Chapter 21

Prying Eyes

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Kushina leant back in her chair and let out a sigh of frustration. Spread out across the dining table was the paper documentation of what would become her latest attempt to get the Uzumaki clan officially established in Konoha. But no matter how she worded it, it was just a rehash of her previous attempts. In just over a month's time she'd be back in front of the entire council with Minato silently wished her well from his council seat.

Of those who had seats on the council she had the support of Minato, Hiruzen, Inuzuka Tsume, Yamanaka Inochi, Akimichi Chōza and one or two of the civilian council members. Arrayed against her were the three elders Shimura Danzo, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu, clan heads Uchiha Fugaku, Hyūga Hiashi and the remaining civilian council members.

She knew she'd get the support of the Nara clan if she just had one of the clan icons, objects that declared their wielder as the undisputed leader of the clan. If she had one of them, then the elders would have little choice but to support her, Hiashi would change as well and would likely bring some of the civilian members with him. That would be enough.

She felt a hand gently placed on her shoulder, "Hey Kaa-chan." Raising an arm she placed a hand of her own on top of his. "Hi Tri-kun," she replied. "What you up to, Kaa-chan?" he inquired, taking note of the multitude of paper sheets on the table and just as many scrunched up pieces of paper that had formed a small mound around her chair.

"My next attempt to turn our family name into a true clan is coming up soon." Tri's hand on her shoulder squeezed slightly, "When is it?"
"About five weeks or so."
"What, around your birthday?"
"The day before it actually," she said in surprise, only realising herself after he'd asked.

She couldn't see his face but Tri wore a wide smile, "Remind me the day before, I'll go with you."
"Are you sure?" she asked, "You've never shown interest in politics before."
"True Kaa-chan. But as your named heir I'm going to need to learn Konoha politics eventually."
"Alright then if you think you can show enough patient in the presence of some of Konoha's most anachronistic members, both civilian and Shinobi."
"That bad?" Tri asked with a wince. "You have no idea," she replied with a sigh.

"It'll mean you'll be in the same room as Danzo too," she added. She felt the hand on her shoulder tighten and tense up at hearing Danzo's name. She turned her head in time to see the flash of anger on his face, the flicker of hatred in his sole open eye. But as quick as it appeared it was gone again. "Don't worry Kaa-chan, this is too important for you, I'll behave," he said with a small wry smile.

"I see Tsunade fixed you scar up nicely," Kushina noted even though Tri still held his left eye closed. "Yeah she did fantastically, not that that's much of a surprise, she is Senju Tsunade after all," Tri laughed. "Oh and before I forget, what are you doing tomorrow?" he asked her. "Err, nothing much why?"
"It's just, I was wondering whether you could show me exactly where I was found that night. There's something I want to put to the test." He saw the intrigued look on her face, "I'll explain tomorrow Kaa-chan, it might well lead nowhere."
"Ok," she replied with a few short nods.

*Thud Thud Thud*

Rezano groaned and rolled over in his bed as his Kaa-chan banged on his door. "Come on Rezano-kun, time to get up."

"Five more minutes he grumbled. "No, not five more minutes. If you aren't out of bed in the next five seconds I'm going to break the Jutsu out," Kushina warned. Again Rezano groaned but he was out of bed within the five seconds time limit. Kaa-chan was very good with Suiton Ninjutsu, the last time he'd not listened she'd dumped water all over him.

Dressing was followed by a quick stop to the bathroom after which he headed downstairs. Walking into the family dining room he noticed the small mountain of paper Kaa-chan had spread across the table the previous night were now gone. He had barely sat in his seat when breakfast was placed in front of him. "Thanks Kaa-chan," he said before diving in.

Kushina had gone back into the kitchen but turned to look back at the dining table. It was the first time all four of her children had eaten together in years. She leaned against the door frame and just watched. Watched as Tri poked fun at Naruto by reminding him that he used to eat in the manner Rezano currently was. I.e. Shovelling as much of his food into his mouth in one go.

There wasn't much time for her to enjoy the scene however. Naruto had a mission, Minusha had her lessons with Shizune and Rezano had the Academy. In a matter of minutes it was over.

Rezano shut the door behind him, Naruto had left with him and bid farewell before vanishing in a Shunshin. 'Gah, I really need to learn that' he thought to himself as he set off at a run for the Academy.

Quickly leaping up a few smaller structures he was quickly on the rooftops, leaping from one to the next. The way Rezano travelled had changed the day Naruto had shown him the 'Shinobi Highways' across the tops of buildings. It was quicker than walking the streets and served as a good warm up too.

