Hello everyone sorry for the update.

On this chapter, there is a map I drew, it will be on deviantart.

here is the link { deviantart com / desaira }

Oni of the South

Billy smiled at his finished collection of masks; he inspected the angry bear mask and found it acceptable. He looked at the bone tiger mask and frowned. 'Maybe some color would make it better.'

He pulled out the plague doctor mask and placed it next to the snarling red goat mask with six horns. He snapped his finger and ran back to the forge; he brought his latest mask, a sad wooden monkey mask with small chains and hooks attached to it.

Billy pulled out a scroll and started placing his masks in. "Plague Doctor for stasis check, Bone tiger for biting check, Red Goat with six horns for metal whips check, Sad wooden monkey for ranged weapon repellent. I hope this works like it was supposed to be, check."

He looked at his final mask and masterpiece, an angry black bear made out of metal. "I hope the fuinjutsu works." He placed it into the scroll.

Billy looked at the workshop and began closing things down; he rearranged everything to be placed back the way they were. He closed the forge and cleaned the place, then he walked up to the store.

He closed the door behind him and picked up his bags. "All right, I think I have everything with me for the training Danzo is going to give us."

Closing the lights and the door of the shop, Billy walked to the meeting spot. While he was walking, he began to think. 'Oyabun is going to come back in a week. I hope he took his medication.'

He looked at a cigarette advertisement of the Hokage smoking. 'Man, they are milking the Hokage title… He is like a playboy model at this point.'

After a while, he looked at the sun that began to set. 'I don't know why he asked us to come at sunset, but each to their own, I suppose.'

Billy exited the crowded areas and entered into a wooded area. He reached into his bag and pulled out a message that Danzo sent them. 'Are we really staying out there for three weeks? I thought by John's memories we would start with D ranks.'

Finally, he reached an open clearing, where he saw Nawaki sitting on a boulder while Yunmi was checking her umbrella. "Hey Nawaki, Yunmi, how was your week?"

Yunmi looked up at Billy. "Billy! How are you."

Nawaki looked as well. "Hey there, Billy."

Billy walked next to stone and sat down on the ground; he pulled some snacks from his bag and offered Nawaki a chakra way bar while giving Yunmi a kunai-finger bar. "Same old, working at the shop and relaxing; what about you guys?"

Nawaki took the bar and fell on his back. "Grandmother won't stop complaining that you didn't come back to the lessons! Do you know how much I suffered because of you?!"

Billy laughed. "My bad, Nawaki."

Yunmi opened her candy bar and sighed. "I was stuck with my uncle the whole week training with him, but I did spend one day with the girls."

Billy took a bite from his bar. "Speaking of them, what happened to the rest of the class? You got any info on them?"

Yunmi took a bite and hummed. "Yup! Ayano complained non-stop about how rude her sensei is and how Izuku should recognize her as the leader. Ume, on the other hand, told me that her sensei is an awesome kenjutsu user, but she feels the team dynamic is not that great."

Billy leaned back and looked at the stars. "It feels like yesterday; we did our test together." He took in a deep breath of cold air that made his lungs feel alive.

Yunmi looked at Billy. "Billy, why don't you have your Hitai?" she pointed at her mark that is attached to her neck.

Nawaki perked up. "Yeah, where is your Hitai?" Nawaki pointed at his forehead.

Billy reached into his bag that was placed next to him and pulled out his mark; it was attached to a leather belt he made himself. "Here it is."

Yunmi groaned. "You made your Hitai a belt buckle. The representation of a shinobi, the mark that represents our devotion… and you turned it into a belt buckle."

Billy stood up and shoved his belt in front of her. "What do you mean, just a belt buckle!" he designed the belt to look like Billy the kid's belt, and he attached a small bag next to it. "This is the belt of a hero, a man that challenged laws, the most outrageous outlaw in the west."

Billy sat on his knees and held his belt with care. "This is the belt of a real cowboy hero!" a single tear escaped from his eyes, a manly tear.

Nawaki jumped from the boulder and placed one hand on Billy's shoulder while he gave Billy a thumbs up with his other hand, smiling and crying. "Don't waste your breath on that witch, Billy! She would not understand the greatness of Billy, the kid!" They both turned and gave Yunmi a glare.

Yunmi placed both of her hands under her jaws and sighed. "I lost all respect for you guys. And that Billy the kid story is clearly a fantasy… You have your name in there."

Just as Billy was about to respond, they heard a voice. "Good, all of you are here."

They turned to the voice and found Danzo squatting on a tree branch. He jumped from the tree and walked to them. "Are you ready?"

All of them rose and stood in formation. "Yes, sensei!"

Danzo nodded and threw a map at Nawaki. "You need to reach this destination in two days."

Nawaki opened the map and showed it to his team. The map had one word and a long list of numbers. "You have five minutes to get ready," Danzo stated and disappeared.

Billy moaned. "He is going to hunt us the whole way through, isn't he?"

Yunmi looked down at her dress. "Why do I always wear a white dress in the worst possible situations!"

Nawaki ignored their complaints and looked up at the stars. "At least he told us to go south, and based on the numbers, we have to calculate the distance using the stars."

Billy reached into his bag and brought a map of the continent. "We only have five minutes before he attacks; Nawaki step on it. You are the one that is good with numbers."

Yunmi grew annoyed. "How come I don't have anything to do! Back off from the map, I studied maps!"

She huffed and sat next to Billy. "We have to avoid these locations; they will slow us down. And we need to calculate a route that is far away from the western side because of Tanigakure (Rivers), of course."

Nawaki sat next to her and began describing the route with her. "Nerds," Billy commented and began preparing himself.

When the five minutes were about to be done, Nawaki spoke with the mind connection. "All right, just to recap, we have to travel for two days non-stop if we wish to reach Waves. Billy, what is the political and war situation?"

Billy grunted while tightening his belt. "I regret ever telling you that I liked political theories." He sighed. 'It always comes to this insignificant island… I feel insulted somehow.' Billy thought while finishing with his belt.

"Complain to your girlfriends later, Billy, information now."

Billy opened his zipper. "The land will be mostly calm in the south, we will not have any troubles with the civilians; Tanigakure (Rivers), on the other hand, seem to be infiltrating the south side of our borders, there is a rumor that they are searching for something; I am not so sure on that point."

Billy clapped his Hitai on his belt and straightened out his black trench coat. "Waves, on the other hand, is a whole another story; a couple of years back, the Hokage sent a delegation there so we may build an outpost to keep watch on the bay of fire, rumor has it that no word came from the outpost for a month now."

Yunmi grew a worried look. "One of my friends in the clan told me her father was sent to wave… Do you think something bad happened, Billy?"

Billy covered his head with his hood and replied. "I am not really sure; all that I know are gossips, but maybe Rivers had something to do with this and stole some messages heading to Konoha. I bet our training mission is a real mission."

Suddenly they heard Danzo speak. "Impressive deduction… I would recommend you run."

Billy dodged a sword swing and jumped forward. "How the fuck did he hear that, Yunmi!"

Yunmi ran after Billy while dodging a kunai. "He asked me to! I forgot the mind link with him!"

Nawaki ran up a tree and jumped away from a swing. "Well, remove him from our link! And that does not make sense; how could you forget a connection!"

"He is surprisingly quiet! Fine, I will remove him now!" They all felt the connection change. "There, happy!"

Nawaki nodded. "Yes, now get in-formation and try not to get distracted. Billy, you take the lead and head to the gate, stay in the forested areas." He dodged a shuriken.

Billy went first while Nawaki stayed on the right side, and Yunmi remained on the left. They charged their bodies with chakra and started tree hopping.

Billy had to go first since his much bigger body needed a larger space to jump. He heard Nawaki dodge. The team jumped around the walls of Konoha until they reached the exit.

Yunmi parried a sword strike. "He could have started us outside of the village!" she complained while dodging a chain weapon.

Nawaki tried to dodge, but he was kicked forward to Billy's back; Nawaki took hold of Billy's trench coat. "Get used to it; this is how Danzo rolls… Anyways Billy, when we reach the gate, go to the ground level and do the thing you told us about."

Billy grunted. "Fine, but you guys need to hold on to me. And you need to perry his attacks for ten seconds."

When they reached the exit of the gate, Billy landed. "Hello there Hajime-San. Goodbye Hajime-San." Billy greeted the gate guard, who was eating cup ramen with a deadpan face.

