"So, no luck huh?" I stared a scalp Orochimaru had thrown over his shoulder and into a trash bin.
Orochimaru stared at me like I was an idiot.
"I've not been successful yet..." He said blandly
Though he sounded confident that he would be successful...
Orochimaru had complained about managing the camp and that it was eating up his time.
I had offhandedly suggested the Orochimaru should look into the DNA governing the body's sleep schedule so that he could have more time to study to his heart's content.
Orochimaru had Immediately dropped his work on A's DNA and excitedly started performing brain surgeries on our prisoners.
He wanted to study sleep and its effects on the brain before he got into DNA.
"Well have fun."
Orochimaru kept muttering about the 'dorsal pons' and ignored me.
I blinked at his back and turned to make my escape.
My chakra control was almost up to scratch again...
It surprisingly only took a month...
Perhaps achieving near-perfect chakra control was easier a second time.
...
I stared down at the limbless man-potato, he wouldn't stop moving about even without his limbs.
Regretfully I had to damage his brain to stop him from escaping.
Walking into my lab and seeing him try to turn the doorknob with his arm nubs had been surprising.
Sadly, brain damage didn't solve my problems...
He was still trying to get away...
I'd tried to give him some sensing capabilities but so far, I've had no luck...
It was possible that the genes might start expressing themselves in a few months, but I wasn't interested in spoon-feeding a mentally impaired man-potato while I waited for him to show some signs of sensing capabilities.
Though I could get my minion to do it...
I might as well do more if that was the case...
I pondered the idea for a while before dismissing it.
Gene editing was ugly, especially so when my chakra control was subpar.
I didn't want her to witness me committing more atrocities then necessary.
The small stuff I did already unsettled her...
I sighed and started pondering.
Perhaps there was a better way to test this...
I couldn't think of anything immediately...
But that was ok, I had other things to do.
I needed to redo my Overwrite seals with my newly modified DNA...
Otherwise, I'd lose any changes I've made if I need to use them...
I sighed heavily.
Perhaps I'll keep the old ones.
It will give me somewhere to go back to if I ever make a grievous mistake...
Which was frankly pretty likely...
Not everything meshed well after all...
I pointed my finger at my test subject and he was impaled with a thin Bone Spike ending his life rather painlessly.
Perhaps I'll give sensing some time...
It wasn't even something I needed that badly.
Orochimaru had other modifications that he has done to himself.
Perhaps I could snag some more from him...
I guess I'll see.
...
"Changing your hair and eye color is definitely for the best." I crossed my arms and pouted
I was only half-serious, I was just trying to get her to consider the idea. As long as she thought about it, that was enough for me.
'Colorful hair and eyes may make you a target for enemies.' I took a moment to admire her writing, it had gotten neater.
I laughed.
"That's the point when enemies are always after you, you have to get better. That's why people with colorful traits are always stronger and stand above the cannon fodder."
Aomi didn't look convinced in the slightest, she started scribbling furiously on her notepad before turning it and shoving it in my face.
'Are you trying to make me a target?'
I shrugged.
"No, but that's how you get better. If you're constantly fighting off enemies, it's hard to not get better."
Aomi stared at me blankly before withdrawing her book and writing something down.
'Your crazy.' Aomi was sending me a judgmental stare while she held her book up.
I sent her a judgemental stare in return.
"I'm also not wrong."
We stared at each other for a bit longer and I noticed that Aomi didn't tower over me like she had when we first met.
I'm a growing boy!
I smothered my smile and spoke.
"Adversity breeds strength. Having people eager to stab you in your colorful eyes is adversity."
Aomi shook her head and started walking away.
"Black hair and ruby red eyes! They'd look fantastic!" I shouted at her as she was leaving
Aomi gave me the equivalent of the finger and slammed the door behind her.
My test subject who was strapped to the table met eyes with me.
"Woman eh?" I wriggled my eyebrows at him.
My test subject stared at me.
Seeing that he didn't agree, I tapped him on the forehead sending him off to dreamland.
I was feeling surprisingly silly today...
I wonder why...
...
"If someone was slapped with a book, would it be physical or verbal assault." My tone was bland and didn't display any of the amusement I felt.
Mom stared at me disapprovingly and drummed her fingers on the table where she was sitting at.
"Shiro, stop it."
I sighed as my attempt to lighten the mood was shot down and returned my focus onto the book on Fuinjutsu I had borrowed from Orochimaru.
Fuinjutsu was mainly used in sealing, sealing energy, sealing living beings, summoning, and barrier techniques.
For Fuinjutsu other then that, custom symbols were required.
I was trying to find something on the creation of custom symbols but I've had no luck.
I had the intent infusion thing down, and my calligraphy and understanding of Kanji was about as good as it could get without a dedicated teacher.
But I was stuck on 'making custom symbols'...
Aka using English and French in my seals.
I hadn't used either language in years and my grasp on them was slipping, I feared If I didn't get on top of things soon the possibility of using them would be lost.
It was a slight problem...
One that I could hopefully overcome.
"What are you working on that's got you so troubled?" Mom walked over and peeked over my shoulder.
I hummed trying to buy myself some time to finish the page before I spoke.
"Fuinjutsu."
Mom stepped back and made her way back to the spot she was occupying.
"Ask Minato and Kushina next time we're in Konoha, they'd be happy to help."
I just hummed and nodded as that was what I planned on doing next.
"If I remember..."
