In front of him, two identical copies stood. They all looked into each other's eyes for a few moments until the body of each flashed, disappearing into thin air.
*Clang!
The metallic sound echoed in the forest, the two clones had attacked Toru.
"They have almost the same strength and speed..."
Closing his eyes, Toru sighed. The clones seemed to be identical in both appearance and physical and mental statistics. As of this moment, it had already been twenty days since the training began. In this span of time, Toru learned many things about himself, the clones had helped him quite a bit in his training.
"Nii-san, you're amazing!"
Raising her hand, Hanabi looked at Toru, who seemed to be thinking about something related to the clones. Still, she was amazed by the talent for ninjutsu that Toru has, it was amazing without a doubt, that's not counting the rumors that said that the Asahi clan members were very bad in the field of ninjutsu, although it's understandable to a certain extent, the Asahi basically are defective Uchiha, ninjas who were born without the talent for ninjutsu and the ability to develop the cursed eyes, i.e. the Sharingan.
(Now that I remember, Onikuma Enko, the jutsu he used during his fight against Hakuto interests me quite a bit. Being able to summon an ally to the battlefield can become very useful, I wonder if Yamato-sensei can teach me that jutsu?)
Staring into the void, Toru felt curious. The summoning jutsu or also known as Kuchiyose no Jutsu, is something that interests this boy a lot, the usefulness it has in battle is amazing.
"Nii-san, do you want to go to my place? I can make lunch."
Approaching Toru, Hanabi noticed the time, this led him to think of a good idea to be able to take his older brother home.
-Hyuga clan-
The dojutsu in his eyes was active, looking at the golden haired girl in front of him, Hiashi sighed. Hinata had asked him to train her teammate, but this was a waste of time, Ino had no talent for close combat, she didn't handle specific taijutsu, which made her a mediocre kunoichi.
"Are you sure you want to continue?"
Raising his palm, Hiashi saw Ino, who was breathing heavily.
"Hah... This is nothing, I can still go on for much longer."
Raising her guard, Ino clenched her fist tightly as she looked at Hiashi. In response to this, Hiashi shook his head before continuing the training.
At the same time, Hinata was watching this with a worried expression. Although she agreed to let Ino train together with Hiashi, this was too much. But it seemed that the white-eyed man was trying not to hurt Ino, after all he knows this girl's father. If Hiashi were to hurt Ino, the next day a man would be knocking on her door with a kunai in his hand.
"The position of your hands is wrong, keep your back straight, don't leave any opening, otherwise the enemy can give you a critical hit at any time. As a kunoichi of this village, you must have the necessary strength and mental ability, otherwise you will only be a burden to your team."
Crossing his arms, Hiashi knew that Ino is only a rookie, but it had to be made clear the mistakes this girl is making. Uncorrected mistakes can turn into problems down the road, so it was logical to try to fix them so she wouldn't die at the hands of a random ninja.
After that, Ino launched an attack, but Hiashi is a Jounin, for a genin to hit her would be an accomplishment that not many would achieve. So, using the palms of his hands, Hiashi parried Ino's punch, followed by a small blow to the back of her head, causing Ino's body to weaken and then fall to the ground.
"Hm..."
Squinting his eyes, Hiashi watched as Ino got up from the ground, somehow he managed to see some bravery in this girl. Unlike Hinata, Ino is a much more outgoing girl unafraid to speak her mind, even if that's the only thing that characterizes her, since she's not very good at the art of taijutsu.
(Ino is giving her best effort, it's amazing. But... I'm a rose that doesn't bloom yet, huh..."
With a slight smile, Hinata was finally understanding that there was no need to force things, it was simply to let herself go with the moment, at some point, the beautiful and strong white rose will bloom and show the world her beauty and strength.
"Onee-san, Otou-sama... Ino-san?"
Appearing behind the door was Hanabi, who curiously watched the small group of people.
"Are they training?"
Looking at the tired Ino, Hanabi drew a hasty conclusion.