It was only a few minutes before he touched down in front of the Academy. Students milled around outside, delaying their arrival in class until the last few moments. Rezano had to admit, he used to do the same but that was in the past. The Rezano of the present walked straight to his class and quickly took his seat.

Leaning back on the rail seats the class had he closed his eyes. He fidgeted slightly to get comfortable as the hilt of one of the two kunai on his waist dug into his hip. The two unique kunai were a gift from his parents at his last birthday. They were shaped similarly to Tou-san's Hiraishin kunai but were elongated, each had a latch on the end that when in use were attached to one end of narrow metal chains, the other end attached to straps around his wrists.

They were an ingenious piece of design. The straps around his wrists had a storage seal woven into them, the chains were stored within the seal. The chain would extend as Rezano needed it and had a maximum length of 10ft. It meant he could switch between close quarters and distance combat without having to worry about getting tangled up in the chain as the seal also pulled the chain back in when unneeded.

He brought out of his light doze by the voice of someone sitting down next to him. "Good morning, Rezano-kun." He opened a single eye to see Hinata sat next to him. "Good morning, Hinata-chan," he smiled.

Their sensei Iruka had put a seating plan in place after the first two weeks, those who were loud and disruptive were moved away from one another, the same happened for the quieter. And Rezano had to admit it had been a success, the class's work rate had improved since. Rezano who had originally shared a table with Kiba and Sasuke now instead shared with Kiba and Hinata.

And simply put he much preferred the company of the shy Hyūga over the arrogant Uchiha, especially since she didn't stutter or go bright red in his presence anymore. Now she was one of his closest friends along with Kiba.

Speaking of Kiba, they both heard the high pitched yaps that signalled the imminent arrival of Akamaru, Kiba's canine companion and where one was the other would be too. The two were inseparable as was the case for all Inuzuka and their canine counterparts. Kiba was a brash and impulsive boy who tended to act first and think second.

But conversely it meant it was he was never boring to be around as the young Inuzuka bid them both good morning.

Looking at the other desks starting at the back, one would find Aburame Shino, perhaps the only person in the class who could challenge Hinata for the title of the quietest person, that was if you discount brooding Uchiha who disliked talking to anyone. Not that Shino was unpleasant to be around, he just seemed to speak only when necessary and was very much a follower of 'If you've got nothing to say then say nothing'.

The third member of that desk balanced them out since Yamanaka Ino was one of the louder class members. Rezano rarely interacted with the platinum blonde haired girl so he didn't know much about her but she was a Sasuke fangirl, something that amused Rezano greatly.

The final three students had known each other since they were very young. That was pretty obvious for two-thirds of them since they were siblings. The Nara twins were alike in so many little ways but yet completely different. Shikamaru was lazy and utterly devoid of personal motivation whereas his sister Meshikamaru was incredibly hard-working and very driven, she was by far the best Kunoichi in the class and one of the best outright alongside himself and Sasuke.

The final member of the nine was Akimichi Choji, a lifelong friend of the Nara twins. He was a polite boy never far away from some sort of foodstuff.

A few minutes went by and more of Rezano's fellow students filtered in before their sensei Iruka appeared through the door. "Morning class," he called out, bringing their conversations to an end, "Since it's a nice morning I've decided to mix things up today, we're going to leave the lecture till later and do the sparring and training now. So all of you outside sharpish."

"Kaa-chan, I'm stepping out for a bit. We'll do what I mentioned last night when I get back, ok?" Tri called out across the dining room into the kitchen. Kushina poked her head around the door frame, "Ok," she said with a smile before vanishing again.

Tri lightly chuckled before heading out. He quickly began jumping from rooftop to rooftop. His destination was the market quarter. He hummed to himself, the market quarter was nearly on the other side of the village, or at least the place he wished to visit was. He relaxed and opened up his senses to his surroundings, while he certainly wasn't a sensor he could detect chakra signatures and right now there were two behind him.

He turned his head slightly but couldn't see much, he could make out two figures jumping across the rooftops but stuck to the shadows as much as possible. 'And who might you two be' Tri wondered. As the minutes went by it became clearer that they were tailing him, despite that Tri was unconcerned. If he wanted to lose them he could, right now he was more interested in their identities.

Dropping down into the street he entered the store. He only came here for one thing but he took his time and browsed and ended up getting several more things. A new set of kunai for training and a kunai sharpening stone. The kunai normally would normally serve as combat kunai to most Shinobi but his time in the Jūnishi meant he was paid fairly substantially which was beneficial since he'd developed a preference for chakra metal implements which were expensive. With his two unexpected purchases in hand he made for the front desk.

