This is actually a thing? I think I've heard of them before in Fannon, you know the Honor Guard of the Hokage or something, but I didn't realise they'd oh. Wait. You mean sign up to be a bodyguard while MINATO's the Hokage right? Learn it that way, that's not a bad idea actually. Although I foresee one problem that sticks out among them all.
Minato's the Hokage right, so everyone's gonna want to suck up to him because you know, the village leader right? Why would he pick Hiroshi for a candidate over someone else who's more experienced, and more quote on quote, trust worthy than a clan child? Anyway, that's something to discuss later I guess. You know, expectations and all that.
Now we move onto @A/N, lordy. I like you mate, I really do.
Canonically it is a mixture of both physical abilities, chakra enhancement, and 'techniques' of external enhancement.
Like, Tsunade could smash rocks with pure physical force, thanks to building up her strength and medical techniques to keep it at pretty much perfect levels, but she could also boost it with perfect chakra enhancement, and on top of that she has a method of gathering chakra outside and expelling it at the absolute perfect moment and in the precise way to obtain god-like impacts.
Physically they can get very strong, and chakra enhancements and techniques in a variety of ways act as force multipliers and/or boosts or however you wish to call it.
Canonically, Canonically. As fan-fiction writers, we reserve the right to tell Cannon to go sit in a corner and look sad whenever we so desire it. That's why I'd said earlier that it depended on how we wanted to roll it.
Really, at the end of the day we just have to roll with what makes the most sense to us and what we can work with in conjunction with the story and plot, yadda yadda yadda. You get the idea. This is what we called the 'mixed' option. Where their stupid physical abilities could stem from which is as you've mentioned a mixture of physique and Chakra enhancement.
Now however, we could want to roll it a different way, so that they stupid physical actions could stem entirely from a physique with Chakra having little to nothing to do with it, which meant that Hiroshi would have a very difficult time copying or replicating those abilities.
Just a few lines here and there in the story about him deciding which attributes/stats/skills to favour and/or work at in his downtime for the next while would go a long way, and you can always shove a spoiler of his current stats as you go.
This is something we can actually look at in the next chapter, because he'll finally have a chance to sit down and decide for himself where is stats are going to be distributed instead of having to be spent to maintain his facade as a Prodigy.
He'll have to sit down and go 'oh wait, I can spend my points however I want, yay? Now where the hell do I want to put them.' Cue a debate about the pros and cons of his abilities along with how he could want to spend them. Not to mention however, that we also have Hiroshi now that he's out from under 'super scruitiny' from the Hyuuga to experiment some.
You know, with his inventory, and the system he's been placed in extensively. He could even attempt to see if he has an Options Menu.
Him not wanting to intrude in Kakashi's apprenticeship is just silly to me. Their Jounin could likely very easily agree to cross training sessions (especially with his foreknowledge of their relationship etc), not to mention occasional group training seems to be already planned for. Kushina could help Kakashi with seals, kenjutsu, and maybe barrier ninjutsu or something just as easily as Minato could help him with speed training, ninjutsu, and eliminating those pesky handseals.
Plus, he could offer the idea of training with and testing dangerous techniques through Shadow Clones. Wow, all of a sudden Minato has a lightning Rasengan, perfected Hiraishin far earlier, permanent perfect Sage Mode (whenever he learns it, through a shadow clone doing the work sealed inside him), and Kushina has a legion of crimson demons all with far better chakra control and who knows what ready to throw at enemies. Probably Rasenshuriken, thanks to her training with hundreds/thousands of clones.
Except, that's not how it works. I know, that's how it works but it's not. If that was the case then every Chakra tank in Konoha would've been deploed to an RnD Facility earlier with instructions on testing how technique work and making techniques usable.
The way I see it and this is backed up from the wiki it's like this.
From The Wiki said:
The user's chakra is evenly distributed among every clone, giving each clone an equal fraction of the user's overall power.
Which means that to create one clone, you take yourself and cut yourself in half. There are now two of you at 'half power'. Equaling when added together one 'whole' you... Now you want to create 3 clones. You take yourself, cut yourself into four pieces. 3 'quarters' for the clones and 1 for yourself so you don't you know, die from Chakra exhaustion.
You now have three clones at a quarter of your 'original' power and yourself left at a quarter tank. You see where I'm going with this?
But that's not all, I've a theory on how the memories are transferred back to the creator. It's shed back over the chakra the clone had. Which means that if a clone is doing a task that requires Chakra usages, it's effectivly using the 'memories' that it should be sending back to the creator on the technique.
Not to mention however, that Chakra will be lost in transmission from clone to original again unless they're like holding hands or within one meter of the clone. Now you see how problems can appropriate form this?
Incomplete tranmission of memories, lost in transmission in other words. Even then, simply living is using chakra but your body should be creating chakra on its own to counteract this, but clones don't do that. That's why they have a finite lifespan, they're slowly using up the chakra that's made them which lets me hit upon the next biggest problem with using clones.
Just to arbitrarily ascribe numbers to things because it make shit easier we'll use the cloning yourself into 4 example from earlier.
Only this time you have a 'mana' bar. You have 1000 Mana.
You clone yourself into 4, you have 250 Mana and so does each of your clones. You start 'regenerating' Mana at a rate faster than you're spending it just by standing there. So in a bit, you'll be at 260 Mana.
Only, your clones don't regenerate Mana. They slowly lose it to the strain of keeping a 'construct' which is their body functional.
In the time it takes you to reach 260 Mana your clones have lost Mana for simply existing.
Now how memories work into this? Again arbitrarily ascribing numbers to shit. Shall we say that when a clone falls below 'half' Mana that the memory transmission starts getting shaky. Because at that stage it's using the chakra that the memories should use as a vehicle to get back to you in sustaining itself OR on techniques and physical action because hey, when you make a clone it's usually in a fight.
So this means that a clone that fully exhausts itself, it's 'Mana' in combat will actually give you nothing in return for it popping, no memories will come to you because the vehicle the memories were meant to ride in, the 'chakra' isn't there. So they die with the clone.
Now I hear what you're saying, I can. But naruto does things different you might say. My response is because he actually has enough fucking chakra that the clones don't spawn with an even distribution of Chakra.
They spawn with enough chakra to be considered 'full' and that's it. A safety feature built into the Jutus so that clones aren't overloaded. You know, the Clone DaiBakuha (Or the Great Clone Explosion) Is the result of too much chakra being pumped into a clone.
So yeah, having explained all that I can now apply my thoughts and feelings on the matter to how they would work in training.
Training is usually physically and mentally taxing, draining and repetitive. All of which is good, its' meant to be but with clones, you have to have your clones keep an extremely sharp eye on they remaining chakra levels so that when they're reaching the 'danger' zone, or the chakra levels in which memory transmission starts to get fuzzy that it comes over to you and dispels itself.
In physical combat, the clones only need a solid hit to be dispelled, which means that even though Hiroshi and Kakashi are genin, they could feasibly dispel their shadow clone teacher which means that the chakra has to flow back to the creator, some is lost in transmission, and the creator is at a net down from creating it.
The creator will then probably make another one to replace it, again a loss if it happens again. Normal people can't handle that expenditure not to mention that each time they create a clone, they're halving what they have.
Some people this isn't a problem for, Chakra Tanks like Kushina and Naruto, Hiroshi even because he simply regenerates chakra at a fucking obscene rate compared to regular people. So, you end up in a rather wired area in using them for training. It's also why you can't really use them for training in the way you've described.
However, on the flip side, doing sedentary things like simply reading a book? Mate, you're fucking golden. No problems. Practicing calligraphy even, golden too. Well, kinda and sorta. Yes, you'll 'know' the movements but that's part muscle memory too.
TL;DR? Clones are awesome for book learning but not much for active and physical learning.
