Karubo, Rei, and Konan just exited the Land of Rain and entered the Land of River a day ago.
Rei was at ease. He was out of the Land of Rain! The biggest battlefield in this conflict!
While the Suna battlefield was vast, it was still smaller than the battles in Ame. It has to be noted, Suna was more straightforward as the two armies met and clashed, Suna tried to spread poison while Konoha wanted to rake up the kill count. Tsunade really saved Konoha there as her skills mitigated most of Suna's offensive when she found the antidote.
Hence, Suna was out of the war already and at most did some guerrilla warfare to chase Konoha-nin out of their territory.
Kumo and Konoha... They didn't clash much during this war. Kumo was mostly tied up with Kiri in naval warfare. They did attack Konoha but it was more on the hit and run basis. No really big skirmishes happened.
Rei was incredibly surprised at the amount of military knowledge Kurabo, the utterly 'normal' and 'not-out-of-place' merchant, had. His suspicion of the man only rose. But there they were. The man was willing to part with this knowledge. Both knew that this meant he was meaning well. There was no need to antagonize him over it.
Kiri... they had it best. As the reason for the war was the forceful expansion of territory with force, Kiri as an island didn't have much surrounding land to force under their rule. Therefore, they only fought with Kumo over some islands in the Kaizoku Sea.
And that led Rei to the last battlefield. Ame.
Konoha versus Iwa. The ninja had no regard for civilians and made Ame their spanking boy. They ran rampant over the ENTIRE country while doing various guerrilla attacks, skirmishes in towns, it was a massacre at its finest. The tactic was foregone due to the hate between the two and the clashes were only intensifying. Medics were in short supply, corpses piled up, and most often than not, the civilians paid for it.
The shinobi were way past the point of caring. Especially the Iwa as Iwa-Kiri-Kumo attacked Uzu at the start of the second shinobi war and thousands of theirs died. Konoha redirected their hate to Iwa and showered it upon innocent Ame. Iwa had insufficient forces so they employed brutal tactics to compensate.
The sole reason the country was standing was Amegakure forces and Hanzo that were looming over Iwa and Konoha in Ame like some shinigami, occasionally killing out entire squads. Shinobi of both countries were understaffed. Simple as that. That was the sole reason why Iwa and Konoha did not raze Ame to the ground yet and employed at least some restraint. But Hanzo was far from a benevolent or even caring ruler. Kurabo told Rei that he was being paid for 'providing' a battlefield. He only acted when somebody was acting WAY over the top.
Thankfully, Konoha versus Suna was fought exclusively on Suna territory and for the most part, it was over so the Land of River was quite peaceful. And damn, the Daimyo of the Land of River had to pay a lot of Ryo for that too.
…
It was evening and the party sat around the fire as they cooked a few rabbits.
"Karubo, I think it is time to tell us your 'big secret', don't you agree?" Konan asked impassively as she played with a paper crane. A paper crane that suddenly gained a bluish hue as she said it.
She is way past amused and entered an annoyed mode... Rei mused inwardly.
He was not about to intervene. Karubo should have told them while they were still in Ame but he always had some excuse. Rei just clasped his hands under his chin and listened with a soft innocent smile. Somehow, seeing Konan trying to threaten the man was making her look very sexy to Rei. Plus they were outta Ame. Karubo was no longer needed to vouch for them on the borders. It was time for him to start speaking.
Karubo shifted nervously as his eyes carefully stayed on the paper crane. He saw how these things shredded people into pieces. He was not about to be the next!
"Ah... understand that this is hard for me too... Hiii"
He stopped when from the ground, papers started to swirl around him and stick to his body. In under two seconds, all but his head was covered by Konan's paper.
"Ah... understand," She glared at him. "I had enough... Spill or die."
Karubo gulped as he shook under Konan's killing intent. It was nothing extraordinary but for a civilian? Especially when said civilian recognized he is covered from neck to toes in exploding tags? He started to spill like a broken glass.
"Y-yes! I-I work for Kiri!" He shrieked, making Konan stop.
"Kiri?" Rei joined the conversation.
Karubo started to fervently nod his head.
"I recruit bloodlines and unaffiliated ninjas to join Kiri!"
Rei almost face-faulted. Kiri... recruiting Bloodlines.
"What?" He mumbled, weirded out as it clashed with his knowledge of Kiri.
"Why?" Konan though asked the million Ryo question. Karubo only stumped down as he knew he was not in a position to refuse to answer.
"During the first war, Kiri employed civilian merchants to go through battle-zones. Dangerous work, sure. But it paid well. They were told to recruit Kekkei Genkai Clans or individuals willing to join Kiri. Many of these merchants died by the hand of those they tried to recruit. Hence my hesitation..." He chuckled dryly.
When Konan nodded in calmness and loosened slightly the papers, Karubo released a massive sigh of relief. At the very least, he was not going to die today. He continued the story with his newfound courage.
