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***
One month later.
Standing on top of the Peak, I looked down and a wave of shivers ran down my back in an instant. The height was truly unimaginable. But it must be done, by all means. Breathing in and out, I resolutely slapped my cheeks with the palms of my hands and jumped down. I began to fall, gradually accelerating. At the same moment, I remembered my first skydive. Yes, this time I had jumped voluntarily, and without a parachute. Flying down, I gradually got further away from the peak and closer to the clouds, and finally plunged into them. The moment I passed the clouds, I had a beautiful view of the forest with a huge number of lakes and rivers. Looking once more at the surface of the earth, which was at a great distance from me, I decided to actually get down to what I had started all this for. After folding a few seals, I bit my finger and put my palm down directly underneath me.
- Summoning Technique!" The seals broke apart from under my palm and formed a giant puff of smoke. As I fell, I saw a ten metre tall harpy fly out of the smoke and start diving parallel to me. Her colouring was half white and half dark blue. She looked truly formidable and beautiful. I began to slowly approach her and slowly lowered myself onto her back. Then she flapped her wings to the sides and began to change the angle of her flight. As we gradually levelled out, we finally started flying horizontally and I could enjoy the views to the fullest.
- We did it, Yuame-san! Thank you!!! Without you, I wouldn't have been able to master airborne summoning so quickly." I shouted with my hands in the air.
- You're welcome, Menma-kun. I'm always happy to help you," I heard a loud female voice below me, "But hold on tight or you'll fall.
- Of course, I'm holding on tight!" I shouted, grabbing the blue feathers without undoing the technique I'd used to brace myself with my feet on her back.
- Ah! P-please be gentle, Menma-kun~- there was a low moan from my summoned animal.
- Let's fly straight to the nest!
- Oh, you're going back to your world today, right?
- Yes, today is the day I'll finally go back and pass my rank promotion exam!- Heh, I'll miss you, call me often, Menma-kun, okay?
- Yes, Yuame-san. You're the strongest one I can summon, so I'll mostly summon you!
So it's been a month since my first appearance in this sliver of the world. I've gotten to know my summon better and learnt a lot about them. My call was not just eagles, as I first thought, but all Birds of Prey. And they were truly powerful creatures. The harpy I was flying was only the 19th strongest in this world. She's my maximum I can summon, but that's pretty cool.
Birds of Prey turned out to be very proud creatures, born warriors, prone to fighting all the time. Most of all they respected strength and in their tribe, strength denoted status. The stronger you are, the higher you are in status. So it was the strongest man who became Chief. But they treated me well, even if I was very weak to them. Perhaps Beloglav sees me as a future who can gain more strength, so he treats me better. They also honoured the Spirit Prophets. Only the strongest Birds saw them, but they were believed by all, unconditionally. That's why they seriously believe that the prophecy about me will come true. Speaking of the prophecy, it was really me, and it looks like I'm going to take down the entire Ootsutsuk clan in the future, but even with this prophecy, I don't want to relax.
The whole month I've been mostly training summoning and co-operative combat with summoned creatures. But my maximum is still Yuame-san's summoning. Well, with Fox's chakra, I can certainly summon Squirrelflight himself, but it's still dangerous to use. Speaking of Kurama, he didn't care who my summoned beasts were, but the summoned beasts didn't like him. I don't know what they didn't share, but it was a fact.
Stepping back from my musings, I decided to look at the status, which for some reason I rarely look at, which is odd.
- "Status!"
Status:
Name: Menma Uzumaki
Level: 63
Race: Human
Profession: None
Title: Beast Killer
Status: Delight
Hp: 3560/3560 Restore Hp: 650 per hour.
Sp: 7010/7990 Sp Recovery: 1610 per hour.
Sp(Tailed): 900 000/900 000
Sp Recovery: 100,000 per hour
Mp: 2950/2950 Mp Recovery: 320 per hour
Characteristics:
Strength: 360
Speed: 420
Dexterity: 365
Control: 370
Endurance: 447
Perception: 570
Spirit: 321
Intelligence: 1240
Characteristics Points: 120
Affinity with the elements:
Fire: 25%
Water: 20%
Earth: 19%
Air: 23%
Lightning: 22%
Light: 12%
Darkness: 33%
Affinity with summoned creature: 15%
Skills: ...
Techniques: ...
Features: Player's Mind, Player's Body, Uzumaki, Uchiha, Hyuga, Nara, Sharingan 3 Tomoe, Byakugan, Jinchuriki, Reborn.