Sadly, I tended to forget about stuff that I wasn't immediately focused on.
"I'm training with Aomi and Duy in about an hour, are you interested." I stifled a yawn.
Mom wordlessly nodded and leaned back into her chair.
"Is Kenji coming?"
I turned back to my book and shook my head.
"He's distilling some alcohol right now."
We had run out in the camp and Kenji was tasked with doing so, though the reason was completely beyond me.
"So, he won't be coming?"
No, he's probably drunk on medical-grade alcohol...
"No."
Mom nodded.
"Sigh... Alrighty..."
I looked at her over my shoulder.
Sighing and saying alrighty were my things...
I blinked at her and again turned back to my book.
Whatever...
...
Gene editing reminded me of character creation, I was optimizing the traits I wanted making some stuff dormant and some stuff active.
I chuckled.
I was essentially assigning stat points via DNA manipulation...
It was an amusing thought.
Sadly, there was no-one to share my amusement.
Aomi looked unnerved by my chuckling.
Perhaps one shouldn't chuckle when extracting bone marrow from someone...
I had a member of the Yotsuki clan strapped to my table and was giving him a full work-up.
Mainly taking samples from him and checking to see if they have any sort of bloodline...
Which he didn't...
The Yotsuki clan was only known for their swordsmanship, speed, and loyalty.
Being loyal wasn't a bloodline though...
I stifled a chuckle at the thought.
Thankfully I wasn't examining these samples myself...
They were just getting sent off...
Which thankfully gave me more time to cackle like a mad scientist and try to figure out new ways to edit my DNA.
Personality traits could be changed with DNA to a certain extent...
Which was interesting as well as scary.
I could potentially create the perfect minion...
Or create my ideal self...
Messing with my personality was without a doubt a slippery slope though...
And since it was featured heavily in his notes, it made me wonder what Orochimaru had done to himself...
Perhaps that's why he had no love life and lacked empathy...
He might have seen them as weakness and purged them from himself...
I blinked and noticed Aomi was staring at me.
Getting lost in thought while you were wrist-deep in someone's chest cavity was probably in bad form.
"Sorry I got lost in thought."
Aomi nodded at me and looked away.
As long as I've got things to do, I can keep the emptiness at bay...
So I had to keep finding ways to occupy myself...
...
According to Orochimaru's notes anxiety could be removed with a few simple bits of gene editing...
I pondered removing my anxiety but ultimately dismissed it.
Would I even be the same person if I didn't spend hours trying to sleep while fighting off bursts of existential dread?
Probably not...
So, the existential dread stays...
But what I could do was give myself immunity to specific poisons and diseases...
That was easy according to the notes...
Just add a chain of 'immunity genes' and things were good to go...
I cracked a smile at 'immunity genes'.
Immunity genes as Orochimaru named them were just instructions for your white blood cells so they could fight off poison and diseases.
Orochimaru likely took genes from people who were immune to disease and poisons via overcoming them and added them to himself...
It was a neat idea...
Not one I would have thought of myself...
I flipped through a few other pages, briefly skimming them as I went.
Certain traits could be taken and given to oneself...
Reaction time...
Strength...
Speed...
Stamina...
Virility...
Sweaty hands...
Promiscuity...
Love of battle...
Sweet tooth...
The list went on and on...
Though it noted at the end that some traits didn't mesh well and could cause instability in the genome and infertility...
Again, with infertility...
My eyes were drawn to a section that talked about the traits becoming dormant even if they were successfully gained.
It also noted that the gained traits were less likely to show up the older one was and that the more traits one took the less likely they were to survive...
I gave it one final glance before snapping the book shut.
Essentially one could become more superhuman than a ninja already was, at the cost of infertility and potential genetic instability...
And one needed to be young...
I wondered if this was why Orochi wanted to hop bodies...
It also perhaps had something to do with bloodlines being part spiritual...
I do remember Sasuke reversing his technique...
Orochimaru had some sort of fleshy realm where the souls of those whose bodies he stole stayed...
Perhaps that was part of it...
He needed their souls for spiritual energy so he could use their body's bloodline...
Maybe... Maybe...
It wasn't impossible at least...
I sighed...
If that was the case couldn't I imprison that moon Ōtsutsuki's soul inside myself...?
That sounded both promising and evil...
Sadly, I had no idea how Orochi was keeping those souls...
And he likely wouldn't share his secrets...
Especially when it involved his immortality.
Perhaps I should continue this line of thought later...
I sighed and drummed my fingers on the cover of the notebook while mentally jumping over to another topic that had been plaguing me.
Naruto and Sasuke.
The two quarter Space God reincarnations...
What would a quarter Space God's soul and chakra do to their bodies...?
There were potential DNA shenanigans to be had there...
I could steal DNA from exceptional individuals now.
Or I could wait a bit for Naruto and Sasuke...
And by a bit, I mean anywhere from two to fifteen years.
Decisions... Decisions...
...
Orochimaru assigned me a squad and told me to go ambush a supply caravan.
So, I had a few hours to lay in my bed and ponder potential DNA improvements.
According to the notes, too much DNA manipulation caused genetic instability and infertility.
Meaning I should try to limit my DNA shenanigans...
I was doing alright currently, I frankly didn't need further improvements at the moment.
I just needed to survive and give my body time to mature.
And possibly get some DNA from someone with tailed beast level reserves.
Even if I was alright now, it was never bad to have tailed beast sized reserves...
So...
