บท 16: Chapter 16: Sound Ninjas
The next day arrived. Kuzo was sitting in a meditative position, forming a modified hand seal while looking at an eagle. He then thought, 'Transfer.'
All of a sudden, his view changed when he put his consciousness inside the eagle. He could feel his new body, his wings, and he flapped them.
'Best way to spy around.'
By far, the Yamanaka Clan jutsus could be considered his best jutsus so far. Kuzo missed Konoha a bit, and he decided to visit it. In half an hour, he reached it. Flying was way faster than running. Soon, he found himself standing on the walls of Konoha — as the eagle.
Konoha's barrier, designed to detect strange chakra signatures, wouldn't be able to do a thing about the eagle. If the Yamanaka clan guards were alerted by the new chakra, they would assume it was of an animal. If somehow they could sense Kuzo, then they wouldn't do a thing since Kuzo's chakra signature was registered. It meant that he could come and leave the village as he pleased, which he did.
He flew around, found some of his favorite food shops, and stole his favorite barbecue. It was very funny to see the shop owner cursing at the eagle.
'I have to be careful. Any damage the eagle receives would transfer to my original body.'
On the good hand, if he saw any attack before it could happen, he could instantly get back into his original body.
Kuzo flapped his wing and went to his house, originally. He wondered what the family of the original body's owner thought about him going missing all of a sudden. But he guessed that the Hokage already told them that Kuzo was on a mission.
Just as he was about to enter the house, he saw a man in an Anbu mask sitting by the tree at their backyard. The man turned his head to the eagle. For some reason, Kuzo could tell that this man didn't trust the eagle so much. It quickly reached with its hand toward the eagle.
-x-X-x-
Kuzo opened his eyes widely, finding himself back at En No's house. He took a few deep breaths. He felt like waking up from a long-ass nightmare. Kuzo couldn't help but feel happy that he dispelled the ninjutsu before getting caught by the Anbu.
He wondered though to which band the Anbu belonged. It could be the Root. It could be the black ops that worked for the Hokage.
Kuzo looked at his hands and clenched them. He felt more secure knowing that he was in his original body with all of his jutsus and all.
"Master! Look!." Came Hotaru's voice.
Kuzo tilted his head and got out of his residence. "Master?" he felt weird hearing Hotaru saying that.
But when he looked, he found her standing on the water and running.
'She's a quick learner. And she mastered it in such a short time. It's only midnight.'
Hotaru sounded truly happy as she ran around. When she saw him, Hotaru smiled and ran toward him. Her footsteps were faster than before. "I've mastered it, master."
"Just call me Kuzo… Kuzo-sama would feel nice." Kuzo said. He didn't like formalities too much. Not when he was a guest in someone else's house.
"But you taught me, no?"
"It's just a name. Don't sweat over it." Kuzo said. He looked at Hotaru. From the sense she was giving, she still had plenty of chakra.
"Alright." She nodded. "So, what's next?"
"What do you mean by what's next?"
"I mean it. What are you going to teach me?"
She was eager to learn. After all, by teaching her, he was paying rent to stay there.
Kuzo didn't mind. According to the anime, this girl should have water affinity chakra. Kuzo had a few water release jutsus.
"Try repeating these hand seals. When you find the right chakra ratio, you will do it." Kuzo then demonstrated the water stream jutsu, creating a stream of water out of the lake. And then out of his mouth. "Once you master it, you'll be able to create variations on your own."
"Variations?"
"I'm on my way to figuring some out. Anyway, don't bother me until you master this." Kuzo said before jumping into the lake. It was quite fun to spend time teaching someone. But he didn't forget his primary goal. After a little warm-up, he would go outside and hunt.
It didn't matter if he chased a missing nin or a furious-looking animal. He would get the physical power from the latter anyway.
"Okay. See you when I do it," She said, before weaving the same hand signs. Alas, it didn't work for her the first time. She kept repeating, but nothing came out of her mouth. Kuzo had a slight smile before he went back to his training to master his power, also, to figure out the variations of the jutsus he already had.
