When Jiraya reached Konoha, the entire village was in turmoil. Anbu's were patrolling the perimeter of the village while ninjas were searching the village. Even with his limited sensing capabilities, Jiraya could feel hundreds of chakra signatures actively moving about. Reaching the village gate, he completed the entering protocols and confirmed that the entire village was liking for Itachi Uchiha for the genocide of his clan. Thanking the guards, Jiraya made his way to Hokage Tower.
On his way, Jiraya saw a familiar figure and jumped down the alley. A middle-aged man with black hair tied spiky ponytail and wearing a dark green Jonin flak jacket was crouching in front of what looked like a crater created by a high-grade explosive note. Standing by the crouching figure, Jiraya asked sarcastically, "Fine night isn't it, Shikaku?"
Shikaku Nara grumbled incoherently, not even bothering to dignifying one of the legendary Sanin with a response but Jiraya took no offense. While not as famous as a Sanin, Shikaku was considered a legend in his own right among ninja ranks and earned his name in the third Great ninja war for his brilliant and brutal tactics, as well being as for being the impromptu head of the Ino-Shika-Cho alliance among many more. Beneath his lazy exterior, Shikaku is among the most dangerous and ruthless ninjas ever to be born in Konoha.
"So I am guessing what I am seeing in front of me is another one of Itachi's victims?", Jiraya questioned, noticing the smell of blood in the air.
"Possible but highly unlikely.", Shikaku lazily replied. "This here is one of the ten murders that happened all over the village, in less than twenty seconds of each other."
Jiraya instantly thought of Itsuki and pressed on, "So from the looks they were they killed simultaneously for culprits to escape before we could respond."
Shikaku shook his head, "At first it looks like that but every one of them died in the same way to a same unknown technique before they could respond." Pointing at the remaining lower body laying about a hundred meters from their location, Shikaku continued, "Everyone of them died while moving very fast, most likely a while in shunshin so it was impossible to be a simultaneous ambush. It was most likely to be a long-range earth-style jutsu that carried explosive notes of some kind fired by a single person. And according to my estimate, it came from right there." Shikaku pointed towards Hokage rock on the other side of the village.
Jiraya whistled, if it was true then whatever Jutsu Itsuki used, it was damn impressive. It didn't take much to connect the dots and figure out everyone killed was a Root Anbu. And if his guess was right, Shikaku too knew that.
"So any leads yet?" Jiraya asked carelessly, but on the inside, he wanted to keep Itsuki's involvement quiet.
"No, but I have sent an Inazuka member to find any sent at the location. I will start to cross-refer the DNA at..."
"That won't be necessary." A rough voice cut Shikaku. Turning around, Shikaku and Jiraya saw Danzo walking towards them. Shikaku gave a 'very' shallow bow to the advisor while Jiraya did not even bother.
"This investigation is being suspended until further notice," Danzo stated. Shikaku nodded, not even bothering to ask the reason behind the decision.
Danzo turned and disappeared.
"Well isn't he all sunshine and rainbows?" Jiraya laughed.
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Jiraya tried for hours but was not able to find Hokage. Seeing as the sun has risen, Jiraya decided to stealthily check-up Itsuki. 'Poor kid had been through a lot.'
Making way towards the office where Itsuki said to meet Itsuki, he noted that chaos in the village has mostly settled. The hospital was peaceful, with no extra traffic other than a few injured Anbu who were pursuing Itachi. Reaching the office, he remained invisible and knocked on the door in code.
The door opened and Itsuki stared right at him with dull grey eyes, completely disregarding his invisibility. For a moment, Jiraya's breath stilled. He felt something in Itsuki he never felt before. But in a moment the feelings are gone and Itsuki discretely gestured him to come in.
Jiraya entered a moderate-sized office and Itsuki activated privacy seals on the walls and sat on his chair. In front of him was a scroll that contained various sealing formulas and calculations.
"Are you alright kid?" Jiraya softly asked.
Itsuki nodded. But the bags under his dull eyes, as opposed to their usual vibrant grey, told another story. Kid witnessed a massacre and performed his first kills, he was definitely not okay.
Jiraya was never good with sentimental stuff, so he just stood there like an idiot, not knowing what to do, watching Itsuki calculating some complex sealing formula.
Itsuki then placed the scroll in front of Jiraya and told him to check it. Just a look and Jiraya knew he was looking at one of the most complicated pieces of sealing he ever laid eyes on. These seals were pieces of art!
"What are these? These are amazing but if I am not wrong, these are just chakra storage seals" Jiraya questioned in bewilderment. Chakra storage seals are not easy but neither are they a challenge to seals expert like Itsuki. Unless...
"Those are applied to the body are they not? They are impromptu strength of hundred seals!"
While chakra storage seals are easy, none could directly replenish the user's chakra like the strength of a hundred seal, neither has storage capacity and ease of transfer even nearing it. But if Itsuki was trying to accomplish was successful, will be able to create an even more terrifying seal.
Itsuki smiled, pointing at the crescent moon shaped silver seal diagram, he explained, "This is Yin seal, which stores Yin chakra like Tsunade-sama stores it in her Strength of the hundred seal." Then pointing at a diagram of an orange circular seal, Itsuki continued, "And this is Yang seal, to store yang chakra."
Jiraya put down the scroll, trying hard to not admire the work in front of him. Scowling Jiraya asked, "What do you want? Don't deny it, you would not have dangled these in front of me if you did not need my help with something. Out with it."
Itsuki did not look phased at all for being busted and simply said, "I want you to run an off the record's mission for me."
"What is the mission?"
