesitating for a while, he replied, "When it''s a hundred, you can start working on nature transformation."


    "This is chakra flow," Raito explained.


    The blue chakra died down then a golden brown chakra engulfed the kunai.


    "This should also be chakra flow¡­ right?" The brown chakra did nothing more than increase the weight of the kunai.


    "Did the weight increase?" Kakashi asked.


    "Yup." Raito nodded.


    Kakashi nodded and said, "It''s a variety of chakra flow."


    "A variety?"


    "With wind type, it is light, fire is hot, water is colder and heavier both." Kakashi shrugged then continued. "Not many use this technique."


    "Oh." Raito looked at the kunai in disappointment.


    "Those thugs? I was just letting them go." Raito shrugged his shoulder and answered keeping the kunai in his hip pouch.


    "Now?" Kakashi raised his brows.


    Raito gave Kakashi a weird look like Hinata had given him and asked, "Yeah, it''s not like I can keep them forever, right?"


    Kakashi waited for Raito to continue but seeing that he didn''t, Kakashi stood up in disappointment. Turning towards the house, he sighed, "You could have brought them to Konoha or you could have even let them go after the bridge building was over."


    Raito looked at the vast sky and whistled a tune.


    [Defeat Zabuza and Haku] OR [Save the Village]


    If I have to save the village, Zabuza and Haku can''t die. If Zabuza and Haku are defeated, they will die for sure and I will fail ''Save the village mission''?


    "What type of crappy mission this is?"


    [Save the Village (48/60)]


    "He is so late." Naruto yawned sleeping on the grass.


    Hinata stood in front of a tree, with her index, ring and thump finger pinched together. Taking in a deep breath, she readied for her attack and with an exhale several jabs landed on the tree, forming several dents on the tree trunk.


    After looking at the tree, she nodded in satisfaction then lowering her center of gravity, she continued with her training.


    "You are really good at it, Hinata-chan." Naruto smiled as he looked in awe at Hinata.


    Hinata blushed a little, causing her to waver.


    At that time a slap came to the back of the smiling Naruto''s head, making him fall on the face.


    "Don''t disturb her, you lazy." Raito''s voice came making Hinata stop.


    "It didn''t," Hinata replied quickly for Naruto.


    "Don''t worry. Just continue practicing." Raito dragged Naruto towards the other side and started training his Taijutsu.


    In close combat, it was about punches, rotating, sweeps, heavy hitting. Both Naruto and Raito continued for a long time. Punches and kicks to face, abdomen, shoulder, whatever the area.


    And at the end of it, both of them came out exhausted and sweaty.


    Laying on the ground, both of them looked at the trees above, where sunlight passed through the trees.


    "You are becoming way stronger, Raito?" Naruto pushed his hand forward and clenched it.


    "Same for you, Naruto. Your shadow clones are cheats, you know?"


    "Hehe." Naruto laughed.


    ''I also have a cheat, Naruto.'' Raito looked towards the sky and said silently in his heart.


    "Hup." Raito jumped to stand. Turning around, he grabbed Naruto and made him stand.


    "What?" Naruto asked in a lazy voice.


    "We are going fishing." Raito smiled.


    In the middle of the river, Naruto stood in the water with only his boxers.


    "Cold, cold, cold." His feet were slightly below the water level.


    "That bad?" Raito gave Naruto a smirking glance as he placed his hand in the water.


    After a while, Raito jerked his hand back. In each of his hands, a thread of chakra was attached which was holding a fish.


    Naruto was so shocked that he was pointing at Raito, his mouth moved but no words came out. Slowly sinking in the sea, Naruto struggled for a while, before he finally got out.


    Naruto quickly walked, joining head to head with Raito and asked loudly, "How the heck did ya do that?" Not noticing that he was easily walking on water.


    "Congratulations." Raito pushed Naruto then pointed at his feet.


    "Wah?" Naruto''s eye widened as he looked at his feet. Then he jumped in joy, as a result, dropping directly into the water.


    Raito smiled then slightly dipped his feet, slightly curving it. "Propulsion." Chakra came out from his feet, forcing Raito forward, quickly a dozen a meter.


    "Oi, teach me that." Naruto cried from behind trying to catch up to Raito.


    It was nine and children were sitting in front of the building with half an apples on their hands and a bowl of spring water.


    "Itadakimasu." They ate happily with smiles on their faces.


    Hanging the fishes on a long stick, Raito walked with Hinata and Naruto to the building.


    After the children had finished eating, they cleaned the bowls and then they started reading books that Raito had given them. While girls had started reading, the boys wore robes, holding bottles filled with water, walking towards the village center.


    A small smile crept on Raito face as he saw them.


    Raito walked stealthily, easily reaching the underground cave. Naruto''s years of sneaking around made his stealth techniques way better. Years of stalking a sneaker made Hinata''s stealth technique even better.


    "Let''s start." Naruto started peeling and cutting the vegetables.


    Hinata started playing with the dough, making it ready for the bread.


    Raito squatted then used the ''Ikejime'' method to kill the fishes. (Haha, I want people to Google search this.)


    "Naruto, don''t make noise." Naruto had to be reminded from time to time, otherwise, his chopping would be too loud.


    Sniff¡­ sniff.


    "Ne, Rumi, you smell that." One of the girls looked around


    "Un." Rumi''s eye looked away from the picture cooked then looked at the underground cave.


    "Fish. That''s fish." One of the girls stood up immediately.


    "Sit down! Raito-nii-sama said that we must study at this hour." A girl stood up catching the little girl''s hand.


    "That''s bread, I smell bread." Several heads turned after that and the reading atmosphere was gone.


    "Ah!" one of the girls couldn''t stand anymore. She jumped off her feet then ran towards the underground cave.


    "Big brother, big sister." Her eyes were instantly drawn to Raito and Hinata. Then she looked at Naruto who had a big smile on his face. "Weird big brother."


    On the little girl''s comment, Naruto stepped forward with a knife in his hand. Hinata who saw that immediately dashed grabbing the knife in Naruto''s hand, hiding it behind her back.


    "Eh? Hinata-chan." Naruto turned back.


    Hinata glared at Naruto surprisingly.


    Raito sighed as he greeted the children. He then brought them inside letting them near the foods that were being cooked.


    The girl who had learned cooking from Raito came forward then under Raito''s instruction and began helping him.


    "Big sis Hinata. That bread smells so good." One girl grabbed the pants of Hinata and said happily.


    The little girls also surrounded Naruto pointing at him.


    "Weird big brother has whiskers."


    "Weird big brother is so warm."


    "Weird big brother looks stupid."


    "Ora," Naruto shouted.


    "My name is Naruto and I am not weird. I am gonna be the strongest ninja ever. The best of the best, Hokage of Konohagakure." Naruto introduced himself with his loud voice and infectious smile.


    The little girls stood looking at Naruto with their mouth slightly opened. After hearing him introduce himself, they quickly started clapping making Naruto blush hard.


    Tak, tak, tak


    A series of footsteps were heard as the boys walked in with small smiles on their faces.


    "Raito-nii-san."


    "Raito-nii."


    The group of children crowded around him telling him news.


    "So many people have gone fishing"


    "Gat¨­''s men were nowhere in the village."


    "People were smiling."


    Only after a long time did the trio left and reached Tazuna''s house.


    Kiba sat in front of the house patting Akamaru on his l.a.p. Kiba looked at the three with his toothy smile.


    "You three are finally here," Kiba shouted with Akamaru barking.


    "Hey Kiba, how''s your training going?" Naruto asked.


    "Already finished," Kiba replied with a huff, seemingly dissatisfied.


    "So where is everyone?" Raito asked interrupting them.


    "¡­ Shino and Kurenai-sensei are training. Sasuke went to train water walk. And lastly, Kakashi-sensei went to the bridge." Kiba answered


    "Oh." Raito opened the door to walk in the house but was stopped by Kiba''s questioning. "So where were you guys last night?"


    "¡­" Hinata looked at Raito, not revealing their deeds.


    Naruto who was going to speak was pinched by Hinata on the waist, telling him not to speak.


    Raito locked gaze with Kiba, blinking his eye for a long time, he finally answered with a nod, "That place."


    "Oi, what place," Kiba shouted but the Raito completely ignored him.


    As soon as Raito walked past the door, he brought out a stick full of fishes.


    "Oh my, you three are finally here." Tsunami who was sewing, saw three coming in. She stood up ready to go to the kitchen.


    "Tsunami-san, we have already eaten." Hinata intervened hurriedly.


    "Oh." She stopped her steps looking at the three.


    "We ate out while training and brought a few back home." Raito gave a lie directly, placing the fish on the kitchen table.


    Raito looked back at Naruto and Hinata then said, "I''ll go to the bridge."


    Naruto and Hinata nodded in agreement, which meant that they will be staying in the house.


    "Here" Raito gave Hinata a collection of paper.


    "What''s this Raito-san?" She went through a few papers and asked.


    "That''s what I know about healing jutsu."


    "Hey, that''s not fair. Give me something too." Naruto pulled Raito.


    "Err¡­" Raito looked through his inventory, eyeing Naruto he asked. "How about Genjutsu? No? Then how about¡­ sword techniques? Oh, right we haven''t brought you a sword or did we¡­"


    Raito gave a few suggestions but with each suggestion, Naruto''s face went black.


    These papers were filled with theoretical knowledge when he had learned a new skill, meaning it was just basics.


    "How about ''Body Flicker'', don''t you two wanna learn it?" Raito pushed the papers towards Naruto then ran out using ''Body Flicker''.


    Leaving the house, Raito reached to the bridge where the men were working. Walking on the bridge, Raito came across many men who secretly gave him small smiles and thumbs up.


    Raito quickly reached where Tazuna and Kakashi were standing.


    "You came?" Kakashi looked back at Raito.


    "Raito-boy, bring out the concrete." Tazuna from behind shouted.


    Raito didn''t dare delay as he brought out everything and placed them on a pile.


    "How can you be so late? Because of you, we are late-" Tazuna''s ranting was immediately stopped by Raito''s glaring.


    "Cough*¡­ It''s fine, it''s fine. For a super bridge builder like me, this kind of¡­" Tazuna started but Raito ignored him looking back at Kakashi.


    Kakashi sat on the side of the bridge not answering to Raito''s look.


    Raito sighed heavily. These days were troublesome. The next few days were going to be extremely dangerous. So, he wanted to go to a dungeon to train but Kakashi immediately denied his freedom trip.


    "If you use a clone to replace from now on, I will be forced to give you a penalty. Be good and stay here."


    "Zabuza and that hunter-nin with ice bloodline may come anytime soon. Their target is¡­ Tazuna and his family."


    Raito listened to Kakashi then turned around and left.


    Kakashi looked at the retreating figure then he looked down at his hand, the lightning dancing on his fingers.


    "With Kurenai and myself, Zabuza can be easily stopped."


    Raito walked to the end of the bridge where he took out a stack of square paper he used for seals. For a moment he didn''t know what to do, then he remembered the day on academy when Mari had given him chakra paper.


    Raito remembered that as he passed chakra to the paper, the paper changed into the dirt which broke down easily.


    Raito tried forcing the paper to turn into the dirt but as the chakra passed through his hand to the paper, the chakra only covered it.


    Seeing nothing happening, Raito used the earth elemental chakra but it also went covering the paper increasing the weight by a quarter of its total weight of paper.


    After trying multiple times, Raito threw the papers and shouted in disappointment, "I give up!"


    Gat¨­''s building at the outskirts of the village.


    "You lot are finally here." Sitting on his sofa, Gat¨­ looked at his men with irritation.


    "You not only failed to kill Tazuna and his accomplice, you even have guts to come back with disappointment." Gat¨­ tapped his cigar on the cigarette ashtray.


    "Boss!" One of the men immediately kneeled followed by the whole bunch of thugs kneeling in the room except Gat¨­''s two bodyguards.


    "Boss if it''s Tazuna and his men, we can kill all of them. If you want, we can even raze the whole damned village. But it''s those ninjas¡­ they are way too strong."


    "We are no match for them."


    "Yeah, boss."


    Gat¨­ heard the voice of complaint. He was so angry that he snapped his cigar. "Why am I hiring you a lot for!?" His c.h.e.s.t rising high.


    "Boss, don''t be angry. Isn''t there Zabuza, that demon and also that masked man?"


    "Boss." From Gat¨­''s right Waraji spoke up. "Ninjas for ninjas and mercenary for rest."


    "Ninjas practices mysterious techniques that make them so much stronger." Waraji sighed with his sword clutched tighter.


    From Gat¨­''s left, Z¨­ri also spoke up but his voice, even low. "Boss that Zabuza has retrieved close to fifteen million Ryo in these past three months from the station too."


    "My money!" Gat¨­ slammed on the desk.


    "We need to change this useless demon."


    "Boss." Z¨­ri called out but didn''t say anything.


    Gat¨­ couldn''t help but shout in anger, seeing Z¨­ri hesitating.


    "Boss, how about we make those ninjas fight and when they are exhausted, we¡­" Z¨­ri whispered.


    "Kill ninjas?" Gat¨­ mumbled. Killing ninja was a troublesome thing. More so, for ninjas of Konoha, once they find out, it would be a bloodbath.


    "Boss, we make them kill each other on the bridge then kill all the bridge builders. No witness, no problem-" a young man raised his fist high, voicing his thoughts. But he was immediately stopped.


    "Shut up, who told you to speak?" one of the men immediately slapped the young man, his blow so hard that the young man fell face-first on the floor.


    Gat¨­ had an evil smile coming to his face. "Why not? I will just hire some other missing-nin. They are as numerous as flies."


    Nobody noticed the black mark fading from the back of the young man''s neck.


    Several kilometers away, Raito smiled at the scene playing out.


    [Save the village 58/60]


    [Keep Zabuza, Haku, and Tazuna alive till the end of mission.]


    [Make sure 100 of the villagers are fed.]


    "Last two." Raito finally sighed


    It was now three and Raito had some plans for the mission.


    "Sensei, I am so bored. How about I play around a bit?" Raito pleaded.


    "Fine, fine." Kakashi waved his hand, making Raito happy. Kakashi watched as Raito disappeared then looked at the various food items in his hand. "I haven''t tried this one."


    In the center of the village, Raito cleaned one of the destroyed and abandoned buildings with Naruto.


    "What are we doing here?" Naruto asked as he made a stone pile.


    "Charity." Raito covered the pile with chakra then it disappeared. Soon the collapsed build looked way cleaner.


    Placing a table in front of the building, Raito started making a small makeshift stall. People looked at the stall before walking past by, but some people stayed as they saw Naruto coming out. Naruto had Konoha forehead protector shown in front, which made some of the villagers stop.


    Raito even brought out two of the children, the oldest ones to work. Although a small face mask covered their mouths, they had a small smile on their face.


    Raito went out and found a general store, which was closed. Forcing the shop to open by walking the owner and convincing the man to sell him, made Raito wasted a lot of time.


    Returning, Raito found that the small stall was covered by a lot of people. Many of them restrained themselves because of the presence of Naruto but some didn''t care and attacked.


    Of course, Naruto attacked back, kicking those men down but then people started forming groups, ready to loot. Especially the men who were too hungry and their d.e.s.i.r.e had overcome reasoning.


    Just as they were about to take down Naruto and go for the food being cooked by the two kids, they felt that they couldn''t move their bodies at all.


    Raito walked past them standing in front of the stall, taking out disposable plates, chopsticks, and cups. Looking back at the children, Raito brought out a large piece of paper then wrote. "80 Ryo for 1 combo meal" then taking out another paper he wrote ''1 meal combo has half-plate rice, half-plate vegetable and fish and lastly a cup of water.''


    Many of the people mouthed out ''Cheap'' and started crowding around.


    "Make a line, dattebayo." Naruto''s shouting alerted everyone as they started making three lines.


    Raito sighed at the people in front. They thought that only one person is needed in the kitchen.


    Looking at the people, Raito knew that they were really hungry. Gat¨­ had opened a few shops to sell groceries and a limited amount of meat but the prices were too high. Some dared to barge in and loot but they were badly injured by the mercenaries.


    "Let''s buy and eat, before Gat¨­''s men come."


    "Yeah."


    People hurriedly bought the food then ate at the surrounding place. When they finished they immediately left the area fearing that Gat¨­''s men will come.


    "I don''t think I have seen any Gat¨­''s men today."


    "I didn''t see them either."


    "It must be ninjas doing."


    "Ninjas from Konoha are indeed strong."


    "Tazuna''s still building that bridge, huh?"


    "That bridge."


    After receiving the payment, the children and Naruto started handing out plates of food to the people. People hurriedly wolfed down the meat, which was hardly seen in the village. Even though the village had port and boats, it was monopolized by Gat¨­.


    Men talked, women, gossiped. In this aspect, women are stronger in spreading rumors. Soon the number of people increased.


    Seeing that the cooking time cannot reach the demand, Raito brought out various fruits, vegetables, and fishes to sell.


    Some men who saw that wanted to talk but Raito ignored them completely.


    After selling everything, Raito grabbed the three with chakra threads then immediately disappeared. But just before he disappeared, Raito said softly, "Only if these people had a little courage."


    Giving people to think about something Raito went to the abandoned building then to the bridge.


    People who heard that had various reactions. Some snorted and walked away with food on their hand whereas some stood in one place thinking.


    Later Tazuna was bombarded by a couple of dozen people to join in the evening, making him sweat. He shouted at them for a time before letting them in.


    When they saw Kakashi who was practicing his chakra control, they immediately gave him a small bow and left.


    Kakashi looked at the distance then smiled slightly before going back to his practice.


    Tazuna was so happy that he drank till vomit. Raito had to use his ''Heal'' skill to remove the hangover.


    While Raito was helping Tazuna, Sasuke at the table announced, "I will go to the bridge tomorrow." He looked at Kakashi and Kurenai, who only nodded.


    "Akamaru and I just learned an awesome jutsu. Wanna try Naruto?" Kiba giving his toothy smile looked at Naruto and shouted.


    But what made Kiba depressed was that Naruto was not giving him any attention. He sat holding paper and eating with another hand. His hair in a mess and eyes squinting.


    Kurenai grabbed the paper and closed it. She looked at him with a glare making Naruto shrink. "But that''s mine."


    Kurenai gave the papers to Hinata.


    "I will go with Sasuke to the bridge tomorrow." Kakashi looked at Kurenai and said.


    "¡­ Then I''ll be here." Kurenai replied casually with a small smile.


    "I wanna go too." Raito walked in with Tazuna.


    "It''s decided, Raito and Sasuke will go to the bridge."


    Raito regretted his decision. "Ah! Can I not go?"


    "No." Kakashi quickly left the room after finishing his dinner.


    Raito walked out of the house regretting his decision. Running through the forest, Raito couldn''t help but sigh deeply.


    Reaching the village center, he could see all kinds of people working on their stalls in the middle of the night.


    "Money, I will make lots of money tomorrow."


    "Hey, brother, what are you selling?"


    "Me, just some tomatoes. What about you?"


    "Haha, I dared to go to the sea with a little boat with my friends. We managed to catch quite a few."


    "¡­ Brother what about Gat¨­''s men? Were they not there?"


    "They weren''t. I even saw some boats destroyed by the shore."


    "I even heard some died."


    "Yeah, they drowned."


    "Haha. Good. That''s karma."


    Many of the people cheered when they heard good news.


    Although many were making stalls, some people stood guard, looking out for Gat¨­''s men. Knife, sickle and various kinds of household weapons were on their side, ready to be used.


    Raito sat on the rooftop, hiding in the Genjutsu. Using ''Chakra Sense'' to look at everything. He found that things were going according to his prediction.


    "If it was not for the mission, then I wouldn''t care about you two." Raito ignored Haku and Zabuza who were sleeping.


    Raito didn''t know but Zabuza immediately woke up looking left and right. Only after surveying, he went back to sleep.


    "Preparing for death." Raito snorted as he looked at Gat¨­ standing on the balcony of the house, looking down at the men who were working on their weapon. His two bodyguards were also preparing for the fight.


    After understanding a lot of things, Raito wanted to personally kill Gat¨­. The evil deeds he had done were more numerous than a thug.


    ''A person who does the deed and who orders the deed to be done are different.'' (I wanted to make it kind of wise saying or like but¡­)


    "What the heck are you doing?" a figure appeared from behind looking at the place Raito was hiding.


    "Why do care?" Raito looked at the figure then ignored him.


    "This is not our mission. We just have to guard Tazuna until he finishes the bridge."


    "What if he cannot finish the bridge?" Raito asked calmly.


    "¡­"


    "Yeah, we will fail our mission."


    "But Tazuna falsified information."


    "SO?"


    "It shouldn''t be our problem-"


    "Was your head kicked by a chicken?"


    "Huh?"


    "Hokage-sama has already listed this mission as an A-Rank mission. You lot had chance to cancel the mission, but now?" Raito snorted


    "¡­"


    "That''s why there are two J¨­nin and two teams of Genin. Stupid!" Raito jumped and disappeared, not wanting to talk with a block of wood.


    Early morning Raito woke up inside the room. Opposite to him was Sasuke who was glaring at him.


    "What?" the yawning Raito was immediately choked, looking at the ugly face of Sasuke.


    Ignoring Sasuke, he rolled up his bed then walked out.


    On the ground floor, Tazuna and Kakashi were eating breakfast. Kurenai, Shino, and Hinata having left for the abandoned building. Sasuke and Raito towards the bridge, leaving Naruto and Kiba at the house.


    At the forest not far away, Sasuke and Raito were holding one another''s fist by their free hand. They punched each other and simultaneously grabbed the fist.


    "You have lost a lot of times now, Sasuke." Raito smiled.


    "This time is different." Sasuke pushed harder.


    "Ohh." Raito not caring for Sasuke, Raito pushed back till Sasuke''s back hit the tree.


    Raito also took a step back. Sasuke loosened his grip and his hand fell.


    "Why are you stronger than me ¡­ Why?" Sasuke asked gritting his teeth.


    "Don''t you already know the answer?"


    "¡­"


    "Kakashi-sensei and Tazuna have left. We should go too." Raito started walking but looked back to see Sasuke, looking down at the ground.


    "¡­ How about this? Why don''t you come to train with us?" Seeing him not responding Raito finally left.


    While Raito was on the abandoned building, checking on the children, he found that a thick mist filled with chakra was covering the bridge causing his ''Chakra Sense'' to be blocked at that area.


    Raito immediately stood up, his back straight and his head pointing towards the direction of the bridge. The children around looked at Raito with some hesitation.


    Raito looked down with gentleness and told the children to stay and read some more. After finding out Shino and Hinata were not there, he used the clone from the book to look for them.


    Raito casually walked out of the abandoned building area. But, as soon as he walked out, he disappeared in a blur.


    At the bridge.


    Tazuna face darkened as he shook one of his men. Going to a few, looking if they were alive.


    "They are alive but¡­" Tazuna grabbed one of his old buddies and shook him.


    Kakashi also looked at the few lying down then his gaze turned to the fog covering at the bridge.


    Kakashi went for his forehead protector, pulling it up, exposing his left eye. The red eye of Sharingan spun siphoning Kakashi''s chakra.


    "Zabuza, the Demon of the Mist." Kakashi''s calm voice sounded loud in the quiet bridge, only Tazuna''s voice and the sound of waves could be heard.


    "Kakashi of Sharingan!" Zabuza walked out of the fog with his broadsword on the back. His right shoulder and right side of the face had deep scar marks, making him look much more dangerous.


    "Everyone knows you, Kakashi."


    "And not many know you are here in the ''Wave'', Zabuza." Kakashi replied looking forward but gave Sasuke hand signals.


    Tink, Tink, Tink.


    Just as Sasuke moved to guard Tazuna he was ambushed by the hail of senbon. Sasuke who was ambushed no less than a hundred times quickly pulled out his kunai and deflected all of them.


    After deflecting the senbons, Sasuke threw one kunai towards the direction of senbon and ran towards Tazuna''s direction.


    But a block of ice suddenly emerged out of nowhere beside Tazuna. The masked man, Haku came out like a picture coming into reality with senbons in his hand, ready to strike Tazuna.


    "Damn." Sasuke cursed as he reached out his hand to possibly stop Haku.


    Kakashi who wanted to help was blocked by Zabuza.


    Tazuna who saw the needles coming for him was shaking. Maybe it was because of the coldness due to ice or the senbon, ready to make extra holes in his body.


    Tazuna closed his eyes in despair. ''Sorry Inari, sorry Tsunami.'' Tears welled in his eyes. He had accepted the decision of fate. Neither the ninjas can protect him nor Gat¨­''s men will leave him be.


    A feeling of despair appeared in his heart, he felt a heavy sensation pressing on him, covering him.


    Haku was just a millimeter away from Tazuna''s neck. Sasuke gritted his teeth as he looked at the scene.


    "Sorry." Haku''s small voice was heard by Tazuna as he tried opening his eye but all he could see was darkness.


    Sasuke stood there shocked as he looked at the scene. Far away Zabuza looked back as he rested his broad sword. Kakashi stepped a few steps back as he sighed softly.


    "Oi, and here I thought that you will have consciences." A magnetic voice attracted everyone''s attention.


    "¡­" Haku looked at the figure on top of the bridge then took some steps back. Zabuza also grunted a little, looking sideways.


    "Raito, where is Tazuna?" Kakashi asked then looking at the side he added, "Where are other builders?"


    "Safe." Raito smiled.


    "Give us Tazuna and we will leave," Zabuza said in a low voice.


    Raito''s smile dimmed as he looked at Zabuza. "You want to kill the village?"


    Zabuza didn''t speak for a while. Slightly raising his broad sword he said, "Nothing will happen to the village if one man disappears."


    Raito was angry so he also rebutted. "Then nothing will happen if you disappear from this world."


    The faces in the bridge immediately turned as they heard Raito''s stupid words.


    "Bigmouth." Zabuza was raging as he pulled back his sword.


    "If Tazuna disappears, nothing will happen, right? Then if you disappear, will something happen?" Raito words seemed to echo in Zabuza''s and Haku''s ear.


    Raito smiled as he continued, "You wanna say, you did it just for money, right? So where is all that money? Aren''t you satisfied now?"


    Whoosh!


    Haku couldn''t stand it anymore. He jumped, disappearing into the mist and before Sasuke could prepare, senbon rained down on him and Raito.


    Sasuke got hit by a dozen, thankfully it was all on non-vital areas.


    Raito pushed his hand forward and the stone bead in his hand turned into a large shield blocking all the ice senbon.


    "I also know some elemental manipulation." Raito pushed the large shield which turned into a senbon like structure, all attacking into one direction.


    Haku who was in the mist, sidestepped, disappearing into ice.


    Zabuza stood in one place, looked at Haku then said, "Raito, right? Since you gave Haku a healing medicine I will listen to what you have to say."


    "Don''t talk all those nonsense and just say what you have to say."


    "¡­ Gat¨­ is planning to wait till we all fight and are on verge of dying. Then he will come with his mercenaries and some missing-nin and kill all of us."


    "Is that it?"


    "Yup."


    "Then be ready to die." Zabuza swung his sword going for a beheading strike towards Kakashi.


    Kakashi who was always on guard, dodged the strike, easily. Zabuza after missing a killing strike, disappeared in the mist.


    It was as if both Zabuza and Haku ignored Raito.


    Looking at the side, Haku used long-distance attacks to kill Sasuke.


    "Then¡­ I''ll be here, waiting." Raito waved his hand, not interested in fighting.


    He looked back and ''saw'' Gat¨­ and his men on a boat. They were lurking nearby, looking for a chance.


    "I want to kill you myself but¡­ Konoha is¡­"


    "Raito! Help!" Sasuke looked like a porcupine with numerous senbon in his body. If it wasn''t because he was losing conscious he would never call Raito.


    "Okay!" Raito stood up exhaling a breath


    Raito glared at Haku as he opened the inventory.


    "Go, go, go. Sasuke. You can do it." Taking a red banner, Raito waved it fiercely.


    "What''s with him?" Zabuza cleaved one more of the Kakashi''s kunai.


    Kakashi was satisfied with maintaining this status quo but seeing that he was getting suppressed, he shifted his hand to one of the scrolls.


    Whoosh!


    Shuriken and kunai raided on Haku and Zabuza.


    Haku guarded using ice block and Zabuza blocked with his broad sword.


    "Number games, huh?" Zabuza chuckled as water clones appeared beside him inside the mist.


    "Genjutsu users." Zabuza laughed and the mist thickened.


    It was unknown when Raito had switched with Sasuke. Raito stood in front of Haku with a kunai in his hand.


    "You don''t believe me?" Raito asked.


    "¡­" Haku didn''t answer.


    "Zabuza-sama''s orders are absolute." Mirrors of ice appeared covering Raito and Haku both.


    "What''s this?" Raito didn''t dare to look away from Haku.


    "This is my jutsu. ''Crystal Ice Mirrors''." Mirrors of ice stacked one upon another, creating a dome.


    Haku silently stepped back, looking cautiously at Raito.


    Raito clapped his hands and activated his chakra, ready for any sudden attacks. He tried to make a dome inside the dome of ice mirror but felt that it was pretty useless.


    Stone beads rolled from Raito''s legs to the ground, surrounding Raito.


    "For Zabuza-sama, I will do anything." Haku finally disappeared in the mirror then appeared on all the mirrors.


    "For that, you need to die." In front of each mirror, a handful of ice senbon condensed.


    "Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death" The senbon moved, aiming for Raito.


    But Raito was very calm. He looked at the senbons coming for him, then activated his chakra. The stone bead exploded, more earth coming out of it. It turned into a bell shaped dome, covering him.


    Tink, Tink, Tink.


    Some of the senbon broke when in contact but some embedded in the rock, making Raito lose control over that part.


    Raito frowned as he found that, that part of the earth was no longer under his control.


    "ID Create." Raito immediately disappeared into a dungeon.


    Finding himself a nice spot he concealed his chakra and waited for the show.


    "ID Escape."


    At the bridge, Haku used more and more ice senbon continuously on the bell-shaped earthen structure. Lastly, the bell looked like a pincushion.


    Hinata stood with Shino, healing Sasuke.


    "Raito-san is not there," Hinata said to no one but Shino''s bugs calmed down a little.


    "Naruto-kun!" Hinata who was healing Sasuke suddenly stood up then looked at the sky. Canceling the jutsu in middle, made Sasuke groan in pain.


    An orange ball out of nowhere from the sky dropped rolling. As it got near to the ice mirror dome, a long orange rod came out of the ball and hit the top of the dome.


    "Uzumaki Kick."


    "Naruto! You cheater." Kiba came running with Akamaru.


    Hinata looked back at Kiba then a horrifying thought came to her mind. She dashed towards Kiba and asked, "What happened to Tsunami-san and Inari?"


    Kiba looked in shock at Hinata who had grabbed him.


    "Calm down, Hinata-san." Shino tapped Hinata''s shoulder.


    "Sheesh!" Kiba picked himself up and said, "We had some trouble coming. Gat¨­''s men came to kidnap Tsunami-san and Inari."


    "Then?"


    "Of course we beat their a.s.s." Akamaru barked making everyone look at the bridge.


    At the bridge, Naruto looked at the Raito-less bell-shaped earthen dome then shouted. Looking at Haku, which he still didn''t know who that was, he laughed, pointing at him and said, "Hah! So stupid. You didn''t even know that Raito wasn''t in there."


    At first, Haku was only using one hand to make seals but now he used both of his hands to form seals. After 21 hand seals, Haku activated his chakra.


    Raito who was at the top of the bridge saw that the CP was dropping dangerously fast. So, he immediately dropped down reaching to Naruto way before Hinata, who was only half a distance away.


    "Certain kill: Ice Spear." Sharp ice spears grew from the ground, quickly filling the dome of ice crystal mirrors and even went beyond it.


    Raito who had quickly taken Naruto to a dungeon, brought him out a distance away.


    "Oi, you are going to kill?" Raito glare was burning through Haku, looking beyond the ice.


    "He is that person?" Hinata came in front of Raito and Naruto.


    "Yeah," Raito replied solemnly.


    "Hey what are you two talking about?" Naruto looked at Hinata and Raito quizzically.


    "Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death" Haku again activated his chakra and with the surrounding moisture, hundreds of senbon whistled through the air reaching the trio.


    ''Ram''. Hinata repositioned her hands, one up and another down.


    "Water Release ¨C Water Guard."


    (Okay name is kind of ''that'' type. Forgive me.)


    Two balls of water rotated in a circle, in front of Hinata, making a big screen of water which was still rotating. The spinning force was so great that the ice senbons were immediately destroyed.


    "Hahaha, Try this. ''Rock Fist Bullet Combo''."


    Rocks as hard as steel and the size of a baby''s fist rained down on Haku like a Gatling gun. Destroying the shards of ice that surrounded him.


    "Shadow Clone Jutsu."


    "Right." Under Raito''s help, Naruto quickly surrounded Haku from all directions. Then all the clones simultaneously started making hand seals.


    "Multi Gale Palm."


    Haku escaping from the sharp wind, started making hand seals. Jumping to area which had lots of moisture, Haku activated his chakra, just as he was about to get hit with Gale Palm.


    "Ice Release: Ice Rock Dome of Magnificent Nothingness"


    A solid block of ice defense covered him as he fell on the ground.


    Bam!


    The sphere of ice was so strong and heavy that cracks started appearing under him.


    Pushing the ground with both of his hands, Haku finally stood up with his mask cracked.


    "Wah?" Naruto pointed at Haku and after shuttering for a while, said, "Haku?"


    "¡­Naruto, it''s me." Haku touched his mask and grasped the ch.i.p.s of the broken mask.


    "Why? Just why?"


    Haku stood up removing the mask, "¡­ Because for me the most precious person is Zabuza-sama."


    "Even so, you want to take away all the hope from these villagers?"


    "It doesn''t matter, Naruto. This village is already doomed."


    "What doomed? Nothing is doomed." Naruto shouted.


    The two water dragons collided behind Haku destroying themselves.


    Looking back, Haku saw Zabuza. "¡­We are ninjas, Naruto¡­ We are just weapons. That''s all there is to. Today we are weapon meant to kill you." Haku raised his hand then the water on the ground started freezing turning into a great arrow-like structure.


    "DO you really believe that, Haku!?"


    "It doesn''t matter." Haku waved his hand and the massive ice structure started moving towards Raito and the group.


    "Tunneling fang." Kiba made a suicide dive, drilling through one of the ice structure. There was resistance at first but he cracked the shell then all the way through.


    "GO." Shino raised his arm and hundreds or thousands of bugs came out, easily pushing the ice structure into water. "I just made my kikaich¨± take the chakra in the environment, letting them develop some resistance to your jutsu."


    While Shino''s explanation was ignored by everyone. Raito had appeared behind Haku and grabbed the back of his neck. "I was just waiting for this time."


    [Yuki Haku]


    [CP 40/3,400]


    "I am only good with this one seal."


    "Fuinjutsu ¨C Paralyzing Seal."


    A black line circled Haku''s neck with a red dot at the back of his neck. He fell on the ground as soon as the seal was complete.


    The thick ice sphere around Haku disappeared entirely and the mist also lessened.


    Zabuza who was on the side fighting also saw Haku collapsing. "Haku is alive. His c.h.e.s.t is rising."


    Zabuza was a bit fiercer as he managed to make more cuts on Kurenai and Kakashi. Especially Kurenai who had a large wound on her leg.


    Zabuza also got hit after Haku''s fall as the mist lessened. He was getting caught on Genjutsu multiple times and now it was hard to tell what was real and what was fake.


    Also, Haku, who was surrounded by enemies didn''t give a good picture to Zabuza.


    Hinata had already reached Kurenai''s side healing her.


    Raito looked at Zabuza then crouched down. Moving his hand slowly to Haku, he again gave Zabuza a look.


    Whenever Raito moved towards Haku, Zabuza would give a glance back, nothing more. But what Raito saw was different.


    [Zabuza] ¨C Anxious


    "Hehe." Raito grabbed Haku and put him in the inventory.


    "Hey! Raito, bring Haku out. We need to have a man to man talk." Naruto huffed as he walked towards Raito.


    ''Damn.'' Raito looked at Kurenai who was still preparing.


    Zabuza made a huge slash, making a cut in Kakashi''s c.h.e.s.t.


    "Hmph! I will just kill him." Zabuza started to walk towards Raito, his murderous intent in full display.


    "I''ll kill you." Zabuza raised his broad sword and descending, it went to cleave Raito in half.


    The murderous intent was heavy. At a point, even heavier than Hiruzen''s, Raito had experienced a few months back. The reason must be Haku.


    "Wait! Haku is fine." Raito raised his hand in surrender.


    "Die!" the broadsword didn''t land on Raito but hit the ground to his side.


    The reason was simple. Zabuza had released his sword letting it fall on the ground. Looking down, Zabuza saw a hand coming out of his c.h.e.s.t, the hand clad in blue lightning.


    "Kaka-shi."


    Kakashi pulled his hand back, letting Zabuza fall on the ground. Kakashi swayed for a bit before falling on the ground too.


    Kurenai coughed out more blood. Hinata who was healing her got even more worried, she poured even more chakra into the jutsu.


    "Boss, this is perfect. There are only kids left." One of the thugs gave Gat¨­ the telescope but Gat¨­ looked back at the man at the back of the boat.


    "Let''s go." The man nodded with a wide smile on his face. The man lifted his umbrella and looked at the bridge. "Zabuza, Kakashi, and Kurenai. Kukuku."


    Everyone was panicked seeing Kakashi and Kurenai in bad shape. But their worries grew more as Gat¨­ and his men walked from the unfinished part of the bridge.


    "Tut, tut, tut. Zabuza who knew you would fall. Well, I knew. A B-Rank going against A-Rank." Gat¨­ ignored the Genins who were dragging Kakashi and Kurenai back.


    "And Kakashi of Sharingan. What a p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e meeting you."


    "Hah, boss, look at him. He looks like he will die at any time now." Z¨­ri unsheathed his sword aiming straight at Kakashi.


    Naruto immediately jumped forward throwing shuriken at the group. "Who the hell are you?"


    Z¨­ri and Waraji easily blocked the shuriken, standing in front of the group.


    "Brat, your all have been causing us trouble all this time. So, be ready to pay for it." One of the thugs stepped forward and the men with him, charged with weapons.


    "Shadow Clone technique."


    Naruto clones ran trading blow for blow with the thugs. But he was no match for the experienced and weapon equipped thugs. Even though he traded blow for blow more than half of the clones had been destroyed.


    "Tunneling Fang." Kiba passed through several thugs, instantly disabling them.


    Bzzz! Bzzz!


    Colonies of insects surrounded a few of the thugs, throwing them in the water.


    Gat¨­ looked at the scene. His men were being handled by a few kids. Gat¨­ slammed his stick then look back.


    The man wearing a big straw hat smiled and walked forward. Taking off his straw hat, he revealed himself.


    He was a fairly young man with green hair and purplish-blue eyes. He had a big belt across his c.h.e.s.t and at the back a few umbrellas. He also had a sword belt but it didn''t have a sword, just a handle of sword.


    "It''s Kakashi-senpai and Kurenai-senpai." His gaze was haughty and his eyes full of ridicule.


    The man drew the handle of the bladeless sword and waved in the air. Chakra exploded out and two spears of yellow lightning exploded immediately piercing Kakashi and Kurenai.


    "Sensei!" the group shouted in worry. Hinata and Raito who were healing them were also shocked by the remnants.


    "Tunneling Fang." Kiba drilled through the air, quickly reaching the man.


    "No, Kiba stop." One hand sent out bugs to envelop Kiba and drag him.


    "Inuzuka and Aburame clans, Hahaha." The man laughed crazily and waved his sword once again. Yellow lightning quickly struck Kiba and Shino''s bugs.


    "I am just being merciful." The man touched his face and a creepy smile appeared on his face.


    Shino hurriedly went to check Kiba while being careful. That man looked with a smile while Shino dragged Kiba back.


    Shino moved Kiba in front of Raito who was healing Kakashi.


    Looking at the man, Shino whispered, "Only Capital and few of the villages in the fire country know about us, Aburame. Not even other hidden villages know much about us."


    Hinata who was healing Kurenai looked back and commented, "He called Kakashi-sensei and Kurenai-sensei¡­ senpai."


    "He was from Konoha," Raito answered to the group then looked at the forehead protector he was wearing now.


    As Shino looked at the man, his bugs came out, surrounding him.


    "I''m Aoi Rokush¨­. Remember me in hell." Aoi pushed out the thunder sword, releasing waves of thunder.


    "Quick." Raito shouted.


    "No, you don''t," Aoi shouted, throwing his three umbrellas high in the air. The three umbrellas kept spinning, releasing hundreds or even thousands of senbons piercing everyone on the enemy side.


    Even trying to guard against it was no use as the senbon easily pierced through the defenses.


    "Hm?" Aoi looked at the scene in doubt but when the senbon plunged into the skin, he revealed a maniacal smile.


    Aoi turned back to Gat¨­ and said, "Mr. Gat¨­, they are poisoned by my special poison. Your men can handle the rest." As he pushed his hand upward, he caught hold of his umbrella.


    "Do it, boys," Gat¨­ commanded as he walked towards the fallen body of Zabuza.


    Lightly kicking Zabuza, Gat¨­ moved to his head. Looking down at Zabuza''s, Gat¨­ smiled a little creepily, "When you took my money, did you think it was a wise decision? You not only failed to kill those ninjas, you even failed to kill a mere bridge builder."


    Letting out a sneer, he added, "I had not even thought of giving you any money. 15 million? Did you think I didn''t know? Those people in the boat were all my men. The money didn''t go to rebellion forces, they went to the central hidden village, on my name, Gat¨­!"


    Looking at Kakashi''s body, he returned his gaze to Zabuza. "If not for those ninjas from Konoha, I was going to call ninjas from Kiri to handle you, as a show of support from them."


    Clutching the walking stick between his armpits, Gat¨­ lit a cigar, after blowing a puff, he said, "I have also found few others who were delivering money and weapons to those rebellions. Don''t you want to know what I did?"


    "I just informed several people about those channels."


    "Kill them," Z¨­ri ordered as he and Waraji walked and soon reached beside Raito who was laying on the ground paralyzed.


    "You have been troubling our guys for quite a time now." Waraji spat.


    Looking at him, Z¨­ri stepped on Raito''s face, grinding on it. Grabbing Raito''s hair, Z¨­ri made him stand up. "Stand up, you Konoha bastard."


    Raito swayed at first but was soon able to stand.


    "When you go to meet Shinigami, tell him that you offended us." Saying that Z¨­ri and Waraji plunged their sword deep into his c.h.e.s.t. The sword entered from the side, pierced the heart then exited from the back.


    "Stop! Stop! Stop! What the heck is this?" An angry voice came out of nowhere as Gat¨­ and his men looked at each other.


    "My¡­my." He moved his mouth but no words came out. A feeling of suffocation attacked him and moving was uncomfortable. Looking down at the source of discomfort, the Amegakure Aoi Rokush¨­ J¨­nin found swords sticking out of his c.h.e.s.t. Aoi then looked at the two bodyguards, wanting to wave his sword and take them with him to hell but found his hands empty. He looked to his hand then at the people standing opposite at the bridge. "I-" Before he could say anything more, 24 year old, former Ch¨±nin of Konoha, J¨­nin of Amegakure, died under the Genjutsu of the Genjutsu mistress of Konoha, Yuhi Kurenai.


    "Demonic Art: Weaving Dreams." "Collapse"

 Chapter 47 - Back to Mist

    "Stop! Stop!" Raito walked under the countless gazes of astonishments and shock, he stood in front of the Genjutsu mistress, Kurenai who was holding ''Ram'' hand seal.


    "I don''t like this ending. Can you change it¡­please?" Raito asked full of dissatisfaction but he didn''t forget to add a ''please''. Seeing oneself killed was not a pleasant thing one would like to see. "I am definitely not that weak, you know. Why not-"


    Kurenai looked at Raito in amus.e.m.e.nt as she dropped her hands. "Maybe next time."


    Kurenai looked back at Kakashi then with Kakashi looked at Zabuza whose hand was being held by Haku. The gloomy and angry aura coming from Zabuza could frighten anyone right now. Gnashing his teeth, balling his hand into a fist, Zabuza looked at the direction of Gat¨­ and his thugs.


    "Zabuza-sama, please calm down." Haku tried his best but Zabuza finally snapped, walking towards Kurenai.


    Guessing his intention, Raito used the ''Veil'' to block the view from Gat¨­ and his goons.


    Standing in front of Kurenai, Zabuza glared at Raitogave Raito a glare then looked back at Kurenai. "If you made this Genjutsu to make¡­"


    "Gat¨­ is right there. You can go and ''ask'' him." Raito interrupted Zabuza, giving him a practical suggestion then looking at Kurenai, he again complained. "I don''t like the ending. And why was Sasuke not in it? And why does it have to be me?"


    "Stop for now." Kakashi''s heavy hand landed on Raito''s head.


    "Bu-"


    "No matter how I think about it, they can''t even touch you." It was a rare kind of praise from Kakashi which made Raito curve his lips upward.


    Kakashi looked at Zabuza then said, "Gat¨­ came with his men and a missing-nin. If he wanted to support you, he would have told you before the fight."


    Zabuza looked at him for further explanation. Kakashi didn''t disappoint, "We didn''t know anything about you giving money to the rebellion party in the Mist."


    "You brat." Zabuza glared at Raito and said, "How did you know about what Gat¨­ was going to do?"


    Raito rolled his eyes then pointed at Hinata, "Byakugan."


    "Z-Zabuza don''t forget¡­ don''t forget¡­ who will give you money?" Gat¨­ was so afraid that he didn''t know what he should say. The air was suffocating and the demon clad in human skin made him shiver non stop.


    "What happened, big bro? Didn''t we just stab those ninjas? Weren''t they supposed to be dead? Just how?" One of the thugs cried in shock as he looked at the weapons in his hand. He rubbed the pointed end of katana and found it there wasn''t any blood.


    "It''s those ninjas. Their ninja tricks."


    "Damn, those ninjas."


    Waraji looked down at the dead missing ninja that Gat¨­ had hired, then back at his group of underlings.


    Waraji looked back at Z¨­ri and Gat¨­ before holding his sword straight, pointing towards Zabuza, "He is just one man. Guys, let''s go."


    "Boss, give them some encouragement." Z¨­ri tapped at Gat¨­ giving him a signal.


    "Whoever kills Zabuza, I will give him 10 million Ryo in CASH!" Gat¨­ immediately pointed at Zabuza and shouted.


    Maybe money was more important than their life, the thugs immediately ran with their weapons, greed in their eyes. Nobody knew what these foolish thugs had for the brain.


    Gat¨­ with his two bodyguards took sneaky steps backward to the boat.


    "Bring them out." Kakashi gave Raito a meaningful glance.


    Understanding the situation, Raito selected all of the bridge builders and brought them out. Although he wanted to keep secrets, he didn''t think much about it. Suddenly the bridge was filled with a hundred plus people. Then there was cacophony with hundreds of people in confusion.


    Kurenai and everyone else except team seven looked in shock at Raito.


    "Silence." the voice was soft but every one of hundred people heard it and unconsciously stopped making noise.


    "You see that man with a big sword? He is Zabuza, Demon of the Mist. See that. With one wave, he is killing a few of the thugs." Raito stood beside Tazuna, his voice, heard by all.


    Almost all of them gulped in fear. Seeing Zabuza kill the thugs in a matter of minutes or seconds, some of them even took a few steps back, wanting to run.


    When Raito turned around to see the bridge builders, Zabuza had cut down Z¨­ri and Waraji and was in front of Gat¨­, standing tall at the end of the unfinished bridge, just a couple of steps away from the edge.


    "Za-za-Zabuza¡­ you if-if you dare kill me-" Gat¨­ fell on his b.u.t.t.o.c.k.s. He pointed, uttering words of weak, coward and stupid.


    "Haku! Come!" Zabuza''s cold and angry voice thundered on the bridge, shaking everyone''s heart.


    Haku who was standing calmly nodded and immediately disappeared from the Konoha group.


    Sasuke looked at Haku with anger while Naruto looked at Haku with sadness. Naruto thought about Haku telling ninja were only tools for people.


    "I don''t like this," Naruto mumbled as he looked at the fading silhouette of Zabuza and Haku.


    "I don''t like this." Raito also voiced out his thoughts, loud enough so that Kurenai could hear.


    "Ho~ he is holding grudges," Kakashi spoke softly looking at Kurenai. His eye smile making Kurenai laugh softly.


    "Charge!!" Just when everyone took a sigh of relief thinking that everything was over, noisy and messy footsteps came from behind the group of bridge builders.


    Cowardly men, gossipy women, snot nose children, and even undying old men ran in a group with sickles, hoe, hammer, sticks, frying pan, etc. These angry people were led by a group of children and in front of the children was Inari with a long stick.


    "That''s Inari." Naruto quickly ran to see Inari and the villagers coming.


    "Yeah."


    The bridge builders lead by Tazuna looked at the villagers with a smile. Years of suppression was finally lifted. Villagers had gained courage, lead by Inari who was once drowned in the depression of losing his father figure finally stood up for themselves, walking out of their weak shells.


    Tazuna secretly looked behind at Naruto and Raito with gratefulness.


    The ninja had done their work. Now it was his turn to do the work. Tazuna walked with the other bridge builders and calmed down the frenzied villagers. After everything was over, he didn''t take a day off to celebrate the fall of Gat¨­ but worked extra hard to finish the bridge.


    Before returning, Kakashi casually walked and took the hilt of the thunder sword.


    Shino and Akamaru were on guard duty whereas everyone else went back.


    Raito stayed back and took all the bodies into his inventory. His action was seen as an act of helping the bridge builders while some thought that he was crazy.


    No one knew, not even Kakashi who had always been keeping eye on Raito at all times, that a small seal on a tree near the Gat¨­''s headquarters had activated when the bridge was in chaos. Raito''s clone came into existence, who quickly ran into the central building. The building had only women left and as for all the men, they were on the building surrounding the main building.


    Walking through, taking turns, like it was his own house, Raito entered Gat¨­''s bedroom. Not taking a look around, he walked towards a picture frame and removed it. Pulling the knob that was hidden behind the picture frame, the part of the wall moved back then, it moved to the side.


    Running to a corner, Raito crouched down and destroyed the lock of one of the boxes. Inside it was paper, lots and lots of them. Although Gat¨­ was evil, he knew what to do. The building had no real gold or silver, everything was probably turned into goods or maybe the money was used for other things.


    Raito looked at the boxes in disappointment before taking out a paper from the box he had opened.


    [Land deed]


    Raito nodded. After keeping two land deeds he needed, he stored every single box in the inventory then disappeared in a cloud of chakra smoke.


    In the middle of the forest, Gat¨­ was bounded to the tree with ice. His face was pale and lips were tinted with bluishness. Under Haku''s merciless needles, Gat¨­ revealed everything. "I did it¡­ I did¡­"


    In a fit of anger, Zabuza swung his greatsword and chopped Gat¨­''s head with the tree he was bonded to. After chopping off Gat¨­''s head, Zabuza stood in front of the body with a frown, his heart in disarray.


    "Zabuza-sama, what should we do?" Haku asked. Although he knew little, he knew that Zabuza sent all of the money earned from the request from mercenary association to the rebel forces in the Mist.


    "¡­We are leaving." Zabuza sighed.


    Looking at the decapitated body, he turned around. Walking away and gave a command. "Destroy the body."


    Evening at Tazuna''s house.


    "You were so awesome Inari." Naruto complimented Inari rubbing his messy hair.


    "Tazuna-san, when will the bridge be completed?" Kurenai asked after taking a sip.


    "In about two weeks. If we work at the same pace as today, we can definitely finish it within two weeks." Looking at Raito, he silently added, "If he helps it will be faster." But no one heard it or acted as so.


    "Two weeks," Kurenai mumbled. She looked at her team then at Kakashi''s three. Raito was still glaring at her.


    Knock! Knock!


    "Haku and Zabuza," Raito answered to everyone who was listening.


    Tsunami who was about to open the door was pulled back by Tazuna.


    Seeing that no one was moving to open the door, Naruto jumped from his seat and opened the door.


    Zabuza stood in front of the door like a tower and silent like a rock. Haku by his side peeked out from behind, looking at Naruto.


    "Naruto-san." Haku bowed after some hesitation.


    "Haku." Naruto made a slightly ugly face.


    "Can we talk?" Haku asked. After seeing Naruto nod, he walked towards a much quieter place.


    Hinata followed Naruto to meet with Haku.


    Kurenai and Kakashi also stood up, meeting Zabuza. The three nodded then walked out without any need of words.


    After the four walked out, Sasuke and Kiba also walked out together to train. This time Shino also followed them for training.


    At the table, only Tazuna, Inari and Raito sat eating their meal. Even though Inari eating, Tsunami called him. Inari didn''t question his mother. Looking at his grandpa nad Raito, he grabbed his bowl and plate and walked towards the kitchen.


    "What do you want, kid?" Tazuna dropped his chopsticks in the bowl then asked.


    Raito picked up a piece of fish and asked softly, "Say, old man¡­What if I wanna get a house here¡­in this village?"


    "You want to live here, kid? There are lots of abandoned houses ready for you if you want." Tazuna replied with a smile.


    "Not really. But I want a house." Raito said after giving a glare to Tazuna.


    "¡­You need to wait for some time. Gat¨­ took all the land deeds from the villagers. So the village administration has decided to renew all the doc.u.ments."


    "Is the land deed important?" Raito asked looking at his inventory.


    "Very much. Whoever has the land deed, owns the land, in this village. Different villages have different rules but for ''Wave'' its that."


    "What if I have ''all'' the land deeds?"


    Tazuna made stiff smile then said after a long time, "¡­ Don''t joke, kid. If you have ''all'' the land deeds, you basically own this village¡­ Hah! Do you think it will be possible? Rather it will be troublesome."


    "No, really I have all the land deed." Raito brought out a box from nowhere in front of Tazuna then opened the cover, taking out a few papers giving it to Tazuna.


    "¡­How?"


    "From Gat¨­''s building, of course," Raito answered.


    "So what do you wanna do?" Tazuna asked in a heavy voice


    "Return it."


    "Sure, the village head would be very glad. You are basically a hero to this village. Which house do you want? I will talk to some people." Tazuna smiled and nodded.


    "I am not a citizen of this village." Raito looked strangely at Tazuna.


    "¡­I''ll take the building in your place then. But it will be yours for use."


    After looking at the nonchalant Tazuna, Raito took out the land deed for the abandoned building then gave it to him.


    "Children are living there. Orphans. They can live on their own¡­ Can you go and look at them from time to time?" Raito requested, his voice a few notches softer.


    "Children¡­ are they the same one who helped the villagers with food and water, this couple of days?" Tazuna remembered the villager talking about angel-like children, who helped them. The water tasted like nourishing medical soup and food tasted like meals served in the houses of nobles. They didn''t know how what exactly tasted like but people started comparing to the things they had heard in their life.


    "Yeah." Raito nodded.


    "What the heck were you doing?" Tazuna mumbled to himself looking at the teen, who was looking at the air.


    Raito took out another land deed and gave it to Tazuna. "Do you know this place?"


    Tazuna looked at the land division markings then nodded. "It''s a medium-size farm but¡­ Gat¨­ killed the owner for selling vegetables cheaply."


    "I understand."


    Raito grabbed his dishes then went to the kitchen to clean.


    Naruto, Hinata, and Haku


    "You may not like this but¡­ ninja are tools. We do what we are told and nothing else."


    "Didn''t you want to protect Zabuza? Your mission was to kill us but still, you didn''t kill Sasuke, you didn''t kill Tazuna or the villagers-"


    "I have killed many more." Haku immediately shouted, cutting off Naruto.


    "You didn''t want to kill them, did you? You are actually a kind-hearted person." Naruto said with confidence as hen nodded his head. "You were doing those killing because Zabuza ordered it, right?"


    "¡­" Haku was tongue-tied. Someone so stupid like Naruto could exist, he didn''t know. But that was indeed true¡­ just how did they know. Haku looked at Naruto and Hinata. Naruto had a huge smile while Hinata had a shocked expression on her face.


    "Raito told me about that." Once again Raito was betrayed by Naruto''s mouth, blaming him for all the secrets about others.


    Haku looked at the two then remembered the name ''Raito'' never to be forgotten.


    Kurenai, Kakashi, and Zabuza


    "¡­"


    "¡­"


    The two groups looked blankly at each other for a long time. Kurenai was getting a headache, wanting to start.


    Zabuza finally broke the silence, "How did you guys find out?"


    "About what?"


    "How did you find out about Gat¨­ and his plans?"


    "¡­We didn''t." Kurenai answered.


    "¡­"


    Kakashi stopped himself from turning around and glaring at Kurenai.


    "So, it''s indeed those Genins." Zabuza looked in amus.e.m.e.nt at Kurenai then at Kakashi. His mouth hidden by bandages curved upwards, unknown to anyone else.


    Kakashi''s smiling gaze turned slightly unkind as he looked at Zabuza.


    "Don''t give me that look. Thank him for me, Kakashi." After saying that Zabuza walked away.


    "Where are you going, Zabuza?" Kakashi asked already having an answer in his mind.


    "¡­Back to the Mist." Soon Zabuza''s back view disappeared in the thick mist, a smaller shadow following his lonely back.

 Chapter 48 - Back Home

    After Zabuza and Haku left, the days were peaceful for the ninjas. Kakashi and Kurenai had started training the Genins, especially Kurenai who was constantly being bugged by Sasuke.


    The village was totally different from before. Gat¨­''s fall had changed the villagers, bringing joy to the village. Fishing business bloomed and farming restarted. The capital had also started helping the village, especially the merchants friendly with Tazuna had the first bite. They sold at low prices, making sure to win the heart of the villagers.


    The bridge was also being built as the time passed and with Raito''s help the work was being finished faster. With Kakashi, Naruto, and Raito, the bridge was inscribed with ''Preservation Seal'' making the bridge sturdier.


    The Genins continued visiting the children at the abandoned building. Raito continued teaching them about the various thing which gave him some points from time to time. The transformation of the house, garden, and the children were beautiful to see. The old abandoned building looked better with all the renovation work, the garden was filled with fruits, vegetables, and flowers. The thin children had some meat added to their bony bodies. Hinata also taught them simple exercises from the academy.


    Except for Sasuke who was burning himself out with endless training, others had quite a nice time.


    After Tazuna had gotten the house and the farm under his name, Raito brought Tazuna to meet the children. The land deeds were given to Taka, the oldest child in the group and who had shown the most enthusiasm in learning fighting techniques. The small girl Rumi was very, very smart with INT of 53, after learning from Raito. She was able to remember whatever Raito had said and unlike others, she could recall everything.


    Unlike Naruto and Hinata who were stuck on level two of ''Water Purifying Technique'', Raito had already climbed to a higher level. It made Raito realize that anything was possible for him. With the powers of gamer, there were not many things he couldn''t do.


    After submitting the contraband items to the capital of the ''Wave'' and simultaneously reporting the ''Fire Capital'' about the items, the small village was rewarded by quite a sum of money from both sides. Of course, this money was used to repair the infrastructure of the village.


    Fall of Gat¨­ 12th day, Villagers stood in front of the longest bridge ever built in ''Wave Country''. Joining the ''Fire Country'' and ''Wave Country'', this bridge symbolized friendship. The bridge symbolized prosperity, bringing in trade, tourism, and many more opportunity. Helping people changing their life, going against the current of the evil, the ones in power and the ones who value face more than anything. This bridge symbolized courage.


    Changing the life of the people for the present and future, this bridge will be called the ''Bridge of Hope'' for years to come, until the fall.


    Tazuna cut the big bundle of rope with one swing. The bundle of rope with the bell landed on the bridge with a thud making a loud noise.


    Clap! Shout! Roar! Cheer!


    "Am I that strong?" Tazuna looked at the katana in his hand, the sword has a sharp blade and hilt with purple cloth. Then at his behind, he looked at the group of ninjas and the villagers. Raising his sword high, he announced, "This ''Bridge of Hope'' is officially opened from today."


    The officials from the ''Fire Country'' and the ''Wave Country'' said humble words of congratulation before leaving.


    At Tazuna''s house, Tsunami, Raito, and Hinata were in the kitchen, preparing for celebrations.


    "Konoha will send one ninja per six months to collect Ten Thousand Ryo until the full price of a Hundred Thousand Ryo is fully paid. If you wish, you can pay it at once, too."


    "If you really want to compare, we start B-Rank from 150,000 Ryo to 200,000 Ryo and A-Rank from 200,000 Ryo to 1,000,000 Ryo."


    "¡­That''s quite a sum."


    "There''s more. We will be opening a small business in the village." Kakashi pointed at the paper at the table.


    "What business?" Tazuna asked with some seriousness.


    "A hotel," Kakashi answered.


    "That won''t be a problem seeing how much you have done." Tazuna nodded.


    "You should talk to the village head about this," Kakashi advised. "If everyone agrees, you will not be asked to come back to the village for discussion."


    Tazuna sighed as he read through the contract.


    In the forest area, Raito stood with his eyes closed, his hands clasped. The stones bead around him constantly changed shape size and structure before returning to their previous small size.


    [Stone Bead +11]


    [Confuse ¨C 10% chance of afflicting ''Confuse'']


    [Stone Bead +11]


    [Paralyze ¨C 10% chance of afflicting ''Paralyze]


    [Stone Bead +11]


    [Knockout ¨C 10% chance of afflicting ''Faint'']


    [Stone Bead +11]


    [Crumbling Pain ¨C 0.5% chance of afflicting ''Crumbling Pain'']


    "Raito, sensei''s calling," Naruto called from the side. He came with Hinata looking beat up.


    "No-no, we were just sparing." Hinata shook her head.


    "Kakashi-sensei said that its time to leave ''Wave Country''," Naruto explained.


    "Okay, let''s go." The three nodded then disappeared in a blur.


    At the abandoned building, Naruto, Hinata, and Raito gathered with the children. The children had tears in their eyes, only thing that was holding them back was Raito''s soothing voice.


    "Take care of each other. Remember you are a whole big family."


    "Don''t forget to water the plants and trees. When you have time build a wall."


    "We will come to visit you."


    Children let out tears as Raito told them that they were leaving. Raito cooked a few dishes and left a few boxes of books for them to read.


    "Taka, take care of them." Raito''s hand moved from his head to his shoulder.


    "And don''t forget to practice."


    "Mn." Taka nodded as his head dropped down.


    Raito took out a small box then gave it to Taka.


    Standing in front of the three, Kakashi scratched his hair and asked, "What happened to you three?"


    The three stood in line with eyes a bit red. "Nothing." They shouted unanimously.


    Kakashi just scratched awkwardly looking at his Genins. He was not very experienced in consoling children.


    Standing in front of the bridge, the ninjas were accompanied by Tazuna with his family and some of the bridge builders.


    Naruto couldn''t hold it anymore. He cried holding Inari, who also cried instantly. At the side, Hinata also shed some tears.


    "I will come to visit you all in the future."


    "Promise!" Naruto and Inari made quite a scene.


    Raito sighed as he looked at the long bridge. He didn''t know when he was going to come back, maybe a year or two. Turning around, he started walking away with a heavy heart.


    Raito brought out a book and started reading it. His nose deep into the book, Raito started ignoring everyone else.


    Kakashi walked behind Raito, pulled his free hands outwards and sent a slap towards Raito''s head. Even though Raito was reading his book, he dodged the slap easily. For the next few hours, Kakashi sped up finally hitting Raito.


    With one hand turned into rock, Raito flicked his fingers back, causing a stone to project towards Kakashi at high speed.


    "Kurenai, do your Genins know ''Body Flicker''?" Kakashi asked as he caught the stone.


    Kurenai shook her head and looked at Kiba and Sasuke, "I don''t dare teach them. They don''t even know basic water walking."


    "Well, it''s the right time to learn," Kakashi said softly.


    Raito took out papers and gave it to Kiba and Sasuke. "We are going to use ''Body Flicker'' to fasten our journey."


    "You better learn it fast then." Raito disappeared into woods making a straight line for Konoha.


    Standing in the middle of the forest Sasuke and Kiba started learning jutsu.


    Quite some time had passed as they continued their relaxing journey back to Konoha.


    "OW!" Naruto hit yet another tree causing a bump to form on his head.


    "Naruto-kun." Hinata helped Naruto stand up, looking at the bump worriedly.


    Rustle. Rustle.


    Ratio walked with sweat dripping down from his face and both his arms dangling down.


    Just as Raito caught up to the group, he looked at a distance with his lips curved upwards. Kakashi looked at where Raito was looking and said, "It''s Asuma."


    "Asuma?" Kurenai raised her head towards the direction.


    "It''s a gathering, then?" Shino jumped down the tree and asked softly.


    Raito nodded. He used a quick ''Heal'' on Naruto before jumping towards Asuma''s direction waiting for him.


    "Injured. C-Rank bounty." Raito announced softly, letting Kakashi and Kurenai hear it.


    Kakashi gave an eye-smile. "A C-Rank. It seems Asuma is going to give all of us a big treat."


    Although there was a small smile on Kurenai''s face, Raito could see her ''worry''.


    Kakashi looked at the two then jumped on the tree, reaching the top, as light as a feather standing on the top. Removing the forehead protector, Kakashi quickly used a Genjutsu to hide in plain sight before searching the area properly.


    Not finding anything, Kakashi let out a sigh of relief. He took out a small whistle and blew on it.


    On the other side, Shikamaru complained, "Asuma-sensei, can''t we take a break now? It''s been three hours already."


    "What? Are you saying you are tired?" Asuma who was carrying a body looked back at his Genins and seeing how tired and sweaty they were he gave a chuckle.


    "When I get back, I will take a shower daily ¡­ twice." Ino huffed


    "Sensei, I am hungry¡­ Only if Raito was here." Ch¨­ji enjoyed his brief rest, complaining about Raito not being with them.


    Letting them rest, he looked at the man he was carrying.


    Ear twitching, Asuma looked vigilantly at a distance. Hearing the next two whistles, Asuma finally relaxed.


    "Kakashi''s team is here."


    Hearing that Raito would be there, Ch¨­ji and Ino jumped, ready to move out.


    ¡­


    "Asuma." Kakashi waved his hands.


    "Kakashi, Kurenai." Asuma threw the unconscious body as he walked the cleared area.


    "Who''s that?" Kakashi asked turning the man.


    "A mercenary, that''s all I know." Asuma shrugged.


    "Raito." Kakashi turned around to ask.


    Raito quickly turned the pages of the book that Kakashi had given him and pointed at a picture.


    "100 kill Kaze."


    "He didn''t have chakra but¡­ he made me work for it. Explosives, smoke bomb, catnip like things. If he had practiced chakra¡­"


    "Raito!" Ch¨­ji came dashing grabbed Raito.


    "I''m hungry." Tears streamed down Ch¨­ji.


    "Oi Ch¨­ji, let me go." Raito tried pushing Ch¨­ji but the hungry man''s rampage was difficult to control


    "Food!" Ch¨­ji shouted, clinging more tightly to Raito.


    "Fine, fine. Just let me go." Raito was finally able to push Ch¨­ji. Immediately taking out a few baskets of food, Raito gave it to Ch¨­ji.


    "Hey, Raito, do you perhaps have a¡­bath?" Ino asked leaning forward, her head nearly touching Raito.


    "Ino, don''t trouble him too much." Asuma sighed at his Genins.


    "I have," Raito answered.


    "Yay!" Ino air punched.


    "You have!?" Kurenai and Asuma asked simultaneously in astonishment.


    Looking at his two fellow J¨­nins, Kakashi laughed in amus.e.m.e.nt.


    Catching Kaze, he pushed towards Raito. His big muscular body, comparing with thin and weak Kaze, looked like a man picking up a child with one hand.


    Raito looked at the body then at Asuma.


    Behind, Kakashi''s eye also narrowed. Shikamaru who was resting, also looked over before closing his eyes.


    "Sure." Raito grabbed the man and forced him into inventory.


    "Raito, bath." Ino pulled his arm.


    Raito looked at the J¨­nins, only after getting their approval, he pulled out the large bathtub. After heating the water with the ''Camping Fire Technique ¨C Spark'', Raito made an earth wall like a curtain leaving Hinata and Ino behind.


    "These missing-nin have started joining the mercenary association. I am afraid, in the future, we have to go full out against them." Asuma said with a dark tone.


    "It''s troublesome there." Shikamaru looked at the three J¨­nin talking then looked at Raito who was happily reading a book.


    "Don''t think too much about it. It''s an a.d.u.l.t problem."


    "Tch."


    "Why don''t I give you a better topic to think about?"


    "Nope." Shikamaru immediately closed his eyes.


    "Uchiha massacre."


    "Don''t." Shikamaru immediately turned


    "Don''t you think it''s too confusing?"


    "It''s not¡­ don''t think about it."


    "I heard that Itachi was the best in his age group. Better than some of the older ninjas too." Raito said with some contemplation.


    At the mission tab in front of him, Raito scrolled through and saw all kinds of mission and among them, the most glaring one was the ''Uchiha Massacre''. It had a short description of the event that happened that night. Uchiha Itachi, who was just accepted into ANBU division, killed whole of his clan, leaving only his little brother alive. While he was leaving the village, he killed two of his ANBU members, using Genjutsu to kill each other.


    After quite a while, the discussion seems to have ended as Kakashi stood up shaking his head.


    "Team, get ready to move," Kakashi ordered. Looking at Kurenai and Asuma, he gave a small smile and said, "I don''t want to be the third wheel."


    While everyone gathered around Kakashi. Kurenai and Asuma were left alone.


    Kurenai rummaged through her pouch and brought out a small container. Opening it, there was a green paste giving the smell of flowers, trees, and nature. Making Asuma sit, she covered the wounds with the paste then, taking out a bandage, she covered it properly.


    Asuma rubbed his hair, redness in his face. "It doesn''t hurt."


    "You are so careless." Kurenai checked for the wounds and lightly pinched one.


    "Ow." Asuma smiled after making a weird noise.


    "Cough¡­ Asuma-sensei, Kurenai-sensei, we should be going." Shikamaru broke the silly love situation before walking back lazily.


    "Hey, Ino."


    "Hm."


    "Why are you all returning so late? Is this your second C-Rank?"


    "Of course not. Our C-Rank became an A-Rank." Ino sighed as she sat on a rock boulder.


    "Our mission was to take reports from the ''Lands of Hot Spring" to a small village on tea country. But¡­ when we reached the tea country, we found that a small mercenary group has been kidnapping people and selling them at the opposite side of the continent."


    "Slavery!"


    "Mm. Children, women, men. What we found was only a small group. After the Daimy¨­ of Tea Country found that he sent us with a new mission to report to Konoha."


    "So now you have to go to Konoha and report to... Hokage-Jiji." Raito smiled.


    "But why is team seven with team eight?" Shikamaru walked in and asked.


    "We are reinforcement," Naruto replied in an instant.


    "Reinforcement?" Ino looked at Shino who was silent till now. Even after glaring for a long time Shino didn''t say a word.


    "Actually, actually-"


    "Let''s go." Kakashi threw Naruto to the tree, stopping him from talking too much.


    Kakashi glared at the Genins and said, "Don''t ask and don''t tell."


    Kilometers away from the Konohagakure, Kiba and Sasuke grabbed the trees and throwing up everything they had eaten. Kakashi''s clone looked at the two before sighing in boredom. These two have tried for the entire day without resting but weren''t able to learn the jutsu.


    "Argh! Forget it." Kiba took out a food pill from his pouch taking one for himself then giving one to Akamaru.


    Looking at Sasuke, he said, "Sasuke, how are you doing?"


    Sasuke also sat down, eating dried foods. Hearing Kiba his jaw moved, "Practice."


    "Are you freaking kidding me?" Kiba crumbled the paper once again, throwing it far away.


    Sasuke looked at Kiba then ignoring him, read the jutsu again and again.


    Kiba did some stretching and regulated his breathing. Akamaru walked with a crumpled paper in his mouth then gave it to Kiba.


    Kiba looked at Akamaru then rubbing his head, he took the paper and started reading it.


    "They can be taught." Kakashi crumbled into rock disappearing from the area.


    Kurenai nodded as she sat on the branch, Genjutsu covering the tree.


    "Continue studying Genjutsu," Kurenai ordered then closed her eyes. Shino who was standing by Kurenai nodded.


    At Hokage tower


    "You say¡­ you met Kakashi and came together?" Hiruzen raised his brows.


    "Y-yeah." Asuma scratched his face then added, "Kakashi said that he had a bad stomach. So it will take-"


    "Bang!" Hiruzen glared at his son.


    "Haha." Asuma laughed weakly looking at his dad.


    "Here," Asuma brought out a scroll and gave it to Hiruzen.


    "What''s this?" Hiruzen opened the scroll and went through it. His furrowed brows relaxed as he looked at the contract with people of the ''Wave''.


    "Mariko, call Ibuki and Inoichi." Hiruzen''s voice enforced by chakra reached outside.


    "You three, good job. One week break for you." Hiruzen stamped the mission scroll then gave it to Asuma.


    Asuma handed the scroll to Shikamaru and said, "I will be right there. Start cashing out and fill the clan forms."


    "Hai." Shikamaru lazily replied then with two, walked out.


    "Now let''s talk about this person." Hiruzen''s eye landed on Kaze, the mercenary.


    Asuma took a seat then lit his cigarette and started his story.


    Outside the Konoha gates, at the eastern rocky valley.


    Raito, Naruto, and Hinata had weights tied on their bodies and were made to climb the small cliff.


    Raito nearly at the top of the cliff.


    "It''s torture." Raito cried out. His face turning red, he grabbed the next rock.


    Kakashi sat at the top, peeked below and said casually, "How come our future Hokage is so weak?"


    While Raito was at the top, Naruto was again starting from the bottom. Simply because he kept falling on and on.


    Kakashi saw the small smile on Naruto''s face. He guessed something and immediately warned, "If I see you using chakra, I will destroy¡­ those ramen cups you have been hiding."


    "Argh!" Raito''s two hands grabbed the rocks and dragged his body upwards. With one leg finally touching the top, he gave a final push and rolled his body forward.


    "Congratulations ~." Kakashi removed the rope then unlocked his chakra.


    Ding


    STR and VIT leveled up by 1


    STR reached 65


    VIT reached 78


    "I will kill you¡­ one day¡­ Kakashi-sensei." Taking large breath Raito finally said it.


    "Well¡­ it''s nice that you have a dream." Kakashi went to grab Hinata who had reached the top.


    Sitting straight he grabbed a bottle from his inventory and immediately drank it.


    Hinata barely could raise herself.


    Placing a plastic tube in the bottle, Raito placed in Hinata''s mouth. Then looking at the bottom of the cliff, Raito started taking out a few luxury items. Chair, table, umbrella and such. Of course he didn''t give any to Kakashi.


    "Not giving up!" Naruto''s loud howling at night woke up Raito.


    Looking at Kakashi who was reading his book using lightning palm as light. Raito commanded in his mind. ''Inventory. Gloves. One.''


    With a thought, a glove appeared just below the edge of the cliff, away from Kakashi''s slanting sight.


    At the base of the cliff, Naruto caught the gloves then looked at the top from where the light was coming. Wearing the gloves, he started climbing but this time it was far easier.


    [Climber''s Gloves +11]


    [Tight Grip]


    "Gloves?"


    "¡­ There is redness in his palms already." Raito explained looking away.


    "Sometime you must go through hardship. Take this." Kakashi gave Raito a scroll then looked down.


    "Naruto! If you can come up in ten minutes I will buy you ramen."


    "Ramen!?"


    [Lightning Release: Lightning Bullet]


    "Kakashi? It''s not a coincidence, is it?" Kurenai, who registered her team, looked back at Kakashi and his three Genins. While Kakashi looked fine, his Genins didn''t look so good.


    It was about the same for Kurenai. While she and Shino looked fine, Sasuke and Kiba were covered in dirt and vomit.


    "Kiba you learned ''Body Flicker''?" Naruto asked


    Raising his head high, Kiba replied with pride, "Of course we learned it."


    "Finally, now we can race." Naruto gave him a thumbs up.


    "S-sure."


    "Back mountains, How about it?" Naruto asked with enthusiasm.


    "¡­Sure if we don''t have a mission." Kiba replied avoiding eye contact.


    "You will have free time after C-A-Rank," Kakashi informed with a smile.


    "Heard that Kiba? We can race."


    Raito appeared beside Kakashi and said with a smile, "Sensei, I learned it."


    Raising his eyebrows, Kakashi asked, "Really?"


    "Yup."


    "Then let''s have a look afterward."


    "Kakashi-senpai, Hokage-sama is waiting for you all." One of the Ch¨±nin in guard duty immediately informed Kakashi.


    "I''ll have to look at my Genin''s progress. Please tell Hokage-sama that I will be slightly late. Sorry." With that Kakashi disappeared with the three.


    "Body flicker?"


    Training ground.


    Ox¡­ Hare¡­ Dragon¡­ Snake "Lightning Release: Lightning Bullet"


    Pointing his finger, chakra quickly transformed into lightning and concentrated on the tip of his finger, quickly forming a small ball of lightning energy. With a thought, the small ball pierced several trees and in the end, broke a big boulder.


    ''600 points for one that''s a bit expensive.''


    "That''s a low B-Rank technique. And you learned it in less than an hour."


    "That''s because I am a genius."


    "Maybe you are. Sasuke took a whole day with rest to learn body flicker technique, which is also a B-Rank technique and Kiba took nearly two days, without Sasuke''s help."


    "Argh, not fair. Kakashi-sensei, you gave Raito a jutsu so what about me."


    Kakashi rummaged through his pouch for a long time before giving back Naruto a small green scroll. "¡­It took me some time but here."


    "Yatta."


    [Wind Release: Great Breakthrough]

 Chapter 49 - Challenger’s Stage

    "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough."


    Following the release of a great amount of chakra, great destruction followed. Inside the ''Forest of Death'', winds howled for a long time, trees uprooted and leaves fell like rain.


    "Naruto, STOP!!" Raito shouted.


    Naruto was so focused on the jutsu that he forgot about Raito who was behind him.


    "Naruto!!"


    Still, there wasn''t any response. In anger, Raito activated all his useful skills and reached Naruto then kicked with full force on Naruto''s b.u.t.t, making him fall on the ground. Luckily he was not too high on the tree.


    "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough."


    Raito released the wind jutsu, making Naruto feel like he was flying. Comparing with Raito made Naruto feel like his was a whole lot different.


    "But, but, more chakra I use, the more powerful jutsu is supposed to be?" Naruto shouted while sitting cross-legged.


    "Let''s go for now." Grabbing Naruto''s shoulder, both of them disappeared from the forest and appeared in the house.


    Moments later, few Ch¨±nin came to the forest to check.


    Inside the house, Hinata was sitting with an ink brush inscribing seals on a scroll. Seeing Naruto and Raito appearing out of nowhere, she gave them a look then returned to her work. There weren''t any hints of shock as she was shocked for tens of time for this past week.


    "Hey, Hinata-chan, how''s your Fuinjutsu coming?" Naruto immediately sat down beside Hinata and looked through a couple of seals Hinata made.


    Raito rolled his eyes then went to his own side of the table and started working. Mass production, extreme mass production.


    After looking at Hinata''s work, Naruto also sat down on his side and started making a talisman. Although his speed was slower than Raito, but due to his chakra pool, he naturally lasted far more.


    An incredible amount of talisman papers stacked beside Raito and Naruto. Seeing the competitiveness between Naruto and Raito, Hinata could only sigh.


    Knock! Knock!


    After giving a quick scan, Raito looked at his friends in front of him and with a smile asked, "Are you guys ready?"


    "Mhm." Everyone gave faint nods, seemingly not having much confidence.


    "Sheesh, what''s with that depressing faces. Just remember we are preparing for Ch¨±nin exams." Naruto shouted then grabbed Hinata and Raito. Then remembering his unfortunate days just before academy exams, Naruto glared at Raito.


    "What?" Raito asked in confusion.


    "Nothing."


    "Let''s go." Ino dragged Shikamaru and Ch¨­ji then stood beside Raito.


    "Okay."


    "ID Create ¨C Challenger''s Stage."


    They disappeared from the house and appeared in an arena like area. The stood in one of the boxes above and below was a wide stage with various kinds of obstacles. Trees, rocks, boulders, building. They looked like a random place from some village.


    Opposite to the Konoha Genin was equally numbered people. Each of them having athletic body, tanned skin and two swords by their side. They had overgrown sharp teeth and an ''X'' shaped scar on their face. With white hollow eyes they looked forward with no emotions, like a machine.


    [Challenger 1]


    HP: 50,000


    CP: 50,000


    STR: 50


    VIT: 50


    DEX: 50


    INT: 50


    WIS: 50


    Skills: Slash, Charge, Rushing Thunder, Thunder Chop.


    Every single one of them had the same stats and skills, no different from one another. How lazy was whoever created this all? They gave these men numbers for name.


    "Ugh, I don''t like them." Ino glared touching her shoulder.


    "I don''t like them too." Ch¨­ji rubbed his stomach.


    Weng!


    A coin-shaped item floated in front of the participants. Raito extended his hand and grabbed the big coin and said, "First."


    A faint pillar of light covered Raito and he disappeared from the box, appearing in the circular platform in front of the box.


    Again a pillar of light covered the circular stage and before he knew, Raito was standing on the stage.


    "It''s really mysterious."


    The alarm represented the start of the battle.


    Raito jumped from his spot quickly blending in the shadows, activating ''Stealth''.


    Seconds after Raito''s disappearance, the ''Challenger 1'' appeared. He looked around for a period before running towards another direction.


    ''What the heck was that?'' Raito did a few hand seals and an earth clone appeared in front of him.


    "Go," Raito ordered.


    It didn''t take long to find the man. After a brief exchange, the man was locked in a fierce loop.


    "Earthen Fist." Massive hands from the earth formed, sandwiching the man.


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    Raito appeared in the open area and saw the man being pummeled but looking at the man, Raito felt a shiver go down his spine. The man had no frown, smile, disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e or annoyed look in his face.


    The clone had perfectly followed orders and used only ''Earthen Fist'' to trap the man. But the main problem was the ''Earth Clone'', the clone thought was really stiff and couldn''t improvise. He could only act on command, not exactly what Raito was asking for.


    "Earth clone ¨C Return."


    Following Raito''s command, the clone disappeared and the fist barrage stopped completely. Not even a second later, the man disappeared midair and with loud sound appeared next to Raito.


    "Fast." Raito only turned but the man had unleashed a sword strike striking Raito''s hip.


    Poof! As the hit landed successfully, Raito turned into a cloud of smoke, leaving behind a few stone beads.


    "Lance!" Tens of stone lance pierced the man but the man didn''t flinch a bit. He looked at the side from where the voice came from and waved his sword. A blue layer of chakra covered the sword, as he slashed, the blue light traveling towards the area.


    "Spike!" From another side, Raito shouted. The lance piercing the man''s body grew small spikes, multiplying the damage and decreasing the HP to the end.


    [HP: 0/50,000]


    ''It dropped amazingly fast at the last second.'' Raito looked at the body but found that he couldn''t get anything with his current knowledge. He could only guess that they were not human but zombies, better than that in the wasteland dungeon.


    [You gained one ''Skill Level up Scroll''.]


    [Skill Level up Scroll]


    Type: One time use consumable


    Use: Increase the level of one skill by 5 levels.


    "Nice." Raito smiled then looked down at the fight. Naruto was getting his a.s.s kicked.


    Tut!


    "Who is voting? Come on out!" With bruises, Naruto appeared beside Raito.


    "You lost again." Raito started healing Naruto.


    "If I had more time, I would have definitely won," Naruto complained.


    "Yeah, yeah."


    While Naruto complained Ch¨­ji had started his match. With Raito''s help and his own clan techniques, Ch¨­ji''s Partial Expansion Technique leveled up in a sense. Combining Partial expansion and Rock Fist, the challenger was smashed into pieces within five minutes of the match.


    "Ch¨­ji improved so much." Naruto looked in awe and a little disappointment, thinking about himself.


    "Don''t worry too much about it, just train more." Raito looked at Naruto and told him seriously.


    The conclusion was ¨C Raito, Ch¨­ji, and Hinata won while Shikamaru, Ino and Naruto lost.


    Shikamaru: "I need to learn some offensive techniques."


    Ino: "How can Genjutsu not work on them?"


    Hinata: "¡­It was easy."


    "They were like puppets this time," Shikamaru commented.


    "Hm¡­ that''s why Genjutsu didn''t work." Ino added her thoughts then she turned to look at Raito with anger, "Didn''t you say that I should learn Genjutsu?"


    "¡­How should I know that it would be puppets this time?" Raito replied with a wronged expression.


    "They were a perfect counter for Ino and me." Shikamaru thought aloud.


    "What about Naruto?"


    "He is¡­ he needs more fighting experience ¡­ and training." Shikamaru replied with some hesitation.


    "Hey, it was just a fluke that he won. If I had to fight him once more, I could beat his a.s.s, easy." Naruto tried to defend himself but saw everyone giving him an eye.


    Challenge Arena, as the name suggests is a place to fight. Winners are rewarded and losers do not get even a singly Ryo. When Raito first opened this dungeon, he met up with a level 27 Fighter, who was proficient in tracking, laying traps, working with bow and arrow, and dagger. He was a typical village hunter. Without his Ninjutsu, Raito would have been defeated first. After winning, Raito got a skill book for dismantling traps. But since he had already learned the skill, it increased the skill ''Dismantle Traps'' by ten levels.


    The second time he entered this dungeon was with Naruto and Hinata. They fought a group battle against a team of one archer, healer, and swordsman with their level around 18 to 22.


    Naruto and Hinata didn''t say what benefits they got from fighting that team but Raito guessed that they definitely didn''t get the skill book or like things. However, he was an exception, he was a gamer and the rules applied to him was different from the rest of them.


    "Let''s go. We need to go to get our work experience too." Raito tagged everyone with chakra threads and disappeared.


    T and I department


    "Argh! Wah! Huhuhu. Please, please¡­" One man was chained to the wall and opposite to him stood Anko, looking at him with emotionless eyes.


    "How many people have begged you to let them live? Not only men and women, you even killed child and old."


    "They deserved it." The man shouted.


    "Even newborns? What did that an hour newborn did to you?" Anko waved her arm and the whip landed on the man''s body.


    After ten minutes of physical abuse, Anko came out with a serene expression from the cubicle.


    "He is a good liar, isn''t he?" Raito guessed and asked.


    "Yup." Anko sighed.


    "¡­Should I?" Raito asked looking at the door.


    "No, it''s fine. Inoichi and Ibuki will be taking him." Anko snacked on the dango Raito had brought and passed the file to Raito.


    Looking at the man, a smile appeared on her face. "He indiscriminately killed around a hundred people believing that he would get power of immortality. What a moron."


    "Immortality?" Raito raised his head, looking at Anko.


    Taking out the bingo book, he turned to a page and showed it to Anko. "Kakuzu, from the village hidden in waterfall, S-rank definitely an old guy. He was alive from when Hashirama-sama created the village."


    "Yeah¡­ Don''t be a smart a.s.s. Kakuzu, S-rank missing-nin, from Hidden Waterfall, practices forbidden techniques, which makes him powerful and¡­ hard to kill. But he is not immortal."


    Taking a deep breath, Raito asked while shaking a bit, "Forbidden techniques are that powerful."


    Anko shook her head, then said, "There is a reason why they are called forbidden. Don''t you think, if the technique was really so powerful, wouldn''t the Hidden waterfall make all its ninja learn the technique and start controlling the whole continent. Not just the Hidden Waterfall have forbidden technique but all the hidden villages have."


    "So they have side effects? Hey, you said everyone has."


    "Of course. Not just one or two, a whole bunch."


    "Forbidden techniques have an absurd amount of chakra requirement. For normal regular Ch¨±nins, if they use it, they would probably die of chakra exhaustion."


    "Die of chakra exhaustion?"


    "Yeah, these techniques are like deals with the devil, it will bring harm to the user. The user will die of bleeding or their soul being extinguished. There were also records of people falling into coma or turning vegetables. There is one¡­ special rank ninja who had to use forbidden Ninjutsu, he is still on the hospital getting some kind of treatment."


    "I don''t think I want to become a vegetable." Raito laughed dryly.


    "Forbidden techniques are so strong that it causes massive collateral damage, such as the total destruction of a village and end with the death of everyone in it. Think about it if someone uses a jutsu that is listed as forbidden to kill one guy, who he feels is undefeatable, he may kill that guy but at the same time, he can kill himself, his comrades or the whole area he was battling on."


    "Oi, killing a whole village? Please don''t brag about it, Anko-nee." Raito felt his hand trembling thinking about a whole Konoha being destroyed.


    "It isn''t exaggerated at all. Once you grow up, you''ll get to know everything."


    Anko didn''t exaggerate at all but she kept one point hidden, ''Forbidden techniques also include those techniques which violate the laws of nature.'' Although it''s not true for all, there are indeed some techniques to bring life back as walking dead, seal soul into items, uses people life to raise one''s power.