I needed to mature and I wanted big reserves.
Sadly, maturing meant that DNA shenanigans were less likely to stick...
Though that may not be a problem...
I could already regenerate telomeres...
So, maturing may not be too much of a problem...
Though that might not be the case...
It still might be a problem even with my cells 'youth'.
I sighed and pulled the blanket up to my neck.
So bigger reserves, poison, and disease immunity...
They were all things that I could focus on, even if I didn't find a use for them...
I've got something to occupy myself for the foreseeable future.
And that's all I wanted...
Something to occupy myself with...
...
...
Interlude.
I stared at Shiro as he continued to explain how to successfully mend arteries.
Shiro had taken a hit meant for our patient and after dispatching the enemy causing our patient to survive, Shiro made this a learning opportunity.
"Alright, your turn." Shiro's words jolted me into reality.
I placed my hands on either side of the wounded area on the patient's leg and started to fill the flesh with healing chakra as I was taught.
The flesh knitted together with little input from myself and I focused my attention on the artery.
I surrounded it in a layer of chakra and dammed up the blood stopping it from flowing out and into the leg.
The hard part done, I started the mending of the artery itself and turned my eyes towards Shiro who was watching with an expression of vague approval.
"Thanks for taking the hit, it was very brave of you." My patient spoke startling me.
Blood started to flow from the artery and Shiro reached down and stopped the flow with a quick tap to the leg.
"Focus..." Shiro's purple eyes bore into mine.
I nodded and started again, this time with a renewed focus.
I couldn't fail...
"I'm not brave..." My patient shifted and Shiro poked him with his toe. "Stop moving, Idiot..."
Things were silent for a moment.
"Your very brave." My patient spoke again.
At this point, I was contemplating knocking him out.
"I'm not..." Shiro's voice was light and airy. "I'm strong and fearless, bravery is something different..."
My patient opened his mouth to speak again "Sleep..." But Shiro stopped him with a tap to the forehead.
Shiro sighed loudly and poked my patient with his foot.
"What an annoying guy, I wanted him to be up and ready. But if he's going to be so annoying it's not worth it."
Shiro poked him with his foot one last time before he started walking away.
"I'll go ahead and raid that caravan, I thought they would be transporting their food with seals but was mistaken." Shiro sighed again. "I wouldn't have killed these incompetents otherwise..."
Shiro stuck his foot under a downed ninja and flicked him into the forest with a grunt.
"I'll be back, loot them, and see if they were carrying anything useful."
I stared at his back as he departed in a Shunshin.
I let out a soundless sigh and withdrew my hands from my now healed patient.
I guess we attacked these men because Shiro thought they were carrying the supplies...
I sighed again while staring out at a field of corpses that was interspersed with Konoha-nin looking for anything of value.
This was pointless...
War was pointless...
Everything was pointless...
.I idly hummed as I walked the perimeter of the camp, Byakugan active.
Things in Frost were ok, we held our ground and made it difficult for Kumo to get supplies into Lightning Country.
That made them pissed and now we had to worry about a potential Raikage attack.
Things in Grass were a shitshow, not much had changed.
There were constant large battles and we were losing a good part of them.
Noodles was doing alright but anyone who stood out was immediately assassinated.
Kiri loved assassinations...
The battles in River Country were pushed into Wind Country where we blocked Suna from importing water from River Country.
Sadly, Suna didn't like that and were now fucking us up.
Who thought it was a good idea to fight Suna in Wind Country?
I sighed as I thought about the state of things.
According to my rough timeline, we had about a year more of war.
Things weren't looking too good for Konoha.
We were besieged on almost every side and we would soon run out of civilian ninja to throw into the meatgrinder.
So, soon the clans would be forced to commit more of their ninja...
And once those ran out, they'd send in the academy students...
It wasn't looking good at the moment...
But Konoha still had Kushina, Jiraiya, and Tsunade to toss around...
Not to mention the Hokage and Danzo...
All people who should probably be participating in the war...
I sighed and kicked a branch covered in frost into the woods.
Besieged and with a good part of our heavy hitters doing fuck all, things were looking slightly grim.
For the average ninja at least.
I turned my vision telescopic and gave the area a brief sweep before deactivating my Byakugan.
Jiraiya was in Grass according to Orochimaru, so there was a good chance Minato would be free should we have a Raikage problem...
I turned and started making my way into the camp.
I looked at the sky and mentally thanked Iwa for angering the Raikage and keeping him and the Two-Tails Jinjuriki busy.
If he wasn't so busy he would probably be demolishing our camp right now...
...
I laid in my bed and stared at the ceiling of my room with thoughts of the Tenseigan swirling around in my mind.
Madara took years to awaken his Rinnegan and he already had all stages of his Sharingan unlocked...
I think it's because it took a long time for his two chakras to combine and become Six-Paths chakra...
But the moon Ōtsutsuki got it within a few days...
So, the moon-men had the chakra but lacked the eye...
I had the eye but lacked the chakra...
Sadly, the Tenseigan was dependent on the Ōtsutsuki's chakra then...
If I remember correctly after the eyes were returned, they were no longer the Tenseigan...
Meaning if I wanted the Tenseigan I had to be able to produce the chakra that the moon Ōtsutsuki produced.
So, I somehow needed to produce their physical energy and spiritual energy...
Physical energy was easy...
There were many ways I could do that...
Spiritual energy was my main problem...
And it wasn't an easy problem...
But then again, I wasn't sure...
