Capítulo 25: Fear
Summer vacation quickly passed, and today it was coming to an end.
I woke up as usual and began my routine. I ate a snack, did some Kenjutsu practice, some practice with the three basic Jutsu, and some Genjtusu practice on my cat.
Since I started actively using it in fights, my Genjutsu has improved by leaps and bounds. The constructs I can make are stable and believable, and it's been the determinant of many of my battles.
Seeing its usefulness, I decided to spend more time polishing it, so that one day I would be able to cast fierce Genjutsus with the point of a finger.
My skills with the katana had been rising considerably as well. I was no slouch with the tanto either, but since I'd be switching to a katana, I mainly focused my attention on it. Though, no matter how proficient I am during practice, I'll only really be able to test out my skill during a real battle and a real sword.
I am excited for that day to come.
My chakra levels had already risen to Chunin level, meaning that before I graduate, I should be able to have Jonin-level chakra. My chakra levels were absurd because I don't believe even Sasuke had that level of chakra fresh from the academy.
The thing with the Uchiha, people underestimate how much chakra they have. They are the inheritors of the Yin aspect of the Sage of Six Paths, since they are the descendants of Indra, meaning that their chakra is enormous.
So having more chakra than Sasuke, the reincarnation of Indra, was extraordinary and strengthened my thoughts that I had the bloodline of a Clan.
Otherwise, it was simply not possible. An ordinary civilian whose chakra reserves could keep up with the reincarnations of Indra and Ashura is unheard of.
Because I had Earth and Water chakra natures, I was certain that I must be a Senju.
The Senju, the rivals to the Uchiha, had enhanced life force, healing, and chakra, all aspects that I fit. They were also mostly born with an affinity for Water and Earth chakra natures, just like the Uchiha were born with more affinity towards Fire chakra nature.
The only other clan I could think of that I could fit into was the Uzumaki. Yet, neither of my parents had the signature red hair belonging to the Uzumaki.
Also, I knew almost all of the surviving Uzumaki people from the show, yet the show never went into depth about the Senju's extinction.
The Senju were also talented in all fields of ninja, Taijutsu, Kenjutsu, Genjutsu, and Ninjutsu. The name Senju translates into thousand, which is supposed to symbolize the number of areas the Senju clan specializes in. I was talented in many areas too, which is why I am so reluctant to give up pursuing any of my paths.
Combining all these factors, I believed that I was of the Senju bloodline, yet I didn't know which of my parents was a descendant of the Senju.
Once I had access to my parent's information, I would be sure to investigate this.
After I mulled over the matter, I began training. First, I went to the Forest of Death and practiced my Taijutsu. No matter what part of the plotline, Taijutsu was used in every fight, showing how important it is in the Ninja world. I could never skip out on Taijutsu training.
After I finished the Taijutsu, I started walking around looking for a pond I knew was around this area. After finding it, I began practicing my chakra control.
It has been about three months since I started practicing my chakra control on the pond, and I could already run across and stand on my hand. The only training I could with the pond now was by making the water chaotic and hopping with one hand. I had to be sure I could stand on the water, no matter what happened.
After doing that for about thirty minutes, I stopped the training early since there was simply no more need.
Even when the water was chaotic, and I was hopping with one foot, my chakra control couldn't be enhanced any further using the Water-Walk Technique. The point of the exercise was to emit as little chakra as possible and constantly change it according to the waves. Since I was doing that, there was no reason to continue the technique.
The more chakra control I had, the more powerful techniques I could use. There were only a few limiters on why a ninja couldn't use a technique.
First was their state of mind. As I've mentioned before, the mind has put a lock on the body, keeping them from using too much chakra at one time so that they don't die from chakra exhaustion. I have already overcome this lock, so there was no need to worry about that.
The second was the amount of chakra they had. If they didn't have enough chakra to do the technique, it either will be too weak or fail. The amount of chakra I had was decent, and I could do most B-rank jutsu now.
Thirdly, their body. If the ninja didn't have chakra coils strong enough to handle the surge of chakra, their body would implode and suffer permanent injuries. Another aspect of the body was stamina. A ninja had to have enough physical energy because every Jutsu used up a ninja's physical energy. My body was sufficiently trained, and my chakra coils were sturdy, so I didn't have to worry about either.
Lastly was chakra control. The chakra control of a ninja was the crucial determinant of how strong a technique they could cast. Without sufficient chakra control, the Jutsu has the chance of imploding in their body, coming out unstable or even failing altogether.