Now, that's MY OWN HEAD CANNON ON THE MATTER. Not Golums. Neither is it the direction the story will take in regards to them. Simple as. That's my opinion.
Not wanting to learn the other Jounin's specialities as well is very OOC for any Gamer, or really anyone in that situation. A few sentences about group training and bam, he'd have double the help for both him and Kakashi. Say, every second or third session together? Swap once a week? They are already testing them together, I would be absolutely shocked if they weren't already planning on doing this to some extent.
Again, this is dependent on the Jonin being willing to do it. They are in this case so I don't really have a foot to stand on, but you are seeing what I'm saying right? He'll push for them obviously but he doesn't want to be too open about it because that will make Kakashi realise he's been Manipulated.
I say this because it's mentioned that Hiroshi argued Kakashi to his side that having two Jonin, one each would be more beneficial when Kakashi wanted to be on a team with him right? Well, this is the same situation, only now we have a slight bit of trickery happening.
HIroshi's now got plans in motion to get them to train together so that they are a 'team' in all but name, but they have a side benfit. Another Jonin teacher. Because they're both apprentices under different Jonin who happen to be friends and who're willing to work together.
So, you end up with a team that has two apprentices and two Jonin on it instead. Kakashi get his wish, and Hiroshi gets his wish too. Kakashi's wish being a team, and Hiroshi's wish being two Jonin to teach them.
Anyway, I was a little skeptical about the premise (Hyuuga SI) and the irreverent attitude to start, not so much that there was any flaw at all to the story but that I'd read a lot of overdramatized 'Hyuuga slavery' stories and 'for the lulz avenger' stories. You absolutely shattered my expectations though- the Hyuuga are written as stuffy but human, the character is irreverant but reasonably cautious in where he expresses that, and overall the story just comes across as comedic but in a way that doesn't make me cringe. (Despite the puns. I like puns, but wow.)
Drake. Pity me okay? I'm the soundboard for those puns.
Every, Single, One. He tosses at me first and I have to listen to them. For instance, I remember one session where we sat down together for like four hours and worked on the story. Half way through Golum went to go find some puns. I had to listen to shitty puns for the rest of the two hours. FML.
Now then, as for your saying the Characters are good and nice to read about? That makes me fucking happy. I'm always pushing for more character interaction and growth. I mean, I love it when I read a story and I like the characters, or I find characters that aren't you know 2D, as in you can immediately tell what they're going to do when you simply read a few lines about them. Hopefully over the course of this story you can come to see Hiroshi as a human, a person living to the best that he can given what he's been given.
Kakashi too. Minato, Kushina, The Hokage, The Hyuuga, The Elders everyone. I want you to see them and in no way at all be able to call them 2D or Bland. This is my goal with the story, to make every character interesting and Unique in some way. I want the villains to be believable, the heroes to be heroic and the puns to be so bad you throw up.
The best thing about Hiroshi is that he isn't some calculating demigod or an unmotivated idiot. He's a bit more reckless than is probably wise, but in a way that's believable, and you definitely get a sense of personality from him. He's not afraid to have fun, and it helps the reader have fun.
Warning, Large post.
It may contain opinions and Head-Cannon that might not mesh with your own.
This is actually a thing? I think I've heard of them before in Fannon, you know the Honor Guard of the Hokage or something, but I didn't realise they'd oh. Wait. You mean sign up to be a bodyguard while MINATO's the Hokage right? Learn it that way, that's not a bad idea actually. Although I foresee one problem that sticks out among them all.
Minato's the Hokage right, so everyone's gonna want to suck up to him because you know, the village leader right? Why would he pick Hiroshi for a candidate over someone else who's more experienced, and more quote on quote, trust worthy than a clan child? Anyway, that's something to discuss later I guess. You know, expectations and all that.
Now we move onto @A/N, lordy. I like you mate, I really do.
Canonically, Canonically. As fan-fiction writers, we reserve the right to tell Cannon to go sit in a corner and look sad whenever we so desire it. That's why I'd said earlier that it depended on how we wanted to roll it.
Really, at the end of the day we just have to roll with what makes the most sense to us and what we can work with in conjunction with the story and plot, yadda yadda yadda. You get the idea. This is what we called the 'mixed' option. Where their stupid physical abilities could stem from which is as you've mentioned a mixture of physique and Chakra enhancement.
Now however, we could want to roll it a different way, so that they stupid physical actions could stem entirely from a physique with Chakra having little to nothing to do with it, which meant that Hiroshi would have a very difficult time copying or replicating those abilities.
This is something we can actually look at in the next chapter, because he'll finally have a chance to sit down and decide for himself where is stats are going to be distributed instead of having to be spent to maintain his facade as a Prodigy.
He'll have to sit down and go 'oh wait, I can spend my points however I want, yay? Now where the hell do I want to put them.' Cue a debate about the pros and cons of his abilities along with how he could want to spend them. Not to mention however, that we also have Hiroshi now that he's out from under 'super scruitiny' from the Hyuuga to experiment some.
You know, with his inventory, and the system he's been placed in extensively. He could even attempt to see if he has an Options Menu.
Except, that's not how it works. I know, that's how it works but it's not. If that was the case then every Chakra tank in Konoha would've been deploed to an RnD Facility earlier with instructions on testing how technique work and making techniques usable.
The way I see it and this is backed up from the wiki it's like this.
Which means that to create one clone, you take yourself and cut yourself in half. There are now two of you at 'half power'. Equaling when added together one 'whole' you... Now you want to create 3 clones. You take yourself, cut yourself into four pieces. 3 'quarters' for the clones and 1 for yourself so you don't you know, die from Chakra exhaustion.
You now have three clones at a quarter of your 'original' power and yourself left at a quarter tank. You see where I'm going with this?
But that's not all, I've a theory on how the memories are transferred back to the creator. It's shed back over the chakra the clone had. Which means that if a clone is doing a task that requires Chakra usages, it's effectivly using the 'memories' that it should be sending back to the creator on the technique.
Not to mention however, that Chakra will be lost in transmission from clone to original again unless they're like holding hands or within one meter of the clone. Now you see how problems can appropriate form this?
Incomplete tranmission of memories, lost in transmission in other words. Even then, simply living is using chakra but your body should be creating chakra on its own to counteract this, but clones don't do that. That's why they have a finite lifespan, they're slowly using up the chakra that's made them which lets me hit upon the next biggest problem with using clones.
Just to arbitrarily ascribe numbers to things because it make shit easier we'll use the cloning yourself into 4 example from earlier.
Only this time you have a 'mana' bar. You have 1000 Mana.
You clone yourself into 4, you have 250 Mana and so does each of your clones. You start 'regenerating' Mana at a rate faster than you're spending it just by standing there. So in a bit, you'll be at 260 Mana.
Only, your clones don't regenerate Mana. They slowly lose it to the strain of keeping a 'construct' which is their body functional.
In the time it takes you to reach 260 Mana your clones have lost Mana for simply existing.
Now how memories work into this? Again arbitrarily ascribing numbers to shit. Shall we say that when a clone falls below 'half' Mana that the memory transmission starts getting shaky. Because at that stage it's using the chakra that the memories should use as a vehicle to get back to you in sustaining itself OR on techniques and physical action because hey, when you make a clone it's usually in a fight.
So this means that a clone that fully exhausts itself, it's 'Mana' in combat will actually give you nothing in return for it popping, no memories will come to you because the vehicle the memories were meant to ride in, the 'chakra' isn't there. So they die with the clone.
Now I hear what you're saying, I can. But naruto does things different you might say. My response is because he actually has enough fucking chakra that the clones don't spawn with an even distribution of Chakra.
They spawn with enough chakra to be considered 'full' and that's it. A safety feature built into the Jutus so that clones aren't overloaded. You know, the Clone DaiBakuha (Or the Great Clone Explosion) Is the result of too much chakra being pumped into a clone.