The physical energy from the moon Ōtsutsuki might be the only thing I require...
It depends on what end of the spectrum the Ōtsutsuki's bloodline is on...
Physical or spiritual...
Sigh...
This was annoying...
I couldn't keep the Tenseigan out of my head, it was my next big goal.
Sadly, I likely wouldn't see any progress for a long time...
...
I watched with slight annoyance as the skin on my hand regrew after another failed attempt at replicating A's chakra cloak.
The cloak was just lightning chakra, there was little actual electricity needed...
So why the fuck did it keep burning my skin off?
With my Bone Armor or Dermal Armor, I could use the cloak pretty well, but I was trying to do so without the Shikotsumyaku.
I sighed and ran a hand through my hair.
A and the Raikage used the cloak plus some sort of Shunshin...
And that was my current goal.
Or perhaps I should call it my current dream...
Because a lightning cloak seemed to be something, I could only achieve in my dreams...
I released both a mental groan and a groan in real life.
Why was Nature Transformation so annoying...?
...
Orochimaru and I both cracked a smile while reading the latest report.
Kiri had sailed across the Kaizoku sea and set up a camp on a small chain of islands near Lightning Country.
They had been raiding villages and assassinating nobles since then.
The Two-Tails Jinjuriki was tasked with dealing with Kiri while the Raikage dealt with Iwa.
Said Jinjuriki was only fourteen at the moment and was very likely to die, so Kumo's second Jinjuriki was bouncing between Frost and the area around Kiri's camp protecting her.
So, we likely wouldn't see many more attacks.
That's what had Orochimaru smiling, he could devote more time to his experiments.
I was smiling for a different reason, with the Raikage alone, Iwa was pretty likely to get him.
He was my main worry and with him out of the scene, I could run around and raise havoc to my little heart's content.
The battles around Frost would likely slow a bit, and that was something to look forward to.
...
Aomi met me with a flurry of slashes, each was precise and without wasted movement.
Every strike was made with the intent of uncovering a weakness, little by little she'd find the weakness in an opponent's style and then exploit it.
I let her lead the fight, and I carefully watched, taking note of what she did so in the future I could do so myself.
Should I ever desire to have a fight that lasted longer than a few strikes at least...
I hummed and blocked a horizontal slash from Aomi.
She was certainly more skilled than me in Kenjutsu.
Sadly, I was faster than her and could slow my perception.
I stepped it up a notch and used the tip of my sword to smack Aomi's sword down and away from her and went for a beheading slash.
Aomi used a kunai to block my strike and tried to disembowel me with her sword.
I Shunshined behind her and tapped her on the back of the head with my sword.
"If you don't find a way to overcome the Shunshin I'm going to keep winning..."
Aomi outdid me skill-wise, but when I made my bones hollow, enhanced my arms with the Shunshin, and slowed my perception skill didn't matter.
When I wasn't cheating with Ninjutsu, Aomi's enhanced muscles and newly enhanced reflexes made her a worthwhile fight...
I retracted my sword and Aomi shrugged and collapsed onto the ground.
She stared at the sky and yawned.
Yawn*
I walked a distance away, sat against a tree, and stifled my own yawn.
I ran my chakra through my bones, felt myself become notably heavier, and smothered a second yawn.
Changes to my bone's density seemed to be the most chakra expensive...
I imagine it's because calcium needs to somehow be created...
I certainly didn't get it from my food...
Nor did my body seem to store it anywhere...
Yawn*
I yawned this time failing to smother it.
Late-night missions were the worst...
...
"What's the problem?" I narrowed my eyes and stared at the Inuzuka duo who had sought me out.
Half of the problems in the camp were caused by the Inuzuka, so I had little patience when dealing with the lot.
"Ummm..." He shifted from side to side. "One of the squads disappeared..." He trailed off at the end.
I sighed loudly and the two shank into themselves.
"Why aren't you telling Orochimaru?"
I watched them fidget for a moment and waved at them to hurry it up.
"Ummm..." His friend gave him an encouraging shoulder pat. "Orochimaru-Sama is not here."
I sighed and shooed them out of the room.
"Come Aomi..." Aomi gave me a firm nod in reply.
I activated my Byakugan and followed the idiot duo out the door with Aomi trailing behind me.
...
After looking through the camp for a few minutes I saw that Orochimaru really was no-where to be seen.
I sighed loudly as the idiot duo nervously bumbled about and told me about the team that disappeared.
Apparently, a whole squad went missing-nin...
Or at least that's what the idiot duo thought...
It was more likely that Orochimaru needed their assistance and disappeared with them...
"Alright... Thanks for the report, your dismissed..." I shoed them away with my hand and started towards mom's usual hang-out.
I've not yet met an Inuzuka I've liked...
And, likely, I never will...
"Since I'm out of my lair, let's go see how moms doing." I eyed Aomi as I spoke.
I got a nod and a thumbs up in reply.
I sent my own thumbs up and continued on my way.
I might as well get all of my socializing out of the way...
...
After completing my bi-monthly socializing and then sleeping for fourteen hours afterward, I was in Orochimaru's office doing the last four days paperwork that Orochimaru had elected to put off, and reading some orders from the Hokage.
The Hokage wanted us to do as we were doing and keep occupying our small slice of Frost.
Which was expected...
The Hokage was passive and didn't attack unless provoked.
Sadly, this mindset translated into his orders and we weren't really allowed to attack unless we were attacked first.