After a few hours passed, Kuzo finished creating a few variations of the jutsus he had. Some variations were useless, like the water ball jutsu. But on the other hand, water birds, fire bombs, and water walls were great to use.
After some time, Kuzo fell to his knee and held his hand.
A sensation of carving was taking over him.
'Kill… Kill…. Kill everyone here!' It wasn't him who thought like this.
It was as if the Gluttony Seal was demanding some sacrifices, something to taste. It had been quite some time since he chased after something or someone.
'No.' He told himself as he took a few deep breaths in. He looked at the Gluttony Seal in his hand. 'I know this feeling. It's like your body demanding sex. I spent almost a decade winning No Nuts November, and I didn't lose. You're not stronger than my penis; don't even try to control me.'
When Kuzo was done calming himself from his urges, he was invited to have lunch with En No and Tonbee. Hotaru was still busy training, so she didn't have time to join.
Kuzo had to say, he was never happier to have lunch.
"You've got a large appetite." En No commented on Kuzo.
"My family used to say so." Kuzo nodded. He stuffed as much food as he could get. After all, he was craving.
"But I can sense that you are hungry for something else." En No said.
Now, this could have a double meaning. One would make En No a creep, and one would make him a wise old man.
"If it's the battle you mean, then yes." Kuzo nodded.
"What else could I mean?" En No asked.
'He is so innocent for an old man.' Kuzo thought, then he said. "Just a slang people my age use."
"I see. Good, good. Eat more then, don't be shy."
"I wasn't planning." Kuzo said, grabbing the rice and shoving it into his mouth.
En No smiled. "By the way, I haven't thanked you for taking the time to teach my granddaughter."
Kuzo nodded, "The least I can do."
"So, what do you think about her?" asked En No.
"She's talented and has a bright future ahead of her. With a little bit of effort, she could make it to Jonin in a few years," Kuzo said. "Maybe even master your legendary jutsu."
"This kid doesn't get it," Tonbee commented.
Kuzo didn't hear and asked again, "Excuse me? Didn't hear you."
"I said this kid is doing more for a guest. Thank you," Tonbee smiled.
"You're welcome," Kuzo said as he went back to eating.
Once he was done, he stood up, stretched his arms up, and said, "I'm going to hunt. Do you guys prefer some kind of animal or something to get back on my way?"
These guys lived in a hidden fortress. They don't necessarily have everything they need.
Tonbee replied, "Actually, if you don't mind, I need you to buy some groceries for me and find a few herbs on the way. And if you find a wild boar, it would be great." Then Tonbee handed him a few banknotes.
"By the way, guys, how do you make money?" Kuzo asked.
"Master Gyoja made a fortune in the war. As a clan leader, he is wealthy."
"But money can't buy youth," Gyoja said, "or bring the dead back."
"I know." Kuzo put the banknotes back into his pocket and walked out of the house. He turned his head to see Hotaru spitting water out of her mouth. She was just on her way to perfect the jutsu, which was good. Kuzo now felt why it was fun to teach someone talented. It would make you feel like you were an amazing teacher, and surely, it boosted one's ego.
Once Kuzo got out of the formation range, his sensory ability had a wider range.
Four strong dark chakras were a few miles away. They were above your average Chunin and were nearer to Jonin-level chakra.
Kuzo stopped for a second.
Who were these guys? He hadn't sensed them when he had been at Danzo's facility. But he could tell that they weren't warm people.
Like you could tell if a person is acting nice from their facial expression, you could tell the same from the chakra signature, for the personality affects the chakra signature like it would affect one's facial expression.
He looked at the sky, finding a nearby hawk. He then created one shadow clone. Since he was about to do a quick scan, he didn't mind spending a bit of extra chakra.
'Mind Transfer Jutsu.' The clone did the jutsu, and then it fell. Kuzo held the clone before it would hit its head on the ground.
The hawk then flew in the direction he sensed chakra. A few minutes later, the clone popped into smoke. Kuzo had a vision on the back of his head.
Four shinobis, with one of them who wore a unique headband that had a musical note on it. And they were on the move in this direction.
Sound Ninjas.
He was now certain; these four were Orochimaru's bodyguards.
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