I picked at the hems of my formal attire. Apparently I had grown a bit from the last time I wore them because they were a size or two too small now. The joys of being a child again I suppose. Letting out a sigh I dropped the hem and gave it up as a lost cause. I'll just have to get new clothes soon which is annoying. I exited the base and noticing the darkening sky I hurried over to Kushina's house. They weren't home so I assumed that they were still in the ANBU base at the moment or they were already at the sight of the funeral. Going with my gut I assumed the latter and went towards the procession.
It was easy enough to find really. All I had to do was follow the crowds of people moving in one direction towards the Hokage Mountain. Getting the hint of where it was I moved above the crowd and got to the base of it in quick order. It seemed like the entire village was here and I could see a raised platform at the base of the mountain with a casket on it.
There was a line of people moving towards the casket and bowing to it before moving to the side to let the next person forward. With a mental shrug I joined the line waiting for my turn to come. It didn't take as long as I thought it would as the line seemed to move at a steady pace and when it was my turn I bowed deeply to the casket. Although I had barely ever seen him I had heard how he had sacrificed his life to defeat the Kyuubi from the surrounding people and for that he had my sincere gratitude.
While I had been standing in line a light drizzle had started falling and it continue even as I made my way to the side of the crowd for the actual ceremony. The line of people paying their respects trickled down until there were only a few of them left and as the last one bowed Minato appeared on stage in the ceremonial Hokage hat with a white robe that had flames along the bottom. The crowd drew silent as he raised his hand.
"People of Konoha. We are gathered here today to pay our respects to a great man. Hiruzen Sarutobi was more than just our Hokage. He was one of the first generations of ninja after the creation of our great Village. He was present for the First Shinobi War and his contributions in the Second lead him to be appointed as the Sandaime Hokage. Under his leadership Konoha finished the Second Shinobi War victorious and with his steady hand we emerged victorious from the Third. Yet that was not for such a man that was named the God of Shinobi. He retired from the office of Hokage to his well-deserved retirement yet when duty called he once more he donned his gear and stood tall. Where others faltered against the Kyuubi's rage he stood as solid as the mountain behind me. Through his actions we were able to drive the Kyuubi into a corner yet when a beast is trapped it is at its most dangerous. The Sandaime Hokage understood this and when the beast lashed out he sprung his trap to destroy the beast once and for all. He succeeded, yet the foul beast's attack brought him low and with his final breath destroyed it."
I could see the eyes of many people around me were watering even as they cried out in joy for his heroic sacrifice. Minato let the cheers go on a little while longer before he motioned them to be silent.
"During the time that the Sandaime spent tutoring me to assume the position of Hokage I found myself struck by how wise he was. How he seemed to always know the answer to everything and in that time I came to view him as a father. For that was what the Sandaime was in the end, a father to us all. I can only hope that we can begin to emulate the sheer courage he had against seemingly impossible odds. I can only hope that we can be half as wise as he had been. I can only hope to one day live up to the legacy that he left behind him. I can only hope because of his sacrifice and I want you to carry the hope he gave us to build Konoha to be stronger than ever so that this tragedy will never be repeated."
He paused for a moment as though to collect himself. "I would like you all to savor that hope and pay our final respects to a man that has given us so much." He turned around to face the casket and bowed deeply. "Thank you Sandaime Hokage. Your sacrifice will never be forgotten." The entire crowd bowed deeply and repeated Minato's words as they did so. We held our bow until Minato straightened and turned to address us once more.
"The casket will be here until tomorrow for those who wish to pay their additional respects to the Sandaime Hokage. I wish you all my heartfelt thanks for showing up to pay your respects to such a great man. Thank you everyone." He gave us a bow and when he straightened he disappeared to resume his duties. The crowd began to break up after he left and I lingered for a while before I also left for my duties. It didn't take long to get back to base and as soon as I got back to my room I changed out of my formal attire to my regular clothes.