    "Anko." Ibuki and Inoichi walked in.


    "Ibuki, Inoichi." Anko stood up straight and gave a small bow.


    "Raito? It''s good that you are coming." Inoichi nodded then waved the ninjas behind him.


    "From tomorrow, get an individual room for yourself." Inoichi looked at Raito and casually added.


    But the two ninjas who heard it were shocked to the core.


    "Inoichi," Ibuki called from behind him.


    "¡­" Inoichi didn''t answer all who had question.


    Raito just nodded.


    After Inoichi and Ibuki left Anko laughed loudly.


    "Hmph." Raito snorted.


    The next day Raito walked in his investigation room while reading the file. As he walked in he had a stiff smile on his face. Walking into the cubicle he sighed deeply.


    Raito had copied Kakashi and wore a face mask covering his mouth and nose.


    Looking at the couple and women, Raito once again sighed deeply.


    The small cubicle was a normal one with a big table and chairs. A window giving light to the room, making the room a bit warmer.


    Even when Raito entered the room, the two women and men didn''t notice him.


    "I don''t want this civilian investigation." Raito cursed Inoichi non-stop as he investigated the whole story.


    While Raito was under the troublesome situation, Inoichi and Hiruzen were laughing, looking at the chamber with the crystal ball.


    After Raito found everything, he couldn''t help but massage his forehead. This was a complex case of a.d.u.l.tery. The couple both were the citizen of Konoha. The husband had a small business that needed to travel and sell things whereas the wife was a simple housewife, she took care of their child of two years and did all the household work. Two months ago when her husband returned from the capital, she heard from the members of the crew that her husband has been visiting a woman. The wife searched through her husband''s clothes and found some lipstick marks, a new handkerchief and smelling a bit hard, she added that she could even smell perfume of a woman. And now, this morning, her husband came with another woman asking for her to leave home with her child.


    Her husband''s reply to this all situation was that since she was not letting him to bed her, he naturally has to find someone who was allowing him.


    Raito coughed lightly as he put down the big red book and looked at the group.


    "This case has been forwarded to the shinobi intelligence department because you brought someone who has no citizenship." Raito looked at the man and said as per the regulations.


    "Sir, you have to register your marriage before bringing her in the village, officially. Second¡­ your new wife has to undergo a detailed process of confirming her identity." He looked at the new couple and announced while writing on the paper.


    Raito turned to the woman who had tears in her eye, "Ma''am, would you like to divorce your husband?"


    "¡­" The women didn''t say anything. What could she even say? Sign a divorce?


    "If you divorce your husband, you will get thirty percent of his total wealth," Raito announced


    Bang! "That''s too much." The man immediately banged the table and shouted, standing up.


    Raito continued but due to the man''s shouting his voice was not heard by the woman. Glaring at the man, he softly said, "Sit down, please."


    The man immediately sat down.


    "As I said, ma''am you will get thirty percent of his total wealth and your son will get the twenty percent of the current wealth, which will be stored into the bank as investment, with interest of fourteen percent per year. You can retrieve when he reaches sixteen years of age."


    "Is-is that true?" the wife looked at wife with tears collecting in her eyes


    "Yes, it''s written with black, printed on white." Raito turned the pages and pointed at a paragraph.


    The problem was solved thought Raito but in the end, the husband started to deny to pay and in addition to the new wife crying, the situation was in total chaos. Raito was paralyzed, not knowing what to do next. He couldn''t just beat these people, could he?


    Anko had to walk in and use her ''Kind'' words to solve the situation.


    Raito sat gloomily at the lobby, hugging his knees.


    "Don''t worry too much, everyone faced this kind of stupid things." Anko consoled Raito with jokes but it didn''t change Raito''s mood.


    Standing up suddenly, Raito said with a bit of force, "I will only take cases where it is about gathering information and finding out the truth. Hmph! And I wanna do more field missions." Throwing a tantrum, Raito walked out.


    Raito couldn''t see in anger but he saw it later that Anko had a large smile when Raito left the T and I department.


    Challenger''s Stage


    Raito stood on the stage waiting for the enemy to come.


    [Mad Saber Challenger]


    HP: 125,000


    CP: 80,000


    STR: 100


    VIT: 60


    DEX: 70


    INT: 50


    WIS: 50


    LUK: 50


    Skill: Mad Dash, Lightning Cleave, Parry, Saber Beam, Charge, Triple Sweep, Murderer''s edge, Killer wave¡­


    "Haa!" A big muscular man with a n.a.k.e.d c.h.e.s.t came charging in with a loud shout. Clad in red aura, his red eyes locked onto Raito. As the barbarian swung his saber, Raito could feel a kind of heaviness about to land on him.


    Raito also charged in with a shout trading a blow for blow. But this type of trading blows made Raito lose out as he felt numbness in his hands. Even the sword in his hand had cracks starting to form just after ten blows.


    After another strike, Raito felt his hand was going to fall off. And the barbarian who saw that immediately gave a left punch.


    "Damn." That punch immediately dropped 300 points of health.


    After hitting a tree, Raito snapped from whatever zone he was in and said to himself, "I am a ninja, damn it."


    Standing up, Raito shuffled a few steps behind the forest and disappeared. The barbarian followed Raito and slashed the few of the branches, which were on his way.


    Hidden in the branches of the tree at the top, Raito took out two stone beads and prayed in his mind. "Fuse."


    [Stone Bead]


    A round and smooth bead made by the manipulating stones and rocks. Made by fusing two +11 stone beads.


    Made by ¨C Yoshizawa Raito


    Owned by ¨C Yoshizawa Raito


    Durability ¨C 2400


    Weight ¨C 240 kg


    Raito was happy for a moment then sad the next moment. He was happy that the stone beads of more than 100 kilo weights finally fused but sad seeing that the enhancement was destroyed and the extra effects disappeared.


    "It''s good." Raito controlled the stone bead with his chakra and earth elemental manipulation so that it wouldn''t fall.


    After fusing a few of the stone beads, he brought out a few of the old lighter stone beads.


    "Demonic Illusion: Veil Technique."


    The barbarian searched the entire stage but couldn''t find Raito. He was enraged with all the misleading noises and now even simple noises could trigger him. He didn''t dare to ignore the noises as he was already hit a couple of times.


    Kacha!


    The barbarian immediately turned around waving his saber. The red light of energy flew from the saber smashing the stone into pieces.


    "Musclehead!" Raito laughed loudly teasing the barbarian, exposing himself.


    Although the barbarian couldn''t understand what Raito was saying, he felt that Raito was saying bad things about him.


    "Mad Dash, Killer''s Edge," The red aura on the barbarian''s body grew and the blade let out a piercing red light.


    Raito who was standing at a distance, raised his head, transformed the stone bead into a spear before throwing it towards the barbarian. "Throw"


    The stone spear flew rotating at high speed and soon reached the barbarian. The red-eyed barbarian looked at the spear coming then leaned his body a bit downward, moving as minimum as possible to dodge a fatal shot while still gaining the momentum.


    But just as the barbarian leaned down, the stone spear also changed its angle. The barbarian looked at the spear and a scene conjured in his mind. The spear which looked very much unremarkable had pierced his back.


    Because there was still half a distance left and the skill ''Mad Dash'' was in effect where he couldn''t slow down, the barbarian decided to jump and at the same time activate a defensive skill ''Bone Armor'' which covered his c.h.e.s.t, back, and crotch.


    He jumped even higher than the spear. Taking a big swing, the barbarian drew his saber back overhead, ready to activate an attack skill.


    "Lightning Cleave."


    Raito who seemed to be waiting for this also had rat hand seal ready. "Earth Seal ¨C Activate."


    Lightning gathered on the barbarian''s saber and an arc of purple light appeared as he swung saber.


    The ground below the barbarian lit up with white character seals. There were a total of twenty circles from where sharp stone spears exploded upwards.


    Comparing the two, unfortunately, the barbarian was a lot slower as the lightning took time to gather.


    The stone spears exploded upwards to the midair barbarian and soon the body fell down with a loud ''thud'' and blood was spilled.


    Raito who had eyes on the HP bar alone didn''t dare underestimate the barbarian. The spears had pierced the right t.h.i.g.h and the right forearm. It seemed that the bones in that area were totally broken. The barbarian struggled to turn around. Finally his face upward, Raito truly confirmed that he was truly alive¡­ and how fatal his attacks were. The last true hit was on the face. It seemed to cut through the flesh and muscle from the right jaw to cheek to the eye.


    The bone armor had several concentric rings with several crossing one another. The bone armor was totally cracked and was about to be turned into dust.


    The saber had been dropped far away and was covered with blood. Trying to store the saber but failing to do so, he threw the saber far away. "Too heavy and useless." Raito snorted then looked at the barbarian.


    "¡­"


    Raito watched as the HP gradually fell down. It had already passed fifty health points and gradually reaching to the end. Raito finally relaxed as the minus ten countdown started.


    "Blood Explosion." The barbarian let out an ugly smile as his body reddened.


    "Stupid." Raito who was on the tree pointed his finger letting out a small ball of lightning energy. The lightning bullet flew in extreme speed killing the barbarian and the earth clone together.


    Looking at the pile of rock, formerly Earth Clone, Raito sighed.


    [Challenger''s Arena]


    [Winner ¨C Yoshizawa Raito]


    [You gained one Katana, one Skill book and one Item.]


    [Red Star]


    [Barbarian''s Rage]


    [Red Lantern]


    [Red Star](Rare)


    Type ¨C Katana/Sword


    ATK ¨C 400


    Durability ¨C 6,000


    Special ¨C Life drain


    Owner ¨C Yoshizawa Raito


    Made using Red Iron Ore¡­


    [Barbarian''s Rage]


    Effect: On activation, double the base stat.


    Duration: 15 minutes


    Side Effect: Half the Stat for 1 Day.


    Cooldown: 1 Day


    [Red Lantern] (Special)


    Effect: On lighting the lantern, for half an hour, increase focus on whom the light shines.


    Raito looked at the things in awe. With a huge smile on his face, Raito c.a.r.e.s.sed the items like a baby.

 Chapter 50 - 50 – Purple Poison Refinement

    "Fuinjutsu: Explosion Seal" (Fuinjutsu: Bakuhatsu no sh¨©ru)


    Raito pushed his hand towards a large smooth, circular rock, releasing a large stream of chakra of 1000 points.


    Chakra transformed into inks after leaving his body, which formed into characters then inscribed onto the rock. The characters covered the rock like a chain and on the surface where Raito''s hand was placed, there was a big character seal, "Explosion".


    Rustle. Rustle.


    "Naruto-kun, look, such big inscription." Hinata swayed to get a better view. Her swaying caused her shoulder length hair to move.


    "That means it has lots of chakra." Before Naruto could get close, Raito turned around with a smile and asked, "Did you guys finish yours?"


    "Of course." Naruto took out a scroll and unsealed small round stone balls, throwing one to Raito.


    [Explosive Stone Ball]


    "It''s perfect." Raito took the scroll from Naruto and sealed the stone ball inside it. "You have improved, Naruto."


    "Raito-san." Hinata also gave her stone balls back to Raito.


    Raito looked at the stones for a while then said, "You are more suited in learning Fuinjutsu then us, it seems."


    "We already have explosion talisman, why do we need them?" Hinata asked.


    Raito smiled widely, "Of course there is a reason."


    The trio left the forest of death using ''Instant Dungeon'' and arrived home.


    "This is mine." Shikamaru closed his eyes, not giving it a look. Shikamaru already had a guess in this game of card based on luck.


    "Mine''s bigger." Ch¨­ji slapped the floor with a huge smile.


    "I''m out." Ino sighed as she laid down her weak hand.


    Ch¨­ji gave a loud laugh and said, "This week''s meal is free for me."


    "How can you be so lucky?" Ino threw her cards and looked at Ch¨­ji resentfully.


    "I even made a shopping list," Ino added.


    Raito, Naruto, and Hinata appeared inside the house at the underground and walked upstairs through the mirror door.


    When the three arrived upstairs, Ino immediately grabbed a kunai from her pouch after informing her two teammates.


    "It''s us," Raito announced sensing that Ino had sensed them. The fate of two sensors in the same house.


    Even though Raito announced, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio didn''t let their guard down. They already experienced being tormented by Anko when she mimicked Raito''s voice.


    After seeing that it was indeed team seven, they let their guard down.


    "Don''t be so jumpy." Raito raised his hands as he walked in.


    "It''s just you guys? Come." Shikamaru sat down and started shuffling the cards.


    In one of the Training Grounds, two Genins fought in close combat, their feet stable and only their upper body moved.


    "Please, Raito-kun." A straight but fast punch flew toward Raito.


    Raito looked at the punch and raised his hands, successfully deflecting the fist. Then with another hand, Raito hit with an uppercut going for his opponent''s chin.


    "Leaf whirlwind." Falling down, Lee twisted his ankle and raised his left leg, rushing towards Raito.


    "Heh." Raito placed his hand forward, rotating on his foot, made a fast sweep, successfully landing on the back of Lee''s knee.


    The pain made Lee slightly bend his knee but he didn''t fall down. Lee even clenched Raito''s leg with his own leg.


    Now they were in an awkward situation. While knee stood on one leg and another leg was used to catch Raito''s leg, Raito was crouching down with one arm pushing the ground, one leg bent and another leg stuck in Lee''s leg.


    Both of them struggled to try to pull out.


    "Lee, let go," Raito shouted.


    "Giving up, Raito-kun?" Lee asked in his loud rumbling voice.


    "Are you sure, Lee?"


    Not waiting for a reply, Raito pushed his hand moving from his somewhat awkward position, aligning his body, Raito gave a fierce kick to Lee''s kidney.


    Lee looked at Raito''s attack and immediately came to a decision. He let go of Raito''s leg and did a flip. Making all of his limbs touch the ground like in bridge position, Raito immediately pushed hard and saved himself from Lee''s destructive attack. As Lee''s kick landed on the ground, he created a big hole on the smooth ground.


    "Seriously." Raito looked at the hole on the ground then took out his bokken.


    Dashing a couple of paces back, Raito took a defensive stance. Not a second later, Lee came zooming towards Raito with a straight punch. Though it looked like a straight punch, Lee ran in a curve and as he got near to Raito, he somewhat slowed down, making Raito grip his bokken with extra strength.


    Lee came to a stop but at the next moment he began spinning and the wind started gathering around him. "Raito-kun, here I come."


    "Konoha Taijutsu ¨C Gust"


    The rotation finally slowed down but the raging winds didn''t. It covered Lee, mostly his leg then as he took a step forward, he kicked high towards Raito''s head.


    Raito was already in an attacking stance. He had no intention of blocking or dodging. Double grip to the hilt, sword pulled back to the waist and Raito''s whole body curved backward.


    "Konoha Kenjutsu ¨C Gust"


    On Lee''s step and kick, he also jumped thrusting forward with all his might as the bokken was strengthened using chakra.


    Raito had no intention of piercing through Lee. He aimed for the leg bracers that Lee wore, which he felt earlier.


    As leg and the bokken touched, fierce wind exploded. And while Lee was standing with his leg raised high, Raito was rolled several meters back from the wind explosion.


    After he stopped rolling, Raito looked at his hand which was shaking a little bit. Then at his other, lay a broken bokken.


    Although his HP only decreased by a couple of hundreds, looking at Lee made him slightly dejected. It seemed that Lee only lost a couple of tens.


    "Raito-kun." Lee extended his hand with shining eyes as he looked at Raito.


    Raito looked at Lee and sighed softly. With a small sigh, he grabbed Lee''s hand and got up.


    "Raito-kun, you learned Konoha kenjutsu? Who did you learn from? I could only learn Konoha Taijutsu from Gai-sensei." Lee fired questions and talked about his own skill with pride.


    "I learned a few techniques recently from the books." Raito waved his hands.


    "From books? But you were so strong, Raito-kun. Let''s fight again." Lee''s eyes were shining lights. He made a few flips and made a fighting position.


    Raito pushed his broken bokken forward and said, "No weapon, no fight."


    Lee looked at the ground and said a bit sadly, "Sorry! Raito-kun."


    "It''s just a bokken, no problem."


    Then looking at Lee''s legs, Raito said, "But Lee, I didn''t know you wore leg bracers."


    "Un, it''s part of my training. Sensei said that I am not allowed to take it off." Lee answered honestly then he looked at Raito and added, "Raito-kun, you also used weights?"


    After talking for quite a time about their techniques, Lee jumped high and said, "Tenten always talk about weapons and Neji doesn''t talk after spar. After meeting you, I feel that you are really a great person."


    "Raito! Lee!" Gai came dashing in and looked at the two Genins.


    "Hai!" The two immediately stood in attention.


    "I saw you two spar and after spar discussion. Bravo!!" Gai was the same as Lee with his eyes radiating dazzling light.


    Raito looked for the arrogant Hyuga before sighing in relief. When Raito first met till now, Raito only wished Kami-sama to make him mute. So, that he couldn''t dirty everyone''s ears and brain.


    "Demon." Tenten glared at Raito. With her hands on the scroll, she was ready to pick up her weapons and make new holes in his body.


    "But¡­" Lee immediately turned gloomy.


    "What happened Lee?" Gai asked.


    "I thought that Raito was going to use Ninjutsu but he didn''t." Lee continued then his burning eyes landed on Raito. "Raito-kun you don''t have to hold back for me. You can use whatever techniques you know and I will go against them with my Taijutsu."


    "Everything?" Raito looked thoughtfully at Lee and a smile made in his face.


    "Hai, Raito-kun. I want to prove that I can be a splendid ninja even without Genjutsu or Ninjutsu."


    "Without Ninjutsu or Genjutsu? Really?" Raito gave a look towards Lee and his chakra bar.


    "You just used chakra, you know," Raito said with a slight frown.


    "Raito-kun, if you want to know, Lee here only used chakra for strengthening his body for a brief period of time," Gai answered for Lee from behind.


    "That means everything else was pure Taijutsu?" Raito asked somewhat suspiciously.


    "Yes!" Lee nodded heavily. Lee''s eyes shined again as he started talking about his training routine which consists of 1000 pushups, squats, and many other incredible physically demanding situations.


    Taking a deep breath in, Raito looked at Lee, placing his hands on the shoulder, he said, "If I didn''t say it before, I am telling you now. I believe in you Lee."


    Neji who was hiding in the trees looked at the group with his pupil-less eyes before leaving. He felt that Raito training with Lee and Tenten was a waste of time. Those who are bounded for greatness will be able to do it easily and those who are destined to fail can never change their fate.


    After training Taijutsu with Lee, Raito left and went to T and I department. Upon entering his own room, Raito found a man chained to the wall with his chakra sealed. After reading the file on the man and the situation, Raito started his work. He used the hypnotic wave to full effect and what he couldn''t get, he used the ''Observe'' skill to find out. In all this interrogation process, Anko stood behind him, giving him small suggestions from time to time, helping Raito develop.


    At first, Inoichi wanted to tone down Raito but after the first case, he was doing unexpectedly well and all thanks belonged to Anko who was just across the hall. Any kind of problem appeared, he would go to Anko and ask her or even call her.


    Raito was getting scarily good that Inoichi wanted to get a picture of Raito to hang in the lobby as the intern of the month, which made the new Ch¨±nins a little ashamed, comparing themselves. Raito laughed dryly as he looked at the people.


    Raito never got to go to the capital in these past few months and there was even a rule related to that. Genins who rank lowest on the ninja ranking are absolutely not allowed to go to the capital as a shinobi of the village.


    Raito sighed about his luck. He was missing a large portion of stat points by not going to the capital and meeting that person Shun was talking about.


    He used leftover three months as a training period to level up his skills and fighting experience in the challenger''s area. One on one fight gave him the biggest reward but at the same time, the rate of success was too low. There were times when it was easy, with a little bit of difficulty Raito could defeat them but others were too difficult. Along with wide variety of skills, the challengers also had lots of fighting experiences which placed Raito in a defeated position.


    The cruelest thing about the arena was that it could be jumped once a day. For other dungeons, the zombies gave 0.01% of the total exp to level up while the goblins and hobgoblins were good up to 31 levels then they also stopped giving Raito the needed exp.


    In all this time, team seven went for another C-Rank which finally turned to be normal. And the time they had been allocated in the library had finally finished.


    Other than seeing Sasuke''s sour face, it was an easy life for Raito which he spent happily.


    Half a month before Ch¨±nin preliminaries, Hiruzen called Raito and Naruto to the office along with Kakashi and Kurenai.


    "Kakashi, are you checking up on Sasuke?" Hiruzen on his seat turned to face the window asked.


    "He is doing well, I guess. His Sharingan is still not activated. I think it will take time." Kakashi reported lazily.


    "What about his training?" Hiruzen focused the question on Kurenai.


    "He is training on his basics once again, Taijutsu with Kiba and Genjutsu with me. For Ninjutsu, he doesn''t want to learn from the village library and has been learning from the scrolls left by his clan." Kurenai answered.


    "Let him be. Daimy¨­ just wants him to be on the next Ch¨±nin exams. He said that Daimy¨­ from other countries want to see the so called last loyal Uchiha of the village." Hiruzen massaged his forehead then let the two out after discussing for a while.


    After the two left, Raito was called in.


    "Raito-kun," Hiruzen called out in as he checked out Raito. Physical training had taken effects on Raito, it seemed as Raito was gaining mass and had lost most of his chubby cheeks.


    "Jichan." Raito bowed lightly then jumped to the seat. But before he could Hiruzen moved.


    "Come with me." Hiruzen brought Raito to the chamber where he used the crystal ball.


    Pulling one crystal ball, Hiruzen directly gave it to Raito.


    "Jichan¡­really?" Raito looked at the crystal ball with disbelief on his face.


    "Didn''t I promise you?" Hiruzen looked slightly up with his hands at the back, making him have a sagely look.


    Raito looked at the crystal ball in his hand then remembered what CAT had said to him that day, "Even though you promised me S-rank-"


    "If you don''t want then¡­" With a frown, Hiruzen stretched his hand towards the crystal ball.


    Hiding the crystal ball behind his back, Raito frantically shook his head, "Nono, I want it."


    Raito found odd that everyone was called over and even one by one. Raito used ''Observe'' to find what''s wrong with Hiruzen but he couldn''t see any oddities.


    "Then I have one mission for you." Hiruzen took out a scroll and gave it Raito.


    As Raito opened the scroll, Hiruzen added, "It''s not just for you but also for Naruto."


    "This is an elemental seal?" Raito looked through the scroll filled with dense seal work.


    "Mito-sama made this seal on request of Nidaime Hokage," Hiruzen added.


    "That''s so cool." Raito had already started recording before entering the building that something important may happen.


    [Lightning Origin ¨C Divine Spear] (Legendary)


    (Kaminari Kigen - Kaminoyari)


    Created by Uzumaki Mito


    Raito froze just for a second before returning to normal.


    "Mito-sama is Hashirama-sama''s wife¡­ that means it''s a legendary rank item, isn''t it?" Raito closed the scroll then looked at Hiruzen.


    "Legendary may be farfetched but it could be said so." Hiruzen smiled.


    Taking out a hilt of a sword from the drawer, Hiruzen pointed, "You remember this, Raito?"


    Nodding his head, Raito answered, "Aoi Rokush¨­?"


    "Yes, this sword is called the Sword of Thunder God."


    "¡­Jichan, this sword¡­you know about it?" Raito saw a rare fluctuating in Hiruzen''s face.


    "It was from my teacher, Nidaime Hokage, Senju Tobirama." Hiruzen nodded with a small smile.


    Raito smiled a little and questioned back. "Then Jichan, why is it in another village''s hand?"


    "¡­Speak like that and one day you will have no friends." Hiruzen glared back. Hiruzen knew about the loss of the sword and he had even emphasized to the several shinobi under him to report about any kind of news related to it but it never surfaced.


    "Haha."


    "Take it." Hiruzen pushed the hilt of the sword towards Raito. Raito hesitated a little before a figure from behind Hiruzen gave a confirmation sign.


    "You are not allowed to lose it," Hiruzen warned sternly. "We have lost it once. I don''t want rumors about it anymore."


    "I really don''t want it," Raito mumbled in a low voice, comparing the thunder sword with the weapons he got from the arena.


    "Did you see how Aoi used it?" Hiruzen asked looking at the sword in Raito''s hand.


    "Of course. Even though it was just a Genjutsu." Raito pushed his chakra into the sword hilt.


    Between the two prongs of the handguard electricity generated giving it some shape as it increased. It shaped into a bulky mass of electricity resembling a yellow-white cocoa bean.


    [Sword of Thunder God] (Epic)


    (Raijin No Ken)


    (Level Restriction, Stat Restriction)


    (Level Restricted ¨C Stat Reduction)


    Special ¨C Thunder Burst


    "It uses too much chakra." Raito hurriedly closed the chakra connection.


    "That''s just a glimpse of what it really is." Hiruzen crossed the sword hilt and the scroll and added, "When you are able to make a talisman according to this scroll. You can put that talisman inside the sword hilt."


    "¡­And it will become super powerful." Hiruzen gave a slight nod to Raito''s answer


    "An upgradeable weapon!?" Raito quickly grabbed the two and nodded towards Hiruzen. "I will really take good care. No need to worry."


    "Is there anything else that you want to give to me, Jichan?" Raito looked around the Hokage room.


    "Don''t be too greedy." A slender hand landed on Raito. Looking back it was none other than CAT, who had a dangerous air around her.


    "Ah, right Naruto is waiting for you Jichan." Raito immediately left the room after leaving some snacks.


    "Hokage-sama, he has been doing very well in T and I. How about we make it full time?" Ibuki asked from behind.


    "No, leave him be. I noticed that he has been getting more cases while others are getting less...Only call him when there is absolute need. We can''t depend on one person. Always remember that." Hiruzen''s heavy voice showed how serious he was.


    "Jichan!" Came a loud, full of joy voice.


    "Naruto," Hiruzen called weakly. He put down his hat and pulled Naruto towards the room where the only Hokage were allowed to enter.


    They stood in front of the human-size picture of fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato. His yellow hair and blue eyes resembled so much like Naruto but even so most of the villagers didn''t connect the two. It may be because there were hundreds of thousands of people with that combination of yellow hair and blue eyes. But the other point maybe hatred, which has blinded most of the population of the village, not only civilians but shinobi too.


    "Jichan?" Naruto looked at the saddened Sarutobi and called out.


    Pointing to the picture in front, Hiruzen asked, "Do you know who he is, Naruto?"


    Naruto looked at the picture in front then looked back at Hiruzen. Nodding, he answered, "Of course I know. He was our fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato."


    "Yes, he is. Yes, he is." Hiruzen folded his hand and took a few deep breaths in.


    "Jichan." Naruto felt uneasy as Hiruzen paused for a long time.


    Hiruzen pulled one of the planks hidden at the table and asked, "Do you know what Fuinjutsu is that?"


    Naruto looked at the seal carefully then answered, "It''s a silence seal."


    "Activate it. We are going to be here for a long time." Hiruzen sighed as he sat on the sofa.


    Naruto nodded and activated the seal and the patterns all around the room lit with a yellowish light.


    After activating the seal the room became eerily quiet, "Jichan what did you wanted to talk about. Don''t be too creepy."


    "Let''s begin with¡­Minato being your father." Hiruzen started but Naruto only tilted his head.


    "My father!?" He immediately jumped as he started understanding the words.


    After returning home, Raito found the situation with Hiruzen confusing. Even when he tried to think of different possibilities, Raito couldn''t get anything. Dejectedly, he started to work on the scroll.


    After an hour or so of trying to copy what the scroll had in it, Raito threw the pen in frustration.


    "Naruto has better calligraphy than them¡­"


    After playing with the scroll for a while he found a small depression in the sides of the scroll.


    A popup appeared from it.


    [Push chakra to activate it.]


    Raito did exactly so and with a cloud of smoke, a large scroll appeared instead of a small one. Its height was equal to the size of Raito, even slightly bigger.


    Thud! The scroll fell down and made a huge sound.


    Raito looked at the scroll in disbelief.


    [Blueprint for Lightning Origin ¨C Divine Spear] (Legendary)


    Do you wish to learn it?


    "I can in no way destroy something as precious as this." Raito quickly canceled the notification and unrolled the scroll.


    Characters after characters, inscribed on the scroll. The characters were readable but looking at how big and long the scroll was, Raito felt his head going hot and numb. Fuinjutsu skill had leveled up twice in the past hour of deciphering the seal work.


    "It''s so difficult." Raito closed the scroll and kept it in the inventory then looked outside the house through the walls.


    Naruto walked out of the Hokage tower with a dazed look. He didn''t know how he walked but he was in front of the house. He didn''t know what to do next. He had tons of emotions building inside him happiness, anger, joy, sadness, etc. He was happy that he had loving parents and one of them was even Hokage. Hiruzen showed him tons of pictures taken during his mother''s pregnancy of them going to Ichiraku for ramen, going to the library together and so on. Then he was sad by the fact that people didn''t know who he really was. Although Hiruzen told him about his difficult situation, Naruto couldn''t come to peace with it...and lastly the fox sealed within him.


    "Would a Hokage sacrifice his people?" Naruto was motivated for a while thing that his father did. He felt that a Hokage should be as such.


    Taking in a deep breath, he was about to open the door but before he could, Raito opened the door with a big smile. "Welcome home." His warm voice made tears come out of Naruto''s eye as he shed happy tears.


    What is a family? Maybe this was. "¡­I''m back." Naruto let out a happy smile and tackled Raito.


    After eating dinner, Raito showed Naruto the scroll and shared what he had learned until now. Looking at such a big scroll, Naruto didn''t know what to say then looking at the massive amount of characters, he trembled in fear.


    Working on it for a whole night, they had very little to sleep. Raito woke up early while Naruto was still sleeping on the sofa. Hearing the doors being knocked, Raito hurriedly went over with a happy smile.


    At training ground seven, Kakashi leaned at the tree, looking at Hinata in front of him, who was training with weights.


    "Not bad, 80 kilos passed. Next is 90 kilos." Kakashi sealed the weights and took a new one out.


    "Hai." Hinata wore the weights and again started training. She looked at a distance before continuing.


    "They sure are late." Kakashi continued with his book, not concerning much with Naruto and Raito.


    At home, Naruto continued sleeping while Raito sat on the chair, with two snake fang marks on his forearm. The fang marks had purplish lines moving outward.


    [Poisoned ¨C Paralyzed, Burning Sensation, Numbing, Periodic Pain]


    [5:00:00]


    "Five hours!? What the heck?" Raito shouted feeling week on his legs.


    Midori who was coiled around him used her tail to stabilize his body, letting him sit on the sofa comfortably.


    "Anko-nee, Kakashi-sensei told us to come to the training grounds. I am like this¡­can you?" Raito tried moving his body but gave up after a few minutes.


    "I don''t care how you know the time for neutralization." Anko harrumphed then she moved her hand between her b.r.e.a.s.ts and took out a small scroll.


    Raito looked with a pout as he continued struggling. Even his points in Poison Resistance did not help him much.


    Pushing chakra into the scroll she threw up like a magic trick and what came down was a big plain book with title in purple, "Purple Poison Refinement."


    "Watch." Anko placed the book in front of Raito and took out a couple of containers of poison.


    "If you want me to read a book, you could have given me before paralyzing me for FIVE HOURS," Raito complained as he looked at the book.


    [Purple Poison Refinement] (Murasaki no Doku Kaizen)


    Type: Arts


    Description: Refining poison properties and seal into a drop that can be used.


    "Why so little information?" Raito who had been living off ''Observe'' for almost everything felt that this was really odd but after thinking for a while he ignored the book which was somehow very alluring then looked at Anko.


    She had poured poison on her hand then drank some. Raito stopped worrying after thinking that she had enough resistance to poison. After fifteen minutes red spots appeared on Anko''s neck which made him slightly worried but Raito didn''t say anything. Since Anko had told him to look, so he would look.


    Anko stretched out her hands, palm facing upwards than the other hand in a half ram seal and started speaking strange things. A pattern of fire appeared on the palm of her hand which attracted all the now emerging purple spots on the body. Like cloud and water, they gathered on her Fire Patterned Mark.


    "That''s Purple Poison Refinement." A droplet of purple appeared in front of Anko hovering on top of her palm.


    [Purple Poison]


    Refined from the poison of three different poison.


    ''Why is the information so little about this?'' Raito frowned.


    "If you learn this Art then it will take less than a minute¡­ you understand, right?" Anko winked with a big smile.


    Raito looked at Anko wanting to bite her to death. "¡­Just if I had learned it before being poisoned."


    "That''s the real learning thing here." Anko gave a thumbs up.


    "And what''s that?" Raito looked at Anko and asked with a smile. Because he knew that whatever Anko taught will be difficult but important.


    "Chakra threads." From Anko''s finger, a thin white thread came out sticking on Raito''s head.


    Looking at the thread, Raito gave Anko a blank face. Then a similar thread of chakra came out of Raito''s index.


    "What? You already knew it?" Anko mumbled for a bit then turned around and left the house. it looked like she was a bit sad and angry.


    Raito felt that it was rather easy to move his chakra threads. The control over the threads was really smooth compared to other days.


    Raito used the chakra thread and pulled the book in front of him and using another thread turned the pages. Even with ''Fast Thinking'' and ''Speed Reading'' skills, it took Raito two full hours to make a popup appear.


    [Purple Poison Refinement Art]


    Would you like to learn?


    "Yes, please." Since he couldn''t move, he could only say it out loud or think about it inside his mind.


    [Purple Poison Refinement]


    Proficiency 1%


    Using the vast energy present in the world to refine a Poison Body.


    Special ¨C Manipulate Poison.


    While the description was short, the method to circulate chakra in a specific way and the mantra was quite difficult. If not for the unique gamer powers, it would take Raito quite a number of days, to even, just remember everything.


    "Purple Poison Refinement." After activating the art, Raito felt heat erupting from his skin and purple spots appearing in those areas. The purple spots quickly traveled from everywhere to the back of Raito''s hand creating a small circular black mark.


    "Damn." Raito stood up and stretched his body. Never had he felt so comfortable to move his body.


    Under his will, a purple droplet appeared in front of him, hovering above his palm and moving under his will.


    [Purple Poison]


    Can be turned in gas, liquid, and semi-solid state.


    Causes¡­


    "Oh," Raito looked at the poison in awe as he tried to store in a small container but it disappeared every time returning back to the circular mark.


    Looking at the big book, on the sofa, Raito smiled stiffly and thought, ''Luckily, I didn''t have to understand the whole thing.''


    Raito kept the big book in the inventory then looked at the time.


    "We are really going to be late." Raito looked at the time and sighed softly.


    After waking Naruto, they quickly left for Kakashi who was waiting¡­or not and Hinata who was drenched in sweat.


    "Whether you wear a jacket or not is your choice." Kakashi made a random comment after every fifteen minutes then looked at a distance. He had turned for a total of seven times now.


    "They are finally here." Kakashi sighed as he closed the book.


    "Hinata." He called out


    "Hai, sensei." Hinata wiped the sweat on her face and looked at Kakashi.


    "Why don''t you take a rest? I have some¡­special things to talk to boys." Kakashi said with a smile¡­of course eye smile.


    "¡­Hai, sensei." Hinata looked at Kakashi then at Naruto and Raito who had just entered the area then nodded. After greeting the two, she simply left the boys group.


    "That never happened before." Raito felt a bad feeling as he walked towards Kakashi. The two stood in front of a somewhat serious Kakashi.


    "So why were you two so late?"


    "Overslept." Naruto was straight as an arrow. While Kakashi made hundreds of nonsensical excuses, Naruto never gave in and shouted against it.


    "Poisoned." Raito was also straight forward but whether Kakashi believed it or not depended on him.


    Kakashi looked seriously in their eye before giving up.


    "I have already got a mission for us." Kakashi waved a scroll in his hand.


    "What about Hinata?" Naruto asked quickly.


    "I gave her another small assignment for today." Kakashi smiled almost looking innocent.


    "What''s today? Another D-Rank?" Raito asked, stretching his body.


    "Cleaning public toilets," Kakashi replied with a smile whereas Naruto and Raito both made a disgusted face.

 Chapter 51 - 51 – Meeting

    "Gale Palm" Dropping from a height and landing between Naruto and Hinata, Raito pushed his palm on both their stomach and activated the jutsu.


    Everything happened so fast that Naruto and Hinata couldn''t react at all.


    Bang!


    Before anything could happen, a powerful current of wind hit them and threw them far. Both of them were thrown in the opposite direction. Hinata broke a few branches and landed on tree, banging into it whereas Naruto made a small crack at the trunk of a small tree.


    FWEET!


    Kakashi blew the whistle and dropped from the tree, signaling the end of the spar. "Hai, Let''s end it, here."


    "Cough, cough." Hinata coughed as she tried standing up.


    Raito hurriedly walked forward and started using ''Heal'' on her. Looking at the amount of HP lost, Raito smiled a little, "You strengthened your body before I even attacked?"


    "Nm." Hinata nodded. Just before Raito had placed his hand on her abdomen, she had immediately strengthened her front and back. That was specifically taught by Kakashi when boys were doing their own work.


    Smiling to the result of her own practice, Hinata forgot about Naruto for a second before remembering. "How''s Naruto-kun?


    "He''ll live," Kakashi answered for Naruto who was hanging on Kakashi''s back.


    "Raito, you bastard." Naruto cursed even while hanging.


    "Yeah, yeah." Raito went towards Naruto and healed him.


    After everyone was fed and wet, Kakashi looked at the three in front of him and said, "You three must know about Ch¨±nin exams¡­.So, it will be easier for me."


    "I know, I know." Naruto''s eye shined as he jumped in joy.


    Hinata and Raito nodded.


    "So¡­ wanna join?" Kakashi eye-smiled.


    "¡­" Naruto wanted to say yes but he turned to look at Hinata and Raito for confirmation.


    Naruto''s gaze met with Raito''s nonchalant gaze, which basically meant ''whatever''. Turning to look at Hinata, Naruto found that she wasn''t that sure.


    Hinata opened her mouth, wanting to say something like, ''Let''s go'' but she couldn''t.


    Hinata had taken a day off from the academy and stayed in the clan with all the members and watched as everything happened in the Ch¨±nin exams. She knew what would happen in the exams, killing, raping, betrayal, torture, etc. From what she knew Ch¨±nin exams were extremely difficult and it didn''t just test fighting powers but also different other fields. On one hand, she could disagree and go for field Ch¨±nin rank or she could enter the Ch¨±nin exams with her group and prove everyone something else, especially her clan and her father.


    SMACK!


    Kakashi hit Raito at the back of his head and glared at him.


    "Sheesh." Raito scratched his head, looking resentfully at Kakashi.


    "Manipulating your teammate is prohibited." Kakashi''s mosquito voice reached Raito, making him depressed.


    "Kakashi-sensei, Raito-kun, Naruto-kun. I¡­I have decided. I will join the Ch¨±nin exams." Hinata''s gaze was determined as he grabbed the Ch¨±nin exam forms.


    "It''s good that you all want to enter the exams." Kakashi started as he took out a scroll, which attracted everyone''s attention because whenever Kakashi pulled one out it would be jutsu or mission.


    "You may already know but ¡­ there are lots of clan heirs this exam.


    "Shika, Ino and Ch¨­ji have entered too?" Raito raised a question with skepticism.


    "Not only them but also Shino, Kiba, and Sasuke," Kakashi added.


    "Kiba and Sasuke are clan heirs?" Ratio revealed a small smile as he asked the question.


    Kakashi glared at Raito before saying with a cough, "You know what I mean."


    "We are family," Naruto shouted.


    "Yeah, we are. Not only them but also some other senior teams." Kakashi went on with Naruto and smiled looking at Raito.


    Raito stopped Naruto and looked at Kakashi before asking, "What''s the mission?"


    "Protection." Kakashi waited for Raito to calm down and continued, "This time since every group will be having clan heir, Hokage-sama came to the conclusion that it would be better if you all formed come to an understanding and help each other."


    "¡­"


    "Why not? We get to team up with Shika and others." Naruto answered.


    "Well, it''s your decision if you want to team up or not." Kakashi looked at Raito and Hinata who may have trouble accepting this. "But remember Konoha never abandon its own."


    Raito took a deep breath as he looked at the team then at Kakashi. With a smile, he replied, "Okay."


    "It may be a bit late but¡­Ch¨±nin exams start from the day after tomorrow." Kakashi announced before disappearing.


    "¡­What the heck!?" Naruto jumped after realizing what Kakashi had said.


    After eating their full on Ichiraku''s, the gang walked on to the streets of Konoha heading for the Higurashi.


    "Oi, Naruto isn''t that your rival?" Raito looked at the sad transformation skills and said loudly.


    "My rival?" Naruto looked back and couldn''t help but faint. Konohamaru was hiding in a small box, painted like a rock and two more box-rock were following him.


    "Konohamaru!?"


    "¡­"


    "Konohamaru, I know it''s you." Naruto pointed at the box and shouted.


    "Udon and Moegi." Hinata pointed at the two and whispered secretly to Naruto. She knew about them because they were in the same batch as her little sister was.


    "You bought your friends too?" Naruto lifted the box but was greeted by the smoke.


    "Cough, cough." Not only Naruto but three were also coughing because of the smoke.


    "Baka." Raito rolled his eyes and looked towards the southern gate. ''So many people for Ch¨±nin exams.''


    While Raito had used ''Chakra Sense'' to look at the small crowd of people at the gates. He found several ''???'' that gave him a bad taste because most time it meant that they were several level higher and stronger than himself


    "Naruto-niichan, let''s play ninja." While Konohamaru pulled Naruto, Moegi pulled Hinata.


    Raito looked at the snot-nose kid who was pulling at him, "Nii-chan, come play with us."


    Raito nodded. He had played ''Ninja'' many times in the academy with Shika and others. The game is played with two teams; one team is a runner while the other team is capturers. The job of the capturers is to capture the runners and guard until all the runners are captured. The runners could pat the back of the captured and free them. If both runners are skilled enough, the game can last all day. The game ends when all the runners are captured or if the capturers admit defeat.


    "We will be the runners." Konohamaru laughed and ran followed by Moegi and Udon. "Naruto-niichan if you can''t catch me, I will become Hokage first."


    "Wait! You little." Naruto ran followed by Hinata.


    Raito raised the corner of his lips and retracted his ''Chakra Sense'' to only a couple of meters around him, hoping the game would be fair enough.


    Raito followed at normal speed and soon joined Hinata and Naruto.


    "Hey, let go of me, you make up freak." Sounds of struggling could be heard in front.


    "Let go of Konohamaru, you jerk." This time, it was a girl''s voice


    "Hey now, you bumped into me and dirtied my clothes." A man donned in black clothes with a big item stuffed in white bandages on his back glared at the kids with an evil smile.


    The women in the back with yellow hair and teal eyes wearing single light purple-colored clothes. She had a rectangular metallic structure on her back which her left hand was very close to. Although her right hand moved a lot even pointing at the man in front of her, her left hand stayed still.


    "Don''t make trouble for us, Kankur¨­." She frowned looking at her brother, who was shaking Konohamaru a bit too violently


    "Temari¡­these kids must be taught a lesson," Kankur¨­ shouted back.


    "You¡­I am not going to care anymore." Temari pointed in anger at Kankur¨­ and turned her back.


    Kankur¨­ smiled then turned his head back to Konohamaru, "Now where were we?"


    "You were going to let the kid go." From behind, Kankur¨­ could feel that someone had grabbed the back of his neck and caught his left hand restricting the chakra pathway. Raito learned this small trick from Kakashi who loved to restrict his chakra. Only defect of this technique was that the user had to make contact with the target.


    "What is going on?" Kankur¨­ looked at his shadow overlapping the kids but he couldn''t see his assailant''s shadow meaning that it was a very dangerous situation for him.


    Temari who wanted to turn back and help her brother couldn''t feel her left hand but could feel a finger touching the back of her neck. The finger was pointing in between the two spine of her cervical vertebra.


    "Please don''t move or I will have to hurt you." Hinata''s firm voice made Temari hesitate for a while then decided not to move her right hand. Even though she could move the rest of the part of her body, she had not even seen her opponent and making any useless move could harm her life. It wasn''t to the point that one of them had to die. If that situation ever came, she would unleash her full power.


    The three kids in front of Kankur¨­ disappeared in could of smoke and appeared from the corner with Naruto.


    "What!? When?" Kankur¨­ looked at his own hand then at the kids walking in.


    Naruto had already used his clones to swap places with Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi.


    Raito let go of Kankur¨­ but had to block the backhand swipe from him. "You, you¡­ who are you?"


    Hinata had also let go of Temari''s hand before bowing slightly to her. Temari felt that the man who was dealing with Kankur¨­ was also looking at her. He wouldn''t hesitate to attack with full force if she did anything to the Hyuga girl in front of her. So, she didn''t do anything and let the Hyuga girl in front of her, do whatever she was doing.


    Gripping Kankur¨­''s wrist even tightly, Raito spoke, his voice sounding chilly, "You three are Kazekage''s children right?"


    Kankur¨­ and Temari wanted to deny first but seeing that how confident Raito was about them, they nodded slowly in acknowledgment.


    "Then, you should also know that you tried to kill the grandson of the third Hokage." Raito directly accused them a ''Big crime''.


    Hearing that, the faces of two went pale and Kankur¨­ shook his head quickly in denial.


    "Are you sure you want to deny that?" Raito asked as a stone bead appeared below Kankur¨­, which nobody noticed.


    "If I had known that this kid was the grandson of third Hokage, I would never¡­" Kankur¨­ turned to look at the body with long scarf.


    "So, if it was any other, you would have killed them?" Raito question made the surrounding eerily silent.


    "I don''t mean that." Kankur¨­ struggled, saying that and moved his hand trying to break free.


    "Hey! Don''t put words in our mouth! We never said that!" Temari shouted because if someone heard that and if they didn''t immediately deny that statement then it would turn really bad for them.


    "We were here just strolling. We did nothing wrong. It''s that kid that charged into us." Kankur¨­ tried explaining himself and pointed with his free hand to Konohamaru.


    "I already said sorry. What more do you want?" Konohamaru also shouted back.


    "Uh." Kankur¨­ glared at the kid but immediately controlled himself because of the pain from his wrist.


    "Hey! Isn''t this enough?" Temari grabbed Kankur¨­''s shoulder from behind in support then looked at Hinata and Naruto.


    "Let''s leave them." Naruto who was quiet till now spoke up.


    "Three cowards bullying kids." Raito let go of Kankur¨­ and walked back to the group.


    "Three?" the kids looked at Raito strangely.


    Hearing ''three'' Kankur¨­ and Temari looked in shock at Raito.


    Hinata and Naruto pointed at the tree where a thin boy with red hair and a character for love inscribed on his left forehead, carrying a big sand gourd on his back, stood calmly with closed eyes. Only after being pointed he opened his eyes.


    "Hmph!" The boy crumbled into the sand and disappeared, appearing between his siblings.


    "You two are disappointment¡­" Gaara spoke in a low voice, letting only his brother and sister hear him.


    Their face immediately turned ugly but Raito who was looking at their description found that ''Fear'' was ever present. He thought that it was because of his wordplay but now looking at the three he found that they feared the little red haired one even more.


    "We didn''t-" Kankur¨­ tried explaining but was stopped by Gaara''s intimidating gaze.


    "Shut up. We are going back." Gaara interrupted Kankur¨­ and looked at the group of six.


    ''A Jinch¨±riki'' Raito''s eye hovered over the bonus section in the status page and looked at Gaara with some hesitation. He had already activated chakra threads that had latched to everyone around him. He was ready to drag everyone into the dungeon if he had to.


    Kankur¨­ gulped as he looked away from Gaara and looked at the group. He slightly bowed and said, "I am sorry for overreacting."


    Raito immediately nodded as he slightly pressed Konohamaru''s head.


    A voice appeared in Konohamaru''s head as he nodded inwardly.


    After raising his head, Konohamaru replied, "I am also sorry for bumping into you."


    "Raito." Naruto looked a bit sad but was stopped by Raito.


    As both parties took a few steps back but Gaara kept staring at Raito. "You¡­what''s your name?"


    "You¡­want to know?" A smile appeared in Raito''s face as he looked at Gaara. It was probably due to his Gamer''s mind that his fear and hesitation had turned into nothing.


    Gaara nodded once in confirmation. Looking at him, Raito''s smiled even more.


    "You really¡­want to know?" Raito asked and the ones looking at him felt the atmosphere strange.


    Gaara nodded once again. Raito felt that this Jinch¨±riki was just like a puppet with wooden expression.


    "¡­Then you can find it on your own." Raito laughed loudly.


    "What''s going on here?" A tall man with two distinctive, red markings on the right side of his face and the rest being covered by his turban-like headgear and by a sheet hanging from it on the left side of his face walked in on the group of two from one side.


    From the other side, Kakashi walked in with a smile. "Little kids squabbling."


    Seeing Kakashi, the tall Suna ninja looked at his team of Suna siblings and sighed. No one knew what that sigh meant but he spoke up introducing himself. "My name is Baki and¡­ whatever conflict happened here, I ask for forgiveness."


    After that, they finally left. Gaara gazed looked at Raito even when he was walking back.


    Naruto clutched his jacket as he looked at the disappearing back of Gaara. "Raito¡­I feel like Gaara is the same as me."


    "Same? Yeah¡­ he is." Raito mumbled which was caught by Kakashi.


    "Hinata?" Raito asked Hinata who had her brows furrowed.


    "Um... that red¡­ Gaara has three types of chakra, one of which is similar to Naruto-kun." Hinata answered even though she felt uncertain about what she saw.


    "Then he is also¡­" Naruto''s voice turned slightly glum.


    "Don''t worry, the village already knows about them." Kakashi consoled the Genins before escorting them home, especially the grandson of the Hokage.


    At the Hokage tower, in a small room facing the Hokage monument. The room was eerily empty but had two chairs and a small table. Two people were sitting and looking outside the window. Hiruzen sat in his chair like a civilian as a long, spiky, white-haired man wearing a horned forehead protector with kanji for oil, poured some alcohol in cups. He was Jiraiya, one of the three Sannin and students of the third Hokage.


    "Poison Hall sure gave you a¡­great divination." Jiraiya downed the alcohol and looked at Hiruzen.


    Hiruzen took a few sips and looked at the roof of the room. "It''s a 50-50 situation."


    "Those from poison hall warned us two times and both came true. I wonder will it come true again¡­" Hiruzen raised his cup and looked at his student.


    "I wanted to bring Tsunade but it''s too late." Jiraiya sighed. "Her slug summons also refuse to disclose her location. What a drag." To it, he drowned another cup.


    "I will miss your books, Jiraiya." The room was dry and Hiruzen moved his eyes from the cup to the scenery outside. He let out a breath then downed the alcohol. It was sweet and bitter at the same time.

 Chapter 52 - 52 – Chūnin Exams! Start!

    Early morning, on the day of Ch¨±nin exams, the academic section of the Hokage tower welcomed the ninjas from the several hidden villages, big and small. In a group of three, they entered tower after showing their ID card, submitting their papers and in exchange grabbing a number token.


    Raito, Naruto, and Hinata stood in front of the tower, showing the Ch¨±nin guard their ID card.


    "Naruto, Hinata and Raito, huh?" He looked through the clipboard and said, "You three are supposed to go to the demonstration hall."


    "Good luck." He took out three number token and gave it to the three of them.


    "Yosh, let''s go." Naruto took a big step forward on the way to become a Ch¨±nin, soon to the seat of Hokage.


    "Baka. Don''t you know we have three demonstration hall?" Raito pulled the back of Naruto''s jacket and turned to face the Ch¨±nin, "Which demonstration hall? Which floor?"


    "2nd demonstration hall, second floor." The Ch¨±nin guard answered nonchalantly as he nodded his head slightly. The three didn''t see but after they entered the building, the Ch¨±nin scribbled a few words on the clipboard.


    "Thank you." Raito bowed slightly then walked in.


    Walking in, they could see other ninjas from different village walking. Some big, some small, some fat, some thin. It was like that, people from different worlds have different stripes. But the one thing was common, they were extremely vigilant of their surroundings and one another, some were paranoid enough to suspect their own teammates.


    "We have to go to the demonstration hall on the second floor. Don''t get involved with anything for now." Raito''s voice appeared in Naruto''s and Hinata''s head, as they nodded slightly. After months of grinding, Raito had increased his stats high enough for using the Mind Voice Transmission technique of Yamanaka Clan. When Ino had learned about Raito learning this technique, she was red in anger and cursed the clan, no one knew what the real reason was. Inoichi who watched Ino cursing inside the clan chambers let out a wry smile.


    "Raito~! Naruto~! Hinata~!" Came the loud voice of Ch¨­ji. Ch¨­ji walked in from a corner with Ino and Shikamaru. They had waited for Raito and the group for quite a time.


    "Ch¨­ji!" Naruto turned and hugged Ch¨­ji seemingly trying to lift him up.


    "You''ve gotten heavier," Naruto commented but was replied with his cheeks being stretched by Ch¨­ji. "Bakanaru."


    "Ino-chan." Hinata grabbed Ino''s hand and smiled. They looked like two sisters born from the same mother as they held hands, gossiped in low voice and giggled softly.


    "Oi, Shika." Raito walked, turning his head around. Looking at different shinobi, whether walking past by or which were already in the demonstration hall.


    Shikamaru also looked around and walked towards Raito. He was also trying to assess the people walking around or so it seemed.


    "There are slightly more than a hundred and fifty people inside the building who are below eighteen years of age." Raito started. He had already started after his encounter with Gaara and sand shinobi, with his ''Chakra Sense'', reading most of the description of the ninjas. Although there were few ninjas who had used disguise, Raito didn''t think about it much. All of them were from Kusagakure, even their squad leader and the squad leader of Otogakure.


    "Below eighteen¡­ those who are allowed to take Village Ch¨±nin exams. After eighteen, they have to hope for the field promotion." Shikamaru informed which Raito already knew.


    "Among five great villages, three have decided to participate. Wind, Water, and Fire, and the rest they are from smaller hidden villages." Shikamaru added.


    "And since exams are held in Konoha, most are from Konoha naturally." Raito smiled.


    "This year Kirigakure sent four teams, announcing that war has ended in the village and they are ready for work." Shikamaru smiled. He was sure that it would end now.


    "Um¡­Fire has 75, Wind has 48 and Water has only 12." Raito pushed forward with his information.


    "Watcha'' talking about?" Kiba b.u.t.t in between Shikamaru and Raito from nowhere.


    "Nothing!!" Both Shikamaru and Raito let go of each other and shouted at Kiba.


    "Seesh, just asking." Kiba pulled his tongue out then turned his head.


    From behind Shino and Sasuke walked in silently and while many of the girls had an interested look towards Sasuke, no one made a move to express it. It seemed that their life of Genin had somehow changed them.


    "Sasuke-san, Shino-san." Hinata bowed slightly then turned to chat with Ino. It seemed that their topic was quite a forbidden one as Hinata looked around from time to time and Ino glared at the Kiba who wanted to walk in.


    Seeing that Shikamaru and Raito didn''t want to answer him, Kiba looked at the two girls in the groups and tried to walk in but was stopped by Ino''s intense stare. It was his second warning¡­ if he crossed once more than Kiba would have to deal with Kunoichi merciless gossiping.


    Sasuke who was looking at all the ninja around him, a small smile appeared in his face. Feeling the tense atmosphere, he straightened his back and loosened his arms, ready to defend against any attack.


    "Hah!" a loud ''thump'' sound heard as Lee wearing a green bodysuit and yellow arm and leg warmers dropped near Sasuke.


    Looking at Lee, Raito sighed and moved behind Kiba and disappearing from the scene.


    Lee stood up, looked at Sasuke then moved his head in search of someone, someone specific, Raito. "I thought I saw Raito-kun just now."


    "Who are you?" Sasuke tried his best to not move from his spot as he glared at the bowl haircut and thick eyebrow teen in front of him who seems to be similar to his own age.


    "Me? Call me Rock Lee, Taijutsu specialist." Lee pointed his thumb to himself and announced.


    "And?" Parts of his body twitched as he looked at Lee. Sasuke gritted his teeth and wanted to turn around but he saw Lee changing into a fighting stance.


    "Sasuke-kun, I heard from everyone that you are the strongest of this batch of graduates but I think there is someone even stronger than you. Do you think you are the strongest?" Lee asked as he pulled back his arm.


    The question was somewhat awkward for Sasuke because his Uchiha pride couldn''t say that he was weaker, he couldn''t admit being weaker. But still, Sasuke looked at the direction where Raito was supposed to be.


    Although he would hate to admit it, Raito was stronger than himself, for now. In these past couples of months, Raito has sparred with him a couple of times or he had forced Raito to spar with him but he was defeated every single time.


    "Hmph!" Sasuke snorted and changed his stance. "Try it for yourself."


    Even though Sasuke and Lee made a scene, Raito and the group walked upstairs despite Naruto grumbling. But there were some who were very interested in watching this small battle. Like the shinobi from Otogakure and Kusagakure.


    "That''s Lee for you. He is a battle maniac." Raito answered to the gossiping behind him.


    "You trained with him?" Shikamaru raised his eyebrows.


    "Yup I did and he is right now a lot stronger than Sasuke," Raito answered with a nod and smile.


    "¡­Sasuke." "Hey, Raito what do you think the exams will be like?" Naruto asked.


    A playful smile appeared in Raito''s face as he answered, "Of course, one part will definitely be fighting."


    "Fighting, huh? I can beat asses-"


    "I am glad you all came." Kakashi''s voice drew everyone''s attention. Kakashi along with Gai, Asuma, and Kurenai was waiting near the entry door.


    "Sensei!" The group called out slightly in respect and slightly in good feeling at the J¨­nins.


    "We are here to cheer you all." Kakashi gave them a thumbs up and looked at his team with a smile.


    "Hehe. That''s so nice of you all." Naruto laughed embarrassedly while scratching his head.


    "We will do our best." Hinata bowed to Kakashi and others and looked towards the door.


    "Hmph." A snort of disdain came from the back where a Hy¨±ga came wearing dark brown shorts, blue shinobi sandals, and wrapped bandages around his right arm, c.h.e.s.t, and right leg. His hair long tied in a loose ponytail tied at the end. Wearing a Konoha Hitai, symbolizing his loyalty. He had a permanent emotionless but strict face pasted on his face. As he looked at the group, his gaze came to land on the back of his clan member, Hinata. Looking at her, his emotionless face had disgust for just a second before disappearing.


    Those who noticed, noticed and those who didn''t, didn''t.


    "Lee, that''s too much. Didn''t we decide not to show off?" Tenten smacked Lee at the back of his head and sighed.


    "But people were saying that Sasuke was the strongest¡­I-I don''t believe that." Lee puffed and said with a righteous tone.


    "Ugh¡­Ah!" Tenten who felt a headache from Lee''s talking saw all eyes focused on her and Lee which made her jump.


    "Gai-sensei!"


    "Lee."


    Before anyone could react Lee and Gai had come to face each other.


    "Kurenai-sensei!" Kiba''s loud shout announced the arrival of their team.


    Raito sighed and turned to face the door. He looked behind and said softly, "I will be going in first."


    "Ah! Wait, Raito." Naruto turned and followed Raito. He was not going to let Raito out of his sight.


    "Naruto-kun, Raito-kun, I am coming too." Hinata also walked quickly.


    "My food," Ch¨­ji hurriedly walked inside.


    "Sensei, wish us luck." Ino winked and ran inside.


    "¡­What a drag." Shikamaru looked at the door for a while then walked inside.


    Everyone couldn''t help but look at the group of Genins. There was faint awkwardness as team eight walked upstairs, which had a slightly bruised Sasuke.


    "It isn''t helping much." Kakashi looked at Kurenai who nodded.


    "My Genins! Do your best!" Gai gave his Genins a bright smile and a thumbs up.


    After their small discussion, Kakashi glanced at Gai and felt that he could somewhat relate but Kurenai who was responsible for Sasuke felt that it was a really bad situation.


    "Haha, youth!" Gai suddenly burst loudly.


    Inside the demonstration room, a crowd of more than a hundred shinobi from different villages stood in groups of their own. And while some glared at each other, most were just discussing among themselves.


    A hundred Genin in a single hall seemed¡­ suffocating. Every once in a while, they would look at you and try to devise a plan to kill you.


    "So many¡­" Naruto gasped.


    "We have to go against all of them." Raito smiled.


    "They all look¡­ strong," Hinata commented.


    "Not many get to become Ch¨±nin on their first try," Shikamaru added.


    "Almost half of them have taken Ch¨±nin exams before." Ino walked forward and informed.


    "Means that they are hella strong." Raito whistled.


    Naruto looked at his friends then turned to look at everyone in the hall. With a grim determination and a big smile on his face, Naruto announced, "I will definitely beat all of you here and become Ch¨±nin. That''s one step closer to becoming Hokage, Believe it."


    Naruto''s voice was neither loud nor small. But everyone who was paying attention heard it clearly and immediately they began sneering.


    "That stupid looking brat wants to become Ch¨±nin?"


    "Hey didn''t ya hear it? That punk wants to become Hokage."


    "C.o.c.ky bastard."


    The door opened once again and Neji''s and Sasuke''s group walked in. The two groups were showing their opposition as they made a clear distance while walking in.


    "Oi, isn''t that the last surviving Uchiha?"


    "There is another one alive¡­"


    "They say he is very strong."


    "Is he? Heh, someone just made him eat dirt¡­hehe."


    As Sasuke heard that, he glared at the shinobi in front. Jaw clenching, he wanted to smash them but was stopped by the rookie group.


    Lee and Tenten dragged Neji to some of their batch friends to reconnect.


    Sound, Waterfall, Grass, Rain, Mist, Sand. With a variety of shinobi in the same room, things were tenser than a stretched bow. If anyone started a fight, the whole room would be¡­ a fighting arena, a match free for all, blood and gore, a pleasant scene. Although all of them were said to be Genins but¡­ at the same time, there were people like Gaara and Naruto.


    Everyone in the room was easily above level twenty but only a few were above thirty and there were three unknowns from the Kusagakure with unknown level and unknown name.


    Raito didn''t have to even look at anyone in the room to know that all of them were looking at them. Raito saw that these shinobi from different villages, most of them looked at Naruto and Sasuke. He was casted like a background character in the game right now. But what made him stand on guard was that the three unknowns from the Kusagakure were looking at Sasuke from beginning to present. Even though there were other teams, who were looking, Raito felt a bit nervous.


    ''Hinata¡­Can you check on the Kusa team at the left part of the room? Just¡­ don''t look at them directly.'' Raito immediately acted on his guts and asked Hinata to check them.


    "An." Hinata quietly nodded then used Byakugan, hidden from the rest. While Raito could see everyone on a certain distance but he couldn''t see through the mask and disguises.


    "Raito-kun, they don''t match anyone from bingo book." Hinata shook her head.


    "What? What? What are you talking about?" Naruto turned with a cheery face.


    "¡­Nothing." Hinata answered with her small voice. It was too low for even Raito to hear. It wasn''t because she was too shy to speak with Naruto. That stage had already passed. It was because Neji who was with his team was looking at Hinata with an intensity more than she could bear.


    "Uchiha clan? Elite ninja?"


    "Hey! What does that mean!?"


    "He is just a loser."


    All of a sudden, voices started appearing out of nowhere targeting Sasuke and Uchiha clan.


    Sasuke''s cornea turned red and his eyes moved to those shinobi from different villages. In a rage, he couldn''t pinpoint who was it that started it but he could feel everyone laughing at him and his clan.


    Uchiha pride. Strongest warriors. Uchiha Clan...ruined.


    His face turned ugly as a d.e.s.i.r.e to kill grew inside him.


    The circle in Sasuke''s pupil with one magatama started spinning.


    "¡­"


    "Oi, look that''s Sharingan."


    "It''s red, red."


    "What a waste?"


    Ino who was quiet till now faced Sasuke and grabbed his hand. Chakra passing through her hand as she said in a soft voice. "Sasuke-kun, calm down."


    "You are acting like a lion in a zoo, you know." Raito turned back and said to the glaring Sasuke.


    "What''s the use of gritting teeth? When the time comes just to beat them to death." Raito added, his voice caused Sasuke to contain his anger.


    Raito turned his head and looked at the three ninjas from the Otogakure. ''Manipulating sound?''


    "See those from Otogakure?" Raito pointed with his chin. Clearly, a kind of arrogance in Raito''s face, "If you are a loser than they are dog pissed ashes."


    "¡­"


    "¡­"


    It looked like Hinata was already used to Raito but others had various expressions on their faces.


    Even Naruto who had known Raito for the longest, had his mouth hung open. ''And Kakashi-sensei says that I am the most unpredictable ninja.''


    Sasuke looked at Raito with a confused face and Ino who was trying to calm Sasuke, felt her face twitching.


    "That idiot." Ino huffed.


    Shino, Shikamaru, and Hinata looked at Raito trying to guess what was really happening.


    "Hey, what the heck!?" Kiba shouted.


    Raito continued, "That small hidden village from nowhere who got approval recently. What good shinobi can they send?"


    Once again the entire room was silent as the shinobi from different villages singled out the shinobi from Otogakure, waiting for a play to enjoy.


    "Look at three of them, so-"


    Bang!


    "You idiot! What are you doing?" Ino huffed as she headlock Raito.


    Grabbing her thin arm, Raito replied, "Why not? Those three bastards were changing their sound to make confusion among the shinobi of all the hidden villages here to provoke us. So, why not? They are dragging all the villages into trouble. Do you think everyone is stupid to insult the village where they can possibly die at any time?"


    "Change voice?"


    "Their village name says that they specializes in sound¡­so maybe."


    "Bastards trying to trick us¡­"


    There was a sudden outcry among the shinobis. These groups of shinobi were of course affected by Raito''s skill.


    The Otogakure shinobi who were just isolated were cursed by the dozen of shinobi


    The team leader Dosu Kinuta, was a hunched teen which made him look short was wearing bandages covering most of his face, leaving only his left eye uncovered. He had a piece of metallic equipment on his right arm and wearing a large poncho with long sleeves, a snake patterned scarf around his neck, a straw raincoat.


    The female member of the team, Kin Tsuchi had fair skin, black eyes with very long black hair, almost reaching down to the ground, tied by a violet ribbon right near the end. She wore a forehead protector, a pale green vest somewhat similar to a flak jacket, snake patterned pants with a snake patterned skirt over it, and a snake patterned scarf around her neck.


    The other male member Zaku Abumi, had spiky, black hair and dark eyes, wearing a beige shirt with two black stripes and three prints of the kanji for death down the front. As with his teammates Dosu and Kin, he wore a snake-patterned scarf around his neck.


    While being head locked by Ino, Raito glanced at them. The shinobi from Otogakure had shifted their focus to him, which made Raito let out a sigh of relief inwardly. But the problem were, the shinobi from the Kusagakure, who still had their focus towards Sasuke. Although they retracted their gaze, Raito still felt like they were eyeing Sasuke.


    Kin gritted her teeth and stepped out. "You are framing others. You don''t have any proof, why are you slandering us?"


    "Proof? Who needs that?" Raito laughed evilly and looked around, "I will ask if anyone of you guys were involved in¡­saying bad things about Konohagakure. If you all¡­ just now insulted our village, please raise your hands. But if none of you were involved and think that shinobis from Otogakure were the cause of everything than there is no need to speak." Even those who were not involved were used by Raito.


    Zaku and Kin glared at rookie nine while Dosu closed his eyes and exhaled a breath.


    "That is totally against us. What the heck is that?" Zaku glared and pulled his hand back.


    "Don''t put the blame on us for things that we didn''t do." Kin pointed at Raito.


    Dosu who was silent till now took a step and disappeared in a blur. He ran with full speed taking many turns and finally reaching the rookies from Konoha.


    "You can''t prove that but we heard you insulting our village, loud and clear" His right arm with metallic equipment raised high and his fingers like a claw.


    To everyone, it looked like he was aiming for Raito but at the very last moment, Dosu stepped slightly to the left and went for Sasuke.


    Dosu passed by Raito who had taken extra few steps forward. Raito only lifted his hand and brushed his fingers on the metallic equipment and did nothing.


    ''He did something just now.'' Neji furrowed his brows as he looked at Dosu''s right hand. ''Byakugan''


    Ino took a couple of steps back hurriedly, looking at Dosu''s momentum but was held steady by Hinata.


    "Hmph!" Dosu swung his right arm going for Sasuke''s face.


    But Sasuke was no rock, to let someone just punch him. He leaned back and dodged the swing. He lifted his leg, ready for a rising kick to the chin.


    "Uzumaki Drop!"


    "You guys are going too far!!!" Zaku roared.


    Snake ¡ú Rabbit ¡ú Boar "Decapitating Airwave"


    "Stop it right there." Ibuki appeared with raging winds throwing everyone involved off the ground which included Zaku, Dosu, Naruto, Sasuke and finally Raito. Were it not for the ''Adhesion'' skill activated, Raito would have blown off like everyone else.


    Shikamaru heaved a sigh of relief as his tensed muscle relaxed. Ch¨­ji also opened his ch.i.p.s and started eating in front of the whole army. Kiba had retracted his sharp nails and his fangs also became smaller.


    Of course, everything may not be noticed by everyone but the Ch¨±nins were able to see everything perfectly, added the sand siblings and the Kusagakure shinobi.


    But nobody noticed the low buzzing sound coming from Shino and the tiny crystals falling from the holes in the metallic equipment in Dosu''s right arm.


    "You maggots! Who gave you permission to fight!?" Ibuki shouted with his loud and heavy voice. His rough, gangster-like appearance gave him dangerous appearance¡­.plus the sound technique, taught by Anko gave everyone an oppressive feeling except for a few.


    Even Gaara looked down and touched his c.h.e.s.t where his heart was.


    Ten Ch¨±nins wearing a grey uniform stood with a clipboard on their hands letting out a mocking smile as they looked at the Genins.


    "Fight! And you are out of Ch¨±nin exams FOREVER!" Ibuki glared at the quarreling group and not seeing them react much he gave a sneer and gave everyone a measuring glance.


    "Every one of you have a number ticket. There is number on the table, find them and sit down in five minutes." Ibuki nodded and looked at the door. While the Genins had sorted themselves, the door was opened and a few people walked in with a sealed paper bag.


    Those people divided and cut open the seal taking out stacks of paper.


    "First Ch¨±nin exams, written test. We can''t hope for a stupid Ch¨±nin leading the team, can we?" Ibuki smirked as he saw many paling.


    "W-written test!?" Naruto turned around and around in fear as he looked for support. Raito was far into the front whereas Hinata sat at the last bench. ''I am... doomed.''

 Chapter 53 - 53 – Cheaters!

    Standing tall in front of the shinobi from different nations, Ibiki with his scarred face and long coat let out a smile that looked grimmer. The Ch¨±nin standing behind him still held a small smile looking at the Genins ahead.


    "Let me introduce myself. I am the examiner of the first exam of the Ch¨±nin selection exam, Morino Ibiki."


    After letting the words sink in, Ibiki looked at everyone. His gaze resting on Raito and Naruto for a second more but nobody noticed it.


    "Let me say this since it already came to this." His gaze moved to the Otogakure shinobi then at Sasuke and lastly at Raito.


    "You are not allowed to fight each other during the exam unless given permission by the examiners. And even if permission is given, you are not allowed to kill each other¡­ those who fail to comply with this rule will be failed immediately and those who kill¡­ will be killed." Ibiki announced stunning most of the Genin in the room. He was talking about killing like every other day thing.


    "Killed? Are you fking kidding me?" One of the Genin who heard that immediately banged his table and stood up.


    "A life for a life. What''s wrong with that?" Ibuki waved at the man signaling him to sit down. Ibiki''s action seemed to have activated something in that Genin''s heart.


    The Genin who shouted just now turned a little pale as he sat down slowly. He could feel his hands going cold and legs going weak. Alas if he had thought about Ibiki''s word a little more carefully.


    Everyone valued their life the most. Not to say a human being but even a cat or mouse knows how to keep its life.


    "Even-Even if it was due to mistake? Or in self-defense?" one of the Kunoichi raised her hands and asked.


    Ibuki looked at the girl for a long time before answering with one word, "Yes."


    "What the heck''s that?"


    "Bullshit!"


    "Ch¨±nin exams are as such¡­ many of you will fail the Ch¨±nin exams no doubt. Only elites among you Genins will be able to show yourself at the finals. And for that final place¡­ there always was, is and will be bloodshed. But Konoha has decided that until you are under our eye, we will not allow that bloodshed. If any of the Ch¨±nin see you killing someone they will¡­ kill you. So, try to hide it¡­ when you kill someone but¡­ you know¡­ even one Ch¨±nin has killed more than you all combined and¡­ not just in one way."


    Murmuring started among the Genins as Ibuki smiled inwardly.


    At the same time, the question paper were distributed.


    Tak, tak, tak.


    "Hm." Immediately some of the Genins, who were attentive enough looked to their side where the noise was coming from.


    It was one of the Ch¨±nin wearing grey clothes, who looked and smiled, a pen hung on his hands.


    "You all were given your question paper but still continued to make noise. So, those who were making noise¡­just got one point deducted." Ibiki explained then again kept quiet.


    "What the hell is that!? You-" The Genin who were shouting even after explanation were quickly held by some of the people who knew them. They shook their hand and pointed at the Ch¨±nin at the end of the row.


    Tak, tak, tak. That Ch¨±nin smiled a little looking at Genin''s eye.


    "It''s good that you are learning. So, let''s start."


    Taking chalk, Ibiki turned and started writing on the blackboard. "Like every exam, we also have rules."


    "Rule one, read your question. If you answer it wrong, you will lose points."


    "This written test consists of ten questions and each question amounting to one point. Those who have already made mistakes will have to work harder to save themselves."


    "If you get a problem wrong, you will lose one point. Get three wrong and your points will decrease by three and luckily for many, it will decrease to seven but, for some, it will be a little more.


    Some of the Genins immediately gripped their fist in regret.


    "I''ll just have to do well." Some of the Genins looked at the question paper and gritted their teeth.


    "Rule two¡­ The pass-fail decision will be determined by your team''s total points."


    "What!?" some of the ninjas immediately looked at their weaker teammates.


    "A Chain is as Strong as the Weakest Link. Each member of your group must pass for the group to pass to the next round."


    The Genins gulped and looked at one another for some kinship. They hoped that they were not only one fearful of such a situation and high standards laid by the scarface in front.


    "Rule three¡­"


    "How many rules are there?" one Genin grumbled but was caught by Ibiki, "Now that I hear it, no one is allowed to ask any type question what so ever."


    "That''s lazy, ya know."


    "Now, Rule three¡­ if an examiner determines that you cheated or do something similar during the test like turning heads, passing notes, whispering, copying answers¡­ each action as such will cause you to lose two points."


    "Huh? What''s that?"


    Ibiki didn''t even wait for the Genin to even rest and focus, "In other words, there will be people who will be forced to leave this place without their test being graded."


    Now giving the final blow, "Lastly if anyone in a team gets a zero, everyone on that team will fail."


    "Shit! Shit! Shit!" Naruto rubbed his hair in fear.


    "Start!" With Ibiki''s shout, the exam began as Genins turned their papers.


    "Heh~" Raito read the question with an amused smile on his face. ''These questions are really tough.''


    Hinata who had the paper also gaped her small mouth in shock. She hurriedly looked at Naruto''s direction in worry. Even without her Byakugan, she could tell that Naruto was very worried.


    "Do your paper seriously. I''ll help him." Raito ''told'' Hinata then looked at Naruto. ''I hate fangirls.''


    As soon as he picked up the pen, Raito started answering the question seriously. For him who had raised INT and WIS stat beyond hundred had no problem in doing all these questions.


    ''Giving so much hint, if they don''t understand that¡­'' Raito did a quick sweep and found that many had a pondering look on their faces.


    In front of Raito sat Dosu, who seem to be closing his eyes and resting his back to the chair, a little too comfortable.


    Looking at Dosu''s answer paper, Raito found that Dosu had perfectly copied his first answer, word by word.


    ''You want to cheat my answer?'' Raito found after observing that Dosu would write a word after he had completed that word.


    Raito stopped for a while which also stopped Dosu for a while. Raito wrote and erased which Dosu also copied.


    "Number 12, you are out. Number 33 and number 5."


    "Wait I didn''t do it?" The Genin immediately went on defense.


    "14, 59, 120. You three out."


    "He is making mistakes." Raito smiled as he looked through Dosu''s answer.


    Raito was having so much fun that he forgot about Naruto. After calming down the messy Naruto, Raito started helping him answer his questions.


    While Raito helped Naruto answer his question, Raito stopped writing his answer in the meantime. Dosu was more persistent than Raito thought as he never searched for other targets to copy.


    ''Extreme Hearing Enhancement'' ''With this skill¡­ you are listening to my pen strokes?''


    ''I have tricks as well.'' Raito chuckled softly then activated ''Stealth'', a part of it, ''Sound Cancellation''.


    After that Raito continued writing and helping Naruto somewhat pass the exam. Dosu felt uneasy listening to the light feathery strokes, which were too dull and heavy to feel out the characters. After quite a while passed trying to figure out, Dosu gave up and started searching for a new target.


    But the troubled one was not only Dosu as Naruto who was sitting at the back was also deeply troubled, ''Raito, what does root square looks like? And how do I spell that?''


    Raito completed his answers and felt his face. Seeing Naruto troubled for not knowing how to make a benzene structure made Raito want to punch him.


    "Let''s start." Raito left the paper upside letting others who were eyeing his paper cheat. He used ''Chakra sense'' to sweep the area.


    As Raito had guessed, Shikamaru had linked his shadow with Ino and Ch¨­ji forcing them to mimic his movements, completing the five questions needed and the sixth one just to be safe. Hinata and Neji both used their Byakugan to get answers. Kiba made used of Akamaru and his ''Bonded Ninken Partner'' link to get most of the answers. Shino used his bugs to answer the tough question, doing most of the questions by himself. And lastly Sasuke, he had found the Ch¨±nin placed a couple of desk in front, using Sharingan he copied his hand movement.


    Lee and Tenten were using all their skills to the full limit. Tenten had used ninja strings combined with chakra strings to use to reflecting glass in the lights to be used as the screen. And Lee showed his result of hard work to see a fly ten-meter far to copy the answers reflecting in the glass. Gennai used the team''s secret hand signs to send all answers to Ami. Karu, on the other hand, had tricks of his own. He used water jutsu to make a special type of bubble and grabbed it in his hand then watched through it, clearly getting all the answers from the distance.


    (Ami, Gennai, and Karu were from chapter 22 ¨C meeting with Gai.)


    Gaara had used sand to make an eye connected to himself and used it for cheating. But his sand siblings were not doing anything at all. They had only their names written on the paper.


    At this moment Kankur¨­ raised his hands and asked to go to the toilet.


    "You will be under supervision even if you want to go to the toilet." One of the Ch¨±nin supervisors stood up and walked out with Kankur¨­.


    ''Kankur¨­, do it fast we don''t have much time.'' Temari played with her pen and looked at the half-finished paper.


    Some used subtle hand signs or codes and others whispered, hence many were getting caught.


    Lastly the unknowns from the Kusagakure¡­ they hadn''t written anything, at all.


    ''That''s just pure suicide.'' Raito laughed inwardly but soon worry replaced it. They were looking at Sasuke.


    "They are aiming for Sasuke. They want something from him or want to kill him. Ibiki-oni are you listening? Those Grass-nin and Sound-nin want to do something to Sasuke." Raito roared into Ibiki''s mind.


    Ibiki looked at scanned the room but his eye never stopped on any one particular. He would just glare on someone, making them stop cheating for a while just like a teacher who is on your side telling you¡­ your way of cheating is so obvious.


    "Those Kusa-nin, they are not normal at all." Raito rattled on but Ibiki made no move.


    Ibiki moved and glared at the Genins from time to time forcing them to make more mistakes.


    The pressure was an odd thing¡­. Some do great in pressure but others do worse. Everyone in rookie nine had finished and were waiting for Ibiki to announce the end of this exam but there were many who had cheated wrongly.


    Inside the bathroom stall, Kankur¨­ sneered as he took out a small micro scroll, quarter the size of his pinky then looked at the ''Ch¨±nin supervisor'' with a smile. "They don''t even know who is on who''s side. Isn''t that right, Karasu?"


    "Kakaka." The chipped mask fell to see a mechanical eye.


    Twenty teams were kicked out till now. Ibiki looked at the clock behind and raised his hands.


    "Stop Writing!" His voice was not high but everyone could hear it, making them freeze for a moment.


    "Your answer papers will be graded right now¡­. But I will be adding some more rules." Some ninjas who looked smart came inside and prepared a table and chair as Ibiki explained.


    Then again a ninja wearing face mask walked in with a big stack of paper and a big stamp.


    Genins looked in curiosity at the big stamp and the stack of the paper. Some of the ninjas with great eyesight like Neji and Sasuke immediately saw what it was.


    In red color, it spelled, ''REJECTED''.


    "Some more rules? We already finished the exams what more do you want?" a Genin sneered, he had already caught the whole play or so he thought. He had used hand signs to get answers from his friends and from what he knew, his bookish friend was only good for this, probably the reason he failed on the last Ch¨±nin exams.


    "It''s probably the last rule, you are getting from me." Ibiki held the stamp in his one hand and on his other hand, a plain paper.


    Looking at the Genins, he slammed the paper on the board and said, "I will give you ten minutes to decide if you want to hand in your papers."


    "¡­" There were some people who had a pondering look on their faces.


    One of the braves shouted, "What''s the catch? What happens if we decide not to submit the answer sheet?"


    "If you decide not to submit your answer sheet regardless of the fact that you have done all the ten questions then of course, you will get a zero. In other words, you fail and that means of course both your teammates fail as well.


    "¡­"


    "Haha." Some of the Genins started to laugh. One of them waved his paper and said, "Why wouldn''t we wanna submit?"


    "Ba~ka"


    "I don''t get it."


    "Why choices?"


    "Of course we will submit."


    "Who won''t?"


    "Yea, no problem."


    "¡­ You didn''t let me finish. If you decide to submit, you will be graded right in front¡­ and if you don''t get passing marks then¡­ you will not only fail¡­ BUT ALSO BE BARRED FROM EVER TAKING THE CH¨±NIN EXAMS EVER AGAIN."


    Most of the Genins looked at their paper then at Ibiki and lastly at one another.


    Bang!


    "That''s ridiculous! What kind of bogus rule is that?"


    "Yeah! There are lots of people here who have taken the exams before."


    "Yeah!"


    Hahaha. His heavy laugh created an eerie environment.


    ''Some kind of jutsu¡­ I have to get it.'' Raito thought as he repeatedly tried to calm Naruto, who was going over his papers again.


    "I guess that you were just¡­ unlucky."


    "I wasn''t making the rules before but¡­ I am now." Ibiki chuckled as he played with the stamp in his hand.


    "Of course if you don''t want to submit then you don''t have to. Of you are not feeling confident then you can leave. You can try again at the next Ch¨±nin exams."


    "¡­"


    "Last question, are you going to submit or quit?" Ibiki asked.


    The demonstration hall was silent and Genins began to look at the answer sheet uncomfortably.


    One of the examinees besides Naruto shifted uncomfortably and looked at his answer sheet. "I don''t know¡­Damn!"


    He clutched his paper and stood up, raising his hand. "I can''t do it¡­I can''t. I give up."


    "Number 50, fail. Number 130, number 110. That means you are out too."


    After one started, others also raised their hands. "Me too. I quit."


    "Me too, sir."


    "I quit."


    Hands started raising and people started quitting. One by one the groups were being sent out.


    Naruto who was looking at his paper turned his paper and started raising his hand.


    Raito "¡­What''s he doing?"


    Hinata "¡­"


    Sasuke "¡­is he quitting?"


    "Pull your hand down." Raito roared in Naruto''s head.


    While his hand was up, Naruto had his eyes closed, a painful expression in his face. Even the smart guy by his side had quit after writing so much.


    "That guy by your side was a Ch¨±nin. Don''t you remember? We even painted his whole house black and Jichan gave us a long lecture."


    "EH!?" Naruto was a little dumbfounded right now. He withdrew his hand slowly, being eyed by many people.


    "You can''t just put your hand down now." Raito sighed.


    Naruto nodded then glared as he looked around. His eyes settled on Ibiki.


    Ibiki chuckled as he looked back, "You have something to say, kid?"


    Naruto slammed his hand on the desk, making a big noise. "You don''t scare me. I am not gonna quit, ever, believe it. I don''t care if I get stuck as Genin all my life, I''ll still be HOKAGE."

 Chapter 54 - 54 – Uzumaki!

    Ibiki looked at Naruto, rolling his eyes inside his mind. "If you fail, you are not going to become a Genin for the rest of your life."


    "So what? I''ll believe that I will become Hokage." Naruto crossed his arms.


    "Don''t speak anymore." Raito glanced at everyone around. Some were getting infected, a small smile forming on their face.


    "Well, you Genins have time, ten minutes to be exact. After ten minutes is up and if you still decide to submit the answer sheet, place your answer sheet right here." Ibiki pointed at the table.


    After that Ibiki stayed silent letting time fly by.


    "Number 4, you are out. Number 31 and number 60. That means you both are out too."


    The Genin stood up and tore the paper before walking out. His two teammates smiled and followed behind him.


    "Saved himself, huh?" one of the Ch¨±nin used chakra to collect all the paper pieces and stick it back together. Leaning to the side, he said to a lady Ch¨±nin, "Definitely a failing material."


    After looking at the paper the lady Ch¨±nin also laughed but soon looked back at her targets.


    While many were panicking, Raito only closed his eyes, trying to feel everyone out.


    In ten minutes, two teams gave up and one more team was kicked out for trying to change their answer.


    Ibiki walked up at the end of the ten minutes and with a smile nodded at the Ch¨±nin supervisors.


    "This will be your last chance if you want to quit." Ibiki looked at the Genins and said again.


    "Hmph!" Almost all of the Genins present in the room were toughened from Ibiki''s slow but constant pressure.


    "Heh~ it looks like you all have grown some tough bone in your body." Ibiki waited for a moment before giving orders. "Submit your paper to the nearest Ch¨±nin."


    After all the answer sheets were collected, Ibiki smiled a little looking at the Genins, some who were still tense.


    "All of you did great. Get ready for the second round, tomorrow."


    "Huh!?"


    "Wait!" Temari stood up hurriedly and asked, "We passed?"


    Ibiki looked at Temari and nodded with a smile, "You passed."


    "What do you mean by that? You haven''t even checked the papers." She frowned.


    "I don''t need to. I determined that you all passed, so you passed." Ibiki had an amused smile on replying to Temari.


    "Does that mean that those ten questions didn''t matter at all? Those questions were a waste of time? Is that what you are saying?" Temari shouted.


    Raito narrowed his eyes looking at Temari, feeling that she didn''t have to question about it. Looking at Gaara, he didn''t have any expression. Gaara looked in front with a blank expression. Then Kankur¨­ had the same cheeky smile, he had from which he wore the whole time.


    "Those ten questions¡­ had an important purpose. To test your ability to secretively gather strategic information under the most adverse circ.u.mstances." Ibiki answered after laughing a bit.


    "Why do you have to answer her, Ibiki-oni?" Raito grumbled inside Ibiki''s head.


    "What about failing? Permanent barring from taking Ch¨±nin exams?" Temari continued.


    "Of course, to pressurize you." Ibiki answered in short and continued, "Forty forth training ground, tomorrow morning, 10 am sharp."


    Ibiki left after giving a glance to Temari and sand siblings. The Ch¨±nins also left followed by the Genins.


    "Shika, come here. Let''s talk." Raito smiled and waved to him.


    Shikamaru walked with his hand on the back of his neck while Ino ran to Hinata with a big smile. Ch¨­ji was the fastest, appearing in front of Raito with his hand in front.


    Raito smile helplessly then gave Ch¨­ji an extra huge packet of ch.i.p.s.


    "What do you want?" Shika sat on the seat and asked with clear signs of going to sleep, hand supporting his head.


    "Those three from Sunagakure." Raito then informed him about the previous encounter he had with them.


    Shikamaru looked at Raito and stood up. "Going against Konoha like this must be because of the missions that Konoha has been getting from the Wind country."


    "Wind Country is giving the missions to Konoha instead of their own hidden village? But why?" Raito tried thinking about it but couldn''t get to a conclusion.


    "The Ch¨±nin exams." Shikamaru answered then explained, "Konoha has been winning consecutively for the past two years in the Ch¨±nin exams. Also-"


    Ch¨­ji who was snaking suddenly said out loud, "Naruto''s there too."


    "What?" Raito looked at Ch¨­ji who was looking down from the windows.


    "They are down there," Ch¨­ji said then looked back to Raito.


    Shikamaru walked to the window and looked down, "Looks like a fight is going to start."


    Raito nodded then grabbed Shikamaru and Ch¨­ji then disappeared.