Chakra control also determined how swiftly a technique is cast, and how much balance the chakra for the Jutsu has. A perfect Jutsu constitutes Yin and Yang energy perfectly balanced, only excluding Jutsu that explicitly says otherwise.
I had trained my chakra control to the point of most average experienced ninja, but now I needed a way to develop it even further. The only way I could think of for the moment was through constant usage of Jutsu so that I could reach that balance.
Reaching that thought, I started the next stage of my training, Jutsu training.
I first cast the Water Release: Gunshot Jutsu, swirling the chakra inside my body and ejecting it from my mouth. The car-sized water bullet came out and traveled to the pond, exploding. That technique alone took more than 20% of my chakra since I had only possessed Chunin levels of chakra reserves. The water splattered into the air, and I started the next Jutsu, the Hiding in Mist Technique.
Using the water that splashed into the atmosphere, the chakra-rich fog started gathering in the atmosphere, and it eventually reached a range of 15 meters all around me.
I tried not to waste chakra while doing Jutsu. For the Hiding in Mist Technique, I only wasted a sliver of chakra, while for the Water Release: Gunshot, I wasted a decent amount. At least enough chakra to make a head-sized bullet.
It was not a lot compared to the size of a car, but considering I would cast the technique more than once, I couldn't afford to waste too much chakra.
I made the Ram seal and started sensing the area with the mist around me. Sensing within the fog was very useful for my sensory training since the area around me was so rich with chakra that I had to focus on finding a specific chakra signature.
While sensing, I had to distinguish the area around me, filled with chakra, and the chakra signatures within it. I also had to focus on keeping the Hiding in Mist Technique active while sensing, so I was training my ability to multitask.
After sensing for about ten minutes, my chakra reserves hit the halfway mark as a small headache assaulted me. It didn't hurt, but it let me know that I was starting to run out of chakra.
I stopped sensing and let the Hiding in Mist Technique dissipate. After resting for a bit, I started my training from the top.
Except for this time, instead of training my chakra control, I trained my Kenjutsu on wild animals that I found. I walked around the forest looking for animals, and once I found one would battle it using only my Kenjutsu. No Ninjutsu, no Genjutsu, just pure sword skills.
I now put myself at High Genin strength, so most of the animals in the forest were too weak for me to battle. The animals were only meant to test Genin and nothing more. I needed to find a new training ground at this point.
I could leave that issue for later, though.
After finishing my Kenjutsu training, I started Jutsu training again. The cycle continued for a few hours until I got hungry. After that, I went back into the Village and went to Ichiraku's.
People still stared and whispered about me, though after seeing me every day for months they stopped worrying too much. Now, they just thought I had abusive parents or something.
Arriving at Ichiraku, I heard a boisterous atmosphere from within and found Naruto, Shikamaru, and Choji all eating.
"Hey, guys! How's it going?"
"Oh hey, it's Aizen!"
"Hey, Aizen."
"Did you come back from training?"
"Yeah, I just came to eat since I was hungry. What have you guys been up to all day?"
"Sigh, the same thing. We just hung out and walked around."
Taking a seat, I told Teuchi,
"Two extra large miso ramen, please."
"Coming right up, Aizen."
After chatting a bit, the food came and I lost myself in the taste again. I wasn't sure how everyone in the Village wasn't addicted to this heavenly food. It was delicious, cheap, and quick.
After we finished eating, I put my training on hold to hang out with them. I hadn't seen them much during summer vacation, and I figured that taking some time off wouldn't be too bad.
"So, what do you guys want to do?"
"Why don't we go to your house and play some card games, Aizen?"
"Ahh, my house is messy right now. Let's go to Shikamaru's house instead."
My house wasn't messy, but I figured I'd rather hang out outside than in my home.
"Troublesome. All right."
"Nice! And then we can walk home together, believe it!"
"Yeah, we will, Naruto."
After making our way to Shikamaru's house, a surprised Yoshino greeted us at the door.
"Oh, Shikamaru? Why are you here so early?"
She looked around until she saw me, at which time her expression changed into a worried one as she asked
"Aizen! What happened to you? Are you ok??"
"Yes, Mrs. Nara. I'm fine. Just some training scars."
"Training scars?"
