I was sitting in the house watching the remaining ninja.
He was short with pure white hair and purple eyes.
He was slowly checking each house and making his way to my own.
He wasn't a sensor.
Then again, the others weren't as well...
...
He approached our house and took a look in the window.
I jumped at the wall, my Byakugan and Chikaku no kyōka active.
Boom*
I burst from the wall barreling towards him with a One For All enhanced punch.
The punch got him but he promptly turned to liquid upon contact with my fist.
I blinked.
A clone?
He reformed right before my eyes.
I blinked again.
He took out his tanto and charged me without a word.
I sent another One For All punch only this time stronger.
Poof*
Half his body scattered into water droplets, only to reform a second later.
Cool!
I grinned.
He came at me again and I again scattered him with a One For All punch.
I was thoroughly enjoying fighting an opponent that didn't turn into a bloody mist when I punched them.
Sadly, I couldn't play for much longer.
I struck his arms with some Gentle fist strikes while he was reforming.
He tried to move his arms with no success...
It seems he's only immune to physical attacks, chakra seems to work fine.
He jumped back putting some distance between us.
"What did you do?!"
Sorry friend I'd love to chat, but I've got things to do.
I started towards him and he did the same.
His body turned into liquid and started 'squirming' towards me.
That looks gross.
"Sorry friend."
I made a hand-sign and launched a stream of lightning at him.
It was extremely effective.
He returned to his human form unconscious.
I walked over and struck him in the heart.
My enemy was no-more.
I sealed him up and disappeared in a Shunshin towards the direction my mom left in.
...
Mom as it turns out wasn't very far.
She had kept me within her range and circled the village keeping the hunter-nin busy.
I was supposed to flee and return with help from Konoha.
It sounded like she wanted to sacrifice herself to save me...
Not on my watch!
I Shunshined behind her slowest pursuer and tapped him on the back of the neck severing his spine with my Chakra Scalpels.
"Ambush!"
He fell from the branch.
Crack*
I blinked.
What did he break...
I didn't expect him to speak...
My super surprising surprise attack did as I expected.
Though I now had everyone's attention.
Everyone was staring at each other, we were in a tense stand-off.
"It's a lovely night to bathe in the blood of a child!"
I chuckled.
Way to ruin the atmosphere weirdo...
...
Things were quiet for a moment.
Mom looked positively ferocious and jumped at the weirdo starting their fight.
Mom and the weirdo took their fight elsewhere leaving me and the last ninja staring at each other.
"So, how's your day been?"
Let no-one say I wasn't polite.
"It was good until you killed my nephew."
Which one was his nephew?
"Sorry about that."
He shook his head.
"It's part of the trade."
His piece said, he launched a hand-full of senbon in my direction.
I dropped to the ground avoiding them before he had even completed his throw.
I watched him go through some hand-signs.
He pointed both of his hands at me making finger guns.
And promptly launched a huge blast of water in my direction.
Nope.
I Shunshined behind him, hitting him with a One For All punch.
My hand went straight through him.
Ah... another water person...
I jumped away letting him reform.
"So, what clan do you belong to?"
I was stalling so I could focus on mom's fight, she was kicking ass, I don't know why she was so worried...
I also wanted to know what bloodline let him 'nope' my punches.
He didn't have white hair like the other guy, but he did share the same purple eyes.
"I'm a member of the Hōzuki clan."
That sounds familiar...
Ah, Kiri had a Kage from that clan...
"I heard Kiri had a Kage from your clan."
He didn't waste any time and jumped at me running through three hand-seals.
Small talk ignored...
His right arm bulged and became extremely muscular, he swung his sword at me using his enlarged arm.
I met his strike with my own One For All enhanced punch.
Boom*
Our clash created a shockwave that rustled the nearby trees.
We both jumped back to gain space.
I eyed his sword.
Can he even use physical attacks without the sword?
Would he just turn into the water with every impact?
Hmm...
We continued staring at each other.
I took a deep breath used a single hand-sign and my right hand sparked with blue lightning.
My opponent tensed.
Which was a good sign?
I increased the amount of electricity on my hand.
I sent him a cheeky wink and Shunshined to his left and struck him in the ribs with my hand.
His body seized and I used my other hand to attack his leg and disable it.
I jumped back and looked at him, waiting for some other trick or hidden move.
He looked resigned, his arm deflated, and regained its normal appearance.
"You're a monster, kid."
Thanks, I try.
"Thank you."
I sent him a nod.
He shook his head.
"It wasn't a compliment."
He tensed before his whole body liquefied and he sprung at me.
A single hand-sign and a lightning arrow struck the jumping blob.
He returned to human form and kneeled on the ground, still conscious.
I readied another more powerful lightning arrow to finish him.
Though it seems he beat me to it.
"Hahaha, I'm glad I won't live to see a monster like you grow any further."
He burst into a tower of flaming blue chakra.
I jumped back putting more space between us.
There was no explosion, his body just disintegrated.
I haven't seen that before...
Seeing that there was no danger I focused on mom's fight.
She seemed to be finishing up, the weird-o's arm was dangling and he was favoring his left leg.
Hmm...
A few hand-signs and a clone popped into existence.
He wandered off to find the other hunter-nin's body and make sure the villagers were ok.
I focused back on my mother, she seemed fine but I figured I should ask.
I signed a message at her.
'need' 'enemy' 'assistance' I then gave a thumbs up and then a thumbs down.