He felt both of his teammates climb his back and attach themselves. "Give me ten seconds, guys." He instructed while unsealing the monkey mask.

Billy quickly removed his original leather mask and attached the new one; he charged some chakra into the sad wooden mask. He heard a Kunai getting parried.

He could feel the mask activating, and the frown on the monkey's mouth opened with snaps, and from the mouth, twenty small chains with tiny hooks were released onto the floor.

The mask's eyes started glowing with pale golden light, and fuinjutsu marking crawled from the eyes to the neck and across Billy's body. The marks began glowing. The chains lifted themselves up and began spinning around Billy, catching any projectiles that may come.

Billy channeled some chakra and commanded ten chains to hold into his team. "Don't resist the chains! And get ready for!"

He bent down, similar to a runner, and focused his chakra on his core, legs, feet, bones, and knees. 'My first custom jutsu, let's see how you can handle it, Danzo.'

He made the horse sign for compression, then the monkey for balance. He added the dragon for projection, ram for consistency, and finally, bird for the release. Billy smiled and slapped his knees with chakra while screaming. "PAIN TRAIN!"

Nawaki felt the chains tighten, he was about to ask, but then he heard Billy. "And get ready for! Pain train!"

One moment Nawaki saw Danzo landing before his eyes; the next, he was far away, and he could barely see him. He saw the ground getting destroyed with each second; he saw the earth fly up into the air.

He could barely feel his face from the force, and he had to focus his chakra on his body to protect himself.

Nawaki saw a tree fly over them, getting smashed in Billy's way. 'When the fuck did he make this!' he screamed to himself, then he regurgitated the chakra-way Billy gave him.

Slowly his vision darkened, and he knew no more.

A scream woke Nawaki from the land of dreams, he opened his eyes and tried to find the danger. "What is going!" he screamed.

He looked around and spotted Yunmi, who was shaking. "Yunmi?!" Without looking at Nawaki, she pointed at something.

Nawaki looked in the direction. "No! Billy!" He screamed and ran to Billy, he dodged some empty containers along the way, and when he reached Billy, his stomach turned.

He saw Billy resting on a rock; his whole lower body was covered with blood, his Iron boots are shattered, his pants are shredded, his legs and feet are swollen and colored purple. Nawaki reached with his hand to Billy's leg and stirred them. 'They feel like dough.' He channeled chakra to his hand and started healing. "Yunmi, check on his pulse!"

Yunmi gathered her courage and ran to Billy; she placed her finger on his neck. "He is alive!"

Nawaki tried to lower the swelling, and before his eyes, the swelling subsided. "Nawaki, you are good at this! You can save him." Yunmi screamed with happiness.

He smiled and continued to pour more chakra, but then he noticed and stopped healing. He continued to watch the leg, but then he felt Yunmi holding him roughly. "Why did you stop!"

Nawaki pointed at the leg. "He does not need my help."

Yunmi looked at Billy and her mouth widened; Billy's body continued to heal without Nawaki's help. "I am still new at healing; at first, I thought it was my doing, but it seems I was mistaken."

Yunmi reached with a finger and poked the leg, which continued to heal. While Nawaki looked around, he reached for one of the containers he found earlier and read them aloud. "Protein pack, and energy booster pack." He looked around him and counted fifty packs lying around.

Yunmi perked up. "Wait, so he ate all of these and went to sleep?" Nawaki nodded. Yunmi looked around Billy and found a small letter next to him. "Nawaki, look!"

She brought the letter and read it. "Hey, guys, sorry about the mess. I was testing out a new jutsu I created a while ago… So, give me six hours of sleep, and we are good. Take care."

Nawaki sighed and squatted while Yunmi complained about Billy; Nawaki brought his charts and started calculating how much they ran; after a while, he called out to Yunmi. "Yunmi, can you check the maps real quick."

Yunmi sat next to Nawaki and read the maps. "No, that can't be right… Did you check your numbers, right? What about the stars?"

Nawaki looked up at the night sky. "Yup, it's correct."

Yunmi looked at the maps in shock. "Wait, so you are telling me we skipped a twenty-four-hour march in one hour?!"

Nawaki tucked in the maps. "Yup… I think Danzo sensei is going to catch up to us in ten hours or less." He started looking at the surroundings. "We need to make a shelter if we have to wait for Billy to heal up."

Yunmi jumped on a nearby boulder. "Let's do a mind connection and scout the area; you do north, I will do south." She jumped next to Nawaki and began the connection.

They both went their separate way; after fifteen minutes, they both return; Nawaki started with the traps then the fire. While Yunmi set up the camp concealment.

When they finished, they returned back to see Billy's legs are back to their usual color. "His body is so weird," Yunmi commented while throwing another log into the fire.

Nawaki perked up. "You remember when we had taijutsu class, and his arms broke."

Yunmi hugged her knees. "Yeah, he started swinging his arms like clubs, but he won in the end." She gave a small smile at the memories. Then she turned her head to the sleeping giant, she saw the sad hallow eyes of the wooden monkey.

Nawaki poked the fire with a stick. "I asked my sister what was wrong with him once."

"What did she say?"

"She told me that she has never seen anything like this."

Yunmi turned and looked at Nawaki in the eyes. "What do you mean?"

Nawaki scratched his head. "His muscles grew too big and too fast; they started crushing his internal organs. She told me that because of the pain, they had to inject his body with liquid just to remove the pressure."

"How did he survive?"

"Mostly his regeneration, but then came the bone breaking."

Yunmi looked at Billy with sadness. "Yeah, I remember. He could not even move without one of his bones breaking."

Nawaki brought out a ration and threw one to Yunmi. "We should take a break soon, two hours for me and two hours for you."

Yunmi bit into her ration that tasted like cardboard. "Fine." She replayed and looked at Billy's mask. "Hey, Nawaki."

Nawaki looked at her. "Hmm?"

"What do you think is under that mask?"

Nawaki looked at Billy's mask, and he remembered the sewers. Then he shrugged. "Dunne."

Yunmi looked at him and searched him for clues. "You are lying… you know something."

Nawaki sweated a little bit. "What are you talking about? Why would I lie… And you know Billy, he never removes his mask."

She smiled and stood up. "Well, now I know you are lying! I am going to see what is under there." She moved to the sleeping Billy, and just as she was about to remove the mask. She heard a kunai hit the ground in front of her.

Nawaki gave her a glare. "Don't you fucking dare touch his mask!"

Yunmi gave him a surprised look, then she smirked. "What you are that worried about your boyfriend?"

Nawaki, still glaring, stood up. "Do not touch the mask Yunmi, that is an order."

She got mad. "And who are you to give me an order, Oh Sanju-Sama!" She glared at him.

"Because I am the leader of the team when Danzo sensei is not around."

"Oh, and who elected you, Nawaki? I certainly did not hear sensei nominate you!"

"Right then, you are supposed to be the leader, right? Instead of fighting, we should all drink tea and talk about dresses and cute boys!"

Yunmi walked forward and withdrew her umbrella. "Watch it, Nawaki."

Nawaki smirked. "Or what? Are you going to send one of your 'girlfriends' to make cutie talk? I already suffered under your beehive. Annoying witch."

Yunmi's face grew red with anger. "You are a stuck-up, annoying, inconsiderate jerk! Nawaki!"

Nawaki spread his arms in a welcoming manner. "Oh, please, we both know, you sent those annoying banshees at me!"

Tears started falling from Yunmi's face. "No, I didn't; we were a group! It's not my fault that they liked you."

Nawaki grew angry. "Liked me!" he walked forward. "They never fucking like me! They loved my name, my status, my clan. But never me!"

He moved really close and bashed her umbrella away. "Do you have any idea how I felt? Trapped with your witch coven?! Day after day stalking, annoying gifts, dinner invitation by noble families. Half of your friends joined the academy because of me!"

Yunmi had enough and slapped him. "What about me, Nawaki?! I never asked to be on your team! All of my friends left me because they felt envious that I was with your team! The only ones who stayed with me were Ayano and Ume!"

She walked away from him and picked up her umbrella. "You are a mean person Nawaki." She said softly while holding her umbrella for support.

Nawaki touched his cheek, and just as he was about to replay. He turned around and sat on the opposite side of Yunmi. "Witch."

Yunmi gave him her back. "Annoying rat."