    On the ground floor, Naruto was in front while Hinata and Ino were behind Naruto. Opposite to them stood three members from Kusagakure. Two boys and a girl, and while the two boys were normal-looking the girl didn''t. The girl had red hair with red eyes and was wearing glasses.


    "Hey, why are you blocking the way?" the Genin from Kusa pointed at Naruto and shouted.


    "¡­" Naruto stayed silent and looked at the girl from Kusagakure.


    "Naruto-kun."


    "Oi, Naruto. Why are you standing like a piece of wood?" Ino snapped after being annoyed with the shouting Kusa-Genin.


    Step. Step.


    "Hey Naruto, What are you doing?" Raito voice appeared on the ground.


    The Genin stepped in between the Kusa girl and Raito then glared with annoyance looking at Raito.


    "What''s happening, Naruto?" Raito asked with a voice transmission.


    "You are Uzumaki, right?" Naruto asked which shocked Ino and Hinata, who seemed to have some knowledge about it.


    "No, she is not. She is from Kusa. Now back, off." The other Kusa-Genin boy stood defensively in between and took out his sword ready to fight.


    Raito had finished reading all that ''Observe'' had to provide. After looking at the girl, Raito took in a deep breath and shouted, "Konohagakure and Uzushiogakure are eternally bonded. Our first Hokage, Hashirama Senju married the Uzumaki princess of that time, Mito Uzumaki, creating a life-long treaty."


    "Anyone from Uzushiogakure is welcomed by Konohagakure and protected at all costs. That is why we wear the symbol of Uzushiogakure in our village jacket." Raito ended and looked at the red haired girl.


    The girl took a deep breath and shouted as her two teammates had turned away from her. "My name is Karin Uzumaki. Help me." With that Karin plopped down to her knees.


    "You¡­" The sword holding Kusa-Genin turned and glared at Karin.


    "No, you don''t." Naruto jumped with his hand reaching for the Kusa-Genin.


    "Shadow Binding complete." Shikamaru bound the two Kusa-nin and paralyzed them.


    Along with two Kusa-nin, Naruto was also frozen, unable to move, except he was stuck in the air.


    "What''s going on?" one ninja wearing Kusa forehead Hitai walked in and looked at his Genins with Karin and Naruto. It looked like he was the J¨­nin instructor of this Kusa team.


    "What are you three doing? Get back to the hotel, right now." He ordered in harsh tone.


    "H-Hai." The two were frightened and immediately replied.


    "Hai, hai. Let''s end it." Kakashi along with Asuma and Kurenai walked in the scene.


    "Konoha''s Kakashi, what''s with your Genins? They are surrounding my village''s Genin?" The Kusa J¨­nin turned and pointed at Kakashi.


    Kakashi ignored the Kusa-J¨­nin and looked at his Genins waiting for them to speak up.


    Raito coughed and stepped, "Our friend Uzumaki asked us ninja from Konohagakure for help."


    "Uzumaki?" Kakashi looked at Karin and walked towards her.


    "Kakashi." Kusa J¨­nin walked forward with a frown but was stopped by two ANBU-nin, who appeared out of nowhere and grabbed him.


    Kakashi walked towards her and extended his hand with an eye-smile. "You are safe in Konohagakure."


    A while passed as Karin finally extended her hand and grabbed Kakashi''s.


    Looking back at Kusa-J¨­nin, Kakashi smiled and said, "Let''s meet our Hokage. We will have a lot to talk about."


    Unbeknownst to many, they were under a complex Genjutsu, few being exception like Hinata, Neji, and Raito. Also there were a few who were too advanced for this Genjutsu but nobody intervened. They all knew too well, what would happen if they did.


    As Naruto shouted and stopped the Kusa-Genin and Karin, the Genjutsu had activated and many saw the things getting resolved before both parties walking back to the tower.


    Naruto stood with the gang outside Hokage office as Kakashi talked with Raito.


    "How did you know she was an Uzumaki?" questioned Kakashi.


    "She had red hair," Raito answered. It would have been far easier if Asuma and Kurenai were not looking at him.


    "Just that?" eyebrow raised, Kakashi asked again.


    "Her chakra, I guess." Raito answered in short.


    "Chakra, huh? I heard that some sensor-nin describe chakra. They say that each individual has different kind of feeling." Kakashi rubbed his chin and explained.


    "I can''t do that but Naruto and Karin''s chakra feels the same, like¡­ a bit heavy or something like that." Raito lied.


    "You created a ruckus just based on that?" Kakashi looked at Raito for any changes.


    "It was a gut feeling, you know. What more do you want? And it all started because of Naruto, not me." Raito turned around and pointed to Naruto.


    "Raito, Hokage-sama is calling for you." Mariko opened the door and looked at Raito. She gave a glance at Naruto then said after some thinking, "Naruto, you should come, too."


    "Hai." Naruto and Raito walked in, leaving everyone behind.


    "That girl¡­ she is an Uzumaki?" Ino asked to no one.


    Kakashi nodded and said, "Her chakra stores are definitely larger than normal but not an Uzumaki level."


    "Only Hokage-sama knows how to authenticate if she is an Uzumaki or not."


    "Clan of seal master, a clan of brave warrior. Immense chakra level and powerful jutsu¡­" Asuma sighed.


    Inside the Hokage office, Hiruzen opened a small fridge and gave Naruto a juice bottle.


    "So, Naruto, what happened back there?" Hiruzen asked sitting in his Hokage seat.


    "I don''t know. I just felt that¡­ that she was family, like Raito but it¡­ ugh it''s hard to explain." Naruto tried to explain.


    "Well, no worries. Today I want you to meet someone." Hiruzen turned knocked on the window glass.


    While things were happening in the Hokage office, Raito sat inside a small room with Karin. It started with sealing Karin''s chakra and a long process of interrogation.


    "So you were forced to work as a healer?" Raito raised his eyes and looked at Karin then at her arm which was covered by long sleeves.


    She was quiet and answered only talked when she was asked. To Raito''s question, she just nodded and made a small sound.


    Raito closed the folder and faced her, "Do you remember your birthday?"


    "Huh? Ah, June 20." Karin felt confused. She looked at Raito feeling confused about why he was asking about it.


    Raito smiled and turned the folder opening it and pointing at her personal data area showing her birth date, June 20 and horoscope, Gemini.


    Karin looked at the folder and looked at Raito in slight awe and fear. The folder not only contained her birthday and horoscope, which she just revealed but it also contained all the things she told him and all the things she hadn''t told him. She only felt relief that it didn''t contain everything.


    Raito brought out two bottles and passed one to Karin. "Drink up."


    She grabbed the bottle and opened it but before drinking, she asked, "What color of u.n.d.e.r.w.e.a.r am I wearing?"


    Raito who was sipping was immediately choked. Not only he reacted but the ANBU who was hiding in the corner of the room also made a sound.


    "What the hell was that?" Raito glared at Karin and asked.


    "You already know so much about me. I guessed you could-"


    Bang! "Why don''t I bring a Byakugan user for you to show off?" Raito''s smile had evil intent all over it.


    A muscular ANBU wearing a horse pattern mask came out of shadow and glared at Raito. Looking at the folder then at Karin, he said. "If you want to add something then add now."


    Karin nodded and added a few more things before giving it to the horse masked ANBU.


    Without even looking, he closed the folder and walked out of the small room. Before walking out, he looked at Karin and added, "We will get back your mother''s urn and make a few heads roll¡­ if you want."


    While glaring at Karin, Raito brought out a few food items and gave her disposable chopsticks. "You look like you need some food."


    As Raito opened the cover, mouthwatering smell exploded stimulating Karin as she hurriedly grabbed the chopsticks and wolfed down everything.


    After she had finished eating, Raito looked at Karin and guessed. "That''s how bad it was, huh?"


    Karin immediately looked at Raito and paused. The fear in her heart which has just extinguished grew even more strongly as she placed chopsticks on top of a bowl.


    "If you wanna ask me anything then ask." Raito frowned and waved his hands. He didn''t like the look Karin was giving him.


    Karin took in a few breaths and asked, "¡­Are you a human?"


    "Huh?" Raito looked at Karin and found that she was somewhat serious.


    "What do you mean? Of course, I am human." Raito pulled out a kunai and nicked his finger from where blood escaped.


    "Chakra!" Only after sensing chakra leaking from blood and wound Karim patted her c.h.e.s.t and heaved a sigh of relief.


    "Now, explain!" Raito demanded. Even he, himself felt a bad premonition as he heard her questioning his race. Because he had gamer powers and others didn''t, Raito felt that he was something else not a human or like.


    "Ah¡­ you see¡­ I am a sensor. I can feel chakra." Karin waited for any kind of surprise outburst but failed as Raito just yawned and took out a book.


    "I can also feel chakra¡­ I say I can ''see'' with chakra." Raito boasted.


    "You?" Karin looked closely at Raito but found nothing.


    "Yeah, it''s somewhat a family jutsu." Raito smiled seeing Karin sigh. He looked through the wall and found Hiruzen and Jiraiya talking with Naruto.


    Focusing on Karin again he added, "With that same technique I created this layer of protection."


    ''Stealth ¨C Release''


    He activated the skill inside his mind and for the first time in the past three months exposed his chakra. "I am letting you have a peak." Raito smiled like a devil and extended his hand.


    Karin stared in a daze then extended her hand and grabbed Raito''s.


    Raito''s chakra felt like a thread from far. However, the next moment she saw the thread growing bigger and bigger. In the end, when Karin was standing in front of it, she couldn''t even see the end of that previously tiny thread.


    Peering inside she could blobs of golden yellow floating on the river of silver while.


    ''Just what is this?'' After Karin retracted her hand, she looked Raito in a daze.


    "So, what did my chakra feel like?" Raito asked.


    "I-I don''t know. It was like¡­ golden eggs floating on pure water." Karin didn''t know how to explain this type of situation. She had assessed hundreds of ninjas in her time of stay in Kusagakure but she had never seen anything like this.


    "It isn''t supposed to be like this. Like that old man outside with that hat-"


    "That''s our Hokage, ya know?" Raito immediately stopped her.


    "¡­Sure, his chakra feels like a heavy like something pressurizing you but warm. And the long white hair man, his feels like burning fire which makes your heart beat faster."


    "Then there is¡­ that Naruto. His chakra feels like¡­ warm and fuzzy." Just as she was about to face Raito she was drawn back to Naruto. Her eyes constricted as she gulped with difficulty. "There- there''s another chakra inside him dark, so dark. It feels evil."


    "Sleep" Chakra activated seeping into Karin''s body, directly traveling to her brain system.


    "If it wasn''t for your chakra being sealed, I couldn''t have done it." Raito looked at her with a frown.


    "Such¡­" Her eyes felt heavy and her body gave up. Karin couldn''t even think as she felt her conscious fading.


    Raito looked at Karin for a long time before walking in the Hokage office.


    "Raito-kun."


    "Raito!"


    Jiraya looked at Raito for a while before his gaze returned to Hiruzen and Naruto.


    Raito looked at the three with a weird expression on his face and quickly reached the door. "I''ll go and prepare for tomorrow. Bye bye."


    With that, he quickly left the Hokage room and walked out to see Hinata, Shikamaru, Ino and Ch¨­ji waiting for him.


    "What are you guys doing here?" After walking out, Raito saw everyone waiting.


    "Waiting." Ch¨­ji ate his ch.i.p.s and answer in short.


    "You''re late." Shikamaru woke up from his nap and yawned.


    "So, so." Ino jumped in front of Raito and with a small smile asked, "So, who is that girl? Is she an Uzumaki? How''s she-"


    Raito immediately pushed his palm forward to stop Ino.


    "A-Rank secret. So unless you are a J¨­nin, I can''t tell." Raito lied.


    "How about I treat you to BBQ?" Ino winked.


    "I''ll go." Ch¨­ji raised his hands and shouted instantly.


    "I am going shopping." Raito dragged Ch¨­ji and walked out.


    "Ah! Don''t run away, Raito." Ino ran following Raito.


    Shikamaru stood up and stretched. He looked back at Hinata and asked, "I guess I will be following them. Are you going to wait?"


    "Um¡­ that¡­" Hinata hesitated.


    "Wait a while more and bring Naruto with you to BBQ." Shikamaru waved his hand.

 Chapter 55 - 55 – Forest of Death

    Anko Mitarashi, wearing bodystocking with a skirt and long coat, patted Raito''s head. She made chewing noise as she ate the rice dumplings with a content smile.


    "How can you make such good dango?"


    Raito caught her head and removed from his head, "I am just a genius. It''s not a big deal¡­"


    "Genius, huh?" Anko went back and sat on her desk and since no one was around, she smiled and asked, "It was you three, in my forest, right? Total of 36 times, not bad. "


    "¡­Yeah." Raito didn''t feel like he could hide it anyway so he told the truth.


    "But how did you find out? I don''t think anyone saw us coming or leaving." Raito asked as he stared at Anko.


    Anko didn''t answer but pulled open her long coat to reveal a small white snake coiling around her arm, Midori.


    "So that''s how it is." Raito tsked and pushed his finger on Midori''s head.


    "So, I heard from Ibiki¡­" Anko dangled her long legs and waited.


    "Group from Otogakure and from Kusagakure¡­there are a lot of Kusa Genin still remaining but I don''t exactly know their names." Raito sighed.


    "Here," Anko directly gave him all the pictures of the participants and smiled.


    Raito didn''t disappoint as he quickly picked three out and gave it to Anko.


    "Never seen them. Must be Genin, alright." Anko placed the pictures back on the stack then into the pocket.


    "¡­ The whole time in the exam¡­ they were watching Sasuke. Only at the last minute, they filled their answers." Raito mumbled.


    "When did you become so worried about Sasuke?" Anko had a teasing smile on her face.


    "Worried?" Raito looked at Anko weirdly and added, "The reason that we are being added in the Ch¨±nin selection exam this time is because of Sasuke, isn''t it?"


    Anko''s smile stiffened.


    "Anko-sama, its time." One Ch¨±nin appeared in front of Anko and announced.


    Anko was still looking at Raito. Only after a long time, she said, "Kakashi recommended you guys two months before selection of Ch¨±nin exam, way before anyone even announced for the exams¡­. Even before Daimy¨­ asked for Sasuke''s participation."


    "¡­"


    Raito walked out of the inner area with a daze and reached where all of the Genins had gathered.


    Shikamaru who watched Raito walking in a daze threw a stone in his direction. Not even out of his daze, Raito''s hand moved automatically and caught the stone.


    "What the heck?" Raito glared at Shikamaru.


    "Ahhh!!" Naruto screams alerted everyone.


    Anko grabbed Naruto from behind and licked the blood coming out of his cut in the cheek. "Naruto-kun, just where were you? I missed you soo much~"


    "Let-let me go~!!" Naruto screamed and struggled.


    "Che~ you are no fun." Anko let go of Naruto but before she could even move her kunai was served to her, held by a tongue.


    Looking back, she saw that it was one of the three Kusa-Genin Raito had pointed.


    [???]


    [Observe (Active) Lvl 72]


    "I should work in ''Observe'' more." Raito locked onto the Kusa-Genin as he narrowed his eyes.


    The ''Kusa-Genin'' moved her head slowly and her eye moved to the corner looking at Raito. Raito gave a small nod and turned his head, ''I didn''t even look at her directly¡­''


    Anko who was momentarily stunned threw the kunai which lodged deep in the tree.


    "It''s good you have not done any hanky panky. Stand behind me next time and I will personally deal with you." Anko threatened but the Kusa Genin only smiled back.


    Anko smiled back then patted Naruto on the shoulder then walked back to the line of Ch¨±nin proctors.


    "Listen up Genins! I am the examiner of the second round of Ch¨±nin selection exam, Mitarashi Anko." Anko announced and looked at everyone on the ground.


    Then turning back, she looked at the fence dividing the two worlds. On one side the woods were chopped down and small huts were made but on the other side of the fence were tall and thick imposing trees, which was rumored to be the training ground of Senju Hashirama.


    Senju Hashirama created this forest of radius ten kilometers and grabbed bunch of wild and dangerous animals from all over the fire country. Although he missed some, he captured most of them who were wreaking havoc and dumped them in this small forest.


    Snakes, centipede, lion, tigers, leech, bears, etc. Not just animals but even the plants and insects were said to be poisonous and can endanger life. The small forest has its own system with rivers passing through it. Of course, the river didn''t open to the outside world but was made in a loop by the Konoha ninjas. Another important part of this training ground, standing in the center is a small tower that has never been destroyed nor touched in this past hundred year by those dangerous beasts.


    "Training ground forty-four also called the Forest of Death."


    Anko nodded to one of the Ch¨±nin and continued, "Before we start with the second exam, I want you all to sign on these consent forms."


    "Why?" Naruto asked instinctively. Raito hid his face and looked elsewhere.


    Anko looked in amus.e.m.e.nt as faces started turning pale and others had a cold gleam hidden in the eyes.


    "From now on out, corpses are going to come out. I''ll have to get your consent or it''ll be my responsibility." Anko explained.


    The forms were passed to everyone.


    "Well, I am going to start the explanation for second exam. In simple version, it''s a survival mission. First let''s talk about this training ground. Training ground 44 has 44 locked gated with forest, river and a building in the center and has a radius of 10 kilometers from the center, the tower."


    "It must be obvious that you have to reach the building but there is something more¡­ It will be ''Anything goes Scroll Battle''."


    "Scroll Battle?"


    "She said anything goes." Raito nudged Shikamaru.


    "Scrolls?" Shikamaru sighed as he looked at Anko and the consent form.


    "Yes." Anko took out two scrolls from her long coat one blue and another white. The white scroll had ''Heaven'' character inscribed on it whereas blue one had ''Earth'' inscribed on it.


    "There are 25 teams who passed the first round of exams. And now every group will be getting either ''Heaven'' or ''Earth'' scroll."


    After waiting for a while, a Genin spoke up, "It''s just that?"


    "Of course not. Now rules." Anko smiled as faces started getting dirty.


    "Rules, again?" some Genins grumbled.


    Anko started, "First, you will have to gain one heaven and one earth scroll for your group."


    "Thereby eliminating the half of everyone here." One Genin snickered.


    Anko nodded slightly and continued, "Second, you have 120 hours or five days from the opening of gates to reach the tower.


    "Five days!?" Ch¨­ji immediately shifted close to Raito. "I want to change team."


    One of the Ch¨±nin proctor with glasses fixed his glasses and frowned at Ch¨­ji''s interruption.


    One of the Genin raised his hand, "Can I ask-"


    "No." Anko immediately stopped him.


    "Moving on, conditions of disqualification."


    "Number 1, if your team can''t make it to the tower with both ''Heaven'' and ''Earth'' scrolls within the time limit."


    "Number 2, if a team loses a member or if a member became incapacitated."


    "Then there is a supplement¡­. Absolutely do not look at the content of scrolls until you have reached the tower."


    Kankur¨­ raised his hands and immediately asked, "What''s gonna happen if we look at it anyway?"


    Anko looks at Kankur¨­ with playful smile and answered, "When you look at it¡­ you''ll find out!"


    "Huh~!"


    She walked back and pointed at the Ch¨±nin. "Sign those consent papers and submit them to get either ''Heaven'' or ''Earth'' scroll."


    Ninjas from different villages walked back and front with the consent forms but most of them who had already experienced life and death battles signed without hesitation.


    Raito leaned on the tree and waited for other teams to exchange. While he kept eye on the other teams, he didn''t forget about his own team. Naruto didn''t even think for a second before signing. But what surprised Raito was Hinata who had already signed her paper.


    To the very end, Raito sat, leaning on the tree despite Hinata''s confused eyes and Naruto''s constant buzzing.


    "Shika''s team got Heaven scroll." Raito nodded and together with Hinata and Naruto submitted their consent form.


    Anko smiled as she handed Raito a ''Heaven'' scroll. "Who''s the prey?"


    "The weakest one, of course," Raito replied with a smile back and winked then with a Ch¨±nin went for their gate.


    "Raito! Let''s beat as many as we can." Naruto palmed his fist and smiled.


    "Naruto-kun, we have a mission." Hinata grabbed Naruto''s clothes and spoke softly.


    The Ch¨±nin looked back and suggested, "It will be better if you¡­ get the scroll and reach the tower as fast as possible."


    Raito looked at the Ch¨±nin but didn''t say anything. What could he say? There was a mission for them to complete and Sasuke was the main factor.


    Standing in front of the gates, Ch¨±nin picked up his clipboard then announced, "Team 3 of the Ch¨±nin selection exams, Konohagakure, Yoshizawa Raito, Hy¨±ga Hinata, and Uzumaki Naruto."


    "You three have 120 hours to get the scroll and reach the tower. If you don''t reach the tower in time you will naturally fail."


    "¡­ Inside the forest-"


    "We know, senpai," Raito assured.


    The Ch¨±nin sighed looking at the Genins. He was the same, confident about his first exam¡­


    "¡­ Don''t open the scroll, no matter what." The Ch¨±nin grabbed the chains on the gated and pushed his chakra, making the lock, unlock and the chains rattle, opening the metal gate in front.


    "GO!" The Ch¨±nin banged open the gates and shouted.


    "Hai!" Naruto, Hinata, and Raito dashed inside, climbing the tree as fast as possible.


    "Try not to make noise," Raito commanded and a layer of chakra covered his shoes. Naruto and Hinata nodded and they also covered their feet with chakra.


    After a five minute distance they stopped in a rather tall tree branch then Raito called, "Hinata,"


    Hinata activated her ''Byakugan'' and searched the forest, her target was Konoha-nin. At the same time, Raito used ''Chakra Sense'' to seek out the teams he was searching for.


    "One team from Konoha there and one from Suna there." Raito pointed left then right looking at Naruto.


    "I''ll check them out." Naruto with a smile positioned into his famous cross hand seal and shouted. "Shadow Clone." Directly creating six clones of himself.


    "Transform and attack them." Raito nodded and turned towards Hinata.


    "Henge." Immediately dividing themselves into two groups, the clones went to two different directions, soon disappearing from their area.


    "I found Kiba-Kun''s team. They are near but it will take time. As for Ino''s team, they are quite far." After scouting with Byakugan, Hinata reported it to her teammates.


    "Which direction?" Raito asked for which Hinata raised her hand and pointed to the left direction.


    "Both?" Raito asked for which Hinata nodded and closed her ''Byakugan''.


    "Then let''s go that way." Naruto squatted and jumped on the spot showing his eagerness.


    "Hinata?" Raito looked towards Hinata.


    "¡­ Mm." She nodded after a while.


    "Take this." Raito gave each a stone bead and asked them to keep them in their pouch.


    "What''s this for?" Naruto asked. He looked at the stone bead, even raising it high and trying to look through it.


    "If we get separated that it will come in handy," Raito answered.


    "Like a tracker?" Hinata raised her question but her hand went to the pouch, placing the stone bead in it.


    "Something like that." Answering vaguely Raito jumped to the next tree.


    Hinata followed without hesitation and Naruto shrugged his shoulder and followed them.


    Team 8


    "Shikamaru to left and Raito to right, where do you want to go, Sasuke?" Kiba shifted his narrowed eyes around and his nose moved taking small packets of smell.


    "Arf!" Akamaru jumped from the top landing on Kiba''s head.


    Shino released his insects letting them roam around. He pocketed his hand and started, "Both of them have ''Heaven'' Scroll. It would be a smart choice to go after team 10 but¡­"


    "Yeah, I remember the mission¡­ Work together they said¡­" Sasuke played with the scroll then passed it to Shino. "Keep it."


    "Team 7 and team 10 are going to help each other. If we attack one team, we will have to deal with both of them¡­ let''s look for other teams."


    "It''s an all-out fight. What are you so afraid about? It''s just-"


    "Kiba-san." Shino looked at him with his sunglasses even at the darkness of the forest and said, "Don''t forget that if we go for their scroll, they can also go for our scroll and¡­ I believe that they will definitely team up."


    Team 10.


    "Raito''s this way." Ch¨­ji pointed at a direction.


    "Let''s go, let''s go." Ino pumped her fist.


    Shikamaru sighed and followed them. "I am dying for a D-Rank right now."


    Team 13


    "We are going to reach the tower first," Gennai shouted to Ami.


    "Gennai." Karu grabbed Gennai and hid in the bushes.


    Ami dropped down from the tree after getting Karu''s signal.


    "What happened?" She asked full of dissatisfaction.


    "Shh, Suna-nin and Ame-nin are coming." Karu pointed at the distanced and answered softly.


    "I didn''t see anyone." Gennai removed Kaur''s hand forcefully and said.


    Karu tsked and replied, "That''s why I told you to invest in scouting jutsus."


    Ami who was looking around even after Karu''s warning, immediately dropped her head. "They are here."


    Two shinobi groups, one from Amegakure and others from Sunagakure.


    "Do you wanna surrender your scroll or fight and die?" Ame-nin wearing a spiky jacket and with umbrellas on his back stepped forward and challenged.


    "Heh," Temari smirked as she looked at the patched group who didn''t show any teamwork from the time they were following them till now.


    "Are they stupid or what?" Kankur¨­ smiled.


    "¡­" Gaara looked coldly at the Ame-Genin.


    "It seems that you have chosen." The Ame-Genin captain grabbed the three umbrellas from his back and threw them high in the air.


    "I will collect the scroll from your corpses then." "Ninja Art ¨C Senbon Shower."


    With his command hundreds and thousands of senbon escaped from the umbrella and under the influence of his chakra directed to the Suna team.


    Kankur¨­ and Temari didn''t even flinch. Gaara didn''t seem to be affected too but the area around him was already covered by sand.


    "Die!!" He shouted and the senbon went flying towards Gaara.


    Cloud of dust rose, creating a camouflage, which Team 13 took advantage of and backed away from the area.


    "I felt that chakra." Karu touched his c.h.e.s.t and looked at where the dust cloud was.


    "Those Suna-nin are definitely¡­ abnormal." Gennai gulped.


    Back on the battleground, armor of sand covered Gaara which had caught all the senbon. Even the area behind Gaara, senbon had landed in front of Temari, none hitting their target.


    "Is that all?" Gaara released the sand armor then all the senbon fell on the ground.


    "I''ll show you!" The Ame-Genin captain glared at Gaara then looked at his teammates.


    His teammates also threw their umbrella towards the sky then took out a bamboo pipe.


    "Hu!" the two Ame-Genin took two breaths then blew on the pipe. Purple smoke was released from the pipe spreading everywhere.


    With a few hand seals, they released chakra into the purple smoke. "Ninja art ¨C Poison Dragon"


    The purple smoked released from the bamboo tubes formed shape, turning into a dragon.


    Gaara looked at the captain of the team while waiting for them to finish preparation.


    "It''s your last chance. Give the scroll or face death." The Ame captain shouted once again.


    "Temari," Gaara called out as he looked at her with the corner of his eyes.


    Temari nodded then took out her fan. "Chakra infused smoke, the second star should do."


    Temari opened the fan which showed two purple full moons. She kicked the fan at base then activated her chakra. She grabbed the slightly raised fan and swung it.


    "Wind Release ¨C Trapping Wind"


    Woooo~


    "Whirr!!" The poison dragon collapsed under the net of sharp wind. Slowly compressing the poison smoke, Temari smirked then pushed the encapsulated smoke back at the Ame-Genins.


    "Temari," Gaara growled.


    He looked at the Ame-Genins. His wicked smile terrified his siblings behind him mainly Kankur¨­. Gaara''s sand rushed towards the Kusa-nin trapping them inside.


    "I give up¡­I give¡­up. Let¡­ le¡­ go!"


    "Stop shouting!" The sand hovered in the air covering the Ame-Genin like a cocoon. "Mm¡­ mm¡­ mmm!"


    "Sand Binding Coffin"


    The sand rushed inwards destroying everything inside it. Then the sand slowly returned back leaving mangled corpses or whatever was left of it.


    Kankur¨­ moved forward and grabbed the scroll which had fallen down, accidentally or otherwise. "Earth scroll, we are in luck."


    "Ekk!" Ami immediately closed her mouth with her hands as she realized that she had made a huge mistake.

 Chapter 56 - 56 – Danger in the Forest!

    "Eek!" In the past year, Ami had seen a lot of killings but it was her first time seeing such horror. Crushing people into meat paste, such ruthlessness, it was the first time she had seen something like this.


    Gaara looked at her direction and revealed a crazy smile. "There are a lot more prey for me."


    Kankur¨­ kept the scroll in his pocket, turned to Gaara and said, "Gaara, stop! We already got both the scrolls. Let''s go to the tower, fast."


    Gaara didn''t listen to him but stretched his hand forward towards Ami and her team''s direction. On his command, the sand rushed towards Konoha''s team direction like unending flow.


    "Ami, run!" Gennai dragged Ami, who had closed her mouth and stiffened, started running.


    Karu looked back and gulped. Taking a deep breath he muttered, "It''s just sand." A few times under his breath to gain courage.


    Then he started going through a couple of hand seals. "Bubble Bomb"


    Taking a deep breath in Karu blew through his hands, creating water bubbles as he ran away.


    "Gaara! Stop!" Kankur¨­ grabbed Gaara''s shoulder and pulled him back.


    "Hm?" Gaara looked back murderously at Kankur¨­ then growled, "I''ll kill you."


    Kankur¨­ stiffened then released his hand. As Gaara turned back, Kankur¨­''s face turned black, wanting to curse but he didn''t dare to. This monster might really kill him¡­


    Then Gaara turned back ready for another round of killing but this time, Temari stood in front of him with a desperate smile.


    "Listen to big sister, okay, Gaara?" Temari gave a small smile as she looked at Gaara.


    Gaara shifted his eyes towards Temari for a few seconds then he focused back towards Team 11 again.


    Karu looked at the sand chasing them and grew anxious. "Science, please don''t fail me now. Explode!"


    Karu looked back and smiled as he saw the sand slowing down and eventually stopping.


    "Small tricks," Gaara commanded the sand then on his will water began escaping the sand, returning to lighter and sandy form. "Hehehe¡­ kill you."


    Karu''s face immediately turned pale as he tried thinking of ways.


    "Gaara! Listen to your older sister, please¡­. We have both ''heaven'' and ''earth'' scroll. We have a mission to complete." Temari gripped Gaara''s hand and said.


    "¡­" Gaara looked at his hand caught by Temari, pulling it back. "Don''t touch me."


    "¡­" He didn''t say anything for a while but withdrew his sand back and put the cork on top of the sand holding gourd.


    Kankur¨­ looked at Gaara and gritted his teeth. "¡­"


    The reason they were trying so hard to stop Gaara from killing was that he would go into a frenzy and destroy everything around him. And since Baki wasn''t here controlling Gaara would be near impossible.


    Scene change to another Suna-ninja group who had trapped the other team in their metal strings web.


    One Suna-Genin looked through the pouch of the opponent Genin before throwing. He then turned around and shook his head. "Captain, he doesn''t have the scroll."


    "Not here." The other Genin raised his voice after searching the whole body.


    "These tree huggers are not that stupid as they look." The captain of the team sighed.


    "And I thought it would be an easy one, seeing that they just walked right into our trap." The Suna Genin grabbed on to the jaw of one of the victims.


    "Say it! Where''s the scroll?" He shouted and at the same time he started putting pressure on the jaw.


    The captain looked at the other two who were struggling. Taking out a dagger from his pouch, he thought of scaring them a bit more. So, he plunged the dagger deep into his captive''s t.h.i.g.h.


    But what he didn''t expect was that his prisoner would not bleed but explode into a cloud of chakra smoke.


    "What the heck''s that?" the Suna ninja cried and jumped back.


    Along with him both of his teammates narrowed their eyes, jumped back, throwing their kunai immediately.


    The kunai plunged deep into their bodies but instead of blood, there was a chakra cloud.


    "Shadow clone?" the Suna ninja frowned and shouted, "Go! Go! Go!"


    With the shout, they began to run away, as fast as they could but it seemed that their reaction was taken in mind by their opponent as they stood frozen after running a distance.


    "What happening cap''? Why can''t we move?" the Suna Genin tried to move in distress.


    "Shit!" Suna ninja shouted in anger as he tried moving but his body but he soon understood that he could only move his head.


    Looking down after a long struggle, they found Fuinjutsu marks on the ground, right where they were standing.


    "Fuinjutsu! Damn!"


    Although Sunagakure had some foundation on Fuinjutsu they were, after all, Genins and were not learned about Fuinjutsu more than they needed. Other than the explosion seal and storage seal, most Genins would not have more knowledge than that.


    Team seven stood on the tree branches waiting for the Suna-ninja to exhaust all their methods.


    "They have hidden weapons." Hinata analyzed and commented.


    "The one in the middle has the scroll." She added and let out a breath of relief after deactivating Byakugan.


    "Tree huggers! I knew it." The Suna-ninja struggled for a while and gave up.


    Hinata walked forward at the middle Suna-nin and jabbed at a few of his tenketsu. Deactivating her Byakugan, she grabbed the shuriken pouch and took out the scroll.


    She threw back the scroll to Raito and waited.


    [Earth Scroll]


    "It''s the earth scroll." Raito gave a small nod and smiled.


    Naruto already believed that Raito knew a lot of things. He never questioned Raito much about it but on the other side, Hinata got to know about this in the past few months when missions started becoming tougher and challenging. Without Raito''s mystical ability they would have taken a lot of time to complete those mission. There were times when Kakashi gave them group missions in finding people or things or finding reals and fakes, Raito would know what was what even though that item was not known by anyone, whether it was poison or not and even who the item belonged to. He would know everything. She had already stopped questioning about it. The most difficult thing about it¡­ was how they would explain it in the mission reports.


    Thank Kami-sama that the leader of the village, Sarutobi Hiruzen, had chummy relations with Naruto and Raito, mostly Naruto, who gave them ''suggestions'' in editing the reports. Although he was the final person to see the report, it would not remain like that forever.


    Raito walked to the Suna-ninjas with the scroll in his hands.


    "The seal will go off in six hours. I hope we will meet again at the tower." He said it with a ''small'' smile making them red with anger.


    "It''s just the first day. So, you still have a chance." Raito patted their shoulder then jumped disappearing into the woods.


    "See ya." Naruto smiled and jumped together with Hinata.


    After running a dozen meters, Raito stopped on a branch and took out two scrolls, one in each hand and said, "Heaven and Earth."


    "Now to the tower." Raito stood straight and pointed towards the direction of the tower. If there was a cape, it would definitely flutter.


    "Raito-kun, we have to gather with everyone," Hinata said with a bit of hesitation. She felt like Raito was just saying it but it was good to stop him before it gets worse. Things could go really bad if he wasn''t stopped.


    How could Raito have forgotten? He was just trying to make his life easier.


    "Ah, I forgot about them." Raito scratched his hand and sighed. His grand plan ''to leave them be'' sunk before even starting.


    "Raito-kun, Naruto-kun, Team 8 are fighting against someone," Hinata reported. She and Raito divided the duty to look for the Konoha ninja and report it from time to time in fixed intervals. So that they could act on it when time comes


    "Someone as an individual?" Raito asked as he checked his pouch, a suspicion growing in his mind.


    "Hai, someone from Kusagakure," Hinata answered. When she said ''Kusa'' worry began to grow in her heart. Just before Raito had asked her to check on Kusa-Genins specifically.


    "Well if he loses¡­ (Sigh) we have to help them." Raito replied with the expression as if he has eaten flies.


    "It''s not like Sasuke will lose, right?" Naruto raised his voice. Sasuke losing to Raito was normal but losing to some to the same generation was¡­ He felt abnormal about it. Of course, Naruto wouldn''t keep him in that loser group. After training lots, he would challenge Sasuke for the second strongest then may be ask Raito to fight but that would be later¡­ far into the future.


    "And Kiba-kun and Shino-kun are strong too." Hinata also chipped in.


    Taking out a picture from his inventory, Raito showed it to Hinata and asked, "Does that Kusa-nin look like this?" Raito took out this picture to jolt her memory


    "Mm." Hinata immediately nodded her head looking at the picture but then she stiffened.


    "Raito-kun¡­ that is¡­" Hinata began to worry now.


    "Yup, it looks like I was right. They are here for Sasuke and because I asked Anko-nee to place them directly opposite to Sasuke''s group." Raito sighed, he then took out a scroll from his storage seal in his forearm.


    "They just traveled somewhere around less than 20 km in just a few hours. That means they are definitely strong¡­" Raito sighed thinking about various little things. Raito would definitely try his best but his team was his priority.


    "Since spiking chakra has no use here so, I will use this. Look at this, you may need to use this in the future." Raito opened the scroll which had three geometrical shaped one inside another. Raito was trying to make them learn now but it seemed that Naruto was not in the mood at all. Naruto was constantly looking at his back, like someone was patting him on the back, calling him.


    Then taking out a paper from his pocket, Raito quickly wrote a report and placed it on top of the scroll.


    "Place it on top of the markings and inject some chakra into it." The innermost triangular markings came into life and latched on to the scroll then with a ''poof'' disappeared in a cloud of smoke.


    "Whoever has it''s pair will get the report, simple right? For this scroll, Anko-nee has its pair." Raito explained.


    Putting the scroll back, he stood up and faced towards Sasuke''s team''s direction and said, "Let''s go."


    "Wait!" Naruto shouted making Raito stop and turn.


    "What happened?" Raito frowned. Naruto was facing the direct opposite direction to where they were supposed to go.


    Seeing Naruto remain silent, Hinata pulled his jacket and called, "Naruto-kun."


    "I feel that guy, Suna ninja, Gaara. I can sense him¡­ he¡­"


    "What? You are a sensor now?" Raito joked but still tried sensing into that direction. After just a moment Raito patted Naruto''s shoulder then jumped to another tree


    "And it''s gone¡­ that''s confusing." Naruto scratched his head then turned towards Hinata and nodded, "Let''s go Hinata-chan."


    Team 8


    Sasuke plunged his kunai into his immobilized enemy but to his despair, his enemy turned into mud. It was just a clone, once again he got nothing while his enemy laughs at his face.


    "Good, Good." Laughter came from behind, praising Sasuke or teasing him, he couldn''t tell.


    Sasuke reacted fast and threw shurikens then grabbed the badly bleeding Shino and the unconscious Kiba then jumped down the tree.


    The woman looked with amus.e.m.e.nt at Sasuke who was running with his comrades. The more despair he felt, the wider the smile of the woman became.


    "That''s the power of Sharingan¡­" The Kusa-Kunoichi revealed a small smile then silently disappeared from the tree.


    Even with the burden of an additional two bodies, Sasuke ran, he ran for his life.


    ''My chakra is depleting fast and that crazy woman is just behind.'' Sasuke glanced back with fear.


    "Friends¡­ don''t you think they are just a burden?" A question with a giggle came from behind scaring Sasuke. Right now that kunoichi from Kusa was like a demon. She was far stronger than Raito was, no Raito wouldn''t even come in comparison. He was sure about that. That''s why he was running.


    Walking back slowly, Sasuke crouched down, looking at Kusa-kunoichi. The Kusa-kunoichi didn''t act but waited for Sasuke to put down his teammates.


    Taking a deep breath in, Sasuke looked at the Akamaru below and gritted his teeth. "Akamaru, I want you to look after them, okay?"


    "Arf!" Akamaru barked in confirmation.


    "Just¡­ who are you? What do you want?" Sasuke clutched the kunai in his hand and walked forward.


    "You are not here for the scroll or even for the exams. What are you here for? Why?"


    "Did you realize it just now? How disappointing¡­" Kusa-kunoichi teased


    "¡­"


    "¡­but you have potential, a lot of it¡­ more than your brother, Itachi."


    Sasuke''s whole body trembled then muscles began contracting. Gritting his teeth, Sasuke asked, "You know Itachi?"


    Equipping both his hands with kunai Sasuke was ready to attack with full force.


    "Yes, I have." The Kusa-kunoichi answered.


    "He is so much stronger than you¡­ right now." She laughed.


    Taking a deep breath, Sasuke closed his eyes and the next he opened his black eyes turned red with two magatamas circling the pupil.


    "That face, how amusing¡­"


    Swish!


    Sasuke threw the two kunai towards the kunoichi. Then he made a half ram seal with one hand.


    "Too straight forward." She easily dodged the incoming kunai swaying right and left.


    "Hah!" jumping from the ground, Sasuke rolled and delivered an overhead kick towards her.


    Thump!


    She easily blocked Sasuke''s kick with her hand then grabbed his leg hanging him upside down.


    "You really are weak-"


    Before she could finish talking she was enveloped in fire expelled by Sasuke.


    "Sharing can see chakra." Not believing it to be over he threw kunai with explosion talisman towards the fire.


    "Explode!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!!!


    From his pouch, Sasuke took out two soldier pills and downed it in one go.


    "It''s not the clone."


    After confirming that there was no chakra signature around, Sasuke looked into the enemy''s direction.


    A shadow was starting to get visible and the fire had started to die down, and she still had not decided to move, giving Sasuke enough time to recover his chakra.


    "It was fun, Sasuke-kun. But ninjas are starting to gather and its time we end this."


    Rat ¡ú Tiger ¡ú Dog ¡ú Ox ¡ú Rabbit ¡ú Tiger


    "Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire"


    Sasuke breathe out releasing a volley of small fireball all homing to the Kusa-kunoichi.


    She frowned then waved with one hand, creating blades of wind, instantly destroying the fireballs.


    With one step she walked out from the explosion site then with another she came face to face with Sasuke. Thrusting her hand forward she immediately grabbed Sasuke''s neck and pushed her chakra, immobilizing him.


    She pulled Sasuke towards her face then said, "You are weak¡­ Sasuke-kun. You cannot even compare it to Itachi right now. If you want to kill him, you''ll require power, true power. And for this¡­ you must come to me. In this village, you can never achieve true power¡­ you can only gain true power if you follow me."


    Sasuke gritted his teeth, still struggling to move.


    L.i.c.k.i.n.g with her long tongue and she said with a slightly trembling voice, "I''ll give you a parting gift. So you can remember me, Sasuke-kun."


    Ripping apart Sasuke''s t-shirt, she gave a wild smile. Mouth slightly open, she exposed her black fangs and bit on the junction of the neck and left shoulder. Very quickly black spots appeared around the two bite marks and formed tomoe.


    (Tomoe and magatama are a little different. Magatama is comma-shaped beads whereas tomoe are comma-like swirl symbols used in Japanese mon.) (PS: Google, I love you!)


    Releasing her hand, she dropped Sasuke then looked at the Shino and Kiba. While Kiba was still unconscious, Shino was awake but both of his arms were exposed and covered with black. It was his hive helping him in healing and repairing his body. Sadly he didn''t have that much chakra.


    Kusa-kunoichi looked at Shino and the black patch covering him and let out a small hum. "You little from Aburame clan are so persistent like your pesky little bugs."


    She let out a wide smile then pulled back the sleeves on her left arm where there was a wholesome Summoning Jutsu seal. Biting her thumb, she drew her blood across it pushing chakra on it. "Summoning Jutsu"


    Raging winds tore down the trees then a snake appeared out of thin air. A big, big snake, not like those in the fields beyond the gates in the grasses.


    The snake''s eyes focused on the three incapacitated humans and a small puppy. Ignoring Sasuke who was very important to its master, it still had two humans to eat and maybe that small puppy.


    Shino tried to move his body but was failing to do so. Kiba and Sasuke were lying unconscious and the only remaining able member of the team was a small puppy with battle power less than 10 due to the absent partner.


    "Nii-san, it seems I cannot help you." Shino tried commanding his insect colony to attack the snake or even help them move or run away, they remained silent, only concentrated on healing their host. It seemed that all those attacks had severely affected his colony and now there was the only final thing he could do.


    Shino took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. With that heavy exhale, the veins in his forehead dilated then his skin turned slightly red. Using his teeth, Shino made a cut at his own tongue letting blood fill his mouth.


    The snake flicked his tail, slapping away Akamaru, who was blocking its way, with huge force, throwing him deep into the woods. Then it raised his heads high and slammed down with vicious intention towards Shino and Kiba.


    The red flush on Shino''s face soon covered his whole body. After spitting out blood, he looked at the sky in acceptance and exhaled, "Forbidden technique-"


    "No, you don''t." Suddenly Naruto rocketed towards the huge snake with his army of shadow clones.


    Whoosh!


    A large boulder appeared out of nowhere and hit accurately at the snake''s eye, blinding it. Thus averting the death of Kiba and Shino.


    Army of Naruto clones kicked at the huge snake before jumping back to the tree and sticking to them.


    "Guys let''s do it."


    Injecting large amounts of chakra to their feet, the clones propelled forward, in-process destroying a large number of trees and in the next second, they reached the snake, who was writing and crying in pain. Due to its action, many Naruto clones were destroyed.


    The clones rolled before reaching the snake and gave a powerful leg drop, infused with his chakra.


    "Shadow Clone version: Uzumaki Drop"


    Bam!


    "Shino-kun, Kiba-kun." Hinata ran in worry seeing the unfortunate sight. She hurriedly used her healing jutsu on Shino who looked like had lost a lot of blood; his face was pale and breathing was shallow and fast.


    "Sasuke!" Naruto dispelled his clones and looked in shock at Sasuke who had no shirts writhing in unending pain. He hurriedly walked towards him and tried to help him but Naruto couldn''t think of any way to help him. He shook Sasuke a couple of times but Sasuke was not reacting to his callings at all.


    Looking around and not finding Raito, Naruto rummaged through his pouch and brought out a small vial, which had green liquid.


    Grabbing the writhing Sasuke, he carried him towards his group and laid him with them.


    "Hinata, use them." Naruto showed Hinata the vial before dumping it into Sasuke''s mouth.


    Hinata nodded then took out the vials and helped Shino drink it. Immediately after drinking it, Shino regained some color to his face.


    "It''s working." Hinata nodded then fed Kiba the portion then returned after checking that Kiba was fine. But there was his colony who was helping him heal, making Hinata''s job easier.


    On the other side, Raito held Akamaru and quickly used a ''Heal'' on him.


    [Akamaru Lvl 13]


    HP: 251/2000


    "You are really lucky, Akamaru." Raito waited for a while and used ''Heal'' several times before letting out a sigh of relief.


    [Akamaru Lvl 13]


    HP: 1990/2000


    "I can''t heal that ten points of health."


    [Fractures of ribs, femur, tarsus, metatarsus]


    "Sorry buddy, I never learned ''Bone Setting Technique''." Raito sighed then carrying the small puppy walked out the woods and reached where everyone was.


    Raito looked sideways at the big snake and walked towards Kiba. Putting Akamaru down, Raito wanted to go towards the snake but Hinata''s shout called him back.


    "Raito-kun!" her hands were covered in green chakra but the rate of healing was not fast at all. Shino was still losing hit points in a slow and steady manner.


    [Aburame Shino Lvl 28]


    HP: 500/3600


    CP: 200/2000


    CP: 600/4000 (Colony)


    "Shino-kun''s¡­ he is¡­" Hinata sniffed.


    "¡­" Raito observed for a while then said after some contemplation. "He must be supplying chakra to his hive¡­ I guess."


    "Then what should I do." Raito stared at everything around him then took out all the healing vial he had and gave it Hinata.


    ''Heal''. Raito activated his skill, recovering 250 points of health, instantly. With a few ''Heal'', chino was back to 2,000 hit points.


    "Raito-san, Hinata-san." Shino opened his eyes and looked at them. His lips were smeared with his own blood and his clothes were all tattered.


    Seeing that he still had the scroll with him, Raito raised a question after giving a glance at Sasuke, "Did you meet some kind of pervert? I mean¡­ why your clothes¡­ ahem, I was just joking."


    Hinata gave an angry glare at Raito as he turned in awkward nervousness.


    "My colony has suffered greatly, also both my arms have multiple fractures." There was a long silence as Raito looked at Shino.


    "¡­She was from Kusa and¡­ she was strong¡­ too strong for our age¡­ to be in this exam. She dealt with Kiba in seconds then it was me next. Her main focus was¡­"


    Shino looked at the unconscious Sasuke.


    Raito took out the picture from his inventory and showed it to Shino, "Is she?"


    "Yes, that''s her." Shino nodded and looked at Raito.


    "Raito!!" Naruto shouted on top of his voice.


    Naruto took a couple of steps back and pointed at Sasuke.


    Raito, Hinata, and Shino looked at Naruto then at Sasuke.


    "What happened!?" Raito shouted back.


    "His neck, he¡­ he¡­ has that mark too."


    Neck. Mark.


    Raito immediately jumped, rushing to Sasuke and looked at his neck. The tomoe was flashing, appearing and disappearing.


    [Cursed Seal of Heaven]


    "Damn!" Raito punched the tree making ch.i.p.s fly. That name, how could he forget?


    "Raito-kun, we should probably wait for the examiner," Hinata suggested.


    "¡­ No, Anko nee, curse seal. Damnit!" Raito gritted his teeth then slapped his own forehead.


    Raito took out a sword from his inventory which gave a red glow to the people looking at it.


    "If they come in contact, he can use the ''Curse Seal'' to weaken Anko-nee."


    "Then¡­ he¡­"


    He didn''t want to come to a conclusion right away. Raito took a deep breath and turned around.


    "Hinata, Naruto, can you take care of them?"


    Hinata nodded whereas Naruto looked at Raito intensely.


    "I will be back¡­ I promise." Raito turned around and walked.


    Walking pass by the purple snake, Raito raised his sword slightly, pushing chakra in it.


    "Midori will be a bit sad if I do this¡­ but¡­" Raising his sword high, Raito drew it down with full force.


    "Cleave."


    The chakra extended from the sword and matched the diameter of the giant snake.


    The sword descended slicing through but the giant snake disappeared in chakra cloud.


    "Anko-nee¡­ you have to be fine¡­ otherwise¡­" Raito gripped his fist and stomped the ground hard, disappearing into the dark forest.

 Chapter 57 - 57– Orochimaru!

    "So, that Kusa-nin really took action." Anko with three Ch¨±nin entered the forest. For Anko, this place was her home, she could walk around the whole forest with blindfolds on.


    At first, they wanted to go to Sasuke''s group''s location thanks to the Hy¨±ga on the team, who had already pinpointed their location. But in the middle of their journey, Anko stumbled and fell from the tree, which was really, really rare.


    "Anko-sama." One of the Ch¨±nin quickly reacted jumping downwards and catching her on time. It was the glasses-wearing Ch¨±nin who had given Ch¨­ji a glare earlier.


    "Anko-sama, what happened to you?" he asked while tapping her shoulders. It had never happened before so he was quite frantic.


    Anko''s body started trembling and her breathing started becoming heavy. With a grunt, she opened her eyes and pushed the Ch¨±nin hard, making him tumble a couple of steps back.


    Anko was trying to stand up and fight against this sudden pain but the mark on her shoulder had already activated and working against her. She crouched stabilizing herself with a hand and clawed her left shoulder, making several nail markings. Beads of sweat rolled from her forehead followed by chills running to her spine. She beat her c.h.e.s.t a couple of tries trying to relieve some pain.


    "Anko-sama, what''s happening?" that Ch¨±nin asked again, worried. He had never seen Anko, this weak before. She was the most hardcore person he had knew, outgoing and friendly to her friends and ruthless to her enemy, never showing her weak face to anyone. It was either her smiling face or her expressionless mask that they would ever see.


    The purple poison refinement symbol appeared on the back of her palm then her condition started improving. Anko stood up and took a deep breath in, trying to control her breathing and chakra. After feeling the ''Curse Seal'' calming down, she released the seal on her hand.


    "Damn." She cursed and spat. From her sleeves, a small white snake came out transforming into a giant snake.


    "Anko-sama¡­ I can sense him too." Midori reported to Anko her head pointing towards a direction. Midori could vaguely sense Orochimaru, the only other contractor of the snake summons.


    "Of course, it had to be that bastard." Anko murmured then jumped to ride on Midori''s head.


    She looked back looking at the three Ch¨±nin subordinates then started ordering.


    "Glasses, report to Hokage-sama and ANBU about the presence of S-Rank criminal in the forest of death. Tell them to send HORSE and BOAR as soon as possible."


    "Hy¨±ga, with me. Find them and tell me as soon as possible." She threw the pictures of the Kusa-Genins to the Hy¨±ga in the team.


    "Goatee, you will go back to the gates. Get some Ch¨±nin and tighten the security, circle in groups"


    "Hai, Anko-sama." The Ch¨±nins accepted their order and started working on it immediately.


    The Hy¨±ga landed on Midori''s head and started scouting. After a long time of scouting, a frown started appearing in his face. "Anko-sama, I can''t find them at all. I have checked all the hidden areas too."


    "Then go to the tower. Ask all the squads on patrol to be vigilant." Anko bit her lips and contemplated for a while before asking him to leave. His presence will only make things harder for her¡­ and one more life will be lost in his pursuit.


    "Anko-sama." The Hy¨±ga tried to speak up but Anko''s chilly snake-like glare froze him.


    "That''s an order," Anko shouted at the Hy¨±ga, with a little chakra mixed the Hy¨±ga didn''t dare disobey.


    "Hai." He jumped and disappeared towards the tower.


    "Bastard¡­" Anko cursed for a while, rubbing the seal on her shoulder.


    "Midori, let''s go," Anko shouted balling her hands into a fist.


    Anko and Midori changed direction several times in the past hours. Due to the presence of ''Curse Seal'' Anko could also vaguely lock onto him and Midori could point through the snake summoning contract.


    While there was only one summoning scroll to the snakes, there were different groups of snakes a summoner could be contracted to. Orochimaru made a contract with the purple snakes whereas Anko made a contract with the white snakes. Usually, the snake summoner would never fight amongst one another because the scroll was passed from one to another, usually in a master-disciple relationship but the case right now was a bit different.


    This fight between snake summoner led to in-fighting among snake clans, creating a turmoil among them. The in-fighting became so big that it caused the always dreaming old ancestor of snakes to act and end this small war.


    While Orochimaru had no qualms about the human sacrifices Anko did. So, she made a special request with the snake ancestor to only call for Midori and no human sacrifice. And the snake ancestor also agreed easily, Anko always felt downcast when she remembered it.


    Midori stopped for a while and said, "Anko-sama¡­ Raito killed a purple snake, just now."


    "Hm¡­ he is nearby," Anko said and started looking everywhere. She had already ignored what Midori had said.


    "Up!" Midori screamed and slithered quickly, dodging the attacks of a giant snake. It couldn''t be called attack as it was just falling on the ground.


    "Kukuku isn''t this my precious disciple, Anko." The Kusa-kunoichi rode on the purple snake and smiled, looking at Anko.


    "You¡­ Orochimaru! It''s you, I know it. I can never forget you!" Anko gripped her kunai and patted Midori''s head.


    "Orochimaru, I need that sacrifice anyway." With that, the purple snake under him disappeared. Orochimaru looked at Anko with the same small smile.


    "Anko-sama¡­" Midori called.


    "I know¡­ don''t worry." Anko made a half ram seal making Midori disappear in a cloud of chakra smoke.


    "Cute disciple, let''s see how much have you learned in these past years." He stood like a statue, signaling Anko to come.


    Taking out small pellets from her coat, Anko threw it towards Orochimaru. Then kunai added with explosive talisman was thrown. The pellets itself were explosives and coming in contact with the explosion talisman made quite an impact. She was ready for the next step, her left foot taking a step forward and right foot ready to push through.


    "I am gonna kill you whatever the cost!!" Anko dashed into the fire with palms ready to strike, the symbols brightening up on the back of her palm.


    "She is near! Orochimaru is also there. Wait for me! Anko-nee!" Raito finally found them using his ''Chakra Sense''. As expected from an S-Rank ninja, he was just so fast, already traversing few kilometer.


    Raito took out a talisman from his inventory and stuck it on his c.h.e.s.t.


    [Talisman of Speed]


    Type ¨C One-time Consumable.


    Effect ¨C Decreases the wind resistance around the user. Hence increasing the overall speed of the user.


    Duration ¨C 30 minutes


    Upon its activation, Raito felt the invisible wind pushing him disappear.


    Whoosh


    "I''m coming, Anko-nee. Please wait for me. I know I can''t beat that Snake-Sannin but I can definitely escape with you." Raito cried in his heart and sped up, easily crossing all the obstacles.


    Orochimaru still had that disgusting smile on his face. His hand caught by Anko which turned into a specific hand seal.


    "Tut. Tut. Tut."


    "You want to use ''Twin Snakes Mutual Death Technique'' on a mere earth clone, how wasteful." Anko heard Orochimaru call her from behind and froze. The half activated jutsu was immediately stopped as the ''Orochimaru'' in front of her turned into mud.


    With a half ram seal, Orochimaru activated the seal on Anko''s body. "Weaken!"


    "Argh!" Anko cried in anguish as chakra went out of control inside her body, causing damage to herself. Not anything serious like broken bones and muscle tearing but just pain, excruciating pain.


    Swaying, she tried to maintain her position at least but even that failed under the effects of excruciating pain. She could not control her body nor her chakra. As a result, she fell from the tree branch.


    "What a foolish disciple!" Orochimaru smiled then disappeared from the branch appearing next to Anko.


    "You have grown weak, my precious disciple." Orochimaru caught her neck, choking her.


    The ''Curse Seal'' was still activated, weakening her but now she could somewhat withstand the pain. May be Orochimaru had something to say thought Anko.


    "Why are you here? What do you want?" Anko had regained some strength and while she was still unable to use her chakra nor move her body, she had enough strength to talk.


    "Still stupidly loyal to that old fool, huh?" He pressured her neck with a little bit of force, making her cry out in pain then released her, crash on the ground.


    Orochimaru turned to a direction and smiled, "Somewhat familiar¡­"


    Turning around, he looked back at Anko and said, "I have my eyes on a boy¡­ very useful for me¡­ in the future."


    "Don''t stop this exam or I will create havoc in this pitiful leaf village." Orochimaru released Anko, letting her fall on the ground.


    Raito who was just a few hundred meters away took out a few items from his inventory.


    "My mission is to escape with Anko-nee. Not to fight with Orochimaru." Taking a deep breath, Raito disappeared in thin air. People must know now what he used.


    Orochimaru turned to the previous direction with a somewhat surprised expression. His smile deepened as he swept the area, "That chakra really disappeared."


    "You want to destroy Konoha?" Anko grasped her neck and asked after controlling her breathing.


    "Destroy Konoha? Hm¡­ I don''t have that much power but¡­" Orochimaru looked at Anko with even a bigger smile on his face.


    "But I want that boy¡­"


    "Which boy are you talking about?"


    "Take a guess¡­ my precious disciple. Think¡­and use your barbarian brain¡­ Kukuku."


    "¡­ No way. Uchiha?" While Anko didn''t care for Sasuke, the village needed him to show-off to the Daimy¨­. The only odd thing from Konoha this year was the forceful presentation on Uchiha Sasuke in the Ch¨±nin exams. She heard Hokage himself that several Daimy¨­ wanted to once again see Uchiha in action, good or bad.


    "Remember my words, don''t cancel this Ch¨±nin exam." Orochimaru felt good as he looked at Anko.


    "I gave him a gift just like I did to you." Anko''s face paled and she gritted her teeth in anger.


    "You want to kill him?" Anko shouted, pressing her hands on the cursed seal. She looked at Anko with deep hatred and a growl coming from deep within her.


    "Evil Suppression Seal. Just a useless seal, nothing more." Orochimaru''s hand glowed with pale bluish chakra with inscription forming on his palms. "Let me remove that useless seal and-"


    She took out a kunai from her pocket, aiming at her heart. "I would rather kill myself."


    "Kukuku¡­ I loved that about you, my precious disciple¡­" Orochimaru stopped then looked behind Anko. From his perspective, it looked like someone was using Genjutsu to conceal himself and was performing a long chain of hand seals. What he found ridiculous was that he couldn''t sense whoever was hiding behind Anko and how he got there


    "No, you don''t!" Orochimaru raised his other hand from where snakes came out targeting Anko and the person behind her.


    "Hiden Technique - Earth Needle Forest"


    Raito''s hand slammed to the ground, making earth below tremble. Earth needles formed from below threatening to make everyone in its range a pin cushion. Within seconds the snakes from Orochimaru''s hand were shredded into tiny pieces and were continuing forward.


    Orochimaru stepped on the needle and jumped high into the air and hovered using ''Earth Release: Light-Weight Rock Technique'' to keep himself afloat and looked below at the wonderful scenery of destruction.


    Looking down, he saw a sea of needles, made up of earth with range of around three hundred meters and in the middle, there was a bud-like rock, covered in black and shiny rocks.


    "I can''t sense Anko anymore." Orochimaru looked at the bud-like rock and appeared in front of it.


    "Nothing inside this chamber." Orochimaru came to a conclusion. After a final look, he disappeared from the area.


    Inside the dungeon, Anko and Raito laid on the grass.


    "He is very much real," Raito spoke up.


    "Definitely real." Anko nodded then stood up. She raised her hand above her brows and looked at the sea of needles.


    "You did this?" Anko asked again patting Raito''s head.


    "Of course I did," Raito answered smugly then looked at her shoulder, changing his expression into serious mode in an instant, "Anko-nee, Orochimaru is really powerful. You couldn''t stand a minute against him if he was serious, right?"


    "Sorry, I am no match against one of the Sannin and my former master, who taught me everything." Anko replied sarcastically and at the same time massaging her shoulders.


    "That thing needs to go." Raito pointed at the cursed mark and said seriously. With the help of gamer powers, he had already completed the seal-work needed for the completion of the ''Evil Suppression Seal''. The only thing left to do was join the seal work with Anko and her cursed seal.


    "Then shall we call another Sannin, Jiraiya-sama and even call Hokage-sama to do help us? Just because I can''t-" Anko asked even more sarcastic than before.


    "Anko-nee, I can do it." Raito took out a Fuinjutsu set with a big scroll. His eyes had an odd shine to it, showing eagerness to do it.


    "¡­"


    "Anko-nee?" Raito probed the silent Anko.


    "¡­ Hah! Raito it''s not like I am not believing you but it is a very, very, very complex seal-work." Anko gestured with her hands.


    "Will you even have enough chakra for it? Last time it was Jiraiya-sama and Hokage-sama, combined, who used all their chakra and sealed it with difficulty and even, they could only do it partially."


    "I already made all the seal for it. You just have to sit and¡­ withstand some pain." Raito tried to voice out his own part but it didn''t seem to have much effect.


    "¡­ Are you for real?" Anko looked at the big scroll Raito held and questioned. She really felt disbelief, just pure disbelief.


    "Of course I can. Even Jichan gave me a secret scroll to research, telling me that it was absolutely a very, very important Fuinjutsu." There was a big smile on Raito''s face. Even his nose was pointed high towards the sky, aiming to poke a hole.


    "Well¡­ Midori what do you say? Should we believe in this foolish little brother?" Midori poked her head out of Anko''s jacket and looked at Raito.


    Then there was a long silence. Raito waited for anyone of them to say anything, anything at all. He just couldn''t withstand the silence by his close person right now whereas Anko and Midori were communicating on their head, how to reject Raito as gently as possible.


    "Ah! Shit! I have to inform Hokage-sama about Orochimaru." Anko hurriedly stood up and slapped her head.


    "And that Uchiha guy is in danger. Damn, I am not going to become the proctor next time. It''s just too troublesome." Anko spat and lamented.


    Raito nodded his head, agreeing to her thought. It was better not to be the proctor or whatever in this exam.


    Hearing about Sasuke, Raito looked at Anko, who was rubbing her hair in distress and said out loud, "Right, right¡­ Oh! How could I forget to tell you? Anko-nee, Sasuke also has that cursed seal on him."


    "What!?" Anko glared at Raito and shouted, "And you are telling me just now?"


    "Why are you shouting? He will just have to get that seal-"


    "Stupid¡­" Anko bit her lips, contemplated for a while before finally deciding to say it, "Even if he wants to have the seal, he can only do it after he survives that hell."


    After a small silence, Anko added one sentence, "Only one in hundred people will survive under this cursed mark."


    "¡­Say what?" Thinking about a hundred people dying made Raito pale for a moment, a shiver running down his spine.


    "One in hundred will live and everyone else will¡­just die. Sometime even thousands will not survive."


    Simply thinking about it, beads of sweat rolled down Raito''s forehead but then a blue icy line passes Raito eye calming him down.


    "¡­ So what? If I try to interfere in whatever the process that is¡­ he will die. And I don''t want to kill an important ''asset'' of the village." Raito replied after some contemplation. He just said what he had gotten from ''Observe''.


    "He only has himself." Raito shrugged taking out a sandwich and eating it in front of Anko.


    "Plus he is an Uchiha, Uchiha genes or whatever should be able to help him¡­ to not die. Don''t you think?" Raito said in a bored tone. Clearly, he was fed up with Sasuke.


    Anko sighed hearing Raito speak. She looked at Raito and had a small smile on her face, "Let''s do it like this. If you can seal his cursed seal then I will also try it out."


    "Deal, we have a deal." Raito slapped her hand hurriedly, sealing the deal. It was like he didn''t even care about Sasuke, who was going to be his guinea pig.


    "If you go back on your words I will burn all your plush toys." Raito threatened with a smile.


    "I never go back on my words, if I ever did then I will burn all your games and books." She threatened back. Threatening on your face!!


    "¡­"


    "Now let''s go back. I have to report back to Hokage-sama." Anko pulled his arm and punched the air.


    "¡­ Anko-nee before that I want a jutsu from your library." Raito asked after a while.


    "Which one?" Anko asked rubbing Midori''s head.


    "Medical." Raito didn''t hesitate. He must fill his holes as soon as possible.


    "Okay." She tapped at Midori''s head making her spit out an extra-small size scroll.


    Raito looked at the scroll which returned to its normal size.


    Anko opened the scroll letting Raito choose. Raito looked at the column of jutsu names and quickly he found what he was looking for. ''Bone Mending Jutsu''


    "This one." Raito pointed while Anko looked at him.


    Anko traced her chakra over the jutsu name from where another scroll popped out.


    "Here you go." She threw the scroll towards Raito then sealed the scroll back. With everything clear, her next job was to alert Hokage and others of Orochimaru.


    [You have got the ''Bone Mending technique'' scroll. Would you like to learn it?]


    [Would you like to fuse the ''Bone Mending technique'' with ''Heal''?]


    Raito closed all the pop-ups with his thought.


    "Then I will go back." Raito hummed a tune, turning away.


    Anko grabbed Raito''s hand pulling him back. She had a serious face as she ordered, "Even if you have to pull him through or have to throw him to the doors of the tower, you must make sure that he passes."


    Raito looked dumbfounded at Anko then pulled his hand back, "Are you serious?"


    Anko nodded and explained, "Not only Daimy¨­ wants it, but even Orochimaru wants it now. The whole village needs it right now."


    "What if he doesn''t pass?" Raito asked.


    "¡­ Then everyone will have to pay the price. Orochimaru will cause trouble and many Daimy¨­ will be disappointed." Anko answered him and sighed. "If it was anytime else, I won''t have care shit¡­ but it is Orochimaru. He is dangerous, very dangerous. Even Kakashi''s chances are less than 30% of killing him. Combined Gai and Kakashi they have¡­ (Sigh)."


    "¡­ (Gulp) What the hell?" Raito punched a tree in frustration then continued doing so until the tree fell down.


    "Then what will happen if¡­" Raito mumbled but didn''t complete it. Dark thoughts swirling in his mind.


    Calming down, he caught Anko''s hand then exited from the dungeon.


    "How bad is the situation? Want my help?" Anko asked. She had a lot to do, from reporting to Hokage to plan further. There was much to be done. And if she was seen helping a team, then the situation may turn for worse.


    "Not that bad. I can handle it." Raito nodded then took a bento box to Anko.


    "What is it today?" Anko looked at the box excitedly then at Raito. His bento boxes always held surprises and the food was too good to be true.


    The mood had turned for good as Raito brought out couple of different varieties of food. Of course, her favorite choice was dango. So, before leaving, she took a small basket of dango and happily left for the tower in the center. Hiruzen and most of the important members must have arrived at the tower is what she guessed.


    "Raito!! Raito!!" Shouts came calling for Raito.


    Naruto was feeling really unwell remembering Raito''s face leaving the area. So he created a clone army and went searching for him.


    Raito looked dumbfounded at the Naruto clones and s.u.c.k.e.d in a deep breath.


    Jealousy, intense jealousy.


    Raito felt depressed thinking about his own shadow clone technique then looking at Naruto''s clone, the depression was multiplied by a hundred fold. It was just like looking at your crush talking with a handsome dude in the class. It was just a one-sided crush dude¡­


    Stomping the ground, Raito dashed towards the original and caught him. Hooking his arm around Naruto''s neck, Raito rubbed Naruto''s hair intensely.


    "I can compensate with quality alright." Raito sniffled.


    "Did ya find what you were looking for, Raito?" Naruto asked in concern.


    "I did." Raito nodded then turned to face Naruto. "We need to help Sasuke''s group pass."


    "¡­Why?" Naruto frowned for a second then smiled happily.


    "Anko-nee said so," Raito answered simply.


    Naruto froze and his smile stiffened. Punching the air he shouted loudly, "Then we must do it, definitely!"


    The clones started disappearing and Raito and Naruto started going back.


    Dragging Naruto to dungeon Raito immediately learned the ''Bone Mending Technique'' then added it to the ''Heal''


    There was not much difference as compared to before but there was now an additional line to ''Connect Bones'' which was different from ''Mend Bones''. If it was ''Mend'', it would have meant that it would be completely healed but because it was just ''Connect'', which meant that the bones will be joined by a callus.


    Raito ignored the CP cost increase by 100 points because it was already 500 before. ''What difference would it make?'' thought Raito.


    "Hush." Raito stopped a few hundred meters where Hinata and Team 8 were.


    Seeing his serious face, Naruto looked at the direction but with his poor view, he couldn''t see anything.


    Raito pointed towards their direction and faced Naruto, "There are shinobi from Otogakure, hiding in the bushes. What do you think we should do?"


    "Let''s beat them." Naruto punched his palm, ready to fight.

 Chapter 58 - 58 – Team Dosu!

    Raito rolled his eyes as he saw Naruto too eager to fight. How can a ninja blindly attack? Iruka-sensei and Mari-nee had always lectured them to plan before the attack. How could Naruto forget about it? He sure doesn''t forget to plan before playing a prank though.


    Looking at the scene, Raito saw the three shinobis of the Otogakure stalking patiently, a little bit too patiently. It had been almost two hours since Naruto''s clones were dispelled into clouds of chakra smoke and they were still waiting, showing no signs of attacking.


    ''Don''t they know they are against a Hy¨±ga?'' Raito snorted. In the meantime, Raito studied their data and started devising a counterattack.


    "Raito, when are we going?" Naruto shook Raito''s shoulder and asked.


    "Those stupid Oto-nin are stalking a stalker. Don''t you think those stalkers are stupid?" Raito laughed lightly and patted Naruto''s back.


    "Stalker? Stalking a stalker?" Naruto tilted his head in confusion. Simple twister like these were enough¡­


    Raito took out a few stone beads from the inventory and threw them into the air.


    Snake¡­ (Hand Seal)


    The stone beads quickly transformed into his replica, [Earth Clone]. As the earth clones landed on the tree branch, the branch gave a sharp squeaking sound, causing Raito to hold his breath. He ''looked'' at the Oto-ninja and finally heaved a sigh of relief, seeing them not reacting to it at all.


    "It seems that they want to ambush Hinata and the guys." Raito smiled evilly then nodded towards his clones. "But their target must be Sasuke."


    "Sasuke again? Why are people after him?" Naruto frowned a little.


    ''First Kusa-nin and now Oto-nin¡­ Jiichan shouldn''t have allowed Sasuke to participate.'' Raito pouted and the same time gave Naruto a Fuinjutsu talisman. "This is¡­ my new seal. Let''s try it on them."


    Dosu sighed, looking at Hinata, he had to give her some praise. Taking care of three people, only with the help of a small dog. Her teammates were probably having fun somewhere, letting her do all the grunt work.


    Dosu didn''t know but Naruto had just canceled his jutsu without controlling it. The act of a spendthrift.


    The other teammate who talked bad about ''Otogakure'' was nowhere to be seen. He must have gone for scouting, not returning even after four hours, which means that something must have happened.


    Dosu communicated with Kin and Zaku silently using his sound techniques, making as little noise as possible. It was time for them to attack, the time decided by their lord.


    Hinata, of course, had seen Dosu and gang, and not only them but also Naruto and Raito who were also hiding quite a distance away. When Dosu started to talk about his plans, Raito had already communicated with her using the mind voice transmission technique, telling her about their own plans.


    Just as the Oto-nin stood up to prepare for their attack a kunai appeared in front of Dosu. If it wasn''t caught by him then, the kunai would have gone through his neck.


    Hinata took out another kunai from her pouch and looked at Oto-shinobi. Akamaru also jumped forward, standing in front of Hinata.


    "Damn! All this wait for nothing." Zaku jumped and stretched his back. He looked at Dosu, who was staring at Sasuke behind Hinata.


    "That guy sleeping is¡­ Sasuke? He is cute." Kin stretched her neck and looked towards Sasuke, a small smile forming on her face.


    Dosu who was quiet till now, let out an incomprehensible sound.


    "Dosu, what''s the matter?" Dosu was the brain as well as the powerhouse of the team. Zaku had been with Dosu for the longest period of time and had already gotten used to his small actions a long time ago. Dosu would never make sounds like that without a reason.


    "Zaku, Kin, do you see the ''Curse Mark'' at Uchiha''s neck?" Dosu with his chin at the faint flickering mark at Sasuke''s neck. Since Hinata had stood up, Sasuke was now in full view, even the flickering tomoe in his neck was for everyone to see.


    "That''s¡­." Kin looked at the curse mark and thought for a while but she couldn''t remember much about it as she wasn''t strong enough in the village to know about these things.


    "Curse mark. How can he get it? ¡­Why him?" Zaku balled his hands into a fist. Only top ninjas in the village are eligible to get those seals from the Lord. Why would the Lord give such a precious thing to an outsider?


    Gnashing his teeth, Zaku looked sideways at Dosu and said in a low voice, "Dosu, if we kill that Uchiha guy¡­ We can prove ourselves to be stronger than him, then maybe we can get the ''Curse Seal'' for ourselves. Orochimaru-sama did say that only strong deserve the ''Curse Seal''."


    Kin''s eye sparkled as she nodded in approval, sticking to Zaku''s reasoning. While she had not seen everything, she had heard about it in the village. The curse seal will provide you with abilities to fill your deficiency and make you far stronger than an average ninja.


    Dosu silently looked at his teammates then at Sasuke. He sighed knowing what he was here for. Simply said, he or they were here as meat bags, live targets for Sasuke.


    Dosu had seen the scenes of people waking up after receiving the ''Curse Seal''. The person recovering from his first mark would most probably start a slaughter due to uncontrollable rage or power, bottled inside himself. The negative emotions would flood you and make you do all kinds of bad things. The only way to stop was to vent all those emotions.


    Dosu had decided that he needs to ''accidentally'' kill Sasuke right now before there was a chance for Sasuke to wake up. He couldn''t back down right now because the Lord himself, had given them strict orders. And there probably were surveillance for something like this, just like there always was, in one way or other.


    Dosu looked at Hinata and shouted, "Give Sasuke to us. Our Lord only wants Sasuke and not anyone else." Dosu opened his arms signaling Hinata that there were no other intentions.


    But Hinata who had her share of bloodline stealing scandal felt that Sasuke was currently in the same boat as she was in the past. These people who wanted to capture people from bloodline families were always after their bloodline and in this case, Sasuke''s eyes, the Sharingan.


    However horrible it may sound but there are people who want the power of bloodline, just like that incident that happened nine years ago. After she was m.a.t.u.r.e enough, the last year of the academy, her father revealed some of the things that could have happened to her. Like they would first try to make you loyal to the village and if that idea doesn''t work then they would extract blood, saliva, organs and various other things from her body either for research or for some other purpose. They would keep her alive at all costs and only at the very last possible moment would they try to remove her eyes and transplant to some loyal member. After removing the eyes the man would be used to make women pregnant and the women would be made to conceive a child.


    Hinata could only close her eyes in sorrow learning the matters of the world.


    "Arf! Grrrrr." Akamaru showed hostility, telling Hinata not to agree with them.


    "I am sorry but I will have to ask you to leave." Hinata threw the kunai couple of meters in front of her then stood in J¨±ken fighting stance, showing a dangerous face.


    "This bitch!" Zaku narrowed his eyes then crossed his arms and a click sound could be heard. "She will not listen."


    Dosu stared intently at Hinata then raised his hands, uncovering his right hand, showing the large metallic sound amplifier. Giving it a flick, a small noise hummed through it, only audible to Dosu himself.


    "Hah!" Kin waved her hands and threw senbons towards Hinata starting the fight.


    Hinata took a deep breath in, gathering chakra on her hands. As senbon drew close, she lightly waved her hands, deflecting them without even touching.


    Continuing the wave, she quickly pulled back her hand behind her waist before striking out in full force.


    "[Eight Trigrams: Air Palm]"


    Chakra exploded turning into invisible force, aiming at the enemy trio.


    Although they were still far away, Zaku could feel the change in the air. He narrowed his eyes then smiled. Straightening his arms, Zaku activated his chakra. From the small metallic holes in his hands, chakra exploded turning into currents of winds, aiming at Hinata.


    "[Decapitating Airwaves]"


    Attacks collided as the ground below exploded into bits and pieces, letting out a cloud of dust.


    Dosu tried to listen but he could only hear messy sounds but the things that shocked him right now were these footsteps, which were coming from different directions. The main problem was that these footsteps were from the same person.


    People have a different built, different personality and different thoughts of mind which causes different reactions to the same action.


    Dosu used this understanding to differentiated people using his extreme observation techniques. Plus through weight differentiation, he could, in a kind, differentiate individual. Of course, it was only possible due to chakra enhancement and intensive learning.


    "Zaku." Dosu shouted signaling him to clear the field.


    "OK!" Zaku nodded and stretched his hand releasing a gust of air, clearing all the dust smoke.


    Dosu looked at the barren area around the tree then looked at Hinata who was not stopping. The main thing was that Sasuke wasn''t anywhere to be seen.


    Taking out a kunai from his sleeves, Dosu struck the amplifier with full force which let out a loud screech.


    Step. BOOM!


    In an instant, Dosu appeared near Hinata. His arm corked back ready to deliver a fatal hit.


    But he didn''t expect for ''Hinata'' to let out a small smile before disappearing into a cloud of smoke, even ''Shino'' disappeared into a cloud of smoke.


    "W-What''s happening!?" Dosu looked at the chakra cloud in anguish, letting out a loud shout.


    In his anger, Dosu forgot about his surroundings allowing a small pebble near him or more specifically, his amplifier.


    "Throw."


    From a hidden area, Raito threw a pebble, which appeared instantly in front of the metallic gauntlet. This pebble was, in fact, the biggest stone inscribed with explosion seal by Raito back then and now it was compacted into this small pebble. Even though it is small, it contains a total of one thousand chakra points transformed into an explosion seal.


    "Explode!"


    [Perk activated ¨C Hidden Weapon Expert]


    (Increase accuracy by 100%)


    [Perk activated ¨C Explosion Expert]


    (Fire release and explosion type attacks deal 30% more damage.)


    (This is a one-time only. Only new perks will be shown in the future and please forget about the addition of stats perks.)


    BOOM!!!


    The explosion not only destroyed Dosu''s sound amplifier but also burned his furry jacket and whatever was covering him above his waist. His right hand had severe burn injuries reaching up to the bones. But strangely, he was not dead. Even after the explosion had burned his hand, Dosu could move his body to protect his other vital parts. It was like¡­ he was doing it unconsciously.


    Raito who was hiding in the bushes with Naruto and Hinata looked strangely at Dosu.


    [Dosu Kinuta Lvl 32]


    HP: 1,000/5,000


    [Status: Burn injuries (Complex), broken bones (Humerus, radius, ulna...), extensive soft tissue damage, etc.]


    [Modified Body]


    Even with so much damage Dosu was living and breathing.


    Raito looked towards Hinata then gave a nod. Then looking at Naruto, he gave a strange smile and a thumbs up.


    Although the explosion didn''t spread, Dosu suffered heavily and at the same time created a lot of smoke, covering the whole area.


    Zaku ran randomly, creating a gust of winds and shouted, calling for Dosu. He started panicking, not hearing Dosu reply. If something had happened to Dosu then the whole thing would turn even uglier.


    "There." Kin cried out pointing to a half charred body on the ground.


    "Dosu!" Zaku cried out and turned to Kin and glared at her for not acting fast enough.


    Slapping Dosu a couple of times, Zaku frowned. Taking out a red bead-shaped item from his pouch, he hesitated for a bit before making Dosu swallow it. He even used chakra to help Dosu digest it faster.


    [Instant Healing pill]


    Effect: Quickly restores the Flesh and bones, and at the same time recover some chakra.


    Duration: 30 minutes


    Side Effect: After one use, the user will go into the state of chakra exhaustion and will require chakra supplementation for the next six hours. The exhaustion will lead to death if not supplemented.


    [Made by Yakushi Kabuto]


    "Kabuto? So it was that person¡­" Raito nodded his head, looking at the stats of the Pill and trying to remember Kabuto''s face.


    Zaku helped Dosu dissolve the pill and shouted, "Lord Orochimaru will abandon us if we don''t complete this mission. Get up!"


    ''Orochimaru.'' Raito looked at Zaku''s back, ready to run a kunai through him.


    "Ah¡­" Dosu gave a weak reply, showing that the pill has shown its effect.


    It was a disgusting show then. The bones were starting to get covered by a thin transparent layer, then muscle started growing like wriggling bloody threadworms. Thin yellow threads started drilling through the muscles before getting covered with skin. Like heads popping up and down, there was movement under Dosu''s skin but Zaku didn''t care. He only wanted for Dosu to wake up right now.


    It seemed that the situation had turned worse for them. Their mission was to make contact and fight with Uchiha Sasuke in what so every way possible. Zaku though that it would be very easy but the situation right now was really bad.


    Right now Zaku had a frown in his face. Preparing his chakra, Zaku turned around to face Kin with his hands, pointing towards her.


    Seeing that Kin was unfazed, Zaku frowned. Kin had her kunai out looking at a distance, at Hinata who also had her kunai out.


    Both threw their kunai at the same time, making a ''ding'' sound in the air.


    "Damn." Zaku cursed, turned and pointed his hand forward towards Hinata. "You should just die!"


    "How boring." ''Kin'' sighed taking out a talisman from her pocket, which she threw down.


    The characters in the talisman paper lit up, signifying the activating of the seals.


    "Zaku!" Dosu suddenly opened his eyes and shouted. He used whatever power left in his body and grabbed Zaku. With a fierce stomp, Dosu jumped a couple of meters away.


    Puff!


    Black smoke was released from the talisman covering the whole of the area.


    "We were tricked!" Dosu immediately activated his super hearing "To your ten¡­ that Konoha-kunoichi is coming. Go all out!"


    Dosu grabbed Zaku''s back pouch and took out two extendable metallic rods.


    "It''s good that you carry this." Dosu nodded then struck the metals together then activated his chakra, connecting with the rod core.


    Dosu waved the rods then looked at Zaku, "Then I will go first. Be alert."


    It seemed that they had already forgotten about their third teammate ''Kin''.


    Turning to Hinata, Dosu snorted then waved his rods before dashing towards her.


    "I am ready!!" Zaku exhaled a mouthful of air, then slowly raised his hands, locking into Hinata. He could feel the pressure in his arms. This time he had used all chakra that was left in his body.


    "[Decapitating Air-oaf!"


    Before Zaku could finish releasing the acc.u.mulated chakra, he was hit right below the heart. The pain made him crouch down and grip his abdomen. He also lost control over his chakra, letting red bulges appear on his arms. It was the chakra that had acc.u.mulated in the pipes.


    The Genjutsu was canceled as soon as Raito hit Zaku. He stood with black rocks covering his hands, looking at Zaku, looking at his blatant weakness. Raito looked at a stone and waved his arms.


    Naruto popped transforming from the stone, taking a Fuinjutsu set out with him.


    Dosu waved his hands countless times while running, generating sound waves and at the same time used chakra to control it.


    Widely raising his blades high, Dosu struck the rods before throwing them towards Hinata. "Bang!!"


    And as expected, those rods were also easily deflected by Hinata''s chakra covered hands.


    After releasing the rods, Dosu went for Hinata''s head and heart, trying to kill her in one blow. "I am gonna make your blood-"


    Before Dosu had even touched Hinata, Naruto popped out of nowhere and stuck to his front grabbing his hands and destroying his plan. The shockwave acc.u.mulating in his palm touched Naruto''s clone, immediately destroying hit. But it didn''t matter as more and more clones appeared from nowhere kicking him and punching him.


    Dosu would swing his arm as fast as possible, destroying all the shadow clones near him with his shockwave.


    Two Naruto clones appeared to Dosu''s side, their palm aiming at Dosu.


    ''[Shadow Clone version: Gale Palm]''


    Hinata struck from front, right at his c.h.e.s.t.


    ''[Eight Trigrams: Air Palm]''


    Under this combination attack, Dosu flew high crashing at one of the tall trees.


    Raito walked silently towards Dosu then paused for a while. He looked down at the extending shadow which was retreating before heaving a sigh of relief.


    Raito pushed his chakra and placed his fingers over, Dosu''s back. Instantly, two black lines with red dots appeared on his neck. One for restraining his chakra and the other a petrifying seal, blocking all the conscious actions.


    "You can come out, Shikamaru," Raito shouted.


    Shikamaru and Ch¨­ji walked out of the bushes with a smile on their faces.


    "We didn''t have to work for our scroll even a bit." Shikamaru showed Raito the earth scroll from Zaku''s pouch and their own heaven scroll.


    "More importantly we got to meet with Raito," Ch¨­ji emphasized with his actions jumping onto Raito.


    "Hey, Raito!" Ino stood on the tree looking at the faint talisman paper stuck on the trunk. "What''s this!?"


    "That? That is a seal I made but we didn''t have a chance to use it." Raito shrugged his shoulders and explained it simply.


    Shikamaru looked around at the devastation then crouched down, looking at Dosu, "Did you get yours?"


    "Of course we did." Raito patted his c.h.e.s.t and added. "A long time ago."


    Shikamaru raised his brows and looked at quizzically.


    "Then let''s go. The faster, the better¡­ I don''t want to stay in this goddamned forest anymore." Shikamaru turned and poked on Dosu''s face waiting for some reaction.


    "If I could I would have done that." Raito sighed then along with Shikamaru went to the tree surrounded by the earth wall, where he had asked Naruto to drag Team 8.


    While walking, Raito told everyone what had happened until now.


    Shikamaru stopped and looked over Sasuke and Kiba who were still not awake. Feeling his face twitching, he patted his face and said, "Orochimaru of the Snake Sannin¡­ that''s unlucky. Double unlucky."


    Shikamaru crouched down and used a ''[Diagnosis Jutsu]'' on Akamaru. "Broken bones."


    It was like trying to sell himself¡­


    "I know." Raito rolled his eyes as he held Akamaru on his hand. "[Heal]"


    The bones which were previously broken were aligned and connected with a soft layer of whiteness.


    "[Earth Cover]" Then Raito made a small jacket like structure with earth covering Akamaru''s body strong enough to force Akamaru to not move.


    Raito used his [Observe] skill and smiled looking at the healing process. "At least one day or even less."


    After looking after Akamaru, Raito walked towards Shino and asked plainly. "How''s your body doing?"


    "Raito-san¡­ With wounds like this, I don''t think I can participate in the next round." Shino answered truthfully and plainly.


    "¡­ Even if you don''t want to participate¡­ you have to complete this round. Fire country Daimy¨­, Wind country Daimy¨­ and various other small nations want Sasuke to be displayed on the stage a month from now"


    Using ''[Heal]'' a couple of times, Raito stood up and sighed, "I think you can figure out why and what not things."


    Shino moved his shaking hands and fixed his glasses, "I think I have some idea what is going on. I would guess that-"


    "Shut it! Get some rest, you will feel new when you wake up." Raito turned around and walked towards Kiba.


    "Seals!?" an involuntary question rose from Raito''s mouth, looking at Naruto drawing seals on his finger.


    "Yep, its seals." Ino nodded sagely waving her finger.


    "A complex level¡­ maybe level five. Naruto-kun is trying to undo the seal, right now." Hinata added.


    Bang!


    "Naruto-kun!" Hinata appeared behind Naruto holding him.


    Naruto was forced back by the rebound force from the collision between the seals on the Kiba and his own chakra.


    [Forced Sleep Seal]


    Expiration time ¨C 2 days 12 hours


    "It''s a forced sleep seal and will last for two days if we don''t do anything," Raito explained to everyone then extended his hand forward.


    "[Destroy Fuinjutsu]" Red glow covered Raito''s hand then traveled to Kiba''s body tracing the seal-work.


    [Destroy Fuinjutsu Lvl 40]


    After a minute had passed, the seal-work on Kiba''s body started disappearing, slowly little by little.


