Location: Los Angeles Date: July 25 2010
It has been three weeks since I took control of the host's body. During this time, I kept her in a dreamlike state, thanks to Reika Rō no Jutsu, and used my memories to entertain her.
She hadn't attempted to wake up yet; instead, she seemed engrossed in watching my life, which suited me just fine.
Throughout this period, I gradually settled into a daily routine that increasingly incorporated training focused on physical conditioning and internal chakra control.
I even requested exercise equipment to maintain the façade that I was exercising out of sheer boredom. Though my request was denied, of course.
I might already have the ability to force my way out, but I'm uncertain about their countermeasures. Instead, I choose to be patient and observant, focusing on recovering my physical and chakra abilities as best as I can.
I learned back in my academy years that to win a fight, you must first prepare yourself and then the battlefield. The battle itself is merely the culmination of all that preparation. My single-day battle with Iwa, where I defeated a thousand shinobi in one fight, was ample proof of the strategy's effectiveness.
Thankfully, my ability to apply Uzumaki seals using chakra proves invaluable in the absence of chakra paper or ink. Otherwise, I'd have to resort to a more direct approach in my escape, which I really dislike, especially with so many unknown variables involved.
It took longer than I had hoped, but eventually, my chakra control reached the level it was at during the Third Shinobi War. This meant that Hiraishin no Jutsu was once again at my disposal.
That wasn't the case for another one of my signature jutsu - Rasengan. It required more control to execute, and my options for practice were limited here in the cell. I couldn't simply create a chakra ball and start spinning it without drawing attention to myself.
It was time to prepare for a breakout. I already had a few ideas on how to execute it. The primary strategy was to vanish without a trace, creating confusion and potentially leading them in the wrong direction.
To accomplish this, I needed to activate my Hiraishin seal to transport myself outside the building, where I could simply walk away and disappear.
At first, I considered simply escaping the cell and then leaving the building at full speed. During my last trip to the computer room, I purposely tripped on the chain restraints on my legs and fell. The PRT guard immediately jumped back, and hidden panels along the hall opened, exposing hoses ready to foam me in place. After that, I had to cross that option off the list.
My prisoner robes lacked buttons or sturdy enough pieces that I could send down the drain. The fabric itself held the Hiraishin seal, but any significant damage to it rendered the seal unstable, causing it to fail. The constant monitoring added another layer of complexity to everything. It was difficult to find anything I could take and use as a base for the Hiraishin seal in my bare cell or on the way to the computer room, and the constant watchful eyes made it even harder.
In the end, I sliced off a piece of my shoe sole with a chakra scalpel. It was sufficient for a temporary seal. It wouldn't hold for long, but I didn't plan on staying here much longer.
The soles were made from a plastic-like substance, and it took some time to ensure they sank down the drain instead of floating in the water. Just in case, I made two seals and sent them through different routes—one down the sink and the other via the toilet.
The seal that went down the toilet disintegrated in less than ten minutes. It looks like they have some unexpected measures even there. Did someone try to flush themselves down the toilet before?
Luckily, the second seal that went through the sink managed to leave the building. I felt it slowly moving away until it got stuck somewhere not too far from the surface. Probably a drainage or cleaning system, or something designed to filter garbage out of the water.
It's good that part of the Hiraishin seal includes a safety measure to prevent me from teleporting into solid matter. In the worst case, it will abort the teleportation. That's something I need to be sure to avoid.
The next important part of my escape was to remove the rebreather. I had my suspicions about its functions. It might incapacitate me with a sleeping agent or even shock me with electricity until they find and pick me up.
Before I commit to my escape, I need to remove it quickly. And just in case, I'll leave everything in the cell. Not only will this help me avoid being tracked, but it will also have the beneficial side effect of greatly confusing them.
⚡
When the time hit 10 p.m. or so (it's hard to track time without any devices showing it), and the lights went off, I pretended to fall asleep.
The next few hours passed in a slow, agonizing crawl, a feeling I was all too familiar with. It wasn't the first time in my shinobi career that I had to remain motionless, waiting for the perfect moment.
When I felt that at least four hours had passed, I stood up and made my way to the toilet/shower section, pretending to need to pee. The more I could confuse them, the better. I had to suppress my snickering when I imagined their faces watching me disappear from the toilet seat. Should I flush at the same time?
I sat there for a minute, my robes down, keeping one hand in a seal to help me focus on moulding my chakra. When I felt properly prepared, I focused on the seal in the sewer and, with a slow exhale, executed the jutsu.
I appeared in the sewer system, below the surface, without any clothes and finally without the rebreather. At least there was no one to pay attention to my nudity. Just in case, I applied a henge to take on the appearance of an old municipal worker I once saw and began to walk away carefully.
It was time to get the hell out of this city, but first, I needed to find some real clothes. Henge was a poor substitute, especially knowing I was naked underneath.
⚡
By 8 a.m., I was one of the first customers in the shopping mall. I knew where to go, what my host's sizes and what I needed to buy, I watched the host doing it so many times that I could do it with the fold on my eyes. I didn't attend so many shopping trips with my wife that I spent with the host over the last two years.
It's not like I could avoid it. I bet Jiraiya would have loved it. Hopefully, he is resting in peace somewhere in the Pure Land.
With a bit of a sad and nostalgic mood, I made my way in.