"The amount of Kekkei Genkai in Kiri doubled during that time. Yuki from Snow country. Hoshigaki from the Kaijuu ocean. Hairan clan from Wind country. Kaguya from the border of the Land of Fang and the Land of Claw. We even managed to get shinobi from as far as Iwa! These merchant recruiters hired by the previous Daimyo rose the shinobi forces of Kiri by ten percent alone! Sure, Kiri had to be careful and screen all of them to discover any spies but in the end? They were stronger for it." He chuckled in good humor.
"Konoha fancies itself heaven for Kekkei Genkai users. Yet, it is Kiri that holds almost twice as many of them as Konoha does. Thirty percent of Kiri forces have some Kekkei Genkai when before this tactic at the start of the first war, not even five percent did and the clans were sparse."
Rei nodded. He somewhat understood where his understanding failed him. Kiri will hate Kekkei Genkai. In the future. But now? They adored and coveted them, it seemed.
It was always suspicious how Kiri, an isolated island nation, had so many of them compared to the other, bigger lands, that they were able to actually have a civil war against them. It was also suspicious that Kekkei Genkai Holders and their forces won the civil war. Realistically, by looking at the numbers, that was utterly impossible! Most of the shinobi since the forming of Shinobi villages were, after all, civilians born. The clans just DID NOT have enough people to win. Even if some non-clan shinobi joined them... most would not. They were paid by the village, after all. Why would they join resistance when it would mean giving up their job, family, etc?
"I joined because of my father." Karubo pulled Rei out of his reverie. "He was the man who was solely responsible for forming the Terumi clan! Haha! He was assigned to Iwa and managed to smuggle a Lava user from there. She was called Rumi." Karubo fondly reminisced. "As they were on their way to Kiri, they passed the Land of Hotsprings and managed to convince a family of three to come with them. They had Boil Release." He shook his head. "My father was one lucky fella, I tell you! Anyway, Rumi fell in love with the boy from the family and they decided to create a clan together. And so, Tero and Rumi created the Terumi clan. It's so cringy!" Karubo laughed boisterously as any nervousness fell from him.
Konan just rolled her eyes with a chuckle at the man as she removed the paper from him and looked at Rei to decide what to do.
Rei didn't have to think much. He only had to make sure, he and Konan would be far, far away from Kiri by the time Obito decided to fuck things up.
"We will join Kiri." He nodded, making Karubo gleeful--
The journey to Kiri was peaceful. With Konan and Rei masking their chakra with nature energy, no shinobi saw them as anything but normal children accompanying a merchant. As they entered the Land of Fire, the war-like atmosphere evaporated. The people were cheerful and lively. The streets were full of children playing with a ball... it was a nice sight.
Except, Rei had to hold Konan's arm as he saw her clutching her fist hard seeing it. He knew how hard it was for her as a child. He also knew she had enmity with Konoha for killing her parents. And while she didn't desire revenge, it must have been hard to see children happy and carefree in the Land protected by Konoha when Konoha shinobi were killing and ravaging the country she was born in.
Rei didn't try to console her. This was important for Konan to solve herself. The answers she will form may very well affect her entire life. He would not let her be some Avenger but he was not averse to let her horizon widen. To learn to look at things from different angles.
Konan didn't feel hate for the children or civilians. She only felt disgusted. So much blood flooded Ame, and yet...
It irked her immensely. But the second she felt Rei's arm... She didn't care anymore. She had a new life. She worked hard to have a new life. To become strong. Her priority was Rei. These people could burn or be happy, she had no care for them. But... she decided to become even stronger so the people she loves will be able to live like these children. Carefree and happy. While her enemies will feel like herself during childhood. Painful and miserable. That she promised to herself.
...
Their journey continued towards the Land of Noodle until they arrived in the capital. There, Karubo led both Konan and Rei to an abandoned warehouse.
As they entered, they saw two people with Kiri hitai-ate, lounging on a chair, completely relaxed.
When the men looked at who was approaching, they groaned.
"Karubo-san... kids? Seriously?" A pale man with blue tear marks under his very tired-looking eyes asked the merchant.
"Well... as long as they are useful. Keke." Another man who was twirling kunai on his finger, trying to appear menacing, rolled his eyes while snickering. "You kiddies wanna join Kiri? Heh? Are you of any use?" He condescendingly asked.
"Spar then?" Rei quipped before Karubo could interrupt, shrugging down the coat from his shoulders, coming forward.
"Ooh! Look at him. This one is spunky!"
"Kid, sigh." The tired-looking man turned to his companion. "Don't fight him too seriously. We finally became chunin. The Mizukage won't be thrilled if you beat the shit outta them. They are kids, Kiribaro."
"Ah, shut up, Mizuru. I will be gentle."
The man, still playing with his kunai, stood up and walked leisurely towards Rei with a mocking expression.
Rei could only sigh. These two idiots had as much chakra as the chunin, Kilabi, they killed in Ame. To be honest, Rei had at least five times than them by now. He was already on low-jonin reserves with Konan. But to be underestimated due to his age? He smiled widely.