"Greetings Shinobi-san," the young cashier said to him. "Hi," Tri replied. "Just these?" she asked him. "Do you have any sword restoration kits?" he inquired. "How damaged is the blade?" she asked in return. "The blade itself is ok, just some minor oxidisation on the surface, it needs to be re-sharpened and the wooden scabbard needed a new layer of lacquer as well as some repainting."

"Is the hilt ok? And do you have a budget you want to stick to?"
"Yes, the hilt is undamaged thankfully and I'm not fussed over price." The cashier thought a moment before lifting a single finger, "One moment," she said before vanishing into the storeroom.

She wasn't gone long before reappearing, a small box in hand. Placing it on the desk, "From what you've said, it sounds like the blade is intricate and detailed. This has everything you've asked for and more.

She tallied the cost and Tri paid before they bid each other farewell. He sealed his purchases away as he stepped back out into the street. Feeling the two chakra signatures atop the nearby buildings he rolled his neck, getting two quiet but satisfying clicks. 'Let's see if you can track me through training ground 44,' he thought with a grin.

With that he proceeded to run them around the village for another half hour before entering the forest of death from the west, the furthest point from the village. He tore through the forest at speeds barely perceivable by most only to be halted by a dramatic change in scenery. "What in the world happened here?" he said aloud. What looked like a clearing had undergone a dramatic change, the grass had been churned and thrown around in huge chunks and the forest's trees were joined by trees that didn't belong in a forest.

Shrugging his shoulders he continued towards the eastern entrances to the forest.

The spars continued. As Rezano had expected Meshikamaru had quickly dominated the other girls in the class although he could see signs of improvement in Hinata. He could see the lavender-eyed girl had talent but she was so lacking self-belief, there had been some improvement in her mentality but there still much to be done.

"Hinata-chan, do you have to exclusively use your family's Taijutsu style?" he asked her as she sat on a bench next to him, a hand either side of her while Meshikamaru began sparring against Kiba and Akamaru. "Erm, not technically, but no one in the Hyūga clan uses anything other than Jūken (Gentle Fist) Taijutsu."
"Really? No Ninjutsu or Genjutsu?" he asked staring at her, his look changed to disbelief when she shook her head.

"So what happens when you come up against someone who can counter or avoid your Taijutsu? You have nothing else to fall back on," he noted. Hinata's head dropped slightly, she knew he was right, "It's only made worse by my not being very good at Jūken," she sighed.

She was startled when she felt a hand on top of hers, she looked to her side to see it was Rezano's, he was giving her a warm smile. "Don't worry Hinata-chan," he reassured her as she started to blush. "Both my brothers are back now, I'm sure one of them would be able to figure out what would suit you."

She returned his smile, she'd met Naruto briefly a few times but had never met Tri, she knew next to nothing about both of them but had heard they were both among the strongest of their generation.

"Ready to go, Kaa-chan?"
"Yep," she cheerily replied. Unbeknownst to her Tri created a shadow clone and had it go train far away from where the original would be going. 'See how long it takes them to notice it's a Kage Bunshin' Tri chuckled to himself. "Well come on then! You're the one that wanted to go," Kushina shouted up the stairs to him.

He couldn't help but laugh as he shunshined downstairs. His punishment for laughing was a playful kick out the door. After Kushina had shut and locked the door she directed them both, "Come on then, we're going to the plateau beyond the Hokage monument.

The two of them moved quickly and in silence. Kushina was pushing them both pretty quickly but her adopted son looked utter unfazed at the pace she was setting. 'I dread to think how fast he might be now.' She decided to take the shortest route and run straight up the cliff-face. Before long they'd quickly scaled the vertical rock face and were gone into the trees beyond.

Kushina slowed up to a walk, "Now we pretty much just left the final battle-site alone after the Kyūbi was resealed. So we're looking for an open space with deep gouge marks in the ground."

"Would Nature have not just reclaimed the space by now? It's been ten years," he asked her. She blew out a breath, "I suppose a great deal of it would have by now but we should still be able to spot the area, especially where the Kyūbi tried digging its way under my adamantine chains."

With that, the silence returned. It took nearly twenty minutes but eventually they found a sudden elevation change in what might pass for a clearing. The dip in the terrain now had a layer of grass smoothing it out and there was a circle of young trees around the perimeter.

