Chapter 5 - Chapter 5

Here's a proofread version of your text with corrections to grammar, punctuation, and flow while maintaining the original tone:

"Stop!" a woman cried, holding a sword as she faced off against the members of her clan, doing her best to shield her daughter.

"You disgust us. Your soft and weak nature... she isn't worthy of being a member of the Hone clan," a white-haired man said with a cold grin.

The woman gritted her teeth. She was surrounded, but she didn't fear battle. The members of the Hone clan thrived on the thrill of combat. In fact, in Taijutsu, the Hone clan was rivaled only by the Hyuga clan of the Leaf, with many saying they were better.

"Run!" she shouted to her daughter, her eyes carrying a flicker of disappointment at the girl's cowardice. Unlike the rest of the clan, her daughter feared combat. And as the princess... well, many members of the clan despised her.

The little white-haired girl almost cried at the look her mother gave her, but she wasted no time and ran away, knowing she would only be a burden. Through tears, she sprinted with all her might, but her path was soon blocked by a white-haired man with a ruthless smile.

Her face turned pale, and she grew hopeless as her mother's head fell before her.

"Haha, you should join her," he said with a bloodthirsty smirk. The members of this clan had a violent nature, which was why their clan would be slaughtered decades from now. But even as the entire clan faced extinction, they would fight joyfully, reveling in the thrill of killing and combat.

"Unlike us, you inherited Shikotsumyaku... but you're so weak," he said with a look of disappointment before swinging his blade at the little girl—until a black-haired girl appeared, blocking the sword and slamming her knee into the man's chin, knocking him out.

"You saved me," the little girl said, still trembling as she looked at her rescuer. After all, the newcomer was shrouded in darkness.

"Yes... do you want to join Shadow Garden?" The darkness dissipated, shocking the little girl to see that her savior was around her own age.

That's right, that Uchiha girl was running around recruiting members for Shadow Garden. I had gifted her part of my power. As for how I did it? Simple, really. I used my chakra as a power source, allowing hers to grow stronger and reach new heights. Experimenting with chakra passes the time, after all, and Shadow Garden has been a part of my plans for a long time.

"Focus your chakra into your fist, and at the moment of impact, release it onto your target," a blonde-haired girl, only four years old, instructed while demonstrating. She punched the ground, causing the earth to shake and cracks to spread in every direction.

"That? I already know how to do it," I said lazily, stunning Tsunade. I walked over to a tree and replicated her move, shattering it completely.

"Instead, I think I learned how to fly," I said with a grin, confusing Tsunade. Her eye twitched as she watched me gather chakra into my feet. But instead of holding it there, I shot it outward, launching myself into the air.

"Only someone with crazy levels of chakra like you could do something like that," she muttered, rolling her eyes. I laughed, knowing she was partly right—my chakra level was second only to Hashirama's.

"But that could be useful," Tsunade said thoughtfully. Normally, chakra is gathered at the feet to walk up trees, across water, or anchor oneself to the ground. What Tsunade was envisioning, though, was releasing chakra with every step to boost speed—a technique similar to her demonstration but focused entirely on acceleration rather than power.

"By the way, I have some money. Want to go gamble?" I asked, and Tsunade's eyes lit up instantly. Hashirama was a good grandfather. He taught us how to gamble and even how to sneak past our parents to do so.

It's been a week since Shadow made his appearance. After hearing how close the Senju clan was to extinction, Tsunade came to visit. She had joined the academy at the young age of four. However, people in the village were beginning to push the enrollment age to five or six. This wasn't the Warring Era, where children as young as four were thrust into battle. Madara and Hashirama worked hard to change that, striving to create a world without war. They partially succeeded.

"Shadow Garden needs both a hideout and funding." While walking down the street with Tsunade, a mysterious figure brushed past me and whispered those words before disappearing into the crowd.

That was Kazane Uchiha. She was my right hand and managed Shadow Garden on my behalf. I had infused some of my chakra into her eyes, granting her the ability to search for talent. However, this ability required close proximity and daily recharging by me.

I secretly created a shadow clone to accompany Tsunade, while I teleported to a dense forest overrun with beasts. There, I appeared before the members of Shadow Garden, whose current hideout was in a treehouse.

"Shadow." There were only eight members, including me. Well, I should list them for you:

Shadow: The leader (me).

Void: Kazane Uchiha, the second strongest and a jack of all trades.

Enigma: A Nara clan outcast—a genius strategist and skilled assassin.

Paradox: A member of the Hone clan (Known as the Kaguya clan in my past life). She is timid but becomes a bloodthirsty monster in battle.

Abyss: Possesses the unique Blood Release Kekkai Genkai and excels in biology and DNA research.

Specter: Blind but able to "see" the world better than most. She's a skilled scammer from the Hidden Cloud.

The Scribe: A 3-year-old bookworm from the Hidden Sand, destined to make waves through her storytelling.

The Puppet: A crippled girl who specializes in controlling and crafting powerful puppets capable of using jutsu.

Here's the proofread version of the text, improved for grammar, flow, and readability while keeping the tone intact:

Every member here was already at Jonin level. Yes, I had helped them grow stronger, but even without me, they would have one day reached Kage level—assuming they lived long enough. These seven, given the opportunity, could shake the world.

"You want to make money?" I asked. Void nodded lightly. I sat down for a moment, sizing them all up before speaking.

"So, what are you having trouble with?" I asked, frowning.

"What do you mean?" Void responded, mirroring my frown.

I sighed in disappointment but tried to hide it. Void, however, noticed, and her pride took a hit.

"Specter," I said, turning to her, "I'll leave the task of making money to you. You have the most talent in this area. I'll give you a few things to sell and leave the rest to you." I spoke calmly as I pulled a small bottle from my storage space. Spraying it into the air, I watched as the girls immediately caught the scent, their expressions lighting up.

"I created this," I said. "I call it perfume." the concept of perfume wasn't new to this world, but compared to modern-day perfume... well, let's just say this world's attempts were lacking.

"Creating the perfect perfume takes time," I continued, explaining the process—collecting high-quality ingredients, skillfully blending them, and other meticulous steps.

"But I'll make it easier for you all," I said. "I'll create the necessary resources to streamline the process. I've also developed a few jutsu to help speed things up. With these, you'll be able to produce perfume on a massive scale." Their eyes widened in amazement.

"W-wait, this is too good," Specter said, her voice tinged with excitement. "We should lower the quality just a little—enough to stay ahead of the market—and gradually improve it over time. That way, we can build a monopoly." Her eyes sparkled with the vision of profits.

"You do your thing," I said, tossing the bottle to her. Despite being blind, she caught it effortlessly. I left them to their discussions, but my gaze lingered on Void. She remained quiet, her expression downcast.

Void had been the one to push me to recruit more members, and now, seeing the organization struggling to find its purpose, she felt useless. That's even more so when she felt like I didn't really need the organization and was just doing this because she wanted me to.

{I had A.I. help with this chapter to proofread, and to make some changes, let me know if you would like for me to continue like this, or never do this again.}

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