The tired-looking man, Mizuru, was observing the kids. One was an impassive girl. Very beautiful girl, he offhandedly noted. That one will definitely be a looker in the future. His uncaring eyes looked at the cocky boy and slightly widened. That smile. He saw it. On one of the Kiri seven swordsmen right before...
Bam...
Kiribaro found himself thrown into the wall, cracking it as the kid appeared in front of him, his foot raised at the level of Kiribaro's stomach.
"You are just a chunin and you wanna compare notes with me? Seeking death!" Rei shouted condescendingly as he was inwardly fanboying!
Hehehe! Always wanted to play big bad cultivator bully! … He was mentally bouncing up and down.
He wasn't in a warzone anymore and could let loose his more mischievous side!
Konan snickered while covering her mouth with her gloved hand and walked forward.
"My turn." Her expression turned stoic as she impassively said, looking at Mizuru.
Mizuru sweatdropped as he felt the killing intent the girl was releasing straight at him.
"I-I'll pass." He gulped.
"Ah, Muzuru-san. I forgot to tell you. These two are from Ame. They are strong." Karubo sheepishly rubbed the back of his head
Say so sooner, bastard!... Mizuru's eyes twitched at him and Kiribaro groaned, still on the ground.
From there it was smooth sailing. The men started asking questions... name, former village, country, age...
"Say what now?" Kiribaro asked, irritated at what he just heard. He was still holding his stomach as he sat on the chair, his head laid on the table.
"I said we are ten." Rei nonchalantly responded.
"Kid, you loo-"
"Jutsu accident. Made us grow." Rei shrugged.
Mizuru ever so slowly nodded. He was weirded out, alright, but he heard of weirder cases. As he was about to write it down, Rei suddenly added.
"Oh, don't forget to write that we are connected because of it. We can't separate otherwise it would be detrimental to our health."
Konan nodded eagerly and Mizuru only sighed and nodded. He was not about to say no to a kid that could wipe the floor with him.
"Really now..." Kiribaro grumbled.
Then it came to any known diseases, living family, and finally skills.
"Karubo said the girl had some paper Kekkei Genkai..." Kiribaro stated, unsurely looking at Konan.
"No. She does not." Rei quickly attracted the attention and took a paper slice from his pocket, folding it with his chakra.
"It is a chakra control skill. She uses her chakra to fold it into shapes and her futon to make them fly."
Rei was not about to let them know it was Kekkei Genkai, much less Kekkei Tota. Konan knew what she held and that was enough.
Mizuru nodded.
"So, any affinities other than futon?" He didn't miss that little tidbit. Ten years old proficient with futon? The kids in front of him were true monsters. Both of them.
Rei and Konan looked at each other, Konan bit her lip and took a step back, letting Rei deal with it. She knew he didn't want to reveal the full scope of their skills. But she had no idea what she was allowed to reveal.
Mizuru, seeing that little gesture, resisted a groan. He knew that he won't get a full account from the kids now. Alas, he was already used to something akin to this. Did not make it any less annoying though.
Rei sighed as his head swirled with ideas about what to reveal.
"As for me... Raiton, Doton, and Suiton plus kenjutsu... well, somewhat. It's all self-taught." He told them. He was not about to tell them that Konan and he were able to enhance their attacks with nature energy, nor was he about to reveal his sealing arts. He made tens of seals that he would never reveal to someone who he didn't trust. Also, he didn't tell them just how good he was with the Affinities nor that he was starting to train Katon.
Kiribaro almost dropped the documents when he heard the kid could do three elements. His jaw dropped.
"Did I hurt my ears when I impacted the wall?" He mumbled, hitting his ears gently.
Rei didn't care and just continued, gesturing at Konan.
"She is good at Futon, Doton, and Suiton. Trained the last ones together. Oh, and her specialty is origami."
Again, Rei didn't tell them she could harden, sharpen, soak up water... Origami. That told them literally nothing of her real skills other than she uses paper. They had absolutely no clue that she could manipulate hundreds of paper slices at once. Plus Konan always had at least a thousand explosive tags made by Rei in a storage scroll on a paper she had always IN her body. She was starting to learn how to change herself into a paper. Plus she also started learning to draw explosive tags. And while her fuinjutsu was looking to be abysmal at best even with the talent, it improved very, very slowly. There was so much Rei didn't tell them.
"O-okay, then..." Mizuru nodded.
"Oi. Are you sure you wanna the report to be like this? You know, you will have to prove it to Mizukage later on!" Kiribaro barked out.
I am sure." Rei smiled, making him groan and bang his head on the table.
"Whatever. Your funeral..." The man grumbled sullenly.