"This looks it Tri-kun, now what are we looking for?" Tri's answer came in the form of a large scroll appearing in his hands. He lay the scroll on the ground and began unrolling it. "As you already know Kaa-chan, I have no clue as to my past before appearing in this clearing. But since we know I'm of Uzumaki descent it gave me an idea. The historical ties between the Uzumaki bloodline and Fūinjutsu go back to before records began. And we know Space-time techniques are possible because the Hiraishin exists."

"You think a space-time seal brought you here?" She queried. "That is my theory yes, and now that I have these I can put it to the test. Kaa-chan, meet the 27 masks of the Uzumaki clan." Kushina couldn't help the wide smile that spread on her face. These masks represented one of the clans greatest achievements. "Do you know what they all do?" she asked as she noticed the text written on the scroll.

"I don't, I only know the purpose of around half of them. And experimenting is.. unwise."
"Why unwise?"
"Because one of them will kill the wearer instantly but I don't know which one it is," he explained, ending with a laugh. Kushina shook her head in amusement, "That's a pretty good reason. So which mask are you looking for?" As she finished speaking Tri stopping unrolling the giant scroll. "This one," he answered as he placed a thumb on a small circular seal. A puff of smoke and a mask appeared in his hands.

"This, Kaa-chan, is the Mask of Designs, when worn it allows you to see every Fūinjutsu seal ever placed regardless of the time that has elapsed, so long as the surface it was written on remains intact." Kushina was taken aback by how powerful the mask relatively speaking was.

"So it's similar to wearing a pair of glasses? It allows you to see things you otherwise couldn't without." she wondered aloud. "Yeah, that's a good way of summarizing it. Now let's see if we find anything," he quietly declared as he placed the mask on his face.

"Alright class, before we move on to today's lecture I was wondering whether you'd like me to try and get my hands on one of the villages Shinobi every now and then to help make these lectures more interesting." The murmurs Iruka got from the class seemed positive. "You all seem to like that idea so I'll see if I can grab an active serving Chūnin or Jōnin every few weeks."

"Ok then. Today we're going to start on applying chakra control theories to actual exercises." And Rezano couldn't help but zone out within moments, he had solid control of his chakra, something that had taken a good while to learn since he had so much chakra to work with.

He had more than his parents, in particular his mother. He had more than Naruto, he even had more than Tri and he was well known for having very large chakra reserves. It meant his chakra control was horrendous for longer than Rezano cared to remember. He'd struggled to create a bog-standard Bunshin, despite calling on the smallest amount of chakra he possibly could he still overcharged it, resulting in a frail sickly looking thing.

To get around it, he had to split the chakra being used up, so he actually ended up summoning several Bunshin at once. It was a strange 'reverse' from the norm. Most students would use how many Bunshin they can summon at once as a measure of progress. But for Rezano it was how few he could summon, the lowest he currently could go was three.

So as Iruka-sensei finished his explanation and the class began trying the exercise out, Rezano went through the motions since it was one he was already familiar with. Looking up at the clock, there was a bit under two hours of the day left. He ended up spending it helping Hinata and Kiba.

"Think I've found something," Tri called out to a thoroughly bored Kushina. "Thank Kami," she groaned as she pulled herself to her feet. They'd been here for nearly an hour. Kushina hurried over to where Tri's voice had originated from. He was some 10-15ft into the treeline. She found him looking at the ground next to a few of the many young trees.

"What can you see?" she asked as she knelt down next to him. "Look for yourself," he replied, handing her the mask. She carefully placed it over her face and the ground in front of her lit up in a multitude of light blue lines. She couldn't hold back a gasp. She looked over the array designs that were so intricately designed, the interlocking patterns and immense complexity.

"Tri-kun, I-I."

"I know, this seal design is unlike anything I've ever seen. At a guess I've never seen 90% of these array designs before. This is beyond me," he admitted. "I've never seen most of these either but our problems are compounded by these damn trees. The growth of these trees from seedling to sapling to tree had disturbed the ground and destroyed a great deal of the seal. Judging from the curvature of what remains, I'd estimate we're looking at perhaps a quarter of the full seal."

Tri couldn't help the quiet growl of frustration, he was staring the potential answer to many questions. Answers he may be denied by a tree of all things. He felt a supportive hand on his right shoulder, "Do you want to copy what remains?" Tri could only silently nod.