She gave me a thumbs down and engaged her enemy again.
Alrighty...
I guess I was watching then...
...
Mom was playing with her opponent.
She'd give him an opening and when he went for it, she'd strike him destroying his body.
She slowly, strike by strike destroyed his body, until he could no longer even stand.
Eventually, she obliterated his head with a Rasengan.
I decided she had things well in hand, I deactivated my Byakugan and Chikaku no kyōka.
I started making my way to the village.
...
I dispersed my clone.
The villagers had stayed put.
I figured they'd run and scatter into the forest but apparently not.
They just huddled together awaiting whatever fate they'd be subject to.
They should have scattered, it would at least annoy the hunter-nin had they chased them.
And it would lighten the burden mom and faced in taking them to another town...
...
I had the younger Hōzuki laid in front of me.
Other then the high amount of moisture in his body there was nothing of note.
As far as I could tell anyway...
Meaning his fluidization had more to do with his chakra...
I heard a displacement of air behind me, signaling mom's arrival.
"So, what's the plan now?"
I wanted to let the villagers fend for themselves, I wasn't interested in playing shepherd.
"You should be more on guard Shiro."
I am.
"I don't have to worry, with you watching my back."
Besides, I've got an interesting subject to focus on.
"Shiro seal him up before his chakra fades."
Or not...
...
We left the village in the morning.
The women had hooked up a cart and were now traveling in style.
That style being surrounded by children and taking everything, they could fit on themselves and the cart.
A kid with brown hair and eyes interrupted my peace.
"Do you think I could become a ninja like you?"
Not unless you're a descendant of literal space gods.
"Yes! With hard work anything is possible!"
The kid smiled at me and left.
Hopefully the kid didn't become a ninja.
Having brown hair and eyes meant you were cannon fodder in the Naruto-verse.
We made it to the nearby village, it was a little deeper into Noodle Country and pretty unremarkable.
"So, can we leave now?"
They added another day onto the mission, something I was unhappy about.
"Yes, their fate is in their own hands now."
They were citizens of noodle country so we had no obligation to help them.
Unless mom was feeling generous.
Which didn't seem to be the case.
We departed, leaving the villagers on the outskirts of the village.
...
"You've been quiet, what's on your mind?"
I was pondering making a chakra drill on my finger similar to the Rasengan.
I'd like to poke people and have them die.
Not that I didn't already do a lot of that.
"I was thinking of ways to improve my Taijutsu."
Mom shook her head and sighed.
"Sigh... of course you are..."
What's that mean?
I raised an eyebrow.
"Your already Jonin-level, you should slow down and enjoy life."
I was enjoying life, what wasn't fun about creating new techniques?
"Alright."
I said instead, I didn't want to argue.
Mom sighed again.
"Anyways, this will probably get you bumped up-to Tokubetsu Jonin at least."
Which was good, I wasn't interested in the Chunin exams.
"So?"
She was bringing it up because she had some sort of point, she wouldn't have mentioned it otherwise.
"Meaning you will have new responsibility and opportunities."
I wasn't getting it.
"Like what?"
Mom took a deep breath, she looked like she was annoyed that I wasn't getting it.
"You will be expected mentor graduating Genin teams and pass or fail them depending on how they've done. You also might be offered a position in the Anbu or somewhere else."
Meaning root probably...
"I'm not interested in joining the Anbu."
Mom nodded.
"Wise choice."
She took another deep breath.
"This mission might become a A-ranked or S-ranked mission depending on how much they value the Hōzuki corpse."
Why an S-ranked mission?
"What makes the corpse so important?"
Probably potential bloodline theft.
"It becomes more important depending on how many Village secrets the body revels."
As far as I knew they mainly looked into chakra types, herbs eaten, ninjutsu, special medicine used, and kekkei genkai when examining recovered bodies.
"Alrighty..."
I yawned.
I didn't understand what might make the corpse so valuable, I decided to put it out of mind.
I wouldn't gain anything from thinking about it.
...
We arrived at Konoha in the evening.
I was able to escape from having to attend the debriefing after writing my mission report.
So, I made my way home eager for a shower.
Hopefully mom's account was enough, she had seen everything after all.
I was tired and grumpy hopefully they didn't need me, I didn't have the energy to be pleasant to be around at the moment.
...
It was a new day and I was feeling better than I had yesterday.
"We have a meeting with the Hokage tomorrow."
Though that might change.
"What's he want?"
Probably to discuss promotion...
"He wants to discuss possible promotion and he wants to hear about your version of the engagement."
I sighed... I included my fights in my report...
"Don't sigh at me, Writing 'White-haired guy noped my punches by turning into creepy liquid' doesn't accurately describe your engagement with the enemy."
I think that described plenty.
Though to be fair I was in a foul mood when I wrote that.
"Alright thanks."
Now I needed to work on the Chidori or some other way to put my hand through my opponent's chest.
"Also, we need to go see a cousin of mine, her names Shime and she just had a baby and has been bugging me to visit her."
It seems I wouldn't be putting my hand through anyone for a while.
...
I was sitting while holding baby Sakai while mom and Shime chatted and did dishes.
Hariyama, Shime's husband sat across from me and watched at I rocked baby Sakai.
"Your very good with babies."
You've only seen me with one baby...
"Yes, I'm surprised it's going so well."
Hariyama inclined his head.
"It's a good thing I'm sitting, usually I'd have dropped the baby at least twice by now."
