A soul was transmigrated into Narutoverse but was refused to be given any sort of insta-OP power, instead, he could choose from three talents. Follow him and his loved ones on their journey to become strong as they pave their own path through the battle-filled world of Naruto. Will they be villains? For some, surely. Will they be heroes? For others, maybe. But anything they do is due to their own desire. -- Some things may not be according to canon so take it as you will. --
Chapter1Ch1. Awakening
The soul opened its eyes with a long gasp as if wanting to take as much air as possible. It was definitely a painful experience and something not worth repeating.
Its eyes fell on small... hands.
Of course, the soul noted as in an almost broken window nearby, it could see its reflection.
Pale blonde short hair, emerald eyes, pale-skin and... worn-out clothes.
I really did transmigrate, didn't I?
The soul, no. The boy was looking out of the window with an expression filled with mixed feelings. He remembered the talk with the cosmical entity that called itself TUFAP...
He was not allowed to get OP powers. He was only allowed to pick three talents, not even being told how useful said talents will be!
It was the saddest day of his existence...
When he asked if he would be able to choose the world, the answer was.
You already did...
Apparently his inner wish he didn't even know he had... or some other bullshit. He was not amused when he was told he is going to Narutoverse.
When he asked if he could choose a clan?
Random.
When he asked if he could choose the village?
Random. But he could always change in-gam, eh, life.
When he asked if he will be a ninja or civilian?
Random.
When he asked which timeline?
Random.
He was getting quite irked by that point.
So, he asked one last thing, half-expecting the same generic answer. He asked if he will be even reincarnated during the Shinobi Villages era.
The answer was... yes.
At least some hope sparkled in his mind.
He could absentmindedly hear a loud 'boom' and quickly jumped up on his feet, only to flop back down onto the ground with a killer headache. The memories of this body. 'His' memories flashed through his eyes as he, the new Yotsuba Rei, 'remembered' the memories of the boy he took over. The boy, who died of grief after his parents died a day before.
He remembered where he was. Ame no Kuni.
He also remembered when he was. Kinda. He overheard people talking about Hanzo the Salamander. Start of the second shinobi war. The viciousness of Iwa and Konoha shinobi towards the populace. He also remembered the boy's parents died by the hands of shinobi. His mother was raped by shinobi while his father was tortured.
The previous Rei found their dead bloody bodies on the edge of the forest when he came to look for them. His childish mind broke and as he came home, he died of grief, of all things, due to losing his loved ones.
The new Rei could see more into the situation. The bodies were found near trees with Konoha symbols on the trees. Clearly, Konoha's enemies are trying to raise an uproar and make Amegakure fight against Konoha. He didn't grieve for these people. They might have been the parents of the previous boy residing in this body but that boy was not 'him'. He only found it sad that shinobi didn't mind killing, raping, and stealing through a country that has nothing to do with their war. All because the country was caught in the middle of their conflict and presented a perfect battlefield.
Rei was lucky though. He had a house. Well, as much as a one-room wooden shack can be called a house, anyway. But it was still much more than normal orphans. He still had a roof above his head. And while the crime rate was going up, it was not yet as dire to force the people trying to steal from a kid. He was safe. For now.
He also had enough food for a month or so. He could make do with that.
Thankfully, the memories contained the teachings of how to read and write in Kanji so that was not a problem either. His handwriting was also naturally neat. Unfortunately, his family was a plain non-shinobi poor civilian one.
With a sigh, Rei sat cross-legged on the floor of his shack. He started meditating, focusing inwardly...
And surely enough, his twenty-something years as a normal human without any supernatural energy in his body showed. Not even five minutes later, Rei found and unlocked his chakra. It started as a small spark of warmth in his lower abdomen, something unnatural to him. He slowly coaxed it, led it to open, and spread through his body. It was resistant. It didn't want to leave his abdomen. But... the more he pushed, the easier it got. His will exerted over the energy, the chakra, it was enough to make it course through him. Enough to... make him scowl. It was pathetic. The amount.
Rei was seven years old. And he had, what he thought was, a civilian amount of chakra. It was not something he could use to defend himself.
With a sigh, he sprawled his limbs on the floor, looking at the ceiling, resisting the urge to groan. He knew kids had it tough in this day and age. He needed more chakra. More power. More... control?
Control!?
His body sprang up, back into a sitting position as he again focused on his energy. He tried to make it circle his body. Slowly, ever so slowly the energy started to flow through it, dragging itself as if it had a viscosity of honey. The energy did not want to comply. But Rei, with a grin, noted his control was impeccable.
He stood up and walked closer to the wall. Putting his foot on it he tried to channel a minuscule amount of chakra on the soles. It quickly slid down.
Rei scowled as he understood the amount was not enough. He again put his foot on the wall and put more chakra into it. He tried to gently part the leg from the wall only to be happy when the sole stuck on the wall. He looked the entire twenty seconds as his sole was glued to it, the fact that he was currently in a supernatural world finally seeping in.
"Well, shit."
Rei cursed at the realization. He was in a very dangerous world without any strength. Why the heck did his 'inner desire' pick this world? He really wondered about it. Really hard and deep!
His mind finally came with a time-worthy conclusion. The only reason why he could have wanted to come to naruto was.
The girls.