They sat in silence; the only sound was Billy's snoring and the fire cracking; they heard an owl hoot at them. After a while, they heard Billy mumble in his sleep in a weird language. "Thanks, Obama"

Nawaki sighed. "Go to sleep. I am going to take first watch."

Yunmi replayed hatefully. "No, you go to sleep!"

Nawaki shrugged. "Fine"

Nawaki unsealed his sleeping bag and slept. While Yunmi grumbled in anger for two hours, she brushed her fiery orange hair the whole time. When the two hours have passed, she stood up and took an empty protein container, and threw it hard at Nawaki. "Wake up, you rat!"

Nawaki woke up with a grumble. "I am awake, you witch!" he flipped her off.

She harrumphed and flipped him; she walked to her spot and opened her bag to retrieve her sleeping bag. Nawaki looked at her and smirked. "What seals are too complicated for you?" She ignored him and went to sleep.

Nawaki sat next to the fire. 'Bitch… All right, Nawaki, not the time, let's see in two hours it's going to be midnight, based on the calculation we need to travel at normal speed for twenty-four hours.'

He threw a log into the fire and looked at Billy. 'Good, his healing is almost done; if we started moving in two hours, sensei is going to catch up to us in ten hours maximum based on his speed.'

He pulled out his water canteen and began drinking. 'And that will leave us fourteen hours of running while dodging.'

Nawaki sighed and pulled out a map. 'If only Billy was awake, he would have snapped and hit us both… Maybe.' He looked at Yunmi sleeping. 'Maybe I should not have been too hard on her.'

Billy smiled at the rabbit. "Why, thank you, Mr. Rabbit." He reached out and took a nice cup of chocolate milk.

He looked around the surrounding area. Heavy fog covered everything around them, he could see pine trees surrounds them, and the ground was covered with dead orange leaves.

Billy was sitting on a dining table with a muscle-bound rabbit wearing a top hat and a monocle. Next to the rabbit was Obama, the president. He was wearing his presidential necktie, and his body was covered with oil.

He took a sip of the hot coco and enjoyed the protean infusion it had. "I would say, Mr. Rabbit, this hot protein coco is quite a delight."

The rabbit posed with his body, showing off his gains. "I am quite Happy, Mr. Billy. I got it from a protein merchant in the lower east docks."

Billy was shocked. "Oh my, Mr. Rabbit, you are quite bold. Don't you know that the east docks are infested with vegan bodybuilders?!"

The rabbit took off his monocle and cleaned them up. "Don't you worry, Mr. Billy, I took protection before I went there. And I listened to Mr. Arnold Schwarzenegger's sermon, and I covered my body with our holy oils."

Obama, who was talking to a pretty skinny Sun 'Tzu, noticed our discussion. "Aaa… You should be careful, Mr. Rabbit. Aaa… look at what they did to Sun 'Tzu."

Sun 'Tzu, who looks exhausted and beaten up, had long stretchy skin from his loss of gains; he had the art of war tucked on his person. "Protection take I did hmm… But jumped me they did hmm."

A single tear fell from Obama's face, and he retrieved cookies from his side of the table. "Aaa… Here Sun, you need some protein." Then Obama offered some protein to Billy. "Thanks, Obama."

For weeks, they talked about the vulgar Vegan bodybuilders. But. One day, while Billy was talking to Sun 'Tzu, he fell from his chair, and he found his lower body was withering away. "No, my gains! Help me, Mr. Rabbit!"

From the corner of his eyes, he saw a skinny person stabbing Mr. Rabbit, who screamed his dying word. "Oh my!"

The skinny person slowly walked to Billy; his head was covered with a hood. When he reached Billy, he spoke. "Silly Mr. Rabbit gains are for humans."

Billy crawled away from this monster; his legs turned into sticks. "Why would you do this to us vegan!" he spat the last word as an insult.

The Vegan walked up to Billy, and he took hold of his hair. "Because. Billy." He removed his hood. "I am you from the future!"

Billy screamed, and he saw the fire camp before him. "I WILL NEVER BE A VEGAN!" His breathing was quick, and he felt dread, but then he saw Nawaki looking at him.

Nawaki scratched his hair. "Vegan, what now?"

Billy took a deep breath. 'It's just a dream, Billy…' He looked at Nawaki. "Sorry, I saw a nightmare." He looked at his lower body and found them be fixed; he moved his legs. 'Stiff, but they will do the job.' Billy stood up slowly and began stretching.

Nawaki tucked in his map. "Billy." He called out.

Billy looked at Nawaki. "yeah, Nawaki?"

"What the fuck was that."

Billy popped his neck. "What do you mean?"

"I mean the jutsu. 'Pain Train.' What the hell was that! And why would you do such a thing!"

Billy gave him a proud smile. "You like it? This is my first jutsu."

Nawaki stood up and gave him a glare. "I don't fucking care about your jutsu! You almost died because of it!"

Billy gave him a thumbs up. "Don't you worry, I will fix it up later."

Nawaki screamed and flipped him off. "Fuck you, Billy! See if I care if you do this again."

Billy smiled and gave him another thumbs up. "So where are we?"

Nawaki looked up at the sky. "Time midnight, Location halfway to Waves, current status hunted."

"Cool, so when are we moving?"

"Wake up, Yunmi, while I relocate our traps, Danzo sensei is going to check this place, so we might as well slow him down."

Billy nodded and walked to Yunmi. "You got it, boss." He picked up a stick next to the fire and pocked Yunmi. "Yunmi… Yun, Yun, Yun."

Yunmi grumbled and woke up. "I am awake." Then she felt a poke. "Stop poking me, Billy!... Wait, Billy!" she turned and looked at Billy, then she jumped at him and hugged his leg. "You are alive!"

Billy grew award and slowly patted her head. "I guess I am?"

Yunmi smiled at him, then her smile turned into a frown; she backed away and withdrew her umbrella, then she hit Billy with it. "Why would you scare us like that! Huh?!"

Billy shrugged. "I wanted to show off." He turned around to gather his things but felt another sting from Yunmi, but he just ignored her.

They all prepared for the long march, and when they are done, Nawaki unrolled his map. "All right, guys, we are here, and we need to reach wave in a day." He pointed at their current location and dragged it to wave in a zigzag motion.

Crunch!

Yunmi stopped Nawaki. "Hold on, why are we not running straight to Waves?"

"Because we need to distract sensei."

Crunch!

"If we really need to distract sensei, why don't we just separate and gather at one point later." Replayed Yunmi.

Crunch!

Nawaki massaged his head. "Are you crazy? We are in the middle of a war, and you want us to separate."

Crunch!

"Oh, please, and you think your plan is much better? If we moved in a zigzag motion, we would move at a much slower pace while also hitting natural barriers that will slow us down!" Yunmi exclamation and pointed at the map.

Crunch!

Nawaki stood up. "Oh, and your smart plan of us separating is much better?! You are increasing the risk factor here!"

Crunch!

Yunmi humphed and turned her head. "Fine, let's call for a vote!"

Crunch!

Both of them turned and looked at Billy, who was squatting and eating protein-fortified chips. Billy was about to bite into another chip, but then he noticed them. "Huh? You guys finished with the planning?"

Nawaki looked down at the map again. "And we have this idiot."

Billy stood up and dusted himself; he turned around while retrieving his original mask. "You guys are overthinking this." His mask hissed when he reattached it. "Let's just go; no matter how much you guys will try to trick Danzo, he is a Jonin; he will figure it out."

Yunmi stood up while Nawaki is gathering his maps. "Then what do you think we should do?" Yunmi asked.

Billy turned around with his original mask. He smiled at them, and while he is closing his zipper, he spoke. "We go with the fastest path available; the more distance we move, the better."

"But what about our plans?" Nawaki pointed out.

"What plans? All I heard was you guys complaining to each other." Billy resealed all of his stuff. "Come on, let's go. We are wasting time."

Yunmi stood up. "Fine, let's do Billy's plan."

Nawaki's jaw dropped. "But my plans!"

Yunmi winked at him. "Oh, we don't have time for plans, leader-Sama." She smiled and laughed at Nawaki.

Billy began moving to the south. "Let's move, and Nawaki, how long until Danzo catches up to us?"

Nawaki jumped behind Billy. "I would say ten hours tops. Based on his speed."

Billy nodded and increased his speed, then he channeled some chakra to his feet and hopped on a tree. "Good, we still have time."

The team increased their speed and began tree hopping.