    When it completely disappeared, Kiba woke up then started blinking rapidly. Letting out a loud yawn, Kiba greeted everyone, "Everyone''s here? That''s great."


    His hands reached for Akamaru but before patting his head, Kiba noticed the ugly looking jacket-like thing covering him.


    "Hey, Akamaru what''s that?" Kiba traced the homemade earthen jacket and gave it a few sniffs.


    "Kiba~!!" Ino raged.


    Bang!


    "Ino-chan!" Hinata called out, stopping her from raining down any more punches.


    "You!! Just look at your team!" Ino kicked Kiba then pointed at Sasuke and Shino.


    "Ino, calm down." Ch¨­ji pulled Ino back.


    "Sheesh!" Kiba twitched. He wanted to move, but he felt too much pain when trying to move.


    "If you beat Kiba too much, Raito will have to use too much chakra. Then he will have to¡­"


    "¡­ Baka-Ch¨­ji!!" Ino gripped her fist then looked at Ch¨­ji with fires burning on the background.


    "Raito!" Shikamaru shouted then there was a ''thwack'' sound.


    "Shika!" Raito hurriedly stood up, turning to the shout when a shadow went by his left.


    [Fast Thinking]


    ''Shika!'' ''Sasuke?'' looking around Raito saw Sasuke standing. His back facing Raito, Sasuke was covered in purplish chakra. Black tattoo covered his body, giving a creepy feeling.


    Under ''[Fast Thinking]'' chakra threads escaped from Raito''s body and latched on to Shikamaru.


    Shikamaru never thought that his kind-hearted support of poking Sasuke with a stick would go to such a waste. He promised to never do it in the future, ever again.


    Just as he closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable fate of crashing, Shikamaru felt a light tug on his arms, legs and various other parts of the bodies.


    "Shika! What happened?" Naruto pulled Shikamaru down.


    "Stop, Naruto. Stop!" Shikamaru pushed Naruto, who was pulling his broken arm or something, then clutched his arm in pain.


    "Shikamaru!" Ino ran and immediately crouched down and used ''[Diagnostic Jutsu]'', discovering soft tissue damage on his arm.


    Hinata also used the ''[Diagnostic jutsu]'' then quickly used ''[Mystic Palm Technique]'' on him.


    "Sasuke! What the hell was that!?" Ino stood up and while pointing at Sasuke, she shouted with anger.


    Raito looked at Sasuke in anger but his first priority was Shikamaru right now.


    He crouched down and used ''[Heal]'' on him. Seeing the relief on Shikamaru''s face, Raito calmed down.


    Naruto who was crouching beside Shikamaru looked at Sasuke. He frowned looking at Shikamaru, at his injured arm. Even Ch¨­ji was holding himself back. His big hands gripping Naruto''s shoulder.


    "Oi! Raito¡­ fight me¡­ I''ll show you today who is stronger." Sasuke chuckled looking at his hands and said even without looking back. He felt so much stronger right now and thinking about it, there were perfect targets for his practice.


    Raito nodded as he looked at Shikamaru''s worried face then stood up. The ''Seal lines'' on Raito''s body appeared on his will. Looking at Sasuke, Raito replied to Sasuke''s challenge "I wanted to beat Oto-shinobi first but¡­ I guess I will have to start with you."

 Chapter 59 - 59 – Evil Sealing!

    "Sasuke! You stupid!" Kiba glared at Sasuke. Even though he couldn''t move, Kiba could use his mouth. He would use this mouth to curse Sasuke to hell right now.


    "What the hell are you doing!? They just helped us." Kiba glared at Sasuke who was not even listening to him.


    Akamaru looked down and let out a whimper.


    Kiba who was pointing at Sasuke looked down at Akamaru, who was shivering. He was stunned for a while looking at Akamaru, who was scratching his pants. Kiba patted Akamaru trying to soothe him.


    "Akamaru, what happened?" Kiba could feel Akamaru shivering.


    Ch¨­ji looked seriously at Sasuke then pulled Naruto back and said in a low voice, "Something is wrong with Sasuke." Ch¨­ji was ready to take part in the battle and make a paste out of Sasuke if needed.


    "Sasuke is under the effect of ''Curse Seal''. That symbol on his neck is making him do all this." Raito explained and added a small lie, communicating in their head.


    After a small pause, Raito looked back at everyone and added, "I will take care of him."


    It seemed that Ino was still angry about Raito using this technique as she was pouting.


    Hinata giggled looking at Ino''s face. She had already forgotten about the dangerous Sasuke in front of them.


    "I have the seal-work ready to seal that ''Curse Mark''. Help me later, kay?" After saying that, Raito closed the connection between him and the gang.


    "Sasuke," Raito called and at the same time took off his bulky jacket. It made a light ''Bang'' sound when it reached the ground.


    [Training Jacket]


    Special: Added weight Seal ¨C 40 kg


    "What?" Sasuke smirked feeling the power coursing through him. He turned around with his creepy smile and black tattoos on his face.


    Clenching his fist, Sasuke looked at Raito. He opened his mouth but remained silent for some time before saying, "I feel like I can crush you to pieces.


    "I wanted to say that I am not really a bad person." Raito smiled and started to unbutton the cuffs in his arms.


    Taking off his Metallic arm bracers, Raito threw them down, making a ''bang'' sound.


    [Arm bracers]


    Weight: 20 kg


    [Arm bracers]


    "Your stats are really too high for me right now. Your strength is probably more than mine right now and with your Sharingan, dexterity is also bound to be higher." Raito smiled and crouched down, his feet pushing on the grounds.


    "There he goes again." Naruto rolled his eyes, thinking about the game references. It had been a long time since they had played any games.


    Shino looked at his bugs, communicating with them as even they felt ominous about Sasuke''s chakra right now.


    [Uchiha Sasuke Lvl 28]


    STR: 180


    DEX: 200


    [Yoshizawa Raito Lvl 32]


    STR: 168


    DEX: 133


    "Let''s try with this much first." Raito pushed the ground and dashed towards Sasuke, appearing in front of him in an instant. Raito swung his fist ready to destroy Sasuke''s face.


    "Heh!" Sasuke smirked as he moved his hand lazily and caught Raito''s fist with his palm.


    Thwack!


    Even though Sasuke was sure, he couldn''t help but feel the burning pain on his palm but the pain was too little to cause any effect. The curse seal had dampened all the pain sensation by creating havoc in his hormone system.


    Raito''s and Sasuke''s hands remained in the air struggling for dominance. Both of them didn''t want to use their other hand, just trying to push other''s hand away, pushing back and forth.


    "Baka Sasuke! If you don''t stop, that ''Curse Seal'' will kill you. That power is not yours, it''s from a traitor of the village, the contractor of snake summons, Orochimaru." Raito said in a low voice so that only Sasuke hears it.


    He had heard about Anko many times what the ''Curse Seal'' actually did and most of the time it was him asking about the curse seal. She had explained to him how she struggled with it and how problematic it really was. The pain was unbearable and the only solution was to seek him. There seems to be some kind of voice telling her to return to Orochimaru. Hokage-sama and Jiraiya-sama had used almost all of their chakra that year to seal the ''Curse Seal''.


    "So what? Power is power, no matter where it is from. If it isn''t mine then I will make it mine. I will get stronger¡­ stronger!" Sasuke revealed his crazy side and started pushing back, looking into Raito''s eyes. His red Sharingan eyes glowed for a quick second then spun before the light disappeared. A casual look like that had activated a Genjutsu¡­ just like that and it didn''t even take five seconds.


    [Gamer''s mind activated.]


    [Genjutsu resisted.]


    Raito slowly drew his back his left and weakening the right. Activating the ''Rock Fist'' black rocks covered his fist forming a hard outer shell.


    "Something weak like that will never affect me." Raito blew towards his face.


    Sasuke narrowed his eyes but didn''t loosen his grip.


    Stomping the ground once more, Raito raised his left, swinging from the bottom towards the sky.


    Eyes glowing, Sasuke opened his closed palm and at the same time pushed Raito''s right fist. With some pushing force affecting his body, Sasuke tapped the fronts of his foot, leaning back and dodging the dangerous uppercut.


    ''Sword. One.''


    A wooden sword appeared in Raito''s hand out of thin air, covered in yellowish chakra.


    "[Cleave]". The wooden sword descended down in a smooth and quick motion.


    Sasuke who was ready for a counter-attack after finding Raito defenses open immediately canceled his plan and rolled to the side. The sword was only able to hit the ground making a cavity below.


    "Why?" Sasuke crouched in all fours, gritted his teeth in anger. The magatama around his pupils spun responding to his anger.


    "This?" Raito played with the wooden sword and changed hands. "It''s called Fuinjutsu, you know. The one you said was a waste of time."


    Raito smiled and pointed his rock hand towards Sasuke. "[Rock Bullet]"


    It now looked like Raito was just playing with Sasuke.


    Finding that the rocks were much faster than the last time, Sasuke jumped in alarm, dodging the rocks thrown at him. Glaring at Raito, Sasuke gritted his teeth in anger. Punching the ground, he said, "I am gonna show you."


    Even before standing, Sasuke had completed a set of hand seals and now, he was taking a big breath in.


    "I knew it." Raito had a big smile on his face. Just as Sasuke was going to breathe fire, Raito with a half ''Rat'' hand seal, made the ground below exploded into earthen walls covering Sasuke by all four sides. "[Earth Wall]"


    "Baka Sasuke, I have seen that jutsu hundred of times now. You can only beat me in your dreams." Raito laughed looking at the ''Earth wall''.


    "Are you sure that was me?" Sasuke''s voice sounded from behind as he stood with kunai pointing towards Raito''s neck. This time, the black tattoos on his body were even more, nearly joining into one.


    Just as Sasuke was about to plunge the kunai, Raito smiled, turning into rock and breaking into pieces. "I knew that wasn''t you."


    "Coward!" Sasuke shouted throwing the kunai in a random direction.


    "Woah! You nearly got me." Raito walked out from behind the tree and plucked the kunai embedded in the tree trunk.


    Kiba who was looking at the fight, narrowed his eyes, "What happened just now?"


    Shino who was resting on the tree trunk, moved slightly, making himself more comfortable. And while no one expected for answers, Shino spoke up. "Raito-san seems to have made a switch."


    L.i.c.k.i.n.g his canines, Kiba continued to look at Raito. "I wanna know how he is doing that¡­"


    "¡­"


    "Quit playing! Fight me." Sasuke roared, the purplish chakra on him exploding with more ferocity.


    [Uchiha Sasuke Lvl 24]


    STR: 200


    DEX: 200


    Bang!


    With a stomp, Sasuke appeared in front of Raito, his punch just inches away from Raito''s face.


    Bang!! Crack!


    A loud crackling sound came with ch.i.p.s of stones flying in the air.


    "That was dangerous." Raito had a serious face looking at the shield in front of him, blocking Sasuke''s punch. The rock shield had cracks all over it, showing how ferocious the attack was. If he didn''t have ''Fast thinking'' automatically activated, it would have been really troublesome.


    "Total of 500 kilos¡­ To make a crack at that¡­ That would have hurt." Raito sighed. Sasuke just punched a rock shield with the impact part being of the highest density. It was indeed fearsome. What would have happened if Sasuke had punched him?


    Quickly jumping away Raito touched his arms where seals were placed. He would have to sacrifice his training.


    ''Sorry, Lee.'' Raito clapped his hands, releasing one of the Fuinjutsu seals on his body.


    "[Fuinjutsu: Weight Training Seal - - Release]"


    [Yoshizawa Raito Lvl 32]


    STR: 168 > 208


    "I''ll show you what''s unfair." Raito snorted and activated his skills. He was angry about the recent punch.


    ''[Chakra Enhancement]'', ''[Chakra Control]'', ''[Chakra Strength]'', ''[Chakra Speed]''


    With the activation skills, his stats increased rapidly and crossed two-fifty points and came to stop at 260.


    [Yoshizawa Raito Lvl 32]


    STR: 260


    Even though there was no aura type of thing coming from Raito, Sasuke flinched.


    Completing a set of hand seals, Sasuke blew hard letting a dark red fire cover the ground in front.


    "You made me do it Sasuke." Raito transformed his hands into rocks.


    "You wanted to fight, right? I will let you know that against me¡­" Raito tapped the ground below and disappeared, crossing the fire and directly appearing in front of Sasuke.


    With narrowed eyes, Raito punched and broke the kunai in half first, passed through his guard then hit square on the stomach.


    Sasuke felt like his organs were shifted and felt like everything was trying to come out of his mouth. He vomited to the side and peddled back while looking at Raito on his face.


    "Do you think it was bad?" Raito walked slowly, looking down at Sasuke.


    Sasuke twitched as he tried standing up. He clenched his fist trying to sense the energy in his body. The only thing that could help him was the seal on his shoulder. He tried manipulating his chakra but found that his chakra was in a mess. Without handseals it would be difficult in manipulating chakra.


    Just as Raito was going to grab Sasuke, Sasuke threw the dirt on Raito''s face and kicked. His kick landing on Raito''s rock hands, giving him that slightest bit of time to weave a set of seals to activate a Genjutsu and disappearing in thin air.


    "Genjutsu?" Raito had no trouble countering this technique. Although Gamer''s mind didn''t work in these kinds of Genjutsu, it was easily countered by his ''Chakra Sense''.


    Sasuke knew Raito had some kind of technique for Raito''s fast reflexes but he didn''t know about Raito''s ''Chakra Sense''.


    Tink!


    Sasuke looked in disbelief at the broken kunai in his hand and a circular rock shield in front of him, appearing out of nowhere and hovering there.


    Turning around, Raito released his ''Rock Fist'' Technique and pointed his fingers forward. The rocks from his fist quickly transforming into a binding, locking Sasuke''s arm and legs, even making a blindfold for his eyes.


    "[Ninja Art: Pressure Points ¨C Forced Sleep]"


    Raito jabbed with his fingers on the various points in Sasuke''s body and at the same time passed chakra there.


    Since it was now impossible for Sasuke to be affected by Genjutsu, Raito had to use an alternate technique that he had not used very much. But it still worked due to the level difference. With the help of Gamer''s body and different skills, Raito could easily learn the jutsus. Although there are some restrictions, most of the techniques skill doesn''t require much. But they have to be leveled up which takes a lot of time.


    "Come, Naruto!" Naruto walked towards Raito and started taking out a big scroll from his storage seal.


    Raito looked at Sasuke then shook his head.


    Boar ¡ú Dog ¡ú Bird ¡ú Monkey ¡ú Ram


    "[Summoning Technique ¨C Treasure Chamber]"


    A big, hollow stone cubicle appeared with talismans flags at four corners. Inside it, there were already seal-work which Raito and Naruto had worked on for helping Anko in making an Evil Suppressing Seal and once and forever destroy Orochimaru''s Curse Seal.


    "Am I really doing this?" Raito sighed.


    Raito looked back at the remaining members outside and shouted, "Can you guys get another Heaven Scroll? After I seal this ''Curse Seal'', we have to go to the tower."


    Hinata nodded and immediately activated her Byakugan. Ino-Shika-Cho were done preparing and now were waiting for Hinata to point in a direction.


    "¡­And I thought it would be an easy journey." Shikamaru sighed and stretched. The pain in his arm was gone like it was never there.


    Walking inside, Raito dragged Sasuke, forcing him to sit at the center of the concentric markings on the floor. All the four corners and ceiling had scrolls opened which were filled with Character Seals.


    "We prepared for so long and now we are going to use it on him?" Naruto frowned and crouched down looking at the ''Tomoe'' on Sasuke''s shoulder. He was going to put his finger on the ''Curse Seal'' but was stopped. Naruto looked at his own finger and blinked several times before narrowing his eyes.


    "Anko-nee wants some result before she tries it out herself." Raito took out a rope and started tying Sasuke before placing him in a hole. Using earth jutsu, Raito made sure that Sasuke could not escape in the middle of sealing.


    "Then I''ll get started." Naruto opened the scroll and placed it near the door.


    The scroll had several large chakra storage seals on it. It was for Naruto and Raito both but looking at Naruto''s CP he wouldn''t really need it. So it was for poor Raito.


    Naruto stood behind Sasuke facing Raito.


    "Okay then, here goes nothing." Golden chakra oozed out of Naruto, seeping into the chamber. The character seals on the scroll trembled, on the walls and the ceiling, forming a black spot on their respective scrolls.


    This gold color chakra was only visible when Naruto did Fuinjutsu and not anytime else.


    "Step 1 Complete." Naruto gave a thumbs up to Raito and smile. It went exactly as he had thought.


    "Step 2." Raito closed his eyes with a ''Rat'' Hand Seal. Since the seals on Sasuke had some modification done and was a little different from Anko''s, Raito also had to make some changes to the seal work but almost everything else would remain the same.


    After half an hour of trying to find ways, Raito found out that it was impossible to completely remove it before stabilizing with the second seal. Obviously, it dampened Raito''s mood but he had to show some results.


    "As long as you don''t go for the second step, you''ll be safe, Sasuke." Raito smiled then chakra threads came out of Raito''s glabella connecting with each of the scrolls on the walls and ceiling.


    After some time, the black spot on those scrolls widened, leaving a red dot in the middle.


    "Cough! Cough!" Raito kneeled on the ground and started coughing.


    "Raito are you okay?" Naruto shouted wanting to move from his spot, worry appearing on his face.


    "Stay there! Don''t move, Naruto!" After wiping his mouth Raito stood up and touched one of the seals on the scroll. Golden colored chakra flowed into Raito as he heaved a sigh of relief.


    "Naruto, can you do six?" Raito asked.


    Naruto nodded with a smile on his face. He shouted as he punched his palm. "I have worked hard for this. I can do it."


    "Concentrate." Raito sighed clapping his hand and activating his chakra. While Naruto controlled six, Raito had to control the rest of the scrolls.


    "3"


    The black spot on the scroll wriggled, moving in a strange pattern.


    "2"


    Then they turned into a needle shape pointed and extending towards Sasuke''s shoulder, targeting his tomoe.


    "1"


    "GO!"


    On their shout, the black needles exploded and gathered from five directions on Sasuke''s shoulder, just around the tomoe, creating a cage of black with red spots.


    "AHHHHHH!!!!!"


    Purple chakra bubbled on the surface of Sasuke''s shoulder, trying to spread again and again but was confined by the black cage, which was shrinking slowly.


    "No good. I need more chakra." Raito connected with the scroll behind him activating all the three seal.


    "Naruto, you okay?"


    "Yeah!!"


    "We have to stop at exactly the same time. I will tell you to stop then only stop, okay?" Raito shouted beads of sweat flowing down.


    "Okay." Naruto had his eyes closed focused on the seal.


    ''Just a little bit more.''


    Just as Raito was about to be done, the inky back cage seeped into Sasuke''s shoulder and the heavy feeling also went with it.


    [Fuinjutsu Complete]


    [Fuinjutsu ¨C Evil Suppressing Seal]


    [Sealed ¨C Cursed Seal of Heaven]


    "Done!" Raito shouted plopping on the ground.


    "Done?" Naruto who was still clapping his hand opened his eyes and looked at Sasuke''s shoulder.


    Now inside the magatama of tomoe, there were red dots in them and the magatamas of the tome were connected to each other using seal lines.


    "Raito." A m.a.t.u.r.e man''s voice sounded in his mind as a notification appeared in front of Raito.


    [Would you like to open communication with ''Yamanaka Inoichi''?]


    [YES / NO]


    ''Yes.''


    "Hey, sensei," Raito replied releasing Sasuke from the bindings.


    "Hokage-sama and ''everyone'' is here. What is happening in the forest?" Inoichi was at the top of the Hokage monument, at the ''Sensory Department'', connected to a machine and behind him, a big sphere of water hovered in the air.


    This machine was the main equipment of the sensory department used as a tool by the sensor ninja to amplify his sensory powers. The amplification is directly related to the density of the chakra in the water sphere and the capability of the ninja himself. And as for the matter of range, it can be done by building transmission towers after every calculated distance.


    "¡­We just got our scroll sensei. I didn''t know you could do this." At the same time, Raito used ''Chakra Sense'' to see where the chakra was coming from.


    In one of the most important departments of the village, a room filled with the clan leaders, Hokage, the elder council, everyone was looking at Inoichi was wearing a receiver and connected to the big machine, with Shikaku by his side.


    Danzo looked at the man beside him and nodded slightly.


    That masked man nodded then walked to Inoichi''s side. Looking at Inoichi for a moment, he put the receiver on his head then sat down cross-legged, activating the jutsu and connecting to the system.


    Anko was also there standing beside Hiruzen, with a straight face, and beside her two ANBUs with hands on the hilt knife on their waist.


    "Anko-nee, it''s me Raito." After quickly finding Anko, Raito gave a small signal to her and started chatting inside her mind.


    As Raito replied to Inoichi''s question, Inoichi also was replying to everyone in the room. While others nodded, Danzo looked to the masked man beside Inoichi.


    Raito had a quick chat with Anko and found what he was supposed to say and what not to say.


    "So what happened to Sasuke? How is he? Can he participate?" Inoichi asked what everyone was waiting for, especially the elder council.


    "Fuu, connect with everyone here," Danzo ordered.


    "Hai, Danzo-sama." Everyone was now connected now and could hear Raito.


    Hiruzen looked at Danzo but kept quiet.


    "Kiba had a forced sleep Fuinjutsu, which is now removed. Shino had broken bones but they are now lined and will probably take less than a day to heal with the help of his hive."


    "Fuu," Danzo spoke up.


    "Raito-san, please to the question at hand." Fuu''s voice appeared out of nowhere making Raito pause.


    "Even though Sasuke is important, we cannot neglect others," Raito mumbled.


    After a brief silence, Raito continued, "Oh, well. Sasuke is in sleep and it''s not due to a seal, like that of Kiba''s. From what Hinata saw, Sasuke was fighting with Orochimaru and had merely exhausted his chakra. He would wake up in a couple of days after using the chakra transfer technique."


    Danzo who listened to it started thinking. He looked at Hiruzen who had not spoken and decided that it would be not bad. Danzo tapped his cane once again, signaling Fuu.


    "Genin-Raito, can you confirm if there are any markings on his body. Orochimaru likes to present gifts called ''Cursed Seal'' to some people." Orochimaru looked at Anko when he said that making everyone in the room take a subtle glance at her.


    Anko remained professional, unfazed by the looks, given to her.


    "There isn''t, Sir," Raito answered.


    "How did you confirm that? If your information is false then-"


    "Enough!!" Hiruzen flicked and the receiver worn by Fuu immediately came off, cutting the connection between Danzo and the system.


    "Hiruzen! What are you doing?"


    "You are threatening my Genin, Danzo."


    "But this is important," Danzo replied back with a bit of force.


    "So what if that information is false and what if that is true. Are you going to blame a Genin for this?"


    "According to data, he has knowledge of Fuinjutsu. So-"


    "Danzo!" A calm voice with heavy aura locked onto Danzo.


    Homura looked at two and sighed in distress. "Important things first, you two."


    "Hokage-sama, Raito says that they have gotten the ''Heaven Scroll'' for Sasuke''s group and would wait for a few days, reaching the tower just a day before the end date," Inoichi reported.


    Step. Step.


    "Inoichi, can you tell my son something?" a low buzzing voice came as a figure walked out of the crowd and stood in front of Inoichi.


    "Sure, Shibi. What would you like to say? Better, I will help you." Inoichi connected to Shino who was asleep and pushed his hand outward letting Shibi grab it.


    "¡­ Shino, Drop out." Shibi waited for a bit then walked back to the crowd.


    Next, two huge dogs surrounded Inoichi and a woman with fang markings crouched down in front of Inoichi.


    "Tsume, I know it''s you." Inoichi pushed his hand, already linking to Kiba.


    "Pup, you are gonna drop out. Come back home, we will be tranin'' like crazy from now on." Tsume revealed a toothy smile as she talked with her son.


    When Kiba heard that, he started panicking. "But mom!"


    "No buts or you are wanna be locked up?"


    "Yes, mom. I will drop out."


    "What did ya say!?"


    "Yes! Ma''am!"


    Tsume snorted then walked back.


    "Then¡­ if everything is clear." Inoichi waited.


    Just as expected Hiruzen stepped forward and said, "Inoichi, I would like to talk to the rookie nine."


    "I understand, Hokage-sama." Inoichi quickly made a link between Hiruzen and Raito.


    "Rookies be at my office, the top floor in the building," Hiruzen said one sentence then signaled Inoichi.


    Even though Inoichi couldn''t see. He could feel the chakra signal sent by Hiruzen. Inoichi sent a small message to Raito at the very last minute.


    "Then." Inoichi took out the receiver then looked towards his side at the place where Fuu was a few moments ago. He could only sigh at his faults and choices.


    In the forest, everyone stared at each other waiting for someone to talk.


    Ino couldn''t take it and started, "We are going to meet Hokage-sama. How about we dress up nicely and go. A warm bath¡­"


    Her voice died down everyone else gave her an annoyed look. She turned around and hugged Hinata, crying fake tears.


    Raito looked at the three sets of ''Heaven and Earth Scrolls'' then looked at Shino and Kiba who were awake.


    After thinking for a long time, Raito raised his head looking at Shino and Kiba, and said, "I want you two to promise me something."

 Chapter 60 - 60 – Caught!!

    Thud!


    Raito retracted his hand from the back of Dosu''s head, letting him fall on the ground. Hearing what Dosu had said just now, gears turned in Raito''s head.


    Shikamaru who had been listening to the information Dosu had been giving, had a frown on his face. With hand crossed, he stood in deep thought. "So the new hidden village, Otogakure, is one of the Sannin''s, Orochimaru''s base."


    "Mm." Raito looked at the fallen Dosu and nodded. Due to his skill, [Lie] and experiences from the T&I department, Raito felt that whatever Dosu had said was not false.


    Shikamaru rubbed his head in distress. A former missing-nin, who was also a Sannin, in the village, was not in any way a piece of good news. And to top it off, that former Sannin had done something to the only Uchiha in the village.


    "We should inform the old man as soon as possible," Raito mumbled taking out a rope.


    "¡­ Hokage-sama may already know about this." Shikamaru voiced out his thoughts. From what he learned from his father, Shikaku, Shikamaru learned that the village heads would already know about things like this. While most of these cases would end before they can bloom, there were few which would pass like this one, the reason being that the enemy would either be very powerful to control or if the enemy had great control over the Intel.


    "Maybe¡­ Well, let''s bring him to the tower first." Raito kneeled, grabbing Dosu.


    "But-" Just as Shikamaru was thinking about how troublesome it would be to bring someone, captured, he saw Dosu disappearing into thin air.


    "How could I forget about that?" Shikamaru felt his face twitching madly. Something like inventory was truly a unique technique. Even if he wanted to remember it, he would only remember it for storing non-living things purposes. In these past months, Shikamaru had only seen Raito storing a living human in the inventory twice.


    Raito nodded, thinking about his mind-controlling technique. What he had done to Dosu right now was a technique that he got from T&I department called, ''[Mind Fogging]''. While [Mind Fogging] is considered a basic level technique, it is nonetheless the most vital technique for the newcomers in the T&I department. This technique allows the user to suppress his target''s mind and enter him or her in a hallucinogenic state. But this technique has a big drawback, the user of this technique cannot question the target, requiring a partner to question the suspect.


    Standing up and turning back, Raito saw Shikamaru looking at him weirdly.


    "What?" Raito questioned.


    "Nothing." Shikamaru sighed then turned his head. It was such a headache to be with common sense defying person.


    Shikamaru decided not to think about it anymore. So, he turned his head and looked towards another small cave made by Raito, where Ino was interrogating Kin.


    Kin sat on the chair but her eyes were staring at the void, in front, with her blank looking eyes whereas Ino was resting her head on the table, looking asleep.


    It was the result of Ino''s ''[Mind Body Switch]'', using which she had invaded Kin''s body and mind. In Ino''s viewpoint, she was looking at Kin''s life with her point of view.


    Ino''s [Mind Body Switch] allowed her to enter the target body and control them but the technique itself didn''t allow her to read her target''s memory. For that, the Yamanaka clan had another jutsu named, [Mind Memory Flow], allowing the user to suppress the target and read their memory like a video. Ino could not only see but also hear the people talking around Kin and as well as hear Kin''s own thoughts.


    [Mind Memory Flow] is the modified and lower version of the [Psycho Mind Transmission]. By using [Psycho Mind Transmission], the user can extract information even if the target has forgotten it or has had it blocked using a special method whereas [Mind Memory Flow] cannot. The advanced version required the user to not only have a high degree of chakra pool as well as control but also more detail knowledge regarding mind structure, its foundation and of course, the emotions.


    While [Mind Memory Flow] was a slow method of gaining information, it harvested the most information, if the jutsu user was capable. Just before, Ino wanted to dive into Dosu and Zaku''s mind but she was thoroughly rejected by them. While Dosu had thoroughly rejected her using a seal placed on his mind which even Raito was unable to do anything about, Zaku had a one streak mind with lots of holes in his memory, which made Ino feel like someone had tried memory manipulation on him.


    Raito who had entered the cave saw Ino''s sleeping form, he had the sudden urge to pull her cheeks and brush her hair. Controlling his d.e.s.i.r.es, Raito pulled a chair and opted to read a book to increase his skill level.


    After Ino was done with weaving through her memories, ''Kin'' closed her eyes then fell on the ground, small breaths escaping from her mouth indicating that she was still alive.


    "What''s wrong with this girl?" Ino g.r.o.a.n.e.d, massaging her temples. She looked down at Kin with a disgusted expression before turning back where she saw Raito.


    "Raito!" Ino immediately stood up and formed a small smile on her face. "What are you doing here?"


    "Nothing. Just waiting for¡­" Raito looked at Ino then his eyes roamed around, locking into Kin. "Intel."


    "Raito?" Shikamaru walked in the cave but after looking at Ino with a happy expression, he awkwardly scratched his head, turned to face Raito.


    "Hmph." Ino snorted then sat on the chair then started sharing what she had gathered from Kin.


    "Kin, orphan, fifteen this year. Originally from a small village in the ''Land of Earth''. She and her friends were captured at the age of ten and going to be sold as a slave before Orochimaru rescued them."


    "After they were rescued, Orochimaru gave them a chance to get stronger. In the three years following the rescue by Orochimaru, Kin and many of her villagers trained hard, trying to prove themselves. But in the process, many died due to the harsh training environment and¡­"


    Ino suddenly turned quiet as Raito and Shikamaru looked at her.


    "Jealousy. The competition in the village was so bad that everyone tried to restrain each other. An incident like that made Kin realize that she had to keep herself low-key. Most of her memories are about training and surviving each day. But even with all the training she did, Kin was only average within the members in the hideout."


    "Hideout? Not the sound village?" Shikamaru voiced his thoughts.


    "Mm, she was indeed in a hideout in the ''Land of Earth'' but where it actually is she has no idea." Ino showed a helpless expression as she threw her hand upwards.


    "¡­"


    "Just two years before, when the ''Otogakure'' was formed, Kin and many were brought to the hidden village with the sole purpose of completing missions and creating fame for the village, which then helped in establishing the village."


    "Ino, Stop." Raito stood up raising his head which startled Ino for a bit.


    Raito looked at Kin then asked, "Does she know anything about the curse mark or something important?"


    Ino shook her head and answered, "She only knows that the curse mark will make the user stronger and the only one who could make the curse marks is Orochimaru. Everyone in Otogakure was training for getting that cursed seal."


    "So¡­ she knows nothing." Raito sighed then tied up Kin before tossing her in the inventory.


    "Most of her memories were of¡­" Ino sighed thinking about it. The world outside the village was much more dangerous than she had ever thought.


    Shikamaru stretched then yawned loudly. "Why do we have to go through all this trouble?"


    Raito slapped Shikamaru''s back and rolled his eyes. "It''s a mission and you know it."


    Shikamaru glared resentfully at Raito then followed him back where Shino, Akamaru, and Sasuke were recovering.


    Walking outside, Raito could see Shino standing and moving his arms, trying various different Taijutsu positions.


    "That''s abnormal." Ino looked enviably, remembering her own healing period a few months before. Even with Raito''s abnormal healing technique, it took her a couple of days to fully heal from fractures.


    "Not really. Aburame clan can heal themselves quickly as long as their hive remains." Shikamaru answered looking at Shino then back at Ino.


    "As long as he can get to the tower." Raito looked at the unconscious Sasuke and said with a dark tone.


    Ino and Shikamaru looked at each other in concern for Raito.


    "Raito!" Ch¨­ji''s loud voice made everyone turn their head and look over.


    Ch¨­ji stood in front of a grill, fanning the flames and turning the sticks. The smell of the chicken and vegetables smeared in sauce stimulated the nose of whoever smelt it. With few skewers in his hand, Ch¨­ji waved, letting everyone have one.


    Taking out an ice pack, Raito placed it on Sasuke''s forehead after checking his temperature.


    "You are carrying something like that too?" Shikamaru raised his eyebrows. It seems like Raito''s inventory held a bit of everything.


    "Yeah," Raito replied in short, focusing on his stat screen.


    "¡­So troublesome." Shikamaru looked at Sasuke then at everyone.


    "Naruto and Kiba are taking too long," Raito commented.


    Understanding the meaning behind Raito''s words, Hinata nodded then quickly activated her Byakugan.


    "Naruto-kun is fighting alongside Kiba-san against shinobis from Amegakure." Hinata immediately went into alert mode, hurriedly standing up.


    "Hinata." Raito frowned looking at Hinata. She was always brain-dead when it came to matters about Naruto.


    Ignoring her, Raito used ''[Chakra Sense]'' to find more about the enemy ninjas.


    "Two shinobis from Amegakure¡­ one person is using something like the shadow clone¡­ no, its water clone while another person is using earth techniques. I can''t find the third member of the team." Raito frowned. While he could search the area in detail and look for the third member, Raito was short on time.


    After finding the details using ''[Observe]'', Raito stood up, ready to go and with him, pretty much everyone else.


    "Raito," Ch¨­ji called Raito and pointed at Sasuke.


    Raito quickly turned to face Shino and asked. "Can you bring him along?"


    "Mn." Shino who was beside Sasuke nodded then carried him. With most of the injuries recovered, Shino could do pretty much everything except breaking the bones once again. Along with Sasuke, Shino was also giving Akamaru a lift, as the little dog was still injured.


    While Raito tried reconnecting the bones, it would take a ninken specialist to fully heal Akamaru.


    Raito nodded then turned around to face everyone and started explaining. "Naruto is trying to match numbers with this Ame shinobi but unlike his shadow clones, his opponent is using water clone, which takes a lot less chakra. And while Kiba is there¡­ trying to help Naruto, he is being pinned by the earth user."


    Raito turned to face the tower and said, "There are no other enemies around in a straight line. Just follow me."


    Everyone gave a nod then with a burst of chakra, disappeared from their spot.


    In a relatively open area, just a few kilometers away from the tower, Naruto and Kiba were facing the Ame shinobis.


    While one of them was spanning water clones and injuring them from time to time, mostly focused on Naruto and his clones, the another Ame-Genin was using earth techniques to deal heavy damage to Kiba and Naruto and at the same time restricting the two but mostly focusing on Kiba.


    Naruto with his dwindling number of clones held kunai in his hand, attacking the Ame shinobi. Even so, the way Naruto looked right now talked about his condition. His hair wet with mud and patches of dirt on his clothes, cuts on his clothes and skin, and the blood dripping out.


    Comparing with the Ame-Genin he was fighting, who still had no wounds on his bodies and still had time to tease Naruto, it could be seen that Naruto was not faring well.


    "Just give up the scroll." The Ame shinobi clone jumped clashing with the Naruto''s clone. It got destroyed by Naruto but the water clone reformed, slashing and destroying the clone.


    "Argh, what''s happening?" Naruto looked at the water clones around him. The fight has been going for a long time but the result was not positive. With each clone destroyed, he was losing chakra whereas his opponent seems to have not lost much of chakra even if his clones were destroyed.


    "Come out and fight with me fairly," Naruto shouted while remaining vigilant.


    "Fair?" the Ame shinobi laughed, covering his face like an evil maniac then took out his kunai. "You want fair?"


    "I''ll give you a fair death." With a loud shout, all Ame shinobi''s clone jumped targeting Naruto.


    "Take this." "[Wind release ¨C Great breakthrough]"


    Torrent of wind surrounded Naruto then exploded outwards destroying everything near him.


    The Ame-Genin and his clones lay struck on the trees and rock around, some dissolving into a puddle of water while some turned into a gooey black mud.


    Kiba kept a distance from Naruto knowing about his wind techniques. Fighting with the earth user, Kiba was able to keep up with him but without Akamaru, his fighting power was nearly cut by half.


    As the wind died down, Naruto looked at his surroundings for the Ame shinobi. A small but victorious smile appearing on his face, Naruto clenched his fist and shouted in low voice, "Take that."


    Swish!


    Naruto, who was cheering just now, felt his mind frozen as he turned around to face a sickle stopped in front of him. Between him and the sickle, Kiba stood holding the sickle with his b.a.r.e hands. The jagged teeth of the sickle cutting into his flesh, dripping red blood.


    "Heh." The Ame-Genin laughed, jumping back into the puddle of water.


    "My hand!" Kiba looked at the wound and cursed. Kiba tried moving and clenching his hand but it didn''t.


    "Kiba!?" Naruto grabbed Kiba and jumped using chakra, dodging from the rocks coming their way.


    "Kiba, what happened!?" Feeling Kiba trembling, Naruto asked in worry.


    "That sickle was poisoned. Damn it!" Kiba answered with gritted teeth. Clearly, he hadn''t expected this situation, otherwise, he would have not touched the sickle b.a.r.e hands.


    "[Earth Prison]" The rocks around Kiba and Naruto transformed into shackles and binding them.


    Naruto and Kiba were caught off guard and now they had to pay the price. The shackles made up of rocks were so hard that even with Naruto''s chakra enhancement it was impossible to break it.


    The water remnants form the jutsu and puddles hovered into air transforming into sharp needles. "[Water Needle]"


    "Damn." Kiba struggled, looking at the water needles, ready to rain down. He remembered the ice needles made by the Haku on the bridge a few months back.


    Naruto who was struggling looked at Kiba then looked at the water needles in front of him. An unwillingness born from within as chakra started seeping into his tenketsu.


    "Definitely not¡­ going to¡­" Nobody noticed it as Naruto''s eye turned from blue to red.


    "Argh!" Naruto''s muscle bulged as he struggled, making cracks on the earthen shackles. With a sudden burst of raw chakra the earth shackles broke down and the Ame-Genins were thrown back.


    Seeing the chance in front of him, Naruto quickly destroyed the shackles around Kiba and jumped into the bushes, trying to run away.


    "No, you don''t." The Earth user Ame-Genin hurriedly stood up and made a hand seal, covering Naruto and Kiba with even more rocks, capable of totally restraining them.


    "Argh!" The treatment given to Naruto this time wasn''t a bit gentle. His skin was scrapped by the rocks, making various injuries in his body.


    The session stopped as the Ame-Genin walked in front of Naruto. Removing his face mask, he grabbed Naruto''s hair in a rough manner and asked, "Where is the scroll?"


    "Heh, Ptui." Naruto spat at the Ame-Genin''s face then he took a big breath in.


    Kiba who was unable to move also took a deep breath in.


    Seeing them taking deep breaths, the Ame Genin who had taken off his mask hurriedly wore it back, looking at his teammate who was holding the shackles jutsu.


    Naruto smiled then bit his lips, "Baka, ''[Wind Release: Clone Explosion]''."


    Both ''Kiba'' and ''Naruto'' started swelling and instantly reached the maximum size, giving bright light off.


    "Shit!"


    ''Kiba'' and ''Naruto'' exploded and with them, a huge force also erupted. The devastating power of wind spread in all directions, destroying everything around them as well as tens of meters around.


    The real Naruto and Kiba had already made a switch with Naruto''s transformed clones and were now hiding at the treetops, looking at the scene below, recovering from the fight earlier.


    "We got them," Naruto whispered. His one hand still grabbing onto Kiba''s shoulder.


    "They are still there," Kiba commented, drawing Naruto''s attention.


    In the rolling dust settled down, there were two figures covered by an earth wall. The surrounding area gave the marks of destruction but the earth wall in front of the two Ame-Genin only had several cracks. It stood tall and proud, fulfilling its job, protecting the two from the wind-clone bomb.


    It was unexpected by Naruto but the two of the Ame-Genins had got off with just a little bit of injury and nothing more.


    "Damn." Naruto cursed for his lack of thinking. Last time when he had sparred with Raito, Raito had also used the same tactic then defeated him. At that time, Kakashi-sensei had told him what his mistakes were and how he should have done in this type of situation.


    "Ahh!" Kiba screamed making Naruto turn back and at the same time taking out his kunai, ready for attack.


    There was another Ame-Genin with tall and burly physique, bandages covering most of his face and a face mask like the other Ame-Genins, standing behind Kiba. His kunai had lodged into Kiba''s shoulder as blood escaped from the entry wound.


    "I have finally confirmed that you two are not clones." The burly Ame-Genin smiled then teased with his kunai before taking it out of Kiba''s shoulder, making Kiba cry out in more pain.


    As the kunai was pulled, blood spurted out dying Kiba''s jacket red. Kiba would have probably dodged that attack if not for poison but alas, he could only glare at the Ame-Genin in anger, right now.


    Naruto''s face twisted in anger as he lowered his center of gravity, ready to attack.


    "How?" Kiba asked but the Ame Genin was now focused at Naruto.


    "Move and I will kill your friend." The burly Ame Genin had one hand on Kiba''s shoulder, his finger digging into the wound while his other hand, held kunai pointing on Kiba''s carotid artery.

 Chapter 61

    "Argh." Kiba remained paralyzed with a contorted expression on his face and hole in his shoulder.


    "Move, and I will kill your friend." The burly Ame Genin pricked Kiba''s neck while looking at Naruto''s face. His glare made Naruto grit his teeth in anger and concern.


    Seeing that Kiba wasn''t able to defend himself or even move because of his carelessness, Naruto felt deep guilt.


    "Wait! Wait!" Naruto pushed his palms forward, signaling the Ame-Genin to stop. Then he dropped the kunai from his hand, throwing it down the tree.


    "See, no weapons. I give up. Let him go." Naruto raised his hands, making a "give up" gesture.


    Seeing that Naruto had let go of his weapon, the burly Ame-Genin relaxed a bit then removed his kunai from Kiba''s neck. "It''s good that you have a brain."


    "Kagari, Oboro." The burly Ame Genin dragged Kiba a step back then shouted, calling for his teammates.


    "Mubi?! It''s damn time." The earth user, Oboro, grumbled, signaling Kagari, the one who was fighting Naruto, to look up.


    Massaging his head for a while, Kagari finally managed to look upward, to see one of the Konoha-Genins captured by Mubi.


    A clone made up of earth appeared beside Naruto, catching him in an embrace. Then they jumped down the tree, reaching to where Oboro and Kagari were.


    "Argh." Kiba g.r.o.a.n.e.d in pain, the wound in his shoulder agonizing him.


    "Kiba!" Naruto struggled to get free but Mubi, who was holding Kiba, turned and nicked Kiba''s neck, deterring Naruto.


    Kagari, who was hit directly by the explosion, walked and stood in front of Naruto, staring at him venomously.


    "Oboro, Kagari, check for the scrolls," Mubi ordered while creating earth clones.


    Oboro nodded and quickly looked through Kiba''s things. Kagari also went through Naruto''s things, finding many interesting things but the scroll.


    "Mubi, look at this." Kagari picked up the container with red liquid and showed it to his teammates.


    Oboro threw Kiba''s things down with a sigh then walked to Kagari''s side. "Be careful. It might be poisonous."


    "Don''t worry." Kagari pulled open the lid and sniffed lightly. Smelling a light fragrance of cherry, Kagari closed the lid then pocketed the container for himself.


    Oboro sighed at his teammate''s foolishness. Action like these could have serious negative effects later.


    Looking at Naruto and Kiba, Oboro had an odd feeling, like a nudge at the back of his head. Thinking back, he remembered that these two walked in the examination hall in separate teams.


    "Oi, Mubi, this yellow hair-" Just when Oboro wanted to speak, Mubi who was scouting using his earth clones, suddenly stood up with a signal shout.


    "A big one? Shit." Oboro snapped quickly looking at Kiba and Naruto.


    "Their teammates." Mubi turned and quickly made a snake hand seal, shackling Kiba too.


    They acted quickly dragging Kiba and Naruto to the bushes.


    "I see two coming." Mubi sweated looking at Naruto and Kiba then at the other end, where reinforcements were about to come.


    "There will be more than that," Oboro commented which gained Mubi''s attention.


    "What do you mean by that?" Mubi asked Oboro while equipping himself with kunai.


    "No time. They are from different teams." Oboro pointed at Naruto and Kiba and answered quickly.


    Hearing that Mubi glared at Oboro and gritted his teeth, "You! Why didn''t you¡­"


    "I just remembered," Oboro replied to which Mubi''s glared just intensified.


    "Mubi! Decide fast. If they outnumber us then we will surely lose!" Kagari shouted forcing Mubi to make a decision.


    Gritting his teeth, Mubi replied, "Alright, let''s go."


    "OK." Pushing Naruto and Kiba away, the trio jumped and ran in the opposite direction, towards the tower.


    While the Ame-Genin were running away, Kiba noticed a small grin on Naruto''s face.


    "Naruto?" Kiba wanted to ask but he heard a loud explosion and felt the wind blasting towards him.


    BOOM!!


    "Argh." The trio g.r.o.a.n.e.d in pain as they were thrown back, in front of Naruto and Kiba.


    "Hup!" With a shout and chakra burst, Naruto broke the shackles binding him???.


    "Hehe, time for some payback." Cracking his knuckles Naruto walked towards the fallen trio.


    "Naruto-kun!" With a loud shout, full of concern, Hinata ran towards Naruto, ignoring the three Ame-Genin on the ground.


    "Wait, Hinata!" Naruto shouted with his hands stretched.


    "Got you!" Water burst from below, surrounding Hinata.


    BAM!


    "Eh?" Kagari, who was about to trap Hinata using [Water Prison Jutsu], fell without knowing what just happened.


    "Like I said, don''t just jump into action when Naruto is involved." Raito sighed appearing some distance away.


    "Raito! Hinata!" Naruto gave a big smile looking at the two.


    "Naruto-kun, are you fine?" Hinata asked in worry seeing all the bloodstains on Kiba and Naruto.


    "Of course I am," Naruto replied, smiling and patting his biceps.


    Quickly rest of the team appeared, greeted by the laying Ame-Genins.


    "Che¡­ we should have taken our time." Shikamaru looked at the three laying down, bruised all over.


    Raito walked in front of Kiba and released the earth shackles binding him. "Kiba, you have to stop getting injured."


    "[HEAL]"


    Taking out a small red bead from his pouch, Raito gave it to Kiba. "There isn''t much damage but you have lost some blood. This pill will help you replenish blood. Take it."


    Kiba nodded then swallowed the pill.


    "Yuk!" Kiba, with his closed eyes, spat his tongue forward, complained, "Bitter."


    "I heard that good medicines are usually bitter." Raito nodded then continued using [Heal].


    "Arf!" Akamaru jumped from Shino''s head and jumped towards Kiba.


    Kiba turned his head sharply which caused him some pain.


    "How are you, Akamaru?" Kiba rubbed Akamaru and asked playfully. The two moved so much that they were losing health points.


    With anger on his face, Raito looked at the two, "Like I said¡­ stop moving."


    "[Earth Cover]" The ground below exploded and covered Kiba and Akamaru just like before.


    "What is this!?" There was a slight hint of panic when Kiba found that he couldn''t move anymore.


    "You two seriously need to stop moving." Raito sighed then left them in an immobile state.


    Shino laid Sasuke by Kiba''s side then he, himself sat in a meditative posture, trying to recover from his injuries. Quickly his hive covered his whole body leaving just his face. The black bugs covered every inch of his body, making him look like a horrible mess.


    "Eww! What''s that?" Ino looked with interest and horror at Shino and his black wriggling bugs, covering all of his body except the face.


    "That''s his hive helping him recover." Raito lightly tapped the back of Ino''s head and informed her. "You should read more." And of course, adding a bit of sarcastic tone at the end.


    Sasuke was still unconscious but one could still hear him groaning, every now and then. The seal on his neck given by Orochimaru was now nowhere to be seen. Of course, it was due to Raito''s and Naruto''s combined Fuinjutsu.


    Although the seal was not completely removed, Raito was thankful that the seal would not surface anymore. All done to the wishes old man Hokage.


    The sealing technique Raito had made was specifically made for Anko''s ''Cursed Seal of Heaven''. Guessing the passage of time and keeping in mind that the seal formula can be changed many times over in the years to become more effective and efficient. The increase in difficulty was well reasonable.


    "Hey! Everyone, they have two heaven scrolls." Ch¨­ji announced waving two heaven scrolls in his hand. Ch¨­ji had already looted the Ame-Genin team while Shikamaru had disabled them with his shadow techniques.


    "Talk about being unlucky." Shikamaru looked at the scrolls then threw them at Raito.


    [Heaven Scroll]


    [Heaven Scroll]


    The corners of Raito''s lips curved upwards seeing the scroll then at the miserable Ame-Genin.


    "You got the scrolls. Let us go. We surrender." The thinker of the team, Mubi, shouted quickly focusing on Raito.


    "You surrender?" Raito questioned then pushed his hand forward, grabbing the neck of the two nearest.


    "Argh, stop!" Mubi resisted, activating the chakra gathered in his hand.


    "Raito¡­" Ino watched Raito choking the two Ame-Genin with slight concern. Whether it was for the Ame Genin or Raito, only she knew.


    While looking into Mubi''s eyes, Raito threatened, "Move your hands¡­ and I will kill your friend."


    Hearing Oboro''s choked voice, Mubi immediately stopped and restrained his chakra.


    And as soon as Mubi restrained his chakra, a black line with a red dot encircled his neck completely cutting off his chakra. The same happened with Oboro, a seal cutting off his chakra too.


    Raito let go the both of them and while Oboro fell down, Mubi stood albeit little wobbly.


    After recovering, Mubi glared at Raito and checked on Oboro and Kagari.


    "Don''t glare at me. If you hadn''t attacked my friends, you could still have two heaven scrolls and a chance to enter the tower." Raito shrugged then signaled Hinata.


    Hinata nodded slightly, her hand moving swiftly, opening the closed tenketsu of Kagari. Previously, just before Kagari could use his jutsu on Hinata, she had moved faster than him and blocked his tenketsu, stopping his chakra flow and disabling him, in an instant.


    As soon as Kagari''s tenketsu were opened, he woke up instantly. Not even wasting a second, he jumped, taking out his kunai, ready to attack. But seeing that he was surrounded and his teammates were taken hostage, he gritted his teeth and dropped his kunai, then raised his hands in surrender.


    "We have both your scrolls and your teammate''s chakra are sealed. Do you want to quit?"


    For a moment, the field was in silence as everyone eyed one another, silently sending messages.


    Naruto who was being pampered by Hinata''s care, walked in between Raito and the Ame-Genins while grabbing a scroll from Raito''s hand.


    "What are you¡­?" Raito mumbled softly only allowing Naruto to hear.


    Naruto threw the scroll towards Kagari and said, "We don''t need that Heaven scroll."


    "You are giving back the scroll?" Kagari looked back at his teammates then at Naruto.


    "Un¡­ We already have what we need." Naruto smiled and made an easygoing posture.


    Raito clicked his tongue and threads made up of chakra attached to Mubi and Oboro. He quickly restructured the seal and released them.


    "Hey what did you just do!?" Kagari shouted, pointing at Raito.


    "¡­ I shortened the duration of the seal. After two hours, the seals will undo by itself." Raito replied plainly then moved towards Kiba and Akamaru.


    Kagari looked at the shinobi around him then walked towards his teammates.


    "Oboro, Mubi, we must work hard." With that, Kagari disappeared with his teammates, before Naruto could say anymore, leaving Konoha Genin behind.


    Seeing the Ame-Genin gone, angry and questioning glances focused on Naruto.


    "¡­" Raito looked at Naruto for a while before sighing. He didn''t question Naruto but focused on healing Kiba and Sasuke, especially Sasuke, who still hadn''t woken up.


    "What were you thinking, Naruto!?" Ino raged, shaking Naruto intensely.


    [Uchiha Sasuke]


    [Unconscious] Recovery in 6hrs


    Staring at the unconscious Sasuke, Raito sighed then turned his head towards Ino.


    "6 hours huh?"


    ''If he doesn''t wake up then let''s just make Naruto''s clone transform into Sasuke.'' Thinking that Raito made a small smile.


    Facing Kiba, Raito removed the [Earth Cover] and warned, "Try meditation method that your clan has taught you. It should help."


    "¡­ and just, stop moving too much." As long as Kiba stopped moving and harming himself, his clan''s healing prowess and Raito''s healing skill will make sure that he recovers fully.


    "Hmm¡­" Ch¨­ji looked at the distance and made a small noise.


    "Ch¨­ji?" Shikamaru called Ch¨­ji and waited.


    "They are in trouble," Ch¨­ji replied then gave Shikamaru a questioning glance.


    "Great." Shikamaru sighed then looked towards Raito.


    When Raito saw Shikamaru''s questioning glance, he just turned his head and ignored him.


    "It was their decision to go." Raito shrugged then looked towards the tower. "Anyways, we need to reach the tower."


    Inside the Hokage tower, Hiruzen sat on his seat and beside him, the Konoha council, J¨­nin commander, ANBU head and Jiraiya listened to the report made by Anko who had actual contact with the snake Sannin, Orochimaru.


    "Until now three parties are involved; Suna, Kusa, and Oto. No matter what, we have to be prepared for whatever may come."


    "If only Suna was not involved¡­" Homura sighed.


    "Suna has been long dissatisfied with how things are. They have financial problems and their military strength is also getting weaker every year. It''s surprising that they haven''t taken any action yet." Danzo commented.


    "They should have dealt with mercenary guilds first." Jiraiya clicked his tongue.


    "We don''t have confirmation yet."


    "Sending an unstable Jinch¨±riki in another village. That is clearly a problem."


    "One-tailed Sand Demon." Jiraiya sighed.


    "We shouldn''t forget about Sasuke. He is in the center of everything in this Ch¨±nin exams. Getting everyone''s attention, even Orochimaru is here for him." Koharu, who had been silent till now, spoke up looking at Hiruzen.


    Seeing that nobody had spoken, she continued, "We need to deal with Suna Jinch¨±riki and Sasuke¡­ he needs¡­"


    Danzo quickly intervened, "Sasuke needs to be on the stadium a month later, in front of the Daimy¨­ of all the villages. Not only that, but he also needs to show his power¡­ his capability to defeat everyone¡­ no, overpower everyone in that group."


    Hiruzen sighed, the hat covering his expression, "Danzo, we already know that he is not capable of doing that."


    "That''s why he should have been under me. I could have trained him to be the strongest, even stronger than his brother, Itachi."


    "Danzo." Koharu turned and gave a look to him.


    "We all know what your men are like, Danzo."


    With Hiruzen''s comment, the tension in the room raised a bit.


    "I have already assigned Kakashi to look after him for this month," Hiruzen answered breaking the tension.


    "Then give me the Jinch¨±riki. I know that he is a valuable asset of this village and will create some problems but-"


    "I''ll be taking him. He will be training under me from now on." Cutting off Danzo, Jiraiya stood in front of Anko facing the group and opening the big scroll.


    "I have discussed with the toads of Mount My¨­boku and they have agreed to sign the contract with Naruto."


    Jiraiya had pulled double privilege to get Naruto. First as a Sannin and second as a godfather.


    "The fourth''s?"


    The declaration brought silence to the room. Those who knew said nothing, silently agreeing and those who didn''t know also didn''t dare ask.


    The denial had made Danzo''s face turn slightly green. Anger appeared within him but he didn''t show in his face.


    The only ANBU in the room, beside the Hokage, stood up, replacing Jiraiya''s. Falling on to his left knee, he matched eyes with the Hokage''s then lowered his head and with his muffled voice, asked, "Hokage-sama, please allow me the dispatch of all the ANBU."


    "I allow it." With Hiruzen''s confirmation, the ANBU head disappeared from the room.


    Next was Shikaku, the J¨­nin commander. He remained standing after passing a clipboard and only left after receiving a nod from Hiruzen.


    Hiruzen sighed. He let the heads of the department arrange things.


    Now attention to the current state of affairs.


    "With that decided¡­ Anko, tell us who made it to the tower."


    At the clearing, near the tower, in the forest of death, everyone was recovering or training, and the same goes for Raito. Raito stood a little further with a sword in his hand, practicing the sword techniques.


    [Sword Drawing Techniques]


    In front of Raito, the tree had lots of cuts marks but the interesting thing was that cut lines were all parallel with equal length and depth. The three trees near him all had the same cuts, making Raito happy with this skill.


    Rustle. Rustle.


    "What? Finally awake." Raito turned back and asked lazily.


    Sasuke walked out of bushes with his Sharingan activated. His eyes were locked onto Raito, more specifically his sword.


    "Che." Raito clicked his tongue in distaste. Sasuke was still trying to steal his techniques. But should I just let him steal?


    Raising his sword high, Raito smiled and activated a skill.


    ''[Stealth]''


    Stealth''s third ability was activated.


    In Sasuke''s eyes, Raito''s figure gradually turned hazy and the insides of Raito''s body where he could have seen chakra turned pitch black, not letting him see the chakra.


    Gritting his teeth, Sasuke stopped his Sharingan, which allowed him to see Raito once again. Raito was just standing there swinging his sword wildly.


    Coming to a realization, Sasuke''s face distorted in anger.


    "Yeah, it''s for you Dojutsu user." Grinning Raito kept his weapons in the inventory.


    Taking a deep breath in, Raito shouted, "Everyone! Get ready. We are moving."


    "Ooh!" Came Naruto''s energetic shout.


    With that said, Raito walked passed Sasuke with a smile.

 Chapter 62

    "Finally!"


    Naruto shouted happily, standing in front of the tower door. Just looking at its massive structure will give you a neck ache.


    "I bet there will be more tests." Shikamaru looked at the paper seal on the door and clicked his tongue.


    "Did you forget the last Ch¨±nin selection match we had in Konoha? It was an elimination match." Raito replied to Shikamaru. Every once in two years, the Ch¨±nin exam is held in Konoha and Daimy¨­ and various notable leaders are invited to watch the match. The winner not only gets prestige for himself but also for the village.


    Neither Genin, J¨­nin nor ANBU selection is shown to anyone outside the village. So, the village focuses on the Ch¨±nin exam, making it bigger than necessary, and as a form of advertis.e.m.e.nt.


    "Whoever lasts until the end will get to fight at the stadium."


    "Um, we had to transform to just see the match. And that earful from Iruka-sensei¡­ ugh." Naruto recalled and told the story of how he and Raito bunked the class and went to see the Ch¨±nin selection exam.


    "Hmm¡­ I remember my dad took me to the Ch¨±nin finals." Ch¨­ji commented, munching on a fresh packet of ch.i.p.s.


    "My old man dragged me too," Shikamaru added with his lazy tone.


    "¡­" Ino blushed. She couldn''t just tell that she wasn''t interested in the Ch¨±nin finals at that time.


    "What about you Ino?" Naruto asked in curiosity.


    "I¡­I was¡­" Ino stammered.


    As Ino was about to make some excuse, the half-opened door was fully opened and a lazy voice was heard, "You finally came."


    "Kakashi-sensei." Raito quickly let go of the door handle and shouted in surprise. The building had some kind of seal that interfered with looking into the building.


    "Kaka-sensei."


    "Sensei."


    Opening the door, not only Kakashi was there but also Kurenai and Asuma stood there, behind Kakashi.


    "Asuma-sensei," Ino shouted.


    "Sensei." Only the quiet Shino called out to Kurenai this time, making her think of various reasons.


    "We have been waiting for you all for quite some time now." Asuma walked forward, looking at his Genin trio.


    With his hand on Ino''s head, he said happily, "I''m glad that you all are well."


    Kurenai also walked towards her Genins and looked at the wounds on Shino''s and Kiba''s body in shock. Green chakra covered her hands as she traced the broken bones.


    Surprise covered Kurenai''s face as she found that the bones had already started forming callus and were supported by Shino''s own chakra. "I didn''t know you learned advanced healing technique, Shino."


    "¡­I didn''t, sensei. It was Raito-san who healed us." Shino replied.


    "Wrap up, Hokage-sama wants to meet." Kakashi interrupted everyone then called out names, "Raito and Sasuke. You two are needed. Everyone else, go to rooms and get some rest."


    "Man, so troublesome." Shikamaru narrowed his eyes and looked at Sasuke from the corners of his eyes


    Sasuke seemed like he didn''t care but he was panicking about the things that happened. He tried his best not to touch his neck. ''It''s about those marks''.


    "Oi¡­ Kakashi-sensei." Raito called.


    "Hm."


    "What should we do about the scrolls?" He asked taking out the ''Heaven'' and ''Earth'' scrolls.


    "That¡­" Kakashi looked at the scrolls and laughed sheepishly.


    "If ''Heaven'' does not exist, enrich your knowledge, and prepare for chance."


    "If ''Earth'' does not exist, run the field in search of an advantage."


    "With the blessing of Heaven and Earth, all perilous ways shall be redressed."


    As Hinata read the words on the plaque hung on the room, everyone''s eyes were drawn from the J¨­nin leader to Hinata, to the plaque.


    [''Ch¨±nin Core Principles'' Plaque]


    Owned by Konohagakure


    Made by ''Hiruzen Sarutobi'' (3rd Hokage of Konohagakure)


    >>


    "What does that mean?" Naruto grumbled, feeling that it was just too complicated.


    When Kakashi and Asuma were about to speak up Raito''s voice cut them off. "Power and knowledge, duh."


    "Really?" Naruto looked at the plaque then asked back with a frown.


    "It''s true, Naruto. With enough power and good knowledge for the mission, you can easily complete any mission."


    "No way would it be that easy," Raito commented recalling the mission detail scrolls he had read from Yamanaka clan. About how a mission easily turned into shit fry in a blink of an eye.


    "It may not be always true but this is what a Ch¨±nin must follow," Kurenai spoke up then at her students with a bit of sadness.


    "If you cannot follow these values then you are not fit to be a Ch¨±nin and will remain a forever Genin." She sighed recalling her experience.


    "These are the core values for a Ch¨±nin." Kakashi walked forward knocking on to Naruto''s head and said with an eye smile, "If ''Heaven'' does not exist, enrich your knowledge, and prepare for chance. That means, if your weakness is your brains then you should read more."


    "I read, ya know." Naruto forced the hand off his head.


    "If ''Earth'' does not exist, run the field in search of an advantage," Asuma spoke up then placed his hands on Ino''s and Shikamaru''s head.


    "I knew it." Shikamaru sighed, leaving it to his fate.


    "I train!!" Ino reacted violently.


    "If your weakness is physical strength then you should get off your butts and train more."


    "So meddlesome."


    Raito looked at the scrolls in his hands then at the plaque. Shrugging his shoulders he threw the scrolls in front.


    Poof


    Smoke covered the area below the plaque.


    "With heaven and earth covered, any perilous situation will be solved." Voice could be heard from the smokescreen.


    With the voice and outline of the person, Naruto immediately jumped in joy. "Iruka-sensei."


    Dispelling the cloud, Iruka walked forward and looked at his previous students.


    "Congratulations, everyone. You all passed the second part of the Ch¨±nin selection exam." Iruka announced.


    Looking at the J¨­nins in the room, Iruka immediately deduced that something was wrong.


    "Kakashi-senpai?" Iruka voice out, his face changing into a solemn one.


    "Good work. I''ll leave them to you." With a smile, Kakashi brought Raito and Sasuke away.


    "Where are they going?" Naruto asked to no one looking at the back figure of Raito and Sasuke.


    "It must be related to the weird mark that Sasuke had that time," Hinata answered to Naruto''s question.


    Iruka had walked away, leaving the Genins with Kurenai and Asuma.


    "Now, simple rules." Asuma turned with a bit of sternness in his voice.


    "No one goes on talking about that marks on Sasuke or what Raito and Naruto did, okay?" Asuma asked looking at each and every one of them including Naruto.


    "What the heck did I do?" Naruto asked


    The underground part of the tower was dark and humid, giving an unpleasant smell making Raito frown. There was a single corridor that led to a door with lights above and an ANBU in front of the door.


    With the two in tow, Kakashi reached the door, standing in front of the ANBU.


    "Hokage-sama has been waiting." The purple haired cat ANBU opened the door and walked in first.


    Walking inside the room, which was a very big room or it could simply be called a hall. In the middle of the room stood Hiruzen, with his Hokage outfit, looking at the incoming people, more specifically, Sasuke. Beside him were Inoichi, Ibiki, Mari and another ANBU.


    "What''s going on here?" Raito asked looking at Kakashi and the purple haired ANBU then his gaze landed on the source of all trouble, Sasuke.


    "Hokage-sama." Kakashi bowed which made the two Genins following him also react and follow the same.


    Hiruzen raised his hand then looked at Sasuke, "Take a seat, Sasuke."


    After a bit of hesitation, Sasuke nodded then sat on the chair placed at the center of the hall.


    "What''s going to happen?" Sasuke asked looking at Kakashi but got no reply.


    "We are making sure that there is nothing wrong with you." Inoichi placed his hand on Sasuke with a bit of force.


    "I am fine." Sasuke felt his body stiffening.


    Hiruzen who had been silent till now, spoke up, "You encountered one of the highest, S-ranked, missing-nin of Konoha, Orochimaru. You may have read about him in your textbooks, in the academy or from the bingo book given to you in these past six months."


    "Hn" Sasuke nodded in confirmation, affirming that he had heard about Orochimaru.


    "Now what you haven''t heard is that¡­ He can seal his chakra into someone else¡­ like Anko here."


    With her name being called Anko appeared from the shadows.


    Raito who was behind Kakashi clenched his fists and gave Anko a special kind of look.


    Anko removed her long coat and stretched her neck. With the activation of her chakra, the magatama making a circle appeared on her neck.


    "That seal is called "Cursed Seal", made by Orochimaru. When this seal is used, the user is covered with different kinds of marks, all over the body. This seal has only one function and that is to make the user stronger."


    "How much stronger?" Sasuke asked in a daze.


    "¡­ A lot," Hiruzen answered.


    "¡­"


    "But do you think that power like this comes without consequences?" Hiruzen asked.


    "What¡­ consequences?" Sasuke asked his hand already loosened and his eyes out of focus.


    "This curse seal will destroy your body, make you mentally unstable. Like a drug, it will make you a slave, a slave that cannot live without that cursed power. Power¡­ that will make you blind and hollow."


    "Use that seal again and be forever weak or work hard and become strong."


    At the end of the Hiruzen''s talking, Sasuke had already closed his eyes and fallen into a deep sleep.


    "Genjutsu?" Raito asked to no one.


    "It''s not a Genjutsu but hypnosis," Kakashi answered.


    "Hypnosis?" Raito asked in curiosity.


    "Yes." Kakashi nodded and said no more.


    "Shall I?" From the corner of the room, the voice of an old man filled with heavy tone came.


    As he walked out two figures were seen behind him. Danzo along with Koharu and Homura walked out of shadows, standing in front of Sasuke.


    Danzo turned back to look at Raito before giving his attention to Sasuke once more.


    "Danzo." Hiruzen nodded, signaling Inoichi to stop.


    "Council elders." Inoichi bowed then took a step back.


    "We will have to depend on you, Danzo." Koharu and Homura looked worriedly at Sasuke then at Danzo.


    Danzo caught Sasuke''s blue clan shirt then with a shake, removed it.


    Hiruzen expression didn''t change but Homura''s and Koharu''s tensed a bit.


    "There doesn''t seem to be any visible marks on his body," Danzo commented while moving Sasuke and checking for marks.


    "Those marks disappeared only after Fuinjutsu was applied. Right, Hiruzen?" Koharu asked looking at Hiruzen and Anko.


    "Yes, elder," Anko answered respectfully.


    "That was many years ago. Maybe he has developed the technique." Homura commented.


    "I shall use Fuinjutsu then¡­" From Danzo''s left arm sleeve, he took out a scroll and with a flick, the wooden core of the scroll extended, revealing a small chamber for storing ink.


    Under the influence of chakra, ink floated and soon covered Sasuke and the area around him with character seals. Dropping the scroll, Danzo made a half ram hand seal, channeling his chakra and linking to the character seal and Sasuke.


    [Fuinjutsu - Revelation]


    The ANBU behind Hiruzen had silently appeared beside Sasuke, a comfortable distance away.


    The characters on Sasuke''s body glowed, giving off an eerie blue light then moved like wriggling worms. Just like Shino''s back then, Sasuke''s whole body had turned black with ink.


    Danzo''s face turned dissatisfied as he poured more chakra into the Fuinjutsu.


    Behind everyone''s back, Raito looked at the scene with a faint smile and mocking chants on his mind.


    ''Fuinjutsu depends on technique but the amount of chakra is important too. I asked Naruto and his heritage from Uzushiogakure for help creating this seal and the amount of chakra invested in this Fuinjutsu is much more than the amount you have.''


    Raito looked at the CP bar above Danzo''s head draining like a flood gate.


    "It''s good that it isn''t here." Homura let out the breath he was holding.


    "We need to think of the future now." Koharu gave Hiruzen and Homura a signal before taking a step back.


    "Danzo," Homura called but it seemed that Danzo was hell-bent on finding the curse mark.


    "SWALLOW," Hiruzen called then turned around to find a comfortable spot.


    "Danzo-sama." The ANBU called once and waited for a couple of seconds but Danzo didn''t react.


    SWALLOW sighed then walked forward, directly catching Danzo''s hand and canceling the Fuinjutsu.


    "Danzo-sama, you just went against the leader of the village. Please stop this action."


    "You!" Anger in his eyes, Danzo waved his hand, freeing himself.


    "Danzo!" Koharu shouted. "There is no curse mark on the boy. That Fuinjutsu was handed down by Mito-sama and we all know what it means when there is no reaction."


    As all eyes fell on Danzo, as he weakly pulled his hand back. Letting out a breath, he turned towards Hiruzen and said, "I just wanted to confirm."


    "Hm. You have confirmed."


    In this intense situation, Raito looked at the ANBU, the more he looked at him, the more he felt this familiar feeling of a close one.


    "That sword."


    [ANBU ''SWALLOW''/ ??? Lvl ?]


    ''Has to be Shun-nii.''


    Behind Raito, the purple haired ANBU was not paying attention to anything in the room except him. ''Definitely Yugao-nee.''


    [ANBU ''CAT''/ Uzuki Y¨±gao Lvl ?]


    ''He has a cool arm.'' Under his chakra sense, Raito could see Danzo''s right forearm covered with a metallic structure but nothing more than that.


    Looking around the room then at the sideways at CAT, he whispered, "14."


    CAT behind him heard that and let out a small noise of acknowledgment.


    A smile bloomed on Raito''s face but it soon disappeared as he saw Danzo and Konoha council, walking towards him, more specifically towards the door. He hurriedly moved sideways, letting the way for the elders.


    When the Konoha council elders left, the room was filled with ANBU and people who Raito was comfortable with.


    "Kakashi, take this." Hiruzen took out a scroll from his sleeve and gave it to Kakashi.


    "This is¡­?" Kakashi held the scroll in his hand and looked at Hiruzen for an answer.


    "Sasuke will be under you from now on. Teach him well." Hiruzen replied looking sideways.


    "You don''t have to worry about Naruto. I will be looking after him." From the cauldron filled with water, Jiraiya jumped out and announced.


    Immediately the comfort vanished and Raito became a little guarded.


    "Raito-kun, you have something for us." Hiruzen sighed then turned around to face the lone awake Genin in the room and said.


    Raito looked towards Kakashi then at Jiraiya, then at everyone else in the room.


    Taking out a medium-sized scroll from his inventory, Raito placed it on the floor and opened it.


    "A summoning scroll?" Jiraiya walked close to the scroll and gave it a look.


    It was a summoning spell with kanji for rock written on it.


    "Rock?" Jiraiya looked intrigued as he read the Fuinjutsu.


    "Hai," Raito replied then went through a series of hand seal and pressed chakra in the seal.


    With a burst of chakra cloud, three large stones appeared around Raito.


    ''Inventory.''


    With the clap of his hands, the stones broke down and revealed three people inside namely; Dosu, Kin and Zaku, the Oto-nin.


    "They are the Oto-nin whose village leader is Orochimaru, one of three Sannin. Their chakra and senses have been sealed.."


    "To be able to seal the senses, you must be a high level Fuinjutsu practitioner huh, kid?" Jiraiya smiled checking the seals on the Dosu then looked at Raito.


    "I''m just in between," Raito answered modestly.


    "Sealing senses means you are at least level six." Jiraiya let go of Dosu and stood upright, looking at Raito with a bit of surprise.


    "Ibiki." Hiruzen signaled.


    Ibiki nodded, then with Mari grabbed the three and left the room. But before leaving, Mari glared at Raito, showing her sharp canines.


    "Well¡­" Raito turned to face Hiruzen and bowed, "Mission complete."


    "Now the main point." Hiruzen nodded towards Raito.


    "There should really be good pay for this," Raito grumbled and took out a small scroll.


    According to what Jiraiya could see it was a Fuinjutsu key for a seal. "A key?"


    "Techniques from Uzushiogakure. Naruto helped me make this all." Raito answered as he channeled chakra to the key.


    "This sealing technique wasn''t meant for Sasuke at all. So, I can''t say how long the seal will be effective."


    "According to what I learned from cursed seals, they are made up of the yin chakra of the caster which interferes with the natural chakra pathway of the victim. My plan of action was to balance the yin with yang chakra, which can lead to stability of the seal, and with the help of an extraction seal, get rid of the curse seal."


    With his focus on the Fuinjutsu, Raito had closed his eyes linking the key to the seal on Sasuke.


    Kakashi who was behind Raito, gave an eye smile at the dumbfounded looks on Jiraiya and Hiruzen, possibly many others.


    "How could that be so easy balancing yin and yang chakra? Do you know what yin and yang chakra even is?" Jiraiya shook his head in disbelief as he heard Raito explaining.


    "It was Naruto who came up with the solution. That book you gave him Jiichan, it was written in there. It means the previous owner of that book was working on destroying the curse seal."


    "And that book had a blood seal."


    "A blood seal, huh?" Hiruzen looked at Jiraiya and sighed.


    "Maybe we should let Naruto come in contact with more of Uzushiogakure stuff huh, sensei?" Jiraiya replied Hiruzen with another question.


    [Fuinjutsu - Revelation]


    The characters from the scroll latched into Sasuke''s shoulder, revealing the ''Evil suppression Seal'' and the ''Curse seal of Heaven''.


    SWALLOW and Jiraiya led Sasuke on the table then looked at the curse seal. The slight purplish aura emitting from the seal, made Jiraiya remember about Orochimaru, who he had met in the numerous times in the past years. His chakra resembled his nature; dark and creepy,


    "This seal¡­" Jiraiya frowned then took out a fresh scroll.


    "Orochimaru." Hiruzen sighed then took off his hat, his eyes switching between Raito and Sasuke.


    "It is impossible to break the Evil suppression seal," Raito commented.


    Scribbling on the scroll, Jiraiya replied, "I am not trying to break the seal and¡­ if you have enough knowledge and chakra, you can do anything."


    "Say, did you modify the ''Evil suppression seal''?" Jiraiya asked, his focus still on the curse seal. The curiosity got to Jiraiya as he inspected the seal.


    "I did with Naruto''s help," Raito answered opting to sit down and read a book in the meantime. The book was about some random story that Raito had brought in batch from the traveling merchants.


    "Read this instead." A book was pushed in front of Raito by Hiruzen. Instead of reading these random stories, a book regarding their trade will be quite useful.


    "Um." Raito grabbed the book then looked at Hiruzen. "Jiichan."


    "Hm¡­" Hiruzen looked at Raito then sat by his side. Before he could sit down, a chair was already placed for him by the ANBU in the room.


    "You are old, Jiichan," Raito commented then started reading the book. "Give that hat to someone already."


    Several people in the room gave Raito a stink eye at his comment. But looking at Hiruzen, they thought that he was indeed getting old to deal with everything that comes with the seat.


    [Elemental Ninjutsu and Hand seals]


    Type ¨C Book


    It is said that some specific hand seals are more favored to a specific elemental nature. Like tiger hand seals which Sasuke usually uses for his [Great fireball jutsu] and snake hand seal for earth jutsus.


    There are twelve basic hand seals, each one named after an animal. Five elemental hand seals, hundreds of variations and unique seals.


    "You are stingy too." Raito pouted.

 Chapter 63

    "I''m back¡­" Raito wanted to eat a banquet but as he opened the door he saw that Naruto and Hinata had already gone to sleep, like little babies, unaware of their surroundings. "They are asleep."


    "You guys didn''t even wait for me." Raito pouted, looking at the faces they were making while sleeping


    [02:30 am]


    "Yeah, no one would be awake at this hour¡­" Raito sighed. The inspection of the seal took longer than Raito had expected but according to what Jiraiya had said, they didn''t even start dissecting the curse seal.


    Instead of entering the room, he locked the door then turned around to face the short red-headed, panda eyed boy in front of him.


    "Except you." Gaara has been following him since he had passed the Suna Genin room, like a stalker.


    "¡­"


    The eerie vibe Gaara was giving made a shiver go down Raito''s spine. "¡­ What do you want?"


    "¡­"


    Raito looked at Gaara and waited for a while, hoping that he would reply. Now, seeing that he wasn''t responding at all, Raito turned around and waved his hand, "Goodnight."


    "Your name." Just as Raito was about to walk into the room, Gaara asked Raito for his name.


    "What? You still haven''t found out?" Raito turned back to look Gaara in the eye with a smile.


    "Your name." Gaara still asked in his monotonous voice, like a doll.


    Most of the light bulbs in the corridors were already switched off because it was the middle of the night. But the darkness couldn''t hinder Raito from seeing the sand that was enclosing on him.


    "It''s Raito," Raito answered seriously looking at Gaara.


    After Gaara learned Raito''s name his face changed. His mask-like face contorted, the corners of his lips raised and his pupil shook violently. As Gaara raised his hands, the sand begun to churn. "I''ll kill you."


    "Oi, do you have a screw loose?" Hand on his h.i.p.s, Raito sighed, looking at the distorted face of Gaara.


    "Haa¡­" Sand blocked both ends of the corridor.


    "You are stronger¡­ stronger than Uchiha." The maniac eyes of Gaara locked onto Raito as sand pooled under Raito''s leg.


    Trying to move his leg, Raito found that it was a little bit difficult to move. ''There is chakra on sand¡­ but is that even possible? I know that the Kazekage''s iron and gold sand were based on lightning and earth chakra nature manipulation but this!!''


    Raito pushed his hands forward covering Gaara''s face and said, "Don''t be stupid¡­ Ch¨±nin and J¨­nin level ninja are everywhere in this building. I don''t want to get disqualified for fighting."


    Feeling the sand shoot towards him, Raito activated [ID Create] and disappeared from the spot.


    Gaara''s eye moved as he moved his sand in all directions. "It''s not Genjutsu?"


    With a tiger hand seal, the sand condensed into small beads. And as Gaara closed his eyes, the sand beads changed its form, turning into eyeballs.


    "[Eye of Sand]"


    With a wave of his hand, the eyeballs disappeared into thin air.


    Gaara looked at the door that Raito was about to go in and opened it. But the scene inside disappointed him as there was no one inside.


    [Demonic Illusion: False Surroundings Lvl 90]


    ''Can trick all five senses,'' Raito grinned as he searched for those little eyeballs of Gaara with his [Chakra Sense].


    "Don''t mind me for making doing this." Raito harrumphed as he looked at the Suna group and the J¨­nin quarters, who were wide awake and watching, using Genjutsu, Ninjutsu and Dojutsu.


    Clearly, they were watching¡­ but since they had no intention of intervening then letting out a bit was OK.


    Taking out a talisman from his inventory, Raito stuck it on the floor between Hinata''s and Naruto''s bed.


    "Just a minute, guys." With that Raito again disappeared into the dungeon.


    Gaara slowly walked into the small arena built inside the tower where there were big hands, interlocking to form a seal.


    And standing on top of the hand seal was Raito, waiting leisurely for Gaara.


    "If you are not going to stop this then I will just destroy this building." Raito smiled and mouthed each word clearly.


    At the J¨­nin quarters, a Hy¨±ga was explaining the situation on what was happening. The Hy¨±ga was stunned as he read Raito''s lips.


    "Kakashi-san, Raito says that if we don''t stop, he will¡­ destroy the tower." The Hy¨±ga reported to Kakashi and a few of the Konoha J¨­nin.


    "¡­ Can he even do that?" Kurenai asked suspiciously.


    "He wouldn''t do that," Kakashi replied with assurance.


    The Hy¨±ga stood up and looked nervously at Kakashi and said, "Kakashi-san, there are Fuinjutsu marks all over the tower. I don''t understand much but it looks like explosion seals."


    Asuma chuckled then turned to face Kakashi, "I don''t think they are explosion seals."


    "Preservation seals," Kakashi replied blankly and looked towards Hy¨±ga.


    "Ah¡­ yes, yes." Hy¨±ga nodded then activated his Byakugan.


    "I am going first." Kakashi waved his hand and walked out of the J¨­nin quarters.


    The Nara in the room sighed then closed his eyes, "So troublesome."


    =


    "I know you are here."


    More and more sand poured out of the gourd, like an endless river, forming a small monster.


    Taking out stone beads from his inventory, Raito threw them towards Gaara.


    "Toys." Gaara with his mask-like face looked at the stone beads Raito threw and raised his hands.


    The sand around Gaara quickly gathered to catch the stone bead. Instantly the sand was broken through as the stone continued towards Gaara.


    "Hmph." Gaara snorted then clutched his raised hand. The sand from the gourd exploded and formed a hand and caught the bead this time.


    "This type of tricks¡­ is useless." Gaara clutched his hand tighter and sound of the stone bead breaking was heard.


    From the sand hand, the pieces of the stone bead fell down on the ground.


    "That was just one stone bead." Raito shrugged then took out two stone beads, one in each hand. Dangling his legs, it looked like he was enjoying this.


    "It''s useless." From the gourd, another hand erupted like the first one.


    "You wish. [Throw]" Raito rolled his eyes and threw the stone. The stone whistled like an arrow. They quickly reached the demonic sand arms and destroyed them.


    "Hm."


    Crash


    The cloud of dust erupted with a big bang, acting as a smokescreen. But it was no problem for Raito as he didn''t need eyes to see what was going on.


    "Gaara of the sand." Playing with two stone beads in hand, Raito looked at the ball of sand, of the size of a human, in amus.e.m.e.nt.


    The previous two stone beads had embedded themselves into the defensive sand armor. As the armor cracked open, the stone beads fell down.


    Revealing himself, Gaara was as always with no injury or even a scratch.


    The same thing could be said for Raito as he was sitting comfortably on the top of the hand seal in a relaxed manner.


    "Let me ask you¡­ do you still want to kill me, Yoshizawa Raito?" Raito asked standing up from his comfortable seat, with a bird hand seal.


    "Hm." Gaara didn''t respond to Raito''s question as he stretched his hand forward. The sand moving to his will, shot forward towards Raito.


    "This is my last warning. If you attack any further then your whole team will be disqualified. Be aware." The change in Raito''s voice was evident but that didn''t stop Gaara.


    Gaara was still not listening to what Raito was saying. His sand shot forward, piercing Raito or the piece of stone that had just replaced Raito.


    "Where¡­"


    Raito stood onto the sidewall and smiled.


    "Your J¨­nin leader would also like you to stop because if you don''t¡­ your village will lose its place in this match. Isn''t it, sir Baki?"


    "[Transform Cancel]!"


    Instead of Raito, now there stood a man with brown hair and a white mask with a drawing of a totem cat. Wearing a sleeveless ANBU uniform there was an ANBU mark on the top of his right arm.


    He looked towards the passageway, located on the viewing gallery and with a serious tone, he said, "I will have to report this to Hokage-sama."


    A few seconds later, Gaara was again ready to attack but was stopped by a figure appearing in front of him.


    Baki looked at the ANBU for a long time because the current situation was incredibly odd. An ANBU transforming into a Genin kid to trick them. Was it a trick done by a Genin brat or a carefully made plan by the ANBU?


    [Transform Lvl 90]


    Baki sighed then turned to face Gaara and commanded with helplessness. "Gaara, stop."


    "¡­"


    "If you can''t stop your Genin then¡­ we will have to take this into our own hands." With a snap of his figure, the other three ANBU appeared behind him.


    "No, we are fine." Baki waved his hand then glared at Gaara. "Gaara, let''s go back."


    "¡­" Gaara looked at the ANBU for a long time, trying to figure out something. With a frown in his face, the sand returned back and he walked out of the small arena.


    "Then we shall¡­" Turning around, Baki wanted to ask the ANBU not to make this matter big but he found that the ANBU had already left.


    "ANBU¡­ they are¡­" With that Baki followed Gaara back to the room.


    After Baki left the small arena, Raito in ANBU transformation waited for them to actually reach their room and also made sure that they were not trying to use any kind of jutsu to spy.


    "Damn! I just wanted to get some sleep." Raito cursed then looked at the top of the big room. "I hope those spying would lose their Icha-Icha Paradise collection overnight and their girlfriend would hate him for smoking too much."


    "Ahaha¡­ Raito, you were here?" Asuma directly appeared in the viewing gallery and asked awkwardly.


    Following him, Kakashi also dropped and waved his hand. "I just came."


    "Liar (Uso-tsuki)." Raito pouted then transformed back.


    "Heh¡­ [Transform] jutsu that is even able to fool the J¨­nin level ninja. When they said basics are important¡­ I now believe it." Asuma praised Raito, his head nodding in approval.


    "So¡­ you didn''t need our help." Kakashi crouched down halfway and looked at Raito with his lazy eye. It was as if he was saying ''Vent, if you can.''


    "¡­ Sensei, you!" Raito really wanted to punch Kakashi but knew that he didn''t stand a chance right now. So, he sighed turning his anger into a smile.


    Taking a look back at the arena stage, Raito waved his hand. "I am going to sleep, sensei."


    "Good night (Oyasumi)." Kakashi smiled then left with Asuma.


    At the same time, Raito also disappeared from his spot.


    At the top floor Jiraiya finished scribbling on the scroll then turning to Hiruzen, he said, "That kid has one faulty seal."


    "Sending a Jinch¨±riki with faulty seal¡­" Hiruzen sighed and continued, "We have a month to make a seal for Suna Jinch¨±riki. Nara clan''s R and D division will be a great help in this cause."


    "Then we can conclude that Orochimaru and Otogakure are working with Sunagakure and may attack the village anytime." Jiraiya sighed, sitting on the lavish chair.


    "Not anytime but¡­ a month from now on, on the day of Ch¨±nin exam finals." Hiruzen replied, expressing his deduction.


    "¡­ Well if it''s that then¡­ we may be able to finish everything on time." Jiraiya replied while taking out a sake bottle and cups.


    "Otogakure is a newly established hidden village but¡­ they I found they were taking mission from mercenary organizations in all of the elemental nations. If I had known that it was established by Orochimaru¡­"


    "Borders¡­ we can''t close the borders since all of the Daimy¨­ of different village will be attending."


    "Sensei¡­ you shouldn''t forget about Fuinjutsu. I don''t think Suna has developed their Fuinjutsu much since they are already on the red but we are talking about Orochimaru. He¡­ knows a lot about it. Like myself¡­ he may have gotten more knowledge from the Ry¨±chi Cave."


    "The Great Sage Regions¡­" Hiruzen sighed.


    Raito who had returned to his room sat in between the two beds and removed the seal. Even though for a long time there has been three Genins and one J¨­nin in a team, the rooms had only two beds.


    "Such a drag." Raito slowly closed his eyes and counted to ten.


    The next time Raito opened his eyes, it was already morning. The room had neither windows nor clock, so, it was hard to tell what time it was but for Raito, it was nothing much.


    [05:00 AM]


    "Good morning, Raito-kun." Hinata was the first one to wake up. Cleaning herself, she trained on some stances while waiting for her two other team mates.


    Blinking his eyes Raito looked left and right then towards himself. Seeing that there was a blanket on himself, Raito looked at Hinata and nodded. "Good morning."


    ''She is so kind.'' Raito sighed then looked towards his right. Naruto slept like a log, drool escaping from his mouth.


    "Wake up, Naruto!" with a light push, Naruto was thrown down the bed.


    "Hey!!" Naruto widened his eyes as he looked at Raito. "Raito, you are back."


    "Of course I am. Now clean yourself. We have to gather at the small arena at seven." Raito stood up and started stretching.


    "Huh, what? What time is it?" Naruto panicked and tumbled.


    "It''s about five, Naruto-kun." Hinata answered while handing out towels.


