__________ POV Narration__________
Ken and Saburo's Clones continued dashing from tree to tree, with the Blind Swordsman adjusting his speed and allowing the clones to keep up with him.
They eventually stopped in the middle of a clearing, with Saburo looking at Ken with a curious gaze through many pairs of eyes.
"So, now that we are away from that mess... What does your organisation have to offer, Red Dot?" One of Saburo's clones stepped forward, who had been acting as an Anbu Captain previously.
"First off, call me Ken. That moniker is not something I actually go by..." Ken sighed as he sat down a bit, speaking in an even tone with Saburo.
"Second of all, my organization is still quite new, and growing, it hasn't even made an appearance in the world as of now." Ken didn't bother lying or sugarcoating the state of his 'organization'.
"So we're talking about a fledgling group of nameless shinobi?..." Saburo's tone sounded a bit less impressed.
"We aren't exclusively recruiting former shinobi... Plenty of our recruits are just former orphans that we deemed talented enough to learn."
Ken wasn't exactly discouraged, he had already decided that Saburo was going to join him, so he wasn't exactly stressed out about impressing the Strawman with the state of his organisation.
'He can either prove to be a great asset or a liability. If he refuses to join, or his demands are too annoying, then I will kill him and all of his clones.
If he joins, then all the better. His technique does seem extremely useful for reconnaissance.'
"... Former orphans? Well, I guess that's certainly a way to build up a loyal following... Say, how many people are there currently in this organization?"
"Adjusting to development speed, and some information that my right hand provided, there should currently be around 16 people, 15 of which are in training."
Ken remembered Tosho mentioning that he had found a dilapidated orphanage to recruit from, so the Blind Swordsman expected even more people to be recruited on his next time checking up with Tosho.
"That doesn't sound quite as promising as what I had in mind..." Saburo seemed wholly disappointed now.
'The only reason I'm still even talking to this man is that he is truly powerful enough to build something great...
In the future, he will certainly build something worth joining, but I also need support in the short term.' The Strawman scratched his chin a few times, weighing his options.
"I can see you aren't quite as satisfied with what you're hearing." Ken decided to just call out the Strawman on his indecisiveness.
"I won't lie to you, Ken. I expected a lot more from someone like you, but you did say it's a new organization."
"Hmm, I can understand a bit of hesitation. Maybe I can help convince you further. Currently, I am close to 11 years old, my current strength should speak for itself." Ken decided to attract Saburo with his talent instead, seeing as his organization wasn't proving to be enough.
Saburo and all of his clones seemed to start choking instantly when hearing that. Any composure that the Strawman might've had vanished completely.
He studied Ken for a few seconds, and now he could see it.
Ken was still short by adult standards, he was also skinny by adult standards, even if he was well-defined.
In retrospect, one could still guess Ken's age from his appearance. But his raspy voice, scars, and overall demeanour made it absolutely impossible for anyone to guess his age.
'To think... To think that the one to bring a village to its knees would be a child...'
Saburo still remembered seeing Ken coldly ripping people apart, how his tail and claws cut through everyone who even got close to him.
'If he is already this strong... Then he even has a chance to become the next god of shinobi, doesn't he?'
"I would ask for further proof... But I doubt someone like you would have any identity documents relating to any nation." Saburo smiled with a glint in his eyes. Ken just nodded, not bothering to say anything more after confirming his age.
'Since he's so young, doesn't that mean I can take advantage of his lack of experience and end up leading this organization?
No, I can think about that later, he doesn't seem especially inexperienced in the ways of the world either.'
"I agree then. Just because I want to see how much you are able to grow in the future. If your organization grows large enough to rival other villages, then that's also good..." Saburo extended his hand, and Ken shook it without any hesitation.
The Masked Swordsman's grip was strong, much stronger than a child's grip had any right to be. Saburo could only sweat a bit at that.
"I'm guessing we'd want to go to your main body first, right? It's not even that far from here..." Ken then turned his head in a random direction, and Saburo instantly paled, retracting his hand and jumping away in fear.