Danzo took a bite of his ration while following the trail of destruction. "When I find that Billy kid, I am going to reprimand him."

He looked down at the destroyed path. 'Who would have thought that he knew a jutsu like that.' Jumping again, he noticed the path returning to normal. 'I bet he lost control here.'

Danzo jumped down from the tree and inspected the road. 'Hmm, he crawled the rest of the way through.'

Danzo walked slowly. 'His feet failed him at this point… and they began bleeding.' He bent down and picked up a discarded container. 'Protein and energy packs… I remember the hospital telling me about them.'

He followed the path of blood to a dead campfire. 'The team rested here for a while. What is this? A paper' Danzo bent down and picked up the paper, but he heard a small tick and jumped away from the exploding trap.

He saw several shurikens explode outward, and he dodged some of them midair when he landed. Danzo stood up and scouted the area. 'Cleaver, but not good enough.'

He spotted several traps, and he disabled them, then he moved around the camp gathering clues. 'Hmm, they had to wait for Billy to recover for some time, then they moved south to Waves… I guess they figured out the location.'

Danzo walked to the edge of the camp. 'I need to catch up to them; who knows what they will encounter.'

He charged his lower body with chakra and began tree-hopping. 'I need to talk to Billy after this; he is easy to track, first the destruction, and now the broken tree branches.'

While hopping, he began to think about his mission. He remembered Hiruzen telling him about Waves and the outpost they had there. Apparently, they had no report for two months, and the team they sent a month back was missing.

He dodged a small trap in his way. 'I really need to teach them more about traps.'

Danzo traveled for a while; he dodged traps and tracked his team. He jumped down and moved on foot when the forest ended. Increasing his speed while looking at the gathering cloud storm. 'A storm is coming; I need to reach them faster… Thankfully their tracks are becoming fresher.'

After hours of running, he noticed the weather is getting foggier, and the rain began falling down. His team's tracks are getting fresher, and he could smell Billy's blood in the air, but the rain is making it harder for him.

Danzo looked at a dead forest ahead of him, he saw the fog clouding the forest, but he charged in, nonetheless. He jumped on a dead tree while sticking to it, then he jumped on to another tree. 'The trees are dead here, and the team does not know how-to stick-on trees; I will need to teach them that later. What a waste' he thought. 'Why would Hiruzen make this exercise an exclusive team training thing? This is just a waste of time.'

He braved the dead foggy forest, and he tracked his team, but this time it was much harder, the fog and the rain obscured his vision and his sense of smell, and he could not track properly.

And after jumping for a while, he heard people running ahead of him. Danzo smiled. "Got you."

He charged more chakra to his feet and jumped at the nearest one, which was Nawaki. He withdrew his blade and revered his grip. Then he slashed down. Nawaki sensed him at the last moment, but he was slower, and Danzo disabled him.

When Nawaki was sent flying from the formation, the rest of the team turned to him; Yunmi threw a couple of Kunai in his direction and jumped away. Billy punched a dead tree and threw it in his direction.

When Danzo dodged the Kunai, he channeled some chakra to his feet and stuck them on the tree; in less than a blink of an eye, he walked on the tree and faced Billy.

He threw a couple of shurikens attached to some wires at Billy, then he jumped from the moving tree to another tree. He pulled the wires and redirected them to Yunmi. Then he jumped from his current tree to another one, dodging Nawaki's attack.

Yunmi dodged received a couple of cuts, but she quickly slashed his wire. 'Good they are learning.' He thought while jumping.

He stopped for a moment to allow his team to catch their breath, and they began running.

Danzo ran after them while harassing them with his projectiles; sometimes, he would hide in the foggy forest and reappear in front of them.

While traveling, he noticed that Yunmi is wearing a strange mask that has a bird's beak. The beak would go to different cuts on her body and heal her up. 'Must be one Billy's masks.' He thought while dodging another tree projectile. 'I really need to teach him about subtle attacks.'

Danzo kept on attacking his team, but when the forest ended, he called out to them. "Stop." The team stopped running. Danzo landed in front of them; he looked around the area inspecting his surroundings. Behind him was the foggy forest, while in front of him is a raging sea, he looked around the area, trying to find any danger, but when he found none, he calmed down.

Danzo returned his sword to his back. "Congratulations, we reached Waves."

Billy looked around the area. "But sensei… I don't think this is Waves."

"You are right Billy, Waves is beyond this water channel, but we will stop the chase for now." Danzo walked near a tree. "I will be teaching you two lessons."

He turned and looked at the team. "You will master these lessons in one week; while you are training, you will create a hideout, scout the area, and survive without me for a whole week."

Nawaki raised his hand. "But sensei, what will you be doing?"

Danzo looked in Wave's direction. "I will be scouting our mission location." Danzo turned his head and looked at the tree again. "Listen close because I will not repeat myself. The first lesson is the tree walking exercise."

Danzo channeled some chakra to his feet' soles; he walked up without using his hand and looked down at his students. 'What a waste of time, if only the academy did this first.'

He sighed and asked. "Any questions?"

Yunmi raised her hand. "How did you do that, sensei?"

"You channel chakra to your feet and balance the output" He jumped from the tree and walked to the seaside. "Next lesson is water walking. You constantly change the output of your chakra to remain on top of the water." He jumped on the water and started walking around.

Danzo turned and looked at his student's faces. 'Hmm, they all know it… wait, even Billy knows? How he is not from a clan.' He jumped from the sea to the shore. "Now you have a week, try to not die. Oh, and Billy, come over here."

Danzo walked away from the team. He heard Billy walk behind him. When he was in a good place, he turned around and faced Billy.

He looked at Billy's mask. "What was that, Billy?"

Billy gave him a shrug. "What was what, sensei?" Danzo walked to Billy and slapped him.

Billy, shocked by the power behind the slap, fell to the side. "What the fuck, sensei?!"

Danzo walked forward. "Such disrespect! Do not act in an idiotic manner in front of me. You know what I am talking about."

Billy gave Danzo a hateful glare. "You mean my jutsu." Billy spat to the side a glob of blood.

"Yes, your jutsu… Who taught you that?"

"No one." Billy looked him in the eye, not flinching.

Danzo sighed and looked at the sea. "So, you created a jutsu… with no knowledge about the dangers that it may cause, you almost died from it, and you may have caused our mission to be exposed."

Billy glared at Danzo's back. "I will not repeat that again, sensei."

Danzo inhaled the sea breeze. "Good, but I will not crush your curiosity." He turned around. "Show me how it works."

Billy nodded, and he slowly described the process of the jutsu. "Then I channel chakra to my knees."

Danzo retrieved his pipe and lit it up, the rain made it harder, but he managed at the end. "You are very lucky to have a body like yours, Billy."

Danzo walked to Billy and tapped his knees. "If a regular shinobi did what you did, they would have died, and their lower body would have been blown to smithereens." He took a puff from his pipe.

"For now, focus on your chakra control and balance of body chakra and mind chakra. Who knows how much body chakra you have stored up?"

Danzo lowered himself and gave Billy a smile. "When we return to Konoha, we will fix some hiccups." He looked at Billy. "What's the matter… are you constipated?"

Billy's face looks like it sucked a lemon. "N-no sense everything is all right."

Danzo shrugged and walked back to the beach; he jumped on the water. "Tell your team I will be back in one week; try not to die."

Danzo ran towards Waves, completely ignoring the fact that his smiling face made Billy almost cringe.

Billy cringed when he saw Danzo's smiling face. 'That is a face that should never smile again… God, I bet even iron would bend just to get away from that smile.'

He saw Danzo run towards Waves. Billy looked up at the thundering sky and the never-ending freezing rain.

Standing up, Billy balanced himself. "Fucking mud." He walked back to his team while nursing his cheek. 'Asshole… You just had to channel chakra into that slap.'

Billy stopped his movement when he heard his teammates shouting at each other. 'What the fuck is wrong with them? I knew they never liked each other, but this shit is getting hostile.'

He looked at the foggy forest where they came from. 'This fucking place is a death trap.'

Billy began walking towards his team; he saw them fighting with each other. Running out of patience, Billy clapped his hands, gaining their attention. "All right, why don't we all take it easy; we are outside of Konoha now."

Both Nawaki and Yunmi stopped their shouting match and looked at Billy. Nawaki glared at Yunmi while removing some of the rainwater that fell into his eyes. "Where is sensei Billy?"

Billy pointed at Waves. "He went scouting; he will be back in one week. Oh, and he told us not to die."

