( 19 February- year 13 AK )
I was sprawled over the roof of the Guardian's hangar-like building, contemplating my next moves, I had in mind only a rough plan. When you don't know where to go, start from the beginning. I chided myself.
I had passed the examination a week before, and I was officially going to be one of the Twelve. If I survived their training, that is.
Frankly, I had been ready for worse. While the tactics and sign language I was expected to learn on my own, Daisuke Sato, the shinobi who first tested me, had been more or less constantly wiping the floor with me. He was actually blind, and very kickass.
He had simply stated that through my spars he would be able to evaluate if I was actually committed or not, it would have been a waste introducing myself to the other ten Guardians if I weren't to learn what was deemed necessary. It was bullshit, but I understood that he had to be suspicious of the rookie.
For all he knew, I could be a plant from Konoha to one day overthrow the Daimyō. It was bullshit, but understandable, at least my Kage bunshin running around to gather information had been able to clear up some things that really nobody ever explained to me.
Traditionally, the shinobi and kunoichi who enter the service of the Fire Lord come from one of the smaller, less-known villages.
Doing so they provide visibility to their home country, and none of the said villages would ever have anything to gain with attacking the Daymō or his administration. Konoha, on the other hand, like any of the Great Five hidden villages, was inside the borders of the Fire Lord's domain. But still, Konohagakure was an independent village, the Kage didn't answer to anyone.
I snorted, I would have liked to see anyone order Sarutobi around. Or Hashirama, the one who liked so much the idea of a village hidden among the leaves that used his bloodline to sprout a fucking forest made of Hashirama trees. Yeah, not very original.
I mused thinking of the dumbass who thought himself smart, naming the wood after his creator.
Ninjas stole. Secrets, money or lives it was of little concern.
I knew that the Daimyō had his army, as every Nation did, but it was an army made of normal soldiers. Hell, a single genin could wipe out thirty trained soldiers. Easily.
But it was hardly necessary, after all, if the Daimyō ever decided to remove Konohagakure, his whole chain of command would be slaughtered during the night by a single Anbu.
I didn't want to think what a Kage could do to a civilian army.
It matched what I managed to link together from my missions. After all, if a merchant issued a mission against another, Konoha would accept it. Killing a citizen of the Fire Lord nevertheless.
There is likely some kind of defense pact... something along the lines of 'If the Fire Nation goes to war against Suna, Konohagakure will take care of their shinobi. I reflected.
The information on the era of the pre-hidden villages didn't constant warring clans had to begin somewhere didn't they? Sadly, in any kind of military-based government, history was the first to be rewritten or outright hidden to appease the masses.
I could only speculate that every clan acted as its little hidden village, doing missions for the lord or merchant who was the highest bidder.
The strange, uneasy relationship between Tanyu (the capital) and Konoha was probably the reason I had been left alone during the six months after I made chunin. I had been free to keep taking D-ranks at my leisure, despite clearly being overqualified.
I knew that chunins were given duties like patrol or such trivia, but the higher-ups didn't want me to know anything more than necessary before letting me go to the capital. I could only imagine what kind of coup had been Asuma enrolling among the Twelve.
My considerations came to an abrupt halt when my Kage bunshin dispersed, his memories and chakra returning to me.
"Yes." I grinned.
I sat cross-legged, opened the first three gates and waited a couple of minutes for the extra chakra to somewhat settle down. I could feel my coils stretching painfully when I used my outstanding chakra control to force close my tenketsus and force the chakra to flow faster and to not get dispersed around me.
I gathered my chakra and formed the seals: Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, Sheep.
I slammed my hand on the rooftop, exclaiming joyfully: "Kuchiyose no jutsu!"
I felt half of my chakra disappear, for an instant of freezing fear I found myself not-being.
I reappeared and before anything could happen, I jumped away and started looking around, taking notice of any possible threat. It looked like I was safe.
I took in my surroundings: under my feet there was an unbroken herbaceous layer, while the 'forest' around me was characterized by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy did not close, letting me see the cloudless blu sky and feel the heavy heat of the sun.
I saw enough documentaries in my first life to recognize a Savanah when I was in the middle of one. I knew that summoning without a contract brought someone into the domain of the creatures they were more closely linked to, personality-wise. Orochimaru, snakes, it fit. Jiraya, toads, well, he was an oily kind of pervert, so it did fit.
I really didn't know what to think about Tsunade.
I was running through the various animals I knew inhabited such an environment. I most certainly was no predator, I disliked the inherent conflict of the hunt after all.
With a sigh, I started walking around, looking for clues about which animal ruled over that place.
I only hoped they weren't going to be giraffes.
I awoke with a smile on my face, living again my memories in my sleep wasn't always relaxing, but more often than not pushed me towards a re-examination either my choices or the events that defined my current life.
..
..
A few hours later, I was sitting on a pond with my lovely cute little genins busy performing handstands around me.
"Do you know why I haven't taught you any other jutsu? You must have wondered, after all you got your E or D-rank one down in a week, learned from a scroll. How many others could you have learned under my direct tutelage?"
I asked, manipulating the water under me to twirl suddenly into another direction, forcing my genins to adjust immediately their chakra output.
Shikamaru grunted: "Versatility, I use the doton technique to bury paper bombs, trip others in close combat, cast shadows..."
I clapped my hands once, and obediently, my genins balanced themselves on the tips of their fingers, the effort, and concentration clearly visible on their faces.
"Right in one!" I cheerfully praised them, clapping twice. Hearing the sequence, they pushed against the water, effectively hopping over it before returning to balance themselves on their fingertips.
"I thought that hiding yourself effectively would marry wonderfully with the Yamanaka' clan techniques, and it can be built upon. For example, heat is still traceable under that jutsu. So, so thing to improve on." I explained.
I left out my fears that controlling for long periods the mind of great predators might have affected a tiny bit her personality, at least when she was in the middle of the fray.
"And Raiton for Choji explains itself, does it not? Some holds would kill you if you were to try and expand to break them." I continued my explanation, leaving out that I hoped he would one day be able to mimic the Raikage's lightning cloak.
"Another question that you most than likely have, is why I haven't taught you any Katon ninjutsu." I clapped once, and my cute little genin returned to their regular handstand with a satisfied sigh.
"Katon is, by far, the less versatile of the five elements, even if it has the most obviously destructive power." I started.
"So I gave Shikamaru and Choji very low ranked ninjutsu, which is usually taught to people who start their elemental training, since handseals for those two ninjutsu act more like a switch, simply generating a current and seep your chakra into the ground respectively.
The things you accomplish with them are shape manipulation." I kept up my explanation.
"It's less obvious with the ration technique, but it's there."
I snapped my fingers and my cute little genins balanced themselves on their right hand, bringing the other behind their backs.
"It's not my job to micromanage your development, if I did so, the enemy would need to know only one of us to come up with tactics that would deal with all of us. Besides self-development is the only thing that makes you know your skills inside out, which is of paramount importance."
I chatted amenably, exercising my control over the water making it ripple in unsteady waves, forcing my genins to curse and adjust their chakra output.
"You see, perfection is always a step further, there is no such a thing as 'mastering' either a jutsu or a nature manipulation, since every time you perform it a tiny bit differently. But 'effectiveness'. That is an actual goal that can be reached with enough practice."
I rose from my position without permitting my genin to stop their exercise and I walked towards the end of the pond. I love training ground 11.
"Do you remember the kawarimi week?" I asked.
...
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