There was really no freaking other reason! Either that or TUFAP screwed him over!
Rei had no want for being all-powerful. Wealthy? Maybe. But if he wanted some supernatural power, he would reincarnate as a pure-blood devil in DxD, thinking about boobs. He was sure that somehow could grant him immortality, the ability to convert rocks to gold, and of course, it would also attract females. The women in DxD are weird like that.
So... instead of magic, he is in a world of chakra, knives, and fists. Not a good bargain. Really, Kaguya could create dimensions with chakra but... Kaguya is on the level of a deity.
Fuck, TUFAP did screw me over, didn't he?... Rei cursed inwardly.
Rei noted his chakra reserves were getting dangerously low and stopped his musings as he cut the flow of his chakra to his foot. He lasted two minutes. No, correction.
He had enough chakra to stick ONE of his feet to a wall for two minutes. And even then, it was only thanks to his Supreme Chakra Control trait which enabled him to not waste even an ounce of chakra. His reserves were that low...
This trait basically gave him better chakra control. Nothing else was told to him. No information. No description. Rei didn't even know what 'better' meant exactly. He picked it because, in the list of talents, there were only five things with the adjective Supreme and only two with the adjective Godly. He obviously chose the two godly talents and one supreme.
His Supreme Chakra Control seemed to really be 'supreme' as he felt every single bit of his chakra and instinctively knew he could manipulate it.
Rei wondered... If he could unlock his chakra in five minutes with his control, then how long would a normal child take?
What Rei didn't know was that the children DO NOT unlock their chakra alone. They get a kind of a jumpstart from their teachers. That was the reason why the shinobi academy was a thing. Otherwise, the world would be roamed by civilian shinobi wannabe who unlocked their chakra on their own by fluke. Many civilians tried to meditate and unlock it, yet… Only really talented and determined individuals managed it on their own.
Rei shrugged as he decided not to care about other kids. He was here now. Others didn't matter. He had to think about what he should do from now on. Hmm, he could...
A smile spread through his lips as he remembered what he saw the previous day. Something he was sure the previous 'Rei' deemed unimportant.
Chapter2Ch2. First companion
Rei stood up. His chakra might be only ten percent full and he might be kinda tired because of that but he could still move. He had to get to his target first!
Rei exited his shack and found himself on a muddy road, soft drizzle falling onto the streets, preventing them from drying up. He saw more worn-out wooden shacks all around, clearly, the area was for the poor. Rei quickly walked along the street, noting an old man with a dog, a young housewife leaning out of one of the windows as she tried to reach her laundry hanging on a branch, kids playing in the mud with a ball. It was poor but quite a nice view of such a war-torn, depressed, rainy country as Ame.
Rei suddenly turned to the left and walked into a side-alley.
The nice view... was completely destroyed. The entire side-alley was strewn with starved shivering forms of homeless people. They eyed Rei with their hopelessness-filled eyes, looking for any valuables on his person. It was only when they saw his torn clothes they disregarded him with a woeful sigh. They realized it was just another homeless orphan. Not worth even talking to, much less steal from.
Rei disregarded these people as well. He could not and would not help them. He came to the middle of the alley when he saw a shivering form of a small six years old girl, lying in the mud clutching her hands closer to her chest, trying to find warmth as the rain fell on her. Her cheeks were sunken and she was thin as a twig but her cautious amber eyes followed him warily as he stepped closer to her.
Rei crouched down in front of her and smiled.
"Hello. I am Rei."
He introduced himself and the girl was observing him for a minute, shivering, curling into herself before she decided to answer.
"Ko-Konan."
The girl whispered in a quiet, unsure voice as she was unsure of Rei's intentions for approaching someone like her. Someone who had nothing to offer. It was quite a sad spectacle. Six years old but already wary and suspicious of others.
"Would you like to come with me?" Rei asked her as he reached his hand towards her in the invitation.
The people around looked at the pair of children and shook their heads. In this god-forsaken land, children had to band together. Shruggingly, they ignored them as this was quite a common occurrence. Just... more violent usually. If it was an older girl, she would be beaten to submission to serve older homeless teenagers. After all, no matter how low they were, even they had their hierarchy.
But the girl was but a child, and her body could not be sold for food or money. No elder kid was interested in making her serve them. At least adult women could sell themselves willingly to earn money for themselves rather than some opportunistic kid. Boys didn't have it any better though. The strongest were leaders and the weaker ones were underlings. But nobody was interested in dead-weights like the starved shivering girl. Except, other deadweights. That's why the sight of Rei inviting Konan was really nothing out of the ordinary. The others just wrote them off as the next unfortunate corpses they would see a few days later.
Konan was torn. On one hand, her current spot was quite nice. It provided at least some cover from the rain, no matter how muddy it was. She was also close to dumpsters where the other people threw their trash. It provided some food for her. She would loathe to leave it, only to find it already taken later.
In the end, it was the boy's warm eyes that made Konan timidly take his hand. She didn't know what her future with him held but she knew at worst she would finally die. In her mind, it was worth the gamble.
As Konan took Rei's hand, he pulled her up and started slowly, gently dragging her back to his shack. He was no saint to provide the girl shelter for nothing. Konan was... investment.
Even Konan, after her time on the streets, knew nothing in this world is free and if the boy really gave her something, he would want something in return.