"H-how-" Saburo's voice was filled with fear. For a few seconds, he had forgotten how dangerous Ken was, letting his guard down and thinking of him as a child.
"Your clones, you are connected to every single one. I discovered this during the fight, but a thread of chakra exists between you and all of the clones."
Ken didn't bother to tell the scared Strawman that he needed to be in contact with the clones in order to feel that connection they had with the main body, he felt that there was no need to get into details.
"No reason to act scared now, you are already part of my organization. I don't see any need to harm you right now..." Ken then started walking in that random direction, with Saburo slowly walking behind him alongside his many clones.
'Right now, huh? So I guess taking advantage of him isn't going to be easy...' The Strawman almost wanted to scowl, but he didn't wish to show any displeasure to the Blind Monster in front of him.
Saburo simply decided to see where their partnership would go, it wasn't like he was planning on backstabbing Ken anytime soon, or ever, depending on how things went.
"By the way, I'm assuming I shouldn't expect too many funds right now, correct? Moving will necessitate quite a bit of equipment being left behind, as it isn't easy to carry, too big to fit in a sealing scroll too." The Strawman said as he followed a few steps behind the Blind Monster.
"Funding won't be an issue... I have made quite a bit during my bounty-hunting career... Also, I stole all of the money I could find in the Grass Village, so we aren't exactly strapped for cash." Ken smiled a bit as he continued walking.
"..." Saburo only smiled when hearing that, chuckling a bit internally as he remembered Ken bragging about not being interested in their wealth.
The way that the child in front of him could shamelessly lie right in front of the face of every shinobi present was actually astoundingly amusing to the Strawman.
'I guess following his orders will be more entertaining than following a few crusty old men... And since it's a small organization with a lot of cash... I can receive much larger funding!'Saburo almost couldn't help but smile at the thought of continuing his experiments unhindered.
Ken and the clones continued strolling all the way to a large tree, Ken yawned a bit before tapping the trunk of the tree with the tip of his shoe in a specific spot.
After noticing that nothing was happening, he raised his leg a bit more and was about to kick the 'tree' away.
Saburo stopped him though, sweating a bit as he did so.
"No need to destroy the entrance... This place could still be useful." The Strawman's argument was actually extremely reasonable. So Ken ended up just nodding and allowing Saburo to open up the fake tree.
The Clone stepped forward and tapped the tree in a few specific locations a few times until a lock mechanism seemed to click, and a part of the trunk slid open like a tatami door.
"Nice hiding spot..." Ken said as he felt the opening lead down, through the roots of the fake tree and into a large underground cave.
"It did take a few years on the run to come up with something like this..." Saburo shrugged, quite pleased with the compliment, although he was still disappointed an 'almost 11-year-old child' would be able to find his main body and hideout.
Saburo's clones made way for Ken, who jumped down the open fake tree and landed in a rather well-lit corridor that led to a metallic door.
The clones followed suit, and once again opened the door for him using a strange set of hand signs. There was some type of seal spread out on the door from what Ken could sense.
'This place really is rather well defended... I wonder how much it would take to build something similar for our organization...'
"By the way, what name does this organization of ours have?" Saburo asked as the steel doors slid open.
"The name is still a work in progress..." Ken simply shrugged, sensing the inside of the laboratory with a calm smile.
'This place is a lot bigger than I expected...'
The laboratory was much bigger inside than even the Kage Building he had besieged previously, so Ken was a tad surprised by the amount of work put into that secret hideout.
"... The organization has no name?" Saburo sweated a bit when he heard that, looking around and wondering just how new the organization actually was.
"Well, we are still only a few months off from starting it... No reason to rush, we won't be announcing it to the world anytime soon either." Ken simply shrugged away the Strawman's concern.
"... Well, the name would also help provide the current members with a sense of belonging if we play things right... The name isn't just for outsiders." Saburo scratched the back of his head as he brought a rather good point to the table, something that Ken hadn't really thought about.