"Well, I want to deliver some important Medical-ninjutsu scrolls to Tsunade-sama and get her response to them." Itsuki nonchalantly replied.
Jiraya gulped. He did not want to meet Tsunade. The last time he got enough beating, and she has a long memory. But perhaps he could get Itsuki a favor this time as well as get to study his amazing creations. But he still pressed on.
"And my reward?" Jiraya cheekily asked.
Itsuki took out another scroll and placed it in front of him.
"Perhaps a jutsu capable of killing from five miles away is enough. Don't deny, I could sense your curiosity since you entered my office, you want to know how I killed those Root Anbu."
'Damn him and his ability to sense emotions' Jiraya internally complained. But he was curious, he can't deny it.
But he will not take payment from someone who has done so much for him. Pushing back scroll towards Itsuki, Jiraya replied, "I admit I am curious. But such a powerful Justu as payment will not sit well with me."
Itsuki shook his head, "My jutsu is not that powerful as you think and neither is it complete." Pulling out a scroll, he released two metal skewer shaped arrows and handed them to Jiraya.
Jiraya looked at the black, oddly shaped arrows and frowned. From the weight, he could not guess what metal it and seals confused him even more. Target seal? How was that supposed to work?
Itsuki pulled out a bow and placed it in front of him and started to explain, "This bow here is reinforced and can propel those arrows at three times the speed of sound. The rune seal at the middle makes it silent even at that speed and encountering virtually no resistance. And with my sensing and jutsu, I can lock onto a chakra signature I want to target and fire."
Jiraya stilled, this could be a terrifying technique, at least S-Rank. He looked at Itsuki who snorted at his expression, "It is not without its problems.", Pointing at the target seal in arrow he continued, "Do you know how this works. I fire at the targeted chakra while the arrow corrects its path two ways, one, I have to consciously control the arrow towards the target in its flight, and second, it automatically moves towards the targeted chakra. But both methods have problems, first arrow moves three times the speed of sound, just to put in perspective, that is just over a kilometer in a second! How am I to control an arrow at that speed to hit a target miles away? But targeting the chakra of a Ninja, even more difficult. A ninja usually suppresses the chakra leaking out of their body at all times, I can sense the but not the targeting seal. And if someone uses ninjutsu or even a standard academy clone, targeting seal will confuse and miss the target."
"And you underestimate a ninja's instincts. From a mile away, even if no one heard it coming, but it still has chakra. As it is now, hitting a stationary join from a mile away is next to impossible. That's why I devised this technique for a medium-range to go along with stealth techniques."
Jiraya carefully thought about what Itsuki said and more specifically what he did not say. Not capable of killing a jonin from more than a mile away but Jonin were not radishes that grew in the field. A jonin is among the most elite ninjas of the village, something every ninja aspires to become. It also means that while he could not kill a Jonin, he can kill everyone below that rank.
Jiraya examined the bow and noticed tiny cracks along with the entire structure despite being reinforced by seals and marveled at just how much strength was needed to even pull this damn thing. But one question remained in his mind, how was he even able to kill an entire squad if this jutsu was that difficult to pull off?
Itsuki sensing his confusion replied "Simple, they were in shunshin and hence moving in a predictable straight line and constant speed, and their chakra was not suppressed, making them sitting, glowing ducks to target seal. Moreover, shunshin gives you tunnel vision, they simply did not see it coming."
Jiraya nodded but understood Itsuki was deliberately downplaying the jutsu. Moreover, it was an incomplete version. Jiraya shuddered, he did not want to see a complete version if just an incomplete version is so terrifying. Suddenly he remembered Minato when he killed the entire army in seconds using Flying Raijin and the conversation he had with him over sake at night after that. He never developed Flying Raijin further after that.
He decided to take the Jutsu along with the bow and remaining arrows as mission payment even if only for safekeeping, Itsuki, as he was right now, will never be able to complete the jutsu, not without being constantly reminded about his first kills.
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Itsuki watched Jiraya leave and not long after that, he heard knocking on the door and Captain Kito entered his office. Itsuki put on a genjutsu on his face to hide his tiredness. As he was right now he could not even muster the energy to smile and let the genjutsu do it for him.
"Itsuki, the girl you brought, she has some complications and I thought it was appropriate that you diagnose her."
I nodded. It was just standard procedure as patients brought by medics were usually treated by the said medic and despite being a senior medic, I still needed experience with rarer conditions.
Reaching a cradle, I saw the tiny girl I saved and raised my hands to perform diagnostic techniques but I found myself holding a bow.
A bow covered in red-warm blood.
I hastily withdraw my hand and check for blood on my hands.
Kito looked at Itsuki with worry. Itsuki was not behaving like himself.
"Captain, perhaps can you perform this diagnosis?" Itsuki asked, still a little out of it.
"Ok, but are you fine?" Kito asked. This was the first time Itsuki ever declined a request to help.
"I am okay, it's just my hands feel filthy."
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Author Notes:
At first, I wanted the bow to remain Itsuki's temporary weapon and wanted to replace it later but while calculating speed, momentum, and hypothetical reaction time of arrow fired at mark 3, I kind of got carried away, and as comments pointed out, kind of made it overpowered. At first, I wanted to keep it weak but reasoning did not stick. And the idea of sniping Madara from miles away was too tempting.
So now, I plan to make it even more overpowered, like Flying Raijin (Flying Thunder God) kind of overpowered. And I kind of realized later that not even most missiles travel at Mark 3.
But that will be much later in the story. Currently, Itsuki has no thoughts of picking up a bow but when he does, I plan to make it a major plot point.
And as always, Thnx for the comments.