It was a major hindrance.
But if one wanted the Hokage's favor, then they shouldn't attack unless provoked...
Orochimaru luckily didn't care for the Hokage's favor too much and bulldozed his way into frost and set up a camp before Kumo had time to respond.
And now we were entrenched in an ideal spot and could stop Kumo from approaching The Land Of Fire.
The fact that our presence stopped a lot of trade traveling into Kumo was also a plus...
If we had to fight within our border there would be massive collateral damage, but luckily fighting within our borders was minimal.
Instead, we were fighting in someone else's borders...
The first and second war likely taught the Five Great Nations that warring in your own territory was a bad decision.
Especially when a stray fireball could devastate your crops and forests...
Suna was probably the only nation that didn't have to worry about that though...
It was all sand there...
I sighed and dipped the tip of my brush into the inkpot.
I had to send a message to the Hokage confirming I got his useless message, then I needed to go through the leave of absence forms and requests for time off.
With me behind the desk, it was likely everyone who applied would be able to leave...
There wasn't anyone that needed to stay, cannon fodder were cannon fodder.
Having a hundred less wouldn't matter in the long run...
I wiped the brush on the rim of the pot getting rid of the excess ink in the process.
Hopefully, this would only take an hour or so...
"..."
I eyed the pile of papers on my desk and felt less optimistic.
Konoha sure knows how slow everything the fuck down with paperwork...
...
Orochimaru returned two days later and barged into the command center with a wide smile on his face.
I stood up from the desk and moved aside so he could claim my seat.
He did so and smiled to himself while picking through the documents.
I watched him pick through the documents for a few moments while wondering if I should ask him about his whereabouts.
It was likely that he would tell me and I didn't want to risk annoying him so I stayed quiet and leaned against a wall behind him.
Orochimaru browsed the papers on his desk for a few more moments before he spoke.
"Everything is in order..." Orochimaru's smile further stretched across his face.
I fought a sigh.
Why was he being creepy?
"Of course." I kept my tone even and my face blank.
It wouldn't do for me to show my distaste.
"I've taken the liberty of destroying two of Kumo's camps." Orochimaru sounded proud of that...
Even though the camps were likely filled with fodder.
"Well done Sensei." Was all I said instead.
Orochimaru likely took a chance and attacked the camps by himself because A and B were occupied elsewhere.
It was something that would piss off the Raikage...
The risk of a Raikage Rampage just rose dramatically...
"What's the plan now Sensei? Kumo is likely to retaliate." Retaliate was putting it lightly...
There was a good chance that they would gather their S-Ranks and wreck us...
"I've requested reinforcements, next we're going to destroy their camps on the border and bring the fight into Lightning Country." Orochimaru paused and started laughing. "Kekeke..."
I withheld a grimace.
I had forgotten how creepy that was.
"Alrighty, I'll take my leave." I sent Orochimaru a bow and made my way out of the command center.
Hopefully, we got another S-Rank ninja, more cannon fodder wouldn't help us.
...
Or reinforcements arrived in the form of Minato and a thousand ninja of various rank.
With a thousand ninja making their way from Grass to Frost there was no way Kumo didn't know what was up.
The door swung open with a creak interrupting my thoughts.
Orochimaru stalked through my lab and handed me a sealed scroll and stalked away, likely eager to continue his experiments involving sleep.
I gave the scroll a quick read and heaved a heavy sigh.
The Hokage was ordering me to go to Kiri.
As fun as that sounded, I wasn't interested.
But orders were orders...
And sadly, I couldn't refuse.
Replacing me with Minato...
Fuck this was annoying...
...
Goodbyes were said.
Bags were packed.
My minion Aomi was given instructions on how to manage my lab.
And Orochimaru cursed the Hokage for taking his number one minion.
Everything I needed to do was done.
Now it was just a day of travel.
I'd have a nice change of scenery and some warmer weather to look forward to.
And potentially finding the Akatsuki's shark dude was a plus.
He was called the tailless tailed beast after all.
I could use some of his DNA...
I cracked my knuckles and rolled my shoulders.
It was time to go...
...
From what I understood the situation in Noodles was alright
The force there was mainly comprised of clansmen.
Under the lead of Fugaku Uchiha, things in Noodles were going well.
They won some and lost some, nobody stood out aside from Fugaku.
Anyone who did was almost immediately assassinated...
There were less large-scale battles and more small skirmishes and assassinations.
So, according to the scroll I had gotten I was supposed to team up with Fugaku and push Kiri out of Noodles and back to where they came.
I sighed and adjusted my course so I could avoid a Konoha Scout team.
I didn't feel like being stopped and questioned.
Nor did I feel like fighting in the open fields of Noodle Country...
I haven't been enjoying the war for a while now...
I held in my sigh and continued on my way to Noodles, I should arrive in a day or so...
...
After sneaking past the camp's scouts, I made my way directly to Fugaku who welcomed me with a raised eyebrow.
"Hyuga-san it's been a long time." He nodded at me.
I nodded back and gave a lazy wave.
"Yo." I stole a chair from a group of chairs that were stacked against a wall and claimed a seat in a corner.
I leaned back lazily and yawned loudly.
"Yawn* How goes it?" I rubbed at my eyes a bit feeling a tad bit sleepy.
Fugaku didn't look impressed at my lack of manners and crossed his arms and looked at me with slight contempt.
"Mist has been avoiding direct battles so I called for reinforcements so we could bring the battle to them." Fugaku spoke in a bland tone.