Yunmi twirled her umbrella, splashing some water into Nawaki's eyes. "So, we have to survive for a week?"

Nawaki backed away from Yunmi and replayed. "yes, and we have to find a shelter while scouting the area for danger, oh and we have to master his training."

Yunmi looked at Billy. "To be fair, two of us knew about the excurses from our clans, but we did not master it yet. What about you, Billy?"

Billy cracked his fingers. "Nah, I knew about it a long time ago; Oyabun made sure I knew about it. but I never practiced it on account of the academy, job, job-training, and Mito-Sama's training."

"Oh, my Billy, are you always this busy?" Yunmi asked while covering her mouth.

Billy exhaled and squatted. "You would not believe how busy I was. Even if I had some free time, Oyabun would put me on sale's duty… Have you ever had to deal with ten kids running in and screaming about cool masks! Fucking annoying."

Yunmi gave him a small giggle, and just as she was about to replay, Nawaki interrupted them. "Guys, why don't we find a shelter then we can talk about our daily lives there?"

Billy looked up at the sky; he saw lighting striking in the distance. He stood up and looked around. "Yeah, I think a bigger storm is coming… So, do we split up and try to find shelter?"

Yunmi nodded. "I think it is for the best if we split up, but we need to remain close to each other, so my mind-link can still function."

Nawaki began drawing on the ground. "The connection can only support half a mile, right?" Yunmi nodded at Nawaki, who started drawing on the mud. "I think Yunmi should stay in the middle, I would go to the east, and Billy will go to the west."

Billy shrugged. "Makes no difference, call me when you find shelter… Oh, and guys." He raised one finger at them. They both looked at Billy. "No more fucking fighting all right… We don't have the time. Get your shit together."

Billy lowered his finger and channeled some chakra to his feet, and ran towards the west. His speed was much slower than usual on account of the fog, rain, and mud.

He searched the western side for half an hour, he saw a pond, but there was no shelter. He saw some streams and dead trees. Suddenly he heard Yunmi call out to him. "Billy, Nawaki, I found shelter."

Billy smiled. "All right, I will meet you back near the shore." He turned back.

After traveling for another half an hour, he saw Yunmi covered in mud, and she had a frown. "What happened to you?"

She looked at him and sighed. "I found a cave entrance, but I slipped; now I am covered in mud."

Billy looked down at the miserable girl, and he grew awkward. He slowly raised his hand and patted her head. "There, there it will be all right."

Yunmi withdrew her umbrella and hit Billy. "Don't pet me!"

"Hey, watch it! I was trying to make you feel better!"

"Well, you could have done that without petting me like some damn cat!"

Billy facepalmed. "Fine, it's my bad, sorry."

"I accept your apology." She smiled and hugged her umbrella.

They stood there in silence, hearing the rain hitting the mud underneath them, then Billy raised his hand. "So how is the weather." Yunmi looked at the ground. 'Fuck, this is awkward! I did not interact with her that much! Fucking Danzo, at least introduce the team properly!'

"Oh, the weather is good." She replayed while fidgeting with her fingers.

"Yeah, that is good…" He inhaled a deep breath and sighed in defeat. Then they heard footsteps, they turned around and looked at Nawaki. "Nawaki! Finally, you are here!"

Yunmi smiled. "Yes, finally you are here! we can go now, let's go, go, go!"

Nawaki gave them a confused look. "What is going on?"

Billy walked to the back of Nawaki and dragged him. "No time to waste. We need to go to the cave asap!"

"Wait, let me take a breather first!" Nawaki screamed while getting dragged by Billy.

Yunmi ran before Billy, showing them the way. "No, can do Nawaki. We need to move fast! You know rain and all."

"What that does not make sense, we have been under the rain for hours now!"

Billy raised Nawaki's body. "Don't think Nawaki, just let it go." Nawaki's hands fell in defeat.

They walked for ten minutes, and finally, they saw a small rocky mountain hidden by dead trees. They climbed the slippery rocks and entered the cave.

When they entered, they saw darkness in front of them; the only light source was the momentary flashes of lighting behind them. Billy reached into his bag and pulled out a sealing scroll.

Billy unsealed a torch and a lighter, then he lit up the small cave. When the cave was lit up, they found it covered with moss; they found a couple of roots in the corner. "Well, color me impressed Yunmi; this is a great choice."

Yunmi smiled. "Thank you, Billy, now we just need a fire and beds."

Nawaki returned to the entrance and began inspecting it. "You guys do that while I trap the area and scout it for a little bit."

Both Billy and Yunmi turned to Nawaki, just as they were about to stop him, he ran out. Cold dead silence followed in his departure. "Fuck." Billy commented.

Billy stretched near the entrance of the cave; he looked back to his and Yunmi's work. 'Beds and a fire check, alarm system check, cleaning of the cave check, and finally hiding the entrance of the cave check.' He slapped the moss-covered boulder near the entrance.

He walked back to the cave and sat near the fire; Billy looked at the orange illuminated cave and found it quite cozy. "Yo, Yun finished with the dinner yet?"

Yunmi stirred the stew. "Almost done." She closed the lid and looked up at Billy.

Billy fidgeted around awkwardly, which made the atmosphere uncomfortable. "So, how are you?"

Yunmi gave him a deadpan expression. "So, and so… I guess."

Billy sighed forcefully and leaned back on the walls. He retrieved a cigar from his trench coat and began lighting it up, but Yunmi interjected. "Hey, no smoking in the cave!"

Billy smiled at her and took a deep puff. "Bite me."

"Eww, no thanks!"

The smoke danced around the cave, changing the smell of it slowly;. At the same time, Yunmi complained. Billy took another puff and spoke while the smoke dissipated. "Any word from Nawaki?"

Yunmi curled up into a ball near the fire; her expression changed into sadness; then she reached to her mind. "He is fine, and he says that he will be coming back to the cave in ten minutes."

"That is good." Billy replayed and closed his eyes while smoking.

After ten minutes, they saw Nawaki entering the cave; he was completely soaked. "Good job on the camouflage, guys."

Billy opened his eyes. "Stop right there, Nawaki." Billy reached into his trench coat and retrieved a scroll; he threw it to Nawaki. "Dry yourself up first; we just finished cleaning."

After drying himself up, Nawaki walked to the fire and sat down. They could hear the thunderstorm raging in the background and the rain hitting the door.

Billy finished with his cigar he threw it into the fire. "What did you find Nawaki?"

Nawaki covered his head with a towel. "I finished scouting the west side, trapped the path to the camp with hunting traps, and made them look old."

He picked up a small cup of green tea. "found a couple of non-shinobi deserter camps; I don't know which nation they are from. But we should be careful they may become bandits in the future."

Nawaki took a sip from the green tea. "Found some old shinobi tracks, a battlefield, and some looters."

Yunmi looks at the stew pot. "We need to tell sensei when we see him again, we could use the looters or the deserters in the future."

Nawaki nods. "So, food is ready?"

"Yup, dig in." Yunmi replayed while helping herself.

Billy unsealed some protean packs and energy boosters. "I am starving. I hope it is as good as you claimed it is."

Yunmi smiled. "Hah! When you eat my cooking, you would be ruined forever; nothing beats my bear stew!"

Billy looked down at his bowl. 'Where the fuck did she get some bear meat?' Billy shrugged. 'Eh, I ate communist meat before with grandpa; it was all right.'

Billy, Nawaki, and Yunmi took their first bite. Nawaki spat his food instantly; Yunmi grew pale, Billy swallowed the bear meat, and he slowly lowered his bowl down; he took a deep breath and looked at Yunmi.

Yunmi began stuttering. "W-Who would have thought that… Salt and sugar look the same!" She lowered her bowl. "Oh, my, as a lady, I should not eat so much… You guys can have the rest." Yunmi stood up and walked to her sleeping bag.

Billy exhaled his breath. "Yun."

She turned around. "Yes, Billy?" she gave him a nervous smile.

He opened his eyes and looked at her. "You are no longer allowed to cook for the team."

Yunmi's cheeks grew. "What come-on, Billy, just because of one mistake."

Billy pointed at Nawaki, who was gagging. "This is more than a mistake… I think we could use your cooking as a poison."

Nawaki was on his knees, vomiting on the floor. "Uhhhhh. Blarg!"

Yunmi relented. "Fine." She sat down again.