I've never held a baby before, but who didn't apricate a little humor.
"I think I'll take her back now."
Hariyama snatched little Sakai from me, evidently not apricating my joke.
"Thanks for letting me hold her, it's the first time I've held a baby without dropping it."
The look of horror I got was delicious.
"Don't worry about it, the baby wouldn't remember being dropped."
The look of disgust I got only furthered my desire to bother him.
"You don't drop babies, do you?"
No, I do not.
"No, that was supposed to be a joke."
Though it was only for my amusement.
"Dropping babies is not a laughing matter."
Clearly...
"If you had seen someone dropping a baby, you'd understand how funny it was."
Hariyama huffed and left the room meaning further conversation was successfully avoided.
Oh, well...
I looked at the kitchen, mom and Shime were still chatting.
I think it's time I bail.
...
I had regained my day and was now ready to experiment.
I had tried to create Chidori many times with no success, I had long forgotten any training Sasuke did to learn the Chidori.
Or if his training was even shown.
So, I needed to create something different.
I wanted to create a spinning drill of chakra around my hand.
Similar to the Rasengan it would require no hand-seals.
Or at least that was the plan.
It shouldn't be too hard as I already did something similar with the Rasengan.
About chapter 26 . May 26
I like the story and it's funny, but I feel like it's been degrading in quality after you noticed the success you had with the bland humor.
The humor is fun but your pushing his personality too far for it too remain funny. He went from semi inhibited for fun to completely inhibited for real... That's a big shift. He used to pretend and now he actually is...
...
Shiro was supposed to have a slow fall into immorality as I'd imagine Orochimaru did.
I wanted Shiro to start off doing stuff as entertainment and slowly fall into "Madness" eventually becoming Orochi MK2 or something similar.
Complete with a lack of inhibition and morals...
Anyway, I wanted Shiro to continue losing morality with each experiment, each advancement, and with each kill.
(Starting normal but silly, and becoming a total monster as the story progresses)
As your posting anonymously I can't PM you to chat about it.
If you want to chat, PM me, I Don't have time to look at reviews anymore.
Work is picking up...
Oh boy... that's a lot of rambling...
I can't find the words to explain what I wanted to do concisely...
Shiro was crossing a 'line'...
And as Shiro's 'line' moved farther away he kept crossing it even though the line was no longer in the same spot.
Does that help...?
Probably not...
I'm trying to do some character progression...
Am I doing it right...?
Maybe I've shifted the 'line' to quickly?
I dunno...
...
Anyway someone was complaining about Shiro's trip to Suna.
"If Suna was open to Konoha shinobi they'd have barrier protection for their scrolls."
Yes, I agree.
Well... Kinda...
Which was why Suna didn't have any Hiden or Kinjutsu at the Kage tower...
It likely would be hidden elsewhere if the village was open...
or at least that was my thought...
I put a good amount of thought into what I write...
Anyway, Suna didn't keep any of the good stuff at the tower anticipating potential ninja bullshittery...
And Suna isn't known for their Fuinjutsu so I didn't include a barrier...
I'm not thoughtless when I write...
...
Oh, yea...
Interludes.
When I write from the perspective of someone else I try to make them have differing opinions.
Meaning people won't agree or be consistent with what they see in Shiro.
As people have differing opinions...
...
...
It was a new day and I had around Four hours until I met with the Hokage.
Meaning Emergency Rations was getting a stem cell transplant and if things went well I'd use those stem cells to repair any damage that happened while I tried to enlarge his chakra system.
And when I came back from the meeting with the Hokage I'd try to grow organs with stem cells.
If that worked out, I'd just have to regrow my Byakugan if it ever got damaged.
Or maybe I could grow Byakugan in other people...
That was quite the thought, growing Byakugan in others...
I liked the idea but I imagined the Hyuga clan wouldn't.
If I could regrow organs that would be a huge contribution to the village, perhaps enough to get a lab.
Thought's for later...
...
The meeting with the Hokage approached, Emergency Rations had his chakra capacity increased but his chakra density and regeneration remained the same.
Meaning even if he had the capacity of a Genin he couldn't regenerate chakra like someone at Genin level should be able to.
Forcefully expanding his chakra network caused his pathways to become thin and fragile, so it wasn't something I'd do to myself, though perhaps they would heal over time.
The natural expansion of the chakra network seemed to be the way to go for the moment.
Even though it didn't completely work I'd still created a ninja rabbit, all he needed now was an increase in physical and spiritual energy.
Physical energy could be increased with liberal use of Kinryoku kyōka, but I was unsure about how I could increase Emergency Ration's spiritual energy.
I eyed Emergency Ration's as he was enjoying some fruit.
I can't teach him how to meditate...
Yet...
Perhaps in the future...
...
I sat in the waiting room pondering the wonders of Ninjutsu, so far it had been useless. But all the strongest ninja seemed to toss Ninjutsu around like there was no tomorrow.
Should I bother learning more nature transformations? I had already planned on learning Earth Release, but it seemed like a huge time sink for no real reason.
I did also have a ton of wind jutsu from Suna, though Suna seemed to have kept their Kinjutsu and Hiden jutsu elsewhere, I was happy having a lot of options should I want to learn.
It was probably pointless to think about learning another nature transformation when I hadn't even gotten that far into Lightning Ninjutsu.
I only had five techniques to my name after all...