And with that, they were registered as immigrants. The second the Mizukage approved of their immigration they would be taken as people of Land of Water. Sure, they would have a lot of scrutiny and it will take years until they get a promotion but... Rei wanted access to their Water Jutsu. He could bear with a few years of comfort in Shinobi village while fending off any secret-seekers if it meant access to Jutsu library. Plus peace was coming. It would be much more beneficial to spend that time in a village than by themselves.
Rei and Konan arrived in Kirigakure. It was all shrouded in a thick mist on the outer parts, most likely due to seals. The closer to the village they got, the sparser the mist became. As Rei and Konan followed Karubo through the gates, giving their documents to the guards, they noted that no mist was inside the village. The air was very humid and the village looked... militaristic. It was a dreary place with gloom in the air.
Surprisingly, the merchants and civilians still bustled through the streets, happily trying to sell their wares. They didn't seem to fear shinobi. A healthy dose of respect could be spotted in their eyes every time a shinobi passed by. It was coexistence. The people here saw the shinobi as their protectors.
Shinobi, on the other hand, were the reason for the gloomy atmosphere. They still attempted to look dangerous and stern-faced but it was obvious their mood was down. The village probably lost in a skirmish, Rei surmised. None of his business though.
The place was exactly as one would expect from a village full of killers. After all, Kiri took the most assassination request out of the great five. This was where hunter-nin and assassins thrived.
...
Rei and Konan stood in the office of the Mizukage, looking at a neat, pale man of forty years old with black hair, brown eyes, and a mustache. He wore the Mizukage Robes and the Hat and watched them impassively.
This was the third Mizukage. Rei and Konan slightly bowed in respect but didn't leave each other's side.
"You say you need to be together..." He trailed off as he out of the bat pointed his problem with them. He would call bullshit but then again... he was a leader of the village and had to keep appearances.
"Mizukage-sama," Rei calmly smiled. "All you need is to have a sensor-nin look at our chakra."
"Ah... yes." Mizukage drawled. "Your chakra..."
He narrowed his eyes. The kids didn't have more than a civilian amount of chakra. Yet, his ninjas in the capital of Noodle were beaten by them.
"We will now loosen our chakra hiding, okay?" Rei asked, making the Mizukage nod slowly.
The Mizukage signaled the ANBU on stand-by and marveled as the chakra of the kids in front of him rose to the levels of low-chunin. He narrowed his eyes.
"You... have more than this, right?"
"Yes." Rei bluntly answered.
"... you won't show how much, will you?" The Mizukage stated.
"No." Rei nodded.
The ANBU in the room were staring at the boy talking so bluntly to the Mizukage but... they saw the Mizukage was serious and was nodding in approval at the boy's answer.
"Would you be inclined in teaching that chakra hiding technique? Say, for money? Maybe, women?"
The Mizukage was amused. The kids in front of him were interesting. Boasting of three chakra natures at the tender age of 10? Monsters. If what they say was true then he just acquired two potential future S-rank shinobi. Even if not! The chakra hiding technique was invaluable! Even he could not feel their chakra! Granted, he was not using his chakra sensing actively but his passive senses should be enough to tell him their general reserves. It was mind-boggling for him.
"No." Rei's smile turned sheepish. "Sorry but that is not possible."
The Mizukage's eyes narrowed further.
"Why not." He threateningly asked.
"Ah... when I tried to teach it to Konan, we ended up connected for life."
The Mizukage frowned. He didn't believe in their so-called 'connection'.
"Agai-"
"Just have a sensor-nin look at us, Mizukage-sama."
The ANBU tensed. Interrupting Mizukage was not a good thing! But Rei saw that the man was too interested in him and Konan to do anything about it.
"Fine. I will look." Mizukage told them somewhat sullenly and activated his senses. He instantly blanched. "What the fuck." He quietly swore to himself.
What he saw was their chakras merging, intertwining, knitting together, it was as if there were two people sewn together in front of him. It was... disturbing, to say the least. He had no idea what to think of it.
"You... say you can't separate?" He resignedly asked in the end.
"Oh, we can." Rei let Konan's hand go and the Mizukage could see their chakras disconnect. "But not for long."
The Mizukage slowly nodded. He had no idea what was going on so he could not judge if the kid was telling the truth but... Even disconnected their chakra was a patchwork of the two. Honestly, he found the sight quite... distasteful. Not because of its appearance. It looked like their aura was made of two colors to him. Two colors forcefully kneaded together in the most brutal way. He shuddered at the image of that happening to him.
The Mizukage had no idea that what he saw was the result of nature energy forcing the chakras and souls to merge. It was erratic, chaotic even. But it had no bad effects on Konan or Rei. On the contrary, this provided them with a lot of benefits. It just didn't look prettiest in the senses of a chakra sensor. It didn't look like a... human. That was what disturbed the Mizukage most.
"I suppose you will b-,... marry in the future?"
Shit... I almost said breed! ... The Mizukage sweatdropped and was glad he had his hat on so he could cover his face.
He would be a fool to not see the benefits of such a chakra hiding technique. They definitely had to produce offspring if it meant the technique would stay in the village.
