Chapter 24 - Tale of Two Kids: Kimimaro

Chojusen teleported back to Karin and Haku and tried to go about his day. He couldn't get that scene he saw in Minato's Office out of his head. It was like some of his memories that were wiped from his rebirth weren't completely gone and there was something he was forgetting. Chojusen tried to ask the system what was happening to him, but only received the standard reply.

[You don't a high enough level to know that information.]

"Aren't supposed to be a tool to support me? You can give me godly techniques and infinite potential, but a bit of information is off limits?"

[If I can't tell you about the previous information, do you really think I'd be able to tell you why I can't tell you that information?]

Chojusen stopped talking to the system and chose to ignore what was happening with his memories. He turned back to reality and got to know more about Haku as the three of them walked around the Hidden Mist Village.

"So Haku, If you don't mind telling me, why were you all alone and abandoned back when we found you?"

"It's because of being an outcast."

"Yeah I know that, but what about your parents?"

Chojusen knew almost immediately that he said something off limits, as Haku started crying a bit. He said "My parents? When my mom found out I had a bloodline limit, she was killed by a mob led by my dad. And then he also tried to kill me. But I… I used my ice powers to kill him and the mob he led."

Chojusen didn't know how to recover this conversation. If it was just that he killed a mob in self defense, he could tell Haku to not be so sad. But, Haku was forced to kill his own father in self defense. That was not something Chojusen could relate to. He said "You had to do it. It was him or you. You didn't do anything wrong."

"Would you have done the same thing if you were in my position?"

"I… I don't know..."

The situation was turning a bit sour, so Karin suggested they all go through the woods to another little town around the Hidden Mist Village. Chojusen agreed and Haku just followed them.

As they walked through the forest, the group eventually came across the sounds of battle. Chojusen made a clone to protect Haku and Karin, which also escorted them away from the battlefield. Chojusen's true body went towards the sounds of battle to see what was happening.

He was prepared to mark the boundaries of the battlefield, so that Karin and Haku could cross around the ongoing battle. But, tossed this plan out of his mind when he say who exactly was fighting.

Amidst a pile of corpses, a gray haired boy — probably not much older than Chojusen — was fending off dozens of Chunin and Jonin rank Hidden Mist Ninjas. Alone, he whittled done his enemies with his strange bone techniques, but Chojusen noticed that the boy looked exhausted and would probably run out of stamina before the fight ended.

Chojusen then noticed among the corpses around the boy, there were several with the same clothes as him as well as the same two red dots on their forehead. It was reasonable to concluded they were fallen clan members of the boy.

Chojusen went into the fight and started killing off Hidden Mist Ninjas. He guessed that this was another scrimmage, targeting a clan with a bloodline limit; the bone-shifting one the boy had. First Chojusen saw how Haku was being treated and now another boy his age had to face this kind of retaliation? Just because they had bloodline limits?

Chojusen was starting to get annoyed with the Hidden Mist and their ridiculous agenda against Bloodline Limit Clans. Chojusen still wasn't too keen on creating a reckless slaughter, but for these animals that targeted children his age, he wouldn't think too much about ending their lives.

In the fight against the Hidden Mist Ninjas, Chojusen used his Partial Multisize technique in conjunction with his Elemental Coating. Chojusen found out how badly he was underestimating the skill when his brother started sparring with him during their training.

With the regular Partial Multisize technique Chojusen had enough control and energy to make any part of his body fifty times bigger. Now that he was restricted, the skill could only make a part of his body ten times as large. But that was enough to slap these Hidden Mist Ninjas to death.

When he added a water elemental coating to his hands, most of the water release attacks from the Hidden Mist Ninja would just be negated. All the other attacks they threw at him — kunais, shurikens, taijutsu, and non-water elemental ninjutsu — would barely tickle his hands when under the Multisize technique.

With a helper on his side, the pressure on the gray haired boy decreased and his killing became faster than before. It didn't take long for all the Hidden Mist Ninjas to die out. When the last enemy died, Chojusen walked up to the gray haired body and said "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. What I'd like to know is who you are and why you helped me?"

"I'm Chojusen. I helped you because I was getting real tired of these Hidden Mist Ninjas treatment of the bloodline limit clans. I mean, I get that there is a civil war going on, but do they really have to target kids like us?"

"Ok, well what are you going to do now that you've helped me killing these guys?"

"Me? I'll keep heading through the forest with my friends. Originally I was going to just go around your fight, but you looked like you needed the help. What about you? What are you going to do now?"

"There isn't much I can do. My clan just got annihilated, so I guess I'll go survive in the woods or something."

"You know, for a guy that just became the sole survivor of his clan, you don't seem to care too much about what happened to them."

"Care about them? They treated me like a weapon and only let me be by their side went they went to war. Do you know what it's like to be locked in a cage for most of your life only to be released when your parents want you to fight enemies for them?"

"That's rough… Anyways, do you want to join me and my friends, we're going to go to the next town over for dinner."

"Huh? Why do you care about me?"

"We're just a couple kids, we should stick together. More now than ever, since you have no want to turn to. Oh and you never told me your name."

"I'm Kimimaro Kaguya… Do you really want me to go with you?"

"Sure why not. In fact, I could go ask permission to make you a part of the Hidden Leaf Village, where we can hang out."

"Well, it's not like I have anywhere else to go..."

Chojusen introduced Kimimaro to Haku and Karin and then went back to the Hidden Leaf

Village to ask Minato for another favor. He thought it was funny that he needed to visit Minato so soon, but this time, he made sure nothing fishy was happening in the Hokage's office before intruding.

"Hey, I have another favor to ask."

"Chojusen! What do you want know? It's been the second time this day that you catch me off guard..."

"I met another guy in the Hidden Mist Village that I want to bring to our Village."

"Fine, but this is the last time… We can't just go taking in all the refugees outside the village, ok?"

"Right."

Chojusen then teleported back to his friends. They all had dinner and Chojusen teleported all of them back to Minato's office when no one was around.

Chojusen said "These two are the guys I was talking about."

Minato then used two of his shadow clones to do an interview with both Haku and Kimimaro. It took a couple hours to complete, so Chojusen and Karin had to go back to their houses before Minato finished making them citizens of the Hidden Leaf.

The next day, Minato went to the Akimichi Clan to tell Chojusen that Kimimaro and Haku became citizens of the village. But more importantly, they became the Clan heads because of their bloodline limits.

Kimimaro became the clan head of the Kaguya Clan because of his Shikotsumyaku and Haku became the Clan head of the Kori Clan after giving himself that surname as a reference to his Ice Release bloodline limit.