"You're early, you've gone out again without my permission."
With a grim look on his face, Hiashi was a little angry, after all his daughter disappears every day in the morning only to show up in the afternoon, this had been making him uncomfortable for twenty days now.
"Eh... I just wanted to... hehe."
Touching her head, Hanabi was a little embarrassed, she couldn't tell her father that she left home every day to meet a boy, that would kill Hiashi of a cardiac arrest, after all Hanabi knows her father, he is no longer the strict man he used to be, she knew that her father cares about his daughters, so this made her happy.
"Don't make empty excuses, I'll talk to you later, for the moment I'm busy."
Turning his gaze back to Ino, Hiashi sighed. This was getting more stressful, and with the Byakugan activated he could see the boy hiding behind the door.
"Ha~ come out of there, it's useless to hide."
Hearing the man's words, Toru came out from his hiding place. Hiashi watched him with a bit of astonishment on his face, after all this boy had never set foot in his house, in the past, no matter how much Hinata invited him in, Toru would refuse and go home with his hands in his pockets.
"Good afternoon, Hiashi-san" Toru said as he bowed his head.
"Toru, what are you doing here!"
Surprised by Toru's appearance, Ino took a step back, she didn't plan to meet her teammate in this place.
"Toru-kun!"
Hinata on the other hand, looked at Toru with a faint smile that no one could see. He had after all saved her once again, she felt she owed him a lot of things, but she didn't know how to repay them.
"I brought Nii-san to eat lunch."
Hugging Toru, Hanabi nodded her head as she looked at her father. The man sighed and nodded as well.
After that, they all went inside the house. Somehow, Hiashi felt like a babysitter, after all right now he was surrounded by children, though he didn't know whether to call Toru a child, after all he is the survivor of the crimson night along with Sasuke. Going through something as horrible as the annihilation of an entire family must have forced Toru to mature faster, that's what Hiashi thought.
"You know, Nii-san can create a lot of shadow clones without getting tired and best of all, the clones are just as strong as Nii-san."
Placing her hands on the table, Hanabi spoke with a tone full of excitement, after all these past twenty days she had been training together with her older brother, and she could tell for sure that Toru is not someone normal.
"Shadow clones, Yamato-sensei is teaching you that kind of jutsu!"
Choking on her food, Ino drank some water and looked at Toru. She couldn't believe that he is learning a Jounin level jutsu, indeed, he was able to master the jutsu without difficulty, though it would have been easier if Yamato hadn't made a mistake with the hand seals.
"Toru-kun is very strong, I'm not really surprised that he learned that jutsu."
Hiashi looked at Hinata, he knew that in the Asahi clan many prodigies were emerging in recent years, but it is logical, the blood of the Uchiha runs through the veins of the Asahi clan, it was obvious that someone like Toru would be so talented to be a ninja.
"I see you have grown stronger over the years, your family would be proud."
Sipping a cup of tea, Hiashi closed his eyes and enjoyed the bitter taste of the tea leaves in the water. It had been five years since that day, the Asahi clan and the Uchiha clan were slaughtered without mercy. The best explanation the Hokage could give at the time was that these two clans had allied to carry out a coup against Konoha, which was not wrong, however, there was something else, someone pulling the strings behind the scenes.
"I guess my mother would be."
Closing his eyes as well, Toru took a small sip of the tea. The taste was a bit bitter, but pleasant at the same time, it was a bit of a strange feeling to explain.
"Ha~"
Sighing a small cloud of steam, Toru placed the cup on the table. The three girls watched this as if Toru and Hiashi were a couple of old men having an everyday conversation. Well, from Hiashi it could be expected, but with Toru it was a surprise, he's only twelve, there was no way he would act like an adult so naturally.
"Nii-san, you're acting like a boring old man."
Moving a little closer, Hanabi looked Toru in the eyes with a smile. Toru's body warmth and scent were pleasant to her, it was like hugging a warm apple-scented marshmallow.