Reputation Window:
Konohagakure Residents -5000
Itachi Uchiha 4500
Fugaku Uchiha 1200
Mikoto Uchiha 1300
Maito Gai 2100
Jiraiya -500
Hiruzen Sarutobi -600
Sarikawa Uchiha -400
Iruka Umino -7000
Daruma Kenshi 5,000
Minami Haruno 10,000 (Love Potion)
Shikaku Nara 1500
Shisui Uchiha -300
Kakashi Hatake 100
Darui 1100
Shi 1000
Atsui 1000
Deidara -4000
Kurotsuchi -3000
Akatsuchi 1100
Kurama 2000
Whitebelly 4100
Whitehead 3800
Yuame 7300
Sip 3200
Longtail 1200
My speed and perception stats have gone up quite a bit thanks to my summoning. I've also increased affinity with my summoning, but I don't know how. The affinity with summoning itself is kind of weird. I received it on my first day here and it was 8% from the beginning. The affinity hasn't given me anything yet and I don't know what it can give me, so I just haven't touched it. Also of note is my new system feature, Status. I got it a while ago, but I believe it came out of my observations of my draft birds. Most of them have very inexpressive faces all the time, and all month long, watching them, I wanted to distinguish their facial expressions, and when I once again tried to do that with White-headed, I got this addition in my observation, and I later learned that I had it in my status as well.
By the way, Whitehead's status at the time was: Severely Hungry. I almost laughed right in front of him, but I was able to Shunshin away and laugh outside the Nest. Yeah, he sits on his majestic throne almost all the time, but he hunts and eats rarely. By the way, each of them hunts independently, no matter whether it's a chief or a common bird. But they do it more out of love for the process of hunting, which I don't understand at times. I too was forced to hunt, and I even agreed. They ate mostly small animals, large insects that bred in their world, and fish, which were plentiful considering all the rivers and lakes here. I willingly killed these mobs, but I didn't eat them myself, I gave them to.... to Yuame-san. That's about the reason we met. I explained my situation to her that I just didn't want to eat, but wanted to hunt, and she understood and accepted all my loot. I hunted for the same reasons, because of the Soul Crystals. Well, of course, the level of the mobs here was low, but the fish could be safely taken in quantity, and the main thing is that here you did not have to hide, as in the same Forest of Death, and you could safely hunt.
I was surprised by the reputation with Sarikawa, yes, now it's just Sarikawa, but not about that now. The fact that I used to have -500 with her, and now -400, at first made me think that maybe.... but I quickly shook myself off. I didn't want to cling to the last crumbs of hope to the end and then be disappointed again. That way, you could just get stuck in your depression and not get out. I just decided to ignore it and forget the whole thing.
After landing at the entrance of the cave, I jumped down from Yuame-san's back and turned around to watch her transformation. What's remarkable is that when the female of the local inhabitants transforms into her Humanoid form, she becomes more human than the men in that form. Yuame-san's wings retracted back and began to resemble the wings of an angel with a dark blue colour. Her eyes and hair were the same colour, and her feathers transformed into a light dress that was worn over her shapely, graceful body and covered all the interesting places. Yuame-san always treated me like a child, but she never missed a chance to tease me with her beauty and sexy body, to which I reacted violently. I could watch her transformations forever, but when she finished, we went straight to the back of the cave. There were others waiting for me in the chief's hall. They were talking amongst themselves, but they paid attention to me when I arrived.
- Menma, have you come to do the callback?" the oldest man here, Sip-san, asked me. Although he is old, he is also one of the strongest birds of the tribe and is second only to the chief. He was like a grandfather, and told me a lot about the history of the tribe and the spirit prophets.
- Menma? Are you leaving?" Longtail stared at me in surprise. He's a young chick by the standards of the people here, but he's in the top four in power here. He's going to be the next leader and he trains every day to do so. I've trained with him a lot, and I kind of like him.
- Yes, I've come to return to my world. I spent a month here by the chief's order and learnt a lot. - I answered both questions. Besides them, there was Whitehead and Whitebelly. My first acquaintance was not very talkative, but I could read everything in his look without it.
- I see, then I guess this is goodbye. Make sure you practice to be able to summon all of us at once without lying on the ground without chakra!" grinned the Chief, who wasn't as serious as he first seemed.