I was close to giving up learning anymore Nature Releases, they seemed to be huge time sinks.
My time might be better spent elsewhere...
...
"Shiro Hyuga, the Hokage will see you now."
Alrighty...
I made my way to the Hokage's office, and knocked on the door.
Knock* Knock* Knock*
Enter!"
Showtime!
I made my way inside and stood in front of the Hokage, who had been eyeing me as I entered.
I stood in silence, while the Hokage stared at me.
...
Finally, the Hokage spoke.
"Shiro Hyuga, due to your contribution during your recent mission and significant combat potential, I'm promoting you to Tokubetsu Jonin."
I bowed at my waist.
"Thank you, Hokage-sama."
I kept my bow for a few seconds before rising.
...
The office had descended into silence, I wondered if this was deliberate or if the Hokage was just getting old and forgot what he was doing.
"You and your mother will remain on the same team as it has been effective thus far."
That was ideal as far as I was concerned, more time with my mother and possibly more dangerous missions.
Two things I liked the sound of.
"Your dismissed."
This meeting was short.
I sent the Hokage another bow.
"Thank you for your time Hokage-sama."
I started retreating from the room, I had a rabbit to experiment on after-all.
...
"Shiro."
I was enjoying some pre experimentation jerky when my mother interrupted me.
"Yes?"
I looked at the cage containing Emergency Rations, he seemed to be doing well.
"Every decision made in fear is wrong, every decision you make should be made in confidence."
What?
"What brought this on?"
Why was I getting advice?
"I was just thinking about all the advice I wish my parents had given me before they passed."
Meaning she didn't want to leave me with regrets.
"Thanks."
I sent her an appreciative nod.
I meant it.
It means a lot, that she was thinking about me.
Though an 'I love you' would be nice as well.
"Come give me a hug!"
Every touching moment needs a hug.
Mom didn't agree and fled the room.
I blinked.
Alright...
No hugs for me.
I looked back to Emergency Rations, he was blissfully unaware of what was about to happen.
...
Emergency Rations seemed to be doing fine, though he was now well muscled.
I opted to just speed up cell division and shorten his life span a tad.
I'd see how stem cell transplants worked in maintaining youth.
Though there seemed to be a bit of cell rejection it wasn't as bad as I had expected, perhaps chakra had something to do with it?
Now what I needed to do was grow some organs...
Perhaps Emergency Rations needed a second heart?
One could never have enough hearts after all...
Though I think I'll wait until tomorrow...
...
...
Interlude.
Hyuga (Kaguya), Shiro
Gender: Evil
Birthdate: November 9th, 1211
Age: 8 Years
Rank: Genin
Marital status: Single.
Textual summary of the report.
Openness to experience
3/100: very low
Traditionalist • down-to-earth • practical • conservative • prefers traditional outlooks and technical problem-solving • experimental
Conscientiousness
95/100: very high
Conscientious • disciplined • efficient • well organized • likes precise detail • strong sense of duty • could be described a workaholic
Extraversion
1/100: very low
Reserved • formal • serious • quiet • prefers working alone • avoids direct leadership roles
Agreeableness
55/100: middle
Hard-headed • skeptical • competitive • good-natured? • prefers competition over co-operation
Natural reactions
88/100 high
Experiences negative emotional reactions and feelings of anxiety • prone to worry • easily upset • playful
Note:
Shiro doesn't respect social norms. He consistently oversteps social boundaries. Very little regard is shown for people not close to himself.
Shiro has displayed the battle lust that the Kaguya are known for but it has not shown to be a hindrance.
Most of Shiro's free time is spent with Might Gai, even then Shiro is training so it is debatable if this could be considered free time.
...
Looking at Shiro's personality evaluation provided very little information that I couldn't already glean from my meetings with the boy.
Shiro's analytical Reasoning, memory, mental speed, spatial IQ, logic IQ, and non-verbal IQ, were ridiculously high, surpassing everyone in his age range, though some scores were average.
He was also described as a chakra savant, though I didn't get the impression he was mentally deficient.
He was perhaps a prodigy similar to myself and Orochimaru.
Shiro reminded me of a young Orochimaru who was also complex, though lacking Orochimaru's sadistic nature and manic ambition.
Thankfully he doesn't create conflict to ease his boredom, instead opting to make jokes.
Creating conflict was one of Orochimaru's hobbies that I found most distasteful.
Not including human experimentation.
Something he and Shiro seemed to have in common, though thankfully Shiro had turned to animals as of late.
Shiro also seemed to have a penchant for body modifications as Orochimaru does, though thankfully to a lesser extent, so far only improving his eyes.
Though that could change in the future.
Orochimaru was once a child as well before he became what he is today.
Hopefully, Shiro wouldn't follow in his footsteps.
It's probably for the best I keep them separated, Shiro doesn't need any ideas from Orochimaru...
"Sigh..."
Shiro also lacked the Will Of Fire.
He did not see the village as a family as I did, then again neither did Orochimaru and he turned out fine.
Unstable but fine...
Though at least Shiro had things he loved and would protect.
I should put it out of mind.
...
I flipped through his mission report.
It would provide insight into his thought process.
...
'We arrived at the border of Noodle Country and quickly found the village/house Ryoko was occupying. It was decided that I would fight Ryoko while my mother guarded the civilians.
Ryoko was "occupied" with some village woman who I deemed acceptable casualties.