"... I guess you're right..." Ken started scratching his chin instantly, somewhat embarrassed, but not quite enough to react outwardly in any way. "We'll have to come up with a name by the time we return, I guess..."
"We will?" Saburo was a bit confused when hearing that, his eyebrows scrunched up together as he looked at Ken through many pairs of eyes.
"You're officially one of the leaders of this organization and the one in charge of all research. I hereby give you the right to help me come up with a name..." Ken crossed his arms and spoke in a resolute, confident tone.
An outsider wouldn't even notice just how shamelessly the blind swordsman was pushing his work onto Saburo if they listened to his tone. His confidence made it look as if he was rewarding Saburo in some way.
'I guess he really is still a child... Well, I can still work with this.' Saburo was too flabbergasted to speak for a while, and Ken continued inside.
"I guess I'll come up with a few possible names by the time we arrive at the location of our main base..." The Strawman could only relent, not willing to call out his new leader on his shamelessness.
"Is this place to your liking, Ken?" Another version of Saburo walked up to the group from inside the room, behind him were another two dozen clones.
"Oh, finally speaking to the original, huh? This place is much nicer than I expected." Ken said as he turned his head towards the one that had stepped forward.
From what the blind swordsman could feel, the original Saburo looked much the same as his clones did, he was however dressed in casual attire, and not wearing a headband of any kind.
The original Saburo also seemed to be about as much Chakra as a High-Level Jonin, though Ken had no way of knowing how good he really was when it came to technique, he could just assume that he was at least as good as his clones were.
"I am indeed the original, though I didn't think anyone would be able to catch on to my technique so easily..." Saburo tilted his head and smiled warmly at his new leader.
The Strawman instantly decided to start sucking up to Ken. But it didn't seem to be having much of an effect...
As well faked as his smile was, Ken still didn't react to it in any visible way.
"I am just special. I doubt anyone would be able to tell you apart from your clones under normal circumstances..." Ken was quite sure that he was speaking the truth.
He was also quite sure that the elders of the Grass Village actually thought that one of the Anbu Clones was actually Saburo.
From the number of 'people' that had come to greet him at the door, Ken could also observe that Saburo had kept quite a few clones hidden from the village.
'Special huh... I guess he truly is special in more ways than one. His talent is quite unheard of...'
"Under normal circumstances, my technique would be flawless... Yet you also managed to find this place with relative ease..."
"That's inevitable, my powers as a sensor are a lot greater than any Shinobi I've ever met. I would say that is actually my strongest point." Ken nodded his head, looking to reassure the Strawman that his technique wasn't exactly faulty in any way.
"Understood..." 'That is his strongest point? So that transformation, coupled with his skill in taijutsu and kenjutsu are not even his main powers?'
"Now, let us start heading out, have you already grabbed everything you needed from this place?" The Blind Swordsman asked as he tapped the tip of his shoe on the ground a few times.
He could feel quite a lot of interesting things residing inside that laboratory, including a mound of corpses that Ken assumed were Shinobi. The Blind Swordsman was still quite unwilling to harm innocent
'Even if they were civilians, I won't be getting into a fight with Saburo over this. He's too useful, and they are already dead, so it can't be helped. I'll just make sure his victims are criminals and other Shinobi in the future.'
"I have already prepared everything that is needed. I don't wish to destroy this place however, I hope that is ok with you." Saburo seemed happy to leave as soon as possible, but he still wanted to keep the laboratory intact.
"No reason to destroy it. Seems like it could be useful in the future as well." Ken seemed to be quite ok with it, he had already not destroyed the entrance, so it wasn't like he was going to have a change of heart.
"Let's get going... We still need to go and get Akira."
"The thief?"
"Yep, he is also a recruit."
And just like that, Ken and Saburo started heading off.
Saburo's clones now were somewhere around 50 in total, so the organization's numbers were bolstered greatly just like that.
The Blind Swordsman continued dashing from tree to tree, quite excited to make his way back home and introduce Tosho to the new recruits.
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Hope you liked the chapter! Finally got around to writing a bit on this one today :))
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