    At the small arena inside the tower, the Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, stood with a smile, looking at the column of Genins. Behind him, stood their respective J¨­nin commanders and beside him stood various other Ch¨±nin and special J¨­nin including the proctor of the second exam, Mitarashi Anko.


    "First of all, congratulations for finishing the second exam"

 Chapter 64 - 64 – Fight, Genins!!

    "Congratulations on passing the second round of Ch¨±nin selection exams," Anko announced to the Genins in front of her.


    "Of all the teams that participated in the Ch¨±nin selection exams, only you, six teams have made it this far." Anko stepped forward and looked towards the participants.


    Looking at the line of Konoha Genins, Hiruzen nodded slightly. His gaze stopping briefly at the rookies then at his favorites. The lack of participants from the other villages was concerning but¡­ this is what the shinobi world is.


    ''It would never happen like this and¡­ most of them are rookies.'' Turning back to look at the J¨­nin, Kakashi, Asuma, and Kurenai, Hiruzen smiled in his mind, ''No wonder they fought so hard to recommend.''


    "Alright now pay attention. Lord Hokage is going to explain the third phase of the exam to you."


    She gave each and everyone a death glare, and said, "You better listen carefully, you brats."


    Then turning to Hiruzen, she bowed her head. "Lord Hokage."


    "Hm." Hiruzen nodded then stepped forward, looking at the Genins. The air of seriousness, he brought, pressurized the Genins. With the robes and the hat that came with his seat, represented who he really was. The one controlling the whole of the village, the one highest on the food chain¡­ or so many had in mind.


    Removing his pipe, Hiruzen cleared his throat and let out a breath, "Before proceeding any further, I am going to tell you about this Ch¨±nin exams¡­ more specifically, the true purpose of these exams."


    "Why do suppose we hold these exams in conjunction with our allies?"


    No one in the age group really thought why the Ch¨±nin exams were really held. It was a long-standing thing that had been happening for quite a time. The first generations of the examinee may have had some ideas about the reason but as time passed by, the reason faded and, everyone believed that it was there and we were to follow that.


    The Genins from Konoha looked at one another in confusion. And while the Suna Genins had not much idea about it, it didn''t affect that much. Except for Gaara who was feeling slightly impatient.


    Hiruzen waited for anyone to speak up but seeing that no one did, he spoke up, "To raise the ability of the shinobi and increase friendship between the allied nations¡­ is what we say"


    "Huh?"


    "But it is important that you understand its true meaning. The exams are so to speak¡­ they are the representation of the war between the nations."


    "War between the allied nations?" Shikamaru looked at the Suna-shinobis.


    Letting the words sink in, Hiruzen waited for a while before continuing, "If we look at the history, all the countries that we are currently allied with, were once neighboring nations that continuously fought with each other for power."


    "But these fights caused more harm than they wanted. So, to avoid destroying each other''s strength meaninglessly, those nations mutually selected a place to battle. That is how Ch¨±nin exams originally began."


    "Aren''t we doing this to select Ch¨±nins?" Naruto raised his question.


    "It is no doubt that part of these exams is to select shinobi worthy of becoming ''Ch¨±nins''. But on the other hand, this place also allows for a venue for shinobi, who can carry their nation''s pride on their back and fight with their lives on the line."


    "Life?" Raito frowned.


    "Many feudal lords and those of prominence form various nations, who request shinobi for work are invited to this third exam as guests. Everyone will watch your battles and take note of the strength of each ninja and how each hidden village is developing."


    "These strong villages are inundated with job requests but on the other hand, the nation deemed weak¡­ will have fewer requests."


    "In simple words, it is a battle for resources."


    Genins looked at each other in confusion. The job requests from simple D-Rank to the most difficult S-Rank were directly or indirectly related to the feudal lords and those prominent power or groups. An increase in the number of missions means an increase in the funds the village receives. But who to give the mission? Is it a hidden village A or is it B? Those are decided by the display of power;, ''Who is the strongest of these following nations?'' or ''Who is the strongest in this group of people.''


    Flashy destructive power, silent assassination skills, bloodline powers or tactical and strategic manipulation. There are many skills that mesmerize people. Except for the mission itself and rumors by ear and eyes, the bi-annually held Ch¨±nin selection exams is the most lucrative area to showcase the talents.


    "Genins! Even though it is battle for resources, you must never forget that we are shinobi."


    Waving his hand grandly, Hiruzen stepped forward. "And this place is to see the strength of shinobi and a place to display it as well."


    "Step ahead, with your life on the line. Understand that, the true strength of shinobi will only develop when they fight for one''s life."


    Raito rolled his eyes as he looked at Hiruzen. ''I already have something like that.''


    Tenten had her brows furrowed, "Then why use the-"


    "Excuse me, but can we move on? " Raito asked in a loud voice overthrowing Tenten.


    "Raito!!" Tenten gnashed her teeth as she summoned a giant shuriken and plunged it in front of her.


    Several members from J¨­nin and Ch¨±nin gave Raito an eye roll and Kakashi couldn''t help but cover the last part of the uncovered part of his covered face.


    "He needs to learn manners." Iruka sighed, face-palming.


    Hiruzen coughed, giving Raito a quick glare. "Alright then."


    Baki who was along with the Konoha J¨­nin commanders looked at Raito then at the Ch¨±nins and J¨­nins from Konoha. It seemed like this Genin was not going to be punished for interrupting the Hokage of the village.


    A man with short brown hair, dark-colored eyes and dark markings under his eyes appeared in front of the Hokage. Wearing a standard Konoha shinobi outfit and forehead protector as a bandanna, he bowed towards Hiruzen then turned to face the Genins. "Nice to meet you, everyone¡­"


    After finishing one sentence, he began coughing. Many of the Genin had weird gazes, looking at the coughing man, in front of them.


    "¡­ Ahem, my name is Gekk¨­ Hayate, the proctor for the final phase of Ch¨±nin selection exams."


    "Finally! I was getting bored." Naruto shouted.


    The coughing stopped Naruto as Hayate continued, "There is something¡­ I would like you all to do¡­ before the third exams."


    "Huh?" Genins began looking to one another and started making noise.


    *Cough*


    The cough again suppressed the Genins letting Hayate continue, "And that is preliminary rounds to the third exam, with participation in the main battle on the line."


    "Preliminary?"


    "Tch¡­ Why preliminary? Can''t we just go on to the next exam with the remaining participants?" Kankur¨­ shouted in confusion and irritation.


    Hayate looked at the shouting Genins with the deadpan look and continued, "This time around, perhaps because the first and second exams were relatively easy, there are a few too many people left, you see."


    "In accordance with Ch¨±nin exams rules, a preliminary will be held to reduce numbers advancing."


    "As lord Hokage said before, many guests are coming in the third part of the exams. So, we can''t have long pointless matches and our time is limited."


    "Are you taking us as extras!?"


    "Such a pain."


    "If you understand¡­ then, those of you who wish to drop out, please speak now. We are going to start the preliminary immediately."


    "Immediately?" Ino looked like she was ready to give up.


    "But what about our meal?" Ch¨­ji cried out, patting his relatively empty shoulder.


    "Let''s do this." Ami punched her fist, with a grin on her face.


    ''Weren''t there a lot of matches last time?'' Raito questioned himself.


    Amid all the chitter-chatter, Shino raised his hand and announced, "I''ll quit."


    "Shino?" Sasuke looked back, a little bit stunned to see one of his teammates quitting.


    "Clans." Kakashi sighed.


    "Aburame Shino from Konoha¡­ you may leave." Hayate looked through the list and nodded.


    Shino nodded bud didn''t walk away, instead, he looked at Kiba, who had his hands clenched. "Kiba."


    "What''s going on?" Sasuke looked at his teammates and questioned in a low voice.


    "Argh! I am quitting too!" Kiba closed his eyes and raised his hands. His face was full of anger but he could only curse in his heart. "Damn it."


    "Inuzuka Kiba from Konoha¡­ you may leave."


    With two leaving and that¡­ even happened to a single team, made Hayate a bit dazed. So, Hayate did the best thing he could do. He looked back at Hiruzen and communicated with eyes.


    Hiruzen nodded then looked at Anko.


    Pushing the button on her communicator, Anko commanded. "Bring it out."


    Thud.


    The board behind lifted, allowing an electronic board to appear.


    "Do it," Anko commanded and walked in front.


    [Uzumaki Naruto vs. Akimichi Ch¨­ji]


    "Uzumaki Naruto, Akimichi Ch¨­ji, stay. Everyone, please leave the stage." Hayate raised his hands, signaling everyone to leave.


    In response to the signal, everyone left the stage moving to the viewing gallery above.


    Everyone stood together with teammates and J¨­nin leader.


    While Kakashi stood behind Raito and Hinata, his eyes were going towards Sasuke. ''I should try to fulfill my promises.''


    Placing his hands on Raito''s and Hinata''s head, Kakashi smiled, "Try your best."


    "Hm." Hinata nodded with a faint blush.


    "I know." Raito tapped the hand on his head.


    "Ou, Kakashi, you are bonding well." Asuma walked over with the same cherry brand cigarette dangling on his lips.


    Looking at Asuma''s Genin then, he turned towards Kurenai, who was a few meters away, saying things to Sasuke. Kakashi smiled and said, "Kurenai, got it tough this time."


    "From what I know, he will be your problem, from now on." Asuma grinned.


    "I just have to teach him about Sharingan. It shouldn''t take much of my time." Kakashi shrugged, looking at Raito and Hinata.


    "More time for you, Asuma-sensei. Now you can spend more time with Kurenai-sensei." Ino teased with her tongue sticking out.


    "W-What are you talking about? I, I¡­" Asuma hurriedly denied but Ino just rolled her eyes and turned to look at Ch¨­ji and Naruto at the stage.


    "It''s starting." Raito smiled.


    "Ch¨­ji! Today, I am gonna win, believe it." Naruto punched his hand and smiled.


    Ch¨­ji immediately weaved a couple of hand seal and glared at Naruto. "Naruto¡­ you stupid. [Rock Fist]"


    "Tch¡­ [Shadow Clone]." With a cloud of smoke, four clones appeared around Naruto.


    "Haa!!" Naruto straightforwardly charged towards Ch¨­ji.


    "You don''t learn, Naruto. Take this. [Partial Expansion]" Ch¨­ji''s hand turned big. With rocks covering his hand, Ch¨­ji swiped towards Naruto and his clones.


    One of the clones got destroyed but others dodged the left hand, by jumping into the air. But soon the right hand passed and destroyed the clones and sent Naruto flying.


    "Ow!" Naruto stood up with a kunai in his hand as he called a clone by his side.


    "Take this." Naruto threw the kunai straight towards Ch¨­ji.


    Seeing the kunai coming towards him, Ch¨­ji blocked it with his hands.


    "It''s not over yet. [Gale Palm]" With the help of [Gale Palm] from his clone, Naruto rocketed, instantly reaching, Ch¨­ji and tackling him.


    Unguarded, Ch¨­ji took the tackle head on but it only managed to push him a couple of steps back. Instead, Ch¨­ji''s hand slipped under Naruto''s belly and with a huge force threw Naruto up.


    "Wah!!" Naruto flew high.


    "That was one nasty throw." Asuma looked in surprise at Ch¨­ji.


    ''[Partial Expansion ¨C Human Bullet].'' Reversing the transformation in his hand, Ch¨­ji expanded like a balloon into a round-ish shape. His head, arm, and even legs retracted and visible chakra leaked out.


    "He still can''t do a full transformation," Shikamaru commented.


    "If he could then it would be over in an instant," Raito added.


    Kakashi and Asuma chuckled and shook their head.


    Like a thrown rubber, Ch¨­ji bounced a couple of times before bouncing with full force towards Naruto. "[Human Bullet Tank]."


    "Like hell I am giving up! [Multi Shadow Clone]." In a blink of an eye couple of dozen, Naruto clones appeared at the sky.


    "[Shadow Clone Style ¨C Multi Gale Palm]"


    Everyone aimed at Ch¨­ji as the wind gathered at their hands. The winds surrounded Naruto and his clone''s hand and traveled to his palm.


    "Ready¡­ Go!!"


    "Haa!!" Pushing his hand forward, the wind made a beeline towards Ch¨­ji and pushed him down.


    "We got him!" Naruto and his clones celebrated, seeing Ch¨­ji losing momentum and falling back.


    "Haa!!" Ch¨­ji shouted as visible chakra surrounded him.


    "Wah!" Naruto and his clones were pushed back as the pressure started increasing.


    "He is pushing forward!" The clones shouted.


    Ch¨­ji started rolling mid-air and started rushing towards Naruto. The wind generated from [Gale Palm] hit Ch¨­ji but it was not as effective as before. "Meat!!!"


    "Meat?" Ino looked at Ch¨­ji in confusion then turned towards Asuma.


    Asuma laughed in awkwardness as he replied, "I did say I will take him to barbeque."


    "Ichiraku!!!" Naruto shouted as he burst forth with more chakra, which added to [Gale Palm].


    "Kakashi-sensei." Raito looked weirdly at the smiling Kakashi.


    "I may have promised him, too," Kakashi replied with a smile.


    "Meat!!"


    "Ichiraku!!"


    "Haa!!"


    Boom!!


    With a big bang, Naruto and Ch¨­ji were thrown back. Two columns of dust rose, signaling how powerful the fall was.


    "Double knockout?" Raito guessed as both Naruto and Ch¨­ji had eyes closed and their HP was depleted similarly.


    "It''s Naruto-kun''s win," Hinata replied answering Raito''s question.


    "How?" Raito asked but suddenly a new word appeared under status, on Ch¨­ji''s.


    "Oh." Raito nodded then looked at crawling and standing Naruto.


    Hayate walked over to Ch¨­ji''s side and waited for a few seconds before tapping his shoulder.


    Hayate coughed a few times as he stood up and announced, "Winner, Uzumaki Naruto."


    "I won?" Naruto looked at Hayate for confirmation and only after seeing that Hayate nodded, he smiled in joy. "Yatta! I won."


    Ch¨­ji sat on the ground and removed the debris from his hair. Looking at the shadow in front, he saw Naruto extend his hand, which Ch¨­ji grabbed happily.


    As they walked towards the viewing gallery, some ninja, wearing Ch¨±nin jackets walked in and started repairing the grounds.


    Teet!


    [Ueda Ami vs. Uchiha Sasuke]


    "Next participants, please come to the stage," Hayate announced then stepped back.


    "Argh! It''s Sasuke." Ami stamped her feet in anger.


    "So?" Gennai looked weirdly at Ami and patted her shoulder, "After he beats the heck out of you, we will definitely come to get you."


    "You¡­ what did you say?" Ami grabbed Gennai''s collar then shook him vigorously.


    "Ami, you have to be careful. He is from Uchiha clan." Karu warned.


    "So what? I have half a year more experience than him." Karu punched her hand and looked towards Sasuke, who was walking downstairs.


    "You don''t understand¡­ He has already unlocked Sharingan." Karu added in a low voice. Sharingan was one dangerous Dojutsu with many abilities and the one using them was of Uchiha clan who were one of the founding fathers of Konoha. "He must be very strong."


    "Karu, Gennai, I have already waited for this chance. I am not going to let this go."


    "Ha!" Ami jumped down appearing right in front of Sasuke.


    Sasuke immediately lowered his center of gravity as Hayate raised his hand. Ami also reached her hand towards the pouch.


    "Fight!"


    "Hah!" Sasuke immediately dashed forward reaching Ami.


    Ami stood still on her spot as she brought her hand forward. Her hands were clenched hard so it was difficult to see what it really was.


    "Hmph." Ignoring her tactics, whatever that was, Sasuke directly went for Taijutsu throwing out punches and kicks.


    And Ami was dodging all of them easily, without counters, in a round manner, so, she wouldn''t hit the sidewalls anytime soon.


    ''What the hell is she thinking?'' As time passed on, Sasuke grew confused as his opponent was not retaliating, not even a bit.


    "Gotcha." With a grin, Ami shifted forward breaking through Sasuke''s weak defense.


    BAM


    A strong kick landed on Sasuke and he was pushed a couple of steps backward.


    While Sasuke was pushed backward he had already weaved through a fire jutsu.


    ''[Fire Release ¨C Great Fireball]''


    In such a close distance, the fireball zeroed on Ami.


    "You look like, you were quite used to that." Sasuke heard Ami''s voice from behind. So, he quickly jumped back, creating some distance. But by the time this action took place, Ami was in close contact with Sasuke with her right-hand open, revealing a handful of black dust.


    "Foo~!" With a blow, the black dust covered Sasuke. But Sasuke also reacted immediately and closed his mouth and eyes, and jumped back.


    Bam


    "Argh!" Sasuke was hit in the back once again as he was once again thrown forward.


    "How?" Quickly recovering himself, Sasuke created some distance.


    "You are wondering ''How?'' right?" Ami smiled brightly as she looked at Sasuke.


    Sasuke frowned as he activated his chakra. "[Sharingan]."


    "Man, you are no fair." Ami frowned as she made a unique hand seal.


    "What is that seal?" Sasuke immediately activated his chakra, ready to react to anything.


    "[Explode]"


    "¡­ Huh?" Sasuke frowned as his eyes remained at Ami.


    For a couple of seconds, nothing happened, and just when Sasuke was going for an attack, an explosion occurred.


    "Fuu¡­" Ami sighed in relief then looked toward Hayate from the corners of her eye. Seeing that the referee was not announcing Ami sighed, ''I knew it wasn''t going to be this easy.''


    Taking a deep breath in, she weaved through a couple of hand seals, preparing for a jutsu. But surprising her, Sasuke appeared right under her and a kick to her guts.


    *cough


    The kick was so deep, it made Ami lean down and cough, air escaped through her mouth, along with some gastric juices. Shifting his posture, Sasuke gave Ami a fierce kick, imbedded with chakra, to her chin, making her fly a step or two from the ground.


    Bang


    "I also know Genjutsu," Sasuke said and plopped on his b.u.t.t. He was breathing hard and looking at the logs that were present at the stage.


    Ami stood weakly clutching her stomach and wobbling towards Sasuke. "It''s my chance."


    Ami clenched her fist and punched Sasuke. But Sasuke who had already activated his Sharingan, saw the punch coming at a slow pace.


    With a snort, he deflected the punch then guarded the fierce knee with his own knee. Then Sasuke jumped and made a turn, his leg, landing on Ami, sending her flying.


    "That''s¡­" Raito frowned the looked towards Lee, who was also looking at Sasuke with mixed feelings.


    "That''s leaf hurricane, Gai-sensei."


    "Hm."


    "Winner, Uchiha Sasuke," Hayate announced after checking Ami.


    "So she did Genjutsu with those logs making them disappear. But where did those logs came from?" Naruto went into thinking mode with his hand on his chin.


    "Bakanaru." Raito boinked Naruto''s head and answered, "She used sealing tags."


    "She is basically a Genjutsu user with good Taijutsu." Raito murmured looking at her status page.


    Teet!


    [Temari vs. Tenten]

 Chapter 65 - 65 - Series of Battles

    "Temari, Tenten, please come to the stage," Hayate called them while coughing.


    With a gust of wind, Temari appeared on the stage then looked at Tenten, who was still on the viewing gallery, looking at her.


    "Wind jutsu." Tenten looked at Raito with complicated eyes then jumped down to the stage. Previously, she had made Raito fight with her but the result was her defeat. According to Raito, if her weapons didn''t have enough power then a simple wind jutsu was enough to block all her chances of victory. And then there was his kenjutsu, just like her fast draw with different weapons, Raito also had sword drawing skills, which were even faster.


    Standing on the stage, facing each other, Temari revealed a smirk, full of aggression. Tenten gritted her teeth, thinking of different ways to attack.


    "Fight!"


    Temari and Tenten didn''t attack, waiting for other to act first. While Tenten looked cautious, her hands reaching over to kunai pouch, shuriken pouch, and back pouch, Temari was standing straight with her right hand placed on her big metal-encased fan.


    "Are you waiting for me to attack?" Temari revealed her fan and gave it a light swing, forcing the wind to circle around her.


    "You better act now¡­ because if I do¡­ you won''t even have the chance." With each swing, Tenten could feel the winds against her.


    Taking out shurikens from her pouch, Tenten looked at her enemy and calculated inside her head. ''She is a wind primary, which means she is going to have far more powerful wind-related techniques. And that fan¡­ it must weigh some."


    "Ha!" With a flick, Tenten threw several shurikens, which circled Temari, targeting different parts of her body at different speeds.


    "Oh!" Swinging her fan, Temari created a barrier of wind around her. The shurikens lost their power easily then fell on the ground.


    "Do you have anything else you want to try?" Temari smirked then closed her fan, looking at Tenten in amus.e.m.e.nt.


    "A lot more!" Tenten brought out the scroll and unrolled it. There were several sealing marks with kanji for ''weapon'', covering the entirety of the scroll, which was about ten meters long


    Under her manipulation, the scroll twirled around Tenten like a snake and as she passed her hands above a seal, a weapon would pop out, which she threw towards Temari.


    The sheer number of big shuriken amazed Temari and the fact that each one was aiming at the free spot that she had been forced to make, amazed her even more. A smile appeared on her face as she gripped her fan. "Good! But not good enough."


    Opening the fan and revealing the three purple moons, Temari took a step back and waved the fan once, creating a sphere of wind, which erupted outwards, blocking all the shuriken. Then Temari revealed two moons and waved her fan upwards with force, which generated a blade of wind, cleaving towards Tenten.


    "Hup!" Tenten hurriedly jumped and at the same time threw out some kunai.


    "Hm?" Temari noticed the flying kunai coming towards her. With a wave of her fan, she stopped them but failed to notice the small black paper ball, embedded on the ring of kunai.


    "[Fuinjutsu ¨C Activate]."


    "Explosion!?" Temari with her keen eyes saw smoke coming out of the kunai''s handle and hurriedly jumped a few steps back.


    The seals on the tags activated, letting out massive black smoke which spread in all directions, like a wildfire fueled by wind, acting as a smokescreen covering most of the stage.


    Just as Temari wanted to clear the field using her fan, she felt a numbing sensation in her hand. ''Poison?''


    "[Fuinjutsu ¨C Explode]." With a hand seal, the kunai and shuriken on the ground, around Temari, started giving red glow before exploding into pieces.


    With a big shuriken on her hand, Tenten had already created some distance and now was watching the smoke cloud.


    With each passing second, she felt nervous as the proctor wasn''t announcing her win.


    "No way." Tenten drew the big shuriken towards her c.h.e.s.t, guarding herself as her eyes moved left to right.


    "Looking for me?" Temari was crouching on her fan, gliding freely, high above in the air.


    Standing up, she pressed her leg on the edge of the fan, tilting it. Grabbing the base of the fan, she waved it violently and added chakra on the fan.


    "[Wind Release ¨C Wind Scythe]."


    "Ahh!!" The blades of wind didn''t cut deep but rolled her inside, making numerous shallow cuts, all over her body.


    Gradually the tunnel got longer and Temari was lifted high in the sky.


    Raito, who was looking at this scene, was neither looking at Temari nor Tenten but at Temari''s big fan.


    "Sensei do you know what fan is that?" Raito knocked on Kakashi''s arm and asked.


    "That fan? Don''t know. But being from Suna¡­ it must be their own secret." Kakashi shook his head and answered. As far as Kakashi could remember, not many used fan-shaped weapons. "You can ask this kind of question at the information department, behind the Hokage monument¡­ after you become a Ch¨±nin."


    "Ch¨±nin?"


    "Um¡­ It''s a ladder system. The higher you go, the more you can see." Kakashi gave Raito a complex answer then turned to look at the fight at the arena.


    "That was soo unhelpful." Raito sighed then gave his attention to the fight.


    [Sealed Jutsu ¨C Wind Scythe]


    ''Even Jii-chan didn''t know about sealing Ninjutsu or Genjutsu. But this Suna-nin¡­ I should take a look at that fan.''


    Winds died down as Tenten crashed on the ground, raising a dust cloud.


    "It''s over." Temari let out a breath and closed the fan then looked at Tenten who was lying on the ground.


    Hayate, who was about to walk towards Tenten, stopped and quickly took a couple of steps back. ''That was careless of me.''


    "What now!?" Temari glared at Hayate then looked at Tenten who was trying to stand up. "Are you still not done?"


    "Temari," Gaara called out, scaring Temari, making her hurriedly turned back.


    "Don''t play around. You are wasting time." Gaara spoke monotonously but this made Temari tense up.


    Temari turned to face Hayate then gritted her teeth and said, "If you are not declaring that she lost then¡­"


    Tenten had a sword in her hand walking towards Temari.


    "It''s a sword now?" Temari smirked, raising her fan and slamming down. This time the chakra used was much more, as the wind formed blades, traveling in a straight line to pierce Tenten.


    Seeing no panic in Tenten''s eye, Temari clutched her fan tighter and with a step, swung her fan once more.


    Soon the blades of wind passed Tenten and she disappeared like a mirage.


    ''Genjutsu!?'' Temari went into the alert mode as she couldn''t see her opponent, even after searching around.


    Sensing the sudden change in the wind, Temari looked up. Tenten was high above, in the air and the swords, she was holding, was covered by chakra, letting out a silvery-white glow. Sword over her head, the wind was gathering around her and forming a sharp hook-like form.


    "So much trouble for someone of this level." Temari clicked her tongue and bit her lips. Activating her chakra, she took a deep breath in, letting the chakra towards her fan.


    "[Konoha Style: Kenjutsu ¨C Talon]"


    The talon made up of wind descended but Temari looked at it with unimpressed eyes. Even before it could descend, she gave it one gentle flick and closed the fan.


    The wind kicked up from the ground, quickly enveloping the talon. In an instant, the talon, made up of wind disappeared and Tenten came crashing down.


    "Not anymore." Temari disappeared from her spot, appearing just below Tenten. With a light swing from her fan, she hit Tenten, sending her flying towards the wall.


    Bang.


    Hayate checked Tenten then raised his hands and declared, "Winner, Temari."


    "Tenten!" Lee jumped down the railings and appeared beside Tenten.


    Raito also jumped down, crouching beside Tenten and started using ''[Heal]''.


    "Using big moves when you don''t even have enough chakra. What a moron." Temari harrumphed, looking at the fallen Tenten.


    "What?" Lee glared at Temari in anger.


    "What? Did I say something wrong?" Temari shrugged.


    "Do you say things like that to someone who just tried her best!?" Lee stood up and looked unhappily at Temari.


    "¡­ There is nothing wrong with what I just said." Temari just walked back with the fan on her back.


    "There isn''t much damage, except chakra exhaustion." Raito healed all the small cuts over Tenten''s body then checked with the diagnosis jutsu.


    "Lee, she is fine," Raito called Lee. The cuts had all healed, so, there was nothing more he could do. The skill [Heal] had already crossed fifty, so, the time needed was less and the amount of HP recovered was large.


    "Hey! Stop!" A man wearing onesie, shouted stopping Lee from carrying Tenten.


    "Hai?" Lee looked at the medical personnel, coming towards him with angry eyes.


    "What are you doing? Don''t go randomly using healing jutsu." The medic hurriedly ran a diagnosis jutsu on Tenten then looked at Raito who was just a few steps away.


    The angry look on a medic made Raito flinch as he looked away.


    "Clear the stage," Hayate called the two Ch¨±nin and ordered them.


    "I checked and all, you know," Raito grumbled appearing beside Hinata and Naruto.


    "Let the professionals do their work." Kakashi rubbed Raito''s head awkwardly.


    [Yamanaka Ino vs. Nakahara Karu]


    "A Yamanaka, huh?" Karu crouched down and scrunched his brows. His fingers played with the railings as he looked at Ino stretching, "A Yamanaka, what should I do? Should I just knock her unconscious?"


    Fumio sighed as he looked at his Genin then at Ino who was already waiting down.


    "Oi, Karu. The proctor has already called you twice. Get your a.s.s down." Gennai kicked Karu and pointed down.


    "You can forfeit if you want." Fumio leaned on the wall, exhaled a puff, and gave his Genin the option.


    "Why would I?" Karu looked at Fumio weirdly then walked down the stairs slowly while shouting. "Coming."


    Fumio let out a small smile as he looked at Karu leaving. "He''s confident."


    "He''s confident." Raito mouthed the words, looking at Fumio then his eyes turned to look at the slowly walking Karu.


    "Ino''s gonna lose this one." At this time, Shikamaru commented with his low voice.


    "Hey, whose side are you- mmph." Before Naruto''s voice could get louder, Raito stuffed his mouth with a cloth.


    "Stop talking." Raito glared at Naruto and slowly released him.


    "Yuk." Naruto spat the cloth then looked at Raito venomously.


    Ino stretched before looking at Karu, "So, you are finally here. Let''s start."


    Karu looked at Ino for a long time before a surprised expression appeared on his face, "Aren''t you from that club? That love¡­ no, was it blooming? ¨C well, it was something, something club."


    Ino felt a vein bulging as she looked at Karu.


    "Just asking¡­ wanted to know who got Sasuke''s love in the end?" Karu smiled innocently as he continued with a sudden change to his expression, "¡­from all those stupid oafs- oops didn''t mean to say that."


    "This guy¡­" Ino frowned, taking a stance. ''Who the heck is this guy?''


    "Heh~" Karu casually took out kunai from his kunai pouch and made a stance which made him look like, he was ready to throw the kunai.


    "Ino, Karu, fight!" Hayate raised his hands, declaring the start of the match.


    Swish.


    Ino easily dodged the flying kunai coming towards her then countered with shurikens.


    "Oh, nice throwing skills. Shame, Sasuke still doesn''t like any of you." Taking out twin kunai, Karu immediately blocked all the shuriken.


    "[Clone]." "What has that got anything to do with me?"


    Taking out kunai from her pouch, she dashed towards Karu.


    "Jealousy looks good on you," Ino commented, surrounding Karu.


    "Jealous? Me??" Karu laughed.


    "Ow." When Ino was about to step in, she walked into a trap and stepped into something pointed, and sharp and long enough to pierce her sandals.


    "Got you. [Water Release ¨C Water Bullet]." While Ino jumped back, flinching from the caltrops, Karu had already weaved through a sequence of hand seal.


    "Ah!" Getting attacked from the short distance, gave Ino a powerful punch, sending her flying back.


    "It''s easier than I thought." Karu patted his c.h.e.s.t then walked towards Ino.


    "Cough¡­ cough¡­" Ino continued coughing while sitting on the ground.


    ''Must have swallowed the water.'' Karu thought while taking out shurikens from his pocket.


    "Ha!" suddenly Ino rolled back and threw Kunai.


    "I don''t really like surprises." Karu easily blocked the kunai and jumped back, throwing the shuriken from his free hand.


    The shuriken hit Ino on her arm but it didn''t stop her from continuing hand seals.


    "[Lightning Release ¨C Four Corner Lightning Array]."


    "What!?" Karu looked around and finally saw the kunai stuck on the ground around him. As soon as he saw the kunai embedded around him, Karu moved his legs to walk out of this array.


    "[Discharge]."


    The lightning erupted from the kunai, discharging electricity and assaulting Karu, who was in the middle of the array.


    "That would have been bad." Ino heard a voice beside her as Karu in the lightning array turned into water.


    "Water clones." Karu appeared in front of Ino and answered her, pointing a kunai to her neck.


    "Hehe." Ino smiled mischievously then disappeared in front of Karu.


    "Seriously? Genjutsu?" Karu frowned then jumped back to stand in the water, made from the water bullet.


    Horse¡­ bore¡­snake¡­ dragon¡­ "[Water bubble]"


    [Lightning Palm]


    "Argh!" Karu''s jutsu was canceled midway as numbing lightning coursed through his hands.


    Ino appeared in front of Karu, her Genjutsu canceled. But it didn''t matter now as she had caught the real one.


    "With this¡­" Ino gritted her teeth as she forced more chakra to the jutsu.


    "[Water Release ¨C Water Prison]."


    Karu, who was being held by Ino turned into water, encapsulating her into a ball of water. A thin but sturdy layer of water closed Ino from the outside world.


    "Hey! Let me out." Ino shouted and tried to burst open the water membrane but failed to do so. Neither her punches nor the sharp kunai was able to open it.


    "If you continue doing that¡­ you will lose all the precious oxygen." Karu smiled as he moved near Hayate with Ino inside the water bubble.


    Inside the water bubble, Ino struggled, occasionally discharging lightning.


    "That water prison technique must have used most of his chakra." Shikamaru guessed then looked at Asuma.


    Asuma shook his head and answered, "If that boy doesn''t leave his hand then, this match is good as done. It''s difficult to break this jutsu from inside."


    "Damn it! What kind of jutsu is this!?" Ino hit the water barrier weakly then sat listlessly.


    "Participant, Yamanaka Ino, are you giving up?" Hayate looked at Ino and asked in between coughs.


    "Of course not!" Ino shouted pushing a kunai on the water membrane.


    Karu looked at Hayate with a smile, "Let''s wait a few more minutes¡­ the oxygen will run out then she would have to use her leftover chakra to substitute for it. But the way she was using those jutsus¡­"


    ''I have chakra left.'' Ino looked at Karu and made her clan technique-specific hand seal, hidden with her legs, form Karu''s view.


    "Roll," Karu whispered, making the water bubble roll violently.


    "Wah!!" The jutsu was broken and the rolling made her head spin. Ino couldn''t do anything but bear with it.


    "Give up," Karu asked Ino while making the water bubble roll but seeing that she was holding, Karu made the bubble smaller and the rotation faster.


    "I give up!!" Ino cried out after feeling a moment of blankness in her mind.


    "Winner, Nakahara Karu," Hayate announced.


    With a ''pop'' sound the bubble burst open throwing Ino on the ground. Ino felt sick in the stomach and could still see the world spinning. When she came to be, she gritted her teeth and closed her eyes, taking deep breaths.


    "Yamanaka Ino, please leave the stage." Hayate went near Ino and asked softly.


    Karu, with a victorious smile, walked upstairs and gave his teammates and J¨­nin commander a thumbs up.


    "Nice job, Karu." Ami, now all patched up, gave Karu a big hug.


    "Oi, oi, leave me alone." Karu pushed Ami and looked at his teammate, Gennai, who had a serious face.


    "Ou, Gennai," Karu called.


    "Karu¡­ It seems that I won''t be joining you in the finals." Gennai shook his head in disappointment.


    "Two Hy¨±ga, one Nara, Two from the Suna, and those two." His eye traveled from one Genin to another but when it stopped on Gaara, Gennai''s neck immediately shrank back.


    "If it''s that redhead from Suna then you better forfeit," Karu suggested, remembering the gore in the forest of death.


    "Aha¡­ I don''t think anyone here can even hurt him." Gennai rubbed his arm looking at the other remaining participants.


    [Gennai vs. Nara Shikamaru]


    "Finally." Shikamaru yawned then stretched his tired body. "It shouldn''t take a lot of time."


    "Ho~ Shikamaru seems confident." Asuma looked at Shikamaru and rubbed his beard.


    "He will win," Raito commented, seemingly confident. If it was purely about the numbers, Gennai had already won against Shikamaru in numbers but the reality was a bit different. Numbers were just numbers, while the experiences are the real deal.


    As Shikamaru walked downstairs, he encountered Ino, who looked sullen.


    "Shika¡­" Ino had tears in her eye and dirt on her clothes. With her fist gripped tightly, her face had revealed her bitterness. "I really wanted to win¡­"


    "Ino¡­" He looked at Ino plainly but seeing that she was crying made him quite uncomfortable. ''I''m not good in these situations. What a pain.''


    "You just have to train harder." Raito stood high up the stairs and looked at Ino. With a sigh, he walked down and gave Ino a small white handkerchief. [Gentleman code ¨C Always have a white handkerchief which is lightly scented.]


    "You will look ugly if you continue crying." Raito teased.


    "I am not crying!" Ino turned and hurriedly rubbed her face and Shikamaru who saw this smiled and waved his hand. "I have a match to attend."


    While Shikamaru was walking on to the stage Gennai and his team were discussing his next match.


    "Fumio-sensei." Gennai looked the electronic board then at his J¨­nin commander.


    Fumio nodded. "That boy is the young clan leader."


    Gennai contemplated for a bit but nothing came to his mind. "So, he must have techniques like yours, Fumio-sensei."


    Fumio rubbed his head and replied, "Well, yes but I haven''t used most of my jutsus while with you guys. So¡­"


    "Participant, Gennai," Hayate called looking at Gennai. ''Why are these participants taking soo much time?''


    Fumio looked at Gennai then sighed, "Just do your best and remember to be aware of the shadows."


    "Hai, sensei." Gennai saluted then jumped down.


    "You took your time," Shikamaru commented as he looked at Gennai. The well-defined, buffed physique, bandages on his hand, and most of his right leg gave Shikamaru some hints about his opponent.


    ''I got to be wary of the shadows. It''s the worst.'' Gennai sighed in his heart and formed his stance. Shadow has been his friend for the past year. So, Gennai was slightly anxious in his heart, thinking that he would mess up.


    Opening the kunai pouch, Shikamaru took out a kunai from his pocket then made a one-handed hand seal with another hand.


    ''What the!?'' Gennai frowned as he looked back at Karu.


    "Like your friend did¡­" Shikamaru looked at Karu then back at Gennai.


    ''His shadow is getting darker.'' Gennai sweated as his brain started finding solutions. His eyes traveled back to the kunai in Shikamaru''s hand. ''Kunai.''


    As he took out kunai from his pouch, Gennai took a deep breath in to calm himself. ''Calm down, Gennai.''


    "Fight!"


    "Hup!" With a strong kick to the ground, Gennai flew back and threw the kunai.


    At the same time, Shikamaru also threw kunai towards Gennai. The kunai met at midway giving a light ''Clang'' sound then fell on the ground. But while Gennai was empty-handed, Shikamaru had shurikens that were thrown towards Gennai. The shurikens were thrown towards the area where Gennai had landed.


    ''When did he get the shuriken?'' Gennai thought as shuriken hit his arm.


    "Ow, Ow." Gennai pulled the shuriken from his arms and looked at the blood leaking. "First blood¡­"


    Trying to get back to his stance Gennai found that he couldn''t move anymore, "Damn. Shadow imitation jutsu?"


    While he was paralyzed, Gennai erupted with chakra, strengthening himself, trying to free himself. "Haa!"


    "Hm." Shikamaru waited, strengthening the shadow to hold Gennai. "I have dealt with someone who was more brute than you."


    Shikamaru had a small smile as chakra flowed from the body downwards, towards his shadow, strengthening it.


    "I think he is talking about me." Raito frowned at Shikamaru calling him a brute.


    "You think?" Ino sneered pointing at Gennai. "You are the one Shikamaru is talking about."


    "Because that''s the easiest way." Raito retorted, huffing.


    "So, what are you gonna do? It''s just shadow imitation jutsu. I just won''t give up easily, know this." Gennai said stubbornly as he still tried moving.


    "Shadow imitation?" Shikamaru looked at the hand seal he was making then at Gennai who had the same hand seal.


    With an eye twitch, Shikamaru walked towards Gennai.


    "Y-you can move? I can''t move? What is happening?" Gennai panicked in this situation. He still had the hand seal but Shikamaru hadn''t.


    "Baka~." Shikamaru walked towards Gennai with a kunai in his hand.


    Gennai moved his eye to look at his J¨­nin commander, Nara Fumio, who seemed slightly shocked. For a Nara and even a Genin, maybe this was the first time in this couple of years.


    "Although Nara, Akimichi and Yamanaka clan are collectively known for their group combos, we also have techniques which are suitable for one on one fighting," Shikamaru explained while waving his kunai.


    Although there are clan specific jutsu for one on one battles, the Nara clansmen are not really fond of learning them when they are still Genin. But when they become a Ch¨±nin and for some unlucky event, they are separated from their regular partners. So, various people in the clan made rules to at least make shinobis from their clan learn these jutsus after they become Ch¨±nin, at least.


    "Winner, Nara Shikamaru." Hayate caught the kunai, which was about to pierce Gennai''s neck. Forcing the proctor to save the life of the participants, also means direct withdrawal.


    The shadow withdrew, releasing Gennai from the restrain.


    ''That was easier than I thought it would be.'' Shikamaru looked at Gennai then his hand. Then he turned to look at Raito, who was in the viewing gallery. ''That arena is a nice place.''


    "Shika! Nice!" Naruto shouted in joy.


    "Yay! Shikamaru!" Ino jumped in joy, already forgetting about her fight.


    "Told ya." Raito shrugged.


    "Shikamaru-kun is really strong." Hinata gripped the railings tighter, worried about her match. Looking at the remaining participants she found that¡­ it wasn''t going to be a bit easy.


    "Shikamaru! Treat!" Ch¨­ji shouted, letting everyone know his feelings about Shikamaru''s win.


    "No money." Shikamaru shrugged then continued, "But~ Raito''s cooking is better than any restaurant."


    "Bring the ingredients, I will cook." Raito gave up in the end as the names for the next fight appeared on the electronic board.


    [Hy¨±ga Hinata vs. Hy¨±ga Neji]


    Hinata looked at the screen then at Neji, who was also looking at her. She grasped both of her hands tightly and faced down.


    "I¡­"


    "Hup." Neji dropped down with a shout and quickly walked to his designated spot.


    With a smirk on his face, he looked towards Hinata and said, "Hinata-sama, it would be for the best if you withdraw."


    "What the¡­?" Naruto glared at Neji, his brows furrowed. Someone talking bad about his teammate, especially Hinata, who didn''t talk back much, unlike Raito, made Naruto irritated.


    "I have never won against Neji nii-san when sparring," Hinata confessed, her voice so small that only Raito was able to hear it.


    "Hinata, don''t listen to this guy." Naruto turned to face Hinata, patting Hinata''s shoulder.


    "And you! Don''t tell others to quit." Naruto pointed his finger at Neji and shouted. If it wasn''t for Ch¨­ji holding Naruto back, Naruto would have already gone for a punch.


    "She is going to lose anyway." Neji shrugged. His face showed that he was fully confident of what he was saying.


    "How the heck do you know that?" Naruto raged. With his fist pushed forward, Naruto declared, "Just you wait!"


    Gai looked at Neji on the stage and said. "This isn''t going to be good."


    "Gai-sensei." Lee also looked at Neji with a mix of emotions. "This is very¡­"


    "I understand, Lee." Gai sighed looking at Neji. While he was Neji''s teacher, Neji never learned techniques from him nor did he learn any Ninjutsu or Genjutsu after the basic three. But it may be because of this that Neji was very proficient in Hy¨±ga gentle fist style, defeating and subduing everyone only using the gentle fist.


    "You should forfeit, if you¡­" Raito suggested with a bit of hesitation. If Raito was free to say, he would definitely ask Hinata to forfeit this match¡­ because Raito knew the level and the skill difference between them.


    "I¡­" she clenched her fist and looked at Neji.


    "Participant Hy¨±ga Hinata *cough," Hayate called looking at Hinata.


    "Don''t be so negative, Raito." Naruto made a face looking at Raito.


    Then turning to face Hinata, who was looking down, Naruto clapped once, hard, startling Hinata. "Hinata¡­ believe in yourself, believe in all the training you have done. That guy may be stronger than you but if you don''t try then you will never know how much you have improved."


    "We will never back down." Glaring at Neji, Naruto focused on his words, "And especially not to someone like him."


    "Show him the result of all that training and kick his b.u.t.t, Hinata."


    '''' Hinata nodded then putting a bit of force, she jumped down, standing in front of Neji.


    "Neji nii-san," Activating her Byakugan, she got into [Hy¨±ga Gentle Fist] stance, the bulging veins around her eyes, giving her a dangerous look.


    "Sure." Neji activated his Byakugan and got into [Hy¨±ga Gentle Fist] stance.


    "I just hope you don''t regret it," Neji said while activating his chakra.


    "Battle, Start!!"

 Chapter 66 - 66 - End of Preliminary Exam

    "Ha!"


    Neji and Hinata rushed towards each other, exchanging blows one after another. Hinata threw a palm and Neji shifted, dodging the attack then countered. Hinata similarly blocked and shifted from the attacks then again countered.


    Palm, block, shift, fingers.


    "Still the same, Hinata-sama. Slow!" Neji found a weakness in Hinata''s rain of palm attacks. Seizing the chance to deflect her hands, Neji sent a palm attack straight to her abdomen.


    Finding holes in her attack and deflecting her hands, by this action, Hinata was not a bit hesitant. As the palm drew nearer, Hinata made use of her natural flexibility to dodge the palm and countered it with a kick, straight to Neji''s right arm.


    "Way to go, Hinata," Naruto shouted, making everyone in the hall look at him.


    "Ag." Neji held back the acute, sharp pain coming from his shoulder then hurriedly jumped a couple of meters back.


    Seeing every pair of eyes focused on him made Naruto nervous, as he shrank back and asked, "What did I do?"


    Hayate coughed as he looked at Hiruzen then at Naruto. "Uzumaki Naruto, please don''t interfere in the match."


    "I was just cheering. How''s that interfering?" Naruto grumbled, not understanding the proctor called him for just cheering.


    "Just watch for now, Naruto." Kakashi sighed then looked back at the match. How could he make this knuckleheaded Genin under him understand?


    "You should already know, Hinata-sama. On how it will end and how you will be humiliated once again. Like I have said before¡­ you can never win against me." The veins around Neji''s eye pulsated as he glared at Hinata.


    "I''ll prove it to you, Neji nii-san. It''s not the same anymore." Hinata pushed through with her palm and kicks, cutting on Neji''s zone. Her hits were getting onto Neji and while most of her attacks were blocked, she was able to land hits and block many of Neji''s chakra points in Neji''s hands.


    "No¡­ Hinata-sama." Neji who was blocking suddenly changed his pace, going from defense to attack. Instead of dodging Hinata''s palm strikes, Neji deflected them and at the same time used that opportunity to jab a couple of chakra points. Then with a stomp and twist, his palm went deep into her abdomen.


    Hinata fell on the ground, a line of blood coming down from her mouth but Neji didn''t continue. Instead, he watched Hinata stand up again. ''For a second, I thought she would¡­''


    "Again." Hinata stood back up and immediately took a stance. ''I can do it. I can¡­''


    "Come on, Hinata. I know you can do it." Naruto gritted his teeth looking at the fight. Even though Hinata was trying her best, Naruto felt that it was somewhat odd.


    "Neji nii-san."


    "Hinata-sama."


    Both Neji and Hinata rushed, engaging in close combat. Attacking and defending, one after another.


    Palm, finger, forehand, elbow.


    Signs of struggle appeared on Hinata''s face as time passed but Neji slowly and calmly adapted to Hinata''s attack pattern. Standing to the title of ''Genius'', Neji quickly reversed the situation and gained upper hand, pushing Hinata, one step after another.


    "Hinata is losing ground." Raito murmured looking at Hinata being pushed back.


    But what''s worse is that she was getting hit. Getting hit by Hy¨±ga''s attack means they are injecting chakra in your body, targeting chakra points in the body, blocking the chakra flow, which will eventually lead to chakra stagnation.


    Hinata was also trying her best to block the attacks but Neji was like a ghost, predicting future and passing her guards like raining water passing through the gaps.


    With each hit Neji was closing another chakra point, making her weaker and weaker.


    Gritting her teeth, Hinata thrust both of her palms forward, palms fully open, releasing a large amount of chakra at once.


    Neji seems to have predicted the attack as he crossed his arms and gathered chakra in defense but the attack still pushed him half the stage back.


    "That looks like vacuum palm of Hy¨±ga clan but¡­" Asuma commented. From the look of things that jutsu took more than needed chakra from Hinata.


    "She should have used gale palm instead of that." Naruto banged the railings as he looked at the panting Hinata.


    "That was a weak one, Hinata-sama," Neji said then returned to Hy¨±ga''s Gentle Fist Stance.


    Activating her chakra, Hinata walked towards Neji and changed into Hy¨±ga''s Gentle Fist Stance too.


    Before Raito and Naruto could shout out, Kakashi started explaining, "Hy¨±ga clan is one of the biggest clan in Konoha and they have their own rule. Clans have the say when it comes to their clan members and to interfere with them is not good."


    Kakashi went a step further in explanation. "When two Hy¨±ga met in the same ring, such as today, which rarely ever happens in public, they will only use clan techniques and nothing else, not even the basic three from the academy."


    "That''s so stupid." Naruto gritted his teeth. In the past months, Hinata had learned many Ninjutsu and Genjutsu, and also had used them on the missions several times.


    Since Naruto and Raito had somewhat forced her to learn some of the jutsus, they felt guilt within their heart. The reason being jutsus are cool, from Naruto and different kinds of jutsu will help in different kinds of the situation by Raito.


    What if Hinata only learned gentle fist all this time? Would she be able to defeat Neji? There was no clear answer but the chances would be higher than right now.


    "She was born in the Hy¨±ga clan and you cannot change that. Some rules have to be followed even if we don''t like them." Kakashi sighed.


    The close combat between Hinata and Neji continued but it was clear that Neji had the upper hand and Hinata was lagging behind because of all the blocked chakra points and the skill difference.


    Hinata''s health points dropped steadily as Neji''s finger and palm attacks landed on her continuously. It now looked like a one-sided beating and while Hinata was still able, she could not retaliate back. All her retaliations were immediately broken and with it, came a big blow.


    "Sensei, let''s stop the match." Raito let go of the railing and looked at Kakashi. "This match is already¡­"


    "Then¡­" Kakashi also thought that the match had no meaning by now. It only acted as Neji''s playground for breaking Hinata.


    "No! Wait." When Kakashi nodded and was ready to call off the match, Naruto interrupted.


    "She is still fighting." Naruto grabbed Kakashi and shouted. "She can do it."


    Raito grabbed Naruto''s hand which was grabbing Kakashi''s and pulled it. "She is fighting a losing battle. If Neji gets serious then¡­"


    "She can do it," Naruto retorted with gritted teeth.


    "Haa!" Hinata charged with all her speed with a palm strike ready to be released.


    However, Neji, who was the target, just smirked looking at Hinata. Dodging the attack, Neji sent a palm attack, right to her heart area. The amount of visible chakra erupting from Hinata''s back gave everyone the idea of how lethal the attack was.


    "Hinata!" Naruto shouted and Hayate quickly moved towards Hinata.


    Hinata was still conscious from Hayate''s point of view but the situation was not in her favor. So, Hayate asked in a low voice, "Do you still want to continue?"


    "¡­" Hinata, still clouded from the attack, barely heard what Hayate was saying but the situation was clear, if she did not stand up in any second now, she would lose the match.


    "I won''t¡­" Hinata struggled standing up.


    Hayate could only back out in this situation.


    "I won''t give up. I-I¡­" Hinata had bruises over her hands, face, and insides of her clothes. The dirt from falling on the ground mixed with the blood from her mouth, her breathing was shallow and quick as she again took the gentle fist stance.


    Neji frowned as he looked at Hinata. His fist tightened and anger appeared in his face.


    ''Why is it always like this? Why do I always have to give it to them?''


    "Just lay on the ground."


    ''Even when it''s always the same.''


    "You will never win against me! Never!"


    "I still want to try¡­" Hinata tried bringing a smile to her face as she faced Neji.


    "I don''t want to give up just yet. I want to¡­" With chakra gathered on her palms, she charged towards Neji.


    "Then I''ll show you no mercy." The anger in Neji''s face disappeared as chakra gathered in his palms.


    Neji looked at Hinata, charging towards him. Sneering, Neji kicked off the ground and charged towards Hinata.


    Just as they got close to each other, Hinata thrust her right palm towards Neji''s right shoulder. However, Neji dodged the palm and countered with his palm to Hinata''s abdomen. Hinata, who had already predicted the attack, spun on her heels as she targeted Neji''s left arm with finger thrusts.


    "Hmph." Neji snorted as he reacted with his right palm, striking Hinata''s forearm.


    A crisp sound of bone cracking was heard by the high level viewers on the hall, as Neji jabbed several points in a blink of an eye, paralyzing Hinata.


    With gritted teeth, Neji stabbed with his right towards Hinata''s throat. Next, he just closed his eyes and let out a breath, as he felt a heavy pressure on his body.


    Holding Neji from behind was Gai, his hand across Neji''s front. Holding his wrist from the right was Kakashi, then a palm onto his chakra center was Kurenai, crouching in front of him and Hayate covered Hinata from Neji''s view.


    As for Hinata, she was pulled back by Raito then he used [Heal] on her, hidden from everyone''s eye by the careful manipulation of chakra.


    Seeing Naruto run towards him, Raito gave him a hard kick to the stomach, making Naruto kneel and cough.


    On the viewing gallery, Shikamaru closed his eyes and rested his head on the railings. "Naruto had it coming."


    "Four J¨­nin to stop a small Genin like me," Neji sneered then loosened his body which made Kakashi and Gai let go of him.


    "[Fuin]." However, Kurenai pushed her hands forward, the bandages from her arm circling Neji''s waist. The character seals in the bandages formed pitch-black needles which stabbed Neji, sealing his chakra.


    "Neji!" Gai grabbed Neji''s shoulder and threw him towards the viewing gallery.


    Neji was not affected by the seal on his chakra center nor the fact that he had been thrown high up in the air by his own J¨­nin. Neji just tapped on the wall and manipulated his body, hands on the wall, as he slowly landed.


    Neji landed to face a very irate group of ninjas. While Shikamaru was rather calm about all this and Ch¨­ji gave Neji a stink eye, Ino pushed Neji, beating him down with words.


    Lee, Neji''s teammate, did not even look at him but jumped down to the stage.


    [Rock Lee vs Gaara]


    "We need to bring her to the medical ward." One of the medics looked at Kakashi and said, and at the same time, they shifted Hinata onto a stretcher.


    "Hm." Kakashi nodded and walked beside the medic-nin together with Naruto and Raito.


    Raito looked back at the stage and saw Gaara, who was looking at him. Then Raito looked at Lee, who was stretching.


    Opening [Mind-voice Transmission], Raito connected with Lee and spoke in his mind. "Lee, this guy is dangerous¡­"


    "¡­Do your best." Raito didn''t know what he should say to Lee. Ask him to surrender when the time comes? Quit now to prevent something that may or may not happen? There is no way he could do that and training with Lee for the past several months showed that Lee is a very, very stubborn, and stupid kind of person.


    Raito looked back at Hinata who still had blood coming from her mouth then looked at the two medic-nin by her side.


    "Kakashi, I will go too," Kurenai asked Kakashi and went with the medic-nin.


    "Raito, it will be your turn next. Go back." Kakashi pulled Raito, who was about to go with Kurenai and the medic-nin.


    "I will look after her." Naruto rushed, running by Raito.


    "Naruto," Raito called to which Naruto turned.


    Instead of words, Naruto was pulled by his collar and pushed to the wall by Raito. "We are not done with this. We are going to have a long talk after the preliminary is over."


    Naruto turned silent as he looked at the hands holding his jacket''s collar and pushing him to the wall. That force and those cold words, Raito was at him, at his decision and his stupid sense. Gritting his teeth, Naruto raised his hands and grabbed Raito''s sleeves as something hot burned his c.h.e.s.t.


    "I understand." Naruto squeezed out these words as his eyes moistened.


    Raito let go of Naruto and said, "Go."


    Naruto looked at Kakashi then back at Raito and nodded, hurriedly running towards Hinata''s direction.


    "Raito, you are going back." Kakashi stood between Raito and passageway leading to the inner chambers.


    "Sensei¡­ I promise I will go back on time." Raito promised then added. "My healing technique is far better than anyone¡­ even old- Hokage-sama said so."


    "Did he now?" Kakashi grabbed Raito then turned back at the hall.


    Raito looked at his party member tab and frowned as Hinata''s health points continue to decrease steadily. "I know medical techniques."


    "Sure." Kakashi ignored Raito and continued dragging him towards the hall.


    Gritting his teeth, Raito grabbed Kakashi''s wrist and said, "She is¡­ friend."


    "¡­Oh." Kakashi looked at Raito in amus.e.m.e.nt and twirled Raito into an unescapable grappling technique. Grabbing him tightly, Kakashi used ''[Shunshin]'' and flashed away from the spot.


    On the stage, Lee dodged the sand barrage and tried counterattacking but was always stopped by the sand around Gaara. Gaara did not even look at Lee as sand continued to be his sword and shield.


    Dodging the sand barrage, Lee hopped everywhere and only calmed down when Gaara stopped his sand attacks.


    ''His attacking speeds will catch up to me if this keeps going on for another hour. I can''t waste that much time.'' Lee stood on top of the giant hand seal and looked at Gaara.


    Squatting down Lee''s grabbed the weights and unhooked their locks. ''I should be able to surpass the sand''s speed now.''


    "Are those weights?" Temari looked at metal bars with had kanji for ''Guts'' and sneered. "How much can they even-"


    Boom!


    Lee let go of the weight and as they touched the ground, a loud sound and cloud of dust erupted.


    "It''s too much." Kankur¨­ sweated as he looked at Lee jumping.


    "This Gai¡­" Hiruzen smiled softly looking at the weights and the energetic Genin.


    Anko looked at Lee and thought about weights. "Are weights in fashion again? Raito did tell me that they were using weights¡­"


    Whoosh!


    "Huh?" Gaara turned his head, again and again, noticing the blur that just passed by him.


    "Straight!" After circling Gaara a couple of times, Lee choose the area furthest away from Gaara and dashed forward in a straight line, his fist corked back.


    ''He''s coming.'' Sand exploded from the mouth of gourd, forming giant demonic hands, blocking the view between himself and Lee, and the sand around him turned into walls.


    "Punch!" The sand forming walls were immediately destroyed by Lee''s punch but it was ultimately stopped by the demonic hands.


    Before the other hand could move for capturing Lee, Lee jumped high up in the air and rolled as he came falling down. "Drop Kick!!"


    Ino covered her ears on hearing Lee shout. "You don''t have to shout, Lee!"


    "No, it''s all about exploding with youth!! Go, Lee!" Gai shouted with stars twinkling in his eyes, teeth shining like a brightly lit bulb.


    "Proctor, please stop him," Ino grumbled still covering her ears then she looked towards her left at the empty area.


    "Hinata will be alright," Asuma reassured.


    "I am not worried." Ino pouted, turning in the opposite direction.


    Shikamaru looked sideways where Sasuke was and could not help but click his tongue. It was clear that Sasuke was using Sharingan to copy Lee''s and Gaara''s attack. Even though Gai saw it, he didn''t say anything to Sasuke. It depends on who uses it, for what it becomes.


    "Her tenketsu are blocked. We have to open them, fast." One of the medics attached Hinata to the monitors and checked her vitals.


    "She has internal bleeding, abdomen, about 150 ml." Another medic using diagnostic jutsu placed her palm over Hinata''s abdomen and sides reported.


    "Simple fracture, right radius and ulna, transverse." Another medic reported.


    "Don''t start until the blocks are removed." An older medic was standing a bit further away from the bed, looking at the monitor.


    "Hinata." Naruto looked through the glass at Hinata and the medics.


    "Don''t worry. She will be fine, Naruto." Kurenai looked at Naruto and smiled.


    "Who among you has finished all of the chakra control exercises in the third volume?" The older medic asked to his subordinates.


    Seeing that no one was answering, he looked at his own hands and shook his head, "Notify Hokage-sama and get a seal master, hurry."


    "I''ll go-"


    Bam!


    Raito opened the door violently, hitting the medic who was about to go out.


    "I''m a seal master. Level? About seven I think." Raito walked in introducing himself.


    "Sorry." Looking at the unconscious medic, Raito looked surprised as he hurriedly bowed.


    ''You don''t look like sorry at all.'' Kakashi looked at the medic-nin then at Raito''s face.


    "Kakashi." The head medic walked out smiling towards Kakashi.


    "We have seals ready." The female medic-nin took out a scroll and gave it to Raito. "You have less than ten minutes to familiarize yourself then-"


    Raito tossed the scroll to Kakashi then removed the bandages on his hand to reveal a double circled seal with a red center.


    After applying chakra on the seal, a thin layer of ink from the two circles traveled towards the red dot then towards Hinata''s c.h.e.s.t, right at the point of the manubrium. A seal appeared similar to that of Raito''s hand then the ink traveled all over her body lining the chakra pathway.


    While checking Hinata''s status tab, Raito kept feeding chakra to the seal. Only after confirming that the [Blocked Chakra Pathway] disappeared from Hinata''s status tab, he stopped.


    "The blockage disappeared." The female medic-nin running diagnostic jutsu exclaimed in surprise.


    "Bring the water bucket, prepare for incision, and administer the medicine." The head medic immediately ordered then looked at the medic who was still unconscious.


    "Kurenai, standby for [Healing Palm] technique." The head medic ordered Kurenai the looked at team seven. "Leave the room."


    "Hai." Kakashi nodded then pulled Naruto and Raito back.


    BOOM!!!


    Just as Kakashi stepped outside, the dust cloud exploded in the corridor sweeping everywhere.


    Kakashi only had time to throw Raito and Naruto back, and close the door.


    "[Eight Trigrams: Vacuum palm]"


    A sudden force exploded carrying the dust together with it, pushing everything back.


    After the dust cloud was pushed back, Kakashi turned to see Hy¨±ga clan leader, Hy¨±ga Hiashi with his palm extended.


    "Hiashi-sama." Kakashi bowed making Naruto and Raito bow too.


    Pulling back his hand, Hiashi bowed back. "Kakashi-san." Then he looked through the small glass, at his daughter


    "Raito, go ahead. Prepare for your match." Kakashi patted Raito shoulder then stood beside Hiashi to face at Hinata''s room.


    "Hai." Raito nodded then ran towards the stage.


    ''Baka-Raito. Why did I have to do that?'' Raito cursed himself for revealing too much. But on the second thought, Hinata could have already told her father and clan about the Fuinjutsu.


    "I shouldn''t have." Raito clenched his fist as he reached the stage.


    On the destroyed stage, Gaara laid in the center, and Lee, the one who had just performed [Front Lotus], one of the forbidden Taijutsu techniques, was panting hard looking towards the ceiling.


    "Finally." Lee stood up but his body seemed weakened by this attack. With a smile on his face, Lee walked towards where Gaara was.


    Crack


    Upon reaching, Gaara, who was laying on the ground, cracked, like a porcelain doll, color faded and the whole of the body turned into sand.


    "How could it be?" Lee gritted his teeth as sand flew around then gathered into one place.


    Hidden in the sand, Gaara revealed himself then extended his hand. On his will the sand gathered together, hurdling towards Lee.


    ''Dodge, dodge.'' Lee struggled as he tried dodging the sand but the sand chased after him and occasionally dealing damage.


    "Ahh!!" Sand continuously attacked Lee, pushing and oppressing him.


    "You are slow again," Gaara commented as more and more sand came out of the gourd.


    The sand pooled under Lee and it crept upwards, ready to grab Lee.


    ''[Second Gate: Gate of Healing ¨C Open].''


    Lee immediately broke free of the sand, disappearing from Gaara''s sight.


    "His strength¡­ recovered!?" Gaara was surprised by Lee''s recovery as he could again feel the passing blur in the corner of his eyes. The sand from Gaara''s gourd exploded, creating shields around him.


    BAM


    Crack!


    Lee''s kick cracked open the sand guard and kicked Gaara away.


    But Gaara easily neutralized the force and countered with sand bullets.


    Lee dodged them and appeared within Gaara''s range. Strong determination burned in Lee as he started spinning.


    Right leg enveloped in swirling winds followed by currents of air moved towards Gaara.


    Feeling the change, the sand from the gourd erupted, forming hands, heading towards Lee.


    "Fly away, [Konoha Taijutsu - Gust]."


    Boooom!


    "Argh!" Gaara was sent flying towards the other end, forming a human-shaped outline on the wall.


    Lee was breathing faster but his eyes were glued to Gaara. The sand around Gaara was still lively but the sand armor covering Gaara was in pieces. Under the expressionless mask of sand, Gaara hid his maniacal smile and the crazy eyes, which were hungry for battle and blood.


    "Crazy." Kankur¨­ frowned as he looked at Gaara, at his maniacal smile, which was quickly masked by the full-body sand armor.


    "It''s not going to be easier, is it?" Lee took a deep breath the exhaled.


    Crossing his arm, Lee focused inside his body. The hemispheres of the brain traveling down to the spine¡­ opening the first point.


    "[Third Gate: Gate of Life ¨C Open]."


    Lee''s skin turned red as the air around him changed. Tendrils of bluish chakra combined to form a spiral around Lee, changing the pressure around him. Corona lost, turning his eye fully white and veins began bulging around Lee''s face.


    Swish.


    Lee disappeared making a huge cloud of dust for all to take. The next moment Gaara was seen flying high in the sky then another, he was falling on the ground. The sand around him was busy catching up to Gaara but Lee''s attacks were so strong and his speed was too fast for the sand to react.


    ''My sand.'' Gaara tried summoning his sand but he was interrupted repeatedly by Lee''s powerful strikes.


    "Haaa!" Lee appeared below Gaara, just the moment he was about to fall on the ground. Stomping on the ground, Lee''s leg was like a straight rule, 180 degree straight, as his kick landed on Gaara''s back.


    "Argh!!!" The sand covering Gaara shattered into pieces and flew high up in the air.


    "It''s time to end this." Lee stomped on the ground once again then flew high up, higher than Gaara was and in the end, he was standing on the ceiling of the hall.


    "[Fourth Gate: Gate of Pain ¨C Open]."


    With a powerful stomp, the ceiling collapsed and Lee darted towards Gaara like an arrow. With a turn, Lee had a fist and stomp plunged deep into Gaara''s body.


    "[Hidden Lotus]."


    Opening the fourth gate and increasing the strength beyond his body limit. Lee''s attack went beyond his capacity, dealing a great deal of damage to Gaara but at the same time Lee felt the tear in his knee ligaments. Not only that but the entire of the right arm and leg had some kind damage, like fracture, muscle, and skin tears, vessels bursting.


    "Omf." Arching backward, Gaara dropped like a cannonball towards the stage and as he crashed, Gaara destroyed the stage, raising a dust cloud.


    At the same time, Lee also dropped on the ground and lay on the ground like a fish out of water but his eyes were still open, looking at where Gaara was supposed to be. "It''s over."


    "Is that sand?" Gennai''s shouting alerted Lee.


    Deep within the crater made by Gaara, he laid on the sand made from his gourd. Gaara was beaten up pretty badly as he lay on the sand, paralyzed. With the help of the sand, Gaara floated, coming out of the crater but it seemed that even his chakra was depleted.


    But Raito who looked above Gaara''s head narrowed his eyes. He still had half of his health left and more than three fourth of chakra.


    Using [Mind Voice Transmission] Raito immediately connected to Lee but just as he was about to instruct Lee, Raito felt his connection severed.


    [-100 HP]


    "Don''t interfere." Raito heard a vague voice in his mind and after that, he felt a stabbing pain on his head.


    "Not cool." Raito quickly recovered due to the gamer''s power but the scene in front of him was not good at all.


    Sand had grabbed Lee''s hand and feet, and because Lee had already injured his right hand and leg, he could not dodge it.


    Lying down on the ground, Gaara looked at Lee who was trying to free himself from the sand. "[Sand Binding Coffin]."


    "Ahhhhhh!" Lee screamed in pain as under Gaara''s sand manipulation. The sand squeezed Lee''s hand and leg, refusing to let go and as Gaara''s grip got tighter, the crushing power became powerful.


    "Lee!"


    Continuing that, even more sand went towards Lee.


    "I have to go." Raito gritted his teeth as he stood up.


    [Gamer''s mind activated.]


    [Successfully resisted "Mind Thorn" and "Mind Shackles"]


    [Skill ''Mind Thorn'' analyzed successfully. Please purchase using points from the library.]


    [Skill ''Mind Shackles'' analyzed successfully. Please purchase using points from the library.]


    The heavy feeling on his mind disappeared and with that Raito hurriedly went through a series of hand seals.


    But before Raito could activate the jutsu, Gai appeared in front of Lee and destroyed the sand wave with a flick of his hands.


    Gaara looked at the scene weirdly, not knowing why anyone would save someone. "Why¡­ save him?"


    "¡­Because he is an important subordinate who I care for," Gai replied looking straight at Gaara.


    "Important subordinate who he cares for?" Temari looked at Lee and Gai who looked so much the same.


    "They must be father and son." She murmured thinking about her father


    ''Those are things Gaara can never understand.'' Baki looked at Gaara who looked completely unharmed now.


    "Winner, Gaara," Hayate announced, looking at Gaara. Since the J¨­nin of the team had already intervened the conclusion was set.


    "My ninja way¡­ I will prove it." Lee stood up weakly but there was a lot of blood on his arms and legs. Even with all the damage, Lee was standing and facing Gaara.


    "Sorry, Lee." Gai grabbed Lee pressing acupoints, forcing him to sleep.


    "Medics, hurry," Hayate called while checking Lee.


    The medics ran past Raito and went towards Lee. They checked on Lee with diagnostic jutsu to look for anything that might require special care during transferring and transportation.


    [Yoshizawa Raito vs Kankur¨­]


    Raito grabbed the arm of the lady medic-nin, carrying the stretcher and looked at Lee. "Lee."


    "Oi, what are you doing?" The medic-nin, who was slammed down by the door earlier, frowned, looking at Raito.


    "Please leave it to us." The lady medic-nin looked at Raito''s grave face and consulted.


    "Hey, didn''t you hear me!?" The man was holding the front of the stretcher so, it was difficult for him to see what Raito was doing.


    [Rock Lee]


    [Status - Unconscious]


    [Right Leg fracture, Right arm fracture, Minute fracture all over the body, Exhaustion, Multiple muscle tear, multiple lacerations¡­]


    [Right Leg Fracture ¨C Lower one-third of the femoral fracture, Stellate Patellar fracture, Tibia, and fibular fracture...]


    [Right Arm Fracture - ¡­]


    The description went on and on, and various tabs came with pictures; with skin layers removed, another with muscles removed, and another one with a focus on the bones only.


    "Little brother, don''t use any healing technique for now. We will have to do surgery and do everything one by one. You may have seen the fracture of the patella; that is of comminuted type and there is a high degree of deviation too." Seeing the familiar pattern for diagnostic jutsu and bluish chakra on Raito''s hand, the lady medic-nin immediately warned. "His injuries are far complicated to just use healing jutsu."


    The elderly medic-nin, who was with Gai, looked at Raito and Lee then spoke up, "I have seen your technique with my own eyes on the Hokage tower but I must say¡­ the current you will do more harm than good."


    "What the¡­ I." Raito pulled back the chakra on his hand then looked at old medic-nin then at Lee sadly. "Sorry, Lee."


    "This¡­" Raito took out a potion from his inventory, then using water manipulation, made Lee drink the entire thing.


    "What was that?" The elderly medic-nin asked in curiosity as some of the bruises started healing under his eyes.


    "These are heart preserving medicine. It has some healing effect." Raito lied as he saw the health points recovering. But the health bar never became full, it was stuck at thirty percent.


    "If you have time, come to the hospital sometime." The elderly medic-nin patted Raito''s shoulder then went with his subordinates and Lee.


    "Hai." Raito nodded then turned to face Gai who was standing blankly.


    "Gai-sensei." Raito had his head down, not daring to look at Gai''s gloomy face.


    Just when Raito was about to pass Gai, Gai said, "Raito¡­ Lee worked for his dreams. He will be fine."


    "I''ll leave first." Raito walked away with heavy steps. As he looked at the repaired stage, nasty thought haunted Raito''s head.


    "I hope you won''t surrender." Exhaling a breath of foul air Raito walked towards the stage slowly.


    "What the heck? This Konoha shinobi is so slow."


    "Proctor, how long do I have to wait?"


    Kankur¨­ made an annoyed face, waiting for Raito. He was standing on the repaired stage and by his side, a human-size thing, covered in white cloth.


    "Sorry, I was busy doing something important." Raito walked in with a small smile on his face.


    "¡­ Like taking care of the friend just now." Kankur¨­ felt his face twitching, looking at Raito. He could not help but remember those moments before the Ch¨±nin exam.


    Raito froze as Kankur¨­ mentioned Lee.


    "I may accidentally kill you," Raito said while taking out the stone beads from the inventory secretly and making a bracelet out of them. "So try your best to live."


    Everyone narrowed their eyes at Raito''s statement, while some in annoyance, others in caution.


    Cough¡­ "No one is going to die under my watch. So, free to go all out." Hayate looked at both of them and coughed.


    "Thank you, proctor-san." Raito smiled and took out a wooden staff from his inventory. "I''ll be sure to go all out if he lasts that long."


    Raito looked at the Suna shinobi standing at the viewing gallery and looking at him. ''Just keep watching.''


    Seeing the staff taken out from thin air alerted Kankur¨­. Grabbing the puppet closer, Kankur¨­ activated his chakra. ''This guy¡­''


    Cough¡­ cough¡­ Hayate walked forward then looked at the two. "Yoshizawa Raito, Kankur¨­, Fight!"


    Instead of attacking, Raito straightened his back. He had a small smile on his face as Raito took a few steps forward.


    Looking at Kankur¨­''s alert face, Raito spoke up. "Should I attack first?"


    "Hmph." Kankur¨­ snorted, retreating backward and waving his hands. As he waved his hands, the cloth covered puppet moved in front of Raito and Kankur¨­.


    "It''s good that you decided not to switch places." Raito tilted his head and looked at Kankur¨­.


    "What are you saying?" Kankur¨­ frowned, looking at Raito. Just before walking into the hall, Kankur¨­ contemplated whether to switch places with his puppet or not. How would this guy know?


    "[Bloom]."


    Black tentacles erupted from the ground and covered the thing inside the cloth. It happened in an instant that Kankur¨­ couldn''t even move his fingers in time. By the time, he reacted, the black things wobbled for a few seconds before changing into a spherical shape.


    "Karasu," Kankur¨­ shouted trying to reconnect with the puppet named Karasu, inside the spherical ball.


    "I learned a lot from your brother." Raito raised his arms and his hand like a claw, just as Gaara did a while back. "Like his sand, I am also using the earth in the same way."


    "I hope I can let you experience them," Raito added and started clenching his fist. The spherical ball in the air turned smaller and smaller until it turned into the size of the pinky.


    "¡­"


    Raito smiled happily and clenched the small ball, keeping it in the inventory. To make it more dramatic, Raito clenched his fist tighter and did a few wrist circles. In the end, when Raito opened his fist, stone dust fell from his palm.


    Kankur¨­ looked at Raito dumbfounded. This guy just destroyed his puppet under a few seconds. Placing his hand on the scroll at his back, Kankur¨­ comforted himself.


    With a swipe, Kankur¨­ threw a kunai tied with explosion talisman towards Raito. "[Explode]."


    One of the stone beads in Raito''s wrist flew up and immediately transformed into a shield, blocking the whole of the explosion.


    "[Erasing Wind]." Gentle winds blew by, dispersing the smokescreen created by the explosion.


    Tink, Tink, Tink


    Senbon fell beside Raito after hitting the stone shield. In a distance away, Kankur¨­ stood with a puppet slightly bigger than he did. Three-Eyed four-armed humanoid with spiky brow hairstyle and covered by a cloth.


    "Such a creepy doll." Raito looked carefully at the puppet and found that there were a lot of hidden mechanism inside its body.


    Small triggers inside its body activated by the chakra threads.


    "This is Karasu 1.5."


    "1.5?"


    "Hmph." Kankur¨­ moved his fingers, causing Karasu to move too.


    Tak, tak, tak.


    Although a puppet, under Kankur¨­''s manipulation, Karasu appeared in front of Raito. Several curved blades erupted from his arm as it swung towards Raito.


    The black stone beads exploded and like mud and coiled around Karasu''s arm, stopping the swing.


    "This kind of thing-"


    While Raito was speaking, the wrist on Karasu''s hand extended, opening a hidden chamber and launching scalpels.


    Swish.


    Under the effect of [Fast Thinking], the scalpels moved in slow motion. Moving the staff in the front, Raito easily blocked all the scalpels then destroyed Karasu''s arm.


    ''That attack was from a close distance. What a freak.'' While thinking that, Kankur¨­ moved his fingers triggering some more hidden weapons.


    Karasu opened the mouth, launching giant needles, coated in poison.


    ''Now the poison gas-.'' The finger which was gonna move stopped. The long needles plunged into Raito''s front, but neither did he dodge or tried to dodge them.


    ''It''s better to be careful.'' Kankur¨­ thought and moved his finger. The lower part of the abdomen open, releasing poisonous gas to Raito''s face.


    Raito stood still and slightly raising his right arm. "[Purple Poison Refinement Art]."


    The long needles were pushed out as a small stone bead appeared out of Raito''s jacket. If not for the holes on his clothes, nobody would believe that he was just made a pincushion.


    Looking at the holes on his clothes, Raito looked at Kankur¨­ with a drop of purple liquid hovering above his hand. "This is something I learned from your brother just now. Sand armor, it''s something like that."


    "¡­" Kankur¨­ took a step back, his hand quivered and his tongue felt dry.


    "Oh, and poison doesn''t work on me," Raito added with a smile, adding the purple drop in the bottle.


    [Purple Poison]


    Amount ¨C 60ml


    Poison ingredient ¨C 260


    Looking at the poison bottle, Raito tilted his head and looked at Kankur¨­.


    Just as he thought of using the poison on Kankur¨­, Raito found a pair of eyes locked on him. Under his ''[Chakra Sense]'', he saw that Anko was shaking her head slightly.


    ''That blows!'' Raito shrugged then kept the poison bottle inside his inventory.


    "[Crush]."


    Ignoring the dumbfounded Kankur¨­, Raito swung his staff vertically downwards crushing Karasu and revealing all kinds of hidden weapons inside.


    "Do you wanna give up?" Raito shouted while looking at Kankur¨­''s angry face.


    "Of course I won''t. Even though I may not have my puppets with me, I can do much more." Kankur¨­ replied while taking out scrolls from his back.


    "I carry my village''s pride on my back. I will never surrender."


    Raito listened to all of Kankur¨­''s murmuring and let him open the scrolls, taking out all kinds of weapons like things. "Pride, huh?"


    "[Lance]."


    Needles made up of stone erupted from below, piercing Kankur¨­''s hands.


    "Argh!!!" Kankur¨­ howled in pain as he threw his head backward. The earth needles cut the skin, revealing bones and muscles, and many blood vessels, as it started bleeding.


    "Kankur¨­!" Temari shouted in horror looking at the scene then she turned her head towards her J¨­nin leader. "Baki-sensei."


    Baki ignored Temari and looked at the stage below.


    In front of Kankur¨­, there were two trees made of rocks, their needle-like branches piercing his hands, mostly at the tip, where his chakra threads to control puppets usually comes out from.


    "I suggest you quit when you have¡­ some time and life left? It will not be shameful or anything. You will just be saving yourself¡­ your life." Raito thought about his words for a moment then shrugged.


    ''Kankur¨­ can''t back out.''


    "Sensei!!" Temari glared at her teacher and shouted.


    Instead of attacking and ending the whole thing, Raito waited. Opening Kankur¨­''s status tab, Raito started reading his description.


    "Raito''s chakra control is getting better." Hiruzen sighed looking at the earth needles, piercing Kankur¨­. Those needles only pierced the skin around Kankur¨­''s hand, his bones were very safe in this case.


    From time to time, Raito glanced at Gaara then at Kankur¨­.


    "Why aren''t you doing anything at all, Kankur¨­? I am giving you all this time so we can start the fight." Raito asked feigning confusion.


    "You bastard¡­" Kankur¨­ showed his teeth as sweat drops covered his forehead.


    "Proctor-san, my opponent is not fighting back nor is he surrendering. What should I do?" Raito asked Hayate innocently.


    Hayate rolled his eyes in the inside but maintained a potato face outside.


    "Man, it''s such a pain." Raito stretched then walked towards Kankur¨­. "I''ll be starting then."


    From Kankur¨­''s scroll all kinds of hidden weapons could be seen; some big, some small, while some looked normal, others looked creepy.


    ''[Avatar].''


    In exchange for a thousand points of chakra, a vaguely humanoid figure made up of chakra appeared in Raito''s field of vision.


    "Hmm." Hiruzen felt minute chakra wave but he could not see anything.


    "Hokage-sama, is something wrong?" Anko who was beside Hiruzen turned and asked.


    "¡­Nothing." Hiruzen pinched his beard then shook his head.


    The avatar quickly walked beside Kankur¨­ and drilled into him like tendrils of smoke.


    On the other end, Raito walked with a staff on his hand and yellow-brown chakra covering it. As time passed, the brownish staff turned black and the weight increased.


    "Chakra Flow? Elemental?" Anko frowned, looking at Raito.


    "I just gave him a book." Hiruzen murmured which Anko heard.


    "So this is your mindscape." Raito appeared in a small building. Walking inside, Raito saw Kankur¨­ sitting on a table and eating his meal with his sister, Temari. Raito ignored them and walked into a weird room. The room was entirely black but one side of the room had a scroll hanging out and touching the handle of the scroll was a man.


    "Sensei?" Raito called out.


    "Raito?" Turning around Inoichi shouted in surprise.


    "What are you doing here!?" Both of them cried out in surprise.


    "Well, whatever. Just come here and help me." Inoichi pointed with his chin on the newly erupting scroll hanging on the wall. "I just started. There were quite a lot of mental defense but the pain he just experienced helped me dealing with them."


    "Since you are here, let''s start." Inoichi turned back and continued his jutsu.


    "Hai." Raito walked towards the scroll then stretched out his hand. Chakra immediately came out of his hand and linked with the scroll.


    [Extract and create a book regarding, ''Kankur¨­''?]


    [YES | NO]


    ''Yes.''


    Chakra spread from the Raito''s hand towards the scroll and disappeared beyond the dark wall. After a couple of dozen of seconds, chakra returned to form a black ball that transformed into a book with a black cover and yellowish title ''Kankur¨­''.


    [Gained book ''Kankur¨­''.]


    "Just link the info to me. You must be fighting right now, right? I don''t know how you are doing this but¡­ it will take some chakra even-"


    "I am done." Raito tossed the book towards Inoichi then flashed out of Kankur¨­''s head, fleeing from Inoichi''s lecturing.


    Inoichi grabbed the book and sighed. Connecting with the book, he verified a few of the contents and then flashed out of Kankur¨­''s mindscape.


    Outside, Raito lost focus for a second but everything returned to how it was. Raito was swinging the black and heavy staff and moving towards Kankur¨­.


    With half a rat seal, the earthen needles became thinner and thinner as it retreated. However, just as Kankur¨­ was about to enjoy his freedom, his hands and legs were bound by the black-colored earth.


    Seeing the blackish substance crawling up to him, Kankur¨­''s face changed as he began to desperately struggle. "Don''t come near me. Stay back!"


    "You monster! Stay back."


    Before Raito could swing the staff, Baki who was on the viewing gallery jumped in between Kankur¨­ and Raito with sweat on his face.


    BAM


    Nevertheless, before Baki could say anything, Raito swung his enhanced staff, straight towards Kankur¨­''s knee, counting Baki as thin air. "[Cut]".


    "Argh." Baki gritted his teeth as piercing pain assaulted his hand. The vibration of the strike traveled towards his arm, making him feel that the bones on his hand were going to shatter.


    "We surrender." Baki turned to face the proctor and declared.


    Baki looked at the smiling Genin in front of him and took a deep breathe then he looked at his hand where the staff meet his hand.


    "Oh, sorry." Raito apologized as he pulled back his staff. Raito''s action of pulling the staff was too slow making Baki frown.


    "Mn." Even when Raito pulled the staff back, Baki felt extreme pain on his palm. As he looked at his left palm, Baki found that a layer of skin was pulled off along with the staff.


    "Winner, Yoshizawa Raito."


    "Kankur¨­, snap out of it." Baki gave Kankur¨­ a tight slap and splashed some water on his face. The blackish earth had already transformed back into small stone beads and disappeared when Baki came between Raito and Kankur¨­.


    Baki sighed then pressed Kankur¨­''s shoulder, passing chakra into him and making him sleep.


    Medics ran to Baki''s side and looked at Kankur¨­. Baki nodded and gave Kankur¨­ to them. "Please."


    "Please, you too." The medic caught Baki''s hand and looked at the damage then looked back at Raito who was dealing with Temari.


    "You¡­ what did you do to him?" Temari walked with her fan pointed towards Raito and glared at him.


    "Temari." Baki snapped Temari out of anger but there was still resentment in her eyes. They could neither curse nor attack because¡­ just because they were in the center of Konohagakure and not Sunagakure.


    "It was just a Genjutsu and it was just his brother. Why is he so scared of his ''own'' brother?" Raito grumbled then moved back, creating some distance between them.


    Raito looked at Gaara with a smile then his eyes landed on Temari. Within the smile, deep anger was hidden. ''Physical injuries are nothing compared to the mental one.''


    While the Gamer''s mind neutralized all kinds of extreme emotions, it could not erase the memories of the event, leading to the blooming of that emotion. That moment of anger kept repeating in Raito''s head from the moment he walked on to the stage until now.


    Hayate coughed as he asked all the participants to come down to the stage.


    "As the proctor of the third round, I declare the end of the preliminary round." Hayate raised his hand and declared to everyone in the hall.

 Chapter 67 - 67 – Detained

    "One, two, three¡­ eight. Perfect! For the finals, we will draw lots. Pray to anyone you believe in and get your hands ready." Anko walked with a box with a hole and made everyone draw a number.


    Anko and Hayate turned to face Hiruzen, showing him the match schedule. Hiruzen looked at the schedule then his eyes landed on Gaara. Pausing for a second, he just nodded.


    "If your brain works then you would already know who your opponents are. However, to be sure and hope there is no mistake, we are going to let you have a look. " Anko flipped the clipboard and showed it to the genins.


    "Hy¨±ga Neji vs Uzumaki Naruto"


    "Nara Shikamaru vs Temari"


    "Gaara vs Uchiha Sasuke"


    "Nakahara Karu vs Yoshizawa Raito"


    "A total of seven matches¡­ the matches start from ten in the morning, at the Konoha stadium." Anko looked stern as she looked at the Genins.


    Karu rolled his eyes and looked at Raito from the corner of his eyes. ''Yoshizawa Raito, high-level all-rounder? He used Ninjutsu. Maybe Earth primary. Taijutsu¡­ it is also high. I think I can last a few rounds against him.''


    ''Should I ask Shun-nii?'' Raito thought about it for a long time but everyone he knew was busy. Moreover, in a situation like this¡­ everyone was extra busy with preparations and such.


    ''Orochimaru, Sasuke, and Sunagakure. Why is this so troublesome?'' Raito turned and looked secretly towards Temari and Gaara.


    Gaara first looked at Sasuke then he fixed his eyes on Raito. Temari stood beside Gaara, anger on her face as she gave Raito a hateful glare.


    "One whole month, no mission. It''s like a vacation." Shikamaru let out a small smile then looked at Raito. "What are you thinking about?"


    "Nothing, I was just thinking, who should I train with? Since Kakashi-sensei is training Sasuke. " Raito sighed then looked at Hiruzen. "Or I can train alone."


    "You still want to train?" Shikamaru rolled his eyes.


    "You can always go there." He added, narrowing his eyes. He was talking about the [Challenger''s Stage], where skilled warriors are plenty and they fight with full power without reason.


    "You think you can skip training? Just join me." Raito gave Shikamaru a weird smile then turned to face Hiruzen.


    Hiruzen listened to what the J¨­nin had to say, as they looked at the Genins. While some praised their Genins, others commented on their shortcomings.


    "Bring them." Hiruzen gave Anko a look.


    With a cough, Hiruzen''s demeanor changed. The J¨­nin and Ch¨±nin immediately came into attention, quieting down and standing beside Hiruzen. Looking at the Genins in front of him, Hiruzen released a little bit of the pressure and enveloped them within it.


    Feeling the pressure, everyone quieted down, turned their head, and looked towards Hiruzen.


    "Exactly a month from today, you will be standing in the Konoha stadium, in front of the fellow villagers, foreigners, and the prominent members of the continent. The stage will be yours, show them what you are capable of and make your village proud."


    "Remember¡­ on that day, you will represent your village."


    "Do what you must as a shinobi of the village."


    With everything said, Hiruzen gave them a final glance then left the hall, followed by a small group of people


    Baki looked at Hiruzen''s back then he looked around at the shinobis from Konoha. With them not coming towards him, Baki heaved a sigh in relief. However, it may have been a little too soon as Anko walked in front of Baki.


    "Shall we?" Anko pointed towards the top floor with her eyes.


    Baki sighed and nodded. He wanted to talk with Gaara and Temari but Gaara did not care to listen as he disappeared in a swirl of sand and as for Temari; she ignored everyone and rushed towards Kankur¨­''s room in a hurry, leaving Baki troubled over his situation.


    Inside an empty room, Hiruzen looked through the glass at the Genins and J¨­nins downstairs, in the hall. Then he turned around with a sigh and looked at Baki, who was standing with his hands on the back.


    "Explain." Hiruzen took out a tobacco pipe from his sleeve and looked at Baki.


    Raito appeared beside Hiruzen then took out a comfortable looking chair from his inventory for Hiruzen to sit.


