(Powerstones?)
Chapter 28: A Legend
The morning sun cast a warm glow over Konoha, its rays painting the village in hues of gold and amber. As the streets began to stir with the early risings of shopkeepers and eager genin, a figure walked purposefully through the awakening village. This was Gisou, a man whose mere presence commanded respect and awe from all who laid eyes upon him.
As he passed, civilians and shinobi alike bowed their heads, some even stepping aside to clear his path. The air buzzed with whispered reverence and admiration.
"Good morning, Gisou-sama," an elderly woman called out, her face beaming with admiration. "Thank you for keeping us safe!"
Gisou nodded silently in response, his expression a mask of stoic indifference. Internally, however, his thoughts were far from the calm exterior he projected. 'Why are they all looking at me like that?' he wondered, fighting the urge to quicken his pace. 'It's too early for this much attention.'
A group of young genin whispered excitedly as he passed, their eyes wide with wonder. "Look, it's the Wind Catastrophe!" one of them exclaimed in a hushed tone. "They say his wind techniques are even stronger than the First Kazekage's!"
"I heard he once made the Second-Tailed Beast retreat just by glaring at it!" another added, barely containing his excitement. "Can you imagine?"
Gisou's mind raced as he overheard their comments. 'Wind Catastrophe? First Kazekage? What nonsense is this? And what's this about a Tailed Beast?' He bit the inside of his cheek to maintain his composure, nodding curtly at the awestruck genin.
As he continued his walk, more snippets of whispered conversations reached his ears.
"Did you hear? They say Gisou-sama single-handedly fought off an entire platoon during the invasion while we were all evacuating!"
"I heard he can become invisible at will. That's how he always catches enemy ninja off guard!"
"They say he once defeated a group of S-rank missing-nin with nothing but a leaf and a piece of string!"
With each passing comment, Gisou's internal panic grew. 'What invasion? Invisibility? S-rank missing-nin? Why don't I remember any of this?! And more importantly, why do they think I can do these things?'
Despite his inner turmoil, Gisou maintained his composure, responding to the adoration of the villagers with stoic nods and the occasional grunt of acknowledgement. His mind, however, was racing. 'Okay, Gisou, stay calm. You've gotten through worse... probably. Just keep walking, don't make eye contact, and whatever you do, don't let them know you have no idea what they're talking about.'
What the adoring villagers didn't know was that their beloved hero, the legendary jounin Gisou, was anything but. In reality, Gisou was barely skilled enough to be a chunin. His rise to fame and status was built on a foundation of incredible luck, masterful bullshitting, and an uncanny ability to be in the right place at the wrong time.
Gisou's mind drifted back to the numerous incidents that had cemented his reputation. There was the time two S-rank missing-nin had battled to the death, only for Gisou to stumble upon their bodies moments later. Naturally, everyone assumed he had defeated them both. Or the incident with the stampeding herd of wild boars that had somehow taken out an entire squad of enemy ninjas, leaving Gisou as the sole survivor to tell the tale (with some creative embellishments, of course).
But Gisou's deception ran even deeper than the village knew. Beneath the veneer of the legendary jounin lay a web of espionage so intricate it would make even the craftiest of spies dizzy. Gisou was, in fact, a spy for not one, not two, but all five of the great elemental nations. The Third Hokage, Danzo and his Root organization, Kumogakure, Sunagakure, Iwagakure, and Kirigakure – each believed they were the sole beneficiaries of Gisou's "invaluable" intelligence.
'If they only knew,' Gisou thought wryly. 'I'm playing a game so dangerous it makes S-rank missions look like academy exercises. And the best part? I have no idea what I'm doing half the time.'
Indeed, Gisou's greatest skill wasn't ninjutsu or genjutsu, but his ability to read a room and tell people exactly what they wanted to hear. It was this talent, combined with his perpetually stoic expression and economical use of words, that had allowed him to maintain his web of lies for so long.
The origins of Gisou's extraordinary double (or rather, quintuple) life as a spy were as humble as they were accidental. Born in a small, nameless village on the outskirts of the Land of Fire during the tumultuous period of the Second Shinobi World War, Gisou's early years were marked by hardship and uncertainty.