Even though them dying wouldn't be a huge loss I'd rather not deny a child his mother so I elected to eject Ryoko from the house.'
...
A chuckle escaped my lips.
According to Sumiko, Shiro had burst into the building, punched the Missing-nin through a wall and into the street.
Eject was an apt word to describe what happened.
...
'Ryoko was in an embarrassing state of undress. So, I kindly offered a temporary truce so Ryoko could dress.
My kind offer was ignored and Ryoko ran at me only wearing his shoes. I decided that such a pervert shouldn't be allowed to live for longer than necessary.
Our fight was quick, I disabled Ryoko's arm in our first engagement and removed his head from his body when he tried to flee.
I came out ahead in the engagement.'
...
Shiro liked to amuse himself by making dark jokes and making others uncomfortable.
Even during mission reports...
...
'My mother and I regrouped, it was decided that we would escort the villagers to the nearest village.
We would leave in the morning after the villagers were healed and had gathered their things.
Sadly, our plans were interrupted.
Four Hunter-nin interrupted my beauty sleep earning my ire. My mother decided that she would distract the Hunter-nin while I fled to Konoha for reinforcements.
I heavily disagreed but was not given the chance to voice my opinion as my mother had jumped out the window before I could protest.
Three of the Hunter-nin followed her as she fled leaving the last to search the village.
I decided that I wouldn't be returning to Konoha alone and engaged the remaining Hunter-nin.
The white-haired guy noped my punches by turning into creepy liquid.
I'd call the liquid snot-like.'
...
Disobeying orders from a superior...
But also saving Sumiko from certain death.
Sumiko likely talked to him about disobeying orders so I won't bring it up.
And comparing the Hōzuki's Hydrification Technique to snot...
...
'I punched him again and disabled his arms as he reformed. He turned into snot and jumped at me, likely trying to suffocate me.
I decided that I was having none of that and shocked him with a Lightning Jutsu. He reformed unconscious, I killed him as I didn't want him interfering with later fights.
I ran after my mother and caught up with her in little time. I employed a sneak attack and killed the slowest Hunter-nin. He had time to warn his teammates of danger so sadly I couldn't further thin the herd.
We stared at each other for a while until mom broke the stalemate and started fighting one of the Hunter-nin. They took their fight a distance away while I and the last Hunter-nin remained.
I and the other Hunter-nin made polite conversation where I apologized for killing his nephew.'
...
Making polite conversation and apologizing for killing his nephew...
I stroked my beard.
...
'The Hunter-nin started the engagement by tossing some senbon at me, which I promptly avoided. He used the time his thrown senbon had bought to launch a Water Ninjutsu at me.
I Shushined behind him and tried to punch him in the spine. He turned into snot and my hand passed right through him.
I tried to engage in some small talk but was ignored...'
...
I quirked my eyebrow.
Small talk?
...
'His arm turned huge and muscular and provided him with a boost in strength. We clashed, our strengths matching.
We both jumped back and stared at each other, realizing that another clash wouldn't benefit me I started preparing a Lightning Jutsu.
.The Hunter-nin didn't seem to like that I had lightning on my hand and tensed. This action confirmed my thought that his snot body had a weakness to Lightning Release.
I Shunshined to him and struck him with my Jutsu. I used the opportunity to cut the tendons in his leg preventing escape.
In a last-ditch attempt in winning the fight the Hunter-nin turned into snot and jumped at me. He was pretty much asking to be shocked.
Jumping made him an easy target so I struck him with a powerful Lightning Jutsu. He reformed and kneeled looking defeated.
I readied my finishing blow but he beat me to the punch and took his own life, making his body unrecoverable in the process.
My fight done with I sent a clone to check on the villagers while I checked in on my mother.'
...
I didn't need to read any further, Sumiko's report had covered their return trip.
I skimmed some earlier mission reports, the lower the mission rank the more ridiculous the report.
Perhaps silly should be listed as a notable trait.
I flipped through Shiro's file taking note of his combat assessment.
...
Taijutsu: 4.5/5
Ninjutsu: 4.5/5
Genjutsu: 0/5
Intelligence: 5/5
Strength: 4/5
Speed: 5/5
Stamina: 4.5/5
Hand seals: 3/5
Total: 29.5/40
...
What I've seen from his training made me sure these ratings were accurate.
Though perhaps his physical scores should be lower, Shiro fell short in terms of Genjutsu and his physical attributes were only that strong when he used Ninjutsu to supplement them.
His score should perhaps be closer to 25...
He was lacking experience as well, though he had the strength to be a Jonin when he was using ninjutsu...
He excelled in Taijutsu and Medical-Ninjutsu but was lacking in other areas.
Something that could be rectified in time...
I made up my mind, Shiro Hyuga would be promoted to Tokubetsu Jonin.
Shiro was a prodigy, if properly nurtured his contribution to the village might surpass my own...
Though that would perhaps be a long time off.
...
Knock* Knock* Knock*
"Enter!"
The boy entered and stood at attention in front of my desk.
I took the time to eye him, he looked small, he didn't look like he could kill three experienced Kiri Hunter-nin.
He was only eight and already had chakra reserves higher than most Jonin...
And his reserves are nowhere near done growing...
...
Young Shiro had gotten nervous and was shifting his feet.
"Shiro Hyuga, due to your contribution during your recent mission and significant combat potential, I'm promoting you to Tokubetsu Jonin."
That and politics, the more influence Shiro had the safer he was from the Hyuga clan.
