Teaching Rin had delayed my trip home by a few weeks but I'd finally called it quits and was ready to head home.
"Alright it's been fun but I'm heading home."
Minato had a frown on his face, Kakashi looked bored, Rin sent me a smile, and Obito looked crestfallen.
"Alright, hopefully, we'll see each other soon."
I nodded and started pulling a scroll from my Kunai pouch.
"This is for you Rin, it contains all I know about the strength enhancement as well as some future paths for you to take."
I had written about the Strength Of A Hundred Seal, Body Modification, and a few other things I learned, hopefully, it would give her some direction.
"Well, cya guys."
I sent them a cheeky wave and Shunshined away as fast as I could, I was done with Frost and I couldn't wait to get home.
...
Konoha looked exactly the same as it had when I left.
The atmosphere was different though.
The last time I was here was several months ago...
I was feeling odd, to say the least.
"It's The Butcher..." A certain whisper was carried better than the rest and it reached my ear.
I wandered Konoha feeling weirded out by the whispers and looks I was receiving.
I wandered around for a while longer before eventually making my way back home.
...
It turned out that home was no longer my home...
It was now occupied by a new family who directed to the house mom bought.
She had left a note though...
After apologizing for breaking into their house and disturbing their dinner I made my way to our new house.
...
I stood in front of the new house slightly regretting not sending a letter.
I had wanted my trip home to be a surprise...
I imagine mom wanted the house to be a surprise as well...
The house was less of a house and more of a mansion, I gave it a rough glance with my Byakugan and saw it was covered with Fuinjutsu.
The house was also protected from Byakugan snooping...
I smiled slightly...
I was afraid to try and enter the house now that I had seen how well protected it was.
"Shiro?"
I turned and saw mom leaning out a window.
"Yo." I sent her a wave.
She jumped from the window and made her way over to the gates.
"I didn't recognize your chakra..."
I smiled sheepishly but said nothing.
My body and chakra were slowly changing, nothing major so far just a slight affinity for Yang Release according to Orochimaru.
"I accidentally scared the family living in our old home."
Topic change no jutsu!
...
After warning me not to use my chakra mom led me around the house and showed the place off while leading me somewhere.
Its house was big enough for ten people.
It was odd, to say the least.
Eventually, we ended up in the middle of what I'd call a storage room.
"So, why get a house so big?"
Mom hummed and took my hand before cutting the tip of my finger with her nail.
"I wanted you to have something to inherit when I pass."
I watched a single drop of blood fall to the floor.
The moment it hit the floor a previously unseen jumble of Fuinjutsu emerged and absorbed my blood before becoming invisible once again.
"So how much did that cost?"
Mom smiled.
"Kushina and Minato did it for us."
I hummed.
"How nice of them."
Mom grabbed me by the hand and started pulling me away from the room, she pulled me down a set of stairs and into a hallway where she proceeded to drag me down another set of stairs into the basement.
"Here's where you can build your lab."
It was great and all but I had one question.
"Where's Emergency Rations?"
Mom smiled nervously.
"He chewed a hole through the house and escaped."
I eyed her for a moment.
I wasn't sure I believed that...
"Alright..."
I had been meaning to free him anyway...
"Which room is mine?"
I decided that Emergency Rations was probably living his best life and terrorizing the female rabbits wherever he was.
"I'll show you!"
Mom had a slightly silly smile on her face and proceeded to drag me out of the basement.
...
I sat in my room staring at the ceiling.
I wasn't sure what to do.
With the Shikotsumyaku I didn't feel the need to practice any Ninjutsu or Genjutsu, nor did I think I should bother with them.
I needed to train with some weapons so I didn't injure myself if I tried to wield them.
I also wanted to expand my reserves.
It would fuck my control, but did I even need it right now?
I didn't have any plans for more DNA manipulation...
Control could be trained up again.
Though it would be annoying...
Puberty was also starting, but so far it hadn't been a problem.
Sigh...
I rolled over and flipped my pillow to the cool side.
I think I'll wait on the reserves...
Even though it was tested and seemed alright, it was probably better to let my reserves expand naturally.
Even if I felt that way, I wasn't patient enough to wait for it to happen.
Whatever...
I think about it tomorrow...
...
Guy was out with his team, Duy was training furiously in celebration for his promotion to Chunin, and mom was visiting her cousin.
So, I spent a good part of my day walking around Konoha under a Henge.
Konoha seemed to be doing all right as far as I could tell.
The atmosphere seemed gloomy but the markets were well stocked and there weren't limbless war vets on every street corner.
Konoha seemed to be in much better shape then I pictured it in my head.
As far as I knew, Grass was the only place where we were getting slaughtered.
So maybe Konoha was doing extremely well?
...
"Whatcha got?"
I was slightly startled and bone spikes exploded from me.
I turned my head and saw Kushina had narrowly dodged a bone spike to the gut.
The bone started receding.
"Sorry."
This was the downfall of having amazing reflexes.