Pulling out the scroll in my inventory I released all of the folders and got back to work creating a team. It took several more hours before I was satisfied with it and shoved everything back into the scroll. Stretching because it felt nice to do so I stood and debated returning to Lord Danzo with the results of my choice or going to see if Itachi and his family survived. Kushina also wanted to talk with me as well I mused. I mentally debated before I decided to visit Itachi. After all I had more than 6 days left to inform him of my choice and I had an inkling that Kushina was still at the ANBU base.
Decision made I left the base and made my way to Itachi's home. The gate guards to the Uchiha gate were more alert than I remembered but they waved me through all the same. From there it was a short walk to Itachi's house and even though I couldn't feel his chakra in the house but I knocked on the door anyways. The door opened to reveal Mikoto holding Sasuke.
"Hello Mikoto. I haven't seen you since the attack and I wanted to stop by to see if everyone is all right?"
"Oh, Shiro how thoughtful of you. Yes everyone is quite alright but Itachi isn't here right now. I think he's out in the village on clean up duty." She looked me up and down. "You seem alright but do you know anything about Kushina at all? I haven't been able to get a hold of her and Minato was too busy to simply ask."
I grimaced slightly. I didn't like being the bearer of bad news at all. "Kushina, Mito and Karin are all fine at this point in time. I'm also pretty sure that Kushina's newborn baby didn't survive the attack." She clutched Sasuke closer to her.
"How are you pretty sure and not positive?"
"I was only able to see them for a moment before duty called me away and Kushina seemed to be grieving when I did see her."
"Oh dear. I'll have to give her my condolences the next time I see her then or would you be able to since you can actually go see her?" I considered it for a moment before I spoke.
"I'll try to do so but I'm not sure when the next time I'll see her again will be." She gave me a small sad smile.
"That's fine but you want to come in at all? I could make you some tea if you like?" A glance up at the sun saw it settling ever closer to the horizon.
"No thank you. I merely came to confirm that you were all fine and I should really return to my duties now."
"Alright then. Have a good rest of the day then."
"You as well." I gave a slight bow and left. Now where to go next I mused. A quick swing by Kushina's house revealed it to be empty so I swung by the missions office at the Hokage's tower. They were more than happy to assign me to clean up duty and I was left moving rubble around with chakra strings until the sun finally set and I went back to base for a night of training.
When morning dawned I performed Angel's Breath on two people and after recovering made my way over to Lord Danzo's office because I literally had nothing else to do. There was still a line outside of it but it was shorter than it was yesterday and I joined it silently. After a long wait I was able to enter his office and knelt before his desk after taking the scroll contain the genin records out of my inventory and setting it before me.
"Lord Danzo, I have finished sorting through the files and have chosen my two teammates for the Chunin Exams." He leaned back in his chair to regard me.
"I see. Explain to me who you chose and why."
I nodded and began to speak. "Hina Hyuga, age 10, expert taijutsu specialist and tracker. She has been a genin for 3 years and she will provide the close ranged options for the team as well as providing a secondary layer of detection along with my Sensor ability." He hummed at that and motioned me to continue.
"Shisui Uchiha, age 9, has evolved his clan's doujutsu to the third level and has shown a remarkable proficiency in the body flicker technique as well as genjutsu. He has only been a genin for two years but I believe his evolved sharingan will make up for that. He will be our genjutsu and ninjutsu component." I paused for a moment and then continued.
"With myself as the ninjutsu specialist and medic I believe we have all the requirements for a Heavy Combat Team that will do well both in the Exams and outside of them as well if necessary. I also believe you wanted to make a statement about the strength of Konoha so I also chose these two based on their young age. It will make our enemies think twice if they believe Konoha has a new sannin forming."
He seemed amused by that. "You think you can compete with the sannin?"
"I don't have to. We merely need to make people see the connection and let them assume." He turned thoughtful at that.
"You mean to have one of them be your sensei for the Exam." It wasn't a question but a statement of fact.