It didn't take me long to lift a wallet from a rich-looking lady. I used Henge on all the IDs to match my selected face for this visit. I had to keep my body shape, otherwise, it would be really awkward to buy clothes.
Luckily, there were a few high-denomination bills as well. I tagged each banknote, and every time I spent them, I recalled them back. This way I even built a cache of legit bills, albeit in smaller denominations.
During my shopping spree, I had to visit the toilet at least ten times just to seal my purchases in a temporary storage seal. I changed my face and outfit each time as well; better safe than sorry. I'm sure one person making so many purchases might draw attention.
It took me two hours to buy everything: from female hygiene products to running shoes and camping gear. I was serious about getting out of the city. I needed to meditate and see if I could still do Senjutsu. I gave all Kyūbi chakra back and I am not a jinchūriki anymore. But I needed something with the same level of volatility — hence, Senjutsu.
Most likely sooner than I want, I will face a threat that will require everything I have at my disposal.
⚡
When I was out of the shopping mall, I went a few blocks away to find an empty alley. After making sure that nobody would interrupt me (thanks Kami for the fuinjutsu barriers), I quickly made a shadow clone. He gave me a cheeky smile and with a poof dispersed. In a few seconds, another clone teleported to the alley.
"Heya Boss! Man, I am so glad you didn't send me to go shopping!" Right, as if I am stupid enough to do that again. The last time I tried it, I had to hide from Kushina for a week until she calmed down enough to be safe around.
I silently outstretched my hand and made a "give me" gesture. With another cheeky smile, he slapped another temporary storage seal into my hand and dispersed.
Seriously?
⚡
While the original, or as we clones prefer to call him — boss, went shopping, and thanks to Kami he didn't send any of us to do that, I got the task of obtaining weapons for us. Not an easy task by itself, but it's better than buying female underwear or hygiene products. The bane!
I feel obligated to keep a male henge just so the boss wouldn't forget how to be male! Especially after a few years of being stuck inside a poor girl's head. The horror!
I bet Jiraiya would laugh if he knew. The pervert would really enjoy it, wouldn't he?
The first place I went to find something we could use in battle was the Japanese immigrant district—Little Tokyo. During the last few silent years, we discovered something interesting: Japanese culture was remarkably similar to that of the Elemental Nations, to an almost uncanny degree. While I was able to buy a few dango and find ramen (and toothpicks, umbrellas, yellow!), I discovered that they don't sell any kunai or, in general, any sharp weapons anymore. I spent at least an hour looking around and even asking discreet questions about finding an old master who could make some.
Instead, I was directed to a souvenir shop, where they tried to sell me some crappy katana made of cheap metal.
The hell with this world?
In the end, I gave up and found the closest store with modern weapons — something about a hunting hut or something. There, I finally found something that could be thrown like a kunai. It was of good enough quality that it might hold the Hiraishin seal for a while.
I bought all their stock; they had only 33, including three from the display. Still, that was just a drop in our regular battle needs. We need a replacement for battlefield seal delivery; otherwise, we're going to be short on kunai stock all the time.
What to do, where to begin...
⚡
Seriously? Hex nuts and umbrella toothpicks? Did he really buy ten packs of half-inch hex nuts and toothpicks instead of kunai?
Kami, I need a drink.
⚡
Two hours later, I was leaving Los Angeles behind and heading to Sacramento on the bus. By itself, Sacramento was not my final destination; I was planning to camp in Eldorado National Forest instead. It was a remote enough place where I could finally deal with everything, but mostly focus on training. A lot of training. This body was in desperate need of it.
It was late evening when I finally arrived in Sacramento. The road trip was boring, but at least I didn't have to run the entire distance, mixing it with Shunshin no Jutsu. If I had my original, properly trained body, I might have already reached my final destination by now. Instead, I spent all the way training my chakra control.
I took the bus to South Lake Tahoe next, and sometime later, I got off in the middle of nowhere. It was already dark. As a precaution, I made one shadow clone to go ahead and another to stay behind. The last one would let me know if I was followed.
Once in a while, I used Hiraishin to catch up to the vanguard clone, greatly saving travel time and avoiding the need to run through the dark forest in this untrained body. Fortunately, my clone didn't have the same issue and travelled at full speed, often using Shunshin.
It was deep in the night, when I finally found a place, next to a small creek, on the mountainside to camp out. I set a perimeter with traps and fuinjutsu.
Throughout my years as a shinobi, I learned to use some interesting barriers to stay hidden. Instead of setting up a chakra monitoring network around the camp, I set up one oriented on detecting the size of moving objects. This world is weird, and I don't know if monitoring designed to identify chakra sources would even work on humans or boars. Hopefully, at least a boar will come here — I really want to eat some juicy, fresh meat.
Right, the concealment barrier was next. It was a mild illusion, with soft suggestions to turn away, nothing interesting here.
Now, if anyone accidentally came to this location, they would find nothing important and leave, unless it was a boar. I made sure the boar would end up in that trap with sharp sticks at the bottom. I even had all the necessary spicy supplements to make a nice steamy meat...
Only when all traps and barriers were set, and one of my shadow clones had set up a tent, campfire, and made a late-night dinner, did I feel a bit relaxed.
I was free, I was alone, and after a good sleep, it would be time to deal with everything.
But for now, I will breathe and look at the stars. They are beautiful.
⚡