At this point, Shikaku came to the door to see who was there, and hearing his wife, looked at me. His expression didn't change, but his eyes did linger upon my scars for a bit.
"Must have been some training. Anyway, why don't you guys come inside and have dinner with us?"
Naruto and Choji jumped at the idea, even though we just ate.
I walked inside after taking my shoes off.
"It smells delicious, Mrs. Nara."
"Thank you, Aizen."
"Mom, I don't think I'm going to eat. We just ate, after all."
She seemed to summon the pan from another dimension because it came out of nowhere.
"You don't want to eat my cooking, Shikamaru?"
Sweating bullets, Shikamaru came to a crossroads in his life. The choices consisted of these: live, or die.
"Nono, of course, I'm going to eat your cooking, mom! It smells so delicious that my appetite came back to me!"
"That's good, Shikamaru. You have to grow up to be big and strong, after all."
The pan went back to... wherever it came from, and we all sat at the dinner table to eat.
Even though I was a little full from the two extra large miso ramen, I decided to suck it up a bit lest I end up like Shikamaru.
"So, Aizen, how have you been these past few years? I haven't seen you since we... went together to the station."
"Yes, it has been a long time, Mr. Shikaku. I've been very well, mostly training."
"I see. I trust that you're better now?"
Seeing me put on a confused expression, he elaborated
"Since the incident?"
That was what he was referring to. I don't think much about the woman anymore, to be honest. I've accepted for a while now that my hands will become stained in blood, that was simply the job I was taking. Now that I threw myself into training and got more powerful, ordinary civilian lives seemed much more fragile. Also, the constant killing of random wild animals was very numbing. Sure, killing animals wasn't the same as killing humans, but the idea was the same.
I didn't think killing animals should be so different than killing humans. They were both lives and no matter which you were taking that life away.
Doing that so many times has long numbed me from the emotions I once held from killing that woman.
"Yes, Mr. Shikaku. I've gotten much better since that time. Your words helped me very much, and I would like to thank you again."
Of course, I couldn't say all that out loud. Even I recognized that my thoughts were unnatural for a simple nine-year-old. I was more than nine, but even then, my thoughts were becoming a little disturbing. Though, I suppose that was the side effect of constant slaughtering and training to be a killer.
"I only said what you needed to hear, Aizen. I'm glad you're doing better, though."
After we finished eating, Shikamaru, Choji, Naruto, and I all headed into Shikamaru's room to play cards.
After introducing them to some modern games from my world, it's safe to say that they had gotten addicted. There were still good games that were invented here, but the games I introduced added a little variety.
This time, we played Texas Hold'em. Shikamaru was the hardest to read since he kept that blank lazy expression on his face most of the time. Naruto and Choji were significantly easier, they were both people who wore their hearts on their sleeves after all.
By the end of the day, Shikamaru had won the most, while I came in a close second. Shikamaru had won all of Choji's money, while I had won all of Naruto's.
They were both sulking at their losses.
"All right, it's getting pretty late, Naruto. We should start heading home."
"All right. I'll see you guys tomorrow then. Bye-bye!"
"Bye, Naruto! Bye, Aizen!"
"Bye, Naruto. See you tomorrow, Aizen."
We made our way downstairs and bid farewell to Shikaku and Yoshino too. Shikaku offered to take us home, but I refused. That woman was an isolated incident, and though people might stare and whisper at us, they never physically confronted us again.
Walking home next to Naruto was vastly different than when I walked home by myself. The boy was a bundle of energy, and he had a way of drawing you into his atmosphere.
"So, Naruto, I heard you were training with Lee a bit. What brought that on?"
"Lee is really cool! He doesn't scream in pain no matter how much it hurts, and he doesn't even stop to take a break! I don't know, seeing him do all that, made my blood boil! You know?"
"Yeah, Naruto, I know exactly what you mean. When I first met Lee I was like that too."
"Plus, you have to be strong to be Hokage right? That means if I keep training like this, I'll be so strong that they'll have no choice but to make me Hokage! Believe it!"
"Yeah yeah, Naruto. You have to get that strong in the first place."
"Hmph, you'll see. The way I'm training, I'll be Hokage in no time!"
At that point, our apartment building came into view and we parted ways.
As I was walking toward my apartment, something in my peripheral vision suddenly moved. Looking back, I saw that it was a masked man. The mask looked like a mask, and it only had two dark black holes where the eyes were and a small slit where the mouth was. There was also a deep red paint, the color of blood, making a swirl in the middle of the mask.