Rei took her because he knew exactly what the girl would offer him in return for his kindness.
Herself.
Konan was worth the trouble. She might have been just an underappreciated side-character that died off to further the plot and didn't really have much screen-time but...
She gave Yahiko and Nagato everything she was. No matter their dreams. No matter their methods. She followed.
And when a girl like her is willing to become an S-ranked murderer, a worst-sort of a killer to support a friend in his dream...
Yes, Konan would give herself to Rei. He would make sure of that.
He won't exploit her gratitude. Instead, he will make sure she gets stronger and lived a happy life. But life by his side, nevertheless.
He wanted to secure the loyalty of the only paper-user in the entirety of Elemental Nations. A paper-user who he knew would die for him and adore him if he cared for her. If he showed her she was important. If he made her feel appreciated.
Rei finally pulled Konan into his shack and was amused at the wide-eyed girl.
She didn't think the boy would have a house! She meekly looked at the floor, shuffling her legs nervously.
"What's wrong?" Rei asked her.
"I... I am dirty."
Rei looked over her muddy form and nodded. With some difficulty, he brought a bucket of rainwater to the girl.
"Strip and wash." He took out his father's old cloak and put it near the girl.
The shack only had one room so Konan was plainly visible as she washed with an old sponge and the water from the bucket. Rei could clearly see bruises on her body and could only shake his head with a wince.
Really, what madness gripped me to wish for living in this world... He wistfully thought.
But... he could only soldier on, harden his heart and survive. If it meant making others suffer... so be it.
He also stripped, startling Konan momentarily. Rei's mature mind knew he was acting childish. He should blush, be bashful and yet… he was a child now. Their nakedness didn't bother him at all.
When Konan saw him take another sponge out, she bashfully made a place for him near the bucket. Rei, instead of washing himself, started to wash Konan. The girl looked at him in confusion but then just shrugged it off and started washing him with her sponge, a small smile marring her face. Even she didn't know when she last smiled.
...
As the kids were done washing each other. Rei handed Konan a slice of hard bread and watched as she gulped when her hands clasped it. She looked at Rei, her eyes expectantly asking for permission. Konan started nibbling on the slice only after Rei nodded at her and Rei smiled as he started eating his slice. He could not afford to waste food but Konan looked as if one slice of bread per day was a heavenly meal. Maybe... his provisions would last her half a year if she ate frugally like this. But he was a man from the modern era! He needed his three meals a day!
"Why?" Konan asked Rei timidly as they finished eating, tears of happiness starting to fall from her eyes.
Seeing Rei tilt his head, she asked more in detail as her eyes repeatedly darted from Rei to the ground.
"Why take me in?" Konan looked to the floor and tried to wipe her tears.
"I want you to become mine!" Rei exclaimed. In hindsight, maybe not the best-worded answer.
Konan lived on the streets. She knew... saw what it meant for a girl to belong to a boy. She was always frightened by the screams. But no matter how she tried to close her eyes or cover her ears when night came, many older girls did... things with boys. For money. For food. Or... other reasons.
"Uuuuu." She clutched her head in embarrassment and Rei could only wonder if the steam would start coming from her head.
Konan decided. No one was so kind to her. Her childish mind decided she will give herself to the boy, not even understanding what it meant. She may be mature and saw many things on the streets but she was still a child. In her mind, if she received a slice of bread and a roof over her head, she wouldn't mind... doing that painful-looking thing with Rei!
Rei slowly realized the girl was somehow misunderstanding him. So, when he had his fun due to her embarrassment and actually saw the resolve flick through her eyes, he elaborated.
"Of course as a friend!"
Konan blinked at Rei, her mind stopping short. She slowly nodded, her eyes trying to avoid Rei.
But even if this meant she wouldn't need to do... that with Rei... yet, Konan gained her resolve. It was plainly obvious to Rei. In her eyes, he started to become someone important. He doubted she even realized it yet, but for Rei, that was a start. A start of getting his first loyal S-ranked ninja.
And have no doubts, Konan was more than capable of becoming much stronger than just an S-ranked ninja. Rei decided he would make sure of that...
Chapter3Ch3. Chakra Strings and Paper Folding
Rei and Konan slept cuddled to each other for additional warmth on the small bed in the shack.
The next morning, Rei stood behind fidgety Konan as she sat cross-legged on the floor.
"Focus." He ordered and Konan instantly closed her eyes, but her body was still fidgeting from the nervousness. Rei sighed and put his hands on her shoulders as he pushed a small amount of his chakra into her abdomen through her shoulders. He could feel Konan sigh in relief as her body shuddered, relishing the feeling.
"Focus." He repeated, a little more sternly and felt her body tense for a second before she relaxed and again started meditating.
He helped her as she found her chakra, helped her guide it. Rei saw that Konan's chakra control is very good even without practicing. Something to be happy about. Especially since she had even less chakra than him. It really drove home the point just what kind of monster Naruto was.
Rei stood and approached the wall while Konan, her eyes still closed, felt the warm chakra in her body, and played with it. It made Rei smile as she saw her slightly curled up lips. Even as a child, Konan wasn't very cheerful. But the more she warmed up to Rei, the more she opened up.
"Konan," Rei softly called her. "come here."
Konan quickly opened her eyes and crawled towards him. Rei thought it was quite cute.