"Yes." Konan nodded stoically.
"What are the chances of joining the Clan Creation Act?" The Mizukage carefully probed. He could force them but that would be a fast-track to create nuke-nins. He tried to keep the force out of anything he could. But he would be damned if he didn't try to make a clan out of them! And for a clan they would need more members… The boy would have to get more wifes...
"I..." Rei was stumped at the Mizukage.
The Mizukage smiled knowingly. He couldn't help but mentally scold himself. The boy was just a kid yet he was talking about giving him a harem to produce kids. He almost snorted at himself as he felt stupid.
"Only if the woman is suitable." Konan took the reins, surprising the Mizukage. Thankfully he prevented himself from gaping.
"And the conditions?" He decided to entertain the girl.
"Kunoichi, strong, beautiful, and most importantly, Rei must fall in love with her!"
The Mizukage was about to nod in approval when Rei decided that enough was enough.
"Oi. Stop trying to play a matchmaker for me!" Rei swatted Konan's shoulder with a scowl.
"Mizukage-sama, forget what she just said." Rei turned to the 3rd Mizukage. "I will live here, and if a woman that I like is willing to join us, then why not. But that's only when I am older!" Rei petulantly and very childishly burst out while wildly gesturing.
Rei knew exactly who he would like to have in his 'harem' from Narutoverse. But he wasn't about to woo a girl only because she was a canon character. He decided to first gauge the personality and if he found it likable and they clicked, he would go for it.
The third Mizukage smiled. He could work with that. He was Mizukage and giving a few females a mission to woo the boy when he is older was of no consequence to him. Underhanded... maybe. But if the boy actually does sleep with them then he would have no excuses. It's not like they would be ordered to genjutsu the shit outta him!
Alas, that was still far away in the future.
"Okay, now, you said both of you are proficient in three chakra natures?"
The Mizukage was disbelieving of this fact but when both of them took out three papers, making one wet by just a slight touch, the other crumbled into dust, and then Rei wrinkled the last paper whereas Konan shredded hers...
Fuck... the following years will be indeed a pain!... He resisted the urge to groan as he realized the amount of effort he would have to exert to make these kids feel 'at home' in Kiri.
Three trained affinities at the age of 10. No, three insanely proficient affinities. He knew what the speed which they showed meant. They were already masters at this exercise and most likely had a way to train their chakra natures further. He would actually call bullshit! And thought they were spies except, no idiot would let someone with such a potential do a spywork! And no idiot was ever made a Kage. No matter how the Raikage looked.
Troublesome… He mentally whined.
Mizukage was no fool. The kids either had to create their own clan or join already existing ones. Nobody would teach someone who was not 'family' their every secret.
A plan started forming in his head. A plan he decided to go with. A plan that will inevitably decide much of Rei's future during his stay in Kiri.
"This will be A-class secret from now on." He growled at his ANBU who straightened up.
"You will be provided a middle-class flat, free of charge." There were a lot of empty flats since many died in the war. "Your rank will be genin but you won't have a jonin supervising you. We can't spare anyone for that."
Mizukage was not about to put these two through the genin test. If one of them died, the second would be most likely lost too. No, he would keep them in the village as much as possible, make them loyal, and then make sure they are strong enough before sending them on any mission. As for the instructor… the kids got this far by themselves. He was interested if they could improve further without one.
"Mizukage-sama," Rei nodded. "we would like access to genin and academy student areas in the library then. We will teach ourselves."
"Sure, sure." The Mizukage rubbed his forehead. "You probably do not know kawarimi, henge, nor any regulations and things like that anyway. You will be given half-year to learn it. Then you will be tested on your knowledge of regulations and the basic Jutsu."
Rei nodded.
"That's all. If you have any problems, my secretary can relay it to me."
And with that, they were ushered out of the office.
Alas, Rei didn't care what schemes the old man had. He would go through it at his own pace and if not? There was always defection. Being hunted can not be worse than living in the middle of a war-zone, could it? Especially since he knew what will happen to Kiri in the future.
Rei and Konan were shown their apartment. It was quite big with two bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room, and a toilet. It was obvious that the Mizukage really saw potential in them otherwise they would never get such good accommodation for free. They even received a deed to the flat!
Alas, the most important thing for Rei was not the flat but the slip that would allow him into the library. He could access academy, genin, AND chunin rank material. Yet another show of trust. He was glad about that. This would push them forward quite a lot.
...
The first month in Kiri...
Konan and Rei spent the time looking over Kawarimi and Henge and tweaking it.
The Kawarimi was nice. Just reach with your chakra and swap. Alas, the mass had to be somewhat similar to yours for it to work. That's why logs. God, the shinobi were dunces.
Rei opted to learn Mizu Bunshin and use them for swapping. Especially one with at least five exploding tags on them that would go off during swap. Why destroy nature by chopping logs when you can just gather water into a clone!? One of these days, the Lord of Logs would punish the insolent mortals by making them logged instead of the log!