"Thank you, Hokage-sama."
He bowed deeply.
I wanted to put Shiro on a different team but was doubtful he would make any bonds, which was what he needed.
Shiro had few people tying him to the village, and thus few things that could be used to control him.
Those that were powerful, unrestrained, and uncooperative often-had unfortunate accidents during missions...
Something Danzo swore he wasn't involved in...
I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes.
Danzo wasn't fooling anyone.
...
I wanted Shiro to make bonds so I couldn't put him in Anbu, he would only further seclude himself there.
I couldn't put him in a team of people older than himself as it was likely he wouldn't become invested in the lives of his teammates should there be a drastic age difference.
Perhaps he would become invested should he train a team himself...
But he was eight and was too young to mentor any Genin...
Perhaps my only option is to keep him with Sumiko, he seemed to be doing well with her.
"You and your mother will remain on the same team as it has been effective thus far."
When Might Gai graduates perhaps Sumiko, Shiro, Gai, and a fourth member can form a team.
Perhaps Asuma...
"Your dismissed."
Maybe more options will present themselves in the future, but for now my hands seemed tied.
"Thank you for your time Hokage-sama."
I took my pipe from my desk.
I'll indulge a little.
Half a year passed.
Not much changed, I got a Jonin jacket that stayed tucked away in my closet.
My promotion came with an increase in mission level, we now sometimes did A-ranked missions.
Which wasn't so bad, as I enjoyed fighting stronger enemies.
I had dropped Nature Release for the most part, as I seemed to lack talent in it.
I'd still keep learning new Lightning Releases and improving old ones but that was as far as I'd go.
Even with three clones working on Lightning Release every day for nearly a year I made little progress.
I couldn't imagine how long it'd take for me to learn a nature release that I didn't have an affinity for.
I wasn't sure if I'd regret this in the future as almost every strong ninja knew more then one nature release.
But I could always come back to it in the future.
...
Emergency Rations was whole and hale, though he had all of his organs replaced and many rabbit stem cell transplants.
And two hearts...
He was doing pretty well all things considered.
I was torn between trying to give him the Byakugan or trying to increase his intelligence.
Both were things I was interested in, and both had the potential to go wrong.
I eyed Emergency Rations.
Perhaps I should let him go free for his services...
Hmm.
I wanted to see how long he would live if I consistently gave him stem cell transplants.
Rabbits live for a year or two in the wild but can live for as long as a cat or dog when kept as a pet.
Perhaps I should get an animal with a shorter lifespan?
A mouse then...
They only live for a year or two...
Sigh...
I was already trying to pick up a new project...
I didn't need to do this myself...
This was now a project for my clones
...
"Can we do a mission?"
I was bored and wanted some change, all I had been doing lately was experimenting, practicing Fuinjutsu and training.
"I thought you hated missions..."
That hasn't changed.
"I do, but I'm bored."
I had hit a bit of a block, most of the experiments I wanted to conduct involved humans and thus couldn't be done in the village.
"Let's not change our schedule."
Meaning she wasn't interested.
"Can I do a mission myself?"
She nodded.
"Yes, you're a Jonin now."
Ok...
"But try to stay within the Land Of Fire, skirmishes have been happening along the borders."
It seems tensions are growing...
"What been happening?"
This is the downfall of having few friends and not speaking to people, I was out of the loop.
"There have always been skirmishes along the borders but recently things are heating up."
I motioned her to continue.
"More then a year ago Ame assassinated the leader of Tanigakure and now the Land of Rivers and the Land Of Rain are all but officially at war."
Oops...
That certainly wasn't my intention.
"Anything else?"
Hopefully not.
"Yes, Iwa and Kiri have gotten more aggressive, Iwa is provoking us and Suna. And Kiri is provoking us and Kumo."
She paused for a moment.
"And the smaller villages are getting cocky and attacking shinobi from other villages."
I might have started the third Shinobi war a tad bit early...
"And who are we provoking?"
Or my timeline was off...
"Konoha is allied with Kusa and we are mainly fighting with Iwa along the border Iwa and Kusa share."
Oh boy...
War was coming...
I felt part excited and part nervous.
"Up your training."
I stared at my mom in the eyes, trying to convey my seriousness.
"You as well."
I nodded.
I looked at our clock.
"Alright I'll see you around, I promised Gai we'd run around the village today."
Mom nodded with a small smile.
"Have fun."
Will do.
...
A day passed and now it was time to choose a mission.
I needed some sort of combat mission so I could test my chakra drill.
As of now, it was unnamed.
I also wanted to do some experimentation.
So, I ideally needed a bandit extermination mission.
And sadly, there weren't any of those...
Looking at the B-ranks there were a lot of spying and assassination missions, most of which I wasn't interested in.
There were no A-ranked missions available for casual perusing, those were assigned by the Hokage and contained sensitive matters.
So back to the B-ranked missions.
Spying was out as I wanted combat, so assassination it was.
There were few good assassination missions, most of them would involve a lot of stalking and waiting for the target the leave their village.
I wasn't too interested in those.
Finally, I found something that wasn't total garbage but still sucked for a different reason.
There was an Iwa Jonin that needed assassinating.
Sadly, he also had a Genin team.
So, if I didn't want to have a page in the bingo book, I'd have to kill some kids...
Which could make me look bad.
Though I was a kid myself...
Did that make it excusable?