- I will, Chief. See you later, Squirrel-san, Sip-san and Longtail. And bye Yuam...- before I could even say a word, I felt soft lips on mine and saw a beautiful face with closed eyes right in front of me. For a couple of seconds, I just savoured it, ignoring the stunned Chief and Longtail and the turned away Squirrelflight and Sip. Honestly, I would have dropped my jaw myself, but that would interfere with the kiss so.....
- Have a good trip, Menma-kun~
- Good-bye...- still surprised, I automatically folded my techniques and disappeared with a puff of smoke.
- How come?!" The young Eagle was the first to come out of his stupor.
- Eh, youth. - Old Sip came out of the hall with a sigh.
- He is still very young, but in the future he will have a truly formidable power." Yuame said with hearts in her eyes and, still in her dreams, walked out of the hall.
- I'll go." said Squirrelflight calmly and followed Yuame out.
- Okay, you go too. - ***Booh*, the Chief kicked Longtail towards the exit.
***
Back at the back range of my house, I slowly began to realise what had happened. After thinking for a bit, I simply decided that Yuame-san's teasing had simply gone to a new level... and I didn't mind that at all. I got back the night before the exam started and it was really dark here now. Once inside, I just fell asleep, having previously gone through all the memories of the Clones who had lived here for a week without the Original.
***
Waking up in the morning, I went to the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror and realised. Today is Stage Three of the Chunin exam. My first fight is with Samui from Cloud. The girl is very strong and smart, but I think I'm outclassing her with my naked power right now. Also notable is Itachi fighting Yugito. She was the last one on my branch, so I didn't notice who her first fight was with, but I think I'll be fighting Itachi. After getting myself cleaned up, I ran towards the arena, which reminded me more and more of the Coliseum. Upon reaching it, I entered the waiting room, then after the starting ceremony, I entered the arena. Samui came out the other side and then, the referee, who happened to be Shikaku-sensei, announced the start of the fight to us.
- So, the first fight of the Third Final Stage of the Chunin Exam, will be between Samui and Menma. Victory will be counted if the opponent surrenders, fails to continue, or I decide that the fight is over. Here we go!
- Haaah!- Samui sprinted towards me with her tanto, determined to attack with speed.
- Too slow.- after training in my summoning world, I've actually become much faster and now she didn't seem as fast as she could have been. So I waited until she was a fair distance away and after dodging a series of her punches, I strengthened my arm and hit her right in the stomach. She flew off and landed with her back against the opposite wall of the arena. Coughing up blood, she fell unconscious.
- Samui can no longer continue, Menma Uzumaki has won." the referee confirmed my victory and I quietly went to the waiting room.
The next fight was between Itachi and Yugito. Yugito had the ability to partially turn into a cat and used it against Itachi, but the latter used Sharingan, Shurikenjutsu and Genjutsu to quickly defeat her, preventing her from using the Tails' chakra inside her. Next up was a fight between Darui and Kurotsuchi. The former had a strong advantage as lightning techniques were very effective against earth techniques. Kurotsuchi couldn't fight back and was felled by Darui's black lightning. After that, there was a fight of Si vs Akatsuchi and Anko vs Sarikawa. Akatsuchi won the former and Sarikawa won the latter. I didn't really look into the fight, and I missed the subsequent fights as well.
The only thing notable was that Yamato lost quickly, which was strange. But without looking into it, I went to my fight with Atsui. He used Fire Techniques combined with Kenjutsu. But I wanted to show the difference in our strength to safely get the Chunin Vest, so I defeated him as well, sealing him with a single punch, only this time into the ground. Afterwards, I looked at the fights I was interested in. Itachi was fighting Deidara. Itachi was throwing iron and using Techniques at him in every way possible, and in the middle of the fight, Deidara got mad and finally started using his Exploding Clay Techniques, and then....
- No way!!! When he...- Kurotsuchi looked at the fight in bewilderment, while Akatsuchi stood next to her with the same expression.
- Guys, is he really hiding his kekkei genkai?" I asked them, but I was talking more to Akatsuchi, and he noticed that and decided to explain the situation himself.
- No, Deidara never hid it, but that's not the point. What he's using now is apparently a mixing of his Kekkei Genkai and Iwagakure's Kinjutsu. It's a forbidden technique passed down through generations. There's no way he could have mastered it without reading the Scrolls or without Tsuchikage-sama, which means he stole it from the village. Menma-san, this could be counted as betraying the village, for which he would be severely punished, and could even be executed.It was quite interesting. He didn't give the details of this Kinjutsu, but from what I understood, he uses it to transfer the abilities of his Kekkei genkai into clay. Akatsuchi and Kurotsuchi watched the fight, which ended, legitimately, with Itachi winning.