"Put a layer of chakra on the sole of your-"
He saw her uncomprehending gaze and cracked a smile.
"Chakra is the warm thingie in your body, alright?"
Konan gave him a small determined nod.
"Now, put a small layer on the sole of your foot and try to stick it onto the wall."
Konan obediently listened and then tried it. She raised her left foot and put it on the wall. Her face looked focused as she cutely nibbled on her lower lip. Then she tried to yank her feet away from the wall, only for it to be stuck there. It imbalanced her and with a shriek, Konan started flailing her arms in the air.
Rei quickly came behind her and hugged her body from behind, making her regain stability.
"Don't be impatient." He chuckled as he told the blushing girl.
Seeing her nod and her foot leaving the wall, he released her from his hold.
"Practice. Try to find the smallest amount of chakra that can stick you to the wall." Rei told the girl as he sat down, leaning on the wall as he tried to stick slices of paper on his fingers.
"Later." He told the girl who was curiously peering at his fingers and the paper. "When you find the smallest amount of chakra to stick your foot onto the wall."
Konan nodded, and with a renewed vigor, put her all into training.
...
A few days passed. Rei and Konan got even closer to each other but Konan didn't get any more vocal. Rei thought that the Konan from canon that saved Nagato must have spent quite a bit of time with Yahiko already to be that cheerful. The Konan cuddling to him thought... she was fearful, desperate to please, desperate for even the smallest of affection, desperate to be praised, but she outwardly appeared mostly impassive.
Yes, it got better. Around him. But with others?
Yesterday they went to the market and Rei spotted that Konan was always clutching his sleeve and her face always stayed completely stoic. Even as the shopkeeper praised Konan for being well-behaved, she only looked to the floor with a nod but her expression didn't change.
Well, at least they bought more food and some paper.
After Rei saw Konan could stick a paper on each of her fingers, he told her to fold it only with her chakra. He had a lot of fun watching her as she intently gazed at the unmoving slice of paper on her palm in frustration!
Rei also made Konan exercise with him. Not much. They did not have enough food for it to be beneficial but they still decided to get at least some push-ups in.
Their chakra was rising by the day. Rei surmised, it was still not even on the level of an academy student but daily emptying of their reserves until they had around ten percent remaining helped in increasing it.
Funnily enough, Konan's skinny figure also got better. The chakra apparently could make humans last more without food and water. She confessed she felt stronger. Her belly also became somewhat flat instead of dented inwards. Rei was quite surprised at the change. Chakra was really awesome. It would take weeks for a malnourished child to put some weight on but Konan went to bed and rose up a bit better every day. Chakra basically tried to keep the body in the optimal state.
But the disadvantage was that Rei and Konan felt hungrier.
...
Rei watched Konan as she was folding paper in half while nibbling on her lower lip. It still took her a lot of concentration. He instead trained to form chakra strings. As thin as possible.
It was quite challenging but his supreme chakra control was very helpful. He could form them by the nonsensical explanation he found in one fanfic. Draw your chakra from the tenketsu in your finger and make it into a thin thread.
"Whoa." Konan watched with a wide-eyed gaze of awe as a paper started 'flying' above Rei's palm. Rei moved it from the left to the right and chuckled as Konan's eyes intently stared at it.
He put his free hand on the head of the cute girl.
"Don't worry, I will teach you later. For now, focus on folding. Okay?"
Konna bobbed her head up and down but didn't leave to practice. She firmly stood, leaning her head into Rei's hand.
"Okay." He again chuckled. "Sit down.
Konan happily sat in between his legs and leaned her back on his chest while trying to fold the paper as Rei patted her head while his other hand was manipulating two slices of papers on two thin chakra threads. Anything heavier than that was beyond him. For now.
...
Rei started suspecting Konan had a bloodline. That her paper-bullshit is not just a superb chakra control and dedication to paper manipulation.
He gaped when the girl made the slices of paper fly with a giddy giggle. Why was he surprised? Because he did not teach her the chakra threads yet! The girl just wanted them to fly so she imbued them with her chakra and they... flew.
It was bullshit. Really.
Chakra did not work that way! Not for him at least! Hence, he really started suspecting it was a bloodline.
She was living with Rei for a month already. After he allowed her to sit in his lap, Rei quickly found out the girl liked to cuddle and hug. She almost always sat in his lap as she practiced her folding technique, expecting him to pat her head. It was jaw-dropping seeing her just after a week of practice create a paper airplane. But when she started creating some simple flowers after two additional weeks? Rei stopped caring.
Rei used this little head pat addiction of hers to practice his chakra strings while making the folding harder for her. He connected the strings to her paper and moved it around in front of them while Konan tried to fold it while it was moving and away from her hands. She first had to imbue the paper with her chakra but then she could mold it mid-air. It only required focus. That was what Rei tried to train her in since he was not only forbidding her to touch the paper but also do it while it was moving. The cute munchkin was following the paper with her amber gaze, trying to make her chakra fold it.
His chakra strings also tried to make her lose focus as he connected them to her feet, her fingers, and his favorite, the tips of her hair, occasionally gently pulling. It was fun making her hair stand with his strings. It was also incredibly hard as he had to multitask and create many strings to do it. Alas, it was worth it. Rei was always smug when he heard Konan giggle and lose her focus and then pout at him.