Obviously Hiashi looked at this with a pout, after all he was watching in front of him as his daughter hugged a boy. She was too young for that sort of thing, or so Hiashi thought, still he couldn't help but feel sad, his daughters were growing up too fast. Hinata and Hanabi, the two of them are forging the personality that will accompany them for the rest of their lives, that's a good thing, but he was worried that their personalities would become twisted because of the ninja life.
*knock, knock, knock*
The corner of the wooden door chimed, interrupting the small gathering.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Hyuga. Sorry for the interruption."
"No worries."
Shaking his head, Hiashi didn't know how the fuck Yamato got into his house, still one had to admit it was surprising. Hiashi trusted Yamato, after he was escorted by the man's team, he was able to witness the true power of a Jounin, plus they made it to the River Country safe and sound.
"I came here because I have to take Toru with me, after all he disappeared in the middle of his training."
Listening to Yamato, Toru closed his eyes and got up from the ground, leaving the place.
"Thanks for the food..."
Having said that, Hiashi smiled slightly, he didn't know what kind of training that boy was getting, but he didn't hesitate to leave half of the food on the plate as long as he went to train.
-An hour later somewhere in Konoha...
"Now that you have almost mastered the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, I was planning to teach you some jutsu related to the use of water."
Handing a scroll to Toru, Yamato had already thought of jutsu that may be of use to his student, however, Toru said something that made Yamato raise his eyebrows in doubt.
"Sensei, can you teach me the Kuchiyose no Jutsu [Summoning Technique]?"
Toru's question was interesting to Yamato, the summoning jutsu is something easy to do, however, it takes the contract of some beast family who are willing to serve the ninja.
"I don't think I can teach you that jutsu, since I never tried it myself."
Although it was a bit strange, Yamato did not have any summoning or contract with a species, so he would not be able to perform the jutsu, however, he knew the basics of this jutsu.
"I can teach you the hand positions, but doing that would be a dangerous thing to do."
"Why?"
Yamato felt compelled to answer, for even if the jutsu is easy to execute, it did not mean that it is safe.
"You must understand this, to perform the summoning jutsu, you need a contract with a species, be it animal or spiritual. But here's the problem, if you don't have a contract and you perform the jutsu, you will be transported to the location of the species that shares natural affinity with the user."
Explaining it this way, it wasn't hard to understand. Now it was just a matter of taking a chance.
"Sensei, have you ever heard the phrase: 'For good results-big sacrifices?"
Hearing this, Yamato could already understand what Toru was referring to. Apparently this kid wanted to take the risk. It's not like Yamato can stop him either, after all what will happen will be Toru's own responsibility alone.
"Hm... if that's what you want, I won't object."
After that, Yamato explained to Toru step by step how to perform the jutsu. The boy understood it right away, so he decided to give it a try.
"Hand seals."
Closing his eyes, the wind around Toru started to blow stronger, the leaves of the trees started to dance to the rhythm of the wind, and then Toru bit his finger, dropping a small amount of blood on the ground.
"Kuchiyose... no Jutsu!"
Touching the ground with his hand, Toru executed the jutsu. Instantly, a large cloud of smoke began to swirl around his body. Yamato watched this with wide eyes, what happened next... is that Toru disappeared.
"I wish you luck, Toru."
Closing his eyes, Yamato could only wait.
-In some forest-
The sea of trees surrounded him completely, now the landscape had changed. Large trees towered into the sky, and claw marks could be seen on the trunks.
"Where am I...?"
Getting up from the ground, Toru felt confused, this was not what he expected, still he was willing to continue with this jutsu.
"Human..."
But when he least expected it, a sinister female voice whispered to his hatred.
When Toru turned around, what he saw was....
________
Well, as of today I will start posting the first chapters in my pat reon. Surely when this chapter is published I will already have the next one in my pat reon :D
I leave the link just in case:
pat reon.com/NotPolarArtics