Letting the wind caress his face, Toru closed his eyes and sighed. The day was almost over, the sun was about to set on the horizon and the boy just watched this with an expressionless face.
One after another, the memories began to come together like a jigsaw puzzle. There were some pieces that fit into place, however, this immense puzzle had only a few pieces, there was still a long way to go before it could be completed.
(The show is over, eh...)
Remembering the bespectacled man, Toru felt strangely depressed.
It had already been a few days since he had stopped having these memories, however, once again, memories attacked Toru's head, causing him great pain and confusion.
Sitting on the monument to the Hokages, Toru took a bread filled with fruit and put it to his mouth.
(Tomorrow I have to meet Yamato-sensei... I guess I should start training. Gaara and Neji are the strongest, so I shouldn't waste any time).
Chewing the bread, Toru opened his eyes and looked at the moon. The night breeze caressed his face.
"I wonder if I can go on living with these memories torturing my mind..."
Letting out a long sigh, the symphony of death has begun.
-The next day...
Early in the morning, walking without a care in the world. Toru put his hands in his pockets and sighed. Right now he was heading to a place Yamato-sensei proposed. Apparently, Yamato himself wanted to train Toru, or so he said.
This was the day after the preliminary fights for the chunin exams. Toru had rested enough, right now he had his energies at maximum. But still, even though he looked calm, many thoughts came to his mind.
The first thing was the mark on Sasuke's neck. Toru was 100% sure that this was Orochimaru's doing, after all it was Orochimaru himself who approached Toru to offer him power.
The second thing was Hinata, she seemed to be stable, her health will slowly improve. Her chakra channels will have to recover, but that is a slow process, so Toru thought that team 11 will not be able to participate in missions for a long time.
Third and most important, the memories that are starting to appear in Toru's mind. He couldn't figure out what they meant, he didn't know the identity of the man with glasses or the woman who was connected to all those machines. But it was strange, the more memories appeared, the more Toru began to see the world in a different way. It was as if for every memory that appeared, a part of Toru was destroyed or combined with something mysterious.
Somehow, every memory, every image, every sound and sensation, was strangely familiar, as if he himself had experienced those memories firsthand.
Moreover...
"Why...?"
Touching his cheek, Toru remembered that tear he let out when that memory came to his mind.
He hadn't cried since his mother's death, hadn't been able to cry since that day. The world was painted a gray color, complementing it with empty sensations that seemed to elicit no feelings in Toru.
That night, during the battle against Yasu, when Toru heard the voice in his head, the world became colorful again. To this also add two important factors; Ino and Hinata, they were also influencing Toru's way of thinking, but as the feelings of the heart are complicated for this boy, he simply ignored them, after all this did not generate any interest for him.
(Forgetting is one of the things I'm not good at. Ignorance is bliss, they say... I wonder if it's true?)
Adjusting his scarf, Toru's body flickered, then disappeared. The people around looked on in surprise, a boy simply disappeared without a trace, although a second later everyone realized that the boy was wearing the Konoha shinobi protector, so that explained it.
"You have arrived..."
With a neutral expression on his face, Yamato watched as Toru appeared out of nowhere, though to him it was nothing surprising.
"Good morning, Yamato-sensei."
Nodding, Toru looked at Yamato, who had a few things with him.
The first thing Toru's eyes could see was something Rock Lee used during his fight against Gaara, the dead weight that goes on the ankles. There were also some ninja tools, such as shurikens, kunais, wires, paper bombs and so on.
"Looks like you saw that already."
"Yeah..."
Noticing Toru's look, Yamato smiled, before approaching the ninja tools that were neatly arranged, even though they were lying on the floor.
"You may already know that in a month's time the third and final exam of the chunin selection exams will be held. That's why I've decided to train you myself. Up until now, you've trained by yourself, haven't you?"
At Yamato's words, Toru replied with a slight nod of his head.
"This is what I mean. Considering that you're only twelve years old, a master training your skills and teaching you new types of jutsu is something that will help you too much. That's what I mean, now, the decision is up to you, Asahi Toru."
Looking at Toru seriously, Yamato had already decided on the training he would give this boy.
"If it's alright with you, I'll be in your charge for the duration of the month."
Hearing Toru's answer, Yamato smiled. This was the first time he would be training someone seriously. He even planned a whole strangely elaborate training. This training was divided into three phases.
Taijutsu: training the student's physical abilities, pushing him to the limit. Yamato had no plans to hold back when I trained Toru in this field of ninja skills.
Ninjutsu: Here Toru will not only train the ninjutsu he already knows, but will try to discover or learn new jutsu that will give him an advantage in combat. Considering that Toru has not shown his ninjutsu so far, Yamato deduced that the boy did not want to reveal these tricks, this left him with the secondary plan, to discover and learn new jutsu.
Rest: Like all good training, a good rest never hurts. Yamato created this third and final phase so that Toru could rest his body and spirit. Relaxing a little before an event like the third exam of the chunin selection exams is something that will help a lot, since, at the time of fighting, Toru will have his body and soul calm, which will help him to better execute his jutsu.