So yeah, having explained all that I can now apply my thoughts and feelings on the matter to how they would work in training.
Training is usually physically and mentally taxing, draining and repetitive. All of which is good, its' meant to be but with clones, you have to have your clones keep an extremely sharp eye on they remaining chakra levels so that when they're reaching the 'danger' zone, or the chakra levels in which memory transmission starts to get fuzzy that it comes over to you and dispels itself.
In physical combat, the clones only need a solid hit to be dispelled, which means that even though Hiroshi and Kakashi are genin, they could feasibly dispel their shadow clone teacher which means that the chakra has to flow back to the creator, some is lost in transmission, and the creator is at a net down from creating it.
The creator will then probably make another one to replace it, again a loss if it happens again. Normal people can't handle that expenditure not to mention that each time they create a clone, they're halving what they have.
Some people this isn't a problem for, Chakra Tanks like Kushina and Naruto, Hiroshi even because he simply regenerates chakra at a fucking obscene rate compared to regular people. So, you end up in a rather wired area in using them for training. It's also why you can't really use them for training in the way you've described.
However, on the flip side, doing sedentary things like simply reading a book? Mate, you're fucking golden. No problems. Practicing calligraphy even, golden too. Well, kinda and sorta. Yes, you'll 'know' the movements but that's part muscle memory too.
TL;DR? Clones are awesome for book learning but not much for active and physical learning.
Now, that's MY OWN HEAD CANNON ON THE MATTER. Not Golums. Neither is it the direction the story will take in regards to them. Simple as. That's my opinion.
Again, this is dependent on the Jonin being willing to do it. They are in this case so I don't really have a foot to stand on, but you are seeing what I'm saying right? He'll push for them obviously but he doesn't want to be too open about it because that will make Kakashi realise he's been Manipulated.
I say this because it's mentioned that Hiroshi argued Kakashi to his side that having two Jonin, one each would be more beneficial when Kakashi wanted to be on a team with him right? Well, this is the same situation, only now we have a slight bit of trickery happening.
HIroshi's now got plans in motion to get them to train together so that they are a 'team' in all but name, but they have a side benfit. Another Jonin teacher. Because they're both apprentices under different Jonin who happen to be friends and who're willing to work together.
So, you end up with a team that has two apprentices and two Jonin on it instead. Kakashi get his wish, and Hiroshi gets his wish too. Kakashi's wish being a team, and Hiroshi's wish being two Jonin to teach them.
Drake. Pity me okay? I'm the soundboard for those puns.
Every, Single, One. He tosses at me first and I have to listen to them. For instance, I remember one session where we sat down together for like four hours and worked on the story. Half way through Golum went to go find some puns. I had to listen to shitty puns for the rest of the two hours. FML.
Now then, as for your saying the Characters are good and nice to read about? That makes me fucking happy. I'm always pushing for more character interaction and growth. I mean, I love it when I read a story and I like the characters, or I find characters that aren't you know 2D, as in you can immediately tell what they're going to do when you simply read a few lines about them. Hopefully over the course of this story you can come to see Hiroshi as a human, a person living to the best that he can given what he's been given.
Kakashi too. Minato, Kushina, The Hokage, The Hyuuga, The Elders everyone. I want you to see them and in no way at all be able to call them 2D or Bland. This is my goal with the story, to make every character interesting and Unique in some way. I want the villains to be believable, the heroes to be heroic and the puns to be so bad you throw up.
Thank you, I approve of this message.
ON that note, 'Uge thanks to everyone who's been bothered to reply! I appreciate it and so does Golum.
I see your opinion and raise you fucking Genma. He became bodyguard. Useless prick 2v4 the sound four and got his ass kicked. And tied against Baki. Nope; I am pretty sure our little future S-class protagonist just needs to put his name down and he is an in. Minato taught his bodyguards useless Hiraishin. I think he would be stoked to teach someone who would actually learn it
Genna held no loyalty to a clan unlike our protagonist who is entrenched in Hyuga politics and is seen to hold the clan above the village which literally all clan members are seen as. Hiruzen himself when remembering the Uchiha massacre when he's resurrected was shocked at Itachi pulling off the massacre rather then becoming the Head in a silent coup. Hokages never hold clan members in confidence and don't point to Nara Shikaku considering he was only Jounin commander and was never privy to real secrets unless everybody else knew them.
Hokages never hold clan members in confidence and don't point to Nara Shikaku considering he was only Jounin commander and was never privy to real secrets unless everybody else knew them.
A. Citation on not knowing any secrets unless everyone did. For example, I'd buy him not knowing about Itachi, but seeing as maybe three people in the village knew, that doesn't mean much and also has to be proven.
B. So what? He still held one of the most powerful positions in the village, entirely independent of his status as a clan head. Nidaime isolated the Uchiha deliberately with the Military police shenanigans, but Itachi, for instance, was obviously being groomed for something. If the tension hadn't exploded and Danzo hadn't acted, Hiruzen may very well have had Itachi as a successor (and that would have been pretty amazing).
I see your opinion and raise you fucking Genma. He became bodyguard. Useless prick 2v4 the sound four and got his ass kicked. And tied against Baki. Nope; I am pretty sure our little future S-class protagonist just needs to put his name down and he is an in. Minato taught his bodyguards useless Hiraishin. I think he would be stoked to teach someone who would actually learn it
You're missing Uninspired's point here. Genma, Raido and Iwashi- none of them are particularly exceptional ninja, but more importantly, they do not come from any great clans. Teaching them a variant of his space-time ninjutsu would not have any repercussions, as there's no conflict of loyatly between clan and kage for them.
Hiroshi? Sure, he's a prodigious young shinobi- but that just means his skills are better served on the frontline rather than being a bodyguard isn't it? You don't see Hatake Kakashi on the Hokage guard-platoon despite being a little genius and the Hokage's own apprentice.
Furthermore, Hiroshi is a Hyuuga- and this is the sticking point. He won't be taught Hiraishin, because there's always the possibility that he would pass it on to his clan. With that technique at their disposal, I won't be too surprised if they think about attempting a coup- though the possibility is admittedly scant.
A. Citation on not knowing any secrets unless everyone did. For example, I'd buy him not knowing about Itachi, but seeing as maybe three people in the village knew, that doesn't mean much and also has to be proven.
B. So what? He still held one of the most powerful positions in the village, entirely independent of his status as a clan head. Nidaime isolated the Uchiha deliberately with the Military police shenanigans, but Itachi, for instance, was obviously being groomed for something. If the tension hadn't exploded and Danzo hadn't acted, Hiruzen may very well have had Itachi as a successor (and that would have been pretty amazing).
No citation but considering he didn't know about Akatuski until well after they went public while Kakashi knew before even the audience did.
The Nidaime isolated the Uchiha in part I think because he wanted less members available to be ninja therefore less chances of one of them going mad or activating the Mangeyko, which was successful by the way the clan idolized Itachi and Shisui as the way for the clan go dominate the ninja forces once again.
Itachi was not being groomed for anything in fact he had no notable teachers while Kakashi a similar genuis had teachers and was in on the whole Team 7 generational legacy where Hokages are chosen from. Itachi however did have the potential of being Hokage if Sarutobi managed to stop him in time because a man willing to slaughter his own family for the village is what you need as a leader of a ninja village.
You have to keep the leveling of the skills consistent. So long as you do that and make sure to mention gamer parts at least a few more times per chapter and your golden. And by consistent I mean you have to keep how quickly skills get exp the same throughout the entire story. You can't make it slow leveling now and then speed it up later once you get to the meat of the story, that is just retarded story pacing.