    Hiruzen looked at Raito for a moment before sitting comfortably on the chair. Several ANBU in the room rolled their eyes and while Anko did not roll her eyes, she felt the corners of her mouth twitching.


    "¡­" It seemed that Baki had not given any thoughts about explaining Gaara''s action from the day before. Simply because Gaara was the son of the current Kazekage, he thought that there would be no action against him or anyone from Suna, and most importantly no one had died.


    Surely, Konoha would not want disputes between the nations when they already had bad ties with Iwagakure and Kumogakure.


    "Explain." This time Hiruzen raised his voice and released his pressure.


    Baki immediately kneeled, and said, "Hokage-sama¡­ yesterday was just a small scuffle between the Genins. Our Gaara likes to fight against strong ones of his age group. Although he is a bit competitive, he would never think of killing someone from the allied nations."


    Hiruzen looked at Baki with anger on his face, still waiting for Baki to explain.


    "He is the same as Uchiha Sasuke who well¡­ enjoys battles." Baki added with a bit of hesitation.


    "Uchiha Sasuke?" Hiruzen raised his brows, looking at his people.


    "Yes, just before the start of the Ch¨±nin examination, Uchiha Sasuke, came to our dwellings and challenged my Genins to a fight."


    "Gaara... may have thought that it was fine to challenge. S-since Uchiha Sasuke did so¡­" Baki sweated, trying to come out with an answer.


    "You came to my village. Tried to harm my grandson or as you claimed ''an accident'', then you tried harming my Genin when we clearly stated than you are not allowed to." Hiruzen looked at Baki in clear anger. The pressure coming from Hiruzen was making Baki tremble and sweat.


    Hiruzen stretched his hand towards Baki, signaling him to take the papers.


    Baki looked at the paper and words on the first page made him sweat. The first page had a list of all the people killed by Gaara from childhood to the teenage.


    Baki''s hands quaked as he grabbed the paper. Turning to the next page, there were details of Gaara''s outbreak, damage estimation, and injury report. At the end of the bundle, there were even pictures of Gaara''s transformation.


    As Baki read the papers, his heart trembled. ''Why are these here? These are my reports!''


    Looking at the last paper, Baki froze as he raised his head. The last page had a single sentence.


    ''Release Shukaku in the middle of Konoha.''


    "Baki-Senshi." Hiruzen slapped the arm of the chair and glared at Baki.


    "We already know what your intentions are. Are you still going to keep your mouth shut?"


    "There are no intentions. We are here just for the Ch¨±nin exams. I don''t know what this means." Baki raised his head, pushed the paper to his c.h.e.s.t, and immediately defended. However, after that, Baki froze as if someone hit the pause button.


    Hiruzen sighed as he massaged his temples. "Inoichi, he froze again."


    "How many times has it been?" Hiruzen frowned.


    With a wobble, the room disappeared, transforming into pitch darkness.


    "The mental seals on him are a bit difficult but it shouldn''t take more than two days if we move in this pace, Hokage-sama."


    "And why is Raito still there?" Hiruzen massaged his stiff shoulder and asked Inoichi.


    "That¡­ That is just a mental message, Hokage-sama. It''s like Naruto''s prank but a lot¡­ a lot more complicated." Inoichi laughed weakly, scratching the back of his head. "This kid¡­"


    Hiruzen pinched the bridge of his nosed and massaged his eyes. "I haven''t seen Naruto''s pranks for a long time now."


    "The Ch¨±nin responsible for village security are thankful for that." Inoichi laughed and replied.


    "Call Mari and Ibiki over and let''s try to finish this faster." Hiruzen thought for a while and ordered.


    "Hai, Hokage-sama." The Ch¨±nin behind Hiruzen nodded and hurriedly left the room.


    Hiruzen walked out of the room along with Inoichi and stood in front of the window. With the sun setting down, the temperature was getting colder but the orange light from the setting sun gave a faint sense of warmth.


    Hiruzen looked at Inoichi then back at the scene. After a few minutes, Hiruzen sighed as he traced the wall. "Raito knows."


    "¡­Yes." Inoichi nodded. A simple mental message would not be able to make a channel of information transfer but he had taught Raito many different things during his work in T and I.


    "It''s a mental channel," Inoichi answered truthfully. "I just taught him once and he just¡­ took it in like a sponge."


    "When did he do that?" Hiruzen asked with his eyes closed


    "For this jutsu, the caster must be close to the one it is being casted on¡­ so, my best guess is when-"


    "When Baki was forced to jump down and take the hit for Kankur¨­." Hiruzen completed the sentence and sighed.


    "Yes, Hokage-sama." Inoichi nodded.


    "Call SWALLOW. He has been asking for a vacation. Give him one." Hiruzen ordered then turned back towards the room.


    "Hai."


    Raito looked at the dim sky as he walked through the hospital doors with two small bouquets in his hand. As he walked in, everyone''s gaze converged onto Raito who for some reason seemed a little pitiful.


    Standing in front of the receptionist, Raito spoke up. "Hy¨±ga Hinata and Rock Lee, please."


    The receptionist looked at the Hitai-ate on Raito''s arm and became a little more respectful while answering. "From the Ch¨±nin exams, um¡­ room 201 and 205."


    "Thank you." Raito bowed slightly then turned right.


    "Who is that?" The receptionist watched Raito''s back as he walked down.


    "¡­I don''t know. I don''t think I have ever seen him hospitalized." The other receptionist frowned slightly and answered.


    "Well¡­ there are many ninjas coming and going. How can we remember all of them?" The receptionist smiled then took out a small lunch box.


    "Raito? Is that you?" Wearing a white uniform with a kanji for doctor printed on the left c.h.e.s.t area, Sakura walked forward with a clipboard in hand.


    "Sakura?" Raito felt mixed emotions as he looked at Sakura. She became a little chubby as compared to the academy days and her long hair fell down, reaching to her heart. She had a small smile, which looked professional, holding the clipboard.


    "If you are looking for Hinata, she is in room 201. I am attending her." Sakura smiled as she explained Hinata''s situation. "After resting for a few days, she will be good to go."


    "You did become a medic," Raito commented with a small smile.


    "Not yet, but I completed my basic courses. It will still take some time." Sakura smiled as she looked back at the notes. "It''s all thanks to Iruka-sensei and Ino¡­ and you."


    "¡­ I didn''t do anything." Raito shook his head and looked at the room number beside the door.


    "That''s not true. If-" Sakura mumbled but Raito kept looking at the door.


    "Are you also looking after Rock Lee?" Raito asked with one hand on the door know.


    Sakura froze as she closed her notes then looked down. Reciting the medic rules in her heart, she regulated her breathing and nodded in reply. "Yes"


    She flipped the papers and stopped at one then said, "He¡­ isn''t doing that great. But the senior medics have come up with a plan. With the treatment, he will be able to-"


    "I understand." Raito smiled as he unlocked the door and stepped inside.


    Sakura looked sadly at the figure behind the door then turned around.


    "There is so much to do. Go, Sakura." She cheered herself while stretching.


    With a small smile on her face, Sakura walked out of the individual holding unit to the medical ward where many people were sitting and sleeping on beds. Turning to face the nurse reception, she asked, "Nurse, can I have the files for the first five beds?"


    Inside Hinata''s room, Raito sat on a small chair, by the bedside. Hinata was sleeping on the bed, connected to the monitor, which showed her vitals, which were all normal.


    Raito opened Hinata''s status tab and started going through the details. It clearly showed what Neji had done and how those injuries were resolved by the medics in the hospital, and what parts were still left for treatment.


    After some time had passed, Raito closed all the tabs and stood up. Walking towards the door, he said, "Even though you are not fighting in the finals, you should train after leaving the hospital."


    Opening the door, Raito walked out, and just before closing the door, he said, "I brought your favorites. If you''d like¡­ have a few."


    As Raito closed the door and walked away, Hinata opened her eyes, looking blankly at the ceiling then she moved her head towards the bedside table, on which there were a bouquet, a ramen cup, a small pastry box and a handwritten card from Naruto.


    She slowly sat on the bed then grabbed the note written by Naruto.


    ''Believe in yourself, Hinata-chan.''


    Hinata let out a small smile and grabbed the pastry box on the table. Taking a sniff, her eyes brightened as she hurriedly opened the box. "Cinnamon rolls."


    Raito stood in front of another room for a long time before entering. Surprisingly there was not much in the room except some flowers at the bedside table. Upon checking with ''[Observe]'', he found that the flowers were from Tenten.


    Raito again pulled the chair and sat down. Lee was covered in bandages all over the place and various mechanisms were fixed on his body. Upon further checking, Raito found that they were used to limit the movement and aid in recovery.


    Looking at Lee''s tab, Raito clenched his fist then closed the tabs. He had taken much damage but the main focus wasn''t his legs and arms which were damaged by Gaara''s sand, it was from the opening of the inner gates that had done greater damage to Lee. Taking out a potion from his inventory, Raito manipulated the liquid inside to Lee''s mouth, feeding him.


    "Get well soon, Lee." Raito stood up, sprayed the flower with water then left the room.


    Moments later, the window in the room opened quietly as sand poured in. Gaara quietly stepped into the room and stood like a doll beside Lee''s bed.


    ¡­


    Gaara stared blankly at Lee for quite a long time before stretching his hand forward. The sand also moved with his hands, targeting Lee. The sand was ready to cover Lee''s neck when a part of sand suddenly moved and formed a small shield in front of Gaara.


    Splat


    The sand defense exploded but the attack never came. Instead of being alert about the next attack, Gaara turned his attention back to Lee.


    Raito gritted his teeth as he looked at Gaara. Under the effect of [Stealth], he walked around the bed with dangerous intentions.


    Chakra gathered into Raito''s left while he raised his right hand, palm pushed forward.


    "[Earth Control]"


    The sand, which was around Lee''s neck, froze, going against Gaara''s will.


    ''It takes too much chakra.'' Raito looked at his CP bar then looked at his left hand, which was gathering chakra.


    "YOU!" Cracks appeared on Gaara''s sand armor as he turned towards Raito. From the broken face armor, Raito saw the same disgusting smile on Gaara''s face that he showed on the stage earlier.


    "Haa!" The sand from the gourd erupted towards Raito.


    "Too slow." Raito disappeared from the spot, leaving the sand tentacles attacking him, hanging.


    Dodging all the sand tentacles, Raito appeared in front of Gaara in an abnormal position. Raito looked like he tripped on a stone and was about to fall on the ground. However, strangely, Raito was fixed into that position as his left fist concentrated with chakra swiftly reached for Gaara''s side.


    "[Explosion]"


    (From the chakra control series)


    Inside a VIP room in Konoha hospital, Kankur¨­ laid on the bed, and sitting beside him was Temari with half closed eyes.


    BOOM


    Temari jolted in shock as she hurriedly walked towards the window. "An attack!?"


    At the ground level of the hospital, a wall was blasted off with a figure in tow. The beautiful garden was trashed in an instant by huge earth needles, blasting from below and launching towards the figure.


    ''Isn''t that Gaara?'' Temari looked at the figure caught by the black tentacles.


    As she squinted her eyes, Temari could see another figure, standing on top of an earth needle. "Yoshizawa Raito¡­ What''s happening?"


    Raito glared at Gaara as black stone beads hovered around him, turning into spears and pointing at Gaara.


    "Hahaha." Gaara laughed revealing his maniacal face. The sand around Gaara converged towards his hand, morphing into a claw. With a little force, the sand pushed the black earth, freeing Gaara.


    "Stope!" Kakashi appeared in between Raito and Gaara standing on top of an earth needle.


    Kakashi looked at Raito and frowned, "Fights against the members of allied nations are not allowed in public areas without reason."


    Kakashi watched the two of them but neither showed any sign of backing out.


    "There was a reason and I have evidence." Raito took out a film roll from a camera then threw it towards Kakashi.


    Without even looking, Kakashi grabbed the film roll and turned to face Gaara.


    Feeling that he would not be able to fight to his fill, Gaara transformed back to his normal form and was about to return.


    Raito cleared his throat and used chakra to amplify his voice, "That shinobi from Sunagakure tried to kill a Genin from our village who was injured in the Ch¨±nin exams earlier."


    "I even have a video recorder inside, which has recorded everything," Raito added as he manipulated the earth needles to point away.


    "Gaara of Sunagakure, come with me and answer a few questions." Kakashi turned towards Gaara and waited.


    Gaara looked at Kakashi then turned towards Raito again. His hands traced his sides where Raito had punched. The sand that was blasted earlier returned to Gaara and formed onto the gourd. Feeling something amiss, Gaara looked at Raito and stayed silent.


    Kakashi looked at Gaara then at Raito, "What is he doing?"


    "How would I know?" Raito shrugged and shook his head in negative.


    "¡­My sand." Gaara opened his mouth, looking at Raito. With his expressionless face, it felt like some kind of sin to steal things from Gaara.


    "¡­"


    Kakashi felt a headache looking at the two Genins and not to mention another Uchiha that was waiting for him.


    "Raito, give it back." Kakashi thought for a moment before nodding at Raito.


    Raito widened his eyes and looked at Kakashi, "You believe in him? Kakashi-sensei¡­"


    "Just give it back." Kakashi shook his head then turned back to Gaara. "Once you get it back, quietly come with us."


    Gaara did not answer but looked at Raito.


    Raito grumbled for a while before taking a stone bead slightly larger than his head. When a small hole appeared on the bead, the sand inside flew out towards Gaara.


    "Now then¡­ come with us." Kakashi walked a couple of steps forwards towards Gaara, extending his hand forward.


    Raito looked around and found several ANBU with rat hand seal on top of the hospital.


    [Cooperation Genjutsu in effect]


    The sand from the gourd formed tentacles and covered Gaara and the leftover went towards Kakashi.


    Kakashi sighed as lightning gathered in his hand. With several swings, the tentacles burst into the sand and returned towards Gaara. "I''ll have to use force."


    "I said so." Raito took out the black book from his inventory and turned the page slowly. When Kakashi was about to charge towards Gaara, Raito raised his hands and activated his chakra.


    "Sensei, the gourd." The sand surrounding Gaara weakened and crumbled, leaving him defenseless.


    Kakashi, who was charging in a straight line towards Gaara, disappeared from his sight then appeared behind him. Lightning covered his hand as Kakashi grabbed the gourd and threw it behind where there was a stone bead ready to gobble up the gourd.


    Gaara glared back in distress from losing his gourd. Along with the gourd, most of his chakra infused sand was gone. Without any hesitation, Gaara created a spear from the sand on his body and threw it towards Kakashi.


    In midair, Kakashi twisted his body and barely dodged the sand spear. Using the spear as a stepping-stone, Kakashi jumped even higher and made a long series of hand seals.


    Water gathered behind Kakashi and as time passed it became bigger and bigger.


    "[Five Elemental Seal]" Jiraiya who was hidden all this time appeared in front of Gaara then jabbed his hands on Gaara''s left c.h.e.s.t. The character seals on Jiraiya''s finger etched onto Gaara''s c.h.e.s.t.


    Earth, Water, Fire, Air, and Void.


    Lines appeared and connected them creating a restriction on Gaara. This restriction created a gate between Gaara and his chakra core. Moreover, since his chakra core was linked with Ichibi, Gaara lost connection with it too.


    Even in the end, Gaara stretched out his hand, hoping for the sand to move to his will. Sand, the only thing that he could depend on and the only one who never left him.


    "Clear the area and cancel the Genjutsu." Kakashi looked at the fallen Gaara then turned to face the ANBU on the hospital building.


    "I''ll take him." Jiraiya grabbed Gaara then disappeared, leaving behind chakra smoke.


    Kakashi nodded then turned around to find Raito but he was nowhere to be found.


    Inside Kankur¨­''s room, Raito sat on the chair with a kunai on his hand, which was just above Kankur¨­''s heart.


    "You should stop me, you know." Raito teased as Temari glared at him.


    "What do you want?" Temari gritted her teeth in anger as she tried taking half a step forward but was stopped by Raito''s action of cutting into Kankur¨­''s body.


    "I just want to know, why do you want to go against Konoha?"


    "I don''t know what you are talking about." Temari retorted while she made a small cut on her hand.


    "Why do you want to kill my friends, my family, and the villagers? Instead of doing it the way that it has been for the past decade, why do you want to wage war against Konoha?"


    First Raito brought out loyalty, then he made it personal and lastly he made it about war.


    "¡­" Temari''s eye widened as Raito talked about the war.


    "I have read your brother''s memories earlier during the match. And I know as much as this, make up loving guy knows¡­ about your family, your village, your youngest brother, and the tidbits about the war that you guys are planning."


    "You want to release the Shukaku, the sand spirit, on Konoha, and deal damage onto the village, isn''t it?"


    "You want the shinobi and the villagers to die under Shukaku''s rampage."


    "You know¡­ that means you also want to kill people who are close to me." The grip on the kunai got tighter and it pricked Kankur¨­''s c.h.e.s.t.


    Raito''s glare intensified, as he brought out another kunai and waved it towards Kankur¨­''s eye, just a few millimeters away.


    "Stop!" Temari rushed forward grabbing Raito''s wrist, trying to restrain him.


    "You are prepared to kill but aren''t ready to lose one of your own." The anger in Raito''s eyes burst forward. He flicked his wrist, throwing the kunai towards Temari''s face.


    To dodge the kunai, Temari shifted back and at the same time pulled Raito back.


    Using [Shape Transformation], the chakra gathered around Raito''s wrist and turned into needles, making Temari flinch in pain.


    With a finger signal, the kunai, which Temari dodged, returned into Raito''s hand. Raito then sat comfortably on the chair with kunai pointed above Kankur¨­''s heart.


    Temari looked at her hands, which had many stab injuries then glared at Raito.


    "What?" Raito glared. "If killing you both could stop the war¡­ then I would have done it already."


    Click


    In this glaring contest, the door to the room opened and an ANBU walked in leisurely.


    Looking at the two in a glaring contest, the ANBU felt a little amused as he leaned on the wall.


    Temari glare dimmed as she thought about Kankur¨­. The ANBU walked towards Raito and placed his hand on Raito''s shoulder. "Codename ¨C SWALLOW."


    Raito snorted then left the room.


    SWALLOW sighed and shook his head, "This kid."


    Temari looked at SWALLOW in fear and nervousness. While her left hand was ready to draw the fan, her right hand had already made preparation for the summoning jutsu.


    "Well¡­ let''s talk." SWALLOW smiled, even though it could not be seen because of the mask, as he unsealed a bundle of paper and gave it to Temari.


    "What''s this?" Temari looked at the papers for a fraction of a second then her eyes returned to SWALLOW instantly.


    "I declare in the name of Hiruzen Sarutobi, Sandaime Hokage, that Konohagakure have detained Gaara from Sunagakure, the Ichibi Jinch¨±riki, for having an unstable sealing formula. Further details regarding Gaara''s detainment are in the first half of the bundle."


    Temari''s breathing quickened as she heard about the accusation then she looked down at the paper and read the lines. The first page had every name that Gaara had killed from childhood to till now.


    "You know how unstable he is¡­ but still brought him here." SWALLOW sighed.


    "Second. I declare in the name of Hiruzen Sarutobi, Sandaime Hokage, that Konohagakure has detained Baki from Sunagakure, a member of the J¨­nin council."


    Temari frowned as she didn''t hear any reason for detainment. She wanted to speak up, shout, pour out all her anger but she couldn''t. She just asked with hesitation, "Why?"


    SWALLOW looked like he was waiting for this as he quickly answered back. "On our investigation, we found that Sunagakure along with Otogakure are planning to attack Konohagakure. And since your J¨­nin had valuable information that Konoha could use, he was taken in."


    "What are you going to do to him?" Temari interrupted SWALLOW and asked.


    "Extract information." The ANBU answered simply.


    Temari''s face paled as she knew that this one month was going to be extremely dangerous for her and the sand shinobis. "How?"


    "By any means possible." The ANBU answered again but for Temari, she felt her body weakening.


    "What happened to other Suna shinobi? What did you do to them?" Temari raised her voice.


    "They have left the village premises and according to the latest intel they have crossed the fire border," SWALLOW answered.


    "What about Gaara? What are you going to do to him?" Temari bit her lips, raised her head, and asked with whatever courage she had left in her.


    "We are going to fix that d*mn seal on the boy. Your village intentionally used a faulty seal to seal a bij¨±. Now that boy with the faulty seal is sent to our village to cause destruction. We would very much like to extract the bij¨± but that will lead to your brother''s death but its Hokage-sama''s order. He said to just fix the seal and nothing more."


    "The late fourth Hokage wanted to lend Sunagakure a helping hand in sealing the Shukaku, the Ichibi, but it was your father that didn''t want any help. Maybe he was paranoid that we would control the bij¨± or something like that."


    What swallow didn''t tell Temari was that there were people that wanted to rip the bij¨± from Gaara and create new Jinch¨±riki.


    "Everything could be have been avoided¡­" Temari flipped the pages blankly as she lay on the ground in confusion and anger. People sent out to agitate Gaara, assassination attempts, mental breakdown to release Shukaku. According to the papers, the village, especially the council did many of these so-called experiments to gather data.


    "We got that from your J¨­nin leader," SWALLOW added.


    "What the-" Temari felt like vomiting as she continued reading.


    "Your brother is not at fault here." ANBU sighed as he opened the door.


    Forcing down the vomit that was threatening to come out, Temari looked up at SWALLOW and asked, "What do you want me to do?"


    "Nothing. Please prepare yourself for the final part of the Ch¨±nin exams. Invitations have been sent¡­ we cannot stop the Ch¨±nin exams now."


    SWALLOW closed the door slowly and left the room. After leaving the room, SWALLOW looked both sides then disappeared from the corridor.


    After Raito walked out of the hospital, Raito saw the once beautiful and serene garden was now totally trashed. So, he activated his chakra and used [Earth Elemental Control]


    The ANBU watched in amazement as the rocks and soil flew around.


    Under the effects of Raito''s manipulation, everything was quickly patched together.


    "Raito." SWALLOW appeared out of nowhere and grabbed Raito''s shoulder then disappeared from the hospital area.


    The ANBU on top of the hospital scratched their heads and laughed. "That was fun."


    "But it looks like sh*t."


    "Let''s call the professionals."


    "That brat needs more gardening missions."

 Chapter 68 - 68 – Jee Han and the Quest

    A sidekick [Body Flicker] is never an enjoyable thing. Moreover, from someone like Shun, who always boasts about his speed, is absolutely horrible.


    Raito felt like he was kicked in the head a couple of hundreds of times during this short journey.


    Barf


    Taking shallow breaths, Raito closed his eyes and tried controlling his breathing. After he regulated his breathing, Raito wiped his mouth then glared at Shun. "What did you do that for? I know [Body Flicker] too, you know. You could have just told me."


    Shun had long ago taken off his mask and was using Genjutsu to alter the look of his clothes, to hide his ANBU uniform. Looking at Raito, Shun pointed towards the door with his chin and said, "Let''s go inside. We need to talk."


    Cough


    Looking weirdly at Shun, Raito made the snake hand seal and said, "Shun-nii, why don''t we talk tomorrow? I am out of chakra and the original is somewhere else."


    "Shadow clone?" Shun asked and looked closely, only then he noticed faint red markings appearing on Raito''s cheek.


    "Mm." ''Raito'' nodded then disappeared in a cloud of smoke.


    "Now¡­where would I find him?" Shun sighed. He looked at the room, which had its light on, on the second floor then tapped the ground, disappearing from the area.


    In the middle of night, in front of a huge building, a figure banged on the door furiously while shouting, "Open up."


    Squeak. Only after several minutes the door opened, enough for a finger to pass through but nothing more.


    "Young master, you don''t have enough wealth." The voice of an old man came from the gaps of the door, stopping Raito from pounding the door.


    "I want to meet with the mistress of the Poison Hall." Raito pulled back his fist and stated his reason for coming.


    "¡­Young Master, you don''t have enough wealth." The old man repeated with a plain tone, "Without wealth, it is impossible to enter."


    "I just want to talk with her. I won''t take more than a couple of minutes." Raito raged, trying to push the door in vain. "I will buy everything when I have enough money. Just let me in right now."


    "That''s not possible." The old man behind the door sighed and answered again.


    "Why not? Just let me in." Raito frowned and activated his chakra. As chakra gathered on his fist, Raito looked at the faint opening and swung his fist.


    "Young master." The voice turned stern as the fist which was about to touch the door was stopped, just inches away, by an old hand.


    With a sigh, the door opened and an old man wearing weird clothing showed himself but he still did not cross the gate. "The mistress of Poison Hall¡­ has been grounded for committing an offense."


    "What grounded? What offense?" Raito frowned, interrupting the old man.


    "When we came to Konoha, we clearly stated that we would never intervene with the village matters. She violated that rule¡­ and hence she was punished." The old man explained as plainly as he could, but one could still see the irritation on his face.


    Raito''s fist softened as he pulled back. "Then-"


    The old man looked at Raito then behind him. "Young master, we are neither anyone''s relatives nor anyone''s slaves. There are neither friends nor enemies with us."


    "We have already given out mystic arts for our stay in the village. We don''t owe anything more to the village."


    The old man looked at Raito and closed his eyes, "Our job is to sell ''you'' the things and nothing else. If you want to buy something, please gather money and come again later."


    Raito watched the door closing in helplessness.


    With a quick circle around the area using [Chakra Sense], Raito walked a couple of alleys and disappeared.


    "[ID Create - Wasteland]."


    With a blink of an eye, the orange sky turned red. The sky had neither stars nor clouds. The birds chirping and the noise of the surrounding inhabitants disappeared.


    "Root?"


    "It''s too easy." With a smile, Raito appeared in front of the building and grabbed the doorknob, trying to open it. Soon his face turned ugly. Whether he tried rotating the doorknob clockwise or anticlockwise, it did not have a limit and the door remained closed.


    Raito frowned as he tried even harder. "What the heck is this?"


    Raito circled the house but did not find any other door or window. Even the roof was fully sealed with holes and gaps sealed by cement or woods. "This place is just like a prison."


    Raito tried sensing the thickness of the wall but soon gave up, as something inside confused his senses. The only opening he had seen was the door. Therefore, Raito gave up trying to find other areas and went straight towards the door.


    ''I will just crack open the door and sneak in.'' Raito tapped the ground and took a couple of steps back. With a sudden shift, Raito jump kicked the door with all his strength but it was of no use, as the door remained standing.


    In pain, Raito crouched down and grabbed his leg. ??It''s so freakily sturdy."


    Walking in front of the door, Raito traced the area where the kick had landed. Even after that powerful kick, there was just a faint impression of the foot and nothing else.


    Taking out lock picking instruments from his inventory, Raito crouched down and tried lock picking but he could neither hear any sound nor feel the mechanism in the keyhole. "That''s weird."


    Next, chakra threads came out of Raito''s fingers and tried going through the keyhole but even it was blocked by something on the other side.


    With a huff, Raito took a couple of steps back and took out gloves from his inventory.


    [Martial Artist''s Gloves] (+10)


    STR +20


    "[Fuinjutsu: Weight Training Seal - Release]."


    The seals on Raito''s shoulder surfaced and disappeared.


    STR: 230


    "Without the training seals restricting me, it feels much better." Raito stretched enjoying the freedom.


    Raito looked at the big door and thought for a while. Even in this wasteland, [Observe] could not get anything from the building. Therefore, he could not be exactly sure how much durability, this old door had.


    "It won''t be long." Raito took out a tag from his pouch and pasted it on his body.


    Horse, Snake, Bird.


    "[Restriction Seal - Release]."


    The seals hidden on the wrist, ankles, and neck surfaced then disappeared.


    STR: 280


    "Done." Raito lowered the center of his gravity and activated his chakra. Shifting his body, Raito clenched his fist then started gathering chakra.


    Stomping the ground, he dashed forward and swung his fist with more than half of his total chakra.


    "[Explosion]."


    BOOOM


    Dust cloud erupted as the thunderous crackling sound was heard.


    Raito withdrew his hand as he looked at the small crack on the door helplessly.


    "This is such a shitty¡­" Raito took out the black book from the inventory and started turning pages.


    First page and second page, Chakra Storage.


    Using the seals to recover his depleted chakra, Raito turned a few pages more and looked at a seal covering both sides of the book. "You made me do it."


    A small but dark smile appeared on Raito''s face as he looked at the seal. "I always wondered what thousands of explosion talisman connected to one seal would do. Normally I would never do this but¡­"


    Raito looked at the door then traced the seal on the book. Upon activation of his chakra and linking it with the seal, the ink hovered above Raito''s hand from the book and made a line towards the door.


    Clack. Just as the ink was about to touch the door, the doorknob, which was supposed to stay still, moved.


    Raito widened his eyes and jumped a couple of meters back immediately. At the same time, he recalled the Fuinjutsu and the book, then took out a sword and a few talismans from his inventory.


    "Hoho." An old man wearing a black kung-fu jacket with white buttons stepped out of the building with a small smile on his face. Looking at the red sky, he closed his eyes and took deep breaths. Exhaling, he had a sad expression on his face as he slightly shook his head.


    Raito looked in shock as he saw the doors of Poison Hall open and a human walked out of those doors. And the person who walked out of the door was the same old man, who he had been talking just a few minutes ago.


    "Young master." The old man walked with a small smile towards Raito.


    "Thank you for opening this dungeon. If I had continued sitting in the building, my body would have-"


    "Who are you?" Raito cut him off and took a couple of steps back, and at the same time, pointed the sword towards the old man.


    "Impatience, impatience."


    "Let me introduce myself." From his long sleeves, the old man took out a small wooden fan and cupped his fists. "I am called ''Four'', one of the Tens."


    "Hmm." Raito looked at Four''s unusual clothing and speech then asked with dry lips. "How can you be here?"


    "Straight forward kind." ''Four'' smiled and took action to sit. But before the action was complete, a comfortable looking armchair appeared out of thin air.


    "It''s storage magic, similar to the young master''s inventory." ''Four'' smiled and grabbed the air in front, pulling a teacup and teapot.


    "Storage magic?" Raito mumbled but ''Four'' focused on his tea making.


    "Ahh, such a great aroma." ''Four'' poured the tea then passed it to Raito.


    Raito hesitated for a moment before sheathing the sword and grabbing the cup respectfully. "Thank you."


    [Green Tea]


    Quality: Rare (8/10)


    Made by: ''Four''


    Not finding anything unusual, Raito copied ''Four'' and brought out an armchair then sat down.


    "A little boy like you coming to the Abyss''s door¡­ how stupid." ''Four'' took a sip then shook his head. "Neither wealth nor respect. Tut, tut."


    "Even when I answered you or tried to¡­ you ignored it and even tried to sneak in. How brazen."


    "I just wanted to talk to the mistress of the Poison Hall." Raito frowned and tried explaining. Although Four''s words were harsh, Raito still had things that he wanted from him.


    "But boy¡­ this is not ''Poison Hall'' but ''Abyss''." ''Four'' laughed lightly then took a sip.


    "But ''Zero'' and others that told me-" Raito frowned and opened his mouth to which ''Four'' frowned.


    "It doesn''t matter who told you what. This is not ''Poison Hall'', that''s all you have to know." ''Four'' seem irritated as he slightly raised his voice.


    Raito scrunched his brows then opened his mouth, "The mistress of ''Poison Hall''¡­ she isn''t here, is she?"


    "She is not." ''Four'' answered his question then stood up. The items around him also disappeared into thin air. "If there is nothing else¡­"


    "Then¡­ where is she? Out of village or¡­"


    "I don''t have an answer to that. Farewell, young master."


    Raito stood up hurriedly, keeping the teacup in the inventory and taking a couple of steps forward. "Please wait¡­ just one question."


    "Young people." ''Four'' stopped then turned around with a sigh. "Speak up."


    Raito brought out an art book, which had a picture of an open book. The book in the picture had words written on it and the name ''Original Gamer'' at the end, which was a shade darker than the rest. It was the book that Raito had seen at his bedside table, on his first day as a gamer but it was incomplete.


    Pointing on the picture, Raito asked, "I want to know who this ''Original Gamer'' is."


    "¡­How did you come to that?" ''Four'' looked at Raito then at the artbook and sighed.


    "I just did." Raito''s eyes sparkled when he heard that. ''This old man definitely knows.''


    "It''s better if you don''t know¡­"


    "I want to know," Raito said resolutely.


    "Fine, bring trouble¡­" Four mumbled in a low voice but Raito could still hear him perfectly fine.


    "He is an extremely normal-looking boy¡­ like the garbage that is everywhere. He must be an a.d.u.l.t now. Your Gamer powers are¡­ were originally his, the original Gamer''s. To think such an ability exist¡­ and it was even¡­ sigh." ''Four'' did not say much but was able to stretch whatever he was saying.


    ''That doesn''t tell me anything.'' Raito sighed in exasperation. He then put down the artbook then tried opening his mouth.


    "Not satisfied, eh?" ''Four'' looked at Raito in distaste. "Young people like you¡­ always like this. Tut, tut."


    ''You didn''t tell me anything. How can I be satisfied?'' Raito rolled his eyes, hearing this old man complaining.


    "Then," ''Four'' took a deep breath in then turned around. "He is someone from another world."


    "Eh?" Raito stared at ''Four'' with his eyes widened.


    ''Four'' smirked as he played with his beard. With a smile, he added, "I am from another world too. Different from his and¡­ yours."


    "And that''s the reason I cannot come out of the building. This world has placed restrictions on people like us, forbidding us from interfering too much. Things like reincarnation and whatnot are just fairy tales for people like us." Four added, taking a couple of steps towards the door.


    ''Four'' looked up, at the red sky then sighed. "Forced to leave, hias."


    "Forced to leave? What are you talking about?" Raito tried walking towards ''Four'' but was stopped by a barrier.


    "You should leave, young master." With that said, ''Four'' crossed the door and closed it.


    "What?" Raito could not understand what was going on but a moment later a horrible feeling overwhelmed him. Like someone pushing him from all directions, pinching him, and at the same time¡­ filling him with air.


    "This feeling." There was a ripple in the sky then the sky stretched, shaping into hands.


    As Raito continued looking, he saw the pair of hands ripping open the sky, creating a tear in space.


    Raito''s eye widened as panic filled his mind filling him with thoughts of escape. "[ID Escape]"


    Raito escaped the dungeon and appeared in the real world.


    "I finally found you." Raito turned as he heard a voice behind him.


    "Shun-nii?" Raito was on the ground on all his fours and looked at Shun, who was standing beside him. With pale face and a few drops of sweat on his forehead, Raito tried to smile but a sense of vertigo hit him, which forced him to close his eyes and he fall on the ground.


    "Hey!" Shun grabbed Raito''s hand, feeling his pulse and with another hand felt his face.


    "Fast pulse." Shun grew worried as he examined Raito''s vitals. His vitals were out of normal, similar to people in panic.


    Due to all of the situations he had experienced, Shun quickly started emergency measures, using diagnostic jutsu to check for any injury on the body. Then using simple healing jutsu to heal small injuries, blood pill for depleted blood after closing the wounds and so on.


    "Not working." Shun tried several other emergency measures but found that they were not working at all. So, he placed seals on Raito''s body to regulate his vitals. After everything was done, Shun carried Raito then disappeared.


    "Misfortune." ''Four'' shook his head and closed the door.


    Inside Raito''s mindscape, a person stood in front of Raito with a cheery smile on his face.


    "Yo, you can call me Han Jee Han, Original Gamer." Jee Han extended his hand in front of Raito, waiting for Raito to shake his hand.


    Raito just stared at him with a frown on his face.


    Feeling the awkwardness in the air, Jee Han''s smile dimmed and he drew his hand back, "I am sorry for causing such a big scene but it was the only way for me to enter this world. I may have created a tear between dimensions but I have already repaired it¡­ but since you have a link with this world¡­ it might have given you a shock."


    ''I saw Shun-nii. It should be okay.''


    Raito frowned and opened his mouth with clear hostility in his words, "So, what is it? I don''t think you just wanted to meet me and say hello."


    Jee Han grinned and snapped his finger. Scenery changed as they appeared at the top of Hokage tower. "You should already know¡­ things never come for free, right?"


    Raito looked at Han Jee Han for a long time then nodded. Vague ideas appeared on Raito''s head about what Jee Han was about to say.


    "Then it will be quick. In short, this world has something that I need and since I cannot appear in this physical world, I can only ask for someone to do it in my stead."


    "And that''s me." Raito relaxed then sat on a bench.


    "When the time comes, you will get the quest. Until then¡­ you need to become stronger." Jee Han waved his hand and a small glass globe hovered over his palm.


    "This will be your reward for that quest." Jee Han threw the globe towards Raito and added. "If you complete that quest and accept this reward, there will be nothing more between us. And I will no longer associate with this world anymore."


    Raito looked at the brightly lit glass globe, which slowly disappeared from his hand. He looked at Jee Han who had a small smile and asked, "What was that?"


    Jee Han''s smile grew even wider as he started, "If you remember that upgrade with the money thing."


    "I remember. Were you the one?" Raito nodded. It was kind of abrupt and a one-time thing.


    "Yup. When I got the Gamer''s powers, I had to pick all those items and money one by one. That was the worst, I even had to pick those zombie''s disgusting flesh, ribs, and eye." Jee Han shuddered showing a disgusted expression.


    "What happened after that?"


    "After that¡­ I learned magic. Created golems and used space-time magic, then life became much easier."


    "That globe has an upgrade like that. You will like it." Jee Han ended his explanation then looked at his Raito''s eye.


    "So, you came all the way from another world to give me a quest and have a talk?" Raito conjured a juice and suck on to it.


    "Man, you are no fun. I am from another world, you know, another world. Don''t you have any questions? Like how games are like there or what snacks are there." Jee Han was clearly excited about food and games.


    "Games and snacks." Raito rolled his eyes then started thinking.


    Looking at Jee Han who looked so much different from the rest of the people he had seen, Raito opened his mouth and said, "How different is it¡­ your world."


    "Different, very different." Jee Han nodded. "We have so many games¡­"


    Raito glanced at Jee Han''s hands, which were fading away, then spoke up. "So, anything else?"


    Sigh. Jee Han sighed then took a notebook out. "I wanted to help you. About your powers-"


    "I know quite a bit already, ya know."


    Raito then added. "I can learn everything and anything, even something stupid like ''Dishwashing'' and ''Petting''. Moreover, with instant dungeon, I can even experience all the fighting and killing. What else is there?"


    "But you haven''t used your stat points."


    "I will use them when I need to." Raito retorted immediately. "The higher the level, the harder it is to grind the stat points, isn''t it?"


    "I admit you are not stupid." Jee Han caught Raito''s glare and added, "Those stat points are from the things you killed. It is the amalgamation of those black gases. When you use those stat points, you are just using those black gases to strengthen yourself."


    "Oh."


    "Since those gases are just neutral energies, it won''t have any negative impact on you."


    "Why are you talking so much about stat points?" Raito looked down the tower and saw people walking by, doing their own work.


    "You know why." Jee Han smiled then turned around and looked at his hands.


    "I should be going soon." Raito started but Jee Han grabbed his shoulder and interrupted him. "Just listen to me, okay? I will just say a few things before my magic power depletes."


    Jee Han raised his voice and started talking about different functions of the Gamer powers.


    "There are different systems relating to different genres of games¡­"


    Even when Raito tried cutting Jee Han with a question, Jee Han did not stop and continued with his info cramming.


    At last, Jee Han stopped and exhaled. "I know you have tons of questions to ask me but the time''s up."


    "Okay." Raito nodded, not knowing what to say.


    "Get stronger, faster." Han Jee Han smiled and waved his hand. With that, he turned into a small globe of light, gathering on Raito''s hand.


    [Absorbing the energy will increase total CP by 1000. Absorb?]


    [Yes | No]


    "Yes."


    Raito thought for a while about everything that happened in these few moments then disappeared from his spot.


    Shun who did not know what was going on inside Raito''s mindscape, dashed towards the top of the Hokage monument.


    "SWALLOW," Shun shouted as he appeared at the top of the Hokage monument.


    Several ANBU appeared beside Shun, looked at Raito, who was unconscious then disappeared along with them.


    Inoichi, who was trying to break open Baki''s mental barrier, was abruptly pulled back by one of his clansmen from the mindscape.


    "What is all this?" Inoichi frowned slightly at his clansman who looked extremely nervous. "What-"


    "It''s Raito." The Yamanaka clansman immediately voiced out, alerting Inoichi. "He-"


    Bang


    Shun opened the door with a swift kick then dashed in. Giving the big room a quick glance, he dashed for a table then with one hand swept the table clean.


    Hearing the door banging and the sound of items being thrown on the ground, Mari and Ibiki hurried to the room from another side.


    "I found him outside the ''Poison Hall'' in this state." Shun quickly explained what he had seen and done.


    Inoichi listened carefully then tried to rouse Raito but failed to do so. "You should have taken him to a hospital."


    "Shun, Inoichi." Mari walked in with a frown on her face as she looked at Raito.


    Inoichi frowned, paying no heed to Mari and Ibiki, then quickly placed his hands on Raito''s face and forehead then activated his chakra. "I''ll be going in."


    "[Mind Walk]". Chakra gathered on Inoichi''s forehead then launched onto Raito''s forehead.


    Appearing in an endless darkness, Inoichi hovered forward and looked around; trying to look for anything, he could link to.


    After what felt like a really long time, Inoichi finally felt something he could step on. However, it did not make Inoichi any happy. While he could dive into the innermost part of the mindscape for most of his subjects, Inoichi felt that he was just at the most peripheral part of Raito''s mindscape. "What has this boy been doing?"


    Inoichi crouched down and placed his hand on the floor then he rubbed it around and to the edge. "Geometrical."


    Flat, smooth surface and sharp edges. "Mind constructs?"


    Just as he turned around, Inoichi found that the floor, which was previously black, turned white and dense fog had covered his sight.


    Inoichi sighed as things that he had taught came backbiting him. "Senseless white and Fog of Memories."


    "Raito." Inoichi walked into a fog world and called out his name but there was no reply to his callings.


    "Jii-chan, this is my super special jutsu. I am coming for you, evildoers, ''Super Shinobi''." A red glow surrounded Raito as pressure erupted from him with his hair waving on air.


    "Are this his imaginations?" Inoichi laughed then waved his hand. The picturesque view turned back into the fog, opening a path for him.


    "Kakashi baka-sensei, you can''t read that in public."


    "Anko-nee, you look so chubby."


    "Kneel down and beg for this bowl of godly Gulab Jamun"


    Inoichi continued walking and saw countless records of Raito''s vivid imagination. A smile appeared on Inoichi''s face as he nodded, "I can use this as blackmail material."


    "I don''t want team up with her."


    "Sasuke is so annoying. I am not a punching bag."


    "I hate Hy¨±ga. I hate them all."


    "I will save you, Jii-chan."


    Inoichi walked silently through the corridor of memories.


    After a long walk, Inoichi finally appeared in front of a giant wooden door with strange patterns on it. "Patterns."


    Inoichi placed his hand on the door to open it but it was stronger than anything he had ever seen during his time in T and I. And the patterns on the door were not reacting to his chakra at all.


    After thinking for a while, Inoichi jumped and reached towards the red and green gears on the door. Turning them by two steps, Inoichi hovered back and waited.


    A smile appeared on Inoichi''s face as he heard the rumbling sound of the door opening. But his face fell as the door opened to reveal another door with a new kind of pattern.


    Blinking, he looked at the door. Not knowing what to say, Inoichi crouched on the ground and massaged his aching head. Taking a deep breath in, Inoichi shouted with all the strength he could muster. "Raito!"


    "Inoichi-sensei." Raito, who was on the other side of the wooden gate, looked around, searching for Inoichi.


    Inoichi thought for a while, looking at the gate then said, "Raito? If you are hearing me, try opening the big wooden gate with patterns."


    "What wooden gate? Inoichi-sensei, I don''t see any wooden gate with patterns" Raito frowned. Although he could not see Inoichi, he could see everything inside his mindscape and there was no big wooden gate with patterns.


    ''He doesn''t remember¡­ or did he make it subconsciously?'' Inoichi pushed the wooden gate and thought for a while then shook his head.


    Amplifying his voice, Inoichi started. "Raito! Listen to me very carefully."


    "You are unconscious right now. If you continue closing yourself into your mindscape, you will hurt your physical body. So, try to connect the physical and mental body, and wake up already."


    "I already taught you about this. I hope I don''t have to guide you."


    Raito looked around at the realistic scene of the village with people walking by and shouting.


    Raito closed his eyes and tried connecting to his physical body. When the realization came to him that his body was perfectly fine, Raito sighed. "I was wasting time."


    Looking at the realistic scenery, Raito smiled and disappeared with a thought. Appearing inside Hiruzen''s office, Raito saw him signing on a scroll, doing paperwork. "You are still doing paperwork in my mindscape."


    With a smile, Raito willed to leave his mindscape.


    Slowly the scenery greyed out and everything stopped moving, slowly turning into pitch darkness.


    Inoichi, who was standing in front of the giant wooden gate, was surprised to see everything disappearing in one wave. The multilayered gate, which he tried so hard to open, also disappeared.


    Inoichi walked forward and crossed the late wooden gate. After crossing, Inoichi looked at a distance to see Raito standing blankly with his head tilted slightly upwards.


    "Raito." Inoichi heaved a sigh of relief and shouted.


    Raito who was about to leave his mindscape looked sideways towards Inoichi and gave a small smile.


    [''Gamer''s Body'' activated.]


    [''Gamer''s Mind'' activated.]


    With a bright light coming from Raito''s silhouette, Inoichi''s construct was forced out of Raito''s mindscape.


    "Stupid brat." Inoichi collapsed on the ground.


    "Ah, Inoichi-sensei." Raito jolted and went towards Inoichi with concern in his face. At the same time, Raito took a sweeping glance around and took everything in.


    "My seals," Shun looked at his palm, which had ''vital'' written, break down and turn into fragments.


    "Stop looking around." Mari punched Raito on his head.


    "Ow." Raito flinched, grabbing his painful head.


    "Now speak¡­ what happened? Why were you like that?" Mari grabbed Raito forcefully and pushed him on the table.


    "Mari." Hiruzen walked in with tiredness in his voice.


    "Hokage-sama." Mari''s expression softened as she let out a breath then turned around with a professional smile.


    "Raito, come back tomorrow. I have work for you." Hiruzen looked at Raito then signaled everyone with his eye.


    "I feel so energized. I don''t think I can sleep tonight." Raito smiled and moved his body.


    "You¡­" Mari pinched Raito''s hand, making him glare at her.


    Hiruzen looked at Raito then looked at Inoichi, who nodded. "He just took a special kind of nap."


    "Raito, I want this job done." Hiruzen looked at the Baki, who was inside the water sphere, then at Raito.


    "Hai." Raito jumped down and rushed away from Mari.


    Hiruzen intervened, giving everyone a simple signal, ''No questions''.


    Mari and Shun looked at each other with complex emotions.


    "He''s fine." Hiruzen looked at the two and shook his head then sat on the lone armchair in the room. "Give him the file."


    While Raito read the file, the rest of the people in the room also prepared themselves.


    Inoichi walked towards the water sphere then looked at his subordinates, giving them eye signals, telling them to do their work properly.


    "Let''s start." Inoichi looked at the various indicators on the machine then looked for Raito and Hiruzen.


    "I''m ready." Raito placed the file on the table and walked towards Hiruzen.


    "I don''t want to see that stupid mental message anymore," Hiruzen said nonchalantly, looking straight as if he did mean it for Raito.


    Raito just laughed then triggered a seal on his hand. The seal on his hand wriggled, breaking into several parts then the fragmented ink gathered on a big black spot on the back of his palm.


    "Hokage-sama." Inoichi walked towards Hiruzen after checking everything.


    "Hmm." Hiruzen pushed his hands towards Raito and Inoichi, which they grabbed.


    Chakra gathered on their forehead as they prepared constructs. Inoichi looked at Raito then spoke, "I will be taking lead."


    [Cooperation Ninjutsu: Fragmented Line]


    Constructs shot forward from their body, plunging into the sphere of water.


    Hiruzen stood in front of the kneeling Baki and pressured him. "Baki-Senshi, you should know that Konoha will not stay still and let others attack. Since we have found Gaara will create trouble for us, we will deal with Gaara. If the children of Kazekage, Temari, and Kankur¨­, will create trouble, we will take actions accordingly."


    "Hokage-sama, why would I bring Kazekage-sama''s children to this threat, if there is any?"


    "There is, there isn''t. We have already concluded that." Hiruzen frowned. Baki has been going in a circle on and on for so long now that Hiruzen was getting headache.


    In a dark area, Inoichi and Raito sat cross-legged with their hands forward.


    "So, what is this?" Raito placed his hand on the big mirror in front of him and turned towards Inoichi.


    "Mental barrier." Inoichi answered and added "One of its kind¡­ I have already opened ten."


    Inoichi pushed chakra into the glass getting a reaction from it. "Look first."


    "We are starting with war preparation from tomorrow. What are you planning to do?"


    Raito gave Inoichi a side-glance then turned back towards the mirror. "What can I do? I will just train for the finals."


    "What a normal answer." Cracks appeared on the glass and it started falling apart.


    "Did you see how I did that? You have to analyze the seal then move chakra breaking those small barriers one by one." Inoichi spoke like a teacher, teaching Raito.


    Soon another mental barrier appeared in front of the duo, making Inoichi sigh. "Let''s do it again."


    "Can I lead?" Raito asked after looking at it for a while.


    "¡­ Sure." Inoichi could not help but touch his face. ''It will happen again.''


    "How good is your Fuinjutsu?" Inoichi asked, focusing back to the barrier.


    "Better than last time," Raito answered vaguely and pushed his chakra.


    [Would you like to destroy the barrier?]


    [Yes | No]


    -200 CP


    Crack. Bang.


    "Done." Raito turned and smiled at Inoichi.


    Inoichi frowned and said, "Raito, don''t destroy the barrier; try to open it. If you keep on destroying the mental barriers, you will harm the subject."


    "Remember the rules, follow it."


    "Understood." Raito nodded then passed chakra again.


    [Would you like to analyze the barrier? (-300CP)]


    [Yes | No]


    This time the Gamer''s powers helped him analyze the barrier but chakra manipulation and breaking open the small barriers, all depended on Raito now.


    Crack. Crack. Crack.


    The barrier disappeared after several cracks appeared on it.


    "Do you know about ''Chakra Monsters''?" Inoichi asked and at the same time pulled the mental barrier.


    "I know¡­ the nine-tailed fox and one-tailed tanuki, also called Shukaku, the sand spirit." Raito answered making Inoichi nod his head.


    "Gaara from Sunagakure¡­ he has a faulty seal on him. Jiraiya-sama along with Konoha R and D, and Nara R and D are working together to modify the seal on him."


    "Are we fixing the seal for Sunagakure?" Raito stopped and looked at Inoichi.


    "Orders," Inoichi shrugged.


    "Modifying a seal takes time, a lot of time," Raito commented.


    "That''s why we are hoping to find anything about Shukaku''s seal," Inoichi answered and broke another barrier. "It would be even better if he has the complete Fuinjutsu."


    As time passed on, the speed with which Inoichi broke the barrier slowed. With an irritation on his face, Inoichi turned towards Raito, who was just staring, and shouted, "What are you doing? Support me."


    "It''s finished."


    "Shatter."


    Raito stood up from his spot and walked forward with his palms thrusted forward.


    One second for one step, one step for one barrier.


    After nearly two minutes, Raito and Inoichi reached to the core of Baki''s mindscape.


    "It''s plain." Raito felt the corner of his mouth twitch, looking at the extremely plain sandbox in front of him. Although it was gigantic¡­ that was it and nothing else.


    "Just finish it quickly. You are faster than an old man like me." Inoichi waved his hand and called out a scroll from the sandbox.


    Raito just walked forward, extend his hand then retracted. "It''s finished."


    With the book in his hand, Inoichi confirmed a few things then along with Raito left Baki''s mindscape.


    "Done." The space beside Hiruzen wobbled and Raito appeared.


    "Let''s go." Hiruzen waved his hand, shattering the space.


    When Inoichi, Raito, and Hiruzen opened their eyes, the big water sphere divided into several parts that gathered behind the T and I members, who were wearing the headgears.


    Baki, who already had chakra suppressing seal and sleep seal, was put into a barrier seal and taken away by Mari and Ibiki.


    Raito immediately took out a talisman then activated his chakra. The chakra gathered on his forehead then linked with the talisman. "Ready."


    "Everything?" Hiruzen grabbed the talisman and looked towards Raito.


    "Everything related to Gaara and war." Raito smiled and replied.


    Inoichi sighed as he looked with complicated expression at his men, who were still analyzing the data, then at Raito.


    "Don''t think too much about it, Inoichi." Hiruzen looked at the men behind Inoichi and shook his head. "Everyone has their own pace."


    Inoichi nodded then brought out a scroll from his jacket. With a few hand seals, chakra covered the scroll surface with chakra, and words began to appear on the scroll.


    "I wanna learn that." Raito''s eye shined and immediately dashed beside Inoichi.


    "Later." Inoichi gave Raito a side-glance before gathering chakra on his hand and waving over the characters.


    "Chakra is as such. With knowledge and practice you can do anything." Hiruzen whispered, loud enough for people around him to hear.


    Raito pushed the table and looked around then with a nod, he said, "Jii-chan, you can use [Water Moon Mirror] and see it as a movie."


    "Movie?"


    "[Water Moon Mirror]?"


    "Mm¡­ chakra consumption decreases and you can even hear voices. I don''t have to make sound talisman anymore and sync it with the illusion. I tweaked some things here and there so that I could do it in one go¡­ but I guess whoever Kakashi-sensei and Jii-chan taught must have already made some modification already, right?" Raito waved his finger then took out a scroll from his inventory.


    Taking a step further, Raito created a small stand to place scroll.


    Hiruzen made a stiff smile as he exchanged glances with Mari and Inoichi. Mari turned around, not daring to meet eyes with Hiruzen but Inoichi let out a big smile, hearing Raito. Was it a comeback?


    "Raito, why are you¡­ so prepared?" Mari asked, looking at the scroll and the talisman then at Raito. No matter how she looked at it, she thought Raito had already planned this.


    "A good ninja must always be prepared." Raito raised his finger and said solemnly. Then added a very crucial point, "As much as possible."

 Chapter 69 - 69 – Shukaku

    Chapter 69 ¨C Shukaku


    At the top floor of the intelligence department, of Konohagakure, Hiruzen along with few others looked at the video on the water screen with grim faces.


    Orochimaru was wearing a robe and a hat, just like a Kage, and talking with Kazekage about cooperation.


    "Orochimaru¡­" Jiraiya watched as Orochimaru walked out of the Kazekage''s room. Listening to their plans, Jiraiya frowned and turned to face Hiruzen.


    "Raito," Hiruzen called out with his tired voice, as he waved his hand then turned around.


    Raito nodded then canceled the Fuinjutsu. The images in the screen stopped and slowly blurred out, returning to plain water. Then, the mass of water, forming the screen lost it''s shape and returned to the scroll.


    As Raito started cleaning up, he looked around the room from the corner of his eyes and found the silence in the room extremely gloomy. Smart people tend to overthink and make a mess before anything else. These people in the room had already started analyzing from their field of expertise, thinking about various patterns and strategies.


    Looking through the window at the village below, Hiruzen let out a deep sigh filled with exhaustion. "It has finally come to bite back."


    "I should have dealt with this years ago."


    Mari and Shun looked at each other in worry. Jiraiya had a constant frown in his face and, Ibiki and Inoichi stood with signs of contemplation. Even the ANBU in the room were taking secretive glances at Hiruzen, awaiting their next order.


    For a long time, the room was filled with faint pressure, which shook Raito''s heart. Worried sighs, hesitation, contemplation, uncertainty, and even doubt. The negative emotion gave rise to a depressive atmosphere, which in turn made Raito frown.


    This war was between two forces. On one side, Sunagakure and Otogakure, and the other, Konohagakure. No one favored a war to happen, especially Konoha even more so during this recovery period, after a decade from the ''Attack of Ky¨±bi'' and just a couple of years after the ''Uchiha massacre''.


    "Jii-chan," Raito called out breaking the silence in the room. "What should I do next?"


    Hiruzen turned sideways and looked at Raito. Seeing his face gave Hiruzen a little motivation on what he was supposed to do and whom he was doing this for.


    "Ah, it should be coming soon," Hiruzen took a deep breath and exhaled.


    Forcing his hands on the table, Hiruzen looked around with a fierce determination in his eyes.


    "I wished that the new generation will not have to go through something like this but it has come to be. Although it''s not a war¡­ we will be treating it like one."


    "Our priority is defense¡­ and for that, we will be taking measures along with the civilian council. Shikaku, find someone to take lead for this."


    "Hai, Hokage-sama." Shikaku nodded. In wartime or any kind of threat, the priority will always be given to civilian-borne, those who cannot protect themselves and also the very people who are needed for the proper functioning of the whole village.


    Shinobis, even Genins are at the middle-end of the priority list to safeguard because they are trained and even the fresh graduates from the academy will have six months of experience and grinding under their belt, which will help them survive longer.


    But for everyone beyond that level are expected to take part in the operation; either rescue or fight back.


    Knock, Knock.


    Just when things were going on track and Hiruzen was ordering his shinobi, the door was knocked in a pattern which immediately brought silence to the room.


    After the pattern was repeated three times, the door opened slightly and a woman wearing a Ch¨±nin flak jacket popped her head in.


    Standing straight, she reported, "Hokage-sama, we got a long-distance live transmission from the Daimy¨­ palace."


    "Konoha council is also called in as per Daimy¨­-sama''s request." She added then took out a small scroll, passing it to Hiruzen.


    After reading the contents of the scroll, Hiruzen returned it and gave her signal to return.


    Taking the hint, the female Ch¨±nin swiftly walked out of the room and closed the door.


    "Inoichi, prepare substitutes for the Suna-shinobi. From what we know, they planned to stay in the village full time" Hiruzen started ordering his shinobi.


    "Ibiki, Mari, take the recording. I need everything about Sunagakure on my desk tomorrow." Hiruzen waved at Raito, telling him to give the scroll and talisman to them.


    Raito nodded and took out several talismans regarding Baki and gave them to Mari.


    "Also prepare a team that will be responsible for this Suna situation."


    Nodding at Hiruzen, Mari left the room with Ibiki and Anko.


    "We also have three Otogakure Genin. Ask someone to deal with them." Hiruzen gave the order to the ANBU. "We need them in the future."


    One by one, the shinobi in the room nodded their heads with their backs straight.


    "Jiraiya, Fourth Hokage had a seal ready for that boy. Do you still have it?" Hiruzen asked with a frown as things came to complicated matters.


    "I have but for that¡­" Jiraiya rubbed his chin and frowned, thinking of the problem that was going to pop up in this process. "It carries a huge risk."


    "Take Raito with you." Hiruzen shook his head and pointed at Raito. "Modification is useless and time-consuming¡­ just replace the seal."


    "Inoichi¡­"


    "Hey, kid, it looks like you are stuck with me." Jiraiya grabbed Raito and dashed out of the room as fast as the wind.


    Seeing the image blurring, Raito immediately used ''[Fast Thinking]''


    Jiraiya quickly reached an empty room on the ground floor then released Raito.


    Seeing Raito a little winded Jiraiya smiled inwardly and gave a laugh, "Sorry, kid. We don''t want to waste time."


    "I''m Raito," Raito said with an irritated tone.


    "I know. Don''t worry, kid. I promise you''ll have tons of time to train when we finish with this sealing thing." Jiraiya took out a scroll and scribbled characters on a fresh scroll.


    "I am just a beginner Sealmaster. I don''t think I can be much help with this." Raito frowned as he looked around the empty room. There was another door with seals, creating a barrier between the two spaces, completely hiding what was on the other side of the door.


    "Don''t worry, kid." Activating the chakra, Jiraiya swiped the scroll and the characters on the scroll started distorting.


    "Do you have any seals on you?" He asked after gathering all the ink on his finger, which dyed is finger black.


    Raito came back to his senses and looked at Jiraiya who had a black finger. His face twitching, Raito answered, "Um¡­ a few storage seals here and there and a few chakra storage seals."


    "That''s a good set for beginners. Not bad-" Jiraiya nodded but was interrupted by Raito.


    "Weight training seal and Restriction seal. Oh¡­" Raito watched here and there as seals flashed on his body.


    "Body training? Did you take that from Gai? No, he doesn''t use much of Fuinjutsu."


    Jiraiya sighed and shook his head. "Kids these days¡­"


    "You sound like an old man," Raito commented but quickly shut his mouth as Jiraiya glared at him.


    "Do you know about ''Barrier Fuinjutsu''?" Jiraiya asked with a bit of seriousness.


    "I do." Raito nodded.


    "Where we are going in is a restriction barrier. It will be a bit dangerous inside being trapped with one of the nine chakra monsters of the continent." Jiraiya explained while drawing a seal over Raito''s arm.


    "If it''s about safety then there is no one better than me in keeping myself safe," Raito said with a smile.


    Jiraiya rolled his eyes and finished the seal. "This allows you to get inside and outside the barrier. Don''t show it to anyone¡­ not even to-"


    A researcher rushed out with frown and worry on his face, which quickly subsided upon seeing Jiraiya. "Jiraiya-sama, you are finally here. There has been a change, that Suna¨Cnin, he¡­ he created a sand guard around him and nothing works. Luckily, no one is injured."


    "Let''s move." Jiraiya grabbed Raito''s arm and dragged him inside the door


    Upon crossing the barrier, Raito felt a small force pushing him back. But the seal on his arm that Jiraiya engraved, lit up, pushing the force away.


    "So this is a key." Raito looked at the seal then turned his head around, finding various talisman and seals making the entire passage black with ink or so it seemed.


    "This is a sealing room, you know¡­ to do stuff that isn''t for everyone''s eye." Jiraiya gave a few snorting laughs as he entered the big room.


    Inside the big dome-shaped room, there stood ten or so Sealmaster researchers, surrounding the center of the room, where a cocoon of sand lay still.


    "That''s Gaara?" Raito used ''[Observe]'' and found that it was indeed Gaara, enveloped in the sand.


    Jiraiya walked in front of the sand cocoon and felt it. He even tried injecting chakra into the cocoon but the cocoon seems to be impenetrable. Jiraiya frowned for a second then shook his head, "It''s not the boy''s chakra, that''s for sure."


    "Jiraiya-sama," An ANBU rushed in from the passage behind then gave Jiraiya a small bow.


    "You finally came?" Jiraiya clapped the ANBU''s shoulder then took a few steps back. "This has nothing to do with the chakra monster but give it a try."


    The ANBU nodded and started weaving hand seals, oddly to Raito, it seemed that it was going to be earth release Ninjutsu. Throwing seeds in the air, he made a Snake hand seal and released his chakra. "[Wood Release]"


    "Wood Release!?" Raito jumped in shock as he watched the seeds growing green vines that thickened and formed brownish wood, which eventually wrapped around the sand.


    "Surprised?" Jiraiya smirked as he looked at Raito.


    "Of course I am surprised. That''s wood release, same as first Hokage-sama''s, Hashirama Senju." Raito shouted, pointing at the ANBU with shining eyes.


    Jiraiya slapped the back of Raito''s head, shutting him up. "Ow."


    "It''s wood release but it will not work here," Jiraiya explained with a frown as he looked at the impenetrable sand defense. "That''s why we have me, a superb Sealmaster."


    Taking out a scroll, brush, and ink, Jiraiya started scribbling character seals on it. "Sand manipulation is a branch of Earth manipulation, so, it is easy for me since, I am also primary earth."


    "I am primary earth too," Raito mumbled while his eyes glued to the scroll.


    While scribbling character seals on the scrolls, Jiraiya started explaining, "This is a three sequence Fuinjutsu. Mine is a bit different from the rest. First, I will categorize the elements that I am about to seal. With a good foundation and a little bit of special knowledge, it can be easy as breathing."


    "Then the second part will be to create a foundation for a barrier. These characters represent the basic elements that are in nature, which reinforces each other." Jiraiya pointed with his left hand and explained while scribbling with his right.


    Raito was dazed as he saw Jiraiya flick his brush, which forced the characters to twist and form a circle at the center. "It''s just a trick."


    After finishing the sealing formula, Jiraiya raised his head then looked at the sand cocoon and ANBU. "Even wood release, which is known to tame the chakra monsters and restrict chakra, cannot do anything to that thing; then it means we are dealing with something that is completely different."


    "What is this ''completely different''?" Raito looked at the wood, trying to tear open the cocoon, then at the Fuinjutsu in front of Jiraiya then at his hand.


    "We are one of the strongest hidden villages in the elemental nations. Do you think that this is all we can do?" Jiraiya smirked as he added a few extra character seals on the scroll. "In my life as a shinobi, I have seen all kinds of things."


    "Kid, I don''t usually brag but there aren''t many Seamaster better than me."


    Raito frowned as he looked at the extra characters on the scroll. They were ''Life'', ''Blood'', ''Soul'', and ''Spirit''. Under each character seal, a twisted line was drawn.


    "When you start reading more advanced books and experience more things, you will know," Jiraiya explained as he took out a kunai.


    With a clean swipe to his palm, blood splashed on the scroll, coloring the center circle red. With a few hand seals and feeding chakra to the scroll, the blood turned into character seals that mixed with the character seals on the scroll. "This is a simple ''Enhancing'' to our seal formula."


    "Couldn''t we have just used a Ninjutsu?" Raito looked at the blood and quickly used ''[Heal]''.


    Jiraiya watched in amazement as the wound on his palm disappeared rather quickly. Looking at Raito, Jiraiya felt his face twitching. "You are doing medical Ninjutsu too? And it seemed rather advanced¡­"


    "Huh?" Raito looked at Jiraiya''s face and smiled. "Of course, if ever the time comes then I don''t have to depend on others."


    Jiraiya was dumbfounded as a frown appeared in his face. He opened his mouth and immediately chided, "Haven''t you heard ''Jack of all, King of none''? How can you waste your talents like that-"


    "Jiraiya-sama, don''t think too much about it or you will blow yourself." Inoichi walked in with a tired face, which still had a small smile. "Take him as a special case and ignore it."


    "¡­ Well, whatever." Jiraiya paused for a second then waved his hand, turning back to the Fuinjutsu.


    By this time, Tenz¨­ had backed out to a side and sat cross-legged. Thick wooden poles with dog heads surrounded him like guards to a carriage.


    "What''s that?" Raito eye fixed at the wood release Ninjutsu like a curious cat looking at a ball of yarn. He even took a couple of steps forward unknowingly towards ANBU with a big smile inside his head. ''I can learn this jutsu with ''[Observe]'', I need a scroll¡­ just one wood release Ninjutsu scroll then I¡­''


    Inoichi grabbed Raito''s head and forced him to turn around. With a bit of irritation, Inoichi chided, "You can''t learn that. You don''t have the bloodline."


    "What bloodline? And I didn''t ask?" Raito shrank his neck and said with a laugh.


    "But you were going to, right?" Inoichi let out a creepy smile and said. "Wood release is one of Konoha''s biggest secrets and if I got to know that you told this to anybody then¡­"


    "¡­" Raito laughed nervously, grabbing Inoichi''s hand, which was on his head. "Inoichi-sensei, you need some sleep. Look at those eye bags and look at the wrinkles. You look older than your current age. And your skin it''s so pale and it''s so-"


    "Just stop talking." Inoichi rubbed Raito''s head forcefully then turned around to face the sand cocoon.


    "I will start then." Jiraiya clapped as chakra erupted from the circle, in the scroll then targeted the sand cocoon.


    Enveloped by the chakra, the sand cocoon broke little by little and the chakra linked to the scroll started dragging the sand particles to the scroll.


    "It will take a long time at this pace," Raito commented, looking at the scroll and sand cocoon. It can be said that the sand was just trickling away.


    "It''s not usually like this." Jiraiya frowned as he increased the amount of chakra used but the speed just increased by a negligible amount.


    "Give it a try then." Jiraiya gave Raito a look. He remembered that during Gaara''s capture Raito had used his control over the earth elements to destroy the sand guard.


    "Ok." Raito nodded then raised his hands. With palms wide open, bluish chakra covered his hand, which then turned yellow to brown to finally black. After a few seconds, a silver of golden chakra appeared at the center of his hand for a flash of a second before disappearing. "[Earth Elemental Control]"


    Raito''s elemental control affected the sand cocoon as trembled for a long time before breaking down in large chunks.


    "It''s indeed fast now." Jiraiya whistled, amazed at the speed of the cocoon breaking down and released even more chakra to feed the scroll.


    "Yup, it''s fast." Raito let out a stiff smile. He was forced to use way too much chakra than the last time if not for the chakra storage tags on his body and the book, hidden by the jacket, Raito may not be able to bear with the expenditure.


    ''Even ten thousand points of chakra is less for this glutton.'' Raito gnashed his teeth and continued the skill. Now he had to take some time off from training and refill all the chakra storage.


    Inoichi looked at the two in front of him, focused at breaking and sealing the sand, and then signaled for the researchers in the background to focus at him. Using the ''[Mind-Voice Transmission]'', he gave them instruction then looked at Tenz¨­.


    Tenz¨­ was at the peak of concentration with his palms thrusted forward. If looked closely, there was a character seal on his palm, ''Suppress'', which glowed red, directed towards Gaara.


    "Jiraiya-sama, I''ll be going all out for this one. It should be the last push so, prepare yourself." Raito warned and activated all of the chakra stored on the tags and book, then used the acc.u.mulated chakra on the skill ''[Earth Elemental Control]''.


    With the burst of chakra from Raito, the cocoon of sand shook for a moment before breaking down into big chunks, revealing Gaara who was all curled up on the inside.


    "[Fuinjutsu: Elemental Sealing]"


    Swoosh!


    All the sand was s.u.c.k.e.d in by the circle, in the scroll, and at end of it, there was character seal for ''Earth'' on the circle, indicating successful sealing of the sand.


    "Medics!" With Inoichi''s shout, two of the researchers walked up and checked Gaara.


    "Still alive." After checking Gaara, the researcher quickly announced it.


    "And that''s how you do elemental sealing." Jiraiya rolled up the scroll and tied it. But just as he was about to keep it inside his pouch, Jiraiya threw the scroll to Raito.


    "Me?" Raito looked at the scroll quizzically then looked at Jiraiya. "Should we give it back to Jii-chan."


    "Yeah, keep it. When you have time go through the sealing formula." Jiraiya waved his hand and walked towards Gaara. "When all this is over, you may have to give it back."


    "This bit of sand?" Raito looked at the scroll for an extra couple of seconds before storing it in the inventory. He had more of Gaara''s sand in his inventory, a lot more than in this scroll.


    After Jiraiya finished his work, several researchers walked in with big scrolls.


    "Jiraiya-sama, we have already figured out the basics of this Fuinjutsu." Opening the scroll, the characters seals, line seals and numerical seals made a complex picture. "According to Hokage-sama''s instruction, we need to break this Fuinjutsu but¡­"


    Even taking a single glance was dizzying; even thinking about deciphering the seal was just too mind-boggling for the current Raito. Even though his knowledge on Fuinjutsu was higher crossing fifty levels, he had almost no idea about the number and seals combination.


    "I don''t know much about numerical seals and I am just half-half on line seals," Raito confessed after looking at the complex sealing formula.


    "Character seals are the basics of the basics but line and numbers depend on each other. And the Sealing formula on this level¡­ ah, you are not even a Ch¨±nin." Jiraiya scratched his head and sighed. "The old lady in the library will only give the books when you become a Ch¨±nin¡­ what a waste."


    "Raito is not here for that anyway," Inoichi said as he walked towards Gaara.


    "He is not!?" Jiraiya asked then added. "His Fuinjutsu is top-notch. If not for the village''s limitation on Fuinjutsu¡­"


    Raito sunk in his thoughts then his eyes landed on Gaara and Inoichi. A thought occurred to him as he voiced out the question in his head, "Then what am I here for?"


    Inoichi looked at the curled up, red-headed boy with a bit of sadness in his face. For a kid like this to be put through so much trouble, every day was a torture for him, mental trauma in childhood, assassination attempts, shunned by the village, seen as a monster, feared by everyone including his own brother and sister then treated as a weapon.


    In a room full of shinobi researchers, Gaara was strapped on a table with his upper body b.a.r.e. Thin needles were all over his body and when looked from above, the needles formed a special pattern.


    The dome-shaped room, where this was going on, had scrolls open, and they were hanging from the top. Character seals, line seals, and numerical seals on each of the scrolls formed a sealing formula, which together complimented one another.


    [Yamanaka Style - Empowerment]


    [Yamanaka Style - Stabilize]


    [Yamanaka Style - Barrier]


    [Yamanaka Mind Force Array]


    Or that''s what his ''[Observe]'' skill told him.


    "All these Fuinjutsu are Yamanaka clan''s secret techniques. Only a few people other than the clan members know about this." Inoichi commented, looking at the scrolls hanging from the ceiling. "Prepare yourself."


    "Prepare what? Prepare to mind walk?" Raito looked at Gaara with a frown.


    "Haha," Inoichi laughed, feeling refreshed then added. "That''s what we are gonna do."


    "We are gonna dive in straight to his core mindscape this time."


    "Sensei, what about tailed beast¡­ I mean, Shukaku. Isn''t he dangerous?" Raito asked, his mind conjuring Shukaku as tall as the Ky¨±bi, a big shadowy figure with a long and huge tail.


    He turned towards Inoichi and said, "Didn''t you tell me not to enter Naruto''s mind¡­ reason being that the nine-tails is extremely dangerous."


    "Don''t worry Shukaku is harmless compared to Ky¨±bi," Inoichi reassured.


    "I also saw that report file, sensei." Raito felt his face twitching as he looked at the shameless Inoichi.


    "That''s what these scrolls are for¡­ and believe it or not these tailed beast are not as dangerous as you think," Inoichi reassured.


    "Hmph, as long as they are in that cage." Jiraiya snorted. Just remembering the day, twelve years ago, when he had returned from a mission to see the broken village, dead shinobi and civilians, made Jiraiya breathing rough.


    A massacre.


    Destruction.


    Hundreds and thousands of people lost their lives, and many were crippled.


    Son, daughter, mother, and father. Brothers and sisters. Husband and wife. Newborn and elderly.


    From a monster''s perspective, none of them mattered. As it swiped with his claws and slammed its tails, jumped and crashed on a ground like playing on mud, hundreds or even thousands, lost their lives, in an instant.


    A creature, capable of this feat¡­ a creature that had changed the lives of countless people, how can one not hate it, and at the same time fear it, that it will once again do the same?


    "This one-tailed will come out of its cage and create devastation upon the people of Konoha."


    "When we finish this seal, we can say that we saved the lives of half of the people in Konoha."


    The researchers voiced out their thoughts and Raito looked at them stupidly.


    "We can''t rest¡­ we have war at bay, an unstable Jinch¨±riki in the village and a former elite shinobi turned rogue against us and possibly hundred thousand of enemy shinobi ready to pounce at us." Inoichi''s hand tightened and several people in the room flinched, hearing the true situation they were facing.


    "When you put it that way¡­ it seems that we are in trouble." Raito clenched his fist as he took out the last of his chakra storage tags from his inventory.


    "Yes, we are." Inoichi sighed as his hand fell in exhaustion.


    "But, Jiraiya-sama, aren''t you supposed to be stronger than Orochimaru? And isn''t Sunagakure strapped for cash because of the mercenary guild in their capital? And¡­ and isn''t Otogakure just a newly established village, which¡­?"


    At first, Raito''s voice was clear and collected but as he kept on asking, his voice trembled and at the end turned into a whisper.


    The room of researchers were not only focused on research but also were smart people, who had enough life experience. Everyone understood what was going to happen and what outcome there were going to be. Since the opponent was ready to go against Konoha, they should have considered these things and prepared for that.


    Since a thirteen-year-old can speak those words, why couldn''t the combined forces of the evil knocking at Konoha''s door not have even thought about that?


    "Inoichi-sama, everything is ready according to what you said but¡­" One of the researchers broke the thinking status chain and walked forward, reporting their current status. But while reporting about the Fuinjutsu and the Yamanaka members at bay to fortify the seal, he kept giving Raito side glances.


    The Yamanaka researcher knew that whatever the duo were going to do, he had no authority to stop and override it. But still, he couldn''t worry about the outsider gaining knowledge of their clan secret and stealing a valuable opportunity such as this.


    "Don''t worry about it." Inoichi sighed and signaled him to go back.


    The researcher sighed and shook his head as he walked back towards the group of fellow researchers. "The elders are not going to be happy."


    "Raito, get ready," Inoichi called then signaled to Tenz¨­.


    "Hai," Raito nodded and walked forward. By this time, his chakra pool had completely filled and was ready to work¡­ but wasn''t this teacher of his supposed to say what he was about to do exactly?


    Wooden platforms rose around Gaara and the scrolls were placed on top of the platform. Inoichi jumped lightly and sat on the scroll, signaling Raito to do the same.


    The researcher sighed as he placed the scroll on the block. Turning to face Inoichi, he voiced out his thoughts. "It would be better if-"


    "It''s Hokage-sama''s order." Inoichi sighed and said with a bit of irritation. "If you have any complaints, tell Hokage-sama about it."


    "¡­" The researcher turned around and walked back.


    "What''s all this about?" Raito sat cross-legged on the scroll and asked. Clearly, the Yamanaka researchers didn''t want him to do this and even wanted someone from the clan or relative in his stead.


    "Nothing," Inoichi answered plainly then patted the scroll below. "Start creating your construct. We are jumping directly to the core of Gaara''s mindscape."


    "Then what am I going to do exactly when I get in?" Raito asked.


    "Don''t ask too much." Inoichi gave Raito a stern glare then started constructing his mental avatar.


    "Well, whatever." Raito shrugged in annoyance and started creating his own construct. "[Construct - Avatar]"


    Chakra rushed towards Raito''s forehead. Invisible to all eyes, a miniature version of Raito walked out of Raito''s forehead, giving his surrounding a quick sweep.


    "Activate the seal on the scroll with your construct and it will send you directly to Gaara''s mindscape." A miniature Inoichi instructed then activated the seal before disappearing.


    "Why is sensei in such a hurry? He is breaking his own rules." Raito frowned as he activated the seal on the scroll then disappeared.


    Splash


    With a splash, Raito appeared in a big cave with nothing much to see. There was water on the floor and torch lights on the sides and a long pathway.


    "One nasty mindscape." Raito pulled back his leg, ready to use chakra to step on water.


    "Don''t waste your chakra on useless things." Inoichi grabbed Raito and pulled him, a bit forcefully.


    "Hey, Sensei, you are acting weird." Raito looked at Inoichi, who still had a frown in his face, and asked, "Now can you tell me why I am here?"


    "We need to get some of Shukaku''s chakra to use in Fuinjutsu," Inoichi answered Raito nonchalantly.


    "And?"


    "You are going to be the one to extract Shukaku''s chakra," Inoichi said as he stopped in front of a huge door.


    Raito stopped and looked at Inoichi dumbfounded.


    "What are you doing? Come." Inoichi frowned and pulled Raito.


    "I''m out." Raito shook his head wildly.


    "You can''t." Inoichi sighed then after a bit of hesitation added. "In the future, you are going to look after these things¡­ like Ky¨±bi and Naruto."


    Raito forcefully turned his hand and grabbed Inoichi''s wrist. With a bit of aggressiveness, Raito asked, "What will happen to Naruto?"


    "¡­" Inoichi looked at his wrist and smiled weakly. "Raito-"


    "Explain," Raito stood still like a pole jammed on the earth below.


    Inoichi sighed and exhaled, "The nine tails inside Naruto¡­ a time may come when Naruto will give in to that monster and the nine-"


    "He won''t." Raito interrupted but Inoichi just continued.


    "And nine tails will overtake Naruto''s body. Time will come when the seal inside Naruto will break, releasing it to the village and the continent."


    "¡­ And me? What am I supposed to do?" Raito asked with a frown.


    "For now we still have Jiraiya-sama and a few people, who can seal Ky¨±bi but Hokage-sama said that it would be a good experience for you¡­ to meet with the chakra monster and experience what it''s really like." Inoichi turned back and pushed the door revealing a dark room.


    Just as Raito and Inoichi was about to open the big door, notifications popped up one after another.


    "It''s not safe at all." Raito cried out.


    [Caution!]


    [You are about to enter a special space.]


    [Special space has several restrictions.]


    [Not having the ''Mark of Sand'' decreased your total stat by 10%.]


    [Not having the ''Chakra of Shukaku'' decreased your total stat by 10%.]


    "Gurrr!!"


    A pair of big beady patterned pupils focused on Raito and Inoichi as hot air rushed out, bringing with it a sense of dread.


    Swish, Bang!


    Swish, Bang!


    With each bang, Raito could feel his heart trembling strongly.


    The water rushed out of the darkroom splashing onto them but strangely, it didn''t wet them.


    "That is Shukaku, one-tailed sand spirit." Inoichi stepped in the darkroom, dragging the paralyzed Raito.


    [Shukaku Lvl ??]


    [Ichibi, Shukaku the Sand Spirit, Monster Tanuki]

 Chapter 70 - 70 – Bunpuku

    "HUMANS!" Shukaku screeched as room trembled and currents of wind appeared out of nowhere.


    [Shukaku Lvl ??]


    With a shout, a wave of wind blasted through, attacking Raito and Inoichi.


    "Hmph," Inoichi snorted then waved his hand and creating a barrier, fueled by his mental power, around him and Raito.


    Raito waved his hand inside the barrier then extended outside, which he immediately pulled back. The barrier had nullified the wind blast as Raito felt the small space devoid of the raging wind as compared to the space outside the barrier, where wind with strong destructive power nearly sliced his hands.


    "Don''t do stupid things. Let''s go." Inoichi walked forward without dispelling the barrier and Raito followed behind him, eyes darting around.


    "I have never seen a bij¨±''s attack," Raito answered as he activated his mental power and conjured his most familiar weapon.


    A big, fat, sandy brown creature with a long, thick, jagged tail that looked a bit dangerous, opened it jagged, concave mouth, and asked with anger and pride. "You puny humans¡­ why have you come to meet my esteemed self?"


    "Esteemed self? Esteemed self with garlic breath," Raito snickered as he covered his mouth and nose.


    "Huh?" Shukaku waved its tail and banged the ground creating a wave.


    "Raito," Inoichi waved his hand blocking Raito then pushing his hand forward.


    Shukaku pushed the floor and straightened his body. Then with anger in his face, he pointed his fingers towards Raito and cried out childishly, "I have garlic breath? You have garlic breath, you-you are garlic. You¡­"


    Raito looked at the big monster and felt like laughing. As Shukaku shouted, Raito noticed the dark markings over Shukaku''s body moving ever so slightly in circular patterns. ''What''s that?''


    "Shukaku," The voice of an old man sounded in the room, paralyzing everyone including Shukaku.


    Shukaku turned his head and looked at a corner of the room and found a weak old man in monk clothing walk slowly towards him.


    "A monk," Inoichi looked at the old monk then at Shukaku who reacted a bit oddly to the monk. Coming to a conclusion, Inoichi took small steps back and at the same time blocked Raito''s way forward. "Don''t act rashly."


    It looked like Shukaku was about to calm down but the room trembled as Shukaku roared. "Go away, old baldy!"


    Shukaku released wind blades from his body as it pushed Raito and Inoichi. These wind blades created cracks on Inoichi''s barrier, pushing him back.


    "Sensei," Raito hurriedly stood in front and copied Inoichi''s last move and created a shaky barrier inside Inoichi''s barrier.


    "You bald donkey, go away. Leave." Shukaku waved his tail and attacked the old monk but his tail never hit the old monk but the place beside him.


    "Shukaku, calm down," The old monk looked at Shukaku and said with his weak, gentle voice.


    Shukaku harrumphed as he swept his tail, which knowingly or unknowingly slammed on Raito''s barrier for a moment before he pulled it back. Shukaku narrowed his eyes as he pulled his head down, leveling his gaze to the old monk then asked, "What are you doing here, old baldy? After so many years¡­"


    "I don''t know but I believe that it should be related to the two of them." The old monk answered and looked at the two Konoha shinobi.


    "Look at you, sensei. You ignored your own rule and became like this." The barrier around Raito swirled and formed a perfect barrier without any cracks. "We should have done it tomorrow."


    "It''s nothing. I was just-"


    "Don''t even try to explain. You have been working too much." Raito snorted then turned his head to look at the old monk, "He is looking. Who is he?"


    "Shinobis from Konoha." The old monk cupped his fist and bowed slightly.


    "My name is Yamanaka Inoichi and this is Yoshizawa Raito." Inoichi looked at the monk, who seemed amiable and introduced himself and Raito.


    "Elderly are to be respected," Raito whispered.


    "Your arrival has let the part of my soul, which has been sleeping for so long, to awaken, that means that we share some destiny." The elder monk raised his head and looked at Shukaku then he looked at the two and added, "My name is Bunpuku, a priest in Sunagakure and former Jinch¨±riki to Shukaku."


    When Shukaku heard the word Jinch¨±riki, he let out a deep grown filled with anger.


    "We won''t take too much time." Inoichi stepped forward and directly started his intentions. "We need some of Shukaku''s chakra."


    "My chakra? Why should I give it to you? You filthy little human," Shukaku snorted and waved his tail, creating a gust of wind. "Go away."


    Raito frowned and rotated the barrier, neutralizing the gust. With his palm thrusted forward, Raito added to Inoichi''s sentence. "We need your chakra to complete a Fuinjutsu so that your current host, Gaara, doesn''t die."


    Shukaku looked a little dumbfounded as he heard Raito then he laughed, "What does that little pipsqueak''s life and death has to do with me? Let him die."


    Looking at Bunpuku then at Raito, Shukaku raised his voice and said, "I will never die. I will just dissipate then naturally reborn a few years later anyway. It has happened before and it will happen again. What about it?"


    "Shukaku," Bunpuku called out then turned his head towards Raito and Inoichi then asked, "What may be your intentions? If, I may ask,"


    Raito looked at Shukaku then looked at Inoichi. Frankly speaking, talking with the Shukaku was a waste of time.


    "Our intentions are clear. We want to replace the old seal with a new one." At this time Inoichi stepped forward and answered Bunpuku.


    Looking at Bunpuku''s old face, Inoichi added, "We found that the current seal used to seal Shukaku is¡­"


    Inoichi looked awkward as he tried explaining but was missing critical words. And it wasn''t helping that Bunpuku was focused on Raito rather than himself.


    Raito stepped forward and continued the explanation, "Sand Soul seal is an old Fuinjutsu, which was used in the old days. Sunagakure is now using the modified form of the ''Sand Soul Seal'' to seal the Shukaku into their Jinch¨±riki."


    Ignoring the growls coming from Shukaku, Raito continued, "Although it is a modified seal, the Sunagakure created¡­ many mental traumas to Gaara, causing the seal to be affected, in one way or another. This has led to Gaara being affected by Shukaku."


    "Affected?"


    "Shukaku has been whispering Gaara to kill everyone, all the time. He is not letting his host sleep, leading to developing mania, and also causing mental blocks from time to time¡­" Raito answered.


    Inoichi pulled back Raito lightly and asked in a low voice. "How did you know? We didn''t-"


    "I just did," Raito replied and gave a small nod.


    "I understand." Bunpuku still clasped his hand and give Shukaku a quick glance, "But why does Konoha wants to help Sunagakure with this?"


    Raito and Inoichi looked at one another. The more time Inoichi spent in here the weaker he became. And as for Raito, strangely it didn''t seem like a problem, staying in this mindscape.


    At this point, Raito guessed that he would have to do most of the work by himself if they continued talking with this old monk.


    Just when Inoichi was about to answer, Raito pulled his jacket while looking at Bunpuku. "We are taking too much time. Let me."


    Raito stepped a couple of steps forward, which made Shukaku turn his head and shift his body. Seeing that even Shukaku had problems moving in this room, Raito chuckled and said. "This place is so cramped."


    "First of all, we are not doing it for Sunagakure. We are doing it for Konoha because in month time¡­ Sunagakure is planning to release Shukaku in the middle of Konoha and let it go on a killing spree."


    Bunpuku listened to all Raito had said as he looked at Shukaku.


    "We hope to replace the Fuinjutsu. But as you know that once a bij¨± is taken out from Jinch¨±riki, the host will die. So-"


    "Not giving, not giving, not giving."


    "If that pipsqueak dies I will be free. Who will stop me?"


    Raito frowned as he heard Shukaku. Exchanging glances, Raito communicated with Inoichi.


    "I am sorry but we don''t have much time left." Raito bowed his head slightly towards Bunpuku then turn towards Shukaku.


    "I am not giving you filthy humans my chakra," Shukaku shouted slamming the ground with his tail.


    "I am not asking. Not anymore." Raito jumped and dashed straight towards Shukaku.


    "Hmph," With a snort, Shukaku waved his claws. Even though his swing was lazy, it came really fast in front of Raito.


    "I would have feared if you were in the outside world but here¡­" Raito pushed his hand towards the side as black blob appeared out of nowhere and restrained Shukaku''s arm.