"Another day at the Academy done," Rezano managed to say through a yawn. His comment got a giggle out of Hinata and a shake of the head from Kiba. "You seem to be spending more and more time helping us than doing the exercises yourself," Kiba pointed out as they walked across the Academy grounds towards the gate. "Yeah, I know but I've either already learnt it or I know something better."

"Naruto nii-san was telling me about his Academy days not long ago and it was the same for him. But instead of sleeping through everything like Shikamaru-san does he suggested I help you guys. That way I'm still using my time effectively," he explained. "Well, I-I appreciate the help you give me Rezano-kun," Hinata thanked him. He gave her a smile in return.

"Hey Rezano-kun, isn't that your brother," Kiba asked, his arm pointing at a black and red-haired teenager leaned against a wall. "Yeah, it is," Rezano replied, surprised to find him here. The three Academy students walked up to the fifteen-year-old. "Tri nii-san, what's up?" Rezano asked, noticed the slight look of frustration on his face. That look disappeared almost immediately upon hearing Rezano's voice.

Opening his right eye he looked down at the three of them. "Hey Imouto, Kiba-kun," he looked at the female member of their trio. "And you would be Hyūga Hinata," he finished. "How do you know us?" Kiba asked him. "Well apart from the cheek markings and your canine companion your sister Hana is one of my oldest friends. And I know of Hinata-san because Rezano speaks very highly of both of you."

He chuckled at the bashful look on Rezano's face while the tint of Hinata's cheeks took on a reddish hue. Rezano recovered quickly, "Fair enough, it's good timing anyway. Tri nii-san, do you think you could help Hinata-chan?" Tri raised an eyebrow, "Care to elaborate Rezano-kun."
"It's her family's Taijutsu style, I don't think it suits her."
"What makes you think it doesn't suit her?"

His younger brothers request had gotten his interest. "From what I've seen of Jūken it is both rigid in style but flows well. It's the rigid aspect I don't think suits her, I think she'd be much better off with a more fluid style that allowed her better use of her natural flexibility. I know that probably doesn't make much sense but I don't know how to explain it."

"It is kind of, but don't worry I understand what you're trying to say. Regardless that's a rather detailed analysis Imouto. Do either of you have anywhere else to be for the next few hours?" he asked them both. Both shook their heads, "Kiba-san, your free to come along too if you wish." The Inuzuka nodded.

As Tri led them towards one of the training grounds Rezano looked around the street and noticed two figures lurking on the rooftops. Shrugging his shoulders he disregarded it.

-Training Ground 17-

"Alrighty then, Hinata-san, I want you to spar with Rezano-kun. You do all the attacking and Rezano will only block. I need to see your Taijutsu form." Both slid into their stances and the spar began.

It was nearly twenty minutes before Tri called them to a halt and had them sit down on the grass. "Right then, I think you're right Imouto. Jūken doesn't seem to suit her, the patterns of movement instead of allowing her body to flow seem to inhibit her. But to not use Jūken would be wasting her Byakugan."

"What would you r-recommend Tri-san?" Hinata timidly asked him. Tri silently stood and walked towards Hinata, kneeling down in front of her. "No need to feel down about it Hinata-san, everyone's different, just because something works for one person doesn't mean it'll work for another. As for what I think you should do. I think that instead of making yourself adapt to suit Jūken, you should make Jūken adapt to suit you. I can help you get started but I'd suggest Rezano-kun bring Naruto-kun in to help."

"Why get Naruto-kun's help when you're already here?" Rezano queried. "Because Naruto has experience in making a hybrid Taijutsu style but mainly because my Taijutsu is rubbish," he admitted with a laugh. "Really?" asked a baffled Kiba. "Uh huh," said Tri with a nod. "My Ninjutsu and Fūinjutsu are my best fields and I'm good with Genjutsu but I've always been rubbish at Taijutsu."

Tri turned his gaze back to Hinata who looked as if she couldn't quite believe his admission, "So don't worry Hinata-san, there are fields that even those of us given the title of prodigy struggle in. There are plenty of people who can help you, don't feel like you're on your own, because in Konoha, you never are."

"So if you're bad at T-taijutsu, how do you combat it?" Hinata asked. "You can be the greatest Taijutsu master in the world, but if you can't catch me you can't hit me. I worked on my speed to such a degree that it's near impossible for most to keep up with me. If they're busy trying to simply keep up then it allows me to dictate the battle."

"Rezano-kun, has Naruto-kun reorganised his room since he came back, specifically his bookcases?"
"Err, I don't think so," Rezano's voice was laced with confusion. An exact copy of Tri appeared next to him, "Could you see if you can find Naruto's book on the Water Taijutsu style." With a nod the clone was gone.