The story is still being written, it's just that both me and @The Uninspired did not have a lot of free time. I'm still busy as hell but I'm starting to get used to my schedule and started to have some free time.
So, good news.
The next chapter will most likely be posted this week.
Now bad news.
I'm looking for some kind of job I can do from home to suplement my income so I can reduce my hours at my main job. Until that happens the chapters will be posted 1-2 times a month, tops.
The story is still being written, it's just that both me and @The Uninspired did not have a lot of free time. I'm still busy as hell but I'm starting to get used to my schedule and started to have some free time.
So, good news.
The next chapter will most likely be posted this week.
Now bad news.
I'm looking for some kind of job I can do from home to suplement my income so I can reduce my hours at my main job. Until that happens the chapters will be posted 1-2 times a month, tops.
Alright, just read through this... and one thing to say at the moment.
That latest update broke through a pretty good barrier for me, such that I simply stopped noticing any typos or grammar errors, simply because I was enjoying reading it too much to notice them. Congratulations for writing a wonderful story. I'll probably do a typo pass, since I did notice a few in the other chapters and you did ask for it. Later, though.
The fight was a graceful clash of fists and beautiful dodging of an instrument of death swung with lethal intent.
Is what I wanted to say
It was anything but, Kushina's first swing had missed by a hair, and her second overhead strike had split the ground. How she'd managed to turn the first swing into an overhead swing, I'll never know.
But, I shit you not, a literal fissure had appeared briefly in the ground before filling in again as the muddy terrain said 'Nope, no hole for you'.
I dodge a hook sent my way only to have bend over backwards to avoid the coming swing of a sword. I was well and truly caught up in the hurricane that was Kushina Uzumaki. And it was a hurricane in more ways than one.
From what little I've seen so far her whole fighting style revolves around circles and spirals. As soon as one cycle ends, another begins. Out of a sweep and into a spin, out of a spin into a twirl, on and on.
I could see why she was a blade mistress, without a doubt. I think my earlier comments aimed at her sore spot weren't too well received, nor were they appreciated.
Ohh, Idea!
"Heh, I could make a pun about Uzumakis but I'd be going in circles."
I then proceeded to duck with all my speed. Sword bad for health, yes.
I may have poked Kushina's weak point a little too much actually if the speed and intensity of her attacks were any indicator. The ground around our 'dance' was full of fissures slowly filling again, from strikes that had missed their intended target. Thank god.
Duck a swing, dodge a fist, parry a kick, dance through a torrent of swipes and roll under a high kick to try and put some distance between us.
I'd been on the back foot since the beginning of this fight pretty much and I didn't think I'd impress my potential teachers if that remained the case. I think a little improvisation is in order. I dig my left foot into the muddy terrain beneath me and execute a textbook backflip as Kushina committed herself to another sword charge. Her sword leading of course.
The displaced mud splattered from the ground on a flight path towards Kushina who spotted it and blocked the mud that would hit her face with the sword. I guess it wasn't just for waving around madly. It was then that I spotted an anomaly, her footprints. Were they solid?
I almost felt like smacking myself honestly, they'd even taught us this at the academy. She was using the same principal as water walking but applying it to the ground instead. I had to give her props, I never would've thought of it. Now that I had, however, I wanted to try something, but more specifically. I wanted to know if I could use her footprints as stepping stones. Perhaps she was just increasing the mud's density under her own feet, but maybe it was solid enough for me to get some grounding?
All I had to was wait. Kushina didn't make me wait long, she was on me again not a few seconds later her sword preceding her body and I did something that every book I'd read on the matter said was absolutely stupid to do unless you were extremely experienced, I stepped into her guard. Now, I know what you might be thinking, that getting into a swords user's guard was a good thing, that it removed the blade from the equation, except that's not really the case.
You then had to stay close and you left yourself open for all manner of attacks, spea~~!
Kushina had grabbed my clothing and spun, dragging me along behind her. She'd somehow turned the outward momentum into upward movement and I would've found myself buried face first in the mud a moment later having arched above her head and into the ground had I not arrested the movement by sliding into a Kaiten.
I violently forced Chakra out from tenketsu allowing me to rather forcefully impart moment to myself, a move which I knew would -should- start my skill actually and I was proven correct and even though I was in the air, horizontal I began spinning, a viridian blue dome exploding from me, only I did something else this time.
I grabbed Kushina's wrist as I began spinning actually. Well, I grabbed it on my second rotation but what can you do?
She was dragged quite forcefully from the ground as the skill imparted heavenly force unto me for its duration. I actually managed to keep ahold of her for a full rotation before the force that I'd imparted to her forced her from my grip.
Kushina flew through the air horizontally, a mildly impressed look on her face before she somehow slowed down and gracefully slid on the mud, rapidly bleeding all the momentum away and when stopped calmly stopped on the ground from her slightly elevated position.
I noticed a faintly glowing chain digging into the earth, I traced it to her back. Oi, that was cheating!
If you're going to use your special abilities, so am I you cheating cheater! Hey, what are you looking at me like that for, it's only cheating if the other person's doing it.
That having been said, I activated the Byakugan.
It's honestly hard to describe and I won't bother at the moment because as the veins around my eyes bulged slightly to handle the Chakra I was feeding into them, Kushina seemed to decide that I'd had enough time. Her sword was already blurring through the air, aimed to slice my delicate head from my shoulders, again.
Oi oi, you do know you can aim elsewhere woman? Even as I ducked I considered that it was probably the most effective way of ending a fight and engagement actually. What good is an opponents skill and technique if they're fucking dead? Their head detached from their body? But it also makes an opponent extremely predictable. You know they'll aim for your vitals, so you know how to make use of it and turn their perceived advantage into your own.
Didn't make it any less annoying to deal with, the blade in general actually. Another flip away, again slinging mud in Kushina's direction and grabbing a handful for myself, I also employed a neat little technique I'd discovered. Well more a, well I don't even know. Basically, what it let me do was remove an item from my inventory in my hands so long as I knew exactly where in my Inventory the item lay. Without even pulling the screen up even. Rather organic all said and done.
That being said, I grabbed a white piece of paper ripped from a scroll from my inventory and stuffed it into the mud ball I'd been shaping while doing that. A minor application of crafting and I summarily ignored the windows that popped up, informing me of the saved design and I hurled the ball at Kushina.
The time it spent travelling in the air was more than enough for Kushina to recognise the paper
sticking from the ball if the way she suddenly, for lack of a more appropriate term skittered from its flight path. I guess when you were a seal master anything that looked remotely like a seal was to be avoided with extreme prejudice?
I wasn't one to waste an opportunity, I used it to ascertain the situation on Kakashi's half of the battlefield. While a distraction like this is deadly when fighting a ninja, I had a Byakugan, so I didn't count. It seemed to be well, going I suppose.
He hadn't particularly lost ground but he certainly wasn't gaining it. Minato seemed to be actively engaging Kakashi and drawing him into his own pace if the current exchange of blows the two were engaged in was any indication.
It was at this stage that I noticed an outlier on this field. Well, I'd known about it earlier but it only really stuck out to me now because I could use it to my advantage. I'd go out on a limb and assume that Kushina's technique for combining the dirt beneath her feet, giving her solid footing wouldn't work if the dirt was displaced with enough water.
What I'd noticed was a sealed array aligned beneath this training ground. Deep enough that it wasn't really something you'd run into unless you went looking for it. What it was, however, was the reason this training field was a marsh. It generated water, well it absorbed ambient chakra and turned it into water which it fed into the ground. I was really going to have to look into that later.
I had a few ideas on what to do with it, but more annoyingly I'd have to get past Kushina or get some free time to do what I wanted to do. I shelved that idea, moot point.
It sucked that I couldn't actually engage Kushina in hand to hand combat, my most advanced form of combat because of that damn sword. I'd need a way to remove…
A devious idea shot into my mind, I wouldn't quite say I smirked, but it was close.