"No worries!" Kushina sent me a cheerful smile.
I sighed and looked at my torn clothes.
The Shikotsumyaku was a clothes destroyer.
"I was looking at a scroll for Kenjutsu."
Though the scroll was now destroyed.
I picked up pieces of the scroll with a weary smile.
"Want me to teach ya? I know a little Kenjutsu!"
Kushina grabbed me and shook me excitedly.
"I wouldn't want to take up your valuable time."
Kushina squeezed me.
"That's ok! I'm not allowed out of the village right now anyways!"
I raised an eyebrow at that.
"Alright?"
I wasn't sure there was a way out of this.
...
"There's nothing more I can teach you..."
After a few days, I had all the moves memorized and ingrained in my mind and body.
"You learn fast Shiro, maybe Kenjutsu is your calling."
I just hummed.
Kokoro no kyōka for the win...
"Who else should I try to learn from?"
Kushina hummed.
"Mikoto is good with throwing weapons."
I shook my head.
"I good enough with them."
Kushina hummed and tapped her chin.
"I can't think of anyone else right now but I'll let you know if I think of anyone."
I sighed and nodded.
"Alright."
I waved my bone sword around.
It didn't have a guard and was six feet long.
I liked them tall and thin.
A sniggered burst from my lips.
"Alright, I'm heading home."
I gave Kushina a wave.
"Alright see ya around."
A bone came from my palm and connected to the sword, and the sword soon receded into my body.
I sighed and stared at the sky.
What do I do now...?
...
...
Interlude.
Shiro Hyuga was a once in a generation prodigy, he excelled in Ninjutsu and Taijutsu and was known for his strength and his distaste for social niceties.
Shiro was an S-Ranked ninja and when someone spoke about him it was with fear or respect.
He was called Konoha's Butcher.
Which is why I wondered...
"Shiro-Senpai?" Senpai raised an eyebrow at me.
Unlike what the rumors stated Senpai was friendly and easy to talk to.
"Yes?"
I took a deep breath before asking.
"Why did you learn Medical Ninjutsu?"
Senpai hummed while picking at blades of grass.
"I knew it was something that would pay off later."
I stared at him, silently asking him to continue.
"Sigh... I knew the time spent on Medical Ninjutsu would save me time elsewhere."
I stared at him expectantly.
"I figured out I could use Medical-jutsu to forgo exercise by strengthening my muscles artificially." Senpai ran a hand through his long white and grey hair before continuing. "By tearing and healing your muscles near constantly you can simulate exercise and forgo it to some extent, thus saving time."
I smiled at him. "Wow, that's smart! Now you have more time to pursue other ninja arts!"
That was clever, I wouldn't have thought of such a thing!
"Yep." Senpai nodded looking disinterested.
Senpai was a hidden wellspring of knowledge, I would be a fool not to seize this opportunity.
"Do you have any tips for me Senpai?"
Senpai shook his head looking slightly exasperated.
"Yea don't ever become an official Med-nin." The amount of disdain in his voice when he spoke was shocking.
I stared at him disbelievingly, what did he have against Medical ninja?
"If you become a Medic you get shafted in almost every way, mainly because of those rules."
I knew what he was talking about and remembered the rules vividly, it was something near constantly mentioned in the medical books.
1. No medic ninja shall ever stop medical treatment until the lives of their party members have come to an end.
2. No medic ninja shall ever stand on the front lines.
3. No medic ninja shall ever die until they are the last of their platoon.
4. Only those medic ninja who have mastered the Strength of a Hundred Technique and the ninja art Creation Rebirth are permitted to discard the above-mentioned laws.
"It's especially annoying that you get punished if you don't follow those rules, there not even official rules anyway..." Senpai shook his head and stared at the sky. "Whatever, let's get back to training."
Senpai sprung up and made his way back to the crater covered part of the field.
"I'll write down my method on exercise stimulation, burn it when you are done with it." Senpai turned and looked at me. "Well... I'll do it later I suppose..."
I nodded happily.
"Thanks, Senpai!"
I was happy to learn new things, especially in such chaotic times.
I'd try to get some tips from Senpai later, he seemed annoyed now.
I decided it was best I didn't push my luck.
But then again...
Perhaps it was worth the risk.
"Senpai, why do you push the chakra outwards around your fist when you use superstrength?"
It was something that had been on my mind for a while, why did you need to enhance your muscles and send out a blast of chakra?
"It's so you don't just pierce through whatever your punching, it spreads the impact." Sempai's tone was bored.
I made a sound of understanding.
"So, everything is affected by the force of the punch?"
Sempai just nodded and hummed.
"Yep."
I stayed quiet and trailed behind Senpai as he made his way to a slightly less destroyed part of the clearing.
I smiled.
I couldn't wait for senpai to teach me more!
This was definitely an opportunity I couldn't miss.
Senpai was one of the most skilled users of Medical-Ninjutsu, It'd be a waste to not make the most of this.