"It would show us as powerful when we first enter the Exams and once we dominate the Exam it will cement it in our enemy's eyes." There was a moment of silence before I spoke again. "If we do have one of the sannin as our sensei I would request that it is not Orochimaru. I did not have a good first impression of him."
"Yes he does give off quite a creepy vibe. I do believe he practiced it extensively." His fingers beat a steady thump on his desk. "You have done well choosing your teammates and I approve along with your idea of one of the sannin as your sensei. Expect the mission to be approved after I consult with the Hokage within the next few days. Until then you are free to train and help reconstruct the village. Dismissed." I gave a bow and left the office.
With nothing else to do I returned to the mission office and was directed to more repair work around the village. That took up most of the day and after I was done I swung by Kushina's house but they were still not there. Feeling a bit irritated by that before calm replaced it I went back to train in my room for the rest of the day and into the night.
By the time it was morning a summons had come for me to go to the Hokage's tower. I went there as quickly as I could and the secretary sitting before the office waved me through. As I entered I could see Minato sitting at a desk while Jiraiya stood next to him. I knelt before his desk.
"Lord Hokage, Lord Jiraiya, you called for me." I heard Minato let out a sigh.
"Shiro, you really don't need to be all formal when it's just us you know."
"I realize that but this is one of the few moments where it is necessary." I saw him rub his forehead.
"Right, putting that to the side for now." He turned serious. "Danzo has informed me of his plan for the Chunin Exams and while I do not like it I do believe it to be necessary for Konoha to put on a show of strength." He paused and a look of concern appeared on his face. "That said if you do not feel comfortable handling this mission just say the word and someone else will handle it."
I know it wasn't a jab at my competence or anything like that but the words both hurt and made me glad that someone cared enough about me to say them. "While I do enjoy the fact that you care for me I am a shinobi of the Leaf and I will do my duty to the village." I looked him in the eye as I said this to make my point as clear as possible. He got it and slumped slightly before straightening again.
"Alright. I do have this for you though." He pulled out a tri pronged kunai. "This will allow me to teleport to your side if you throw the kunai into the ground. I care more about you being safe than the Chunin Exams so if you need me to come I will." He lightly tossed it to me and I caught it then tucked it into one of the seals on the inside of me sleeve.
"Thank you for this." He gave me a nod and then continued.
"Now I have a slight modification to your orders for the Exam. Suna has been our longtime ally and slaughtering their genin during the Exam could be seen as a betrayal so try to avoid killing them if at all possible but know that your life is more important than my order in this regard." I nod and he continues.
"Your idea to use one of the sannin as a sensei has been approved and Ero sensei-"
"Oi." He kept going like nothing happened.
"Has been chosen as your sensei for the duration of the Exams. Unfortunately both of your teammates are not in the village at this time but recall orders have been sent out and they should arrive here within 2 days at the maximum. Until then you said you had a new technique?"
"Yes. It seems like it would take me somewhere but I don't quite know where." Both Jiraiya's and Minato's brow furrowed.
"You mean like it teleports you somewhere?" I made a so-so gesture.
"I don't quite know. I don't think I move from where I'm standing but I'm somewhere else when I arrive yet still standing in the same location." I blinked. Huh, that was a brain teaser. Both of them look equally confused.
Jiraiya spoke up. "That doesn't make any sense at all." I shrug helplessly. "Can you take other people along with you?" I thought about it for a moment.
"I think I could but they would have to be touching me." Jiraiya looked over to Minato who nodded.
"Take two ANBU with you and go test it out. I would go see it but I have work to do right now. Report back when you're done." Two ANBU wearing a Tiger mask and a Mouse mask appeared next to me.
"Right let's go to training ground three then." Jiraiya opened the window and jumped out of it. I, along with the two ANBU, followed after him and I could hear Minato start to mutter as a breeze made his papers fly around. It didn't take long to get to the training ground and when we did Jiraiya turned to me.
"Could you explain what the technique does or what effect it will have when you use it?"