These three phases are divided into days. Twelve days to train taijutsu, fifteen days to train and learn ninjutsu and the last three days will be used for the last phase, rest.
All this also leads to the training method Yamato will use. First of all, taijutsu. As far as Yamato has seen, Toru's taijutsu style focuses on speed and dagger damage, so this will have to be changed. Toru must not only rely on his ninja tools, but also on body. Using his fists and legs, Yamato hopes that Toru can add this new jutsu to his fighting style.
The rest will come eventually, so don't worry too much about the other details.
"Since we are here, before we start with the training, I must first evaluate your skills. So, you must have a duel with me."
"A duel, just taijutsu and no weapons, right?"
Hearing what Toru said, Yamato was satisfied. This kid always understands fast, so it won't be hard to train him. Besides, Toru has a talent for fighting, this makes it even easier.
But what Yamato still didn't fully understand is why this kid is so strong? Well, this question had a simple answer, basically since this boy was five years old, he was practically tortured by his father. This made Toru develop a strange immunity to pain caused by blows, also in his ability to dodge, but that did not explain Toru's ridiculous speed, this was something that only Toru himself knew.
"That's right, so shall we begin?"
-Somewhere else-
Carrying some small boxes in her hands, the girl flashed a small smile. Now that she had discovered the whereabouts of someone very special, she wouldn't let him escape, after all annoying Toru is Hanabi's specialty.
(Ha~ Onee-san... Neji-nii-sama is still being a fool as always. How could he do something like that to Onee-san? This makes me too angry)
While nodding her head, Hanabi frowned, the mere thought of Neji trying to kill Hinata was something that made the flame of anger flare up in this girl's heart. Still, a smile formed on her mouth when she learned that Toru protected Hinata.
"Onee-san... I'm jealous of you."
Years had passed, the relationship between Toru and Hinata seemed to be moving forward after so long. Hanabi felt a small pain in her chest when she remembered certain things from the past.
(She is more much prettier than me, she is more feminine and always so innocent. I must admit that my older sister is adorable, it's obvious that Nii-san was going to notice her sooner or later. I on the other hand... I'm just good at hitting people, I wonder if I... can be as pretty as Onee-san?)
Looking at the sky while holding the small wooden boxes in her hands, Hanabi didn't know what to think. Toru seemed to be the type of guy who wasn't interested in girls, but apparently that was changing, at least that's what Hanabi thought.
There was also Ino, who is extremely beautiful just like Hinata. Hanabi couldn't understand how Toru has been able to control himself being surrounded by two such pretty girls, it was strange, or is she the one who has a head full of things that a girl her age shouldn't think about?
Still, Hanabi was jealous of her sister. Hinata's beauty was something Hanabi couldn't reach, after all she's the one with the messy hair at the moment.
(Maybe my clothes have something to do with it?)
Looking at her own body, Hanabi sighed, she was flat, unlike Hinata, who seemed to have two large mountains developing on her chest. This fact only made Hanabi's jealousy increase.
"Ha~ I better hurry before Nii-san leaves."
Throwing all her thoughts away, Hanabi puffed out her chest as she continued walking.
-Some forest outside of Konoha-.
Hanabi felt herself getting closer. At some point she thought she was lost, but then she remembered she had the byakugan. So she closed her eyes and took a big breath of air.
"Byakugan..."
Activating the dojutsu of her eyes, Hanabi could see everything around her. Her field of vision was extensive because she trained all the skills that a ninja of the Hyuga clan must master.
But when her eyes caught something, Hanabi swallowed saliva. There were two male silhouettes moving at a ridiculous speed. The first silhouette was that of an adult male and the second was a silhouette Hanabi knew very well. So he moved a little closer.
*Bam!
Covering himself with his arms, Yamato had parried a punch that Toru had thrown. The force the boy was exerting made his arms tremble.
(Nii-san...)
Hanabi's eyes widened in astonishment. Toru was moving at a very high speed, still, Yamato managed to block the attacks without any difficulty.
The difference in power was obvious, the result of the fight between a jounin fighting against a genin was clear, but even though Toru was losing, Hanabi's eyes shone with stars.
"This is so cool!"
Watching the battle between ninja, Hanabi was excited. Toru was very skilled at fighting, after all he had a unique taijutsu created by himself.
*Bam!
Yamato blocked a kick that was aimed at his stomach, but this didn't stay that way, as he grabbed Toru by the ankle and threw him against a tree.
Toru crashed into the tree, he was out of air for a moment due to hitting his back, but a second later he got up, ready to continue with this duel.
"Nii-san is so cool, even after taking that hit he got up again."
Squeezing the wooden box tightly, Hanabi felt she had to come out of her hiding place, but it was already too late, as Toru and Yamato was looking straight at her.
(I forgot why there was watching here...).
With a nervous smile on her face, Hanabi looked at Toru.
(Nii-san... please look at me too...)
_________
Author's note: I'm back! Sorry I didn't post yesterday's chapter, let's just say it was my break.
By the way, this week we almost reached 100 power stones, it was very close, but it couldn't be.
Well, without more to say, author out.