***
- Itachi's doing pretty good, aren't you, dear?" holding the little brunet in her arms, Mikoto asked her husband.
- Yes, but it's not enough." Fugaku said as he looked at his son leaving the arena, and then he turned his gaze to the red haired boy who was watching the fight from the stands. "Minato's son has grown very strong. I see his father in him, but he seems to be far superior.
- Menma? Itachi said he's been training constantly since the incident. I think he's stronger than Minato at his age because he inherited a lot from his mother.
- Maybe." closing his eyes, Fugaku thought of his old friend once more.
***
After the fight, Akatsuchi and Kurotsuchi ran straight to Deidara, which their Jonin mentor did as well. Akatsuchi didn't show up for the next fight, and Sarikawa was awarded the victory. On my third fight, I faced... Daruma! That's right! I remember! I don't care if it was after Shikaku called both of us, I definitely remembered! But he surprised me.
- I surrender!" he said almost immediately after Shikaku announced the fight. Maybe that's what I expected... or maybe not. Either way, I've moved on.
***
- This Red-Haired guy, you're putting weak competitors against him on purpose?" the Daimyo said with contempt in his voice.
- No, not at all. It's just that he's vastly superior to the other contestants." replied Third calmly.
- Hmm, since you think so highly of his strength, have a battle royal with the finalists at the end. I want to see what he can do.
- Yes, Daimyo-san.
***
Darui and Sarikawa faced off next. I didn't watch the fight, but I was surprised when they said Darui won. But without dwelling on it, I went into the Arena. Opposite me, Darui and Itachi came out. I don't know who decided that, but I'm even grateful to them because those two had both set up to fight against me. That's when I cast off my bored face and focused on the battle.
- So, the finals of the Second Stage of the Chunin Examination. Three contestants, Menma, Itachi, and Darui, will meet in battle. The one who stays will win. Ugh, it's so stressful to announce the fights. Anyway, you know the rules, so you can start.- said Shikaku, who had distinguished his clan.
- Let's get started!" I said loudly.
- Don't hold back," said my red-eyed friend.
- It's not going to be nothing," the white-haired man exhaled with a doomed look.
With that, the three of us rushed into battle, each pulling out a katana. Itachi and Darui both aimed their blades at me, but I was able to fend them off and immediately activated my reinforcements. I tried not to make eye contact with Itachi while simultaneously fending off his attacks. As we jumped away from each other, they both activated their techniques....
- Lightning Element: Laser Circus!
- Fire Element: Raging Flame... two techniques from different directions rained down on me. A stream of lightning on the left and a stream of fire on the right. Without thinking of anything better, I created a clone and each of us looked towards our enemy.
- Wind Element: Air Blades!
- Earth Element: Mud Wall! - while the clone was dealing with Itachi, I got close to Darui and attacked him with Kenjutsu. Adding a large amount of chakra with the flow, I dominated him.
***
- My lover will never lose!" said the pink-haired girl in a loud whisper, wearing dark glasses and a hood, but notable for the aura of fear that was released as the two Genin attacked her lover.
***
"Wow, they set aside their pride and target the same enemy together. That's commendable, but will they even be able to defeat this guy?" Hiruzen thought to himself as he looked at the arena.
***
At this time, the clone created a dozen more clones and they began to attack Itachi from different directions.
- Water Element: Water Cannon!
- Fire Element: Large Fireball!" the two techniques collided right in front of Itachi, and hot steam rained down on him. But he walked away as a substitute, leaving a large log in his place. Then I saw him throw a large number of shurikens and uttered a....
- Fire Element: Phoenix Flowers." The attack killed half of the clones in an instant, and Itachi began to attack the remaining clones.
- Mass Shadow Cloning Technique!!!- I-Original decided not to be trifling and created a huge number of clones, pouring half of his reserve into them. They all attacked Itachi, but he activated his Sharingan and was barely able to withstand their onslaught, but at the same time two clones were attacking him with their techniques.
- Water Element: Water Cannon! - A huge number of clones surrounded Itachi, so he couldn't dodge and was knocked back by the wave. Then, the clones closest to him that hadn't dispersed made a final attack.
- Lightning Element: Chidori Nagashi! - After a three-pronged electric charge attack, Itachi was knocked out and never moved again.
***
- Who's that boy? Is he really Genin?" the Daimyo of the Fire Nation asked the Hokage.