"Not really I just know that there seems to be two variants of it where one is completely safe and the other could be dangerous." His eyes sharpen at that. I could try to explain how ID creates a separate reality that is layered on top of this one but uniquely non interactive with each other but it was a little too complicated to explain.
"Dangerous how?"
"Dangerous in what we could actually find there and not the actual technique."
He hummed at that and then started making hand signs. With a cry of "Summoning Jutsu," and a cloud of smoke two familiar toads appeared. "Oh, what's up this time Jiraiya? Are you in trouble with the ladies again?" Pa's voice came from the smoke.
"Don't be silly Pa can't you feel the boy's chakra."
"You're right Ma. I wonder if he has another technique. Oh, I'm so excited." Ma and Pa jumped up to Jiraiya's shoulders.
"Hey I'm never in trouble with the ladies and yes it is a new technique. Considering his last one I wanted both of you out here to see it." He turned back to me. "Let's go the safe one first." I felt the hands of Tiger and Mouse settle on my shoulders as Jiriaya's hand landed on my head. "Whenever you're ready."
Alright then. I raised my arm to the sky and with a cry of "ID Create: Empty" the world shattered around us. When I say shattered I meant shattered. Cracks formed along the ground, the trees and even the sky before they broke apart in a dazzling display of light creating a kaleidoscope of color. As quickly as it started the pieces of the reality reformed once more to look exactly as it was before I started the technique yet something was different.
I felt one of the hands release my shoulder and the sound of retching came from behind me. Mouse was bent over with a portion of her mask open to allow her to retch into a nearby bush. I looked back over to Jiraiya and he didn't seem to be doing much better either. I couldn't see Ma or Pa anywhere around and a quick glance at Tiger worried me. He wasn't moving or reacting at all and his hand on my shoulder was limp.
"Tiger are you alright?" My voice seemed to startle both of Jiraiya and Mouse into alertness. Slipping out of his grasp I watched his hand fall to his side. Mouse was next to him in an instant hands glowing green. She made a tsking noise and knocked him unconscious before gently laying him down on the ground before focusing on his head.
"What the hell happened to him? I thought you said this technique was safe." Jiraiya's tone was accusatory yet not raised.
Mouse cut him off before he could get more steam going though. "It wasn't his fault. Tiger was selected to record the jutsu with the sharingan and was using it during the transit. He experienced multiple brain aneurysms and I had to knock him out because he was still channeling chakra to his eyes."
"Is he going to be okay?" I timidly asked. I wouldn't have let anyone know about this if it cost somebody their life just to test it. Mouse didn't turn away from Tiger but nodded none the less.
"I've already started to reduce the swelling and once I'm done he should wake up within half an hour or so." My shoulders slumped in relief. That's good then.
There was a grunt from Jiraiya as he looked around. "What did that technique do anyways? We're still in the same spot…" His voice trailed off. "Where are Ma and Pa? Actually better question why is it so quiet?" Now that he mentioned it I noticed it as well. Even Mouse stopped her healing momentarily to look around.
There were no sounds at all. No birds chirping in the trees, no voices in the distance and not even the whisper of the wind as it flowed through the trees. It was almost eerie. I heard Jiraiya perform his summoning jutsu again but there was no smoke. He looked puzzled by the fact before we both noticed a growing tear in reality where he had placed his hands. Giving a warning to Mouse we all jumped away from the tear. It grew to the size of a man and then spat out two familiar toads before quickly sealing itself.
"Argh, what was that? It felt like I went ten rounds with the great Toad Sage." Pa complained as he sat up from where he fell. Jiraiya was immediately next to them checking them over.
"I'm so sorry I had no idea that summoning you would do that." He fused over them but Pa seemed to pay no attention to him at all as he stared at his surroundings.
"Ma, can you sense that?"
"Of course I can. I'm old not senile. How curious though, I can't sense anything beyond 5kms anyway. It's just like everything ceases to exist beyond that point." Interested in hearing more I moved closer and Ma sucked in a breath. "The edges just moved and things were just created out of nothing." Her eyes darted over to me. Pa looked over as well.