I hummed...
Most of the Seven-Swordsmen were sighted in Lightning Country so Fugaku likely thought it was an ideal time to try and push Kiri out of Noodles...
They currently had their Jinjuriki lurking somewhere and that was what we had to worry about.
"When do you plan on attacking?" I stifled another yawn.
I watched Fugaku stifle his own yawn with slight amusement.
"Tomorrow evening." He spoke with a clipped tone.
I hummed for a long moment.
"Alright, I'll see you then..." I gave him a sloppy wave and Shunshined towards the edge of the camp before he could say anything.
There were other clan heads and clan heirs here lurking around the camp, I didn't want to endure idle chatter from them...
...
"Sigh..." I sighed heavily.
Kiri had quite the setup.
Instead of a few large camps, they had many smaller ones dotting almost the entirety of Noodle Country.
Some were underground, some were set-up in villages that had been taken over and some were in what little forested area Noodles had.
Kumo and Konoha opted for two or three large bases and ran things from there.
Kiri seemed to have taken a different approach and dotted the entire landscape with bases.
I imagine it would be easy to wipe out these small bases, I don't know why Fugaku was having such a problem clearing them.
Especially with plenty of Hyuga and Uchiha...
It didn't quite make sense...
I changed my vision to telescopic and gave my surroundings a thorough scan.
The bases held about four squads of ninja each and so far, I'd seen about twenty bases...
I was about halfway into noodles and was hesitant to travel too deep.
My chakra usage was undiscovered, but I likely wouldn't continue to have such luck for long.
They probably had a competent sensor in one of these camps...
And I didn't need to get swarmed...
Especially with no possible back-up...
I held back a yawn.
As much as I would like to know where all the camps were, a little surprise was good sometimes...
That and I didn't want to delay my beauty sleep any longer...
So now I needed to steal someone's house for the day...
Sigh...
And depending on what time I woke up, I might be able to set-up some explosive tags in a few of the camps...
If I destroyed their important infostructure ahead of time it would make the coming battle easier...
Plan of action decided I let my Byakugan return to its normal vision and started making my way towards Konoha controlled territory.
I had a bed to commandeer...
I woke up in the middle of the night and quickly got dressed and left the house I had occupied with thoughts of explosions dancing in my head.
I had a surplus of explosive notes and would love to blow up some camps...
But if I had to use the Shikotsumyaku Kiri would know I was here, if they didn't already know...
The element of surprise usually worked well...
I wouldn't want to lose it...
So, I wouldn't...
I made my way to a huge tree that was surrounded by fields and stopped just under it.
I dropped a few stacks of custom explosive notes, perched myself on the tree, and made a hand-sign.
A few Shadow Clones appeared and sped off into the distance after grabbing the stacks.
The clone's hair changed to black as they left my sight...
Henge for the win...
Hopefully, I'd regen the missing half of my chakra before we had to fight...
If not, I could just pop some soldier pills...
I sighed and leaned back against the trunk of the tree.
I guess I'll see.
...
A burst of memories hit me and I had to cover my face with both hands to contain myself.
Sadly, covering my face didn't work and I burst into insane laughter.
Canon was fucked...
One of my experiments was running around with a big ass sword...
The Kubikiribōchō...
Fuck...
The wielder before Zabuza would have been an Akatsuki member...
Fuuuuuuck...
He was a nobody so it shouldn't matter too much...
But having someone with a permanently open First Gate wielding the Kubikiribōchō was big...
My laughter slowly died out and I was left feeling a little tired.
I didn't think anything would come from that experiment...
I guess it's possible to overcome the challenges a permanently open Gate brings...
Fuck this was a big change...
If one of them was doing this well, then what about the others...
Mystery woman and the other two Genin...
I sighed heavily...
I was feeling slightly emotional and couldn't wait to see my experiment in battle...
Would he be a one pump chump like I had thought...?
Or did he somehow overcome the stamina drain from the gate...?
I was looking forward to it...
...
Over the next three hours, I was hit with twenty different bursts of memories.
Kiri had 35 small camps and a large camp on the shore containing around four-hundred or so ninja.
If I had to guess I'd say there were around two-thousand Kiri-nin occupying Noodles...
Which was about what Fugaku had...
I sighed and looked at the rising sun...
Noodles was extremely close to Kiri as well, so it wouldn't be too much trouble for them to get reinforcements...
And I had only spotted one other Swordsman...
So, it's likely that the rest of them were messing with Kumo or were running missions elsewhere...
It made me feel a bit better about our chance of success, if only slightly...
We only had to deal with two big swords...
...
"Yo!"
After a quick nap, I sought out Fugaku so I could get whatever briefing I needed to get.
"You missed the briefing." Fugaku gave me a look that screamed disapproval.
It seems I wouldn't be getting a briefing...
"I was scouting their camps, they have two of the Swordsmen here." I spoke quickly hoping to avoid a reprimand.
Fugaku gave me a narrow-eyed stare.
"Look at the map here and see if anything is missing..." He gestured towards 'the map'.
I eyed it with a raised eyebrow.
"Who made this garbage...?" I ran my thumb over a tea stain while looking at the nearly blank map.
I sighed loudly and grabbed Fugaku's expensive-looking brush and ink set with my chakra strings.
I saw him start to speak and I shushed him. "Shhhhhh..." His mouth closed with a snap and I took my sweet time marking down the spots I could roughly remember.