Using the water clone had many advantages. Not only was he basically quickly transporting water towards his enemy. Water that could be used since he was good at Suiton. But really, these clones do not relay memories and are only one-tenth as strong as the original. Making them go all suicidal by bombing the enemy is a completely valid move! The same goes for playing Shukaku only, instead of sand, using water! All it would need was a horde of Mizu Bunshin surrounding the target and dissolving back into a water source for Rei!
As for henge... he really didn't see the use against anything other than civilians. Oh, he knew why it was mandatory Jutsu. It was a go-to tool for infiltration. There was nothing better than that to fool civilians. And to be honest, during missions, fooling civilians is quite a prevalent activity. Henge had various uses. None of them useful in a battle since an attentive enemy and 'puff', ya dead. But when it came to performing missions?
Bandits come. Henge thirty clones... bandits run.
Need to seduce a man? Kunoichi puts a henge of gorgeous courtesan and done.
Need info from a merchant? Henge into his friend and bam, done.
It was one of the most useful things ninja's ever learned but it was utterly useless in battle. Genjutsu could have lasting effects on the affected. These effects could be discovered. It was much better to just use Henge when dealing with civilians.
Konan also learned kawarimi and henge. Especially Kawarimi since she saw the merit of Rei's idea. She saw a cloning technique for the first time when she opened the bunshin scroll. A day after that, she was already able to form paper clones. Oh... Konan also liked having a blast with her clones. Literally at that.
She even made Rei teach her these seals in English! She didn't know any English other than the words and numbers needed to make the storage seals, stasis seals, and exploding tags but for her, it was enough. She definitely made it into a deadly weapon!
Rei could only bitterly smile. He knew making these three kinds of seals was the limit for Konan. Teaching her just that took an incredible amount of time and these were very elementary seals. She just didn't have the mentality for seals. Except exploding tags. That she could do. She was already devising her own exploding tags.
Konan, in her sadistic streak, mixed clones with the storage seals filled to the brim with her futon paper shurikens. Then made a paper clone made purely out of exploding tags and then whatever mix of the two. Not one of her paper clones lacked at least one exploding tag inside.
The best part? Her paper clones could actually draw seals. Rei used this insight and tweaked Water Clone Technique to be able to do the same. Since then two Konans are drawing exploding tags, storage seals, and stasis scrolls out of real Konan's paper supply, and five Reis who were trying to come up with new more advanced seals. The second bedroom of their flat finally saw some use.
...
The second and third months.
Rei also found a lot of fuinjutsu theory in the library. Nothing extraordinary but enough to push his knowledge forward. But he didn't dare to borrow these books and instead studied them in the corner, trying to be unassuming. He didn't want to tick off anyone that he could make seals. It was a slow process as even if the knowledge was the basics of sealing at most... he was able to find some neat Uzumaki scrolls. This signified that Kiri indeed acquired some scrolls form Uzu.
Rei was mostly interested in Uzumaki battle fuinjutsu but he only got an inkling. He would need a pass to jonin library if he wanted more...
Konan... The more paper clones she made, the more her body became familiar with the prospect of pulling paper together to make a body. She... unlocked her 'logia' powers and became a paper human!
Well, in reality, she just learned how to make her body into paper and how to reverse it. But with the chakra control boost she got by connecting with Rei? With focus, she could do something similar like logia users in One Piece. She, however, had to prevent herself from being hit. But changing the middle of her stomach to paper and make it move 'out' of the strike mid-fight? That was a nasty thing. Or changing herself into a flurry of paper and reforming elsewhere? Or making her torso 'disappear' when she was about to be bisected?
Rei was so annoyed he devised a seal that would prevent her to use it by slightly messing up her chakra control! Nope! No one will pull Crocodile on Rei!
...
The last three months.
Konan's body changing technique stopped being overpowered the second Rei learned how to mold Suiton Chakra into Jutsu. Apparently, her paper can soak up water but it can not soak up water made with Suiton Jutsu unless her water chakra is more concentrated in it. Sucks to be her since Rei was the better one at Suiton from the two.
Rei focused on making his own Suiton Jutsu rather than learning the Jutsu in the library. He learned only a few he found really useful. Konan on the other hand tried to make her futon chakra sharper by molding it in a similar way as some Futon Jutsu did.
Both learned consciously molding chakra for the Monkey hand seal, to make Kirigakure no Jutsu sealless as their nature sensing gave them a clear view inside the mist.
They both also managed to mold their chakra in the way of Dog hand seal. As this one was associated with Water and most Suiton Jutsu needed it. It also helped that their Mokuton practice made it incredibly easy to learn it.
As for the Snake hand seal, they already knew it. It was the only molding of chakra they learned without a hand sign in Ame because it was mostly associated with Earth and Wood. They had tons of Wood creation under their belt and molding their chakra in the way this hand sign did was nothing hard for them.