"I see he's the focal point and as he moves things are created or destroyed if they are a certain distance away." Jiraiya glanced over at me then back at Ma and Pa.
"What do you think happens if we were to move to the edge and Shiro moved away from us?"
"I wouldn't know but I don't recommend it." Pa gave a grunt of pain. "Wherever you are I would recommend that you don't stay long. I can feel it actively rejecting us. I would say that you shouldn't stay here for more than an hour at most. Ma and I will take our leave." Once more there was a tear in reality instead of a puff of smoke but they seemed confident in their decision and jumped right through.
As they left Jiraiya turned to me and Mouse. "Alright, we'll leave in 45 minutes regardless of whether or not Tiger has woken up by then." After saying that he created several shadow clones which raced of in different directions. With nothing else to do I sat down and began to meditate to recover my chakra. That didn't take very long to do but with nothing else to do at the moment I just continued meditating.
I was broken from my state when I heard a soft groan of pain from the prone Tiger. The groan became movement as his arms slowly lifted and clutched at his head. "What happened? Did I go out drinking with you again Mouse?"
She let out a snort at that. "No, you had multiple brain aneurysms trying to record Shiro's jutsu with your sharingan. What's the last thing you remember?"
"I remember putting my hand on his shoulder and then nothing. Which is impossible as the sharingan gives me perfect memory recall when I use it."
"Multiple brain aneurysms." Mouse deadpanned as Tiger struggled into an upright position.
"Right. Where are we?"
"Apparently we're in a bubble of reality that leads to an edge of nothing. I looked over the edge with a shadow clone and it's just a void of darkness beyond it. I jumped off the edge next and got 10 minutes of falling farther away from the sphere into nothing." Jiraiya spoke up next to them. "Could have done without those memories to be honest." The last part was muttered but I could still hear him with the absolute silence surrounding us.
"Ma and Pa were right about this place rejecting us though. I can feel a constant pull at the back of my mind and its getting distracting." Really? I don't feel any different than normal.
"I don't have that feeling at all." I spoke up.
He glanced at me. "Probably because you're the one who's using it. I also went through the village and it was like people just up and left right during a meal. Some of the food was still warm but all of the scroll I checked were empty unless they were open before I got there." He turned to Tiger. "Can you move right now?"
"Yes." He gamely got to his feet with only a slight sway. Jiraiya eyed him critically and then nodded.
"Good, I want to test one more thing before we leave this place. Follow me to the Hokage Mountain." We left the clearing slower than usual for Tiger but we still got to the top of the Mountain quickly. Once we got to the top Jiraiya spoke again.
"Alright take us out of here Shiro."
"Everyone grab hold then." They did and I raised my hand as the world once more shattered around us then reformed once more. The sound of gagging came from behind me as Tiger dropped to the ground holding his stomach.
"Oh you big baby it wasn't that bad." Mouse stood over him her hands once more glowing green. 'Wow what a hypocrite' I thought as I could feel Tiger's glare through his mask. Jiraiya starting to talk brought my attention back to him.
"I see what you mean when you said you moved yet didn't move when you performed your technique now." A casual glance to the left and I could see the entire village laid out before me. There were still scars from the Kyuubi attack but they seemed to be growing smaller daily. "You have another version where you think it's more dangerous right?"
"I do." He hummed and glanced at Tiger and Mouse.
"If we let you do the other one I want at least a full squad of ANBU to go with us. The one you deemed 'safe' wasn't all that safe for anyone but you. Wait here and recover your chakra while I go get a squad from Minato." Shit, I don't want to enter a zombie dungeon at the top of the Hokage Mountain that just screams boss battle to me.
"Ah, is it okay if we enter somewhere else?" His head whipped around to stare at me eyes narrowed.
"Why?" I shuffle at little under his gaze.