    Shukaku turned his head, looking at his restrained arm. After a few failed attempts at escaping, he growled and shouted at Raito, his breath bringing a strong gust of wind. "What did you do?"


    Tap, Swish.


    Inoichi who was standing at the back suddenly dashed with blue chakra covering his hands. Effortlessly, he appeared on Shukaku''s body, his feet glued to the front as he jabbed his hand deep inside.


    Half his hand inside Shukaku''s belly, Inoichi let out a yell as he pulled back a mass of chakra with black markings.


    "Like hell!" With an outburst, Inoichi was thrown back. The chakra with black markings slipped out of Inoichi''s hand as it returned to Shukaku''s body.


    "Sensei, get back," The black blob turned into restraints tying Shukaku down.


    "Crafty little humans," Shukaku laughed as he escaped out of restrains with little to no efforts, by changing into sand and back, and then he released extra-strong breath filled with destructive wind.


    Raito jumped to the ceiling and Inoichi used barrier as he had no time.


    "Sensei!" Raito jumped down with the black earth turning into a huge hammer.


    "Hmph!" Ignoring Raito, Shukaku continued his attacks on Inoichi.


    "[Crush]"


    The black hammer glowed with yellow-brown chakra as it hit Shukaku.


    BOOM!


    Shukaku''s head turned into sand which gave Inoichi time to breathe. Not letting a time to waste Inoichi dashed forward, his hand covered with bluish chakra.


    "Go away!" The sand exploded, attacking at Inoichi''s and Raito''s direction.


    "It will be easy," Raito gritted his teeth remembering Inoichi''s words as he quickly opened the inventory and took out barrier seals. Under the effects of ''[Fast Thinking]'', Raito quickly took out barrier seals and appeared in front of Inoichi in a blink of an eye.


    Swish


    A red-colored screen appeared around Raito and Inoichi blocking the sand attack.


    "How did you do that?" Inoichi looked at Raito in shock as it was nearly impossible to do what Raito just did. The avatar was made as a replica to the original body with similar attributes. Even he couldn''t make an avatar that had higher attributes than his original body then how did Raito?


    "Don''t know," Raito answered focusing on the seals. Raito had broken his limits inside the mindscape with ''[Fast Thinking]'' but there was no explanation of what really happened.


    "And is that¡­ talisman?" Inoichi looked at the two talismans in front of Raito and asked.


    "So?" Raito pushed his hand forward and at the same time, the black blobs turned into spears, attacking towards Shukaku.


    "Nothing." Inoichi exhaled as he concentrated chakra over his palms. Was it possible to bring talisman and those things inside the mindscape?


    More thinking, more questions.


    Raito looked around and shifted his body slightly in the direction towards the gate and said, "Let''s get out, sensei. We need to plan and-"


    "It will be over soon." Inoichi clapped his hands and the chakra over his palms turned into gigantic hands, covering his arms.


    As he stepped forward, Inoichi glanced at Raito and said, "If we don''t finish it today, Gaara will really die and it will be full-blown war."


    "Huh!? Are you serious?" Raito looked at Inoichi in shock, which didn''t last long as Raito turned his focus back to Shukaku.


    ''Why are you not popping up, stupid notification.'' Raito cursed and took out several talisman papers from his inventory. ''Tell me it''s a lie.''


    Giving Raito a glance, Inoichi dashed towards Shukaku.


    By this time Shukaku had re-gathered himself and was acc.u.mulating chakra in front of his mouth.


    "[Fast Thinking]" The black earth along with the talisman rushed alongside Inoichi whereas Raito had already jumped over with a huge hammer in tow.


    "You think I will fall again?" When the hammer was about to land on Shukaku''s head, the chakra gathered in front of Shukaku turned into wind shockwave.


    "Take this." Raito who was thrown away by the shockwave got hit by Shukaku''s tail and slammed onto the wall behind.


    "What!?" Shukaku whipped his head back and looked at Inoichi who had a globe of bluish chakra with black marking over his hand.


    "Got it." Inoichi jumped back with the help of black earth.


    At the same time, Raito on the wall disappeared in haze and another appeared behind Inoichi.


    "You¡­ hateful humans. I will crush you." Shukaku flew into a rage as the sand attacked relentlessly.


    The chakra on Inoichi''s palm shrunk down and disappeared completely. Raito looked towards Inoichi and asked while taking a few steps back due to Shukaku''s attack on the barrier. "Sensei, can we go back now?"


    Inoichi didn''t answer but closed his eye for a while as Raito continued with the barrier.


    A moment later Inoichi finally opened his eyes and answered, "No, we still have to take more."


    "What? Why?" Raito asked as he was now pushed behind the gates.


    "We need a little bit more," Inoichi answered as he started gathering chakra over his palms.


    "Sensei, you are lying." Raito jumped towards the sides of the door and looked at Inoichi.


    "I wish I was." Inoichi''s face turned grim as he failed to gather chakra.


    "I am not surprised." Raito felt his face twitching looking at Inoichi''s acting. "You want me to complete, right?"


    "Haha¡­" Inoichi laughed awkwardly as he looked at Raito.


    "You should have brought someone like Jiraiya-sama, sensei," Raito grumbled as he coated his hand with chakra, similar to that of Inoichi, then ran inside.


    "You greedy little," Shukaku was spewing fire as sand exploded targeting Raito.


    "[Fast Thinking]"


    "Hup," With light taps, Raito dodged all the sand attacks along with his clones, closing the distance between Shukaku and himself. Just before jumping towards Shukaku, Raito gave Bunpuku, who was silent all this time a glance.


    Shukaku moved wildly as Raito hurried towards his back.


    "It''s just a bit of chakra. You can have it back once it''s all over." With that said, Raito jabbed his hand just below Shukaku''s shoulder and expected for a strong repulsion.


    "Ahhhh." With a loud shout, Raito pulled with all his might. Gritting his teeth and stomping on Shukaku''s back, the chakra came out of Shukaku.


    Plop, bang.


    On the floor, Raito lay in a daze as he looked at the sphere of chakra with black markings then at Shukaku, who was oddly quiet.


    [Shukaku''s Chakra]


    A ball of chakra extracted from one of the nine chakra monsters of the continent of five elements.


    Effect 1: Upon absorption, permanently gain 1000 CP


    Effect 2: Slight chance to gain skill ''Magnet Release''


    Effect 3: Slight chance in increasing Fuinjutsu skill


    "It isn''t that hard." Raito looked at the ball of chakra then looked around him. His drawing of chakra was far easier than what Inoichi had shown as if Shukaku had handed him his chakra voluntarily.


    "No way, right?" Raito looked at the sphere of chakra and Shukaku.


    "Raito," Inoichi walked beside Raito and clasped his shoulder. "Send it using the seal mark."


    "Hai, sensei." Activating the seal mark, Raito saw the chakra hovering above his palm disappear silently.


    Inoichi looked at Shukaku and Bunpuku, who were so much different when he tried. Feeling that there was something more, he raised his question, "Is there anything that you would like us to do?"


    "I want a bigger place than this dump, a lot bigger. I also want sand here, a big one." Shukaku''s huge head came down leveling his gaze to Inoichi and made his request. "I know you humans can do that."


    ''It was like that¡­'' Inoichi let out a breath of relief looking at Raito. Turning his head towards Shukaku, he nodded and replied, "I will see to it."


    "You will see to it?" Shukaku raised his voice and glared. "I want a bigger place, otherwise¡­"


    "Inoichi-Senshi, may I talk to the young one¡­ if you don''t mind." Bunpuku clapped his fist, raised his voice slightly, and looked at Raito in curiosity.


    "Me?" Raito pointed at himself and asked.


    "Yes, please." Bunpuku bowed his head and replied with his trembling voice.


    [Bunpuku Lvl ?? (Fragmented Soul)]


    "Can I ask what it is?" Raito asked after looking at Inoichi, who had a small frown.


    Bunpuku raised his head, smiled, and started, "I had a wish on my last breath¡­"


    "Deathbed wishes?" Raito shrunk his head and looked at Inoichi, who turned a bit more serious.

 Chapter 71 - 71 – Training Begins

    Chapter 71 ¨C Training Begins


    "Raito! Wake up!" Early in the morning as sunlight entered the room through the windows, Raito heard Naruto''s annoying voice just outside the door. The banging caused the door to shake slightly, making Raito worry about the decreasing durability of the door.


    "Shut it!" Raito waved his hand, covered with chakra, over the scroll, drying the ink then closed the scroll and shouted. Standing up with a sigh, Raito opened the door and looked at Naruto in irritation. "I''ll come."


    "Breakfast is ready," With a stiff smile, Naruto turned around and hurried downstairs. "Let''s go."


    "Breakfast¡­ you say." Raito stretched his arms and stiff body as he walked downstairs. With his ''[Chakra Sense]'', Raito already found a small crowd in the dining room, working together to make an early meal.


    Mari, who was working on the soup and fish, saw Raito lazily descending the stairs. With a small smile she called Raito like a mother calling her child, "Raito, the food''s ready!"


    Opening the rice cooker, Shun waved his hand, waving away the steam. Then he turned his head back and raised his hand with a big smile, "Yo! Morning."


    "Shun-nii," Raito waved back and grabbed some stuff lying on his way.


    Shun turned back and grabbed a rice scoop, then scooped the rice into a bowl, one after another.


    "Ahh!" Anko shouted all of a sudden, throwing her hands up. "I want dango."


    "Anko," Mari gave Anko a stern glare then sighed. "When you finish your work today, you can naturally go."


    "And when is that? Can''t I-"


    "No," Mari glared intensely. She didn''t even let Anko continue with her ideas.


    Anko pouted and said no more. She quietly passed the bowl for Mari to pour the soup in.


    "Hokage-sama is giving us too much work." Anko grabbed the bowl back and passed the next one.


    "Don''t complain," Mari replied and looked at Shun from the side of her eyes then said. "Everyone has their hands full. At least, we got a break."


    Anko rolled her eyes, hearing Mari then turned towards Shun, "Shun, what about you? Don''t you need to be at the borders right now?"


    "Me?" Shun tilted his head backward and looked at the ceiling, pausing for a bit,


    After retracting his gaze, Shun answered with his eyes closed and a slight frown in his face, "If I take time to eat and everything, I can reach at the first checkpoint five minutes faster than my team."


    "Shun-nii, borders are so far away, how long would it take you to reach there?" Naruto looked at Shun with his twinkling eyes, which were filled with curiosity.


    "It''s a secret, Naruto." Shun laughed it off with a wink.


    "Secrets," Naruto pouted then asked in a hurry with a shine in his eyes, "It should be a super jutsu, right? Can you teach me?"


    Shun shook his head then replied with a mischievous smile, "Maybe when you are older."


    Sitting on a chair, Naruto rolled his eyes then after a while a big smile appeared on his face as he announced, "Pervy sage told me that he is gonna teach me super strong jutsu today-"


    Mari growled as she waved the ladle towards Naruto. "That''s Jiraiya-sama. Don''t call him ''pervert''. Give him some respect, Naruto."


    "But he is a pervert." Naruto retorted but didn''t dare to look directly at Mari. Instead, he whispered the remaining part, "He even peeped at the bathhouse yesterday."


    "He is right, you know," Anko added which caused Mari to glare and Shun to chuckle.


    "Mari-nee, don''t wave the ladle." Raito hurried to the kitchen and looked at the scene. "You are dirtying the floor and the table."


    In her anger, Mari forgot about the soup on the ladle and when she waved her hand, the soup also fell off the ladle and dropped on the floor.


    Pulling Naruto back, Raito wiped the table clean with a cloth. Then a water sphere covered the cloth, taking away the soup form the cloth.


    The three a.d.u.l.ts in the room looked at one another and nodded slightly.


    Shun walked towards the table with bowls of rice on his hand and cleared his throat, "Umm¡­ Raito, I was going to train you but¡­"


    "I know, you have to go to border patrol, right? I was also caught up in learning Fuinjutsu with those old men." Separating the leftover water from the cloth, Raito threw the cloth to hang and dry.


    "What about us?" Anko appeared in front of Raito, and Midori, who was coiled around Anko''s arm, rushed out of her sleeves and circled Raito''s neck. "You can come with me. I can train you on my snake style Taijutsu." She pushed Raito back and made some punch and sweeps.


    Anko disappeared from her spot and reached behind Raito making an S-trail. With her hand around Raito''s shoulder, she asked with a smile. "What do you say?"


    Raito looked at Midori, who was around his neck, then towards Anko. He freed himself from Anko''s hold and walked towards the table. "I want to but not now."


    Walking towards the bowls, Raito added after a pause. "I am going to train on my own. I have the whole thing planned out for this month. I have some Ninjutsu, which I really need to work on, then it''s Taijutsu and there is also Fuinjutsu. I am so busy."


    "¡­ I also need to get a couple of books from Jii-chan." Raito added, breaking his fingers.


    Mari closed the lid to the pot then took out a scroll from her pouch then threw it towards Raito in one swift motion.


    Scroll in his hand, Raito quickly figured out that it was a storage scroll. He looked at Mari and directly questioned. "What''s in this?"


    "There are some Fuinjutsu books from Hokage-sama and Jiraiya-sama," Mari answered while taking out some protein. "Jiraiya-sama recommended¡­ saying that you have enough experience to try new things and restricting someone as talented as you would be going against the benefit of Konoha."


    "¡­ Okay." Raito nodded and opened the scroll, revealing a storage seal. In the past two days Raito had seen Jiraiya and the Fuinjutsu team, prepare and apply the seal on Gaara. So, he already had some ideas about the line and numerical Fuinjutsu, and their conjunction with the character seal Fuinjutsu.


    "Be sure to thank Jiraiya-sama," Shun added in the end with a small smile.


    "Hai~." Raito opened the books and looked through a couple of pages before closing, not because of the lack of interest but because of the demoness, who was glaring at him.


    Shun placed the dishes on the table then stood beside Mari and said. "Tell him about that. It should help him."


    After placing all the dishes on the table, Mari walked towards Raito then crouched down. Raito looked back to see Mari, who was smiling warmly towards him.


    "Mari-nee," Raito called out, felling strangely dangerous.


    "Follow me later; I want you to do something, alright?" Her smile only grew brighter as he held Raito''s shoulder.


    Feeling uncomfortable, Raito smiled back awkwardly then replied, "¡­O-Okay,"


    "Anko-nee, I will keep Midori for the day. Is that alright?" Raito suddenly raised his head, turned towards Anko then asked.


    "Sure, but¡­" Anko raised the chopsticks then looked at Mari.


    "Not today," Mari intervened and added, "We are doing something."


    Anko shrugged and pointed her thumbs towards Mari. "You heard her."


    "¡­"


    Raito pouted then snapped his head sideways to look at the back door. "Someone''s here."


    After Raito finished saying, unhurried knocks came from the back door.


    "Who''s this early?" Mari grumbled as she signaled Anko.


    "We need one more chair." Raito brought out a set of plates and bowl from the cupboard using the chakra threads then said. "It''s Jiraiya-sama. He is probably here to take Naruto to train."


    "Jiraiya-sama?" Anko shouted in excitement and quickened her pace.


    Passing chakra, she opened the door to face Jiraiya who had reached out his hand towards the door.


    "Jiraiya-sama," Anko called out with a big smile on her face.


    Jiraiya raised his brows and pulled back his hands then said with his brows raised. "Oh, someone was expecting me."


    "That smile," Naruto whispered towards Raito. "It''s creepy."


    "Don''t," Raito whispered. From the collar of Raito''s jacket, Midori came out and glared at Naruto then with a hiss, she went back.


    "Early breakfast? Did I interrupt you guys?" Jiraiya stretched his neck and looked at the table filled with food. Turning to face Naruto, Jiraiya waved and said. "Naruto, meet me at the training ground seven. I''ll be there."


    Just as Naruto was going to shout, Mari placed the extra set of dishes down and called out, interrupting Naruto. "Jiraiya-sama, please come in."


    "Huh?" Jiraiya, who was about to turn around, paused and looked further. With his keen observation skills, Jiraiya saw a lot of things then he noticed the number of chairs and food set didn''t match the people inside the house.


    "We made a bit too much. Would you like to join us?" Mari asked, drawing the chair, signaling for Jiraiya to come and sit.


    After a slight pause, Jiraiya let out a laugh and walked in. Looking at Naruto, Jiraiya said, "Naruto, it''s your bad luck. I was thinking of taking you to get some ramen, this early morning but¡­"


    "No way," Naruto sat up with big eyes that looked like it was gonna pop out. "Ichiraku?"


    "Yeah." Jiraiya laughed louder seeing Naruto''s disappointed face.


    "Ow man," Naruto hung his head in disappointment.


    Jiraiya jovially sat on the seat and took a look around. Months or years, had it been that he was in a family table, inside Konohagakure, eating a home-cooked meal. ???I lucked out."


    "Mari, Shun, Anko, and you kids¡­ it''s nice being in the village." Jiraiya looked at the people around the table then clapped his hands and whispered. "I am really grateful for the food, Kami-sama."


    Picking up the chopsticks, Jiraiya immediately felt the small engravings on it, "Hey, what''s this?"


    Narrowing his eyes, Jiraiya saw his name etched on the chopsticks. "It''s my name¡­"


    His eyes locked onto the characters etched on the bowl too. And although the characters were faint, Jiraiya could easily read his name on the bowl. Shifting his head a bit more, Jiraiya saw the same with Shun then Anko, then Mari. Everyone had their names engraved on the bowls. "Just who?"


    "Chakra control exercise." Feeling the blaming eyes on him, Raito quickly answered in short then started eating with his head down.


    "Oi, oi, It''s not something a Genin is supposed to do."


    The corners of Raito''s lips rose, hearing what Jiraiya said then Raito added with a bit of smugness in his tone, "I have already completed the three volumes of chakra control exercise. This kind of chakra control is now as easy as waving hands for me."


    Jiraiya let go of the thought then looked at Naruto with the corner of his eyes and said, "I didn''t know that Genins nowadays could do this much-"


    "Only Raito can do that. You cannot use him to compare others." Naruto pouted and replied quickly, feeling the old pervert''s slide glances at him. Comparing with Raito was like seeking a death notice, unless you have full confidence, you shouldn''t do it.


    "I have heard that even the best of the batch has only finished the second volume of chakra control but she is now in the medic division after failing the Genin test. Not adding in Hinata from Hy¨±ga family, who probably has already mastered her clan''s sets of chakra control." Mari added, sharing valuable intel with everyone on the table.


    "That''s someone from Information division. You people have eyes and ears everywhere." Jiraiya smiled and started eating. "Huh?"


    "Not everywhere." Mari shook her head and pulled out a cube of tofu from the soup. "If only we had¡­"


    "From medic division, failing this year, it should be Sakura, right?" Raito voiced out his conclusion and looked towards Mari.


    "Sakura-chan?" Naruto raised his voice a few pitches then clamped his mouth shut.


    "I didn''t say that." Mari shook her head then refused to share more.


    "What''s this?" Jiraiya scrunched his brows and took another bite. "It''s too good. This rice grain is so plump and this fragrance¡­ each mouthful feels so fulfilling."


    "How can this fish taste so good?"


    "And these vegetables¡­"


    After Jiraiya took one bite, he was hooked. He started devouring the food trying every possible combo. And when his bowls were empty, Jiraiya stretched out his bowl, smiled, and requested, "One more, please."


    "I have traveled to the many places but this¡­ this meal is better than anything I ever had." Jiraiya said, stretching his hand further in.


    Mari smiled as she grabbed Jiraiya''s bowl then filled it with rice. "Everything here is homegrown. From fishes to vegetables to rice, everything was grown and breed by the kids here."


    Grabbing the rice bowl, Jiraiya asked with some suspicion. "Rice too?"


    "Actually Raito did most of the things¡­" Naruto sounded a little dejected as he looked at the food in front of him but then he brightened up instantly as he added. "But I fed the fishes and watered the plants, every day."


    "Oh, hard work." Jiraiya made an amazed face as he looked at Raito and Naruto then smiled. "That''s a nice trait to have."


    "Actually I used them for chakra control exercise¡­ removing the husk, taking out seed and all." Raito played with his food, a smile forming on his face.


    Integrating the chakra in his everyday life gave Raito new ideas and chances to train his chakra more. So, why not benefit from different sides at the same time.


    "Sensei, made us do that too¡­ mixing training in daily life." Jiraiya stirred the miso soup before picking a cube of tofu. "It was hella difficult¡­ but worth it."


    Shun quickly ate his food, not leaving a single grain to waste. Even though he wanted to enjoy eating these delicacies, his comrades were waiting for him at the checkpoint.


    "I''ve finished." Shun clapped his hands in prayer then stood up. "Thank you for the food."


    "You seem like you are in a hurry, Shun." Jiraiya eyed Shun and smiled.


    Shun started checking his equipment and at the same time replied. "Being the fastest out there is just forcing myself to do more work."


    Jiraiya nodded then raised his chopsticks, "Be safe out there."


    Shun nodded then turned his head towards Naruto.


    "Naruto," Shun called grabbing Naruto''s attention. "Learn well from Jiraiya-sama."


    "I-"


    Shun quickly turned towards Jiraiya and bowed his head, "Jiraiya-sama, please take care of him. Although he is stupid, he learns things fast."


    "Don''t worry. With me around, Naruto will learn a lot of things." Jiraiya laughed and waved.


    "Then I am relieved." Shun smiled then turned his head to Raito.


    Crouching, Shun grabbed Raito''s shoulder and locked eyes. With his bright eyes and confident tone, Shun spoke up, "Raito, I want you to focus on your training, okay? Leave the troublesome matters to the a.d.u.l.ts."


    "Mm." Raito nodded his head then brought out a scroll. "Food for later."


    Shun grabbed the scroll and smiled, "Thank you."


    "Listen to Mari, okay? She will help you with your training."


    "But she is busy and-"


    "Shhh." Shun stopped Raito with his fingers to his lips. "Try it out first. I promise it will help you. If it doesn''t, you can do your own training afterward."


    "It''s time." Shun stood up then turned towards Mari with a goofy smile and arms extended. "How about-"


    "Go away," Mari shouted punching towards Shun. But Shun easily dodged it and gave a peck before escaping.


    "Oioi," Jiraiya let out a laugh watching Shun run.


    "Just marry already," Anko grumbled while giving Mari side glances.


    Raito finished his food but didn''t leave. Instead, he turned towards Jiraiya. Jiraiya also found looking towards him and made a small noise, asking Raito.


    "Umm¡­ I wanted to thank you for those Fuinjutsu books." Raito gave Jiraiya a small bow and let out a small smile.


    "Oh, those books." Jiraiya nodded his head then pointed the chopsticks towards Raito, "You are really good for your age, kid. So, I hope you don''t waste those talents of yours."


    Being praised, Raito said, "Of course, I will continue learning Fuinjutsu. It is useful in so many situations. I once caught a large number of bandits in a paralyzing seal array."


    "Oh, you can also do larger scale Fuinjutsu, huh?" Jiraiya raised his brows in interest then asked, "Then how about coming with me? I can teach you many different kinds of seal and while at it I can also teach you-"


    "I refuse!" Mari slammed on the tables and gave Jiraiya a death glare. Learning with Jiraiya will turn Raito like him and Mari definitely didn''t want it to happen.


    "Mari-nee," Raito called out in concern. You cannot give one of the legendary Sannin a death glare, okay?


    "I mean- that Hokage-sama said¡­"


    "I understand." Jiraiya sighed and waved his hands, "It''s just like when the Third refused to teach me his invisibility cloak jutsu, that old pervert. That time I had to go through all the Ninjutsu scrolls in his library. Only after a month, I completed my first self-made jutsu, the camouflage jutsu."


    When Jiraiya said that, Mari''s eyes were spewing fire, giving Jiraiya an intense glare. But Jiraiya just ignored it and started talking about his own legend.


    "I totally understand him. He wants the kid to learn on his own." Jiraiya grinned and nodded his head. "Only by failing hundreds or thousands of times, you can succeed."


    "Didn''t you say Fuinjutsu was dangerous? So, why is Jii-chan letting you learn on your own." Naruto played with his food and asked in dissatisfaction.


    On Naruto''s question, everyone looked at one another with difficulties.


    Raito let out a big smile and stood up with his plated then replied to Naruto, "Isn''t it because Jii-chan knows I am a super genius."


    "As if," Naruto shouted then gobbled down his food in a hurry. Turning to Jiraiya, Naruto said, "Pervy sage, teach me a super jutsu today. You promised."


    "Kid, have some class." Jiraiya felt his face twitching looking at Naruto, who was speaking with his mouth full. ''What a waste.''


    Sometime later, Naruto and Jiraiya left then Anko left with Midori, leaving Mari and Raito alone.


    Standing by Mari''s side, Raito dutifully patted the plates and bowl dry before storing them in the cupboard. After finishing the last of the bowls, Raito threw the cloth on the handle then turned to face Mari.


    With seriousness written all over his face, Raito called, "Mari-nee."


    "Huh?"


    "Don''t ''huh'' me. You were-"


    "That!" Mari exaggerated her ''remembering pose'' then pulled Raito''s hand, leading to the inner room with the big mirror. "Poison, traps, mechanism and now blacksmithing¡­ I dabble in lots of things."


    "I know about them¡­ you used some on me, remember." Raito said with a deadpan face.


    "That was training, you know, training." Mari shook her head and added. "And I was just testing some stuff."


    "Uh-huh." Raito just rolled his eyes.


    "I spent some time working on this one." Mari rushed down the stairs to the door at the end of the narrow pathway.


    "Mari-nee-," Raito tried to call out with helplessness written all over his face.


    Halfway towards the narrow pathway, Mari stopped and turned sideways then she waved her hand covered with chakra.


    The wall slid open to reveal a small passage, five or six steps long, and at the end of it was another sliding metallic door.


    Mari casually walked in; dragging Raito at the same time then opened the door. Taking a look around, she whipped Raito in front and kicked him, pushing him inside.


    "How do you like it?" Mari spread her hand and asked Raito.


    Rubbing his back, Raito looked around in amazement and horror. The room was dome-shaped and was twice as big as the classroom back in the academy. With holes all over the walls of the dome, Raito immediately took a guarded stance. "Are there Senbon there?"


    "I don''t like this place," Raito said, hurriedly taking a few steps towards the door.


    "You are not going anywhere." Mari covered the door then placed her hand on the small back box beside the door.


    "This is your training room." Mari smug face scared Raito as his acute sense of danger indicator increased by several degrees.


    "This thing here¡­ controls everything in the room." The mechanism had three parts; there was one chakra storage seal which was connected to the black box, which had a switch for rotating, and above it was an indicator, which showed ''0''.


    "Senbon will come shooting if that chakra storage tag is filled with chakra." Raito used his ''[Observe]'' skill and said, then took a deep breath in.


    "Correct. Half correct, actually." Mari gave Raito, thumbs up then started explaining the mechanism in detail. "There are five levels and you just need to rotate it to increase the difficulty. Then push chakra on the tag until the number lights up. Simple, right?"


    A smile unknowingly appeared on Raito''s face as he dived in his imagination.


    "We don''t want you dead so, the Senbon were replaced by blunted wooden arrows."


    "I am guessing Shun-nii asked for that replacement," Raito said with his poker face. Mari''s principle in teaching was rather simple and dangerous one. ''When one experiences pain, they learn faster.''


    Mari gave an awkward cough then continued. "You don''t need to worry about those wooden arrows. These wooden arrows have seals on them which will recall them back to their holders."


    "Seal to recall the thrown weapons?" The light in Raito''s eye shone brightly as he appeared in front of Mari. "Mari-nee."


    "It''s all here. You can do whatever you want." Mari pushed Raito then pointed at the center of the dome.


    With a nod, Raito stood at the center and tensed his body, ready to react to everything.


    Mari turned the indicator to ''1'' and fed the seal enough chakra. After a couple of seconds, the number lit up and gave a short alarm. Not wasting even a second, Mari covered the box then left the room.


    "And don''t use jutsus."


    The lights in the room dimmed down and Raito could hear the mechanism being activated.


    Raito didn''t get to say anything as swishing sound passed by his right ear. He quickly turned his head to look at the arrow and felt his face twitching fiercely. The wooden arrow was coated with dark brown paint and complimenting it was the black floor and dark-colored walls.


    "Hey!" Raito shouted in fear. Without [Chakra Sense] and [Fast Thinking], it was slightly above his capability.


    "That was dangerous!" The next arrow was aimed directly at his groin, making him glare at the eyes behind the small glass on the door.


    Dodging arrows, Raito made a mistake, leaving his back open as another arrow whistled towards Raito''s back. Noticing the arrow, Raito quickly crossed his legs and turned, dodging the arrow by a millimeter.


    Just when Raito relaxed, two arrows came from the front; one towards his face and another towards his gut.


    "Of course, I will¡­" Raito let out a small smile as he shifted the weight of his body towards his right leg then shifted.


    Teet!


    A loud alarm rung as the arrows disappeared one after another.


    Raito looked in confusion and alert as the door to the room opened. As Mari walked in Raito raised his voice. "What happened?"


    Mari shook his head and grabbed Raito by his shoulder then pushed him towards the center. "You crossed the circle."


    "What circle?" Raito looked down but only saw the black floor.


    Mari smiled then crouched down. With her leaning down, she traced a thin line that was just a few shades lighter.


    Raito''s face twitched as a growl escaped from deep within. "Mari-nee."


    "Let''s try this once again." Mari hurriedly went back and closed the door.


    Raito circled, determining the range of free movement. Although it wasn''t much, it was just enough to fill his stretched body.


    "Feed chakra to the seal and get ready," Mari instructed from the outside.


    Raito looked at the seal tag then used chakra threads to feed it chakra.


    "You are expending too much energy with your big movements. To be able to last longer than your opponent, you will have to use your energy more efficiently."


    "This training will make you stronger. Good luck." With that said, Mari stopped talking and looked at Raito, who was dodging the arrows, with her sharp eyes.


    Raito focused his eyes and ears to their maximum limit. The cl.i.c.k.i.n.g of mechanism just before the shootout, the lights, although dim, they surrounded the circle from above helped him see changes just before they landed the hit.


    Raito calmly dodged the arrows one after another. Since there was a time difference between each shootout, Raito had plenty of time to change his focus and prepare for the next one. Listening to Mari''s advice, Raito moved, as little as possible for a clumsy beginner and dodged the arrows.


    "I heard from Inoichi that you have a mental type jutsu that¡­ maybe increase the things you perceive."


    "¡­Yeah, I do and it''s been quite helpful in fighting my opponents."


    "What opponents can a Genin like you have? Except for catching some petty thief and the occasional encounter with bandits, you don''t have much-"


    "You know what I mean." After dodging the arrows, Raito added. "Those monsters are good sparring partners. Every time there is something new."


    "So when are you taking me, your favorite, to that place?" Mari knocked on the door causing Raito to get hit by an arrow.


    "Ow," Kicking the arrow away, Raito gathered himself back and focused on other arrows.


    "If you had asked like Anko-nee, I would have already taken you," Raito replied.


    "I was waiting for you to ask me. Don''t you know? A man should take the initiative."


    "Ow." Another hit.


    "Just how many are there?" Raito shouted in pain as another couple of arrows hit him.


    "Take a guess," Mari said playfully.


    "A hundred or thousand?" Raito replied not sure of how many holes there were around this dome.


    "Correct, congratulations." Mari clapped loudly, which didn''t help at all.


    "There are exactly a thousand holes, fitted with mechanisms, just for launching the arrows. This is just level one, which will give you about two or three seconds to adjust and prepare."


    "That''s tort*re," Raito shouted with his veins bulging. Every time the arrow was launched; Raito had just a few seconds to prepare. If it wasn''t for everyday morning exercises and Kakashi, who helped him with his training, this level would be too difficult for him.


    "Stop whining," Mari shouted then continued observing. Her narrow eyes never left Raito??s body, his big movements, his small movements, and even his breathing.


    "Damn," Raito cursed and shifted his whole body weight then fell on the ground, crossing the small circle.


    Teet


    [After intense training, stat ''DEX'' raised by 1.]


    Opening his mouth, Raito took deep breaths in, feeling the heat all over his body.


    "Open up," Mari ordered as she threw a small round pill.


    Raito didn''t question and ate the round pill. Although there wasn''t much taste, it provided all the nutrition needed by the body.


    "That''s an improvised food pill. Here." She threw a scroll towards Raito. "There are dozen of baskets full of it."


    "Take one every hour."


    Raito stood up holding the scroll and looked at Mari in confusion. "Why are you giving me this?"


    Mari looked at him with a small devious smile on her face. With a few steps, Mari walked outside the door and turned a handle.


    With a loud ''clang'', a sealing formula appeared on the door; both inside and outside, locking the room.


    "Mari-nee, what are you doing?" Raito frowned and walked towards the door.


    "Until you finish your training, you are not allowed to come out." From the small glass on the door, Raito could see Mari''s devious smug face.


    "Mari-nee, open up." Raito tried to open up the door but failed to do so.


    "Brat, just complete the training and you can come out." Mari crackled, looking like a maniac


    "I need to pee." Raito turned his head to the sides, looking for something.


    Mari, who as behind the door laughing, felt her face twitching violently. She knocked on the door to get Raito''s attention and said. "Pull the ring that is just below the box."


    "¡­" Raito quickly found the ring that was attached to a string then pulled it. With a click, the floor on the opposite side revealed a rectangular area, which descended bit by bit leading to a white bathroom equipped with a shower and a toilet.


    With turbulent emotions, Raito pulled the ring again which closed the small path.


    "You really put a lot of effort into it." Raito looked blankly at Mari, creeping her out.


    "Am I really going to live here until I complete the training?" Raito grumbled then added, "What if I miss the Ch¨±nin finals?"


    "You won''t and there is a nice side to it." Mari said mysteriously which perked Raito''s attention.


    "What is it?" Raito asked with lazy curiosity.


    "Well¡­ it''s supposed to be a secret."


    Mari''s act made Raito calm heart churn. Turning around, he stood back in the circle.


    "It''s a BB-Rank mission."


    "BB-Rank?" After thinking for a while, Raito shrugged his shoulder and said. "I have a few B ranks on me already."


    "It''s not a B-Rank, but BB-Rank," Mari stressed, correcting Raito.


    "I have never heard of that¡­ BB-Rank." Raito started stretching.


    "Heh~ Believe it or not, it''s your choice." Mari let out a big smile then tapped the glass. "If you complete it within ten days, you can naturally join on this mission."


    Raito froze for a second then he turned his head towards Mari. "I can join?"


    "Only if you can complete this training." Mari said with a mischievous smile.


    Mari, who saw Raito''s reaction, smiled and left with final piece of advice. "And remember, no jutsus."


    Raito stood in a daze for a long time with a frown on his face before releasing a chakra thread. Feeding chakra to the seal, Raito started his training.


    Alone in the underground, with only the sound of the arrows being launched, Raito increased his stats gradually.


    (AN: Yup! This is all for dexterity guys.)


    On the outskirts of the village, Sasuke sat on the ground, leaning his back on the boulder, looking at Kakashi, who looking at him with his lazy eye.


    Breathing hard, Sasuke placed his hands on his knees and tried standing up.


    Kakashi sighed as he placed a hand on Sasuke''s shoulder then turned around. Leaning onto the boulder beside Sasuke, Kakashi slid down and sat beside Sasuke.


    "Sit down, it has only been three days since you have started training and you have already learned how to control your Sharingan properly. It doesn''t drain chakra as much as it used to in the beginning."


    "Un¡­" Sasuke sat back down and nodded. Unlike his early days with Sharingan, it now took less chakra to active and maintain the Sharingan. Along with that, Sasuke learned about various tricks in using Genjutsu and finally he copied some of the jutsus that Kakashi showed him.


    Forcing himself to talk more, Kakashi continued. "And lucky you, you are primary lightning, which means you are the best candidate for learning my jutsu."


    "Your jutsu? That lightning hand, you showed me earlier?" Sasuke listened to anything Kakashi had to say, just because he was known to be one of the best in the village.


    "It''s called Chidori. I created it in times of war. I was maybe twelve or thirteen at that time." Kakashi dragged. "You have already copied it with your Sharingan. Now it''s all about training and using it again and again. Some theoretical knowledge regarding chakra nature and it should be possible for you."


    "What about Raito?" Sasuke asked all of a sudden


    "What?" Kakashi looked sideways at Sasuke, who was trying not to look at him.


    "Does he know it too? Chidori." At last, Sasuke turned to face Kakashi and asked in a straight manner.


    "¡­ I haven''t taught him." Kakashi answered after a short pause, thinking about his ever-surprising team.


    With a small smile, Sasuke stood up then made a few hand seals. Extending his hand, lightning sparkled over his palm.


    "¡­" Kakashi looked Sasuke with his lazy eyes and sighed.

 Chapter 72 - 72 – Reports and Old Friend

    At the Hokage office, Hiruzen sat on his chair, rubbing his terribly tired eyes. And in front of the him, Mariko sat with a set of doc.u.ments on her hands.


    Looking at the Hiruzen''s physical state, Mariko felt extremely worried about him. In her time as an assistant to the Hokage, she had never seen Hiruzen feeling this tired from the work. Even when there were piles and piles of paperwork waiting for him to approve or meetings after meetings from the council members, Hiruzen did it all. He did everything, bearing all the troubles, from all directions. Just like an unshakable mountain, but today, this unshakable mountain in Mariko''s eye, shook. Even though she believed that everything will pass by, Mariko felt extremely worried.


    "Hokage-sama, how about you rest for a while. I will bring some-"


    Before Mariko could speak anymore, Hiruzen raised his hand stopping her from speaking any further. "I know my limits, Mariko."


    "Hokage-sama."


    "Ask Mari and Inoichi to come. Also, tell them to bring everyone who was involved with the Suna-nin."


    "Hai, Hokage-sama." The hidden ANBU acknowledged the order then hurried away to complete it.


    Hiruzen closed his eyes and tapped on the table, waiting for Mariko.


    Mariko cleared her throat and continued reporting. "Hokage-sama, you have a meeting with all the clan heads in the village area at one in the afternoon. Then you have another meeting with the all clan heads that are stationed outside the village at six. The head of the scouting department will also be meeting concerning details about the defenses outside the village."


    "Lastly, the members of the civilian council wanted to meet with you. They wanted to know about the movement of a large number of resources in the village."


    "Push it down," Hiruzen said with his eyes closed.


    "Hai, Hokage-sama." Mariko jolted down the instructions and continued.


    "The sensory division reported saying that they were unable to find Orochimaru. But they gave a list of places where permission is needed." She reported then handed Hiruzen a page, full of addresses and area points.


    Hiruzen grabbed the list and quickly went through it then placed the paper on the table. After a short pause and turn towards the window, Hiruzen answered with heavy voice. "No permission"


    Just when Mariko was about to continue, Hiruzen stood up and raised his hands then said, "Ask DRAGON if he is free or not. If he is, then tell him to meet me."


    "Hai, Hokage-sama," Mariko also stood up then turned around to leave the room. Her first job was to call DRAGON as soon as possible.


    Hiruzen walked inside the inner chambers after giving the rest of the ANBU some signals.


    "Hiruzen," As soon as Hiruzen entered the room, a rough voice called him out.


    "Enma, you are early." It was his contracted beast, the current monkey king, Enma.


    "Hiruzen," Enma stretched out his big hands, grabbing Hiruzen. "As you had asked¡­ I went to Mount My¨­boku and met with the old toad sage."


    "Did he say anything?" Hiruzen asked with a bit of hope at the corner of his heart.


    Enma looked at Hiruzen''s face for a long time then said "¡­I couldn''t even enter his residence. The two elders of the toad clan said that there was no incoming danger for the short future."


    "No danger? Short future?" Hiruzen frowned as everything pointed to Orochimaru and Sunagakure causing problems in the Ch¨±nin exams.


    After a bit of hesitation, Enma brought out a scroll from his c.h.e.s.t pocket and gave it to Hiruzen.


    Hiruzen took it and opened it calmly. He raised his brows after finding the scroll empty. "What''s this Enma?"


    "When I was on my way back, I met with someone called ''Zero'' from ''Poison Hall''¡­ at the periphery of mount My¨­boku."


    "Near mount My¨­boku? How is that possible?" Hiruzen looked at Enma in shock. The sage regions relating to the toads were an unknown territory. Humans had no chance of entering those lands, at all. Whenever one tried, he or she would forever be lost, with no hopes of ever getting out.


    "I don''t know how he got there but, he gave that scroll to me. He also said that it was from the ''Mistress of the Poison Hall''."


    "Mistress of the Poison Hall¡­ never heard of that." Hiruzen thought for a while then shook his head. The name sounded familiar but after thinking for a while he didn''t recall anyone with that title.


    "I have only known ''Zero'' from the ''Poison Hall''. About this ''Mistress of the Poison Hall''¡­ I can''t think of anyone. Have you heard of her, Enma?"


    "I haven''t, Hiruzen." Enma sat down, defeated by all this thinking. "I have been thinking about all this the entire way."


    "Oh, and that guy said that you should keep the scroll with yourself all the time from now on," Enma added after a bit of thinking.


    "This?" Hiruzen looked at the scroll for quite some time. Although this little scroll with flower pattern looked beautiful, there was nothing else.


    Knock! Knock!


    "It''s bound to happen, Enma." Hiruzen shook his head and smiled. "Let''s wait a few more days then we''ll spar."


    "You old fool¡­ be ready next time." Enma smiled with his eyes closed and disappeared in a cloud of chakra smoke.


    "Hokage-sama, we received news from the border patrol," Mariko reported it from the other side of the door.


    "From the borders?" Hiruzen stood from his seat, pocketing the scroll inside his c.h.e.s.t pocket then walked out.


    "Let''s hear it." Feeling refreshed, Hiruzen walked with his back straight towards his chair.


    "All the neighboring small nations are as usual. There has been no change at the borders in the past six months¡­ and even the land of sound is the same."


    "As for the land of sand, three units have started infiltration from the eastern border and two have begun investigating the northern Sand border. They have just finished their first round and have send in the reports."


    Mari paused for a while and looked at Hiruzen.


    Hiruzen listened with his eyes closed thinking about the possible things that could happen. Before letting his imaginations run wild, Hiruzen let out a small noise and gave Mariko a signal.


    Mari nodded and started at once. "The eastern border of the land of sand had no border patrol but the nearest forts had shinobis defending it as usual. Although the forts were not heavily defended, it seem to be adequate enough."


    "That''s all normal." Hiruzen sighed then added, "We may need to contact our men inside Suna."


    "Should I?" Mariko felt uneasy as she asked. "We already have a few traders ready."


    Hiruzen placed his hand on the table and thought for a long time before saying, "If Sunagakure is really planning for an attack; there defenses will be even tighter. We should be ready¡­ Send the traders."


    "Hai Hokage-sama." Mari accepted the order and seeing that Hiruzen had no more orders, she turned around to leave.


    "Is DRAGON here yet?" Hiruzen asked to which the door slowly opened.


    A figure wearing a dark robe and a white mask quietly walked in.


    "DRAGON, take a seat."


    "Hai, Hokage-sama." DRAGON gave a small bow and sat on the sofa.


    Mariko left the room and the seals glowed, separating the room from any disturbances.


    "Hokage-sama," DRAGON also had a stack of doc.u.ments about the current affairs.


    "DRAGON¡­ I wish this day never came to be." Hiruzen sighed as he took out two small cups from the coffee table in front and a bottle of alcohol.


    DRAGON looked at the bottle then at Hiruzen, "Hokage-sama, it''s unwise to drink so early. And you have a chain of meetings past noon."


    "Don''t worry about it." Hiruzen shook his head and opened the bottle.


    DRAGON looked at the aged Hiruzen for a moment before grabbing the bottle. Hiruzen looked in inquiry to which DRAGON said, "Let me pour," revealing his aged voice that was different from his normally heard voice.


    "¡­I never thought I would ever hear this voice again," Hiruzen let out a faint smile as DRAGON filled the cups with alcohol.


    "Old friend." Hiruzen called out causing DRAGON to pause for a while.


    Letting go of the bottle, DRAGON paused for a second then sighed looking at the ceiling. With a slight shake, crackling sounds came from his body as DRAGON''s figure rose by a few inches. Taking off the robe, he revealed his slightly tanned skin and well-defined muscles. Pressing the mask on his face, DRAGON applied a bit of chakra and pulled it off, revealing his slightly tanned sharp face. Although there were some wrinkles on his face, it made him look wise. But the most noticeable features about his face were the pair of deep violet eyes and his spiky blood red hair.


    (I totally do not know how to describe a person. With the help of discord members I did some things)


    "You look much older than me, Hiruzen." After a few cough, DRAGON''s voice changed, revealing his rough voice.


    "Uzumaki blood sure is¡­"


    DRAGON touched his face and closed his eyes, thinking about his past. "It''s more of a curse. To live this life and to bear this¡­"


    Hiruzen picked up his cup and looked at the glistening surface of alcohol.


    "With the one from Kusagakure, there are now twelve Uzumaki in the village but¡­ they are all children. No training, no knowledge about their heritage, just what am I supposed to do?" DRAGON closed his eyes in bitterness.


    Both, life and death were equally dreadful.


    Comparisons were torturous.


    After a while, both men raised their cups and said at the same time, "To the future."


    Hiruzen never noticed the scroll in his c.h.e.s.t pocket disappearing or the matter about the ''Mistress of the Poison Hall''. In conscious or unconscious mind, the Poison Hall had now slowly faded as the threads of karma got severed one after another.


    On the other side.


    At the underground training room, pair of eyes were moving left, up, right and down. They were moving everywhere, capturing everything. Raito blinked time and again, clearly more than the normal amount. As arrows came raining down, Raito no longer made big, bulky movements but made do with small significant movements, dodging the arrows by a hair''s length.


    Now, the mechanism did not give him time to change focus and prepare like in the beginning. It was two or sometimes even three at times, raining down at Raito from all directions.


    ''Damn,'' Raito gritted his teeth, dodging the arrows but every now and then the arrows would graze by, leaving a scorching mark on his body. Then the pain from heat would come by, agonizing him and there seemed to be something else, which caused extra pain.


    "Mari-nee, when I come out, I am gonna-Ow." Raito gritted his teeth and clenched his fist, trying hard not to scream.


    [Due to intense training, you DEX raised by 1.]


    "Only thing¡­ this is the only thing that is making me stay in this dank place." Raito said while exhaling with difficulty.


    "Damn," Raito lay on the ground looking at the ceiling with exhaustion. "And it''s only level three."


    "Inventory, improvised food pill, one." Raito commanded as a food pill appeared on his mouth.


    Swallowing the food pill, Raito''s face scrunched up in disgust. "I''ll remember this too, making me swallow this¡­ disgusting thing."


    When Raito first swallowed the food pill, it was from the top of the basket. But after some time passed, the food pill''s taste turned intense. The good thing about the pill was the large amount of nutrients along with it''s absorbents. As for the taste enhancers, there were none.


    Ten minutes later, the nutrients in the food pills were completely absorbed, letting Raito move with ease.


    Throwing out his torn and ragged jacket and T-shirt, Raito revealed his well-defined lean muscular top. Raito sighed as he traced several cut marks made by the wooden arrows.


    ''[Heal]''


    With a green glow, the cuts and bruise all over his body quickly disappeared.


    ''[Meditation]''


    Circulating the stagnant chakra in his body Raito felt his body getting lighter and the tension disappearing. The acc.u.mulated fatigue of the whole day disappeared slowly, rejuvenating his body.


    ''Should I let go and unlock all the seals?'' With a thought, restricting seals appeared all over his body. Raito thought for a while then buried this absurdly stupid idea.


    "Status."


    Yoshizawa Raito Lvl 41 Exp 28%


    Rank ¨C Genin (Ninja)


    Title ¨C The Gamer


    HP ¨C 5,400/6,400


    CP ¨C 12,300/12,800


    STR ¨C 170 (Total 300)


    VIT ¨C 179


    DEX ¨C 150 (Total -203)


    INT ¨C 180


    WIS ¨C 108


    LUK ¨C 41+20 (+20 from Equipment Bonus)


    Stat points: 164


    Yoshizawa Household Member: Additional +50 HP per level +2 INT & +3 VIT per level.


    Holder Of Lucky Star: Additional +1 LUK per level.


    (So, these are Raito''s current stat. High in STR right now because of all the physical training, he has been doing, himself, with lee and Gai, and with Kakashi. The INT is down but the total CP is up because of the chakra control exercises. For those who remember that leaf training, leaf spinning, tree climbing and rock climbing gives him various amount of chakra points, which I have forced them to be of basic and elementary level. The higher level of exercise are like Naruto repairing the bells with chakra in demon continent movie, so here I have changed that part to like taking seeds out of shells, engraving names using chakra, using chakra threads and so on¡­ and yeah the WIS is quite low.)


    "It''s going good." Raito closed the status tab with a smile on his face then stood up. With a chakra thread, Raito pulled the ring, revealing a path downstairs to the bathroom.


    "I think I am getting lazier." With a swipe, all the clothes disappeared then a sphere of water appeared above Raito''s head, letting out a light shower.


    Taking out a sachet of shampoo, Raito used it to cover all the important parts.


    While he continued making bubbles for himself, the wooden tub at the side of the bathroom was gradually being filled with water.


    After a light shower, Raito walked towards the tub then squatted down.


    "I can''t do some for the jutsus from a distance." Raito sighed then placed his hand above the water surface. "[Water Purification]"


    The water let out a dim glow before subsiding.


    [Skill ''Water Purification'' has leveled up by 1.]


    [Skill ''Water Purification'' has reached level 40.]


    "Finally." Raito laid his body in the tub filled with purified water and let out a satisfied m.o.a.n. "This is the best."

 Chapter 73 - 73 – BB-Rank Mission

    Chapter 73 ¨C BB-Rank Mission


    "Calm down¡­ deep breath, and exhale." Raito closed his eyes and did a simple breathing exercise. After a while, Raito found himself relaxed and on the peak of concentration. Letting out a big breath, Raito flicked his finger, letting out a thread of chakra, which connected to the seal, then activated the mechanism.


    Level five was nothing like the previous four levels. This level had brought changes to the wooden arrows.


    While the speed of arrow had increased by quite a lot, it would not be much of the problem for Raito, who just had to endure for a certain amount of time to catch up.


    The main problem was the ''visibility'' of the arrows. They were now invisible to Raito''s eyes, in the literal sense. The wooden arrows were there but he just could not see them with his n.a.k.e.d eyes. ''[Chakra Sense]'' and enhancing his eyes with chakra worked really well, letting him see the arrows just like before but, without using chakra, he was just blind to these arrows.


    "Do you want me to take a freaking guess, Mari-nee?" Raito let out a frustrated howl, followed by a miserable howl.


    "Ow, ow, ow¡­ it hurts." Crouching down and protecting his vital parts, Raito rolled and hurriedly crossed the line, deactivating the mechanism.


    "Damn it." Raito cursed in anger and pain. There were many cuts all around the sides of his pants, which showed his skin. Over the slightly tanned skin, there were red line marks, made by the arrows that were poisoned, causing great pain.


    After the mechanism stopped shooting arrows, Raito hurriedly pulled one of the wooden arrows and used ''[Observe]''.


    [Blunt Wooden Arrow (Uncommon)] (Special)


    "It''s just a regular arrow." Throwing away the arrow, which disappeared in a cloud of smoke, Raito stood up and started thinking about it.


    Except for a few sealwork on the arrow that he was itching to get his hands on and some kind of poison in the arrow that gave him a painful sensation every time the arrow landed a hit, there was not anything else.


    "What else can I do?" The frown on Raito''s face deepened as he thought of ways to deal with the situation. The fifth level had already taken him two days in which there was not much progress. Although his DEX stat has risen by lots, he still could not get dodge all the arrows, which was the achievement required to unlock the sealwork at the door.


    "Pain is the fastest way to learn, huh? Tch." Raito remembered Mari''s brutal method of training and nearly gave up on his life.


    "I should be able to take the hits and¡­"


    Raito sighed and calmed his unsteady heart. Letting out a long breath, he let go of the tension, preparing for the shootout.


    "1¡­ 2-"


    Just when the chakra storage seal was about to be filled, Raito heard a small ding sound, breaking his concentration. The timing was so awful that Raito wanted to curse.


    [Perk ''Enhanced Basic Senses'' unlocked.]


    [Perk ''Enhanced Basic Senses'' consists of ''Enhanced Vision'', ''Enhanced Hearing'', ''Enhanced Taste'', ''Enhanced perception of Smell'' and ''Enhanced Proprioception''.]


    [Each one can be activated using one stat point each.]


    [Total Stat Points - 164]


    Deactivating the mechanism, Raito hurried to a corner and looked at the new tabs hovering in front of him


    The perk this time was about the five basic senses. That means he had unknowingly fulfilled some criteria regarding his basic senses.


    "Five points¡­ I don''t wanna use it¡­ " Raito found it hard to use the stat points that he had been saving for a long time.


    Usually, the perks are not that useful. They are more of a shortcut when you do not want to level up the skills or increase the stats. If Raito had invested a little more time in explosion seals and throwing skills, he would not need the ''Explosion Specialist'' and ''Sharpshooter'' perk.


    Thinking about his past mistakes, Raito was instantly depressed.


    After looking left and right with his shifty eyes, Raito said with a slightly loud voice. "I would have activated them if all five¡­ needed only one stat point."


    "One side wants me to spend stat points for perks and the other wants me to spend points to learn techniques from the library. What a drag." Raito closed all the tabs and used a chakra thread to link to the seal and activate the mechanism.


    "And they are all passive-" Raito immediately shut his mouth and opened his skill list.


    "I knew it," Looking at the skill tab in front of him, Raito let out a small smile. "So, there are criteria for these passives to work."


    Raito scratched the bridge of his nose in embarrassment then brought out two wooden swords, one in each hand, and let out a bigger smile seeing the previously dimmed skill lit up.


    "I love passive." Letting out a big laugh, Raito quickly activated the mechanism and started.


    In a hot-spring inn, Shikaku and Shikamaru sat on the seats along with Baki and Temari on the opposite. Baki had a neutral expression whereas Temari had a disgruntled expression on her face. Maybe it was the idea of eating together on the same table that made her angry.


    Shikamaru let out a big sigh on the inside but still gave a small smile on the outside.


    Shikaku was also doing the same, letting out a small smile and talking about various things. But Baki only replied with small nods and grunts like a certain someone.


    Before the atmosphere could get any more awkward, a beautiful hostess lightly knocked on the door and called out.


    "Food''s here," Shikamaru announced with a bit of awkwardness and called them in.


    The hostess had a small smile on her face as she met eyes with everyone in the room then she bowed with her eyes closed. After that, she walked in along with a few men and placed the variety of foods on the table then quickly left the room.


    "Baki-san, we still have about two weeks until the Ch¨±nin finals. I hope your stay here has been enjoyable." Shikaku said with a small smile and some hand gestures.


    "Our stay here has been nothing less than luxurious, here," Baki replied with the same neutral tone as he grabbed the chopsticks.


    Temari looked at Shikamaru, who looked like he was about to sleep at any time and said, "You should have prepared for the finals, right?"


    "Huh? Me?" Shikamaru pointed at himself and gave her a questioning glance at her. Then as if remembering something important, he let out a chuckle and replied, "Yeah, sure I have. Somewhat."


    Temari felt her face twitching hearing Shikamaru''s reply. Anger rising within her, she wanted to bang her fan at Shikamaru.


    Picking up the chopsticks, Temari narrowed her eyes and said, "It''s a battle between villages, I am going all out whether you are prepared or not."


    Looking at her smug face, Shikamaru felt like rolling his eyes a hundred times.. ''What a drag.''


    Shikaku laughed looking at his kid then turned to Baki, "Baki-san, where are Gaara and Kankur¨­? Aren''t they going to join us?"


    After Shikaku asked this question, Baki paused for a second before continuing to add food to his plate. "Kankur¨­ is with his puppets. That boy with green eyes, Yoshizawa¡­ really did a bad one on him."


    "Those puppets take a lot of time, don''t they?" Shikamaru raised his question after he noticed the two stopping.


    Temari twitched then replied with an angry snort, "What would you guys know? Even after a week, he is still doing-"


    "Temari," Baki cut her off and said, "Kankur¨­ is having difficulties regarding his puppets so he is having his meals in his room."


    After that, they quietly ate the meal. Baki did not talk about Gaara and Shikaku did not ask about him either.


    After the small meal, Shikamaru and Shikaku walked out. They did not talk about the Suna shinobi anytime on the way.


    Just when they were clan grout to enter the clan grounds, Shikamaru spoke up, "Why were we there, dad?"


    "Do you have a guess?" Shikaku asked with a smile. Questions like these are only beneficial when asked to right ones.


    "To see if they were going to be trouble or not," Shikamaru answered which was already on his mind.


    "But what kind of trouble?" After answering, Shikamaru added a question for Shikaku.


    Shikaku nodded his head and asked again, "Do you remember about the Hy¨±ga incident?"


    "Yeah, kinda''." Shikamaru looked at his father for a second before closing his eyes. "I don''t think Sunagakure will do such a thing, will they?"


    Shikaku sighed as he rubbed his son''s head, "You have no idea what people would do."


    "It''s Inoichi''s job to do this but he is somewhat busy so I am here instead." Shikaku shrugged.


    "¡­"


    At the Hokage tower, Hiruzen neutralized the incoming fist and jumped in for a kick to the head. Enma, his training partner and summon, smirked as he blocked the kick with his shoulders.


    "Not bad, Hiruzen but here''s one¡­" Enma grabbed the leg and sent out punch straight.


    Enma and Hiruzen pushed one another and brought out their staff. With a grin on their faces, they again started another round of battle.


    The ANBUs on the corner of the room watched the battle between the two sides as spectators.


    Although, it was purely Taijutsu without any killing blows, the ANBU watching it felt honored to be in this room to see Hiruzen sparring. Not many people get to watch a war veteran, who is also the leader of the entire village, spar.


    Just when things were about to heat up, rapid knocks came from the door. After a few rounds of knocks, Mariko opened the door and said, "Hokage-sama, the ANBU operatives to Suna are here."


    "They have returned?" Hiruzen quickly used a few jutsu to freshen up then walked out. "Let''s hear what they have to say."


    The office was filled with people wearing masks and uniforms, in short, the ANBU. When Hiruzen walked in, the ANBUs knelt and said together, "Hokage-sama."


    Hiruzen raised his hand and said with a small smile, "It''s good that you have returned."


    Then his face turned serious another second, "What did you all get?"


    The ANBU operatives quickly stood up and took a step back leaving the one wearing a FOX mask to stand out.


    "Hokage-sama, we have confirmed that Sunagakure and Otogakure are preparing for something." FOX started then took out a bunch of doc.u.ments from his storage seal.


    "These are the reports of the price hike on the food items and the metal ores in Sunagakure, Wind Capital, and two mine cities. The same thing happened in the Sound Country too." FOX gave the doc.u.ment to Mariko, which showed the price difference on items a year before and now.


    "The security has gotten tighter both in and out, and they have also added a curfew system for the nighttime."


    "On our visit to bars, market, and centers, we found that Suna shinobi were hiring mechanics. But to what reason, it is unknown."


    FOX pointed at the doc.u.ments and said. "All new rules and changes, starting from six months ago are compiled in those doc.u.ments."


    After clearing his throat, FOX continued, "On our second day, a check was conducted and all of the healing salves that were brought through internal channels were confiscated. The reason given was that there was a ban on sale on healing salves. They blamed the merchants and businessperson of unlawful practices for selling low-quality products and sales, and said that they dampen the image of Sunagakure."


    Mariko frowned as she quickly finished reading the report. Picking another report, Mariko found something as she started, "It''s surely unnatural that the price has been increased by this rate. According to this report, the manufacturing plants are having difficulty in procuring raw materials for the products. And since the last chief operator died, the situation had been worsening."


    "But even so¡­ if the raw material supplier wanted to switch to different companies, they should have already done so and products should have been made available on the market¡­"


    "Military should have directly taken over the manufacturing plant in these past three months." Mariko walked towards the Hokage desk.


    Hiruzen frowned as he saw Mariko pulling the drawer but just as he was about to stretch his hand, she took out the latest biannual report from the top drawer and started turning pages.


    Placing her fingers towards the picture of an old man and a youth, Mariko showed it to Hiruzen. "He was the previous chief operator and this is the person who replaced him. According to reports, he left the program-"


    "It''s already very clear, Mariko." Hiruzen stopped Mariko from speaking then turned towards the door.


    ''That was close.'' Hiruzen sighed in relief.


    Knock! Knock!


    The same woman who delivered the important message last time popped her head in and started without any hesitation, "Hokage-sama, they have placed their bets for the exams."


    Hiruzen lightly massaged his eyelids and took a deep breath in then exhaled, "Looks like we can''t back out now."


    "Hokage-sama," Mariko collected the doc.u.ments and closed the reports.


    "Come in," Hiruzen waved his hand, calling the woman in.


    The ANBU looked at each other and quietly retreated. Since the Daimy¨­s and other people have voted, the Ch¨±nin exams could not be canceled anymore.


    Hiruzen looked at the young woman then turned his seat towards the window. Eyes closed, a sigh escaped from his lips as Hiruzen asked, "What are their bets? Who has the highest bets?"


    "Ten million Ryo for the first round, twenty million Ryo for the second round and fifty million Ryo for the last match. In total, it is a hundred million Ryo and the winner gets three percent of c.u.mulative mineral resources from the allied nations."


    The young woman could not see Hiruzen''s frowning face but she did know that this kind of news is just too distasteful so she decided to quickly end her report. "The highest bets were on Uchiha Sasuke and Gaara of the Sand. But the Wind Daimy¨­ voted for Uchiha Sasuke instead of Gaara."


    Hiruzen had a faint sneer on his face as he said, "As expected, they still fear Uchiha clan."


    The room went quiet, as Hiruzen was lost in thoughts. The young woman looked around and just when she was about to open her mouth, Hiruzen asked all of a sudden. "What about Fire Daimy¨­? Who did he bet on?"


    Since there were only ANBU and Mariko in the room, there was not much noise. If Hiruzen had asked the same question in the meeting room then the civilian council would cry out Sasuke''s name.


    The same council group who were crying for injustice for Sasuke a few months ago. Thinking of that time Hiruzen let out a soft chuckle.


    The young woman let a small smile as she saw Hiruzen smiling. After a quick glance at the scroll, she opened her mouth.


    "Yoshizawa Raito."


    "Ah."


    Appearing in front of Raito, with his hands behind his back was a black-robed man with an ANBU mask that had draconic patterns.


    Raito looked in alarm as he brought out the armor made up stone beads underneath his clothes and a kunai in his hand. He looked at the ANBU, who was in front of him¡­ a little bit too close for his comfort then quickly used ''[Chakra Sense]''."


    ''He appeared out-a-nowhere. Isn''t he faster than Gai-sensei? How did he heck did he do that?''


    "You are too close." Raito tilted his head a little back but did not step back.


    DRAGON made a ''Hmm'' sound as he took a step back. "A Senbon and poisoned one at that, a kunai and that earth armor. I wonder when you prepared for this."


    "¡­" Raito kept his mouth sealed and stood like a statue.


    "No need to answer." DRAGON shrugged and walked back.


    "Mari-nee, Anko-nee, Inoichi-sensei¡­ can you guys tell me what is going on?" Raito quickly recalled all the items back and called the people hidden in the room.


    "Just like your dad, good." DRAGON spoke once again and the three, hidden in the room, walked out of their hiding spot.


    Raito raised his brows and looked at the black-robed man in front of him. "My dad?"


    "Your dad''s full view was about 50km, just so you know. How are you compared to him?"


    "50 km?" Raito took a deep breath in. ''Even with all the bonuses by the gamer power, I can only do 25 km, at most.''


    "It''s around 25 km-"


    "Don''t space out when you are talking to someone." DRAGON shouted as he moved his hands. Like lightning, it went for Raito''s head but Raito, who had been left in the underground to train his reaction skills, slightly shifted his head and dodged the hand.


    "Fast reaction." DRAGON looked at Raito with a shine in his eyes then acting as if he did not do anything, he walked back and stood in front of the table, along with Inoichi.


    Mari walked forward and covered the DRAGON''s view of Raito as he checked him. "You brat, didn''t you finish level five yesterday? You made us wait."


    "Introduce yourself," Mari whispered and gave Raito a huge back pat, pushing him forward.


    Straightening his back, Raito introduced himself according to the Shinobi code of conduct, "I''m Yoshizawa Raito, thirteen going to fourteen, a Genin of Konohagakure by rank and an intern at the Konoha T&I division."


    DRAGON let out a light chuckle looking at Raito as he started, "Head of ANBU division, serving directly under the Hokage, CODE ¨C DRAGON."


    ''ANBU head?'' Raito ''looked'' at Mari and Anko for help but found that they were looking at him and trying to hold their laughter.


    After a mental glare at the two of them, Raito waited with a solemn look on his face.


    DRAGON cleared his throat then started, "Genin Raito, you were accepted by the T&I department as an intern after you passed your Genin exam then you were under Yamanaka Inoichi''s tutelage, learning Yamanaka clan''s jutsu. Is that correct?"


    "Yes, that is correct. But it-"


    "What you were doing in the past three months¡­ entering someone''s mind, extracting information, and erasing memories¡­" When DRAGON said that his voice seemed extremely solemn, making Raito shrink his neck.


    "Mhm," Raito nodded slightly, understanding the nature of the conversation.


    Looking at Raito, DRAGON nodded inwardly and revealed, "Those were all ANBU operations."


    "¡­ ANBU operations?" Raito turned to face Inoichi but all he could get was Inoichi''s stoic face. Looking back at DRAGON, Raito replied in a small voice, "I had some guesses¡­"


    "Regarding those operations, you were given hints, not to share the information to anyone except, your teacher at that time, Yamanaka Inoichi and the Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, right?"


    "Yes, Inoichi-sensei had explained to me about it," Raito said with a nod.


    "I am making this official now." DRAGON looked at Mari and nodded.


    Mari also stepped forward and said, "As the head of the intelligence department I will be a witness to this event."


    "Yoshizawa Raito, you will never reveal any ANBU operations to any other party; friend or foe, under any circ.u.mstances and pressure¡­ except for Yamanaka Inoichi, your supervisor, leader of ANBU division, DRAGON, which is currently me and Hokage of the Konohagakure, which is currently Hiruzen Sarutobi."


    There was a pregnant pause as DRAGON narrowed his eyes and let out a small burst of chakra, "Do you agree?"


    Raito looked around and when he saw everyone giving him signals to nod in agreement, he nodded his head quickly, "Yes sir."


    "Finally done with this." DRAGON sighed losing his dignified image at once, making Raito''s face twitch violently.


    "Raito, if you are caught revealing ANBU operation secrets, you shall be punished," Mari warned with a stern face. "As for the one who you reveal the information to, it will depend on the situation."


    Raito nodded in reply then turned to face DRAGON, who took out a plain white mask, which looked like an ANBU''s mask but it did not have any patterns.


    "Take it." DRAGON gave it to Raito then added, "Patternless mask are for ANBU in training. You can''t wear it in the public and act like an ANBU but with this, you can ask to join at any time."


    "Inoichi, explain it to him and you can go." DRAGON took a seat on a comfortable chair, which Raito had enhanced and said to Inoichi.


    Inoichi walked forward and unlike usual he had a serious expression on his face. When his body covered Raito, Inoichi let out a small sad smile on his face. "Raito."


    "Sensei?" Raito looked at Inoichi. Seeing his tired eyes, dark circle, and pale face, Raito could guess that he was overworked and must have not rested for two or more consecutive days. "You don''t look so good."


    "I''m taking a rest after I am done with this." Inoichi let out a small smile and rubbed Raito''s head.


    "Our Yamanaka clan techniques are intrusive as you know."


    Raito nodded as he looked at other Mari, DRAGON, and Anko in the room.


    "Our clan techniques allow us to extract information, which is what we tell outsiders. The shinobi force knows that we go into someone''s mind and extract information but it takes time and preparation."


    Raito nodded again and ideas appeared inside his head.


    "Finally what ANBU and Hokage-sama know is that¡­ with enough time and preparation we not only can enter minds and extract information, but we can also manipulate it; add false memories, erase memories, and more."


    "¡­"


    "¡­Sensei, when will you teach it to Ino?" Raito asked after a long pause. "I mean, she will, ugh¡­ I, did I learn too fast or too early?"


    Inoichi looked at Raito then placed his hand on Raito''s shoulder and said, "Raito¡­ when I said that the elders agreed to give you the mind voice transmission jutsu, I actually lied."


    "You lied but¡­ well, in the end, everything worked and you did teach me a whole lot of jutsus. So¡­" Raito scratched the back of his head in all this confusion.


    "That ''Mind Voice Transmission Jutsu'' was the criteria to learn the forbidden techniques of Yamanaka clan."


    "¡­"


    "Mind voice Transmission technique is the most demanding, available for all level technique in the Yamanaka clan library."


    ''It was just a hundred for wisdom and vitality, not that??'' Raito remembered the time Inoichi gave him the technique.


    "Sensei, how many know these techniques?" Raito suddenly raised the question making DRAGON turn his head slightly.


    "This is a new program that has been going on for less than ten years and there are less than ten people including you and me, who have full knowledge of these jutsus. Of course, you have much to learn but I can fully say that with some time you will be the youngest-"


    "Let''s stop this here." DRAGON stood up and with a voice filled with chakra forced Raito and Inoichi to stop. Then he turned to face Anko and gave her a signal.


    "Seriously, even this kid," Anko grumbled as she took out a set of doc.u.ments then passed it to Raito and DRAGON.


    Raito grabbed the papers then read it but after he saw the picture on the top right corner, his eyebrows rose sharply. Raito raised his head and looked at Anko, who was signaling him to read on.


    "This is your assignment; capture, interrogate, and erase the memory, if needed." DRAGON did not ask for Raito''s answer on accepting or declining the mission, he just gave Raito the mission.


    The papers had information about three people who were suspected to be traitors to the village. The doc.u.ment mentioned about them selling the information about the security structure to the information brokers. "What''s the-"


    "This can''t be real." Raito let out a laugh then looked at the people around him. But they didn''t have a smile or a banner saying that it was a prank and all. "I mean, they are-"


    "I assume you know them." Dragon said as he looked at Raito from the corner of his eyes.


    Raito looked at the pictures with a frown as he answered, "Of course, I know them¡­ They were my classmates¡­ and the same age too."

 Chapter 74 - 74 – Southwestern Station

    Chapter 74 ¨C Southwestern Station


    "Excuse me!" A loud shout in the middle of the forest caught the attention of every single shinobi in the southwestern area station tower.


    "Is this the patrol station for the Southwestern area?" Hands in his pocket, Raito walked casually with a small smile on his face.


    Shinobi gathered in groups of four with the team leaders in the front, presumably the taller one with Ch¨±nin vest on.


    When they heard Raito''s shout, they quickly took action like a mechanical clockwork, arranging in a specific pattern.


    The Ch¨±nins were in front with kunai drawn out and behind him were two other shinobi with shuriken, hidden in their sleeves. Lastly, the shinobi at the rear made a defensive stance, hiding behind the three in front of them. They secretly took out a scroll from their pouch, ready to report.


    While some did the routine flawlessly, there were some completely new, who were still fumbling. Raito chuckled in the inside imagining Naruto failing to get into formation.


    Although they were being secretive about it, Raito had already known about the formation and the conduct a team is supposed to follow from Naruto months ago. And with his ''[Chakra Sense]'', the secretive action were no longer secretive.


    In all this intense waiting period, a few of the more experienced groups at the back area had taken a step back and silently disappeared from the view, hiding behind the tree trunks and looking at the scene.


    Looking at all the group in his view, Raito let out a bright smile and took out a scroll from his pouch.


    "Yoshizawa Raito, Genin from the last graduating batch." Raito raised his hand, unrolling the scroll, and introduced himself. "I am here as a replacement."


    Vigilance dropped as the Genins started whispering. While some had jealousy mixed within, some were looking at Raito with a smile.


    "Yoshizawa Raito?"


    "Isn''t he¡­"


    "He is supposed to be in the Ch¨±nin exam finals."


    "If he is then, why is he here?"


    Some of the Genins, who had some idea regarding the situation, looked at one of the groups and let down their guards. The Ch¨±nin responsible for those members, let out an internal groan and gave a signal to remain vigilant.


    The captain of the station looked at Raito then a specific team, groaning in the inside.


    Letting out an internal sigh, the station captain stepped forward, signaling everyone to stop. "Yoshizawa Raito, participating in the Ch¨±nin exam finals. You are here to replace-"


    "Yup," Raito nodded then gave the scroll and added in a low voice so that only station leader could hear, "I am replacing Naruto, who was asked to come but since he was taken in for some personal training, Hokage-sama said I could handle it for his stead."


    Opening the scroll, the captain gave it a quick look before giving signaling his men. "He is one of ours."


    Closing the scroll, the captain looked back and called one of the Ch¨±nin leaders, "Akito, come up. He is yours."


    Soon, a tall man with Ch¨±nin vest and bandana headgear walked in front, and following him were two shinobi, who were about Raito''s age.


    One of the two smiled at Raito and gave a wave, whereas the other gave him a small nod.


    The one waving his hand had a sturdy built and wearing a black bodysuit that covered up to his neck. There were bandages on his legs and forearms, like that of Lee.


    The other had grey hair and a thin built. Over the black bodysuit that covered his mouth and nose, he wore a grey jacket and pants.


    "Well, then," Akito shrugged then looked back at his two Genins. "Let''s move."


    The team disappeared leaving the captain of the station, alone in the field. He took out the scroll and gave it a go once again. With a frown in his face and annoyance in his heart, the captain cursed.


    ''If it goes bad then I will have to transfer. Damn it.''


    Arriving at a distance not far away from the station, Akito looked at his two Genins then focused at Raito. "Three days and it''s over."


    Pausing for a bit, Akito added, "You should have been practicing for finals instead of¡­ being here."


    Raito looked at Akito for a few seconds before a small smile appeared in his face. Shaking his head, Raito replied in earnest. "I don''t think I can improve much in the remaining two weeks."


    "Good,"


    "Now let''s move onto the rules."


    "Other than the handbook?" Raito shrugged then looked at the older guy. "Sure."


    "You can directly call me Akito or you can also call me senpai since I am just three years older than you."


    Raito listened with a smile and nodded at what Akito said.


    "And these guys are¡­" Akito turned and looked at the two, giving them the signal to come forward and introduce.


    "Actually, we know each other," Raito said and looked at the two. "Isn''t that right, Touya, Futoshi?"


    "Yeah, senpai. We know him." Touya, the guy with the sturdy built, nodded and stepped forward with a big grin.


    "Same class," Futoshi, the thin built guy, whispered but everyone could hear him.


    Akito smiled and looked at Raito then patting Raito''s shoulder he said, "From what I hear, you have a good record. A bunch of C-ranks in just first year is too ¡­ you know, not everyone is allowed to."


    "Isn''t that normal?" Raito asked with his brows raised then shrugged. "My team just followed the rules."


    "Sensei, duty first." Futoshi coughed and said.


    "Okay, So, listen Raito." Akito let out a cough then added, "You just need to follow us for these three days and it will be over for you."


    "That''s what I am hoping for." Raito nodded with a smile on his face.


    With a hand on his chin, Akito asked, "While you have experienced things outside the village, I believe you were not on the scouting duty, right?"


    "I have not but I have heard from Naruto that it''s really dangerous out here. His team even encountered some kunoichi from another village or something like that." Raito replied.


    Akito let out a small smile hearing Raito and said, "It''s good that you understand."


    "You are still living with him, Raito?" From behind, Touya spoke up, his tone was a bit aggressive


    Neither the tone nor the attitude affected Raito much. He was too used to people talking bad about Naruto. Although he couldn''t change their views on what is right, Raito could just try and make things a tad bit difficult for them.


    "Touya," Akito called out in irritation. "Stop it."


    "Still with that bastard." Touya sneered and added, "You should know better."


    "I said stop it!" Akito roared, giving Touya a death glare. "One more word about it and I will make sure you that you will only get cleaning duties from now on."


    "Touya," Futoshi tapped Touya''s back and gave him an intense stare.


    Akito sighed as he shook his head, looking at Touya. Turning to face Raito, Akito spoke up, "Don''t take his word to the heart. He is just like that."


    Raito kept quiet and nodded.


    Taking out a map from his pouch, Akito placed it on a boulder and started explaining.


    "Since we have more of new batch Genins in our team, we were given the inner areas. The outer areas are patrolled by teams with Ch¨±nin only group or a group with Ch¨±nin and older Genin."


    "Now, for our area, we have to look at these five clearings. We made a sweep a week back so it shouldn''t take as much as last time." Pointing at the map, Akito explained for Raito''s sake.


    Akito then turned to face Raito and said. "We will always be in the group during the search time but if the time comes and we have to split up, we will divide in two but let''s hope, it doesn''t come to this."


    After some hesitation, Raito scratched the back of his head and finally asked. "Senpai¡­ What exactly am I going to be looking for?"


    "Anything¡­ If you see anything unusual, you can report it. Things like stray weapons, explosives, and even a bag of clothes. And if you see people, assume they are hostile."


    "If you find money, you can get a small cut from it."


    "¡­ And if you see any Fuinjutsu related things, call me. "


    "Fuinjutsu? Even if there is one, it will not be easy to find them." Futoshi said with a small frown in his face then looked at Akito for answers. Things about Fuinjutsu never came in earlier discussion, in the group.


    "Don''t think too much about it. If we find it, it''s okay and if we don''t, it''s okay too." Akito waved his hand then turned to look at Raito. "It''s your first time here so tag with Futoshi, okay?"


    "Yes, sir."


    Akito looked at Touya and said, "You will be in the rear this time."


    "Bu- fine." Touya seemed reluctant but accepted the orders nonetheless. He took the formation position then shot a glare towards Raito.


    "On my lead." Akito looked back at the Genins then jumped off towards the tree.


    "You and me are in the middle, come." Just after Akito jumped, Futoshi tapped lightly on Raito''s shoulder and jumped.


    "¡­" Raito looked back at Touya, who was glaring at him, then turned around. A small smile hung on Raito''s face as he jumped.


    ''[Avatar]''


    Activating the skill, an invisible humanoid clump of chakra appeared in Raito''s field of vision and dashed towards Touya.


    The smile widened on Raito''s face hidden to everyone. "If I could just increase the number of avatars I could make."


    Looking at the humanoid clump of chakra entering into Touya, Raito jumped in joy on the inside. "It takes Inoichi-sensei and them some time to enter but with the gamer powers it is too easy for me."


    Inside Touya''s mindscape, Raito stood inside a big wooden house. Looking around, it was nothing special or complex. Raito quickly found what he was looking for and ran for it. "Gotcha."


    "Doors, doors, doors." Opening one door after another, Raito finally reached a hall with many doors.


    "Everything is always labeled, so it''s easy for me." Raito stood in the circle with his hand raised when a pillar appeared from the floor. "The first phase is done."


    Touching the pillar Raito let out a strand of chakra and a command, which opened all the doors in the hall. After a second, scrolls came flying out of the doors and stuck to the pillars, making it look a bit odd, like a hedgehog.


    With a smile, Raito sat on the ground then activated another skill.


    A big tab appeared in front of Raito, which had a long list of icons with dates. "Let''s start with memories from this week."


    On Raito''s command, the file opened and Raito closed his eyes, diving into the memory.


    The small team of four jumped from tree to tree, never disrupting the formation. They checked every fifty-meter, looking for any items that should naturally not be there, from the ground to the bushes to the tall tree.


    Raito looked at the sun that was directly above his head and said. "It''s already twelve and we have only finished a few hundred meters."


    "It''s a good sign. We have searched thoroughly and didn''t find anything. It means that there wasn''t anyone trying to make our life difficult."


    "If we go at this pace we will be able to reach the first clearing soon." Akito smiled and brought out a water canteen for Raito.


    "Thanks, but I already have one." Raito took out his canteen and showed it to Akito.


    Letting out a small smile, he tossed the canteen towards Raito and said, "Keep it. Never know when you might need it."


    Grabbing the canteen, Raito let out a small smile as he shook the canteen then attached it at the belt beside the pouch. "Thanks."


    After Akito left Futoshi sat beside Raito and took out a nutrient bar then slowly chew it.


    Raito looked at Futoshi eating the tastless nutrient bar and couldn''t help but let out a funny snort.


    Futoshi ignored Raito and continued eating his nutrient bar but even after some time had passed, Raito was looking at him. "What are you looking at?"


    "You are way different then you were in the academy, Futoshi." Passing his water canteen to Futoshi, Raito added, "Although you were quiet, you now is a lot different¡­ stronger or something like that. I don''t know."


    Grabbing the canteen, Futoshi took a gulp and answered. "It''s the Genin corps. After the Genin exams, Iruka-sensei asked us some questions then we were divided into groups. First, we were sent for training, where we were taught individually then we were sent to different sections according to our strengths."


    "I thought everyone went to the academy." Raito raised his brows and asked. "I didn''t know things like this were happening behind the scenes."


    "There were some who went back to the academy," Futoshi said after a short pause.


    "Six months of classes¡­ugh." Raito laughed awkwardly and coughed. "That''s kind of¡­"


    "To become frontline, outgoing ninjas." Futoshi gave a weak laugh and tossed the canteen back. "To become like you guys."


    "They can do whatever they want." Raito shrugged then added. "Even frontline, outgoing ninja have to do this kind of work sometime."


    "¡­ Hey, Raito. What is it like out there as a shinobi?" Futoshi asked after a short pause with a bit of hesitation.


    "What''s it like?" Raito gave him a side glance and added, "I don''t know much but the mission I have done till now¡­ it''s a variety."


    "Variety?"


    "Yeah like delivering goods, finding things, and oh, there were a few safeguarding missions. Meeting different people and helping them with their things, it''s so random out there."


    "I wish I was out there too." Futoshi sighed and looked at his hands.


    "You wanted to be a field ninja?" Raito raised his brows and looked at Futoshi.


    "¡­" Futoshi just nodded.


    "Hey¡­ then why didn''t you re-join the classes?"


    "¡­"


    "¡­ it would be embarrassing, lagging a batch, and you know." Futoshi finally said it.


    "You joined Genin corps because you didn''t want to lag?" Raito looked at Futoshi and sighed in his heart.


    With a light cough, Raito patted Futoshi and said, "I think that choosing to join the Genin corps is the better deal. I would rather choose all the cleaning jobs in Konoha rather than go to the academy."


    "You don''t have to say it like that, Raito."


    "Sure, sure." Raito looked around and found what he was looking for. Before going towards it, he looked at Futoshi and waved his pinkey, "Wanna go for a leak?"


    "¡­No, I am fine. I need to discuss some things with senpai. You go ahead." Futoshi shook his head then started walking towards Akito.


    "Touya, why are you so stupid? You want to go back now? What kind of stupid thing are you smoking?" Akito massaged his temples and looked at Futoshi, who was walking towards them.


    Waving his hand to Futoshi, Akito complained, "Futoshi, say something to this-ugh"


    Raito hurried towards the bush then took out the black book. Making a rat hand seal, Raito let out a small smile. "Since it will take some time, I should add in a bit more."


    Letting out a breath, Raito activated his chakra and linked it with the book. With a half rat hand seal, he activated the seal on the book. "[Clone]"


    Two identical clones appeared in front of Raito then after giving him a small nod, they left the area.


    "Let''s move." Akito gave a loud shout and reached for a tall branch.


    "Raito, let''s go." Futoshi and Touya hurried as they followed Akito.


    "Hai, hai." Raito acted as if he had just finished and hurried to re-group with the team. Passing by Touya, Raito appeared beside Futoshi and let out a sigh of relief. "Luckily I finished in time."


    "Senpai got pissed off because of Touya so¡­"


    "We will reach the first clearing very soon," Akito announced with his loud voice drawing everyone''s attention.


    ''Found it,'' Raito eyes widened and nearly missed his footing. His clones were doing things more efficiently then he thought.


    Raito let out an embarrassed laugh then gave Touya a slide glance.


    "Futoshi, I heard from Naruto that there is an old Genin, people call him ''The Eternal Genin''. Is that true?"


    "Eternal Genin?" Futoshi looked at Raito and added. "I don''t think I have heard about it."


    Even though Akito was annoyed at Touya, he slowed down, after hearing Raito speak, and said, "Eternal Genin? It must be old man Maruboshi from the northern part."


    "An old man?" Raito caught on the word and looked at Akito for more details. "If he is really a Genin till now then he must have terrible skills, right?"


    "I haven''t seen him personally but people who have worked with him say that he could easily be counted as a J¨­nin, if not for his age."


    "If he is really stuck at Genin till now¡­" Touya had already broken formation and appeared beside Raito and Futoshi.


    "Futoshi, Raito, sides. Touya with me." Akito looked at the Touya and sighed.


    "Yes, sir." With a shout, the team divided and started searching the area.


    Time quickly passed as they checked the area thoroughly. The sun on top of their heads quickly descended behind the horizons as the darkness enveloped the land.


    After a grueling day of hard work, the gang was exhausted and with the sun gone, the forest breeze felt slightly cold.


    When Raito saw the three was taking out nutrient bars again, he stood up and started gathering wood and stones to light a fire. Taking out some pots and pans, and some spices, he quickly prepared a soup using the soup cubes and the herbs from around.


    The other three looked in awe as the water in the pot quickly turned into something delicious and fragrant.


    "Hey, you can cook." Touya walked forward and took out a cup from his pouch.


    "Of course I can," Raito replied with a smile and stirred the small pot. "I mean¡­ everyone who survived the survival test should have some idea about it, right?"


    "¡­Yeah," Touya rubbed the back of his head and laughed it off then pushed the tall cup forward.


    "Touya why aren''t you using a storage scroll, like Futoshi is doing?" Raito looked at Futoshi taking out his own bowl and asked Touya.


    "Well¡­ I just forget about what things are in which scrolls. I tried using them but¡­ you know, I either spoil the food or bring out the food in a fight." Touya shrugged and explained his problem.


    "Well, okay." Raito shook his head and filled his tall cup with soup. "Be careful, it''s hot."


    "No problem." With the gloves he was wearing, it wouldn''t be too hot to touch.


    Raito quickly filled Futoshi''s bowl and waited for the last in line, the leader of the team, Akito.


    "Senpai?" Raito looked at Akito, who was in a daze and called out.


    Not getting a response, Raito looked at Futoshi and gave him a signal.


    "Akito-senpai, the soup." Futoshi grabbed Akito''s jacket and pulled it a few times.


    Waking up from his daze, Akito let out an embarrassed laugh and stretched out his hand. "I was just thinking¡­ about something. I was thinking how to speed up our work, so that we can go home quickly."


    "Mhm." Raito nodded with a smile and filled his bowl with soup. After filling everyone''s bowl, Raito filled his own bowl with soup then took the pot off the fire.


    Leaning on a small boulder, Raito looked at the three then said, "It was nice meeting you guys and senpai."


    "Same here, Raito." Futoshi smiled and sat beside Raito, just opposite Akito and Touya.


    Raito took small sips and looked at the sky with a small smile. "If it wasn''t for the upcoming war, I would surely enjoy this view."


    "We will do our work and try to survive this cruelty," Akito replied with darkness covering his eyes.


    Touya who was quiet till now opened his mouth, "Senpai, if we do really good in this war, can we get a promotion?"


    "Promotion? Maybe, maybe not." Akito chuckled and took a large gulp. "But for us, someone who joined Genin corps, we have to wait one full year before even being considered for promotion."


    "¡­"


    Looking at the stars, Raito closed his eyes and finished his soup. Looking at Akito and Touya with a small smile, Raito said. "I have finished my investigation and all the scrolls hidden in this area have been taken by my clones, who were working with some other groups."


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 Chapter 75 - 75 - Execution

    Looking at the stars, Raito closed his eyes and finished his soup. Facing Akito and Touya with a small smile, Raito said. "I have finished my investigation and all the scrolls hidden in this area have been taken by others."


    Hearing Raito, the three looked at him with shock and confusion.


    Futoshi, closest to Raito, took a few steps back facing Raito. With confusion in his eyes, he asked, "What are you talking about?"


    Touya slowly moved his hand behind, to his pouch whereas Akito narrowed his eyes and looked at the bowl, which had little to no soup left.


    Ignoring Futoshi''s questioning, Raito looked at Akito and Touya. Standing up he stretched his limbs and squeezed his shoulders then looked at Touya.


    Touya had frozen in time, just like a sculpture. Only his eyes and c.h.e.s.t movements proved that he was not a sculpture but a human, alive and well.


    "Touya, do you feel it?" Raito''s lips curved as he looked at Touya. "The feeling of being unable to move your body at will, the feeling of suffocation¡­ and your chakra disappearing."


    With a cold smile, Raito''s glare deepened, "Just like you betrayed the village, your body is also betraying you."


    His voice was like hands touching their heart, leaving a painful after-effect.