Billy reached into his trench coat and pulled out a scroll. "Thankfully, I got some cup ramen."

After finishing the ramen, Billy handed it to his teammate. When they finished eating, they stayed there in comfortable silence. 'All right, that's it… if no one is going to face this awkwardness, I will do it!'

Billy stood up and looked down at his teammates. "That's it!" Nawaki and Yunmi gave him a surprised look. "I don't know what happened, but this is it! I am up to here with this bullshit!" he raised his hand up to his head.

Nawaki placed his cup ramen down. "What are you talking about?"

Billy pointed at Nawaki, then at Yunmi, and finally, he pointed at himself. "This shit is too awkward, all right! I don't feel relaxed. The atmosphere around us is too tense."

Yunmi looked around and sighed. "He is right."

Billy sat down again. "I know we have known each other a long time, but we need to start over."

Nawaki looked at Yunmi with weariness. "How are we supposed to start over, Billy?"

Billy smiled and retrieved a kunai. "With this. To better start over, we need to say our problems with each other, do not leave anything out, even if they are minor."

He placed the kunai on the ground. "When we are done listing our problems, we have to promise to solve them, after that we all will say our names, favorite food, things we like and things we dislike, hobbies, and our dreams for the future. Everyone in agreement?"

Nawaki gave the kunai on the floor a deep look, and after contemplating for a while, he looked up. "I agree."

Yunmi looked at Billy, then at Nawaki. "Fine."

Billy smiled and spun the kunai, and it landed on Yunmi. She picked up the kunai and looked at Billy and Nawaki. "I always feel invisible to you guys… Nawaki and Billy, you two have been friends for a long time now, and you had a long history with each other."

She took a deep breath. "And you know whenever we interact with each other, I always feel like a supporting character from a novel, and you two are the main characters… I just feel like I am not that important."

Her eyes began to tear up. "Nawaki and I never got along in the academy, maybe because of my old friends, or maybe my personality… I don't know. But I am really trying my best to support the team."

She looked down at her dress. "And it does not help that Nawaki always complains that I like to dress up or act like a girl… I know we are shinobi, but is it so wrong to be girly? I got enough crap from the clan telling me how I should dress; I really don't need more on my plate… we are a team. We should all support each other, right?"

She looked at Billy and Nawaki, then she handed the kunai to Nawaki with a smile.

Nawaki took the kunai and thought about what he will say, then he looked at the team. "I've always been the only Senju my age, people always try to get close to me, and it is annoying. Because I know that some of these people genuinely want to know me, but I can't take the risk."

He looked at the fire. "My grandfather always preached about the will of fire this and the will of fire that. But look at our clan now; every day, we hear more of my clan members die out there. I mean, I get the will of fire, I truly do, but why do we need to be royalty in the village? Us and the Uchiha created Konoha together; how come they do not receive the same problems as me? Why do I have to always fear new people?"

Tears of frustration began leaking from Nawaki. "I envy you two sometime…" he looked at them. "You have no care in the world; you do not have to act a certain way, every time. And I really envy that. In the village, I am always watched; I always know that someone is watching me. IT IS FUCKING ANNOYING!"

He shouted the last part, then he calmed down a little. "I guess my problem was trying to act a certain way for my team because people are always expecting something from me. And it made me an asshole…" he looked at Yunmi. "I am sorry, Yunmi." Then he handed the kunai to Billy.

Billy looked at the small kunai. 'I did not expect that… Fuck I really don't have anything to complain about. I am a go with the flow kind of guy.'

He looked at his team. "Shit, to be honest with you guys…" he stopped for a moment, and his team leaned in. "I don't really have anything I am mad about."

Instantly Yunmi and Nawaki screamed at him. ""Stop lying!""

Billy leaned back, surprised. "What it's the truth! I live an awesome life!"

Nawaki pointed at his face. "No one can live a normal life with your face Billy!"

Yunmi gasped and pointed at Nawaki. "I KNEW IT! You were hiding something from me!"

Billy leaned in. "What the fuck is that supposed to mean? Just because I have this face does not make me a drama queen!"

Yunmi looked at Billy and narrowed her eyes. "Fine, if you don't really care, then show us what is behind the mask."

"Ok," Billy replayed, unimpressed, which made Yunmi and Nawaki slip and fall.

Nawaki stood up. "What?! Then why are you always hiding your face?!"

Yunmi nodded with Nawaki. "Yeah, I have never seen you without your mask!"

Billy gave them a bored look. "Eh, it's fucking annoying, people always gasping. And saying ooh poor Billy, I just don't care." Billy reached to his mask, and it hissed, then it showed his scarred face. A face with no lips and no nose. Every part of it was scared with slash wounds and torture wounds. His eyes were sunken back, giving him a tired look, his silver eyes shined.

Yunmi instantly recoiled, while Nawaki stayed still since he saw that face before. Billy pointed at Yunmi. "See, this is what I was talking about. Imagine me walking around Konoha, and everyone is either vomiting or giving me a pitied look. I don't have time for this shit! Especially if I am going to get breakfast or something!"

Billy looked at Yunmi, who was still looking away. He stood up and walked right next to her. "Yun, look at me."

When she looked back, she recoiled again because Billy changed his face to a Silly face. "Stop it, Billy!"

Billy sighed. "Fine, but you need to get used to this face." She nodded at him.

Billy sat back down. "All right, since we talked about our problems, let's introduce each other from the start. I will begin."

Billy took a deep breath. "My name is Billy Tsuyoi Ushi; I am eleven and a half years old; I like to eat healthy food, training, and experiment in the shop with Oyabun. Things I hate are cowards, people who annoy me, getting straddled with leadership, and how I can't get drunk."

He balanced the kunai on his finger. "My hobbies are creating combat masks, watching drama shows on tv, and gossiping with the old ladies on bingo nights. My dream is to one day rise into a comfortable position in the shinobi ranks, own a farm, and maybe marring a nice girl who will give me kids." Billy handed the kunai to a stunned Yunmi.

Yunmi looked at the kunai. "Wow, Billy… you sound like an old man." Billy shrugged.

Nawaki laughed. "It does not help that you have white hair. You are a young fart!" Billy flipped Nawaki off.

Yunmi looked at them. "All right, I guess it's my turn. My name is Yunmi Yamanaka; I am eleven years old; I love watching horror movies at night, helping Inoichi with the new flower shop, I love to eat Oden in the winter times, and shopping!"

"I hate people who tell me what to wear, oil-based make-up, and people who hurt my family."

"My hobbies are planting flowers and creating new clothing designs! And my dream for the future is to one day own a boutique!" she handed the kunai to Nawaki.

Billy laughed. "Man, our dreams are so normal." Yunmi nodded.

Nawaki looked at the kunai. "My name is Nawaki Senju; I am twelve years old. I like to read books, doing mathematical calculations, I love to eat seafood, and hanging out with Billy."

"Things I hate are people who watch me, people who do not give me space, and paper cuts."

"My hobbies are reading, practicing with my chakra, and theorizing about history. My dream is to one day become the Hokage!"

Yunmi leaned next to Billy. "He likes to show off his intelligence, right?"

Billy leaned back. "Yeah, he does that a lot."

Nawaki grew irritated. "Hey, watch it!"

Billy laughed. "All right, since we did the whole introduction, I think it is a great way to end the day. So, who wants to take first watch?"

The next day, the team began training. One of them would rest in a high position while keeping watch of their surroundings, and the rest will train.

When they first started the tree walking exercise, they all thought that Billy would get it first since he is not from a clan, and he would have a lower chakra, but when Billy tried, he blew a hole into a dead tree.

That day they discovered that Billy had a large amount of chakra, similar to clan children.

For three days, they practiced tree walking, and at the end of the fourth day, they have mastered it.

It was much easier for them because Yunmi and Nawaki were told how to do it. While Billy relied on tips from his team and John's memories.

On the fifth day, they had to pull an all-nighter, and they practiced all day long to catch up before Danzo returned.

Many of them fell into the raging waters; the weather near waves was terrible this time of the year; the best they could hope for was light rain.

On the sixth day, most of them could stand on water, but sometimes they would slip and fall.

On the seventh day, they closed the cave and trapped their surroundings, then they began training while waiting for Danzo. When it became midnight, they saw Danzo running on water.

Danzo landed in front of them. "Good, you are all here." The team stood up and nodded. "Did you finish with the training?"

Nawaki jumped into the raging waters. "Yes, sensei."