As the war raged on, Gisou's village was caught in the crossfire between Konoha and Iwagakure forces. In the chaos of battle, the young boy found himself separated from his parents, stumbling through war-torn landscapes with nothing but the clothes on his back and an uncanny ability to go unnoticed.
It was this talent for blending into the background that saved his life on numerous occasions. As enemy ninjas swept through the area, Gisou instinctively knew how to make himself invisible, how to move without making a sound, and how to become just another shadow in a world full of them.
When Konoha shinobi finally found him, half-starved and alone, they assumed he was a war orphan from one of the many destroyed villages in the area. Unable to remember the name of his home village (or perhaps, subconsciously choosing not to), Gisou was taken back to Konoha and placed in the village's orphanage.
Life in Konoha was a stark contrast to the hardscrabble existence Gisou had known. Here, there was food, shelter, and most surprisingly to the young boy, a chance at education. Enrolled in the Academy alongside other war orphans and clan children, Gisou found himself struggling to keep up with the more naturally gifted students.
What Gisou lacked in raw talent, however, he made up for with his innate ability to observe and adapt. He watched his classmates carefully, mimicking their hand signs and stances, and while he couldn't match their power, he could often replicate the form of their jutsu convincingly enough to pass his exams.
It was during this time that Gisou first began to understand the power of perception. He realized that if he remained quiet and maintained a serious expression, people often assumed he knew more than he let on. This, combined with his ability to blend into the background, allowed him to overhear conversations not meant for academy students' ears.
By the time he graduated - scraping by with barely passing grades - Gisou had accumulated a wealth of overheard information about village politics, ongoing missions, and the state of the wider shinobi world. He didn't fully understand most of it, but he filed it all away, instinctively knowing it might be useful someday.
Gisou's first mission as a genin was supposed to be a simple courier task to a nearby town. However, a series of coincidences and misunderstandings led to him being mistaken for a more experienced chunin by a group of Konoha jounin who were preparing for an infiltration mission into Iwagakure.
Before he could correct their mistake, Gisou found himself swept up in the mission briefing. Panic-stricken but unable to admit the truth without risking severe punishment, Gisou decided to fall back on his old survival tactic: stay quiet, look serious, and try to blend into the background.
To his amazement and horror, this strategy worked all too well. The jounin, impressed by his apparent calm and assuming his silence indicated deep focus, decided to assign him a crucial role in the mission - he was to infiltrate a low-level administrative office in Iwa and gather intelligence.
Guided more by blind luck and his innate stealth abilities than any real skill, Gisou somehow managed to complete the mission. He overheard some Iwa ninja discussing troop movements, wrote down what he could remember, and made it back to the rendezvous point without being detected.
The information Gisou brought back, while basic, proved unexpectedly valuable. Konoha was able to thwart an Iwa attack, and suddenly, Gisou found himself hailed as a promising young spy.
Afraid to admit the truth and risk losing his newfound status, Gisou allowed himself to be drawn deeper into the world of espionage. Each successful mission - and there were many, thanks to his uncanny luck and genuine talent for going unnoticed - only added to his reputation.
As the years passed, Gisou's web of deception grew ever more complex. During one mission in Iwa, he was cornered by Iwa shinobi. Thinking quickly, he convinced them he was actually an Iwa spy in deep cover in Konoha. To his shock and dismay, they believed him.
Now a double agent, Gisou found himself walking an increasingly precarious tightrope. He began feeding carefully selected information to both sides, always just enough to maintain his cover but never enough to cause real damage to either village.
His reputation grew on both sides. In Konoha, he was the daring spy who could infiltrate Iwa at will. In Iwa, he was the brilliant double agent feeding them Konoha's secrets. The truth - that he was barely managing to keep his head above water - was known only to Gisou himself.
As his fame spread, other villages took notice. Kumogakure, always eager for an advantage, approached him with an offer to spy for them as well. Trapped and seeing no way out, Gisou agreed, beginning the juggling act of a triple agent.
***
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