(45/100.. Can we reach this to 100 in 24 hours? if yes, then tomorrow would be a chapter, making it 4 ch/week, if not... have a good weekend 🫠)
"Fine, I was just suggesting. We won't be able to go anywhere without that neko-chan. I guess poor me has to do the whole thing," Sora fake-pouted. This move of his was generally effective, as he was just 6—no, almost 7 years old.
But he was confused when he saw the other three looking at him with their mouths open, pointing their fingers at him.
"Now, now, guys, I was just kidding to lighten the mood. My stamina is more than the combined stamina of you three, so I don't mind doing the labour," Sora quickly said.
"Sora, on your head," Ino said.
Sora noticed that their fingers had been pointing at his head from the start.
He realized there was a weight on his head.
'How did I not notice until now? I was shocked about Choji lacking awareness, but I guess I should work on myself before pointing fingers at others.' Sora formed the cross-hand seal with two fingers of the same hand. His childlike flexibility was really useful in such situations.
Shadow Clone Jutsu was the only jutsu that he could cast instantly. So, if whatever existence was above him was hostile, the Shadow Clone would deal with it.
He braced himself and looked upward. Well, he realized that he couldn't look upward above his head as that thing was latched onto his head.
"Meow."
Sora heard and everything clicked.
He grabbed the cat, which was on his head, and brought it into his arms.
"Neko-chan, do you want the bell?" Sora summoned a bell from his bracers.
The black neko happily accepted the bell, pleased with the red-haired hooman.
"So, neko-chan somehow interacts with us," Sora said, putting down the neko, who seemed to be playing with a bell and a flower.
Shikamaru's eyes widened. "She can also interact with this plane too. Quick, grab her!" They had finally found the link for connecting two planes.
Sora didn't let go of this situation and quickly grabbed the neko, holding her like his lifeline.
"Okay, let's use these. Put on these bracelets," Sora gave everyone a bracelet. A chakra thread originated from it, forming a network-like structure connecting with each bracelet.
He also put a small bracelet on one of the cat's legs, much to the latter's protest.
"Okay, now we should be connected with chakra, but just to be sure, let's try not to go far away from each other," Sora informed everyone.
"Good, so now what's the plan?" Ino asked.
Just as Shikamaru was going to say something, he noticed Sora's eyes widening.
---
**POV - Sora's Shadow Clone, which was chasing the Yamanaka Beautiful Onee-chan.**
He was barely able to follow her in Body Flicker.
No, it was not due to his skills, but rather the onee-chan was using a crude version of Body Flicker.
It was probably due to the world difference or rather era difference, as ninjutsu had advanced a lot. Even basic jutsus like Body Flicker had been optimized a lot compared to one or two centuries ago.
If they both were using the same versions, then Sora wouldn't have hoped to follow her.
That was something, as this clearly put her speed at Elite Jounin level or above if she knew how to use the improved Body Flicker.
Anyway, they reached a big hideout, more like a small village, a mix of both.
It was the Ino-Shika-Cho Clan base.
It seems Sora's shadow clone had caught a big fish.
She entered through the gate, and the guards bowed.
Sora also entered, as nobody could actually perceive him.
'This is too convenient for infiltration. Is there a way to enter a separate dimension where nobody could perceive me?' Sora's shadow clone was thinking if it was possible or not.
She headed toward the Yamanaka area.
'Anyway, that would involve dimensions and spatial linkage. I would need to look into the mechanism of Summoning Jutsu in detail or Flying Thunder God,' Sora's shadow clone sighed. He really had a lot of things he wanted to do, but even with shadow clones, he didn't have enough time.
If only he had as much chakra as Naruto-niichan.
'Nah, even then I would still lack time, as each of the clones would have various ideas. Maybe I need to look into immortality or something if I want to do that,' Sora's shadow clone shook his head. He didn't want to turn out like Orochimaru, but maybe there should be various ways to achieve it, right?
"Clan Head, welcome back," a blonde woman said.
"Relax, no need to be this uptight, you know," the onee-chan said with a gentle smile. Her presence, which had been exuding a powerful aura, was now creating a kind of relaxed environment.
'Is this some kind of technique or something? It feels like how Old Man Third Hokage's presence exudes wisdom?' Sora wondered.
He saw the onee-chan sit down on the only bed in the room.
He looked around and saw a page mentioning some kind of achievement.
The only thing he found common was that every piece had the name 'Kasumi Yamanaka' in it.
'So onee-chan's name is probably Kasumi, and she is the Clan Head of the Yamanaka Clan.'
Just as Sora looked away from the documents, he found his body frozen in place, unable to move.
'Huh? Why can't I move? Is this the effect of this reality? Maybe the wavelengths for my original body changed, causing my isolated chakra to cause this arbitrary effect.' Just as Sora's clone was wondering whether to release the Shadow Clone Jutsu...