Danzo closed his eyes and nodded. "All right, that is good." He turned around and looked at waves. "I am a clone; the real one is still in waves."

"What is the situation, Danzo sensei?" asked Billy.

"We found the base trashed and looted; we have yet to find any clues on what happened to the shinobi." He walked to the shore. "Likewise, we found several clues that there are some factions in waves. But we could not act alone."

He jumped into the water. "Get ready; we have an hour march; the sea will get more chaotic the more we move."

"""" Yes Sensei!""" The team jumped on the water and followed the clone of Danzo.

They jumped from one sea wave to another wave for the first ten minutes, then the waters grew deeper and more deadly. They had to dodge bigger waves, some of them reaching twenty to forty ft in length.

They knew that if they slipped, the waters would crash into them, and they had no way to stand up again.

At the half-hour mark, the waves reached one hundred ft in length. They had to charge their legs with chakra and climb the wave before it crashed, and from the bigger wave, they needed to jump into another one.

On the way, Billy almost fell, and he could not climb the wave, so he had to run in the tunnel that formed. He outpaced the wave at the last second, only to face another one.

He could not see anything in front of him for twenty minutes; he could only see an angry sky, flashes of lightning, freezing rain, and waves that are the size of skyscrapers.

Sometimes large angry fish would jump out of the waters, each fish that jumped could swallow a grown man whole, and they had to dodge them while not slipping. Danzo's clone was not helping them that much; he would only catch them if they were about to fall.

After running for fifty minutes, the waves changed direction; before the fifty-minute mark, the waves would crash into each other and change direction on a whim. They never went in one direction, but they saw the waves all move in one direction towards the island when they were about to reach waves.

From there, Danzo told the team to simply ride the waves. At this moment, Billy felt like Duke Kahanamoku, the father of surfing. His long white hair that reached his feet flew behind him; his mask was getting stung by the rain and the air. The speed of the wave made him feel alive.

Billy could feel his blood singing from excitement; he felt that he was the king of the world. And in the distance, he saw the island of waves.

Danzo signed with his hand. "Left. Cave. Near. Shore. Disguise. Now."

Billy changed his appearance to an old priest with a basket for a head. Danzo went with a typical mob character. Nawaki changed his hair color and clothes, and Yunmi made herself look like a boy.

When they reached the island, they all dove underwater and swam the rest of the way to the cave.

They entered the cave from the sea and swam in the cave's darkness, and after swimming for ten minutes, dodging sharp rocks and small tunnels. They saw an orange light shining.

Danzo's clone stopped them and spiked his chakra with a pulse, and after a while, three pulses reached them. The clone signed that it was safe, and they emerged to a well-maintained base of operation.

Billy saw a desk filled with writings and maps, the one who is wiring on the desk was Danzo. To the left, he saw another Danzo opening a filing cabinet. On the right, he saw another Danzo copying a scroll.

The Danzo in the middle looked up at them. "Good job dismissed." The clone that led them through the waters disappeared. "Hmm, you did adequately with crossing the sea." Said the middle Danzo. "You must be tired," Danzo asked while placing his hand on a seal.

The wall behind Danzo moved, and another room opened up. "Go rest and eat something; I will be calling you in an hour."

Getting dismissed, the team all walked to the room, and then they heard the stone closing up. Billy looked around and found the room filled with books, food, sleeping mats, and a small bathroom.

Billy walked up to a table with some hot green tea; Billy picked up the hot tea and turned around. "What?" He looked at his teammate's astonished looks. "I ask again what?"

Nawaki placed his hand on his chin. "I am as shocked as you Billy, I did not expect that." Then they heard the bathroom getting flushed.

They turned around to see Yunmi flushing the toilet. "Hey, guys, he made a working toilet." Then she started the shower. "And the shower is hot too!" She looked at them. "I am going to take a shower! No peaking!"

Billy looked at Nawaki. "What?!"

Only to see Nawaki massaging his eyes. "We get it you are shocked; just drink your tea."

Billy looked down at his tea and slowly raised it to his mouth; he took a sip. "Holy shit, this is good!"

Billy sighed in satisfaction after exiting the bathroom; the shower has rejuvenated his body. He looked around the room and found his teammates are not there.

Billy quickly changed his clothes and moved to the command center, where he found Danzo talking with Nawaki. "Get ready for the debriefing."

His sensei stopped what he was about to say and turned around to look at Billy. "Good you are here." Danzo stood up and walked to one of his clones that is holding a map. "This is the map of waves."

He pointed at their location. "Our base of operation is in North Port." He brought three scrolls and threw them at Billy and the team. "In the scroll is more information about our mission, but there has been a change of plans. Nawaki, tell me our original mission."

Nawaki scratched his jaw. "We were tasked in scouting Waves and finding out what happened to our outpost."

Danzo nodded. "You are right, but there has been a change of plans as of today; for a whole week, I was looking for any clue or information about what happened to our outposts, but I could not find anything."

Billy raised his hand. "Were they slain, sensei?"

Danzo shook his head. "I searched the four bases in waves, and I only found the hideout to be cleaned out; there was no struggle or fighting. There were no traps, no notes, nothing."

Danzo pointed at the map. "It seems that the Konoha shinobi went into hiding for some reason, and either the message they sent to Konoha was intercepted, or they never sent a message."

"There are four outposts in Waves; the first one is in Jinja City, the second one is in last town, the third outpost is in first town, and finally Kurai Yamanomachi." Danzo pointed to each location on the map.

"Here is the plan I have conceived, each one of you will go to an outpost location, you will go there either in disguise or hidden from view, and you will gather information about what happened."

Yunmi raised her hand. "Sensei, isn't that a waste of time? Could we not just go as a group?"

Danzo nodded. "I thought the same, but we need to stay hidden, there are several factions in Waves, and we need to be careful because of the treaty between Konoha and Waves."

Nawaki opened his scroll. "What are the factions, Danzo sensei?"

Danzo opened another scroll and began reading from it. "There is the Waves shinobi faction. They surfaced after the new law that the Daimyo has passed, which removed the old shinobi village in Waves. Last I heard, they wish to remove the new Daimyo who passed this law."

Danzo sighed. "Be careful of them; although they are weaker than Konoha's standards, they are still better than Genin. Now into the second faction; the order of the mist. They rule Jinja city; they are monks who convinced the Daimyo to remove the shinobi."

"I have a suspicion that they are related to the third faction, the hidden mist. We need to keep an eye on them; they have the support of the common people and the Daimyo."

"The third faction are spies from the hidden mist, they are currently gathering information, but other than that, I do not know much."

Danzo gave his scroll to his clone. "These are the main factions you have to watch out for, but there are minor ones. You have the local yakuza, the old and the new Daimyo factions, the princess faction, and finally the shinobi. Pirate faction…"

Billy slowly raised his hand. "Umm… Sensei."

"Yes, Billy?"

"We have shinobi pirates?"

Danzo gave Billy a shocked look. "What I thought they taught you that in the first year!"

Nawaki interjected. "They did sensei; maybe Billy does not remember." Yunmi nodded with Nawaki.

Suddenly it clicked with Billy. "Wait, hold up… Are you guys talking about the same pirates they told us about?"

Yunmi smiled. "Yeah, it was a ton of fun! How could you forget that?"

Billy scratched his head. "I am sorry… That shit was real!?"

Nawaki sighed. "Let me guess, just because they presented them in a cartoon, you didn't think it was real."

Billy grew agitated. "How the fuck do you expect me to believe that Konoha leaf-Kun, who fought Pig pirate-san the stealer of candy, is a real fucking faction Nawaki!"

Yunmi gave him a curious look. "What do you mean, Billy? They only showed us the cartoon in history class. How could you mistake that into fiction?"

Billy sighed. "I just thought that our instructor was lazy. I mean, come on, how can I take serious historical lessons from a leaf that fights pigs, stones, an old men's farts, a fisherman, and their evil mastermind the big mounting with a big mustache."

Suddenly they heard the desk near Danzo break. They turned around to see Danzo's fingers digging deep into the desk. "Now, I would really love to hear more about how you hate my cartoon that I helped make Billy, but we really need to get back into our plans!"

Billy sat straight. 'Fuck, I KNEW IT; HE VOICED OVER THE EVIL FISHERMEN!' Billy's mind screamed at him. "S-Sorry Danzo Sensei! Please forgive me!"