But... this month was enough. They needed more food and now that he had chakra strings and Konan could make paper fly, they could... 'borrow
Rei and she were standing in a side-alley near the market, clad in black hooded cloaks, and watched a butcher trying to sell meat. Next to him was a stall with fruits. And on the other side were clothes. The quality was as one would expect from a war-torn country but at least it didn't rain today...
"Yes, Konan. Do you think you can help me?" Rei asked her patiently.
The chibi Konan nodded her head in determination.
"Do you remember the plan?"
Another bout of eager nods and Rei cracked a smile.
"Then, here we go."
He gave her a stack of papers. Konan took it and imbued each piece with her chakra, giving each enough to last the distance between her and the stalls.
Nodding at each other, their plan started.
Rei focused. His ten invisible chakra strings stretched towards the stall and connected to various sacks with light things inside. He took a deep breath and signaled Konan to start.
Just as the owner of the stall with clothes turned his back on the butcher, Rei made a few good-looking clothes fall into the mud. The clothes merchant quickly twisted his body around and his eyes landed on the now-muddy pieces of his wares. They coldly shifted to the only man around. The butcher.
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As the men loudly shouted at each other, they attracted attention. The fruit stall owner came closer to them, trying to defuse the situation only for his foot to be yanked back by an invisible string as he was coming towards them. The two bickering merchants suddenly found their faces full of mysteriously floating paper, obscuring their vision. They could only hear a loud crashing noise. It was when they finally got the paper from their faces they found... The butcher's stall was toppled over, a lot of meat in the mud. In the middle of it was a disoriented fruit stall owner, still seeing stars while the butcher was glaring at him, seeing red and holding his knife. The clothes stall owner was on the other hand frowning at the butcher, his eyes demanding money for the ruined clothes.
People gaped at what happened and started to come closer. Rei among them. He quickly used his chakra strings to get pouches with money. He targeted those away from him and used his height to his advantage. It is hard to notice someone in a crowd who barely reaches your waist after all.
If someone noticed his pull, he would throw the pouch upwards. The crowd quickly became crazed as the money started spilling from various pouches and Rei had an easier time pickpocketing.
Deciding enough was enough as the people started calming down, he walked towards the alley with a battered-looking sack full of purses. As he was in the alley, Konan sent another flurry of paper into the crowd, straight at their faces. Rei quickly attached chakra strings at unopened sacks of meat and fruit and pulled them to the side alley. He also took two bundles of clothes as theirs were already worn out.
The crowd was still fighting with the paper-storm that mysteriously tried to stay in their faces as the two kids were happily hopping home. Eleven sacks of rightfully stolen loot 'floating' behind them on Rei's chakra strings.
...
Their first operation netted them nice new clothes. Konan quickly took it to herself to pick the best pieces for her Rei. She didn't even know when she started to think about Rei as hers but she knew she liked her friend. She didn't want to steal. But... there was nothing she wouldn't do for Rei. Rei was kind to her. And she promised to become his, right?
Both now sported better clothes.
Konan was astonished at the stacks of Ryo they acquired. Apparently, Rei focused on merchants more and tried to get their purses. Rei stole 50 000 Ryo. That was a lot!
The best part was the meat and fruit though! They ate their fill in celebration of success and Konan finally, for the first time in years, ate until her stomach was full! Not for once did she regret taking Rei's hand. Rei taught her. Filled her belly. And patted her head! He hugged her good night too!
Konan decided she will train hard and protect Rei! Her time on the streets taught her that only the strong survive. She had her reservations but she already stole...
Only the strongest can abuse and kill the weaker. Konan decided she will make sure she is strong enough to not be 'the weaker'. No matter who, she will kill anyone trying to harm Rei!
Slowly, the resolve in the girl and her goals, dreams, and values started shifting. Her mind became set in its path as it approached the mindset of her older counterpart. The counterpart that let a sweet girl like her become an S-ranked killer.
Unknown to Rei, his desire to make the girl into his loyal follower was almost fulfilled. But, not unlike one Hiruzen Sarutobi in the not-so-distant future, he also had no idea that one should not try to manipulate attention-starved children who lived through hell. Not when you are the person who saved them. The results can be... unpredictable. Rei had no idea that his friend was becoming a tad bit too fanatical. Even if she could hide it well behind her mask of stoicism.
In years to come... he will be grateful as well as annoyed at this change. As for Konan, she will always reminisce fondly on this day while serving tea to Rei. As this was the day, her heart finally found her life goal.
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Rei suddenly shuddered as a cold chill passed through his spine. His head snapped towards Konan only to find her amber eyes stare at him with a minuscule smile. Relaxing, thinking it was just his imagination, he smiled back at her.
"So, Konan-chan. How much did you steal?" He asked her with a playful smirk as the girl went beet-red.
While Rei was in the crowd, stealing, Konan's small slices of paper were floating in the other part of the crowd, getting to a close proximity with the purses and sharing the chakra in them, imbuing the banknotes with Konan's chakra. She had a lower haul, but she had it nonetheless.
"I got a little over 10 000 Ryo."
Konan meekly offered the stash of banknotes to Rei.
"Keep them." Rei told her, making her bewildered.