    "Kuh," Touya''s body trembled in desperation. His heart was filled with anxiety and his brain was filled with different ways he could have escape in this situation, only if he could move his body.


    Even though his body was paralyzed, Touya looked at Raito with hate-filled eyes. Eyes reddened, veins bulging, and sweats raining like buckets, Touya would like to rip Raito into pieces, for poisoning him, using a dirty trick, and destroying his rich future.


    "Don''t worry, you won''t die." Raito threw his bowl, which disappeared mid-air. "I wanted to make this capture as painless as possible."


    Akito was sweating, not in anger but in his foolishness whereas Futoshi was looking at the scene dumbfounded.


    "Futoshi, I''ll call you Futoshi-kun for now." Raito took out a pair of street fighting gloves and equipped it.


    Raito pointed at Touya and started. "Your teammates, one him and other, which accidentally tripped and injured himself while trying to save an old lady yesterday, and the team leader, Akito-senpai, have betrayed Konoha and are now labeled as traitors. They have leaked or tried to leak security plans for the entire scouting division to the hostile forces."


    "¡­ Are you freaking serious, right now?" Futoshi looked dumbfounded as he looked at coolheaded Raito then Akito.


    "Of course I am." Raito rolled his eyes and added, "I have already submitted the mission given by the tower to the station captain earlier today. He will maybe explain it to everyone later."


    Akito was sitting on the ground, paralyzed but his face was distorted, looking ugly and saliva dripping from his mouth. Eyes reddened, he wanted to strangle the Genin in front of his eyes and look him in the eyes, as light in the eyes slowly dimmed.


    Looking at Futoshi, Raito commanded with added chakra in his voice, just for assurance. "Tie Touya and wait for me."


    While the words were being processed and opposing views were being raised inside his brain, Futoshi''s body was already moving, quickly tying up Touya.


    After a while, Raito looked at Akito and said with a demon-like smile on his. "You wanna kill me after finding that your assignment from the mercenary organization has failed?"


    Hearing the word ''Mercenary Organization'', Akito''s eye widened but the thought of killing Raito didn''t diminish even by a bit instead it rose by a hundred folds.


    Akito had already gained some immunity against the poison after being stationed in the scouting division for three years. So, after battling out the poison by a little, he roared with all might. "I''ll kill you."


    "Why not?" Raito touched his right hand and activated the purple seal, which resonated with the poison in Akito''s body.


    When Akito had decided to use the remaining chakra to eliminate the poison and take chances, he found that the poison had just magically disappeared.


    "Let''s try it." Raito''s mocking voice, mixed with chakra, pierced Akito''s mind, causing his mentality to destabilize.


    "Why you little!!" Eyes dyed red, Akito jumped straight towards Raito, his right corked back, ready to break his opponent''s face.


    Raito waited patiently as he looked at Akito and crossed his right leg over left. When Akito was just a meter away, Raito pressed on his right and circled in an anti-clockwise direction, dodging the punch. Continuing with the circle, Raito kicked at the back of the knee with the sole of his left foot, empowered with chakra.


    "ARGH!!!" With the kick landed at the back of his knee, Akito fell and hit the boulder with his head. Blood flowed freely from his head as he rolled form the boulder to the ground.


    Grabbing his head, Akito felt the blood then cried out in pain. "BLOOD!?"


    "Me? By a GENIN?"


    Wiping his face, Akito glared at Raito but when he wanted to move around, he felt that it was strangely difficult for him to move.


    "My leg? What happened to my leg!?" Looking at Raito then at his leg, Akito hurriedly withdrew using his hands and one remaining functional leg. The glare with which he looked at Raito just now had turned into fear, no longer daring to look at him.


    "I must have damaged your knee somehow. If you are lucky and cooperate well with the village, they will surely heal your leg and you will be able to walk in two or three months." Raito started his explanation and when he saw Akito ignoring him and searching for his pouch and scrolls frantically, Raito added, "If you are looking for your pouch and scrolls, then¡­ I have them."


    When Akito heard Raito say that, he looked up and saw Raito grabbing his pouch and scrolls. Akito seems to have lost his energy as his frantic hands stopped and hung down.


    "Don''t worry too much." Throwing the pouch and the scrolls, Raito walked casually and soon closed the distance, which was less than five meters.


    Akito sat on his b.u.t.t.o.c.k.s and clenched his fist. Raising his head, he could only see the youth walking towards him. ''All because of a Genin.''


    If not for Raito, today would be a great day for him. If not for Raito, he could have done the job told to him by the organization. If not for Raito, Naruto would have come and then he could finish another mission. If not for Raito, he could have easily earned hundreds of thousands of Ryo in a single feat.


    Soon Raito''s shadow covered Akito and Akito felt that the chance had come.


    "Take- What!?" Akito wanted to throw the dirt and sand towards Raito and gain a chance to attack but looking down at his own hands, he found that black earth had covered both of his hands, not letting go in the slightest.


    "You talk too much and think too much." Raito grabbed Akito''s neck and activated his chakra. Within a few seconds, a black line circled Akito''s neck and sealing his motor system and chakra system.


    "I also found that you had deals with a mercenary organization regarding Naruto. But it was an anonymous meet up and that man which gave you the assignment probably used a transformation technique."


    Releasing his hands, Raito stood up and added, "Too bad, if you had known more about them¡­ I could have let you enjoy your freedom a little bit more."


    After looking at the expressionless face of Akito because of the seal, Raito stood up then faced Touya and Futoshi.


    Futoshi flinched, taking a step back unconsciously after looking at the faint blue light in Raito''s eye. ''Cold blue light.''


    "I was sent after people found out about the leak from the aviary," Raito started while grabbing Touya''s neck and creating a Fuinjutsu mark on him too.


    "There are other people, other than me, who are looking into this. They should have already finished things on their end, if I am not wrong."


    "Oh-ohh." Futoshi was too stunned to say anything. After calming down, Futoshi looked at Touya and Akito, and could not help question some things.


    "Say, Raito¡­ um, how did you know I wasn''t involved in this thing and why didn''t Touya and Akito-senpai use their chakra?"


    Raito sat on the boulder and took out a canteen; one for himself and another one for Futoshi, "About your involvement¡­ it''s my conclusion after the investigation and them not using chakra, I just poisoned their food."


    Just when he was about to drink the water, Futoshi quickly stopped and looked at Raito with fear, "You poisoned the food? That means you poisoned me too."


    "¡­ What a pain." Raito felt his eyes twitching, looking at this stupid person. ''I thought he was smarter with all that killer vibe thingy.''


    Raito sighed and started explaining, "I already gave you the antidote for the poison several times today and¡­ can''t you see that only they are paralyzed and not you?"


    "Ah, yes." Futoshi smiled with a bit of embarrassment then emptied the whole canteen in one go. Throwing the canteen back, Futoshi let out a chuckle and slapped his face. "How stupid."


    "Yoshizawa!" Entering the clearing, DRAGON walked in with ANBU units in tow. They had a bunch of people tied by ropes with talisman pasted on their forehead.


    Raito stood in attention and signaled Futoshi to do the same, seeing that he was looking at the ANBU with his jaws opened.


    DRAGON looked at Touya and Futoshi, then sighed. "This time it was a total of four teams with ten traitors. The remaining were not involved ''according to the report''."


    DRAGON focused on Raito''s contribution because these are the things that the intelligence department could not find out. While they have covered most of the areas, the betrayal to the village, mental breakouts, rampage, and such things, they couldn''t predict it.


    To the quote by a Wiseman, ''Humans are the greatest variable.'' (in a sense)


    "BEAR, you take the lead." DRAGON looked back and gave the authority to one of the ANBU behind him.


    BEAR quickly led everyone except for Raito and DRAGON, out of the clearing, which included the traitors and the innocent members of the team.


    DRAGON did not need to lead the investigation, instead, he looked at Raito and asked, "Your clones took something from the scenes. Do you wanna share it with this old man?"


    "I do." Raito nodded then quickly took out a bunch of purple cover scrolls from his inventory and gave them to DRAGON. "I didn''t look into them and only collected after finding that it wouldn''t trigger anything."


    "Good job." DRAGON nodded then picked one scroll from the bunch.


    "I didn''t know you could transfer items to yourself from your shadow clones." DRAGON said, stunning Raito.


    Raito kept his head down and abstained from answering anything.


    "This is." DRAGON found a ''{1,10}'' written at the end of a scroll. With a guess in his mind, DRAGON went through a couple of them and found the similar numbering pattern on others. After making a half rat hand seal, DRAGON activated his chakra. "[Release]"


    To Raito''s amazement, the scroll opened by itself revealing complicated lines, numbers, and a few characters seals on it. "What is this?"


    Giving it a quick look, DRAGON similarly opened another scroll. In this period, Raito waited patiently for DRAGON to answer his question although he already had found what it really was with his ''[Observe]'' skill.


    "These scrolls are part of a huge sealing array. Every one of these scroll acts as a coordination point and with enough mapping and-" Looking at Raito, DRAGON knew that whatever he said about this Fuinjutsu would be a waste. Therefore, he gave an awkward cough and said in a simple language. "In short, these scrolls are a part of a massive transportation array."


    "A massive transportation array!?" Raito played his part and showed a shocked face.


    DRAGON narrowed his eyes and looked at Raito with his furrowed his brows. "If you want to find about it, finish your basics first. And as for your first mission, it''s over."


    "Whew," Raito breath out a sigh of relief, and a small smile appeared on his face. "Finally¡­"


    "But,"


    Raito raised his brows and looked at DRAGON.


    "You need to come with me and write your first report."


    "Report? I thought ANBU didn''t-"


    "Everyone has to." DRAGON chuckled and made a ''follow me'' signal then started moving.


    "What a drag." Raito g.r.o.a.n.e.d then quickly equipped the patternless mask and robe using gamer powers and followed. Luckily for him, DRAGON was waiting for him a couple of trees away.


    Seeing Raito coming, DRAGON turned his back and continued, "Since you are already with me, I will show you how an ANBU operative enters the village."


    Cupping his chin, Raito tried remembering ANBU entering the gates but could not remember a single time an ANBU operative had entered through the main gates. "I have seen them leaving the gates but I don''t think I have ever seen an ANBU entering through the gates."


    "Because they aren''t supposed to. ANBU have their own internal management division for things such as registration and so on."


    "And when you see ANBU leaving from gates, they are actually just for show. We still have to show to the people that the ANBU exists and fight for the village." With DRAGON revealing such things, Raito''s knowledge on ANBU widened.


    "Show people?"


    "ANBU has replaced the Uchiha police and when crimes are committed, peoples are hurt and captured. When one group overwhelms the other, there naturally be¡­" DRAGON g.r.o.a.n.e.d then said, "Grow up and you will understand."


    Standing in front of a big tree, which was just at the end/beginning of the forest area, facing the great wall, dividing Konoha and the outside wall, DRAGON started explaining. "Each mask has a key inscribed on them."


    (Tree zone/The Clearing/Wall)


    Raito touched his mask and sighed in the inside. ''I need to be more careful.''


    "While Konoha''s sensory division uses a barrier Fuinjutsu to keep everything in check-"


    "I know about that. My teammate, Hinata, is there." Raito cut off DRAGON and started his own tale.


    DRAGON sighed knocked the back of Raito''s head at lightning speed.


    "Ow,"


    "Don''t cut in when someone is speaking, especially when that someone is the head of ANBU."


    Raito rubbed the back of his head and glared at DRAGON but with the mask on, nothing could be seen.


    "Pay attention." DRAGON shook his head and added. "Push chakra to the mask, just at the center and that will activate the key."


    "It''s that simple?" Raito pushed his chakra as DRAGON said but nothing happened.


    "Jump towards the clearing then activate the key." DRAGON raised his voice, looking at Raito then jumped from the branch towards the clearing.


    Just as Raito was about to jump, he looked at the scene with shock.


    DRAGON had jumped from the tree but when he was about to land on the grassy ground, he disappeared, vanished in thin air.


    Raito immediately used his ''[Chakra Sense]'' and tried finding the DRAGON.


    "There you are." Raito immediately found DRAGON inside a cubical room, inside the village walls.


    "Same code," Raito let out a breath then jumped from the tree and activated the key.


    The next second, Raito found himself standing in a big cubicle.


    Raito walked towards the door to the room from where the voice was coming from while murmuring, "It''s really a teleportation technique."


    "Come out, kid." DRAGON called Raito, this time with hints of irritation.


    "Coming," Ignoring everything else, Raito hurriedly walked through.


    Looking around, Raito found that DRAGON was talking with a m.a.t.u.r.e woman, wearing a kimono, on the reception desk.


    "He is a newbie. Register him as number eight."


    The m.a.t.u.r.e woman glanced at Raito before scribbling on a register.


    DRAGON turned around to face Raito and said, "Go home and get a good sleep. Inoichi will have a new job for you tomorrow."


    "Yes, sir." Raito straightened his back in joy and turned towards the door.


    "But before you go." DRAGON cleared his throat and gave Raito a couple of papers. "Fill in everything that happened, yesterday and today."


    "Wasn''t I supposed to get a good sleep?" Raito grabbed the paper and g.r.o.a.n.e.d.


    DRAGON let out a small chuckle and glanced at the woman. "Help him out."


    "I''ll be going." With a nod, the DRAGON disappeared, leaving a cloud of smoke.


    "He used a clone the whole time." Raito waved his hand as the cloud of chakra smoke was pushed to the ventilator by the wind.


    "Ahem, ahem." The woman looked at Raito and signaled him to come forward.


    "Anything I can help you with?" Raito walked forward towards her and asked.


    "You need to pay a hundred Ryo." The old woman said with her hands stretched forward.


    "¡­"


    "To teach you how to write a report."


    Raito narrowed his eyes and took out a thousand Ryo bill then said with a smile, "I am just a newbie, please teach me well."

 Chapter 76 - 76 – Erased

    SigmArc


    "Long day and a long mission." Raito sighed as he appeared on a quiet road. Looking at his house, Raito let out a small smile before it dimmed down.


    Shaking his head, Raito started walking towards the house where a figure was waiting for him. "Hey, Shika."


    "Raito?" The lazy Nara turned his head and stood up. "I thought you weren''t gonna come home."


    "I wasn''t but I love my bed too much." Raito shrugged and walked passed by, opening the door. "Let''s go in. I can make you something hot."


    Shikamaru nodded and started, "Listen, I wanted to talk about-"


    "Yoshizawa Raito." An ANBU appeared from the shadows and called Raito.


    "Bad luck," Shikamaru shrugged and looked at Raito.


    Raito also sighed and sent a voice transmission to Shikamaru. "I''ll leave with a shadow clone?"


    "I''ll take the guest room." Shikamaru walked in and closed the door.


    "Hokage-sama has something to ask you." The ANBU added before disappearing back to the shadows.


    "Get good sleep, you say." Raito rolled his eyes and disappeared from the doorsteps.


    The unpleasant smell of the disinfectant covered the hallway of the Konoha hospital. Some say it''s unpleasant and ''makes me wanna gag'' but some say it''s angelic. Not because of the smell but because of its properties to kill the tiny creatures invisible to the n.a.k.e.d eyes.


    ''After all, it''s for the patient'' but it''s really for the medics in the hospital. The long grueling hour at the hospital, interacting with the diseased and infectious at all times, eating whatever is available on the go, and some even work till they collapse on the grounds.


    Even when they tell the patient to eat healthily, exercise more, smokeless, and enjoy life. (Enough of the ranting.)


    While patients were sleeping, the interns and the new medics, some of them anyway, were on their study desk with books on their hands, trying to cramp as much of the words in their brains.


    Some doctors were in their house and sleeping on their comfortable bed whereas some were at the hospital, checking in on the patients.


    Everyone was busy in their work, except for one Haruno Sakura. She was taking a stroll down the hallway with a clipboard on her hand while checking on the patient.


    A small smile plastered on her face as her cheeks reddened as she stopped by a door. Looking through the gaps of the door, she saw a patient that was admitted today.


    Coming in with multiple bruises and cut injuries, unconscious or even a severe case of chakra exhaustion was an everyday thing on the Konoha hospital, who look after all the shinobis but for a fourteen-year-old Uchiha Sasuke to come like that, it plunged Sakura''s heart. Thanks to all the top-level medics and tons of chakra therapy, Sasuke was quickly healed.


    "Sasuke-kun." With hearts in her eyes, Sakura fluffed in glee.


    ''Do it, Sakura. Get inside that room and do it.'' Inside her mind, an image of herself gave her encouragement.


    "Just a small peck. No one will notice." Sakura smiled and looked at both ends of the hallway. Finding no one, she slowly opened the door.


    "I wouldn''t do that, Sakura." Someone grabbed her shoulder from behind and pulled her back.


    "Who?" Sakura grabbed the hands on her shoulder and swung her another fist straight towards the figure.


    "[Bind]"


    Threads of blackish things appeared from the figure binding Sakura''s limbs in the hold. Before she could speak or shout, the figure covered her mouth and let out chakra.


    "It''s me," Raito walked out of the stealth, the shadowy cloak disappeared and revealed his face.


    "You didn''t see me today. Sasuke is fine inside and you have other patients to visit." Raito activated his ''[Hypnotic wave]'' and commanded Sakura.


    "I¡­ need to check on patients." The light in her eyes dimmed and pupils dilated.


    Letting her go, Raito passed by her and walked through the door, before closing it.


    Sakura stood in a daze for a couple of seconds before walking up. She looked at the clipboard and raised her brows in surprise. "I need to finish the list so bad."


    After a quick glance back, Sakura let out a sweet smile and left.


    Inside the room, Raito was looking at a very different thing. While Sasuke was still in bed and hooked up to a monitor, standing beside him were Jiraiya and Sarutobi and behind them Anko and Inoichi. The old medic, whom Raito had met multiple times now, stood at the other side of the bed with some of his own men as he explained the situation.


    "Sasuke, himself is trying to tap into the power of the cursed seal. We can try to stop him by occupying his mind with things or erase that part of the memories but the d.e.s.i.r.e to get power is rooted deep within his heart." The old medic sighed, looking at Sasuke, and shook his head. "It''s like a damned festering tumor."


    Inoichi added to the medics explanation, "Diving deeper into his memories, we found that he has been having nightmares of the night of the Uchiha massacre. According to Jiraiya-sama and other Sealmaster, the curse seal is forcefully triggering those memories. Orochimaru is taking the opportunity of that event to heighten Sasuke''s emotions and make him tap into the power of the cursed seal."


    Jiraiya dipped his head down and touched the seal on Sasuke. Letting out a breath, Jiraiya said, "This seal has a two-way protection. Since the curse seal is affecting him, that means this brat is¡­"


    "Although he doesn''t remember using the curse seal at the forest of death anymore, his body and the unconscious mind already has felt the power." Inoichi let out his thoughts and looked at Raito then added, "If we don??t do anything about it then he will soon be a threat to the people around him."


    ''So much for a good night sleep.'' Raito sighed and continued looking at the scene in front.


    "The evil suppression seal was for the old curse seal. The brats said that the new seal was guaranteed to extract the seal altogether."


    "It was meant for extraction?" Jiraiya looked in a slight surprise and looked at Hiruzen.


    Hiruzen shook his head in Jiraiya''s inquiry then looked at everyone and said, "Not this one Anko. This isn''t for extraction."


    "If it was then I would already have done some magic." Jiraiya snorted looking at the place where the curse seal was on Sasuke.


    "Go home and get a good rest everyone. Two ANBUs will stay and the rest at the premises."


    "Hai Hokage-sama."


    "Raito, stay. Hokage-sama needs to have a word with you." Inoichi sent a voice transmission and waited by Hiruzen''s side.


    "I have a mission tomorrow. Can''t I go home? Even DRAGON told me to go home and get a good sleep." Raito rebutted giving a side glance at Sasuke in the bed.


    Everyone left the room with no questions asked, leaving Hiruzen, Jiraiya, Inoichi, and Raito, in his robes and mask. The room was much more spacious than it was before with everyone clearing the room.


    "Raito," Hiruzen called out.


    Raito unequipped the mask and robes then canceled the stealth and walked out of the shadows with a small smile on his face as he called out. "Jii-chan."


    "You want to add something?" Hiruzen asked


    "Um¡­ The extraction seal doesn''t work on the new, improved curse seal, so I used the modified evil suppression seal, which is just a suppression seal and not extraction seal on Sasuke."


    "Also, Naruto was the one who worked on that modification and not me. So I really don''t know much." Raito answered cutting Jiraiya who was about to open his mouth and ask questions.


    "Raito¡­" Hiruzen called and added, "Give it a chance."


    "Hmm."


    "Listen, kid, if that extraction seal work as good as you think it does-"


    "It works," Raito said with a bit of force. "For the old curse seal."


    Jiraiya smiled and added, "If it really does then let me have a look and I''ll give it back after the problem is solved."


    With mouth slightly open, Raito shook his head and said, "It''s made specifically for Anko-nee and the old curse seal, not for Sasuke and his new, improved curse seal."


    "Try it on him and he may actually die¡­ just saying." Raito looked at Sasuke and said what he had in mind but seeing Hiruzen looking at him, Raito shut his mouth.


    "¡­" Jiraiya sighed in exhaustion. "Why does it have to be this kid?"


    "Because this kid does things." Raito raised his brows and brought out a large scroll.


    Pushing the scroll towards Jiraiya Raito shrugged, "That''s all."


    After giving the scroll a glance, Jiraiya found the opening and was about to open it when he sneaked a peek at Raito, who had a faint smile on his face, "Anything you want to add, kid?"


    "The scroll may or may not have a restriction seal and a trigger seal," Raito added with a fake cough and looked down.


    "¡­" Jiraiya looked at the big scroll then turned back to looked at Hiruzen and Inoichi, who were trying to suppress their laughter.


    "Tell me what do you want? Jutsu? Fuinjutsu or something else?" Jiraiya took out a storage scroll and unrolled it.


    "¡­"


    "Kid, make your wish. I even also give you a signed copy of my books."


    "Hokage-sama, they have arrived and wish to see you." An ANBU appeared behind Hiruzen and spoke softly.


    "I''ll be taking my leave first." Hiruzen looked at Raito then at the other people in the room before leaving with a smile on his face


    "Umm¡­ here." Raito gave the large scroll to Jiraiya and forced a smile on his face. "There are no restrictions or trigger seals. I was just joking."


    "What the¡­" Jiraiya let out a breath then unrolled the scroll and gave the few lines a quick glance. "I am sure the Sealmaster are going to love this."


    "It could have been so much simpler if you had used lines and numerical Fuinjutsu."


    "¡­" Raito looked down and nodded a few times. Jiraiya was so absorbed that he didn''t notice but Inoichi gave Raito a sideglance.


    After closing the scroll, Jiraiya tied the scroll with a rope and attached it to his back, on top of the other scroll. "Those oldies from Nara and Yamanaka will have sleepless nights for a long time."


    Inoichi just smiled it off then sat beside Sasuke.


    Raito took out a couple of spring water bottles and gave it to Inoichi before leaving with Jiraiya.


    "This kid¡­" Grabbing the bottle, Inoichi smiled and opened the cap.


    "To one long night." Taking a big gulp, Inoichi looked at the window, where the moon was covered by the clouds, blocking its radiance.


    Outside the hospital, Raito walked alongside Jiraiya, enjoying the night breeze.


    "That sealwork is all from Naruto''s Secret Uzumaki Fuinjutsu book that only he can read. Although he can''t use it on his own, he helped me make this one." Raito tried explaining then turned quiet all the way to the end of the road.


    Jiraiya looked at Raito and sighed, "If you have something to ask then go ahead, kid."


    "¡­" Raito took a deep breath then looked at Jiraiya.


    "Jiraiya-sama, can I ask?"


    "Kid, just ask away."


    "Is there really going to be a war? Like killing Jii-chan kind of war?" Raito gestured and asked with a solemn face.


    "¡­" Jiraiya looked at Raito then crouched. Placing his hand on Raito''s shoulder, Jiraiya said, "From my view, it''s only us and them. You understand that, right?"


    "Mm." Raito nodded.


    "They are still doing things on the dark, which means that we have a big chance of winning."


    "Just like how you caught the traitors and revealed the enemy''s plan. The same type of things is happening all over the place."


    "We all are working hard, working together to defend our village."


    "Konoha has stood strong in the great wars and she will stand tall after this war too."


    Turning his head to the tower, Jiraiya added, "Sensei survived two of the three great shinobi war. So, I don''t think that this small one will do anything to him."


    Jiraiya turned towards Raito then let out a small smile and said, "Like everyone else you also have a job in this war¡­ to protect the people, protect those who cannot protect themselves and most important keep yourself safe."


    "¡­" Raito nodded and let out a forced smile.


    Jiraiya smiled and stood up, feeling good.


    Just as Jiraiya was about to make a turn, Raito''s voice stopped him, "Jiraiya-sama, can you call Tsunade-sama? To the village, for this war¡­ to save Jii-chan."


    "¡­"


    "If you two join up, I am sure you can beat that Orochimaru¡­ or even the Kazekage. Or¡­ or they might even cancel the war if they see who are in the village."


    "Can''t you?"


    "¡­" Jiraiya looked at Raito and his teary eyes, which were threatening to fall.


    "Whatever you have heard is just speculation. The old man isn''t gonna die."


    "He has survived the great ninja war, where every great nation was going against Konoha."


    "JUST ASK HER TO COME!!" Raito shouted in anger and released a large amount of chakra.


    "Calm down, calm down, kid." Jiraiya hurriedly signaled the ANBU from coming and crouched down.


    After calming Raito, Jiraiya narrowed his eyes and rubbed Raito''s head, hiding his face. "Just why do you think the old man is going to die?"


    "I eavesdropped. I heard you and Jii-chan were talking about war and the thing from the Poison Hall."


    "Poison hall?"


    "Mm. How he may die in the hands of Orochimaru."


    "That''s not going to happen." Jiraiya furrowed his brows.


    "Please ask Tsunade-sama to come back." Raito grabbed the hand on his head and looked at Jiraiya in the eyes.


    "I heard from Jii-chan that Tsunade-sama left after the war because she had a problem. But by now¡­"


    "If it was that easy to¡­" Jiraiya mumbled then looked at Raito with a smile and said, "I will try¡­ but no promises, alright?"


    "Mm." Raito nodded and a smile returned to his face.


    "Now go back home and get some sleep," Jiraiya said with tiredness in his voice as he disappeared from the spot. In his mind and heart, there was another problem brewing.


    Standing alone in the middle of the road, Raito called out his skill list and started thinking. "I need something¡­ but what?"


    Raito let out a breath then disappeared, flickering towards home.

 Chapter 77 - 77 – Parting Gift

    Chapter 77 ¨C Parting Gift


    Under the moonlight, he stood in front of a big black rock. This one black rock was one of the many that were spread in the training grounds of the Konohagakure recording the names of the people who died in the line of duty.


    Raito sat in front of the one and was deep in thought. After his ''talk'' with Jiraiya, Raito thought of asking the ''Poison Hall'', who knew about his gamer powers for help. But to his surprise and confusion the more he thought of them, the cloudier the memories began and by the time he reached the Building where poison hall was supposed to be, he had already forgotten the people he wanted to meet.


    Feeling threatened, Raito hurriedly jotted down all the things he could remember then went inside. But to his dismay, the building was totally empty, devoid of man and material.


    "Anko-nee knows about them." Looking at the purple mark, Raito ran in the opposite direction and reached the T&I department.


    Inside there were the fresh meat, ready for special treatment. Even though it was busy Raito forced the receptionist and called Anko.


    Anko arrived with light steps and a wide smile on her face, which had blood splatters all over from her physical torments.


    After a quick inquiry, Raito found that she didn''t know about the poison hall or anyone related to them and the suspicious point was that, she would go in a trance-like state whenever he mentioned them and was easily distracted by other things.


    He couldn''t dive into her mind and search in front of everybody and neither could he try it covertly because the last time he tried on her for practice, she was able to lock him out completely.


    Inoichi wanted to show Raito that he could not do whatever he liked and take whatever he liked because he learned the diving technique.


    There were not many people that the Poison Hall came in contact with within his memories but there would be specific people that they had to meet to go to places or enter certain areas in the village.


    With that in mind, Raito summoned three clones and went to work.


    It was the technical next day when Raito found himself at the memorial stone at training ground seven. The people who were awake did not know the poison hall or its members and those who were asleep, Raito tried diving into their memories and find about them but that also failed.


    With shadow clone and avatar''s help, Raito had much the manpower he needed but it was all in vain as no one in the Konoha knew of them, or at least that''s what Raito thought


    The Hokage and the ninja council might have some idea but Raito felt like it was courting death to ask them about something that no one knows about and somehow everyone was affected by it.


    "The people from the ''Poison Hall'' have disappeared and the people, who once knew them seems to have no knowledge of them. It''s like they never existed and even the building is empty."


    "Jii-chan may know something but I can''t just try to¡­" Raito chuckled and shook his head.


    Letting out a groan, he leaned back and lay on the ground looking at the sky, the star, and the moon.


    ''Purple Poison Mark''. Looking at the purple mark on the back of his palm, Raito frowned then sighed. "Even Anko-nee doesn''t remember who gave her the art."


    "Masami Iwasawa, Abarai Renji." The invisible tabs floating in front of him showed the details of them but Raito couldn''t put a finger in his mind on who they exactly are.


    "They used to sit behind me?" After the process of elimination, Raito finally concluded that these two people must have definitely sat behind him.


    ''Even Sakura who had the greatest impact with them in the survival test didn''t remember.''


    Raito let out a groan then threw all the ideas about the Poison Hall to the back of his head and rolled to his sides. "I can''t remember anything at all."


    Giving the memorial stone a final glance, Raito pushed the ground and stood up. After a quick sweep of his surrounding, he took a quick walk around the nearest block then disappeared quietly.


    Swosh, tap.


    After half an hour Raito appeared out of thin air into his room on the second floor.


    "Whew, a good night sleep will do me well." Raito looked at the depleted chakra bar and let out a satisfactory smile.


    "Yeah, I was waiting for you, this whole time." Shikamaru''s lazy voice shocked Raito as he quickly turned around and raised a kunai.


    Closing the book with a snap, Shikamaru stood up and placed the book on the shelf. "I heard most from your clone. I thought that it would be just like the previous year but-"


    "It isn''t." Raito walked to the other end of the room and grabbed a dumbbell. With STR crossing the hundreds, the dumbbell felt light as a feather.


    "Everyone is running around and preparing for war." After a slight pause, Raito looked towards Shikamaru and added, "I caught a few traitors, who wanted to aid the enemy."


    "Traitors?" A frown appeared on Shikamaru''s face as tried guessing.


    "Yeah, Inoichi-sensei said that in time of crisis we will see who is on our side and who isn''t," Raito replied while staring blankly in front.


    "Hey," Shikamaru called. "What did those traitors do?"


    "They wanted to sell the scouting division routine and plant some sort of Fuinjutsu."


    "We have already stopped them and now they are in the T&I department undergoing investigation to find out who gave them those instructions and all."


    There was a long silence in the room as Shikamaru had a frown on their face and Raito felt like every single point the village had an advantage on would be met by opposition by the cruel and clever enemies.


    "I don''t understand why the attack will happen on the day of the exams? The Daimy¨­ and other people will have their own protection details so it''s not to spread our manpower and¡­ if it''s to show that other villages can rival Konoha and earn the interest¡­ damn."


    Raito let out a small smile and said, "When I was inside Gaara''s head, I heard that they would attack after Shukaku''s outburst. So, it''s to weaken us by letting Shukaku out¡­ that''s what I think."


    "Shukaku?"


    "Yeah, it''s a, no, he is a tailed beast, like the Ky¨±bi, and has one tail," Raito explained or tried to.


    "One tail, nine tail. It seems like it''s all about tails." Shikamaru sighed as he thought about troublesome things that were going to happen. "You said you were already inside Gaara''s head. That means¡­"


    Raito nodded and said, "Jiraiya-sama and the combined Fuinjutsu group from Nara and Yamanaka clan have placed a new seal on Gaara."


    "Then that means¡­"


    "I don''t know." After a slight pause, Raito continued, "Jiraiya-sama said that Orochimaru could still do something since he also knows about Konoha''s core Fuinjutsu principles and sealing formulas."


    "The attack will definitely happen from what I have heard. Every area head is leading to do drills for emergency escape in small groups for the past week. And extra manpower is sent to the capital and the border patrol for assurance."


    "Things are rough." Shikamaru sighed and closed his eyes then recited the code of conduct. "In case of emergency, it is every ninja''s duty to safeguard the weak. As a Genin, we are expected to help the people to reach the nearest safe house and guard it against any adversity."


    "Code red of the Genin handbook." Raito sighed.


    "You have something else in mind?" Shikamaru asked looking at Raito''s face.


    Rubbing his forehead, Raito answered, "It''s just this poison hall. I think that¡­ ah, never mind."


    "We will all be at the stadium on the final day of the Ch¨±nin exams. So, we can make plans accordingly. If we can find all the probabilities¡­"


    ''As expected, Shikamaru didn''t focus on ''Poison Hall''.''


    "Shikamaru?" Raito called stopping Shikamaru''s mumbling.


    There was a slight frown on his face as he answered, "What is it?"


    "Do you remember the people sitting behind me in the academy?" Raito asked signaling behind him.


    "It was Hinata and Shino." Shikamaru quickly answered.


    "No, I was talking about when I was in section B." Raito clarified.


    "Uhh¡­ I don''t remember much, sorry." Shikamaru had a small frown on his face as he tried remembering them.


    Shaking his head, Shikamaru let out a small groan then asked, "Is that really important?"


    "Not really." Raito shrugged.


    "Then¡­ what will you when the attack happens?" Shikamaru asked with raised brows.


    ''Again.''


    "¡­ I don''t know." Raito sighed then added, "Follow the protocol¡­ maybe."


    "Following the protocol is not so bad," Shikamaru said with a weak smile. "It''s not like we can do more."


    Throwing the barbell in the air, Raito let out a chuckle then looked towards Shikamaru. "No."


    "What?"


    Just before the barbell was about to hit the ground, it disappeared. "I can do much more."


    Raito took out a scroll from the inventory then threw it towards Shikamaru.


    Grabbing the scroll, Shikamaru gave it a quick look then gave Raito a confused look. "Lantern."


    "Come on, take it out." Raito smiled then added, "That''s my new sealwork."


    "Present for your birthday if we didn''t make it."


    "Don''t," Shikamaru rolled his eyes then injected chakra in the seal. With a small cloud of chakra smoke, a stone lantern appeared in front of him.


    "Lantern?" Crouching down, Shikamaru raised his brows in curiosity. "There are seals in there. Preservation seal and this sealing formula¡­"


    "Yeah, try injecting it with chakra," Raito suggested with a smile.


    Shikamaru nodded while looking at the seal on the stone lantern. He quickly injected chakra into the seal and saw the fire igniting and illuminating the whole room.


    ''High degree of suggestibility, just like hypnosis.'' Raito maintained a small smile on the outside whereas in the inside he was trying to piece the situation together.


    "The shadows," Shikamaru said in shock as he looked down at his shadow, which was a few shades darker.


    "I took the foundation sealwork from the Uzumaki Fuinjutsu then added something of my own mix," Raito explained as he extinguished the fire in the stone lantern.


    "Oi." Shikamaru snapped as he had already started to push chakra into the shadow.


    "What?" Raito sealed the stone lantern in the scroll then said, "You were staring at the fire for too long."


    Throwing the scroll towards Shikamaru, Raito walked towards the door and opened it. Yawning, Raito looked at Shikamaru and said, "It''s middle of the night and you are in my room. If you don''t think that''s weird then¡­"


    "Che, you are going to do something else and want me to go." It was not a question but a statement that Shikamaru had come to.


    "I have some things to do," Raito replied lazily staring blankly into space.


    ''Again?'' Shikamaru looked at Raito then walked out. "I''ll see myself out."


    "Mm." Raito nodded but his entire focus was on the notification that appeared in front of him out of nowhere.


    [You have received a message.]


    [You have 1 unread message.]


    "What the hack it this!?" Banging the door close, Raito sweeped the surrounding with his ''[Chakra Sense]''.


    Finding no one suspicious eyeing the house or him, Raito sat at a corner, away from the sight of the window, and said, "Open message."


    [Message ¨C 1 message from ''The Abyss'']


    After a short pause, Raito pressed the message. A new tab appeared with a recording of a person in dark clothes. Looking straight, he said, "I''ll be waiting for you at the bas.e.m.e.nt, young master."


    With that the video message ended, leaving Raito with a frown and confusion.


    "¡­ I know him." Not knowing who he was or what he was but the feeling that he was someone related in the past, made Raito shiver down his spine. Walking down the stairs, crossed the living room, and reached the library. As he stood in front of the mirror, Raito felt like it was the longest night, he had ever experienced till now.


    Letting out a breath of tension, Raito unsealed the hidden door and walked down to the end of the corridor.


    Dark corridor, rapid breathing, and the unknown on the other side of the door. Thinking about the possibilities made Raito sweat.


    "Damn it." Raito cursed and yanked open the door.


    Bang.


    "Ah, young master." Sitting on a chair and drinking tea was the old man, Four and sitting opposite to him was the person in dark clothes, looking at him straight.


    The person in dark clothes stood up and bowed with his hand over his heart. "Young master, you may have forgotten about me. So, let me re-introduce you myself."


    "I am ''Zero'' from ''The Abyss''."


    Raito swallowed as patches of memories appeared in his ''Fog Of Memories''. "You guys did something with my memories."


    "It was supposed to be for everyone." Zero sighed as he started explaining. "And when I said everyone, everyone means literally everyone¡­ or it was supposed to be."


    "Everyone except this brat." Four sipped and added.


    "Every trigger was a powerful feedback for me, you nosy brat." Four harrumphed. "When you forget something, why can''t you be like everyone else and just leave it as it is?"


    "It''s probably because of those gamer power."


    "It must be something else."


    "STOP!" Raito shouted with chakra flaring.


    The two, Zero and Four, looked at Raito then at each other then finally at Raito.


    Four looked at Raito and smirked, "Couldn''t take it anymore, huh?"


    "Let''s keep this short, young master." Zero clapped drawing attention then added. "About the memories, we did it because it was time for us to go back."


    Confused, Raito asked, "Where?"


    Zero answered, "Another world."


    "Ah, yes that." Raito didn''t know what to say so he simply shut his mouth.


    "And about what our mistress did¡­ for that, she was expelled by ''The Abyss''."


    "Expelled by the abyss? Sounds kind of creepy." Raito let out a smile and played with his canines.----


    "Two points cleared, then the last one."


    "It''s about the shop." Four gave a light cough and added, "Since we would no longer be available in this world, we want to present you this."


    A blue sphere of the size of a fist appeared on the table and approached towards Raito.


    "This is our shop''s exclusive service to the young master. Whenever you have something you want to purchase please look for it in the shop."


    Raito looked in exhaustion at the blue sphere then stretched out his hand.


    [On assimilation, a new feature ''Shop ¨C The Abyss'' would be added to the main menu. Would you like to assimilate?]


    Raito looked at the notification then at the two. Sweeping the tab to the side, Raito opened his mouth to ask, "Um, can I ask if the Abyss can help me with something?"


    "Stop it, you brat." Four stood up with annoyance on his face. "Even after I told you about our circ.u.mstance."


    "I have about a little more than a hundred million in saving-"


    "We are sorry, young master but we can no longer stay in this world as such it is impossible to take on any requests." Zero stood up and replied calmly. The tables, chair, and the teacups disappeared as if it was never there to begin with.


    "I did guess that much." Raito sighed as he called the notification forward and pressed the accept button.


    [''Shop ¨C The Abyss'' added to the main menu. For trading purposes, please access the shop.]


    "Done." Raito closed the notification and looked at the two. "What else?"


    The two looked at each other then Zero stepped forward drawing a semi-circular arc with his right hand and pointing at the vast emptiness. "A parting gift for the young master."


    ???Um, is there supposed to be something?" Raito tiled his head to look at where Zero was pointing but saw nothing.


    "Ah," Turning around Zero waved his hand as one after another things started appearing out of nowhere.


    Eyes widened and mouth gaped as Raito saw the cylindrical things appear. "What is this?"


    "Our mistress first strike was leaving the restricted area to warn the Third Hokage about the Uchiha clan''s animosity."


    "The second strike was leaving the restricted area to help the Third Hokage."


    "The third strike was leaving the restricted area to warn the Third Hokage about his demise."


    Zero stopped then turned around to face Raito and said, "With all being said and done, it''s time, young master. I wish you well for your future."


    "Such mentality." Four looked at Raito for a long time before waving his hand, forcing the space to distort in front.


    Zero and Four quietly walked through a spatial gate and forever disappeared from this world.


    The spatial gate, Zero, Four or any other thing they had said didn''t register in Raito''s brain as his entire focus was locked by the bodies floating in a liquid inside the cylindrical chamber.


    "Just what the hell is this?"

 Chapter 78 - 78 – Don’t Worry About Me

    Days passed by quickly and it was the final day of the Ch¨±nin examinations. The high and noble people of the continent from all over the continent came to Konohagakure for entertainment and evaluation.


    Traveling all the way from their hometowns to watch those so-called shinobi in a fight where they put their lives on the line for the pride of their village. Using secret techniques and forces of nature that defies common sense to battle and win.


    Today''s battle will determine who will win favors and who will lose. The resource distribution will change hands if the performance between the different villages varies too much.


    Of course, the winner will gain whereas the loser will lose.


    Bang! Bang!


    Early morning at the Konohagakure, the festive atmosphere spread throughout the village. The shops were open with food, toys, and other items in full view ready to be sold at any second.


    "Oe, Naruto, you dimwit. Get the heck out." Raito looked at the time and banged continuously at Naruto''s room door.


    The gang had decided to meet before going to the stadium but Naruto was still taking his sweet time changing clothes or something that could not be said.


    Massaging his forehead, he gave the door a big one before snorting in annoyance. "Hmph! ''[Fuinjutsu ¨C Override]''."


    [Skill level ¨C Check]


    With a sneer, Raito kicked open the door, frightening Naruto who was making various kinds of poses in front of the mirror.


    Raito''s face twitched furiously as he closed his eyes and turned around too embarrassed to see what Naruto was doing. "What the heck are you doing?"


    Grabbing his forehead protector, Naruto quickly wore it and started explaining, "I was preparing for when I would beat Neji. I should know how to wave hand and how to give flying kiss¡­"


    "Ugh, everything is ready. So, come down, I am leaving first." Letting out a groan, Raito quickly left Naruto''s room and went downstairs. Please think about how you are actually going to defeat him.


    Hinata in her casual dress, non-ninja dress, was sitting on the sofa, drinking tea, and eating crackers, waiting for Raito and Naruto. Her hair had grown longer, crossing her shoulders. Tying her hair into a ponytail, she gave a pure vibe to those looking at her.


    Raito gave her a side-glance then quickly walked towards the dining table.


    "Ah, Raito-kun, I didn''t hear you." The sudden appearance of Raito startled Hinata. For her defense, the tea and crackers in the house tasted much better than any other place in the village. As for the sweets, she still favored the old bakery''s cinnamon roll.


    "I was practicing my ghost-like steps," Raito replied with an evil smile. As he turned around an illusory demon with sharply pointed ears and a long, pointed nose appeared, carrying the corpse of a woman, dripping blood.


    Hinata blinked her large eyes a few times before continuing to munch on the crackers.


    Raito waited patiently for a good long minute before sighing and canceling the Genjutsu. "It''s no good. You used to get scared so easily before but now¡­ it''s so boring."


    "It''s not that scary anymore, Raito-kun," Hinata replied with a sweet smile. "It''s even interesting because you have so many weird ideas."


    "What''s the use of these if I can scare people?" Raito rolled his eyes and looked at the top end of the stairs. A few minutes had passed by but there was no trace of Naruto. Expanding his range of chakra sense, Raito found that Naruto was still in his room and now was trying to select clothes, which looked just the same.


    "¡­"


    "I''ll bring Naruto-kun." Feeling Raito''s anger, Hinata quickly jumped out of her comfortable seat and hurried upstairs.


    [Sofa (+10)]


    Rarity ¨C Uncommon


    Special ¨C Comfort [Users will feel like they are sitting on a cloud. Decreases fatigue.]


    Swiping away the distress caused by the appearance of the common special effects, Raito stirred the pot to calm his anger.


    The enhancement skill did not actually give an overpowered skill to an item; it just amplified the core functions of those items but sometimes it gave common-sense defying effects too.


    "Open up, Raito." Ino''s voice came through the door making Raito turn his head.


    "They are early." Raito quickly stood up, swept the area, and at the same time opened the door. "Why are you guys here? Didn''t we agree to meet near the stadium?"


    Ino rolled her eyes then focused on the pot and replied, "Ch¨­ji said that you were gonna make something really good. So, here we are¡­" Ino stuck out her tongue and smiled.


    Looking at the two behind Ino, Raito''s face twitched as he tried to form a smile. Shikamaru and Ch¨­ji had completely different expressions than Ino.


    Sniffing with all his might, Ch¨­ji walked in and locked his eyes onto the big pot on the stove. There was a lid covering the pot steam coming from the gaps, leaving a fragrant aroma on the surrounding.


    "You have Kiba''s nose but it only works for food," Raito said in annoyance.


    Ignoring Raito, Ch¨­ji grabbed a bowl and ladle then served himself a big serving.


    Ino also walked around and made herself some tea then sat on the comfortable sofa, drinking tea and munching on crackers.


    Standing beside Raito and looking at his two teammates, Shikamaru sighed and said, "I can''t wait for the exams to start."


    Raito felt his face twitching for the second time this morning as he looked sideways and said, "You are going to give up after playing for a while, aren''t you?"


    "What do you mean by playing? I will just do what I am supposed to do."


    "You are not even denying." Raito rolled his eyes and signaled Shikamaru to follow.


    Bringing a plate from his inventory, Raito opened the rice cooker and scooped the rice.


    [Dinner Plate (+10)]


    Rarity ¨C Uncommon


    Special effects ¨C Harmonize [Foods that are compatible with one another, if placed together will create double the effect.]


    Opening the pot the smell of the gravy attacked once more as Ch¨­ji stood up once again.


    The pot contained carrots, potato, meat, and finally the heavenly gravy. One scoop of it covered half of the dinner plate and another scoop covered the rice, enveloping it.


    As he was about to pass the plate to Shikamaru, a spoon appeared on the side, like a boat on the lake of gravy.


    Rarity ¨C Uncommon


    Special ¨C Enhance [Enhance the flavor of the dish for user satisfaction.]


    "Heh, nice control." Shikamaru smiled at Raito''s display of ability then sat beside Ch¨­ji.


    "Yup, one of my many skills." Replying to Shikamaru, Raito turned around and got himself a serving too.


    Shikamaru and Raito had finally finished their first whereas Ch¨­ji was going for his third fill.


    "Ch¨­ji, aren''t you eating too much?" Ino had already finished and was now looking around. Seeing Ch¨­ji going for another serving, Ino shouted, "You will explode if you eat more."


    "But it''s really good, a little special too."


    "Special?" Ino looked at Ch¨­ji weirdly then looked at her own cup of tea then shook her head. "Maybe, but that doesn''t mean that you should stuff yourself. You should be image-conscious. Image!"


    Ch¨­ji thought for a while then answered with a nod. "Um, it''s not as good as my dad''s cooking."


    "¡­" Ino left her jaw open and her brows twitching.


    "I''m ready!" Naruto ran down the stairs with Hinata in his same old orange clothes, which made Ino sigh.


    "I don''t believe it. You are going to wear the same thing in your final exam." Ino pointed and complained. "At least wear something-"


    "What''s wrong with that? This is my signature." Naruto looked at his clothes and retorted back.


    Letting out a snort, Naruto pointed back at Ino and said, "And what''s with you? You are always wearing purple. You need to-"


    Ino banged the table and her eyes turned red and fire covered the back, "Purple is stylish and in fashion sense, the best¡­"


    Raito cleaned his and Shikamaru''s dishes and Shikamaru stopped the two from arguing. Doing dishes or stopping an argument about clothes, girl and Naruto was a pain but Raito did not give him a choice.


    Later the gang walked along the streets of Konoha and talking and enjoying. Among the six of them, half of them were going to appear in the exams.


    "It would be so much better if they sold more snacks at the stadium." Ch¨­ji looked at his bag of snacks and said regretfully.


    Ino raised her finger, pointing at a fruit stall, and said, "Maybe we can-"


    "I have tons of snacks with me," Raito said as he pulled a couple of snacks from thin air.


    "¡­ Eat healthy." Ino clenched her fist in anger as the two ignored her.


    Hinata grabbed her hand and went towards the stall to buy some fruits and to help Ino calm down.


    "That old pervert taught me a few techniques that I can use in¡­"


    "Pervert?"


    "That''s Jiraiya-sama." Raito clarified then added, "Has white hair and likes to peep into the hot springs or any other places where there are women, so-called ''The Old Pervert''."


    "Ohh." Ino looked at Naruto silently for a long time, making his hair stand. "You are learning a lot from Jiraiya-sama eh, Naruto?"


    "He is one of the legendary three so he must have a lot to teach." Hinata rescued Naruto from Ino.


    "Do remember that one of the three is Orochimaru, who betrayed Konoha," Raito added bringing in a stiff atmosphere.


    "Another is a gambler who seems to have¡­ forsaken the village." Pocketing his hands, Raito mumbled then closed his eyes and walked by the rest.


    "What just happened all of a sudden?" Ino glanced at Shikamaru but he also shook his head.


    "Raito," Naruto called out weakly seeing Raito in a bad mood.


    "Hinata," Shikamaru called out and asked, "Can you find where Jiraiya-sama is right now?"


    Ino looked at Shikamaru in question, "What''s that got to do-"


    "Shhh." Shikamaru made a ''hush'' sign and waited for Hinata.


    "He is not at the stadium but at the northwest station tower," Hinata reported then gave Shikamaru a confused look.


    "Hinata, try to remember all the routes to the shelter," Shikamaru whispered to Hinata then gave her a nod.


    As a Hy¨±ga, Hinata had seen many things happening in the past month which somewhat terrified her.


    "What''s really going on?" Hinata felt a shiver go down the spine as she nodded furiously.


    Raito walked forward with his ''[Chakra Sense]'' locked onto the few peoples. ''There is still no sign of Orochimaru.''


    ''Was this all to force the village to cause agitation, distress, and¡­''


    "It''s good if it doesn''t happen." Raito let out a chuckle then called out the black book with the seal.


    "I''ll be depending on you all." Feeding the sealwork on the book chakra, he straightened his back and returned to his normal self.


    "Ou," Asuma''s rough voice alerted the Genins, making them turn back.


    "I knew it." With a small smile, crooked cigarette dangling from his mouth, and hands in his pockets, Asuma walked slowly towards the gang. "If you are this slow, you won''t be getting any good seats."


    "Seats have number, sensei." Ino quickly pulled out her ticket and waved.


    Letting out a smoke, Asuma scratched his sides of his face and said in embarrassment, "Well, I never needed one. So¡­"


    Looking at the slightly tanned Asuma, Raito smiled and turned around. With a wider smile and louder voice, he said, "Doesn''t that means you have a lot of money saved, Asuma-sensei?"


    "Huh?"


    "You can take us to a BBQ then."


    "Oe, oe," Asuma raised his hands seeing Ch¨­ji''s shiny eyes. "I¡­ I''ll take you guys out after¡­ after this Ch¨±nin exam."


    "Really?" Ch¨­ji was too close and it was making Asuma feel awkward.


    "You guys are here?" Kakashi''s lazy voice caught everyone''s attention.


    "Kaka-sensei, you are so early." Naruto gave a wide smile and walked forward. It was not that Kakashi was not early; it was just that he had a bad sense of direction and time, which always made him miss the early morning meeting or the late-night gatherings and even the J¨­nin meeting


    "Yup, I just wanted to see what you guys were doing." Kakashi eye-smiled and waved his hands. Surprisingly, he was not with his small orange book of love today.


    Kakashi looked at Naruto for a long time then patted his head. "Try your best, Naruto. I''ll be watching."


    "Hai,"


    "Raito?" Kakashi looked at Shikamaru, nodded then turned towards Raito whose entire focus was on the black book.


    "Hm, sensei?" Raito glanced back at the seal formula then at Kakashi then waved the book and said, "I''m just preparing for the fight."


    "Oh,"


    Then there was an awkward silence between the two. Asuma let out the smoke and asked everyone to go with him. Ch¨­ji agreed quickly but Shikamaru, Ino, and Hinata gave Asuma a questioning look.


    Letting out a small smile, he signaled them to keep quiet and follow him for now.


    While Kakashi''s support did cheer up Naruto, he was still concerned about Raito. So, he called out, "Raito, we need to warm up before the fight. Let''s go."


    "And you too sensei, you need to be there to look at how I beat that Neji bastad."


    Raito looked at Naruto for a while then looked down with a small smile that Naruto thought was somewhat sad, then said, "Naruto, I want to ask sensei something. I will meet everyone at the stadium."


    "O-Ok, everyone will be waiting. Don''t be late." With that said, Naruto looked at the two for a moment then ran away.


    Raito stood still, wanting to say something but couldn''t speak up whereas Kakashi looked at Raito in silence.


    Taking two steps forward, Kakashi focused his gaze at Raito and asked"Do you really want it?"


    Raito felt it was difficult to look at Kakashi so he looked down and answered, "It was an order."


    Looking up with a cheerful smile, Raito added, "And I am also going to get something out of this. I am going to get special training from the Senior Medic in the Konoha Hospital in healing arts."


    Raito turned towards the stadium and added, "Hokage-sama also said that it would be beneficial for my future."


    Kakashi did not interrupt or add anything. He just listened until Raito stopped then asked. "Sasuke will be joining team seven as your replacement. What do you think of that?"


    "Nothing really."


    "¡­" There was another long silence.


    "Try to make a logical reason then why is Sasuke replacing you is good."


    Raito took a deep breath and looked at Kakashi then started, "I think it''s reasonable. With Sasuke being the last Uchiha that is loyal to the village and then there is you, who have experience with the Sharingan. You can train him better than anyone else in the village can. Also, you have a history with the Uchiha clan that makes you and Sasuke a better pair right now."


    His green eyes, which should represent life, now seemed to freeze the world.


    "The last Uchiha, the Hy¨±ga heiress¡­ and the Ky¨±bi Jinch¨±riki. It makes a priority team. So¡­"


    Words failed to come out, as his breathing increased by several folds.


    After several breaths, Raito was calm as he could be then added, "I think the elder council made a fair decision."


    Kakashi frowned, looking at Raito, who gave more and more of that loner vibe. ''It shouldn''t be like this.''


    After finishing the training yesterday with Sasuke, an ANBU appeared at the training ground, where he informed Kakashi about the change in his team members.


    Raito was accepted into a specialty program in the Konoha hospital and will be under the Senior Medic, learning Medical techniques whereas Sasuke will be joining team seven and will continue doing fieldwork. And as for Kurenai''s team, they will have an additional member from the Genin corps or from the graduating batch.


    Even when the plan was to make Sasuke miss the fight with Gaara, Kakashi couldn''t hold it back. With a gloomy expression, Kakashi rushed towards the Hokage tower, wanting to reverse the decision but the council members and the Third were not willing.


    The third even explained to him how valuable Raito was; his ability to do a different kind of healing and his value on using the high-quality water technique in the side project.


    In his own words, Sarutobi said to Kakashi with full seriousness that night, ''He is much too valuable to only be in the frontline.''


    Kakashi looked at the back of his student that was giving a lonely air and said, "You are a member of team seven and will always be."


    "I know I am."


    "Don''t worry about me, Kakashi-sensei," Raito said giving Kakashi a side-glance then added in a low voice that only he could have heard. "I know what I should be and do¡­ for myself."


    Under the effects of [Stealth] neither Kakashi, with his Sharingan nor anyone with equipment and technology could actually see Raito, with where he stood.

 Chapter 79 - 79 – Start!

    The battle stadium in the Konohagakure is occasionally used from time to time by the Genin, Ch¨±nin, and J¨­nin. However, it is limited to Ch¨±nin and the Genins, and as for J¨­nin, to showcase their full capabilities, they are tested by more special means.


    The stadium was slightly oval and had seats that held a little more than a hundred people, which were all full on this day. The Hokage and Kazekage had their very own placement, above all, looking down at the struggling Genins.


    Except for the Kages, there were specialized seats for the wealthy executives and the Daimy¨­ of the various small and large nations. They had a fanciful roof to shield from the sun, a row of helpers to serve them, and extra ANBU security to show the difference between the treatments.


    "I heard that an Uchiha will be participating in this tournament, dad." A boy of seven or eight stood up from his seat and looked towards the lower row to search for Sasuke.


    "Yeah, let''s enjoy ourselves." A slight plumper man wearing luxurious clothing sat on a comfortable looking chair and looked at the child with a doting smile on his face.


    "His name is Sasuke, the last living Uchiha loyal to Konoha. It is said that he has unlocked his Sharingan and will be fighting with the Gaara of the Sand." A thin but well-dressed man stood beside the chair and explained.


    The plumper man waved his hand and asked, "What about Kirigakure? I heard they sent some Genins for the exam."


    Taking out a pamphlet from his coat pocket, the thin man answered, "They did send some¡­ but none of them passed the second round of elimination."


    "If I could meet with those from the ''Land of Water'' and get an exclusive contract¡­"


    "We will all get the chance very soon." Another Richie added bringing a curious atmosphere.


    "Hoo, you know about it too, huh?" another guy joined and looked at Richie with a big smile. "Send some people here and there and you will know everything."


    "The civil war has ended a couple of weeks ago. And from what I heard that the new Mizukage is really a nice one." One businessman sitting at the center said then looked at them with a glass of wine in his hand. "Having a man on the inside is really helpful."


    "¡­"


    "These people have a lot to say." The Ch¨±nin assigned near that area elbowed his partner and complained.


    "That has nothing to do with us." The other Ch¨±nin was a bit stiff with the rules.


    Tak, tak.


    Hearing the noise, one Ch¨±nin went inside the box whereas the other guarded the door vigilantly.


    The Ch¨±nin looked left and right but found nothing then he used a simple scouting technique to verify. "I am sure I heard something."


    The Ch¨±nin who went inside patted the other Ch¨±nin''s shoulder then returned to his original position. "It was just some minerals ore those merchants were playing with."


    The other Ch¨±nin squinted his eyes and swept the hallway once before letting out a breath of relief.


    "With all this happening, you are a bit too s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e."


    "Tch." Cl.i.c.k.i.n.g his tongue, he turned around and gave the hallway a last look.


    Unknown to the civilian merchants and the shinobi at the door, no one noticed the Genjutsu clad Raito hiding at the box.


    "A 32 and 28, huh?" Raito let out a breath of relief and scanned the people in the room. Bookmarking them at the info book, Raito disappeared from the spot.


    Raito switched his clothes and wore the patternless mask given by the DRAGON and walked upstairs. But even before he could cross halfway, an ANBU appeared and looked at him for a few seconds as in thought then raised his hand, activating chakra, and touched the mask lightly before withdrawing.


    "There are two boxes with seventeen Daimy¨­ and their partners except for the six. Each one has several bodyguards; shinobi and mercenary." After the ANBU briefly explained, he looked at Raito and added, "Number eight, you are only allowed for a quick sweep and nothing more. You are not allowed to communicate with anyone or make a comment. Also, you are not allowed to go to the higher floor."


    With that said, the ANBU disappeared, resuming his duties.


    With his ''[Chakra Sense]'', Raito quickly found that there were about six ANBU near the box and two at the two ends of the corridor.


    Walking inside the box for the Daimy¨­s, Raito quickly grabbed everyone''s attention. These people created some mental pressure but Raito didn''t care much about them right now.


    There were Daimy¨­ of Fire and Wind country in one box with luxurious decorations and a row of helpers. The bodyguards stood either at the doors, corners, or beside their employer. When they heard the steps, half of them immediately looked towards Raito whereas the other half continued what they were doing. To this reaction, Raito gave them a deep bow for a couple of seconds then walked around for a bit.


    ''I hate barriers.'' Raito stepped out and looked at his notification tab then quickly checked out the other box.


    Except for the ANBU, Raito had confirmed everyone''s identity in the stadium, confirming they were who they really seem to be.


    "Jii-chan can do it. I know it." Just as Raito was about to go, he turned to the ANBU from earlier then asked using ''[Mind-Voice Transmission]'' and asked, "Where is DRAGON?"


    The ANBU was quiet for a long time but answered in the end, "Southern Gate."


    After receiving his answer, Raito cut the connection and walked downstairs under the ANBU''s vigilance then disappeared midway to the next floor.


    Appearing near the arena gates, Raito waited as everyone came one by one and stood beside him or at the opposite.


    "Raito, we were waiting for you at the box." When Naruto saw Raito standing alone near the gates to the stage and quickly walked to his side.


    "Ah, I forgot." Raito looked at Naruto blankly and said with a blank face.


    "You forgot? YOU FORGOT!?" Naruto shouted then jabbed his fingers and added, "How could you forget something like that?"


    "Don''t shout, you are making a scene, idiot." Sasuke walked in and leaned back on the wall opposite Raito.


    "I tried to go upstairs but they didn''t let me." Ignoring Sasuke, Raito explained to Naruto and looked behind him.


    Shikamaru walked in casually while rubbing his ears and said, "That Ino was too loud."


    Karu, who was in a Genjutsu, finally revealed himself and appeared beside Sasuke, near the arena.


    Raito and Sasuke didn''t give him a glance but Naruto jumped in shock as he pointed towards Karu, "How are you here?"


    Karu smiled at Naruto''s reaction and answered, "I was using Genjutsu."


    "Man, you are too shy. You need Genjutsu to-"


    "He was here to spy on¡­ Raito." Naruto was about to lecture but was cut off by Sasuke.


    "Spy on Raito?" Naruto gave him a confused look then turned towards Shikamaru.


    Shikamaru closed his eyes, not willing to explain. It was too troublesome to explain it to someone like Naruto about preparation and such things.


    "Such a basic thing and you don''t even know that. How are you still a ninja?" Neji''s remark made Naruto glare at him and when he was about to retort, he saw two people walking towards them.


    Tap, tap, tap.


    "Proctor is going to call. Be ready."


    Everyone looked at Raito then at Hayate who had walked to the center of the stage and said some things that were not much of value.


    As the speech ended, Hayate turned towards the Genins and waved then he started calling their names.


    "Hy¨±ga Neji, Shikamaru Nara, Uzumaki Naruto, Temari, Gaara, Uchiha Sasuke and Nakaharu Karu."


    One by one, the Genins walked in with different expressions on their face. Naruto was with a smile, whereas Neji had a serious expression as he looked towards a spot from the corner of his eyes.


    There sat the Hy¨±ga elders, who were controlling the fate of the branch family.


    Sasuke walked in with calmness in his face as he glanced back at Gaara from time to time. Remembering his training with Kakashi, the corners of his lips curved upwards and his hands clenched and relaxed.


    ''Earth is weak against thunder.'' Then his eyes shifted from Gaara towards Raito, who was walking one step ahead of him.


    "I heard from sensei that you are really strong even though you are from the new batch."


    "Sorry." Raito looked at the top box and saw two man with Kage hat sitting side by side


    [Hiruzen Sarutobi]


    [? ? ? ?]


    "What?" Karu frowned hearing Raito and walked a little towards Raito''s side.


    "I''ll be finishing it quickly today." Raito looked down and stood in attention in front of Hayate.


    Hayate looked at them and nodded, "Since it''s everyone''s first time for everyone, I shall explain the rules."


    "There is no time limit but it doesn''t matter that you can stretch the match till evening."


    "Since it''s a public battle, there are children and women watching, so, I will stop if anyone is going to die. But it also means that you automatically lose."


    "And the match will be over when I say it''s over. If anyone continues after the announcement, it will be taken as hostility and the J¨­nin instructors will intervene."


    "I hope you will obey the rules and display your skills."


    Letting the rules dissolve in their minds, Hayate gave them a good look and took a couple of steps back. "Uzumaki Naruto and Hy¨±ga Neji, stay."


    "Everyone else, to the participant''s box."


    "Hai!"

 Chapter 80 - 80 – First Signs

    Naruto and Neji stood on the stage, under the glaring sun, facing each other in the eye.


    Hayate looked at the two Genins in front of him. After clearing his throat, he gave them a side-glance and said, "Show your skills and tell them, you deserve to be a Ch¨±nin."


    Hayate smiled on the inside and said. ''Try your best, Naruto.''


    "Fight!" With that, Hayate disappeared from the center, leaving the stage to them.


    Naruto immediately took a huge step back and pulled on a few shurikens, ready to throw whereas Neji was standing calmly, neither taking an offensive nor a defensive stance. He simply looked at Naruto with his pupil less eyes.


    "I hope you are ready because I-"


    "Just my luck¡­" Neji interrupted Naruto and shook his head before continuing. "I seem to get all the losers in this competition¡­ till now."


    "You¡­" Enraged, Naruto threw the shuriken towards Neji then suddenly rushed forward with a kunai in hand.


    Tink, Tink


    "Cheap tricks." After deflecting the shurikens with his b.a.r.e hands, Neji got into Hy¨±ga''s Gentle Fist stance and waited for Naruto.


    "I''ll show you." Naruto threw the kunai towards Neji''s face.


    "This again?" Neji quickly deflected the kunai and was ready to counter-attack when he found smoke coming out of the tags attached to the kunai.


    Up in the stands, Shikamaru looked at the stage below and let out a yawn. "Heh, using Fuinjutsu. That was a nice trick but Neji has Byakugan."


    "Mhm."


    "But who knows, maybe Naruto will eventually win this match?"


    "Mhm."


    Shikamaru looked at Raito, who was ignoring him, and looked towards where his eyes were looking, which were mostly reaching towards the ANBU and the Hokage box at the top.


    "Something wrong?" Shikamaru asked in a low voice.


    "Huh? Nothing really, I was just thinking." Raito looked towards Kakashi and the other J¨­nin instructors and mumbled.


    Out of nowhere, Sasuke commented, "Naruto''s going to lose."


    Raito ignored the comment made by Sasuke and looked at him, who had activated Sharingan, and said, "You are really putting that eye of yours to great use, Sasuke."


    "I will do anything to get stronger," Sasuke whispered then focused back to the stage.


    "As long as you don''t¡­"


    Shikamaru shrugged and looked at Raito, who was still looking around, then asked, "Seriously, what are you thinking about?"


    Raito looked at the Hokage box and answered Shikamaru, "Just¡­ there are lots of people with higher than average chakra."


    "¡­ It''s Ch¨±nin finals after all." Shikamaru said and looked around. "I hope everything goes well."


    At the audience box, the J¨­nin instructors, who were looking at the stage, continued looking down, but their topic of discussion had now shifted to Raito and Shikamaru.


    Asuma sighed, "Look at your student, Kakashi. He is looking at the box."


    "Box¡­" Kakashi continued looking at Naruto, who was getting his chakra points blocked, and said, "Hokage-sama''s order was to protect the civilians and the other Daimy¨­."


    "He wants us to not interfere¡­. old man and his stubbornness." Asuma took out the cigarette from his b.r.e.a.s.t pocket and pulled one out.


    "What about Raito?" Asuma looked at Kakashi and said, "It seems like he is going to take some risk."


    "¡­" Kakashi kept quiet then shook his head, looking at the flying Naruto, "Naruto needs to try harder if he wants to beat Neji."


    "[Shadow Clone]" Yellow haired Naruto popped one after another, nearly covering half of the stage.


    Naruto and his clones surrounded Neji and threw kunai one after another at a slow pace and Neji blocked it easily.


    "If that''s all you got¡­" Chakra covered Neji''s hand as he looked around, with his Byakugan flaring.


    "I am just not done yet." CL.A.P


    As the clones and Naruto clapped hands, wind gathered around their arms, creating small dust cyclones around.


    Locking at Neji, Naruto stretched out his hand with one hand, making a half Rat sign. "[Multi-Shadow Clone ¨C Gale Palm]"


    The strong currents of air targeted Neji in the center, carrying dust and debris with it.


    Neji stood calmly in the center of the storm, and he even had a smirk on his face. "I have already seen this trick."


    One leg straight, facing forward and the other slightly to right, chakra exploded from the right half first making a bluish current. Then, under manipulation, Neji started rotating on an axis, making a dome of chakra with fast currents.


    "[Heavenly Protection]"


    Naruto''s Gale Palm and Neji''s Heavenly Protection clashed. Grinding, scraping and scratching. It continued for a dozen seconds before the clones stopped under Naruto''s command.


    Neji also stopped and looked at Naruto with a confident smirk on his face. "Story of sword and the shield, it seems the shield wins."


    After saying that, Neji quickly covered his hands and feet with chakra and dashed towards one group of clones. "It''s my turn now."


    While Neji was attacking one group, the other clones grouped together and attacked using shuriken and kunai.


    However, to Naruto''s dismay, Neji manipulated his clones to block the shuriken and kunai and then used another arm to cut down his clones one by one.


    "His clones are getting destroyed so easily," Shikamaru commented.


    "That''s how clones are," Raito replied, as he played with stone beads in his hands. "A few hits then ''poof''."


    Sasuke frowned after watching the fight for a while. He then deactivated his Sharingan. He had already seen Naruto''s wild, unpredictable style of fighting, which only had few repetitive moves and as for Neji''s, it was practically useless as the gentle fist is focusing on chasing the chakra points in the body.


    His gaze transferred to Raito, who was playing with stone beads that were giving an earthen yellow-brown glow.


    ''Advance techniques.'' Hiding the shock and jealousy in his eyes, Sasuke looked back at Karu, who was looking at Raito from the start of Ch¨±nin finals.


    ''Raito will easily win.'' Sasuke concluded then looked further, at the Suna team; Gaara and Temari.


    Remembering Kakashi''s advice and warning, Sasuke let out a breath and loosened his fist. ''With these techniques, I can go against Gaara.''


    After Sasuke collected his thought, he turned towards Shikamaru and made a confused face, as much as his stoic Uchiha face could make.


    Sasuke could feel his face twitch as he turned around, no longer wanting to look at Shikamaru. ''If only he wasn''t lazy.''


    Raito, who was playing with the stone beads, suddenly stopped and passed the two beads into Shikamaru''s hand, then ran towards the stairs.


    "I am going to toilet." With that said, Raito hurried down the stairs and took the first right.


    ''Liar.'' Shikamaru rolled his eyes and pocketed the two stone beads before turning towards the stadium. A frown slowly formed on Shikamaru''s face, but disappeared a second after. He now had an expression that truly believed that Raito went to the toilet.


    "Naruto may really win this match." Shikamaru said suddenly, disturbing Sasuke''s thought.


    "What!?" Sasuke snapped his head and rushed towards the railings. He stretched his neck to see that the previously flat stage was now deformed.


    Naruto hid behind the leftover trees, using them as coverage.


    "It''s useless, Naruto. My Byakugan can see you." Although he said that. Neji was sweating. seeing that many clones surrounding him. ''Just how much chakra does he have?''


    "It''s going to be dangerous." Naruto shouted and took out shuriken from his pouch and so did the clones.


    "Naive." Neji crouched and was ready to activate his chakra anytime.


    "You wish." Naruto and his clones jumped back and reached the wall of the stage, then threw the shuriken.


    Ox ¡ú Dog ¡ú Dragon ¡ú Rat ¡ú Dog ¡ú Boar ¡ú Snake ¡ú Tiger "[Shuriken Shadow Clone]"


    The small barrage of shuriken multiplied six or seven times before some clones disappeared but the stage now had a giant dome made up of shurikens, encircling Neji.


    "Just this?" One hand touching the front ground whereas the other was high in the sky. If one looked carefully, they could see chakra coming out as strings of light from his skin.


    ''The clan''s greatest defensive technique.'' "[Heavenly Protection]"


    "I am not done yet." Tiger ¡ú Ox ¡ú Dog ¡ú Rabbit ¡ú Snake "[Wind Release: Great Breakthrough]"


    After gathering chakra and wind inside his stomach, Naruto struck his stomach and expelled the wind from his mouth.


    The wind complimented the shurikens, doubling their speed and rotation.


    The speed at which the shuriken came at him made Neji sweat as he hurried with his technique.


    The wind and the shuriken struck the barrier made by Neji, creating massive dust cloud on collision. The dust blew as high as the audience boxes, obscuring everyone''s views.


    "[Wind Release: Erasing Wind]"


    Before the dust cloud could get any further, a group of Ch¨±nin standing in the front row made a series of hand signs before releasing a gust of wind, stopping the dust cloud from coming any further.


    At the participant box, Sasuke had his eyes wide open and his Sharingan flaring.


    Asuma looked at the dust cloud and sighed, "What a big mess?"


    "He has always been messy." Kakashi replied with an eye smile. "But¡­"


    Thump. Neji kneeled on the ground and was breathing in large gulps of air. Feeling pain on his face, Neji traced the cut on his face and grimaced. There were several of those shallow cuts around his body.


    "Naruto!" Neji shouted trying to find the source of his pain.


    "Just where-" Just as Neji was slanting forward to stand up, he heard a faint noise from below, but it was already too late as a fist knocked off his chin.


    "Argh." Neji flew off the ground.


    Landing on the ground, Neji tried his best, but could only move his hands. But other than that, he could do nothing.


    Silence permeated the stadium as Neji fell on the ground and as Naruto stood with dirt all over his body.


    A few seconds later, Hayate appeared beside Neji and raised his hand. He looked at the two and nodded, "Neji versus Naruto, Naruto wins."


    "That¡­ Naruto won. He won against a Hy¨±ga. How?" one of the Ch¨±nin looked at Naruto in a daze and slowly his lips curved and a smile appeared on his face.


    "It''s great." The man laughed and clapped and with him, the people also clapped.


    "I can''t believe that Naruto won." Tenten sitting beside Lee looked at the stage in shock.


    "Of course, he won. Naruto-kun must have worked so hard." Lee looked with tears threatening to come out of his eyes.


    "Naruto!" Ino stood up from her seat and waved her hand.


    One by one, people started clapping and cheering for Naruto. Although there were still some groups who would rather die.


    "Naruto won?" The event stunned Sasuke as he looked at Naruto, who had a gigantic smile on his face, waving his hand and running on the stage.


    Asuma looked at Naruto on the stage and said, "He used [Head Hunter] to move below and used his massive chakra reserve to propel him upward."


    "Well, he came a long way in his Chakra Control. In this batch of new Genin, I can frankly say that Naruto has improved the most."


    "I never thought that Neji could not see this one coming." Kurenai looked at Neji, who was being treated on the stage.


    "I am just glad that he said nothing stupid, like in the preliminaries." Ibiki walked slowly towards the group and tapped Kakashi''s shoulder.


    Kakashi turned his head and looked towards the participant''s box, then sighed in his heart.


    "I''ll go."


    Somewhere else in the stadium.


    Raito slowed his steps and looked at the ANBU, guarding an insignificant door. There were neither people nor shinobi around.


    Seeing Raito coming towards him, the ANBU raised his hand, signaling him to stop.


    "I haven''t sensed you for quite some time, senior." Raito stretched his neck and looked behind the ANBU.


    "This area is off limits, head back." The ANBU went for the sword on his back and warned.


    Raito looked back at the ANBU with ''[Observe]'' and smiled. "That thing you are trying to hide is very important, isn''t it?"


    "And that''s why you have changed into this ANBU outfit as soon as you heard me coming."


    "And I bet that those things inside the storage are really important for Orochimaru."


    "Tch, a brat." The ANBU clicked his tongue and pulled out the sword.


    "The brat, whose clone you just killed." Raito snapped his finger and the body inside the storage turned into a cloud of chakra smoke.


    "A high level clone?" The ANBU looked at the previously blood stained floor, then at Raito. The ANBU grew alert as he looked at Raito in front of him.


    "Why would he wander around in this empty passage?"


    "Why would there be two of same person?"


    "One exposed to everyone''s eye and other in this dark place."


    Taking the mask off his face, Kabuto looked at Raito with a small smile. "We meet again, Raito."


    "I didn''t know that you were this capable-"


    Just as he was talking, three earth spears rocketed towards Kabuto from the storage room.


    Kabuto was quite strong as he quickly shifted back, dodging the earth spears easily. "I never thought that-"


    PLUNGE


    The earth spear appeared from the ground behind Kabuto and pierced his right c.h.e.s.t.


    "[Spikes]"


    Even before Raito could finish, Kabuto moved swiftly, cutting the spear at the back with his right hand, whereas his left hand pulled the leftover part of the spear.


    "Argh." A second later and his left hand would have countless earth needles in it.


    Kabuto created some distance and looked at his wound. "How scary."


    "With a hole like that, you will lose a lot of blood and it will also affect your breathing." Raito raised his hands and twitched his fingers. With that the earth spears turned into rope-like and returned to Raito''s arm, turning into a stone bead.


    "Surrender yourself and you will gain treatment, otherwise¡­"


    Kabuto stood with his eyes fixed on Raito and even though he was bleeding, his eyes had joy in it. "I was right. You are way more interesting than Sasuke and Naruto, combined."


    Kabuto suppressed his laughter then walked forward, step by step, and said, "More interesting than a Jinch¨±riki and Sharingan."


    Raito narrowed his eyes and took out senbons from his pouch. Channeling chakra from to the Purple Poison Mark, he added muscle relaxants to the senbons.


    Kabuto quickly took out a red pill, the size of a baby''s thumb, and smirked, before swallowing it.

 Chapter 81 - 81 – Tricks and Failure

    SigmArc


    Standing in a hallway, two people faced each other, hostility clearly visible in their eye.


    Popping the pill, Kabuto placed his hand over the wound. A few moments later the hole was gone, covered by skin, as if there wasn''t a hole to begin with.


    "Instant healing?" Rubbing the back of his head, Raito looked at Kabuto and shrugged, "Maybe."


    Rather than restoring the health bar, the pill increased Kabuto''s stats, which confused Raito. The penetrating wound was gone but the HP bar remained the same.


    "You are so deceitful, Raito-kun." Removing his glasses, Kabuto smiled, then took a deep breath.


    With this deep breath, Kabuto''s body swelled from a lean body to a muscular, puffed up one.


    "A power up at the end?" With a raised brow and surprise in his face, Raito looked at Kabuto with interest. ''Directly increasing STR and DEX stat by hundred with one pill. Pity¡­.''


    ''Let''s try this.'' Swing his hand, Raito threw the senbon in his hand, aiming to pierce the vital organs.


    "It''s useless now." Kabuto smirked as the senbons failed to pierce or even make a mark.


    Looking at his skin, Kabuto had a weird smile on his face as he started, "Results of my experiment."


    "Hmph, ''[Pierce]''."


    Earth transformed into finger-thick earth needles and rushed towards Kabuto. Even this earth needles had purple spots, meaning that it was also poisoned.


    Pupils narrowed as Kabuto disappeared from his spot and appeared on the ceiling, ready to move anytime if those earth needles were to attack him again.


    "I knew you were dangerous, but I still underestimated you." Standing on the ceiling, Kabuto made a hand seal, acc.u.mulating chakra on his hands and forearm. Transformation began once more as black snake-like patter gather around on his arms. Kabuto''s hand transformed into a claw with pointed and curved nails.


    "You look less and less like a human every minute." Raito looked at the status page of Kabuto and saw the level increasing, instead of the stats this time, signifying the increase in threat level.


    ''[Equip ¨C Fighter Gloves ¨C 1]''


    ''[Equip ¨C Inner Guard ¨C 3]''


    [Black Half Finger Leather Gloves +11]


    (Penetration: 4% chance of ignoring defense.)


    ATK: 23-28


    Durability: 280


    (Rebound: 50% chance of physical attacks getting rebounded.)


    DEF: 66


    Durability:600


    "It''s just my little hobby." Hearing Raito''s word, Kabuto once again gave a weird smile and jumped towards Raito, and swung his thick arms.


    ''[Fast thinking]''


    ''Too many openings, but he can just overpower and overrun me.''


    ''[Shield]''


    The bead attached on Raito''s bracelet transformed into a circular shield, guarding Raito and obscuring Kabuto''s vision.


    Red chakra covered Kabuto''s arms as he sliced through the earthen shield.


    ''[Earth Release ¨C Rock Fist]'' With an arm covered with black rock and damage multiplier, Raito threw a straight at Kabuto and commanded the earth needles to attack Kabuto from behind. A simple pincer attack, just when the opponent had delivered an attack.


    "Heh." Kabuto''s eye flashed as he wiped his arms around and destroying the earth needles behind and slashing at Raito.


    Whoosh, Krii!


    Just as Raito backed to guard against Kabuto''s swipe attack, Raito saw a figure pass by him at extreme speed and hear the buzzing, just for a moment. "Sensei."


    Kakashi had been in the shadows for a quite a time, waiting for an opportunity. When he saw Raito was in trouble, Kakashi dashed at top speed with lightning streaking around his fingers, a lesser version of Chidori, with more assassin like feature.


    Although its destructiveness was far less compared to Chidori, it was enough to pierce Kabuto''s heart from his back and kill him in one swift motion.


    "Kakashi-sensei." Raito looked in awe and shock as Kakashi''s hand plunged into Kabuto''s body. "You killed him."


    "Yes?" Kakashi frowned as he pulled his hand from Kabuto''s body and looked at his hand.


    "We could have captured him." Another Raito, the real one, appeared from the wall beside and looked at Kakashi unhappily. Then looking at Kabuto''s body, Raito added, "I got nothing from him."


    "It was just empty. There was nothing." Raito scratched his head and crouched down.


    A wave of lightning passed Kakashi''s hand and the blood stains disappeared. Crouching down, he inspected the body. "It''s¡­."


    Puff, Shh!


    The room, which was previously filled with the dead bodies, was now filled with chakra smoke.


    Kakashi rushed in and took a quick sweep, then said. "Kabuto should have done it."


    Raito looked at the small room with his eyes widened and in disbelief. ''There was no one, but how?''


    Looking back at the body, Raito looked at Kakashi and said, "You just killed Kabuto but¡­"


    Moving towards a corner, Kakashi took out the plastered talisman and said, "That''s a dead body from a few days, maintained to it''s peak condition by chakra, named [Dead Soul Technique]. If you want to confirm, use [Diagnosis Technique] and look at the bones of the face and other places. You will see the artificial modifications to his face and some residual technique. Kabuto must have planned all these beforehand. And those bodies disappearing, it''s probably due to a [Reverse Summoning Technique]."


    Raito, still in disbelief, used [Diagnosis Technique] and looked according to what Kakashi said. ''My gamer powers, it never happened before, so why now?''


    "You did a good job using the silencing talisman. Otherwise we would be in a big trouble." Kakashi said and looked at Raito, who was still in a daze.


    Taking out a stasis seal, Kakashi sealed the body. "Kabuto was the chief medical officer''s adopted son so, he was already-"


    "That''s not the problem, sensei. I was never wrong before. The height, the face and even the chakra, everything was the same but¡­."


    "¡­. Don''t think about it too much." Standing up, Kakashi patted Raito''s shoulder and said, "There are a lot of things that you don''t know. As you grow, you will probably encounter many new things and learn."


    "¡­." Raito closed his eyes and sighed. ''There are so many techniques in the world. Maybe there are some that can confuse or even counter my skills¡­ just like I can counter some.''


    Raito looked up at Kakashi and pocketed his hands then walked forward. "You sound like an old man, Kaka-sensei."


    "Old man, me?" Kakashi rubbed his chin and went into thought.


    "Keep up with this and you''ll be single forever, sensei."


    "Now, now."


    While Kakashi and Raito were taking their sweet time, Shikamaru was already on the stage with Temari.


    The shadow stretched from Shikamaru, to the hole, made earlier by Naruto and crossed less than half the stage and came out of the other hole and linked with Temari''s shadow.


    "Shadow Imitation Technique ¨C Success"


    "Seems like you can''t struggle much now." Shikamaru stretched his body, and Temari followed.


    "So, what are you going to do?" Temari glared at Shikamaru.


    "¡­." There was a period of silence after that, and the rest of the viewers were also a bit agitated, wanting to know what was going to happen. Everything that happened from beginning to end; big wind attacks, hiding all over the stage, mind tricks and finally capturing the opponent was really fun to watch.


    "Good old Shikamaru." Ch¨­ji munched on some ch.i.p.s as he looked at the stage.


    Beside him, Ino watched the match with interest, but frowned immediately as Ch¨­ji spoke. She glared at Ch¨­ji and said, "Shikamaru can do a lot of things. He will-"


    "Give up." Ch¨­ji interrupted with an all knowing head nod.


    "¡­." Ino looked at Ch¨­ji, wanting to say something, but she kept quiet and looked back at the stage.


    "Oh, he is going to give up." Raito walked in and grabbed a bunch of ch.i.p.s from Ch¨­ji''s packet.


    "Raito? What are you doing here?" Ino spun her head and looked at Raito.


    "I was hungry." Raito shrugged and looked at the stage.


    "Liar." Ino narrowed her eyes, then ignored him.


    Down at the stage, just as Raito and Ch¨­ji said, Shikamaru raised his hand and surrendered. "Proctor, I give up."


    Silence, pin drop silence.


    Shishishi, bwhahaha


    "Such embarrassment." said one particular Nara, with his face covered.


    "That''s like father like son." Inoichi laughed as he smacked Shikaku''s back.


    Shikamaru withdrew his shadow, freeing Temari from restraints.


    Shikamaru''s surrender made Temari confused and angry. She widened her eyes and gritted her teeth in anger. With a forceful stomp, she dashed towards Shikamaru with a kunai in her hand.


    "How could she?" Ino stood up in anger and shouted.


    "Don''t worry." Raito looked at the stage with a small smile on his face.


    On the stage, Hayate quickly appeared and grabbed Temari''s hand, then said, "He surrendered."


    Shikamaru stood calmly as he looked dead straight at Temari. The kunai was just a few inches away, but the shadow below had already caught her, paralyzing her.


    As Hayate pulled Temari''s hand, Shikamaru also released the Shadow link.


    Hayate looked at Temari, then at her team instructor, Baki, then announced.


    "Shikamaru versus Temari, Temari wins."


    "Tch." Temari clicked her tongue and pulled her hand forcefully before walking back to the box.


    ''What''s the point?'' Temari gritted her teeth and punched the wall in frustration before walking upstairs.


    "Uchiha Sasuke and Gaara, to the stage." Hayate covered his mouth and called the participants.


    Sasuke, on the participant''s box, looked around then jumped to the stage.


    Gaara stood quietly, looking at the talisman on Baki''s hand.


    "Kazekage-sama''s order."


    "¡­."


    After giving a doll stare, Gaara manipulated the sand to grab the talisman.


    "Participant Gaara."


    Hayate called once again.


    Gaara looked at Temari, who just walked upstairs then disappeared in sand gust.


    Baki looked at his empty hand, then turned to look at the top, at the Kage box. ''Kazekage-sama¡­.''


    Hayate raised his hand and looked at the two.


    "Fight!"


    Just as Hayate disappeared, sand jetted out of the gourd and made a straight line towards Sasuke.


    Dodging the first attack, Sasuke started his attack. He stepped off with a chakra burst and appeared behind Gaara with a wide kick, straight towards the head.


    But before the kick could connect, a wall of sand interrupted Sasuke and trapped his foot before throwing him off to the wall.


    Sasuke quickly balanced himself on the wall and looked at Gaara, who still had an expressionless face.


    Taking out a couple of kunai, Sasuke ran towards Gaara, throwing one kunai after another, every time aiming for the gaps.


    But Gaara''s sand defense was really powerful as one after another, the kunai got interrupted.


    Pushing chakra to his feet, Sasuke leaped off the ground, directly on top of Gaara. Taking out a bunch of shuriken, he again threw them towards Gaara.


    Gaara didn''t even look at Sasuke above him. The sand formed a wall once again and interrupted the shurikens.


    The sand moved around and the shuriken and kunai fell on the ground around Gaara.


    Half hand seal "[Explosion]"


    BOOM!!


    ''Now''s my chance.'' Sharingan blazed into action as Sasuke jumped back to the wall and sequenced through a series of hand seals.


    The sand protected Gaara from the explosion, as not even a scratch was seen on his body. Ch¨±nin and J¨­nin were amazed by that fact and looked at each other uncomfortably.


    Gaara flew directly opposite to Sasuke and his sand armor was blasted everywhere on the stage.


    Directly opposite to Gaara, Sasuke was on his knees as his hand was holding a mass of lightning chakra. The streaks of lightning made a very annoying noise of the birds chirping.


    Just as Gaara landed on the ground, Sasuke dashed off, supplemented by the lightning chakra, which increased his speed, like an arrow towards its target.


    Gaara raised his hand for the first time as the sand gourd behind his back broke down, half of it forming a cushion and half forming a shield.


    Sasuke looked like a blue streak of light, his hand just about to pierce the sand shield and then Gaara. ''I can do it.''


    "You won''t." Gaara''s cold voice alerted Sasuke as tendrils of sand appeared from everywhere towards Gaara.