I molded some Chakra beneath my feet and attempted a crude copy of what Kushina did. I basically used my chakra as a suction pump forcing the dirt to gather beneath my feet so I had semi-solid ground to stand on.
*trrrring*
A new Skill has been created!
Marsh Marching
Chakra Cost: 15 per 'Step'
A technique in which people traversing unsuitable terrain would make themselves solid ground. Works by pulling dirt, or the closest equivalent to the user's feet forming a solid mass. The suction caused by this could glue the user to more solid ground should it be used on a solid grounding.
Heh, the gamer pulled through for me again. Yikes, the Chakra cost was high but I wouldn't be using it for long this fight, that was for sure.
That having been said, two 'steps' later and I was in position, and down thirty chakra. I set my stance and waited.
While I was waiting, I was busy, my chakra leaking through my feet into the ground and creating a solid base for next move. Kushina was probably a second out, and her sword was here. Begin plan!
I slapped the side of my fist against the flat of her blade and used the momentum to kickstart a Kaiten. The skill lasted for all of half a second that it took me to do half a rotation, as I backhanded the blade again and knocked it fully of course. Kushina looked mildly surprised for a moment before she moved to right it.
I intervened before she had a chance after finishing my twirl, my face screwing up in an exaggerated pout as I kicked her in the shin.
Kushina looked utterly amused as my foot was swinging before her face pinched in pain as I blocked one of the tenketsu in her leg. As a direct result, the mud that she was holding solid beneath her foot turned back into regular, pliable and more importantly, nonsolid ground.
In other words, she slipped. I used this to catapult the second phase of my plan into action.
I had reached to grab her sword the moment I had started the kick, and as she slipped I used all the strength I could gather to pull her sword from her grip and placed it between me and her. I had my hand on handle and somewhere on the blade, flat so it covered a larger area.
Wait… was that fist getting bigger? I had a moment to ponder it, then it hit me.
Well, it hit the sword really. Good thing I'd jumped back when I had or that would've dislocated both of my shoulders. Ouch. I swear I could still feel it even though the Gamers Body had spirited it away already.
Well, here I was. Spinning in the air on a collision course with Minato. The third and final part of my plan actually. I was a spinning, white missile.
And spinning was exactly what I wanted.
As I approached Minato and Kakashi's battle, I began accelerating my spin with some chakra in preparation for a Kaiten. Minato was about to have a rude surprise.
And he was, for a second surprised. He reacted exactly like I expected him to, he dodged in a flash. But I never aimed to hit him, I was aiming for Kakashi all along. As soon as I reached him I ended Kaiten, grabbed his arms and dragged him with me away from the two jonin.
The two of us immediately helped each other regain our balance and started preparing a technique that we've been working on for a while now. But while we were doing that, Kushina and Minato didn't have the decency to simply stand around, they charged us. I immediately knew that we won't be able to activate the technique in time, so I decided to slow them down.
Remember that explosive tag that I threw at Kushina at the beginning of the fight? Yeah, the one I hid in the mud but never actually blew up. Well, it just happened to end up between the two jonins and the two of us. Kushina probably totally forgot about it and Minato never saw me throwing it, the moment they were close to the mudball, I exploded it.
Kushina and Minato reacted instantly, the moment the explosion happened, both of them jumped away. They then proceeded to run towards Kakashi and me as if nothing happened. But, I achieved what I wanted, I bought the time we needed to complete the technique.
I extended my left hand towards Kakashi. Lightning started to course visibly from my arm, it began at my shoulder roughly and only got more pronounced towards my fingers. The same thing was happening to Kakashi, although to a lesser extent as he extended his right hand towards me.
A very loud sound started to reverberate through the clearing we were in, it was a sound similar to a flock of birds chirping at the same time, only if it had been recorded and run through a filter to make it many, many times more 'screechy'. I also noted that my CP bar was taking a very noticeable drop. As in, it had already dropped below half and its rapid consumption wasn't slowing down.
"Kakashi, now!" A thread of azure lightning shrieked from our hands and met in the middle, as it did we both started rushing forwards in eerie synchronicity, a shared battle cry at our lips, "CHIDORI: RAIDEN!"
What, why do you think we called it Plan C?
At times I felt bad for stealing what was to be Kakashi's signature technique, I stopped feeling bad after I actually used it the first time. The sheer speed, the exhilarating feeling of moving at those speeds is not something easily distilled into words. It's the epitome of, 'you had to be there'.
The tunnel vision is the ultimate weakness of Chidori, but that is something easy to overcome for one who has Byakugan. That having been said, even having the Byakugan only mitigated this problem. During the times we practiced this technique I made sure that Kakashi knew to follow my lead when we are performing any variation of Chidori.
Apparently, when he did it, he could 'feel' where I was so long as I was using the technique too. Don't even ask, I didn't, I had a feeling it'd drive me insane.
In a matter of a split second, we crossed half the clearing and were in front of the two jonin. I have to say I especially enjoyed seeing the surprised expression on their faces. I knew that we were never going to hit them but I think that surprising them like this will be sufficient. We cut through several trees at the other end of the clearing before we were able to stop ourselves and cancel the technique.
And by canceling the technique, I mean bleed enough lightning charged chakra off that it wouldn't fry ourselves and get back into combat readiness.
Minato and Kushina had jumped over our technique and landed right where I never expected them to. They landed in the place where I'd exploded the mud ball. A downright pleasant smile split my lips, I had been waiting for a moment like this.
I raised one arm, the other hanging at my side as lightning was still jumping from it into the ground and formed half a seal, "Hey guys, you know what they say about art?"
I think my need for theatrics clued them in because they were already dodging before the second blast went off. "That it's a BLAST!"
That didn't, however, stop them from getting absolutely covered in mud.
There was only silence for a moment and the next thing I knew I was on my back with a sword at my throat.
XxXxX
I sat with Kakashi, who was looking worse for wear. I was heedless of the fact that I was sitting in mud, more humbled than anything, a moment was all it took. In saying that, it really didn't make much difference, a moment or anything. From the start of the fight I could tell they were sandbagging, I mean it was practically what they were meant to do.
It was still humbling to have been taken down so quickly.
I reach over and half punched half pushed Kakashi's shoulder, "I told you to jink it, not jank it. This is all your fault you know."
"Maybe if you didn't have us using the technique on such an ass backwards terrain, I wouldn't have jank'ed instead of jinking." I almost wince as the half shot, half growl, he did have a point. We hadn't really tested the technique too much on the solid ground, now we were using it in a combat situation on a marsh with each step having the chance to plunge you ankle deep and off balance.
Just as I was about to open my mouth again, Kushina beat me to it. "You did pretty nice work kids."
Urgh, she both sounded and was acting way too enthusiastic at the moment, I call bullshit. Then again, this was probably a light warm up to them instead of a real fight. Yay, ninja magic.
"You could use some work, well a lot more work, and your stamina was kinda low. Your strength too~," Kushina was cut off, probably a good thing too as she was starting to speak faster and faster. This was going to be a recurring theme with her, wasn't it? I wonder if I should get a spray bottle so I can spray her when she starts yammering too fast for me to keep up?
Minato to the rescue! "Yes, that's to be expected, however, they're only fresh outta' the academy genin Kushina. You can't expect them to be on a chunin level already. I think they did a fine job for what they are."
Oiii, we're right here you know? Although, yes praise me more. I'd wag my tail but I didn't have one.
Kushina seemed to have deflated a little at Minato's interjection.
Minato spoke up again before Kushina could open her mouth, "How about we break and get to know each other? I wanna get to know my new apprentice and I'd assume you do as well Kushina?"
He punctuated her name by turning to look at her when he said it.