"I am more interested in this..." Rei raised an apple with his chakra string. "Can you feel the thread?"
Konan looked at him weirdly but shook her head.
"And now?" Rei put more chakra into it. The string was still invisible though.
He didn't need her to put the answer into words. Her wide eyes were enough. It never came up because his control was always enough to not put so much chakra into them but now that he consciously raised the output, Konan could clearly feel it. Her eyes raised between the apple and Rei's hand, clearly trying and failing to see something her mind was telling her was there.
"You are a chakra sensor." Rei cut the chakra flow and spotted Konan attentively listening to him.
"Well, it is not really that surprising. To be able to imbue the paper with your chakra, you would first have to feel it. So, there." Rei chuckled. "I just never made the connection, you know? Until I saw you maneuver the banknotes through the thick crowd without the need for seeing them, that is. Then and there it hit me. You have this talent too. We will have to refine it, kay?"
Konan nodded enthusiastically.
Rei knew there was no shinobi around. His second talent. Godly Nature Energy Attunement made him able to feel his surroundings much more. He felt only two above civilian levels of chakra in the town. Him and Konan. It was still only the start of the war and barely the first skirmishes started.
He had time, but he needed to make Konan into a capable sensor too.
Unconsciously, Rei started to care for Konan. He slowly started seeing her as more than just a possible loyal follower. Neither of them was aware of it, but they already trusted the other with their lives.
Alas, chakra works in mysterious ways when it comes to maturing. After all, the beloved last Uchiha did have hordes of babies-craving-kids, called fangirls, after the contents of his brooding mini-me every day of the academ
A few months have passed since Rei's and Konan's first thievery. Since then, they repeated it three more times, making sure there is almost a month between them and also did their best to spend some of their money, so they will be seen in the market buying things. Just in case somebody got suspicious.
During these months, Rei's and Konan's chakra skyrocketed. They now could walk on walls for fifty minutes before their chakra depleted. It was all thanks to the food, especially meat that their chakra increased. It also helped with their muscles. While they were still kids, their bodies now were more of flat and toned variety rather than skinny and starved. Both of them started running around the nearby forest to increase their speed and also did various exercises.
Konan was not much of a physical type but she did try to run with Rei. She made it even tougher for herself as she focused on folding two papers in her hands as she ran. They were changing shapes from cranes, to various flowers, to shurikens, kunais, and so on.
Rei wasn't much of a physical type either. That much was obvious from the way both him and Konan were huffing and puffing at the end of the day. But he was getting better. They were getting better.
Rei was not really used to exercise in his last world and was a kinda lazy person. He loved just chilling and playing games or reading novels. But right now, he somehow started to get used to this life.
Wake up, Kiss Konan's cheek, Eat, Practice with Chakra with Konan in his lap, Lunch, Exercises, Dinner, Practice With Chakra with Konan in his lap, Cuddles with Konan, Sleep. Rinse and repeat.
What astonished him was Konan. She didn't have the mentality of an adult yet she could keep with him just fine. No, she made a visible effort and actually tried to overtake him. When he asked her why she was trying so hard, he got a 'well-duh' stare and was told 'to protect you'. It really ignited his motivation somewhat fiercely.
Rei mostly focused on chakra strings to be able to hurl humans or human-sized boulders with them as if he was using slingers. And while it was quite inaccurate, it was at least something.
Rei also focused more on the stickiness part of Tree-walking. He could now stick and unstick himself whenever he wanted, either with his hands or soles of his feet. This also helped with attaching the things on the end of his chakra strings and making them 'stick'.
Konan was practicing the hardening of her papers and sharpening the edges. It was not really a wind chakra but it always made Rei sweatdrop. These things she called paper were slowly becoming as dangerous as shurikens! Especially since Konan could make up to twenty of them on the fly by now.
Both of them learned how to enhance their bodies with chakra which made them able to exercise for the entirety of the afternoon. Which in turn made them even stronger physically, increasing their chakra and stamina. They were really pulling each other ahead.
All in all, they were no Kakashi or Itachi... but then again, they did not have teachers, technique scrolls, money, nor special food. If there is one thing the villages and clans were good for it was good learning opportunities. Without knowledge of Jutsu creation, chakra theory, or at least some Jutsu, Rei was not about to try creating his own Jutsu. Who knows what could go wrong.
For the resources they had, they did good! Un!
...
Rei and Konan were running through the forest when Rei suddenly stopped. His sensory abilities told him there are three ninjas nearby. Thankfully, they did not feel special or strong. While they were a lot stronger than both Konan and Rei combined, they were heading straight at them so...
Rei stopped Konan with a gesture and they promptly hid in the foliage. They didn't know how to mask their chakra but they could disperse it. Meaning, Konan imbued 30% of her chakra into thirty papers and made them hide all around into the nearby trees and bushes. They knew this could momentarily fool sensors because Rei's senses could be fooled too until he focused more in-depth. As for Konan... she had no chance of finding out unless she spent minutes in the vicinity. Her chakra sensing was kinda a work in progress.
"What are we going to do?" Konan whispered.
"We gotta fight." Rei resignedly told her. "They are heading straight for us. That's no coincidence. They probably have a chakra sensor. But he should not be a particularly strong sensor."
"Surprise attack?" Konan nodded.
"Surprise attack."