After all, I was the only one who knew I was mentally 29...
Hmm...
Is it about time I go for that bingo book page?
Possibly...
The mission didn't say anything about killing the Genin...
Alright, it's decided...
I'm going to Grass.
...
I stood at the gate, pondering my plan of action.
I had to get to Grass's border and hunt down one Shiro Renzo.
He had black hair and heterochromatic eyes, one being blue and the other green.
Hopefully, the eyes and hair meant he wasn't total cannon fodder, though I wouldn't get my hopes up.
Regardless of coloring, there could only be one Shiro and that was me...
...
If I Shunshined the whole way there I'd make a three-day trip a one-day trip but I'd also spend a lot of chakra...
But I did have a big ole seal full of chakra...
Alrighty...
Speed over safety...
...
I Shunshined from Konoha to Grass's border with Chikaku no kyōka active.
The chakra drain wasn't as bad as I had anticipated, though I still wasn't fresh enough to fight.
I still had a bit of time, so I'd make my way to Grass's capital and stay there for the night.
...
Oh boy...
There was a lot of action happening in the capital.
Looking around with my Byakugan I could see four people with developed chakra systems bumbling about.
I imagine that they're spies...
Though why they weren't spying on grasses hidden village was beyond me.
Though I guess the nobles were important as well...
I guess it doesn't matter what they're doing... As they were ideal experimental subjects...
A quick Henge and I now looked like I was a nondescript brown-hair and brown-eyed cannon fodder.
...
I took over a family's couch for the night.
Now that I was rested it was time to go on the hunt.
I arrived early so I would have a few days to mess around, I needed to find a place to set-up shop and I needed to have a quick look for other spies.
...
My quick search provided both a place to stay and the location of two more spies.
Both of them were occupying an apartment on the edge of the city near but not in the slums.
One of which was unconscious in front of me.
Short stature, dirty blond hair, and blue eyes.
He didn't look like total cannon fodder.
Though he should have picked a better time to have a nap...
A quick tap to the spine and throat meant he wouldn't be moving or speaking anytime soon.
I watched his eyes fly open and dart around the room, before meeting my own eyes.
I mouthed a 'sorry' at him before setting off to capture the second ninja.
She had bright yellow hair and purple eyes, marking her as not total cannon fodder as well.
She was making some sort of breaded fish and humming a quiet tune at I approached.
A tap to the lower spine and she would walk no more.
She collapsed to her knees bringing her spatula with her.
"Wha...?"
I taped her spine and throat in quick succession stopped her from speaking and moving.
I dragged her into the room the man was occupying, before going back to finish cooking that fish.
Food shouldn't be wasted after all...
...
I now had a full stomach and was ready to experiment.
I moved the woman onto their shared bed and stared at them lost in thought.
So, flesh transplant or Byakugan growth?
They didn't have similar cells so there would be rejection.
But I couldn't discount the possibility that chakra would somehow stop cell rejection.
Madara did successfully transplant some of Hashirama's cells onto himself.
Though that could be because they were spiritual brothers.
Orochimaru and Kabuto also did lots of transplants.
Or at least I thought so, I currently had no idea how Kabuto had mixed all those genes into his body.
Hmmm...
Other spies were running around the city...
Meaning I had more than one try...
So, transplant first and some Byakugan shenanigans later.
Or both I guess it depends and how it goes...
...
It's been a day and things are were alright?
The flesh graph went alright, there was little rejection.
Though it seemed the higher the transplantee's chakra the lower the cell rejection rate.
The man had much less chakra then the woman and had more cell rejection making the transplant almost useless.
Almost...
Though this could just be a unique trait that the woman possessed.
I'd find out after some more tests.
The flesh transplant seemed to provide an additional chakra nature.
I'd transplant some of my cells into the man and woman and see if this held.
Currently, the woman had a Water and Wind affinity, and possibly she would have a Lightning affinity.
Maybe there would be some problems if their affinities countered each other?
I guess I'll see.
...
I came back with another test subject only to find my test subjects trying to escape.
I dropped the guy I was carrying and made eye contact with the woman.
She was dragging her still unconscious partner towards the door where I had just entered.
Her recovery marked her as a medical-nin or someone with a bloodline that provided regeneration of some kind.
With the bright hair and purple eyes, I'd bet it was the latter.
"Hello, I see you are trying to escape."
She looked at the guy I had dropped and she pushed her lips together forming a thin line.
"A friend of yours?"
I vaguely gestured to the body I dropped.
I again received no answer, though I'd guess that she didn't know him.
I activated my Byakugan and Shunshined behind the woman and closed off the tenketsu in her legs and arms rendering her immobile.
She hit the floor with a grunt.
"Ugh!"
Though she remained silent afterwards.
Hmmm...
I walked back and threw my newest test subject over my shoulder and started towards the bedroom.
...
I now had the men sharing a room and the woman occupying the couch I had been using as a bed.
I had to reinjure the man as he had started healing, something I theorized came from the transplant.
Though he had very little of the woman's cells it seems that the transplant was still somewhat of a success
Now I was seated on a chair and was staring at the woman while I checked her over again looking for whatever mechanism her healing operated on.
"So, where are you from?"
I got no answer, the woman just stared blankly at the ceiling.
Her healing factor operated on a different mechanism then mine and Kushina's.
Her healing seemed to be chakra based.
Though originally there was no mix of elements indicating a Kekai Gankai or Kekai Mora.