Konan focused on the Bird hand sign next, for better Futon while Rei started with the Tiger hand sign, which went incredibly well as not only Katon, it was also used for Doton. But it would be months until both of them learn how to do these properly.
Alas, they never learned Jutsu for that reason. They refused to learn hand signs. They knew that once they fix it in their brain that they need hand signs and learn to instinctively mold chakra according to them, it would be hard to unlearn it. No matter how big of a crutch they were. Rei could compare them to a wand for wizards in Potterverse. It was easy to learn them and their bodies got quickly used to them. But it was insanely hard to start molding the chakra consciously on your own once you did get used to them.
It was better to choose the harder route...
Their last week was spent reading various regulations to pass the test. When you are in the library full of Jutsu... you have no time to read these...
The test was in front of the Council of the village. Apparently, they have those here but it is really only advisory. Alas, the Mizukage deemed it fit to fulfill their desire to see 'kids with three chakra natures' do the test.
The first, written test was easy as their enhanced minds had a hold on the knowledge after reading the books and they passed.
Then they were tasked to show kawarimi and swapped with each other. Konan swapped with Rei first and then Rei did with Konan to end up in their starting position. The council was quite astonished as it was advanced to be able to swap with other humans.
As for clones, they showed Water and Paper clones respectively which instantly caused murmuring and promises of 'training their clan prodigies more'.
And so, at the tender age of eleven, both Konan and Rei earned their genin rank.
The test was not over though. They relocated to the training ground covered by a thin mist. A spar with a jonin was scheduled as the Council and the Mizukage wanted to gauge Rei's and Konan's strength.
The Mizukage picked one of the seven Swordsmen to gauge Rei and Konan. Rei was inwardly cursing the petty man to hell! Konan only looked at her dark bluish nails while giggling. Since Rei complimented it yesterday, she vowed to never use other colors!
"Come at me whenever." A large man, holding Kubikiribocho smirked at them. It was two versus him and the man didn't feel like losing to two kids.
Rei nudged Konan and nodded in the direction of the large man, Maduro, making her pay attention. She raised her eyes to the swordsman and scowled fiercely. She was almost past the date about to get into bed with Rei in her daydream!
Maduro took the monkey position.
"Kirigakure no Jutsu."
He was a typical wielder of Kubikiribocho. Silent assassin of the Mist.
The 3rd Mizukage watched the relaxed figures of Konan and Rei. What made him frown though was not their careless posture. It was the sealless Kirigakure no Jutsu they both employed, making the mist so dense, seeing even an inch was a problem. It was definitely a complete overkill as normal Kirigakure no Jutsu provides at least some limited visibility. But this? Even Hyuuga would be as blind as mole.
He could see the council members asking those with chakra sensing abilities to tell them what's going on but... the Mizukage knew that out of the sensors present, only him and Himeno Yuki were able to 'see' or rather sense what was going on in such thick, chakra-heavy mist.
His plan for being a matchmaker for Rei and one orphan from one extinct clan was becoming even more important in his mind as he saw the mist.
Hmmm, I wonder. How will they fight the master of silent assassination? They surely won't be able to see even an in-...
His mind froze.
Fuck! These kids must be sensors too! Why the fuck did I not think 'bout that!? Hiding chakra and sensing on the level where they can perceive things in such a mist? Damn... jackpot! Ha, see that Onoki! My village is still bettah!
The 3rd Mizukage wanted to jump from happiness at the realization!
"Mizukage-sama?" Himeno Yuki, the ever-loving cutie, worriedly glanced at him. He was aware she was miffed with him for having the kids fight with Maduro. Sigh, women...
"Ah, Himeno-chi!" He nodded to his childhood friend and his mind reacted the same as ever, he ducked under her punch.
Wow... busty! Maybe I really should retir-... No. Bad boy! Stop ogling her, dammit! You have two prodigies fighting a skilled killer! Focus!
"Are you fi-" A man asked worriedly.
"YES!" The Mizukage straightened.
The Mizukage suddenly went rigid. He felt... tens, hundreds even, of chakra signatures in the mist.
Clones... neat. That might work on someone with less experience.
He praised mentally. But he was still able to sense which ones were real as they had more chakra. Until...
Shit! Did they just lower their chakra signature to be on the level of their clones? Damn... I wouldn't want to face these two when they gain really lethal techniques...
He sweatdropped. He could not differentiate between clones and the originals anymore. He could only differentiate between the clones of Konan and Rei as Konan's clones packed a slightly more chakra.
What he didn't know was that as Rei and Konan mixed into the swirl of the chakra signatures they did not only lower their signature. They completely covered it with nature energy, making it utterly invisible as they retreated. They were no longer in the mist.
In the mist, Maduro focused his hearing as he could hear hundreds of sounds. He was used to seeing white. A thicker mist... that didn't bother him at all!
Oooh, clever! Making clones... I should praise them later. Now, let's KILL these pests one by one. Sigh. I just hope I won't kill the originals… Mizukage would be pissed!