- Yes, Daimyo-sama. But he's only recently become a Genin, so I don't think it's too early to give him the Chunin Vest.
- Look at him. He could be a Tokubetsu-jonin, too.
- No, that would be too much The boy's still young, and he could get conceited and die on one of his missions. He's the Jinchuriki of half of the Nine-Tails. We can't lose him.
- Hmm, that's a pity. But then we've already decided on one Chunin, haven't we?
-...yes," Hiruzen said with a sigh.
***
Seeing that Itachi wasn't moving and that Shikaku was confirming that he was out, I concentrated on Darui. He was already exhausted from the constant pressure. Then he suddenly activated his Technique.
- Lightning Element: Black Lightning!" I had to jump away from him, receiving a large bolt of lightning. But Darui lunged at me at the same second and continued.- Lightning Element: Penetrating Wave!- A stream of water flew from his mouth towards me, which was backed up by a charge of electricity.
- Water Element: Bursting Wave!- I too released a jet of water that collided with my opponent's Technique. After the Technique collided, the arena was covered in water and I had to jump away from it, which was mirrored by Darui as well.
- Lightning Element: Black Panther! - A blob of black lightning in the shape of a panther flew at me at high speed.
- The Eight Great Gates. The First Gate: The Gate of Beginnings, open!!!-and I darted away, avoiding the water and Darui's Technique. My speed was so fast that I reached Darui in a moment and, creating a Rasengan in my hand, I attacked. The impact, and he flew off and crashed into the wall. After that, Shikaku announced the end of the fight and my victory.
After the End of Exam ceremony, I was automatically given a waistcoat and rank by the Third Hokage himself. Itachi was also given a waistcoat, but Sarikawa didn't get one. Teams from other villages would receive their Vests in their home villages, so only we were awarded. After all this action was over, I visited Darui, who was hospitalised, but he wasn't too badly hurt. Shikaku-sensei then decided to celebrate the victory and treat us to a meal at a restaurant. No one refused, and we did celebrate our becoming Chunin. Sensei talked at length about how we were no longer under his supervision and were on our own, and so on, and he also comforted Sarikawa and tried to support her in every way he could. But she didn't seem to be herself and just nodded and agreed with everyone all evening. I looked at her "Status" and was surprised because it said "Confused". But I jerked myself away from thinking about her again. We sat for a long time, and Sensei eventually got drunk. We all paid for dinner together without waking him up, and then Sarikawa and Itachi left. I, on the other hand, had to carry Shikaku on my back. His feet were touching the ground, so I created a clone and we carried him together.
- Yeah, was it worth getting so drunk, Sensei?
- *Ik!* I'm...very happy for you...guys. I'm so proud of all of you. You are my first students...*Ik!*...but I'm sure I couldn't have found better mentees....
- Yes, yes, Sensei, this is the second time you've said that.
- N-no...*Ik!*...listen, guys. I haven't been able to give you much...but I hope you grow up to be good...*Eek!*...Shinobi.
- Sensei, you've given us a lot more than you realise. We will always value the experiences you have shared with us. And... "*I heard Shikaku start to snore and he wasn't listening to me anymore...*...I won't let you die, Sensei...
***
In a dark office that was only slightly lit, there was a man sitting at a desk with half of his face bandaged and one arm completely covered by his clothes. He sat motionless, thinking about something. The next moment a masked Ninja appeared in front of him.
- Report." he said in a cold voice.
- Yes, sir. The subject is still susceptible to the mental Technique. Jinchuriki has completely stopped communicating with it. He is in an unstable emotional state. The honey kunoichi has studied the full available information on Jinchuriki and is ready for the task. She's just waiting for your orders.
- Alright, is there any problem?
- Shisui Uchiha started digging into Jinchuriki and the target.
- Shisui? It's messing up our plans. Deal with it. Plant false evidence and lead him in a different direction. But we can't kill him. There are still plans for him. For now, let the honey kunoichi begin her mission. His recruitment and loyalty to the village is the most important thing right now. What about Hiruzen?
- The Third has also decided to use the Honey Kunoichi. He wanted to tie Jinchuriki to the Uchiha before, but after failing due to the effects of the Technique, he decided on this plan. Our man in the ANBU will oversee the whole process and report back when a suitable candidate is chosen.
- Good. Keep an eye on the situation. Dismissed.
- Got it. And Ninja vanished into Shunshin.
- "Not everything is going according to plan yet, but soon both Jinchuriki and the Son of the Head of the Uchiha Clan will be serving for the good of the Village."