It seemed like she could 'burn' her chakra to heal.
Though this seemed to be a non-conscious process.
The downfall to her healing was that it ate up chakra pretty quickly.
Though it wasn't much of a downfall if it could heal crippling internal injuries.
"So what clan are you from?"
Again, I got no answer.
"How about this..."
I got up and left the room for a few minutes and returned with a severed hand that was still dripping blood.
"Since you wouldn't talk, I decided that I needed a hand."
I gave her a little wave with my acquired appendage.
She only spared the hand a glance before looking away.
Alrighty...
I guess she didn't care about her partner's safety as much as I had thought.
I walked away again heading off to return the hand to its owner.
...
After a few more attempts I gave up on making the woman talk.
I instead returned to the transplants after taking some stem cell samples from her with my bone senbon and sealing them away.
The woman's body easily accepted cells and had a high success rate for transplants.
The men fared worse, only accepting the woman's cells and my own and rejecting the cells of each other.
Meaning cell rejection had less to do with chakra amount and more to do with whatever bloodlines the woman and I had...
She now had three chakra natures, and with the addition of a good amount of my cells, her chakra density increased.
Hmmm...
I think I'll need more test subjects...
I crippled everyone again and slapped a chakra restraining seal on the woman's forehead before setting off to capture the remaining three spies.
...
It seems that being a spy didn't require a lot of combat power, you just needed to look nondescript.
I now had six bodies occupying the apartment and it was getting a little hot.
The purple-eyed woman integrated with cells extremely well and now had four chakra natures only missing Earth.
Perhaps her healing 'healed' the cells and integrated them into herself?
I wasn't quite sure...
Would my body do the same?
Hmmm...
All five of the spies integrated with the woman's cells extremely well regardless of blood type, chakra nature, or chakra amount.
My cells had varying success sometimes being completely rejected and sometimes being completely accepted.
I figured that it had something to do with our healing factors.
Cell rejection was just an immune response.
Meaning the body recognizes the cells as foreign and attempts to kill or eject them.
Maybe the body didn't reject the cells if they were beneficial?
Hmm...
Or maybe it had something to do with the body's chakra?
Though I didn't see any evidence of chakra nature impacting the results...
...
Two days had passed since I had arrived, meaning I had only a few more days before I had to get the show on the road.
I had aged the woman's cells a lot as I had to speed up her cell division to get and integrate cells quickly.
So, I guess this was an opportune time to test stem cell transplants?
I didn't need most if not all of the people here after all.
I grabbed a scroll from my kunai pouch and unfurled it
It was a storage scroll containing different types of bone senbon.
I unsealed the hollow ones and prepared to get to work.
I'd drain two of the men of stem cells and give them to the woman and see how it goes.
...
The stem cell transplant was a success, though it took me a whole day to replace a good portion of her cells.
The stem cells took on the characteristics of her old cells and started producing the same healing chakra she produced by herself.
Both neat and weird.
Why would someone else's cells produce the woman's chakra?
Maybe her cells had a unique structure?
Hmm...
I extracted some more samples and prepared for the second round of stem cell transplants.
...
I couldn't find anything different about her cells, which was saddening.
I was running out of things to do and wanted to get on with the mission.
I wanted to ask her some questions so I took the chakra restraining seal off her and woke her with a quick tap to the forehead.
"So, want to answer some questions now?"
I wasn't too interested in torturing her, I didn't want to start torturing and become unable to stop.
I didn't want torture to become a thing for me.
The woman didn't answer she just continued to send the ceiling a faraway look.
...
I sat in silence for a while, contemplating trying to integrate the woman's cells into myself.
"What have you done to me?"
Finally, she spoke, her voice horse and raspy.
I remembered at that moment that I had forgotten to feed my captives.
Oops, I need to take better care of my captives...
I made a clone and sent him off to the kitchen to get a glass of water.
"Hmmm... what do you mean?"
She was probably wondering if I had raped her or something similar.
She again fell into silence and my clone returned with the water.
...
The woman was watered by the clone while I started to pack my things, the other spies had provided me with some loot they had hidden in their residences so I wouldn't be needing a trip to a weapon shop anytime soon.
This trip seemed to have proved fruitful, I got a mystery healing bloodline and valuable experience with transplants.
Though I had forgotten to try 'growing' a Byakugan in my excitement.
I was finished with my packing so I returned to the woman who the clone had been tending to.
We stared at each other for a while in silence, her with hate and me with apathy.
My clone was making kissy faces at me from across the room ruining the mood.
I sighed and dispelled it.
"So, what clan do you come from?"
She continued sending me a hateful stare.
Alright...
...
I was seated and staring at the woman.
I was debating letting her and the other surviving test subjects free to see what happened to them later on.
The surviving test subject's male and female respectively both had three chakra natures both from my own and the woman's cells.
So, they were quite valuable, I'd like to see what happens to them in the future.
They didn't see my real face or any defining ability's so it should be fine...
Though they did have my cells all throughout them, which could be a problem later...
I leaned back and poked the woman in the side with the tip of my foot.
"Any interest in talking?"
I gave her two more pokes for emphasis.
"What have you done to me?"
I poked her again as it seemed to be working.
"What do you mean?"
Her eye rolled over and made contact with my own.
"What happened to my chakra?"
I sat back and blew out a breath.
How honest should I be...?
"My chakra's not the same!"
Tears started pouring down her face.
Oof...
...