A wet thud interrupted Kushina just as she opened her mouth, I looked over to my side to find Kakashi had slumped down into the ground. A hand was half raised with a finger pointing up, "I'm fine, it's nice and cool here, can I stay?"
Minato chuckled, it was a nice warm sound, the kind that made you want to crack a happy smile even though you wanted to be dour, "No can do kiddo, c'mon. Up ya gh~eet!"
"OOF" Kakashi wheezed as Minato hauled him up to his feet. Kakashi's body protested immensely at the act, and as he was about to slump over again Minato reached out and gently nudged Kakashi so he would lean against his leg instead of taking another tumble.
"Where are you two headed?" I couldn't help myself, there was mischief to be had!
"To go get some food, chat a little and relax. We'll probably be heading to a training ground later, number five I think. Why did you want to know?"
"Well, it's gonna be kind of hard to buy anything without money, isn't it?" That provoked an immediate response, he started doing a little shimmy in place as he hunted down his wallet.
When his probing hands turned up no wallet, he immediately turned to Kushina, "What did you do with my wallet Kushina?!"
Kushina looked mildly alarmed too, "I did nothing with your wallet! I didn't even know it.. Was… missing…."
Kushina's head had slowly turned my directing as she spotted the object I'd been waving around, Minato's wallet.
"Looking for this?"
Minato had grabbed it from my hand and I hadn't even seen him move, he was combing through it instantly too. Okay then, I guess they were looking for the wallet.
"Yes, we were looking for this. Thank you." Minato half shouted over his shoulder as he corralled Kakashi out of the field in the direction of the village. I'd never seen someone corralled so quickly before, I wonder if that was a skill or something.
I almost felt like shouting for him to not leave me alone. I didn't like the look Kushina was shooting me. It gave me the chills. I looked up at her after Kakashi and Minato had well and truly vacated the area.
"Soo… are we gonna stay or go somewhere where the ground isn't gonna swallow us up whole? Something nice and hot after that should do some good I think."
Her expression seemed to brighten as though she had just been hit by a great idea. I'm going to assume by the lack of my face getting beaten in that she missed my entirely unintentional innuendo. Thank god. What's that look for? I'm being serious.
"I know the perfect place!" A moment later an iron grip latched onto my shoulder and I was a reed on the air seconds later. Apparently, when Kushina wanted to be somewhere, you didn't wanna be in her way.
---
Ichiraku Ramen.
Kushina had taken me to visit Ichiraku Ramen.
I have to say, however, that the place looks a lot well… smaller and more run down that it ever was in the manga.
"Oii, Teuchi ya in!?" Kushina hollered from outside the flap as she ducked into the street stand.
"Well if it isn't mah' favourite customer! Welcome welcome, come in sit down and make yourself comfortable! Your usual?"
"Ohh, throw two beef ramen in on that, it's a special occasion today! I got myself a lil' apprentice!" She sounded so happy about that.
I drolly cut in, "Said apprentice would like a large miso please."
I gently nudged Kushina with an elbow, "Introductions?"
Kushina looks at me askance for a second before continuing on as though nothing had happened.
"Right, this here is Hiroshi Hyuga. Hiroshi, this good man here is Teuchi Ichiraku." I guess the name for his stand had to come from somewhere?
Whatever the case, he had immediately started rattling his pots and pans. Flower from one into another, some form of vegetable I couldn't pin down. It was white and circular in shape, a red spiral set upon in in the middle of each side.
Kamaboko I think it was. Whatever the case, he started jangling multiple pots around as our ramen was made ready to order. Noodles and all.
It felt kinda nice having food made directly in front of you. More personal in fact. Kushina, however, had decided to bug me from my watching because she had questions.
"Since I don't really know you, and you don't really know me, how about we summarize ourselves? You know, a couple likes, dislikes and a few hobbies you enjoy?"
Ohh, I know this game!
"Could you give me an example?" I pushed as much mock sincerity into my voice as I could manage.
Kushina rolled her eyes and looked at me as though I was slow but began speaking anyway, "Well, I like salt ramen and swords. I dislike perverts, coffee and anything bitter."
Kushina paused here, a dark look crossing her face. I guess she'd already had a run in with Jiraiya?
"My hobbies include but aren't limited to Sealing and Pranking."
Pranking as a hobby?
My question must have shown on my face because she was already explaining before I could voice it.
"Oh you know, some subtle things to keep everyone on their toes." Her smile was positively beatific, it did nothing to make that statement less horrifying.
I was hesitant as if it'd just hit me. I'd just been apprenticed to Naruto Uzumaki's mother, the mother of the self-proclaimed 'Prank King'. Oh god, I reiterate for the, however, many~ith time, what had I gotten myself into.
Even so, I was curious, morbidly so. "What's the best prank you would say you've ever pulled, Kushina?"
A smile appeared on her face, slow in that it began by twitching on the edge of her lips before it split her face, and let me tell you. It's the most, terrifying and enchanting thing I've ever seen, and I've seen little dainty Hyuga waifs take down fully built men in one hit.
"I told Minato he'd gotten me pregnant."
I had a feeling then, at that very moment had I had something in my hand It would've either shattered in my suddenly crushing grip or have been dropped as my arms went numb afterwards.
"You Kushina, are an evil, evil woman." I somehow managed to get, swallowing my mirth with a little help. The ramen had apparently arrived a while I was balking at the prank.
You know, that was absolutely evil. I couldn't help but pity the poor man, that must've been horrifying. "Did you get pictures?"
An utterly appalled look crossed her face, "What do you take me for? An amateur!?"
Soo many ways I could use that, "No, I think you're a lightweight."
Kushina bit back with her eye twitching, "What do you mean a lightweight?"
I said nothing as I picked a pair of disposable chopsticks from the container sat on the slightly used countertop, "I think I could eat more Ramen than you could, Kushina."
Even Ichiraku paused in what he was doing to turn to look at me, his face set in a strained smile. What's that old man? You thought you were gonna have a nice, if busy night? Oh no, you're gonna work for your money today.
That having been said, I dug in with the chopsticks and was well surprised at the taste. It was… good.
My gusto wasn't entirely forced after that, I even managed to pack away the bowl before Kushina had finished hers. This was something about the Gamer's Body I'd only discovered recently actually, I don't actually need to eat.
I'll get 'hungry' I suppose, but only in the abstract sense. Kinda like you mentally acknowledge that you're hungry and you should eat something but can't really 'feel' it. Not eating didn't adversely affect me, it never got any worse for the two days I didn't eat. Sleep on the other hand was something I absolutely required, I even got a debuff for not sleeping within a 24 hour time period.
It was a scaling debuff, it stated so itself. At the beginning, I only lost a quarter of my INT and WIS, but it would slowly scale until I had lost up to 90% of both stats. At least until I slept again.
But yeah, eating. I could eat or not eat and it wouldn't effect me at all. I wonder if I could create buff foods? Bah, besides the point. The food was optional as far as I was concerned.
It also, however, let me eat more than my fair share like I could eat it and it'd just disappear off somewhere when It got to my stomach.
Kushina had looked slightly taken aback before a vicious grin grew on her lips, I had just challenged her to something she would take great pleasure in beating me at, apparently.
Only I was going to cheat, what? Did you expect different? For shame.
I tentatively offered when one of the chopsticks she was holding broke, "Loser pays for both?"
Teuchi looked as though he was being invited into heaven at gunpoint.
XxXxX
The empty ramen bowls on Kushina's side of the bench were stacked high. Amusingly enough, the mountain of bowls we had demolished had been stacked up neatly beside her. It looked like she'd had much practice doing it too.
I handed mine over to her and it joined the pile, being perched neatly at the top of the stack.
That was kinda impressive.
"I don't think I got to do our little introduction game thing did I?"