And with that Konan pushed fifty percent of her remaining chakra into fifty small, shuriken-like origami, hardening and sharpening them.
From the bushes, they could see three Iwa shinobi land exactly where Rei and Konan stood when Rei sensed them. They were looking around warily.
"Genin Kazubo! Where are the shinobi you told us about?"
A small annoyed man barked.
"I don't know Kilabi-sensei! But I do sense someth-"
That was as far as the sensor-nin got when the man called Kilabi jumped away. Konan's shuriken origami instantly flew straight at the two Genin. They wanted to jump away too but Rei quickly stuck a chakra string on each of their feet and pulled, making them fall onto the ground. The paper-shurikens shredded the poor men.
"Tch. Stupid Genin." Kilabi snarled as his eyes started drifting all over the trees and bushes.
Rei thought he would not find them but it seems he underestimated experienced shinobi a bit. He barely managed to lift a rock with his string to block a kunai heading at Konan. He saw Konan freeze as she saw the men she killed and he did not have time for making her snap back to reality. He had to engage the man.
Knowing well he did not have any chance without cheating he gave a kick to Konan and jumped out of the bush. He did not see her blink, take a deep breath, and nod with determination. Konan stayed hidden.
"Who are you!" Rei exclaimed and he pointed at the Kilabi as if the man just offended him. Kilabi's eyebrows raised into his hairline at the sight.
"A kid? These two idiots died to a fucking kid?"
He started laughing but Rei could see the man visibly relaxed.
"Well, I am Kilabi, chunin from Iwa. The man who is gonna kill ya~ kid." The man leisurely twirled kunai on his fingers and stared at Rei as if he was his prey.
"Ok." Rei nodded seriously, making the man do a double-take.
"But shinobi-san? Could you tell me why?" Rei asked.
"Why what brat?" Kilabi stopped twirling the kunai.
"Why are you so fine with your comrade's death?" Rei aske curiously.
Kilabi chuckled.
"These two idiots... I wanted to get rid of them eventually anyway. I enjoy having a female in the team more... if you know what I mean."
"Ah! You are just a common pervert!" Rei screamed at him, his finger again pointing in accusation on the man.
The kid was really making Kilabi mad. The respectable chunin he was, decided to get this over with and gut the kid good. There was an entire village. He could perhaps choose a woman to enjoy there afterward. This shitty war had at least some advantages!
He jumped at the kid, seeing his frightened widening eyes, Kilabi's smirk became bigger the closer he got.
Rei knew he couldn't evade Kilabi. The chunin was too fast for him. As he saw Kilabi approach, his eyes widened and he did the only thing he could. He flung himself to the ground.
This momentarily stopped Kolabi as his kunai didn't stab the kid and instead hit the air. He tsked at the lucky evade and he aimed the kunai downwards about to skewer the annoying brat.
Unfortunately, Rei had him at close range, and his chakra strings that could hurl human-sized boulders, yanked Kilabi forward, towards the bushes where Konan was hiding. The man couldn't avoid the ten incredibly sharp slices of paper aiming at his throat as he was mid-air. His head was sent flying before he realized what happened.
Konan quickly scurried towards Rei before Kilabi's body could even hit the ground.
"Are you alright!?" She shrieked as she looked all over him.
"Yes. We were lucky." Rei panted from the fear and killing intent he felt as the chunin jumped him.
"He was fast." He stated a matter of fact.
"Way too fast." Konan nodded and hugged Rei tightly.
"We gotta get better."
"Yes, Rei."
After they calmed down and enjoyed a few more reassuring warm hugs, they searched the bodies and scavenged a few kunais, shurikens, money, and storage scrolls. Kilabi even had two special papers that could gauge chakra nature. He was probably tasked to give them to the two dead genins.
After gathering everything of value, Rei and Konan scrambled away... They wouldn't enjoy being attacked by another shinobi. Rei only thanked the god that their village was so out of hand and the chakra sensors
Konan played with the pointy metal. This was the first time she had one in hand and it gave her an example of how sharp and hard her paper should be. She was excitedly waving it around while her other hand held a paper-kunai, visibly changing to resemble the normal one.
It was a cute sight since she nibbled her lower lip in concentration.
Rei chuckled and returned to his own musings. He was sitting above the storage scroll.
The scroll was empty and even Konan gawked when Rei just casually hit the trigger to empty it without even seeing a storage scroll previously. He grinned.
His Godly Nature Energy Attunement Talent is giving him sensing ability. For now. He actually CAN feel senjutsu chakra too but never tried to take it in. Too dangerous. Too little chakra in his system to balance it. While yes, he theoretically should have total control over it... but better safe than sorry. But... the talent worked wonders.
As Rei saw the seal, his third and last talent he picked, worked wonders too. His last talent was Godly Sealing Talent.
Rei didn't know what to exactly expect but the second he saw the seal, he somehow instinctively understood how to work with it. He could... maybe copy it but not tweak. He did not have the knowledge. But the storage seal provided an enormous amount of discoveries to him.
He understood some underlying principles by reading the kanji and how they worked! He was SO disappointed too!
To explain simply what he found out...
Rei did not have knowledge of the inner workings of the seal but he could still read the kanji that made the seal.
Space. Withdraw, Intent. Store, Intent.
And some equations alongside it.