Danzo relaxed a little. "Now, I will assign each one of you a location to spy on; every week, I will come to you and will inform you of any changes. If you found a lead, do not go in there alone; give me the information first."

He pointed at Yunmi. "Yunmi, you will go to Jinja City; I have already created a cover for you, you will be a courtesan's assistant. You will only be an assistant, and I would be your grandfather who sold you to the pleasure house. Your main mission is to find information about our shinobi, but your secondary one is to spy on the monks who frequent the pleasure house." Yunmi grew fearful, but she steeled herself and nodded.

Danzo pointed at the next location. "Nawaki, you will be in first town, I could not create a cover story for you, but I heard that there are a lot of orphans in the western part of the island; try to use that."

"Be careful. First town is a small town, but they do have a lumber industry and a ship factory. I have some intel that the shinobi faction has a base there."

Danzo pointed at Kurai. "Billy, you will go to Kurai; now I need you to be extra careful because of your size; I placed you in a large city. Try to join the shady part of the city, like the yakuza or something; they have a lot of tall men."

"Finally, I will be stationed in last town, Yunmi; you and I will start together, I will meet you outside." Finishing with his debriefing Danzo walked to the other side of the cave, and he opened a hidden door leading to the surface.

Billy stood up and dusted himself. "Fuck, this is too much for a first mission… and he separated the team."

Nawaki closed his scroll. "Maybe this is how Danzo sensei works?"

Yunmi sighed. "Well, at least you guys won't have to work in a pleasure house."

They all looked at each other hesitantly, but then Nawaki gave them a serious look. "Do not die out there. Come on, let's go."

They all walked up from the cave to the outside world, it was raining slightly, and the fog covered everything. Standing outside was Danzo, who was wearing a dark cloak with a rice field hat. "Come on, Yunmi, you and I will go to the east while you two will go together to the west. Good luck."

Danzo started walking, Yunmi turned around. "Good luck, guys." Then she followed Danzo.

Billy and Nawaki watched them walk away. "Shall we Nawaki?" Nawaki nodded.

For some hours, they walked together, avoiding the main route to any village to keep hidden; when they reached Bridge Village, Nawaki stopped. "Good luck Billy." And he fists bumps Billy.

Billy looked at Nawaki crossing the bridge. "Good luck to you too, Buddy." He began walking further south.

A young brown-haired man flew towards a table. He knocked over all the drinks and the food, the people dining on the food scattered from the fight. Hisao groaned and tried to stand up, but he felt a food smash him down again.

He slowly opened his eyes to see another young man with glossy black hair and a handsome face. Teruya gave him a cold look. "Let this be a lesson to you, Hisao; stop talking to my sister, or I will inform Oyabun about you."

Teruya picked up a stray bottle of booze, and he poured it on top of Hisao. He slowly leaned down and whispered to him. "I bet you are scared shitless, no one will fight for you, and you know it. Consider the drink as a parting gift." Teruya began walking away but stopped and turned around. "Oh, and you have three days to fulfill your promise to the ringmaster."

Hisao looked at Teruya, and his goons walk away from him while they laughed at his expense. Anger and rage surged within him, and he smashed his fist down into a bottle breaking it.

He tried to get up, but he failed. Then he looked down at his missing left leg. 'If I had my leg, I would have killed you all!' he thought while trying to stand up on one leg. Hisao looked around at the other patrons, who ignored him. 'Cowards! All of you! I regret the blood I shed to protect you all!'

Hisao's dark thoughts never reached his lips, and he hated himself for it. He tried to stand up, but he slipped, and he felt his nose snap. He could feel the pain and the tears from frustration leaking and hated every moment of it. 'Stop looking at me with pity! I DON" T NEED IT!'

Just when he was about to give up and gather his strength, he felt a hand pulling him up. 'Why?! Who is stupid enough to help me! Teruya made it clear that if anyone helped him, they would be killed with me!'

Hisao felt his right foothold into the ground and looked at the one who helped him. A tall figure that is covered with a dark shroud and a straw hat that covered his features. The figure looked down at Hisao. "Are you alright?"

Hisao felt his eyes getting clouded. "Yes, I am… Thank you for the help, but please don't get near me; you will only hurt yourself." Hisao began to think. 'please stay away; I don't want to reward your kindness with death.' He thought darkly.

The figure gave him a deep chuckle. "Now, now. I just helped you up, and it seems I am fine." The figure looked around. "Do you have a cane or something to support you?" he pointed at Hisao's missing leg.

"They broke it on me, I guess." Then he pointed at another knocked-over table.

The figure groaned in disapproval. "Now that is just mean… let me get it for you; I know a thing or two about fixing stuff."

The tall man brought his broken crutches, then he looked at the damage. "I can fix them easy, but I will need a table or something." Then he looked around the broken restaurant. "I think we are no longer welcome here; do you have a home or a place to stay?"

Hisao nodded. "I do have a small farmhouse, but please, I do not want to trouble you anymore?"

The tall man sighed and walked to the restaurant owner. "I will pay for the damages and that man's bill." Then he walked back to Hisao. "I already made up my mind to help you, and you will accept it."

Hisao looked at the door of the restaurant. 'Maybe it is a sign from the sage… It is a long way to the farm.' He looked back at the tall figure. "Thank you."

Hisao and the tall man walked across the misty city; they dodged the poor and begging people, avoided conmen, and passed by the cheap red-light district.

Finally, after exiting the slums, they reached the city's outskirts, and there they found Hisao's farmhouse.

The house looked broken and in chaos. The vegetation has the smell of ash, and the dead animals are producing a deadly miasma. They entered the house, and the tall man helped Hisao sit down. "What did you do to get all of this?"

Hisao gave a sad and hollow chuckle. "I fell in love… Too bad I fell in love with the Oyabun's daughter."

The tall man whispered something about Juli and Romo, but Hisao could not catch it all. He watched the tall man looking around and thinking of something; suddenly, the tall man stretched his hand to Hisao. "Name's Big B."

Hisao shook his much larger hand. "They call me Hisao."

Big B squatted and looked at Hisao in the eyes. "I will be honest with you, Hisao; I did not really help you out of the goodness of my heart… maybe just a little."

Hisao laughed. "What you want to steal from me? Kill me? Please, if you want to kill me, do it quickly; if you want to steal from me, I have a nice pan over there."

Big B laughed and stood up. "Man, you are a sad sack of shit, Hisao… What no revenge in your heart? No fury? Is this it? Are you going to die like a starving dog on a roadside picnic?"

Hisao's eyes grew with fury. "What do you want me to do?! Huh, Fight a yakuza family? Try to win in the underground club? Even if I found someone to help me, they will instantly hand me over to the boss. What is the point?"

Big B hummed. "Hmm… so you are a yakuza?"

"Yeah, well, what is left of one…"

"What if you win this fight? You are talking about what will happen?"

Hisao smiled. "I will be forgiven, and I may get my old position back."

Big B leaned on the wall. "Just like that, you are forgiven. I am sorry, but this sounds, I don't know; stupid?"

"Can't blame you, but it's the rules here. The strong dictate the rules."

"So, if let's say, I join in, and we win. What will happen?"

Hisao gave Big B a suspicious look. "I will return back to my old position, as the accountant for the yakuza, I will be forgiven, and I can regain my honor."

"But what about me, Hisao… Do I get anything in return?"

Hisao slowly grasped what Big B wants, he slowly leaned in. "Whatever you need, for as long as I live, I will give it to you."

Big B gently removed his hat and shroud. Standing there was a man covered with scars, his muscles bulging with rage; his face was covered with a half mask that acted as a breather that the mist shinobi use. His red hair shined with glossy luster. "In the north, they call me Bane or Big Bane. I used to be a ronin, but no longer. I am bane, killer, slaughter, and carnage incarnate. No shinobi can kill me! for I am the dark, I was born in it, I was molded by it!"

Bane or Billy extended his hand. "I hope you will keep your promise because if you do not, I will murder you."

Bane winked at a gaped mouth Hisao.

Four shinobi danced around the forest; they tried to dodge the traps that hindered them from advancing; they had to catch him before he did something stupid.

When they reached the blooded earth, they saw a metallic tree covered with countless dead bodies.

They slowly walked forward, stepping over the dead, for there was no ground to walk on.

The crows sang their sweet song of slaughter, and the shinobi looked in horror at what they saw.

The leader of the team stopped, and he breathed. "Oni"