I saw that they at least saw their biggest camp and gave a slight nod.
"At least whoever made this wasn't completely incompetent..." I trailed off as I added four more missed bases...
I started adding symbols beside each camp to differentiate which ones were underground and which were aboveground.
"I made the map..." Fugaku stared at me dully.
My stare was equally as dull.
"As I said, not completely incompetent..." I trailed off again as I marked the camps where I saw the two Swordsmen...
I wrote the names of the swords beside the camp for those that didn't understand what the drawing of a sword was for...
"The Hiramekarei and the Kubikiribōchō..." Fugaku trailed off and looked pensive...
I hummed and nodded while still filling out missed camps.
After a few quiet minutes, I finished with the camps and started writing the kanji for explosion in the camps the clones had plastered with explosive tags.
"And done..." After one last kanji, I dropped the brush and cracked my knuckles...
I took a moment to admire my work and bask in Fugaku's disbelieving expression...
"I think we'll need a second debriefing..." Fugaku said while staring at the map.
I held back my groan...
I'd likely be doing the presenting...
Fuck...
Should I have just left it as it was...?
Luckily, I didn't have to do much during the debriefing...
I only had to clarify some of my symbols and I got to sit back and watch as everyone argued over the plan.
After about an hour of amusing bickering Fugaku put his foot down and the plan was decided.
Fugaku and I would team up, eliminate Kubikiribōchō's wielder, and then Fugaku and I would split and target individual camps while our soldiers would be split into groups and target other individual camps.
Fugaku was supposed to deal with the second Swordsmen by himself...
Meaning that they thought I was weak and couldn't handle the Swordsman by himself...
I wasn't too bothered...
Really...
Even if I flooded the room with my chakra...
I sighed...
Now I got to sit around and wait for preparations to be made...
What fun I was having...
...
Fugaku and I stood side by side watching over the preparations.
Well...
Fugaku was watching over the preparations...
I was just standing around and feeling out of place...
We watched a Genin trying to sharpen his kunai and fumble about.
He cut his palm and was dragged off by his sensei likely to receive some medical attention...
"..."
We both met eyes silently.
This army was hopeless...
I sighed and looked into the distance not focusing on anything in particular.
Hopefully, this was not a total shitshow...
But that clumsy Genin was foreshadowing if I've ever seen it...
Fuck...
...
I activated my Byakugan and followed Fugaku as he passed the different groups that had been deployed.
Fugaku's speed kept increasing the further we got from the camp, eventually, we reached a comfortable pace and continued towards our target.
After a while we arrived, the camp was in sight and my experiment was having a jolly time training.
Fugaku stopped and I took a moment to watch my experiment swing his sword.
After a moment of looking I stopped focusing on him as I didn't see anything notable.
I made an effort to turn my head to Fugaku so he could tell he had my attention.
He didn't speak so I turned my head back towards the camp and started forming my mask and Dermal Armor.
"I'll take care of Kubikiribōchō's wielder..." Fugaku spoke quietly and started making his way toward the camp.
I stared at his back feeling slightly annoyed...
Did he want the credit or did he think I was weak?
Annoying...
My opinion of Fugaku continued lowering the closer he got to the camp.
My mask finished forming and sighed while running my hand over its smooth surface.
...
Fugaku had gotten pretty close to the camp so I decided it was time to rumble...
I made a hand-seal and the camp exploded in a fiery blaze.
I heard some distant explosions but paid them no mind.
Fugaku gave me a look over his shoulder before he sprinted into the camp with his Sharingan active.
I shrugged to myself, slowed my perception, and Shunshined to the camp.
I stood at the edge of the camp watching as the Kiri-nin effectively put out any fires created by my explosive tags.
It wasn't something I wanted.
Long thin Bone swords burst from my knees, the handles hit my palms with a slap and I grasped them.
With a tug, they came free from my flesh and I was holding two twin swords.
I sighed as the ninja around me ignored me, instead opting to put out the fires.
Whatever...
It was my gain...
I enhanced my entire body with the Shunshin and sped towards the closet ninja, decapitating him with a flick of my wrist.
Without dropping my Shunshin I sped toward two more ninjas and decapitated them as well.
I Shunshined towards a group of Genin and killed them with a single swing, cutting them all in half.
I continued the slaughter and killed five more Kiri-nin before I was even spotted...
"He's there, get him!" I eyed the one who spoke, he was currently making hand-signs while approaching me.
His water bullet splashed against my chest and I watched idly as the Kiri-nin covered the area in a mist before surrounding me.
"How did that feel monster!" I eyed the silly Chunin for a moment before deciding on a plan of action.
I coated my swords in lightning and jumped into the mist cutting down the chatty ninja with a swing.
Two more approached me from behind attempting to stab me in the back.
Two Bone Spears erupted from my back and pierced the approaching ninja's throats.
I twisted my body, the bone crumbled, and I took the time to admire the circle of ninja that was forming around me.
I'd killed half of the camps ninja with the explosion and my subsequent killing spree.
So, I only had about twenty more to go...
And most of them were kind enough to gather around and save me the chase...
I swung my sword behind me and cut a courageous ninja in half.
The mist Kiri often employed was working against them...
They couldn't see what I was doing and thus were unprepared...
I launched myself forward and cut an additional three ninja down, a quick sidestep and I smacked a kunai with an explosive tag on it into the largest group.
Boom*
I buried my sword into the ground and killed someone attempting to grab me by the ankles.