"Nope." The pop on the P was loud enough to drown on the e completely, it ended up sounding something like nop instead.
"Would you still like for me to give it a shot?"
"Yeah, I don't see -slurp- why you shouldn't." I almost shuddered at the visceral slurping noise Kushina managed to produce. God, it almost sounded like someone managed to break a bone or something!
That mischief sense that I honed for as long as I could remember tingled, I sensed an opportunity.
"Well, I'd like to take a moment to talk about our lord and savior, Puns. I have it on good authority that they're puns of fun."
Oh my, was that a groan? My my, how could you Kushina! You're meant to encourage your pitiful student's self-esteem, not diminish it by groaning at him!
"I dislike back breaking labor, nerfs and the Council of Elderly Bats."
Kushina perked up a little, the stool she was sitting on releasing an ominous creak as she did so, "Nerfs?"
The shudder I shuddered was very real, and unexaggerated, I was terrified of nerfs, "You do not want to know."
I continued on before she had a chance to rally.
"My hobbies are Grinding, Cleaning, anything without vegetables and My Hair. Why? Because having hair this awesome is practically a full-time job." I shot a haughty look at Kushina's fringe. If the motion just so happened to make my luscious locks bounce, well that was entirely unintentional.
Actually looking at that hair, I couldn't help myself. "Hey, Kushina have you ever considered a tail or a low tail style?"
And so it went on, friendly banter with the occasional jab here and there. Honestly, most of them flew right over her head… Oh, I can tell that I'll be enjoying this. If we happened to be downing ramen at a prodigious rate even while doing so well, it was ancillary…
"ENOUGH! I DON'T HAVE ANYMORE RAMEN! YOU'VE EATEN IT ALL!" Teuchi punctuated his rather desperate statement by slamming his hands on the countertop, the bowls stacked high rattled precariously.
Kushina looked as though someone had killed her dog and pissed on her cat. Maybe her fox would've been a better analogy?
Well, I suppose seeing as neither of us had really 'won', "Fifty-fifty Kushina?"
She turned her eyes on me and pouted, but nodded. She was already reaching for her wallet.
XxXxX
Eventually, however, the time had come for us to call it a night, the sun was creeping into the shadows and the moon was crawling its way from wherever it hid during the day to illuminate what it could with its reflected light.
Kushina had called the day done earlier and turned me loose on the village, she wanted to get some things planned out and we would be kicking my apprenticeship into gear tomorrow.
That having been said and done, however, I went off to find Kakashi and Minato. I wanted to see how they were getting along after today, I had little doubt that Minato would have put Kakashi through his paces quite literally.
As I made my way through the village to the training area I flicked up the quest long, ignoring the quests only other quest in the log.
I mentally focused on the one below it, and 'tapped' on it, again mentally. I was trying to break the habit of using physical gestures when interacting with the game menu.
Nothing would give away my abnormalities than waving my arms around like a dickhead, not to mention that calling the skills out in my head saved both times and didn't make me look like more of a loony than I already was perceived as.
The quest I had clicked on popped up with a dulcet tone;
Abilities Test!
Your Hopeful Jonin instructors are curious about your abilities both as an individual and as a unit. They want to know where you stand on all fronts of your ninja techniques and will draw this fight out until you're both too exhausted to go on.
They want to see what happens when you're drained of everything. Will you get back up or will you fall down and yield. Will you work together or against each other? This is as much a test of your abilities as it is of your character.
Objectives:
Land A Solid Hit [1/1]
Use Five Techniques [5/5]
Remain Conscious During The Entire Fight [X]
Work Together With Kakashi [X]
Surprise Your Teachers [X]
Rewards for Success:
15,000 EXP
7,500 Ryo
Title: Prodigious Apprentice
Failure:
Title: Disappointing Apprentice
I tapped the finish quest button again, the rewards were welcome, I was however much more interested in the title.
*Trrring*
The Title, Shinobi In Training has been Replaced!
Prodigious Apprentice! Stat gains are increased by 100%
All EXP gains are increased by 25%
You're an apprentice among apprentices, you're the one that teachers would happily poison, kill and murder for. Your raw untamed talent is something that any teacher worth their name would take great pleasure in molding.
Immediately following my 'completion' of the quest, another message popped up for me, how lucky.
*Trrrring!*
You've acquired a new title!
Konoha Genin
5% Increased Experience Gain.
15% Increased Skill Experience Gain.
10% Discount to Shinobi Stores within Konoha.
25% Increased Damage when with Allied Shinobi.
10% Decreased Damage Taken when with Allied Shinobi.
You're a genin of Konoha now son, and you reap all the rewards that entails, you'll also shoulder all the responsibilities that it entails. Don't get your head chopped off during your first fight!
I was mildly surprised at how well I'd done all said and done, both in accordance to the quest and in all reality. I was happy, but at the same time, I recognised that I had a long, long way to go if I wanted to stand back to back and shoulder to shoulder with the greats of the Naruto world.
Also, I was spitting mad that I wasn't twelve years old yet, can you imagine how good Prodigious Apprentice would've been had I gained stats normally without it? Oh man, what a missed opportunity.
My head nodded and my face smiled in response to the respectful nods sent my way. Say what you want about being a prodigy, sure it sucked some days, and others it was downright grueling. I had expectations and preconceived notions on how I should act, walk and shit from the moment I proved myself to be a 'prodigy'…
Yeah, actually nevermind. Nope, being a prodigy wasn't that great.
Even so, I let the - fake - smile grow on my face as I returned nods and smiles on my way to the training grounds. On one hand, recognition, on the other, people gunning for my head. I lost myself in my thoughts as I moved on autopilot.
I was brought from my thoughts when my foot hit the beginning of the bridge and I pinwheeled on the spot to stop falling for a moment before I heard more than I saw Minato dismissing Kakashi for the day, "Good job today Kakashi! I can see why you graduated early, absolutely amazing. We do need to work on your stamina, though. Don't think I didn't notice you start lagging after the first half hour."
Kakashi's rather bedraggled voice interjected then, "I'm only five, and you know, being this young kinda entails a lack of stamina!"
Minato cut in before Kakashi could get further riled up, "True, but you can be better and I expect you to do better in the future under my tutelage, otherwise I'd feel bad because I wouldn't be teaching you properly, would I?."
I crested the bridge just in time to see Minato helping Kakashi stand, his last comment before disappearing had me huffing in bemused disbelief, "I'd offer to help you home but something tells me your friend is here for that reason. I'll expect you to be here tomorrow at eight, later than usual but I think you'll need the rest. Goodnight Kakashi."
If Minato just so happened to drop a hand on Kakashi's head and ruffled his hair before he disappeared, well I didn't see anything.
I also didn't see the bewildered smile that surfaced beneath his mask. My Byakugan most certainly wasn't active, what're you on about? I didn't see anything, and I'll stand by that statement even under the pain of torture.
Even so, I raised a hand in a wave with a real smile surfacing on my face, "Yo?"
"Yo yourself." Kakashi grumbled, urgh. Rude. I guess I'mma have to thump him on the head again, aren't I?
Kakashi must've seen something because all of a sudden he skittered away from me, "Hiroshi, what're you doing?"
… I'm doing nothing, nope, no idea what you're on about Kakashi my good man!
"Hiroshi, why are you smiling like that?" I have absolutely no idea what he's talking about, let me assure you. None at all.
Boisterously out loud I continued, "Kakashi my good man! I have no idea what you're on about!"
Even so, it seemed to calm Kakashi slightly, I guess he really was dead tired.
"You gonna be okay? You don't seem like your usual exuberant self." I asked, slightly concerned.
"In what way, shape or form is my usual self-exuberant?!" Kakashi cut back, oooh. Ouch, that one was deep! The irony, it made such a sharp knife. Careful Kakashi, you'll poke an eye out with that.