"Wait, since when can a Bunshin do.. well anything?" Kiba said aloud. "It's a K-kage Bunshin," Hinata answered. "Spot on, Hinata-san, Kage Bunshin are a far more advanced version of clone, brilliant for scouting and training."
"Training?" Rezano asked. "Yep, everything your clone experienced, everything they learn is transferred back to you when they dispel. Let's say you train Genjutsu, Ninjutsu or Fūinjutsu for an hour but had four clones do the same then when you dispel them you've accumulated five hours of training in one hour. You can't really use it to train Taijutsu though unfortunately."

"So why isn't everyone taught this if it's so good for training?"
"Because it's listed as an A-Rank Kinjutsu Otouto. It takes a large amount of chakra to create even a single clone. Most Shinobi would put themselves in the hospital with chakra exhaustion if they tried."

Their conversation was interrupted by the return of Tri's clone. It's sudden reappearance startled the three students with Hinata nearly jumping several feet into the air despite being sat down. The two Tri's nodded to one another as the clone handed the original a small book before dispelling.

"Give me a minute," Tri said as he began reading, quickly. It took less than five minutes before he'd finished reading the book. "Here you go Hinata-san," he said handing the book to her.

"W-won't you need it as well?" he shook his head, "No, photographic memory means I know the entire book already. Water Style is what's known as a Foundation style, it provides a base for you to build on. The stances and movements are fluidic in style and rely on having a high level of flexibility, you can transpose the techniques of Jūken on top of it. Shall we begin?"

-Several Hours Later-

"Thank you for helping Hinata-chan today Tri nii-san," Rezano suddenly said. The two of them had been walking in silence since leaving the training ground.

"Your welcome Otouto but remember I can't help her much more with Taijutsu, you'll need to ask Naruto-kun. Also why is she so.."
"Timid?" Rezano asked, beating Tri to the punch. "Yes, she so lacking in self-confidence." Rezano sighed, "I don't know Nii-san but I think it may have something to do with her family."
"Hmm, that's plausible. The Hyūga clan are a rather cold bunch. Either way keep chipping away, you seem to bring out the best in her."

Rezano nodded his understanding while looking at his older brother. Then out of the corner of his eye he saw movement on a rooftop behind them. "Nii-san, I think we're being followed," Rezano whispered putting his hand in front of his mouth.

"Don't worry I know."
"Who are they?"
"I don't know but they've been tailing me all day."
"Are you not going to do anything about it?"
"Nah, I already know I can lose them. Besides a clone of mine is already tailing them," he replied with a smirk, Rezano snorting with laughter.

They continued walking home talking of various things when Tri put a hand on Rezano's shoulder bringing them both to a halt. "Nii-san why have we…" Tri's facial expression stopped his words. Tri's serious expression was slowly morphing into a grin.

"Hello again old friend," he seemingly said to nobody. Rezano was about to ask who he was talking to but a figure dropped down into the street in front of them, clad in the outfit and mask of an ANBU.

"Rezano-kun, are you ok to walk the rest of the way of your own? I need to have a conversation with the ANBU here." Rezano looked confused but didn't say anything as he walked away without complaint. Tri walked up to the ANBU, "Our former training ground," was all he said before vanishing in a Shunshin. The ANBU following only moments later leaving two rather frustrated spies.

-Training Ground 3-

The ANBU arrived at the training ground to find Tri already present. "Hello, Itachi, good to see you again," Tri said to the masked man who removed his mask before speaking, "Good to see again too, Tri."
"I was beginning to wonder whether you were avoiding me," Tri joked as Itachi leant against a nearby tree, the Uchiha heir rolled his eyes.

"How's the eye?" Itachi asked after a few moments of silence. Tri sighed, "The second use had severely limited my long distance vision. Anything beyond a hundred feet is a blur." Itachi was alarmed, "You've only used it twice and the visual damage is already manifesting?"

"Yes, I estimate six, maybe seven more uses will extinguish the eye's light entirely."
"This is of concern, Tri. That eye will be needed in the near-future. What about the recharge time?"
"The first time it was 329 days, the second time was 354 days. Did you ever inform Hokage-sama of the idea we've been concocting?"
"No, I decided to wait until you returned."
"Then let us begin the gears turning, there is much that needs to be done."

End Chapter

Next chapter will see a return to the violence as the test matches take place. Welcome to all the new follows and favourites. We're quickly approaching 20,000 views in this fic which is simply awesome! Thank you!