Someone had used the opportunity to jump onto my back and ended up speared for their troubles.
I shook the body off of me, let the lightning on my swords disperse, and Shunshined towards the one maintaining the mist.
He dodged my first strike but the second one deprived him of his head.
I stuck both of my swords into the earth and started launching Bone Spears from my palms, killing the final few ninjas left.
One had tried to sneak away but was caught by Fugaku who had already finished with his opponent.
"Sigh..." My sigh was muffled from my mask.
I deactivated my Byakugan, my mask receded, and I made my way over to my ex-experiment.
His fight with Fugaku was lackluster, after a few swings of his sword, he was near-instantly put under a Genjutsu and had his throat slit after he swung and overextended.
It was a sad sight...
I couldn't imagine the luck involved in his acquisition of the Kubikiribōchō if he was this unskilled...
I arrived at his body and flicked the Kubikiribōchō off of him with my foot.
I placed my hands on him and ran the diagnostic jutsu ignoring Fugaku who had approached as well.
The Gate had been seemingly healed...
Interesting...
He might have been able to open and close the gate...
That's the only way I could see him getting the Kubikiribōchō...
Especially at such a young age...
I stood up and walked over to the big fucking sword.
"Well, I'll be taking this." Fugaku nodded and remained silent.
I took that as an ok and picked up the sword.
It wasn't as heavy as I thought it would be...
Or maybe I was just stronger then I thought...
"Alright, I'll see you when I finish up with my bases."
Fugaku nodded while staring at the trails of smoke in the distance.
My explosions seem to have been effective...
I sighed and waved at Fugaku as I Shunshined away.
...
Four more camps and four more slaughters, the last camp was the quickest as it was underground.
A quick One For All enhanced stomp and my enemies were buried in a tomb of their own design.
I sighed as I arrived at my next target, there was double the amount of people then there should be.
It was likely that had caught on to our plan and were now retreating towards the bases further in Noodles.
It wouldn't save them from me, but it would likely slow the army's advance.
I took a deep breath and rubbed at my masked forehead.
The original plan was to attack them relentlessly over the next month and try to push them further into noodles...
So, if it took a few days to do the same who would complain...?
The current plan was to drown them in bodies while they were split-up and ripe for the taking.
And it was working well for the most part.
I eyed a man with erratic chakra as he approached the man with the largest reserves in camp.
It was like a switch suddenly flipped, his chakra turned erratic as well.
I raised an eyebrow when the one with large reserves launched a flair into the sky.
It seems the other one was a competent sensor...
I shrugged and moved the Kubikiribōchō to my other shoulder.
I guess I should get to it...
I Shunshined straight towards the camp no longer bothering to hide my chakra.
I created a huge Lightning Rasengan in my free hand and launched it towards the biggest consecration of people.
It drilled through one person and killed four in its subsequent expansion.
Seeing that it was working well, I launched two more before speeding towards the one I figured was in charge.
I maneuvered the blade so his head was in the hole and pulled, decapitating someone with the blade's holes for the first time.
Two nearby ninjas yelled as charged at me, they were cut in half with a single long swipe.
I kicked their four halves into a pile and planted the blade in the middle.
I watched as the blade absorbed the blood and ignored the ninja who was slashing at me with his sword.
What a cool looking ability...
A spike burst from my back and impaled my attacker.
I aimed my palm over my shoulder and shot a Bone Spear through a tent and into the ninja I deemed a sensor.
I grabbed the Kubikiribōchō and marveled at the speed in which it repaired itself.
What a cool blade...
I swung and chopped an attacker in half, while some shuriken bounced off my Dermal Armor.
A water whip curled around my waist and pulled me towards its user.
When I got close enough, I ran some electricity down the whip with my free hand and chopped it's user in half when his body seized.
I turned my face towards the sky while paying minor attention to my surroundings...
Today was a good day...
As if to spite me a dragon made of water opened it's mouth in a silent roar and sped towards me.
'Today is still a good day' I thought as the water dragon collided with my back.
...
I sighed and planted the Kubikiribōchō into the pool of blood that had formed under my feet.
As cool as swinging this thing around was, it was tiring as all hell.
I leaned on the handle of the blade taking this quiet moment to rest my aching arms.
After a moment of thought, I realized I haven't been this tired in years...
The last time was when I was four...
I could barely remember the days when I couldn't do more than a few push-ups.
It felt like it was so long ago...
But it's only been eight or so years...
I saw some movement and my focus drifted towards the source.
A man was bandaging the stumps where his legs used to be.
I sighed, pulled the Kubikiribōchō from the earth, and started making my way towards the man who was hiding behind a building.
Had he belonged to any other village I would have spared him...
But in Kiri he would be killed, he was just a burden to them...
If he was going do die, I'd let him die by my hand...
It was better than dying by the hands of the ones you once called comrades...
I silently arrived behind him and kicked his sword which he had leaned against the wall away from him.
That caught his attention and he looked up and stared into my eyes.
"Sp-spare Me!" He pleaded with clasped palms while staring into my eyes.
I blew a breath from my nose and raised my sword.
"If it's any consolation, you were lovely entertainment." I hummed as I spoke.
I brought my sword down with a lazy swing, ending his life.
What a world this was...
I saw a wave of ninja approaching the now destroyed camp from the edge of my range.
I think I'll circle around and flank them...
I tucked my hair behind my ears and Shunshined away...