"It just feels like a bad idea for me to do it here." He scrutinized me for a while before slowly nodding.
"Alright, it's your jutsu." I nodded thankfully and sat down to meditate. When I was done meditating I was greeted with the sight of four ANBU wearing a Hound, Frog, Raven and Rabbit mask respectively. Jiraiya spoke up from behind me.
"Okay let's get going to training ground three then." I stood up and we all flickered over to the training ground. "Now if any of you have the sharingan I advise you to not use it during transit because the last one that did so suffered multiple brain aneurysms doing so. The transit is also very jarring and you will probably feel the need to vomit afterwards but try to resist. We don't know what's on the other side right now. Any questions?" There were none and he pulled out a large piece of rope.
"Everyone grab hold of this and don't let go." They all did so and then he handed it to me. "Take us away." My hand was raised and once more the world shattered yet instead of reforming normally it twisted into a mockery of reality. The sky turned blood red and a full moon hung impossibly large overhead. My highly sensitive senses could pick up the smell of rot and the sounds of moans in the distance as well as one ANBU who couldn't hang onto their meal.
I heard a few mutters of 'Kai' behind me as they took in our new surroundings. Ignoring them for now I activated my chakra sense to get a better feel for my surroundings and couldn't help but frown at what I felt. I could feel the zombies and they just felt wrong to my senses like they didn't belong. The voice of one of the ANBU brought me out of my trance.
"Contact right." A shambling corpse walked out from behind a tree and as soon as it saw us let out the most awful wail I have ever heard. More than one person clapped their hands over their ears until a thrown kunai lodged into its chest. It rocked backwards and seemed to stare dumbly at the kunai impaling where its heart would be before it resumed its wail.
My thrown kunai hit its head and it collapsed dead once more before its body began to dissolve into motes of light. I ignored it as I could feel more coming closer. "Lord Jiraiya I can sense 10 contacts closing in at genin speed with more behind them. What are your orders?" I ignored the ding as the zombie fully disappeared and focused on Jiraiya. He looked between me and where the body once was several times before making a decision.
"We can only leave if we're touching you or the rope, correct?" I nodded in confirmation. "Then we're leaving. We have no information on the contacts and no reason to fight. We can come back at a later point but for now take us out of here." I was quietly disappointed in his decision but knew it was the correct one as I felt more and more contacts speeding towards up. The last thing I saw before we left were several large fireballs heading towards us as the world shattered.
Quickly looking behind me I saw that everyone was with me and no one was left behind. Jiraiya turned to the ANBU and dismissed them then turned to me. "I can't even begin to make sense of what just happened. That thing was obviously dead before you killed it again and then it just broke into pieces of light after it died. I just… just leave. I'll go talk to Minato about what just happened and maybe we will mount an expedition later but for now don't go back there. The entire place felt wrong to me and that's not mentioning the dead people shooting fireballs at you." He flickered out of the clearing leaving me alone.
Silently I looked at the notification that had popped up that I had ignored.
Ding! Gained 2xp, 5ryo
Humming in thought I made my way back to base. We could have fought and probably won in the end. Of course if I was alone I would have done hit and run tactics to keep the swarm that was running at us from forming. I frowned momentarily at the memory of the fireball and the zombie that it had come from. I could clearly see it forming hand signs for the fireball technique and it was moving at a genin's speed so the zombie ID had ninja zombies. Which was good and bad I suppose. It would be good experience to fight against other ninja, whatever their state, and bad because there might be a Hokage level ninja lurking around somewhere. My feet led me back to my room even as my thoughts ran wild and I retired for the day to continue training.
Age: 5 year - 11 months
Title: Rookie Root Shinobi
LVL: 19 - 12% to next LVL
HP: 1,230/1,230
Chakra: 34,648/34,648
Elemental Affinity: Water
STR: 130(156)
VIT: 123
END: 110
DEX: 140(154)
INT: 115(121.9)
WIS: 96(101.76)
LCK: 18
Points: 33
Money: 264,244