"Formation 3!" Yumiko, who had become the squad's leader, shouted. Her calm and gentle voice was a solid pillar keeping the team alive.
'Fire Release: Great Fireball!'
'Water Release: Raging Waves!'
Kuromaru was attacked from both sides by two non-complimentary elemental natures. When Kuromaru inevitably dodged, a large amount of steam was produced from the jutsu's collision. Kuromaru's sight and sense of smell were hindered as a result.
This time, however, Suguru played another tactic. He threw a small smoke bomb, filled with potent and foul-smelling gas. The cloud of smoke mixed in with the steam, creating the most obnoxious scent.
'Taking inspiration from Naruto was indeed a good choice,' Suguru laughed as he watched Kuromaru panic.
—AWOOOOOOOOO!
Rushing out of the smelly gas, Kuromaru hid behind Hitomi, whimpering and covering its nose.
'Fire Release: Fire Bullet,'
Suguru quickly lit the gas on fire to annihilate the scent preemptively. Despite the surrounding steam, it still simultaneously combusted, owing to his skill in chemistry.
"..." Hitmoi crumpled her nose. She had a whiff of that gas and felt queasy already. She could only imagine how Kuromaru was feeling at the moment.
"Well done. You brats finally found a way to win without using up the time... Now, whose plan was it to make such a device?"
Suguru instantly knelt on the ground and bowed his head. With his forehead on the ground, he apologized.
"It was mine, Hitomi-sensei. Please punish me as you will."
"Suguru—!"
Yumiko was about to stop him when Isao placed a hand on her shoulder. It was Yumiko who requested Suguru to make a device that would hinder Kuromaru's sense of smell. She told him to make it as smelly as possible, and this was the result.
Hitomi squinted.
"One hundred laps around the Training Grounds, and you are prohibited from using that gas bomb in future training sessions. However, you can feel free to use it in missions. Just be careful when I or Kuromaru are nearby."
"Yes, sensei." Suguru got up and swiftly got to running.
Seeing him so seriously take the blame, Hitomi chuckled. 'With how he acts, he does make for a really good spy. Though, if this is indeed his true nature, then he would make a fine Konoha shinobi.'
Suguru knew when to back down and when to strike. Although he tended to find shortcuts, he also knew when hard work was needed and didn't complain. With his silent nature, people would feel at ease in his presence.
'Although his eyes still creep me out sometimes.' Hitomi thought. 'Does the kid ever blink?'
***
One night, the three genin of Hitomi's squad went out to eat. The older Senju and Kurama decided to treat their youngest member to Ichiraku.
Yumiko pulled Suguru through the flaps, with Isao following closely behind.
"Uncle~ We'll have a serving each!" Yumiko smiled as she entered and sat down.
"Comin' right up!" Teuchi's enthusiastic reply came quickly.
While waiting, the three chatted about various things. Isao and Yumiko had a lot in common — they were both students of the brush. Capable artists in their own right. Thus, they always had fun exchanging ideas.
Suguru listened at the side, occasionally reacting, yet saying nothing.
When the topic of training came around, Isao asked a question.
"Do you think Hitomi is training us in this way because of her fears?"
"Fears? What fears?" Yumiko asked.
Isao glanced around, "I did some digging. It turns out that Hitomi's past squadmates were all tortured, having failed to escape from an ambush. She was able to rescue them, but their minds were completely broken by the time she did."
"Oh..." Yumiko gulped, "I think that makes sense, Isao."
Yumiko turned to Suguru, "What do you think?"
After a moment of thought, Suguru nodded. "That's likely."
Stunned, Yumiko and Isao both fell into thought. Whenever Suguru spoke, it was always filled with weight. The fact that he chose to speak now meant that there might be something deeper.
"Do you have any information on the genin squads she taught in the past?" Suguru asked, enlightening Isao on a sad yet plausible explanation of Hitomi's training tactics.
"I'll... have a look," Isao said, turning quiet.
Suguru no longer spoke after that, and the three parted ways after eating another bowl of ramen each.
Walking home, Suguru thought about the conversation he just had. The real Naruto world was more brutal than what was portrayed on the screen. His research alone cost the lives of many innocent people since he learned from watching Orochimaru.
If not for their deaths and bodies, Suguru wouldn't have created the Living Corpse Assimilation Kinjutsu.
'Luckily, Hitomi-sensei is training us to become escape artists.' Suguru chuckled.
If he did face an insurmountable enemy in the future, he had several avenues of escape. As long as he wasn't instantly killed, he would always have a chance.
'Which also means that I should set up a plan just in case I am indeed killed in battle.'
As Orochimaru's secret student, dying once would bring shame to his sensei's name. He needed to die at least a few times to be considered dead... at least for a certain amount of time.
He should have a way to revive no matter what.
'And I have just the idea for it.'
Excitedly, Suguru headed to his lab to continue his studies and experiments.
***
After another week of training, Suguru was sitting in his lab with three Shadow Clones, thinking, 'I have enough chakra for only three clones...'
He clicked his tongue.
'What a sad amount of chakra — I need to get my hands on some of Hashirama's cells before I become a chuunin at the very least. This way, I can maximize my chakra growth when I reach jounin, and eventually, Kage level.'
With his current talent, no amount of training would let him reach his desired chakra levels.
Of course, the other option for growth would be to embrace the humanoid Samehada lifestyle, absorbing chakra left and right. Eventually, he could become a tailless-tailed beast.
But to do that, he needed to go on missions alone. Furthermore, the massacres he would have to perform just to do that would be immense.
If he absorbed the chakra from other shinobi, that would be helpful. However, it would be much more efficient if he absorbed chakra from a large variety of people.
'Or perhaps...'
Suguru glanced at the scrolls filled with bodies in his lab.
'I could create clones then absorb them, rinse and repeat. Ad infinitum.' Suguru's eyes gleamed.
That was a good idea.
Unfortunately, it would still take a while for him to develop such technologies. Furthermore, he didn't know yet how he could heighten the growth of each living clone.
Growing humans wasn't that simple.
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I made a P@treon! Hehe~
Link: pa treon.com/ubemantou
(No space.)
You can now read up to TWENTY-FIVE (25) chapters on P@treon!
Big thanks to Godphaze, CosmicOwl, HE, Drowz, Calm Dxwn, and Melon for supporting me on P@treon! <3
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