"Hmm, what is a Uzumaki child doing here? I didn't sense him till now like he suddenly manifested. Is it a spatial technique similar to Summoning Jutsu?" Sora's eyes widened, and he moved his eyes sideways, able to see a shadow extending from Kasumi-nee-chan.
'How can she interact with me? Is there a condition that if I go far away from the main body after a certain distance, it will send me into this plane?' Sora's clone didn't know that the neko had interacted with his main body, and his shadow clone also had the same chakra, so it was also thrust into this plane.
"He even seems shocked that I can see him. Does this mean that he was observing us from the get-go? For some reason, he undid whatever jutsu he did accidentally. That really changes things up. The Uzumaki Clan is neutral as of now, but if they have such spying capabilities, we need to create some countermeasures." Sora was getting more freaked out as she continued speaking.
"It seems that I am right, judging by your emotions. You really do have good control over your facial expressions and emotions in general. If I wasn't observing you carefully, I wouldn't have been able to see the fluctuations," Kasumi said with a grin on her face, forming familiar hand-seals.
'Yup, she is definitely a Nara too.' That was Sora's Clone's last thought before it dispelled itself, barely dodging the Mind-Transfer Jutsu.
Sora received the memories of the clone.
"What happened? Did your shadow clone dispel?" Shikamaru asked, predicting easily what had happened.
"Yeah, I followed that onee-chan to the Ino-Shika-Cho hideout. I found out that she is the current Clan Head of the Yamanaka Clan."
"No wonder she was that cool. I have heard that Old Man Inoichi was also cool in his youth, but that's just a rumour," Choji said as a matter of fact.
"Hey! What do you mean he isn't cool? He can still do some cool stuff," Ino defended her daddy.
"Anyway, did you find her name?" Shikamaru asked the important question, ignoring the other two's childish antics.
"Yeah, her name is Kasumi, I think."
"Hmm, she should be the 9th Clan Head. She was very famous, as her achievements and combat prowess were some of the greatest among all Yamanaka Clan," Shikamaru was the first to comment.
"Yup, I remember her too. She was the only Yamanaka to reach Kage level before reaching the age of twenty."
"Huh, no wonder I felt a dangerous feeling from her, just like the feeling I get from Orochimaru," Sora subconsciously said.
"When did you even meet Orochimaru?" Shikamaru asked.
"Oh, I just felt his presence in the Chunin Exams. Anyway, I don't think the idea of Kage should be present in the current time. How do they measure combat prowess?" Sora changed the topic, lying with a straight face, as he was not allowed to give details of his mission.
Shikamaru caught on to that, so he didn't pry further. He came up with his own explanation, which was not far from the truth. "At that time, combat prowess ranking was still a thing, so she was one of the youngest to reach S-rank, and even beyond that. So, it's safe to say that she reached the power of Kage."
"What is her specialty? And why do you know so much about her?" Sora curiously asked, wondering why the lazy bum knew so much about a figure who was not part of his clan. Well, Sora already predicted why, but he wanted confirmation.
"That's because a lot of jutsus and their derivatives from the Yamanaka or Nara clans were created by her. She's said to be very prodigious in these areas. We don't know much about her abilities since she was very secretive by nature, and during this time, information about one's abilities was vital, so they didn't document it," Shikamaru explained.
"Oh, I thought you knew her because she was a Nara or something, but that makes sense. No wonder she used shadow possession on me."
"She did what? Wait, was your clone also thrust into the other plane indirectly? That changes things. We need to get out of this place fast. We don't have much information about this era, but we can safely conclude that this is the past of our current world, and we don't know if changing it would affect our current time or not. So under no circumstances can we let information get out, as that might affect our existence too, okay?" Shikamaru said seriously.
The others nodded.
"Yeah, who knows what will happen if we get caught by someone strong or even Kasumi-sama. Our memories could be checked, and the butterfly effect from that would be disastrous," Ino added her own thoughts.
"So, should we relocate? What if that beautiful nee-chan comes here?" Sora asked.
"It's unlikely, but we don't know her abilities. Even if ninjutsu isn't as developed as in our time, it's still formidable. This era's S-ranks would be A-rank in our time, and people have deduced that Kasumi was S-rank by our era's standards. So, she must have some really powerful skills to be this strong with such a crude system," Shikamaru said.
"Then let's relocate. She's seen my face, and I don't want to be caught by nee-chan again. She gives me the same vibes as you, but she can also read my emotions, so it's even scarier than talking to you," Sora said.
"Too bad for you, this Onee-chan found you!" a whisper was heard, and all of them suddenly found themselves unable to move.
***
A/n- Long Chapter Guys, It's been a while since I got nearly 1900 words. I just had too much fun writing this part.
I was literally having goosebumps while writing this, heck I am still feeling them while writing this author note.
Anyway, Do tell me how you like the new writing style.
***
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