"Aizen Sosuke. Lord Danzo requests for your obedience in visiting him."
"Who? And who are you?"
Even though I knew full well who he was, I couldn't just go with this Root ninja instantly. That would seem too suspicious. I took a fighting position and got ready for a battle.
"That's not for you to know. Come with me."
"I'm not going wi--"
A fist hit my stomach before I could continue talking. I coughed up saliva as I slid to the ground in pain. I didn't know what I could do. He was vastly stronger, given that he could punch me without me even reacting. Plus, I couldn't run away from him. That wouldn't solve anything either, Danzo would start to hunt me down then.
I nodded at the man, and he promptly put a hand on me and started flashing away.
I felt my surroundings blur, and in a short while, we reached Danzo's hideout. Letting go of me, I started wobbling a bit before getting my bearings.
The technique had me moving so fast that I couldn't even comprehend what was happening around me, it was all just blurs. The only short periods of requisites I had were when the man also stopped to look at his surroundings.
The man started walking forward as I followed him.
To say I wasn't scared would be a lie. Danzo treasured his secrecy like his life, and to have me come here only implied that he wasn't planning on letting me leave. I was too weak to even try to run in the first place. My fate was most likely already decided.
At my apartment, I left a note addressed to my friends about my situation. The note only mentioned that if I didn't come back in a week, I was probably taken by somebody. I couldn't explain much else since it would be questionable how I even knew about Danzo then. The note is hidden away in a deck of cards, specifically for my friends to find it.
I wrote the letter a while back, once I realized how high-profile I was. I thought that by not hanging out with Naruto or the Clan heirs I would go back to being a low-profile orphan, but I was too hopeful.
We kept walking in the dark until we got to a staircase when we started descending it. Around me, I could sense multiple people keeping watch. I didn't physically see or sense them with my chakra, but I could feel their gaze land on my body.
Eventually, we reached the bottom of the stairs. The man stopped next to them and motioned for me to continue. I kept walking forward until I got to a desk with a man sitting on it. The man, Danzo, had dark black hair and bandages wrapped around his forehead and the right side of his face. A dark black coat covered the right side of his body, while a white shirt was underneath that.
His eye looked at me, cold and indifferent. He opened his mouth and a rough raspy voice came out,
"Aizen Sosuke. An orphan born to Genin Tenkan Sosuke and Toma Sosuke. Currently nine years and five months old. Trains every day in the Forest of Death, also friends with multiple clan heirs such as Shikamaru Nara and Choji Akimichi. Currently has high Genin to low Chunin power."
As he listed all my characteristics, I grew more regretful of my actions. He has been monitoring me for a long, but I never knew any of this. He was secretly watching me, and I incorrectly thought that I was protected because I was friends with a couple of kids.
No. In front of power, I was simply lying to myself. If Danzo had decided to kidnap me, no one could stop him. I wasn't influential enough to Hiruzen or any of the Clan Heads for them to keep watch on me 24/7. Sure, someone would notice my disappearance, but what did that matter if I was already gone?
"Works hard whenever he can, talented in all fields of a shinobi. Prefers to use Genjutsu and Taijutsu, yet doesn't let himself slack on any other technique. Tell me, Aizen Sosuke, why are you hanging around Naruto Uzumaki, the jinchuriki of Konoha?"
He finally got to the main point. At this point, I was practically shitting my pants. I was sure there was one end to all of this, me getting brainwashed and becoming brain-dead.
I tried my best to remain calm, though. I couldn't break composure. If there was a single possibility in which I would escape with my mind intact, it was because I kept calm and figured something out.
"Jinchuriki? I'm sorry sir, but I don't know what you're referring to. I'm friends with Naruto because he approached me and I like him."
He merely kept glancing at me, as if waiting for me to tell the actual truth.
I didn't budge, though. I simply stared at him in confusion back.
BANG.
Someone hit my head and I found myself getting launched across the room. Before I could react, a hand forced its way inside my mouth and grabbed my tongue.
A searing white hot pain came from my tongue.
"AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"
The pain kept up until I kicked whoever was grabbing my tongue. Looking up, I saw Danzo a few feet away from me with his arm up.
"Oh? You have some fight in you huh? I'll be sure to take that into account. I'll get the truth from you eventually, whoever you are."
Before I could say anything, the world went dark as a fist reached my head...
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