Did Kakashi just groan? I'm pretty sure I didn't do anything that would make him groan, "Why are you groaning?"
"You made a stupid pun, again, didn't you?"
"Urk, Kakashi! Mean! I think I'll need to cry myself to sleep tonight." A few exaggerated sniffs followed afterwards for added effect.
His eyes narrowed even as he staggered towards me, using the handrail of the bridge to keep himself steady, "You keep this up Hiroshi and I'm afraid I'll have to cut this short. I'd rather knot get all tied up in your puns."
I narrowed my eyes in response. This deserves a truly spectacular rebuttal. "I suppose, I mean I was thinking of getting a new haircut anyway."
Kakashi's head whipped to me so fast I feared he'd throw something out, "You love your hair!"
I nodded decisively, "Yeah, you're right. I'll mullet over."
Kakashi groaned even as small peals of laugh giggles escaped him even though. My hand shot out to grab him as he tipped over precariously.
"Oi oi, you alright?" There was a real worry in my voice, was he really that tired?
"Neh, Hiroshi. I'm tired." I guess that confirmed it, still, Kakashi had left an opening!
"Hi tired, I'm Hiroshi."
… Was that a snore?
Had that bastard actually fallen asleep on me?
I pulled a face as I picked him up, no choice then. I'll dump him at his house and head off to do some more training maybe?
That having been said, I slung him over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Nobody said I had to be gentle.
XxXxX
I winced as I mentally lodged the stick up my ass again. Yep, I was fast approaching the compound. It simply wouldn't do to be seen without the ten-foot pole us Hyuga are known for.
I greeted the guards with a curt nod and was promptly informed of some news, namely that the clan head wanted to see me. Apparently now, one of the first things I would need to do would be reporting to the clan head on how my day had gone, who I'd been assigned as a teacher and if I felt I could learn anything beneficial from them.
Well, if I could learn more from them than I could from the Hyuga instructors anyway.
If I say that I don't think that Kushina is qualified than Hyuga clan will throw a huge tantrum and get me another teacher. Not that the Hyuga wouldn't be caught dead acting anything other than prim and proper, but a few well-placed glances and disdainful sniffs would achieve the same thing as tempter tantrum. In the end, however, it was basically politics.
The gates to the compound slid open without sound, as befitting of the Hyuga as I made my way in, a few nods at respected people who deserved it and a lot of people who didn't.
In a few moments I was nearing the room, I knocked lightly on the door and was forced to step aside as the door was practically slammed open, Hizashi all but storming past me. He didn't even acknowledge me, and I still felt that small pang deep in my chest. A chord being plucked under the not so tender fingers of disinterest.
I slowly peeked my head in to make sure there would be no more surprises before I slipped in, making sure to raise a questioning eyebrow at Hiashi who sat on the far side of the table in the center of the room. I noticed it a moment afterwards, but the position Hiashi was sitting in was the only spot in the room that afforded one a view of all possible entrances and exits.
Hiashi either ignored my entrance or didn't sense me enter. The look on his face told me he was pretty far in thought, I initially thought it was with the paperwork he was holding but called the idea bust after getting a peek at it. He was deep in thought, I decided. How did I know? He was holding the paperwork upside down.
I sat myself down opposite him at the table, quietly nabbing both the teapot and the two cups sitting unused on the adjoining plate. I watched as the liquid in the pot spilled into the cups, mildly bemused. This was the good stuff here, the tea Hiashi brought out when he was going to have an extremely bad day, or knew something was about to go terribly wrong.
I loved the stuff, till. He wouldn't tell me where to buy some so I could enjoy it myself. Bastard.
Even so, I got comfortable, and amused myself by again, reaching up my sleeves and pulling a few coins from my inventory, which I might add was hovering at a considerably lower mark that before my abrupt eating contest with Kushina.
I began spinning the coin in a knuckle shuffle as I wanted, it shouldn't take Hiashi too long to notice he had company. I hope.
Notice me he did, a few minutes later. His hands seemed to grope around for a second before finding the teacup and he took a fortifying swing. Apparently, he had long since passed the need for a simple sip.
He looked at me for a moment before I raised my brow, "You asked for me Hiashi?"
"Yeesss… I did, tell me, how did the meeting with your jounin teacher go?" I suppose he was slow at the beginning because he was ordering his thoughts maybe? I don't really know, you could never tell with those Hyuga types.
With that I began detailing my day, both the hopeful teachers of both myself and Kakashi, I made no mention of the plans I had in regards to turning it into a pseudo team of sorts.
It ended up winding down between us fifteen minutes later, Hiashi had made me argue each point that I brought up as to why Kushina was a better teacher for me than someone affiliated with the Hyuga clan. Well discussed actually because I don't think Hiashi would be caught dead arguing with someone. But still, the point remained.
If his arguments seemed half-hearted at times, I made no mention or gave even an inclination that I noticed.
It happened as I was sipping the last few sips of the tea, savouring it. I really would need to needle where he bought it from Hiashi, bastard.
"HIROSHI HYUGA!" The voice rattled the windows and chilled the soul. Ahh, speak of the devil and its voice shall appear. Or in this case, her voice.
I calmly took another sip of tea.
What? The tea was good.
Fin~
Bonus joke of the chapter:
Which days of the week are the strongest? Saturday and Sunday, because the rest of the days are weekdays.
The Uninspired: Sorry it took us so long to get this chapter written out, but we've had schedule clashes galore. Next chapter should hopefully be written and out soon. A month~ish maybe? I don't know. We'll try our best, and that's all we can ever do.
Golum936: Sorry for the long wait, let us know if you enjoyed it!
I'm going to reread this since I can't remember if Hiroshi is on the docket to get sealed. I was thinking about this in the shower, and I came up with this convoluted scenario that ripped off that famous Dirty Harry Scene, except replacing the gun with seals guaranteed to take off the Hyuga clan leadership's heads unless they capitulate to his demands.
"Seeing as how I've got a seal slapped on your gates designed to fry you from the inside out you've gotta ask yourself one question: "Do I feel lucky?" Well do ya, punk?"
I'm going to reread this since I can't remember if Hiroshi is on the docket to get sealed. I was thinking about this in the shower, and I came up with this convoluted scenario that ripped off that famous Dirty Harry Scene, except replacing the gun with seals guaranteed to take off the Hyuga clan leadership's heads unless they capitulate to his demands.
"Seeing as how I've got a seal slapped on your gates designed to fry you from the inside out you've gotta ask yourself one question: "Do I feel lucky?" Well do ya, punk?"
I'm quite sure cursed seals are status effects, so even if he's slated to be sealed, they will get tired of it after it disappear in his sleep a few hundred times.
I'm quite sure cursed seals are status effects, so even if he's slated to be sealed, they will get tired of it after it disappear in his sleep a few hundred times.
I think he was referring to the idea that nearly all fanfiction tends to nerf the crap out of people in their stories just for the purpose of increasing drama rather than actual shit like a permanent debuff.
This is probably fanon, but I was under the impression that most of these cursed seals would basically implode the victim's chakra network if they found that they were being tampered with.
This is probably fanon, but I was under the impression that most of these cursed seals would basically implode the victim's chakra network if they found that they were being tampered with.
That.s why he can't just cut the skin off, that would probably cause it to go off, but I doubt it go bone-deep, so he should be able to remove it while keeping it intact by cutting it out with part of his skull.
That.s why he can't just cut the skin off, that would probably cause it to go off, but I doubt it go bone-deep, so he should be able to remove it while keeping it intact by cutting it out with part of his skull.
What I meant is that it basically invades the victim's entire chakra network. The seal visible on the forehead is just the tip of a iceberg of chakra fuckery. Otherwise someone would already have tried precisely what you're suggesting and trepanned a Hyuuga.