"Did you really think this would stop me? You are naive!" Maduro's voice resounded through the mist.
He swiftly set on killing the clones, one by one.
The Mizukage felt the biggest chakra signature, Maduro on the move. He sensed him approach the closest clones, one of Rei's.
Well, Maduro is too experienced to freak out from being surrounded by clones. But nice tr-...
As the Mizukage felt Maduro's blade approach the head of the clone, a loud 'BOOM' resounded through the clearing, and Maduro's body was flung backward like a ragdoll due to the explosion. Mizukage's and Himeno's jaw dropped.
"This... are they all..." Himeno asked wide-eyed as she looked at the Mizukage.
He knew Maduro was fine, but his body was uncontrollably flying in the direction of another chakra signature. This time it was one of Konan's. The Mizukage could feel Maduro twist in the air and aim a slash at the girl when...
'BOOM'
An even louder boom reverberated through the clearing, making Mizukage wince. The kids were using Maduro's sense of hearing against him. He could sense Maduro's body being yet again flung away as the explosion impacted him…
"I think… that answers it, Himeno-chan." The Mizukage answered as his eye-brow twitch.
Fuck! Since when was this life and death battle! To bring hundreds of exploding tags. Crazy bastards … He inwardly cursed.
In the mist, Maduro was mad! Only his Doton: Rock Body saved him from injuries! He kicked towards the ground mid-flight, sending his body uncontrollably stumbling across the ground. He rolled to his feet and tried to focus his hearing when he heard loud whistling sounds. His eyes widened and he barely managed to duck...
The Mizukage facepalmed as Himeno cheerfully explained what was happening in the dense mist.
"Maduro is... evading. Uh. Evading tens of futon enhanced things looking like shurikens. Ah... he just bought it into the leg... Auch. His arm... Ooooh, that was close to the crotch! He almost lost a chance at daddyhood! Damn, lucky him for having that Rock Body Technique or he would be a swiss cheese without it! ... Eh, finally! He started to block the projectiles with his blade! Dunce, I tell you!"
The Mizukage almost face-faulted. He could only groan in exasperation. Two eleven-years olds were totally wrecking one of the Seven Swordsmen in his own home-field, using his own senses against him.
Maduro was panting. His leg was useless and one of his hands was injured too. His body... looked like one of his training dummies! Fucking cut up! He gained control over his breathing as he killed another clone by kicking it away as it was about to explode. He quickly shielded with his Kubikiribocho.
But the clone of the boy didn't explode. It changed to water, making him confused. He stopped for a moment and instantly cursed himself for that when through the water the clone dissolved to, suddenly a water jet shot at him at insane speeds from the mist behind it! He barely managed to duck but his sword...
"AH! The Kubikiribocho!" Himeno exclaimed suddenly.
"What, Lady Yuki?" One of the clan heads asked impatiently.
"It kinda... broke?" Himeno tilted her head.
The Mizukage's eyebrow was twitching. A strongly pressurized water jet, gathered from the mist itself cleaved through the Kubikiribocho like a knife through butter while someone focused on strengthening the mist, ensuring it won't lose density. Their teamwork was seamless, Mizukage happily noted. That's when his eyes widened.
He could see all chakra signatures stop and start running in the direction of Maduro's injured body.
Maduro was gaping at his swo-, correction, at the HALF of his sword he held in his hand when suddenly he heard sounds of multiple footsteps closing in on him. He quickly...
As the clones were close to Maduro, the Mizukage and Himeno widened their head and quickly started weaving hand seals.
"Suiton: Water Wall!"
"Hyoton: Freezing!"
3rd Mizukage created a Wall of Water and Himeno quickly froze it solid as both could feel all clones explode. Even though the wall, they could still feel the whiplash of the wind as it sailed around its sides, sending their hair flailing from side to side. The shockwaves were hitting the ice wall as it trembled under the pressure while Mizukage and his council had to brace themselves as a small earthquake shook the ground. The mist long ago dispersed due to the wind created by the explosion.
Mad kids...
The Mizukage's mind trailed off as he had to remove a strand of his hair from his face since the wind messed up his hair-do and his face was full of hair that should be on the OTHER side of his head!
He heaved a sigh of relief when he sensed Maduro still alive.
Maduro barely managed to use Doton: Iron Rock Dome. His strongest omnidirectional defensive Jutsu and used Doton: Iron Rock Body to harden his skin to weather the raging concentrated explosions of over a hundred clones.
As the aftereffects ceased, the Mizukage and the council could only see Maduro flop on his knees and slowly fall down face-first into the ground, unconscious.
The gaping audience was interrupted as a bitter-looking Mizukage who didn' know if he should jump from joy or facepalm at one of his strongest jonin being bested by two genins.
"So... did we pass?" Rei's cheerful voice sounded from behind them.
Do you even need to ask, twerp?... The Mizukage thought, completely fed-up.