Correction. Some nonsensical equation alongside it that held it all together and described the parameters of the space. The trigger was obviously chakra and the space holder was the scroll.
Rei put one and one together. He also brainstormed for any 'possible' theory...
Rei was not sure but his mind played with a theory. Quite idiotic theory. A theory that said that sealing is basically using a Kanji, imbuing it with chakra, and waiting for the 'magical' effect the intent in the chakra provides when it collides with the Kanji. He also noticed that two of the storage scrolls had a different set-up. It was as if they were written by a different...
Oh... Rei opened his mouth into a silent 'O'.
"I see! They use different sealing languages!"
It made sense, kinda. Both scrolls were in Kanji but the way they were written was different. Meaning a different maker and different 'language'.
Where one had 'Space', another had 'Storage' and so on.
But then... why did they function almost the same?
Rei took out a paper and let his instincts lead him.
He wrote on the paper while pouring his chakra into the ink.
He wrote 'Space. Withdraw, Intent. Store, Intent.' and added parameters. Exactly the same from the first scroll. The catch was, he did it in English.
He took a rock and put it on the paper with his English storage seal. He took a distance while pulling Konan with him and with a chakra string activated the storing function.
The rock disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"Phew. So it works that way too? Neat! I just discovered my own Sealing language that this world won't be able to decipher!" Rei almost jumped from giddiness as Konan looked at him in confusion.
In the end, she just shrugged, sat down, and returned to her origami kunai.
Rei then used his chakra string to activate the Withdrawal function and imagined the rock. Needless to say, it worked.
The problem though was the parameters...
Rei groaned and promptly facepalmed. Imagine addition and subtraction in kanji. Now, this scroll was a quite standard one and Rei suspected it was a very simple piece of fuinjutsu. So, subtraction and addition didn't even need to be used as it only needed a definition of the created space.
But... what about spatial fuinjutsu? Containment one? Barriers? Heck... Bijuu seals?
The shit hits the fan and the seal is as long as an entire fucking scroll. Not to say ineffective as heck since this world was a feudal one. They had some electrical appliances and technology but higher mathematics? Pfft. Shinobis were glad when they knew the multiplication table. It just wasn't needed for their job.
Rei knew the shinobi probably developed the sealing arts in a way that mathematics were not needed but unless he saw it... He really doubted it would be efficient though. At least these storage scrolls were definitely not! Rei could make one in English and better equations with one-tenth of the space that was needed for the one in Kanji.
Rei suddenly had a very nasty sinking feeling that Minato Namikaze actually did manage to create a teleportation seal with only addition and subtraction, moreover in kanji... and suddenly he wanted to puke blood.
...
Rei decided to 'widen' their arsenal. He started to experiment. It didn't take a week for him to create a working Exploding tag. If it even can be called that since one of Konan's small slices of paper was enough to hold it with a lot of free space. The point was, Rei could not create much of them and certainly not powerful enough. His best shot was only half as strong as the single explosion tag he found on Kilabi. That stuff really needed much more knowledge on seals and Rei was taping into it head-first without having a book or teacher. It took time.
Nevertheless, even if it was only half of the power of the generic shinobi exploding tag, it was enough to cause injuries. With Konan's ability, it was so worth it!
To create even one tag capable of hurting somebody would cost him 50% of his chakra reserves. He now had the three idiots who attacked them as comparison and he understood that while Konan was on the border of very, very low Gennin, he is a mid-level academy student when it came to reserves. She somehow overtook him while he was busying himself with fuinjutsu!
Sigh, at least my control is much better than even Konan's... He thought.
So far, he was capable of creating one small storage seal and exploding tag.
He then spent the next few days developing a simple stasis seal.
All of his experiments, of course, needed Konan so neither of them made much progress in their own chakra practice but they both knew this could give them the necessary edge to win their fights.
The stasis seal was a very helpful thing but they had to tweak, retweak, and then completely overhaul it so many times, even Konan was a bit fed-up. The point was if they wanted Konan's paper kunais to keep their chakra-sharpened or chakra-hardened state while in the storage seal, they had to put them and the chakra affecting them in stasis until they were released. Otherwise, the chakra would run out in the storage scroll and the paper kunai would just turn into, albeit crumpled, still only a normal paper.
They finally succeeded on the fifth day and a few of Konan's small papers contained a new storage seal tweaked for battle. She could activate it whenever at will since the activation needed only her chakra and the paper was literally soaked in her chakra. What it needed was only her intent to set off the seal.
The seal was a storage one with an inbuilt stasis seal. Inside were contained hardened and sharpened paper shurikens and the trigger had a feature that gave the projectiles a 'push' sending them flying in multiple directions when the seal triggered. Fast. The best part was that the speed and the directions were somewhat adjustable on triggering the seal so it was a really nice surprise weapon.
Rei kept some of these papers with this seal because even he could use it. But Konan? She had already ten stashed away for emergencies and always bugged Rei to create more of them for her.
Rei also made quite a lot of Exploding tags as every day before he went to sleep he was able to create two, almost depleting his chakra.
Konan had seven and he had three. It was not really a question. Konan could remotely activate them whenever she was, as long as she could feel them with her sensory ability. She was born to be a carrier for seals, dammit! Her paper manipulation is golden when in conjecture with a seal master.