"Sensory jutsu is some bullshit." Retsu muttered to himself.
"Says the guy who can endlessly grow bones from his body." Mangetsu happily plopped himself down next to Retsu, and threw a few coins toward the ramen chef.
"Coming from a guy made out of water? Only way I can think about beating you is by placing you in a jar, or catching you by surprise!" Retsu scoffed.
After a moment of shared stupidity, both Retsu and Mangetsu clasped their hands together in greeting.
Mangetsu's face was stuck in an ever present grin, like a fox that had found a hen all alone.
Meanwhile, Retsu's face was stoic as he searched his rival's face. Ever since they had graduated from the Academy last year, they didn't have much time to see one another.
Their time was predominantly spent training in their respective clans jutsu, and only sparred occasionally. Just what did Mangetsu want from him?
"So, this must be the stupid little brother you've been talking about. My mom gave birth to a little brother of my own this month. You'll have to give me tips sometime, Retsu." Mangetsu's coy, smile didn't budge for an instant.
"Hey! I'm not stupid! Big brother says I'm smart! I can walk on water! That makes me the smartest in the clan!" Michi huffed, and looked at Retsu, seeking his praise.
"Well, he's the second smartest in the clan." Retsu thumbed his nose from the side, and scratched his head in embarrassment.
The Kaguya were so ignorant on the inner workings of chakra, all they knew how to do was punch, kick, and make bone weapons. Few if any could read, and math was something that eluded them entirely. It was a sad fact of life that Michi was the second book smart Kaguya in the entire clan.
"Still, teaching him one of the basic academy three, not bad Retsu!" Mangetsu praised.
"Enough with the mockery, why are you here, Mangetsu." Retsu's voice dropped all formality, and took on a serious edge.
"Feisty today, huh? I've learned some new moves, and need someone to spar with. My cousins back home are all too lazy, now that the civil war is over, they hardly train at all!" Mangetsu shook his head left in right and said in a chiding tone of voice.
"You should cherish such peace. My clansmen are restless without another war to wage." Retsu looked off to the side with a faraway look in his eye.
When the Kaguya were at war, they were happily beating other people up. When they were at home with peace, they were unhappy. Which often led to beating each other up, and sometimes murder.
"So, now's the perfect time for you to improve your strength then!" Mangetsu slapped his fist into his open palm as if he had solved all of Retsu's problems.
"Whatever. We can train after we…eat." Retsu slowly replied as he realized that his bowl had been completely emptied.
"Pwah~ Ramen is the best!" Michi happily rubbed his belly.
"I see you weren't lying, Michi is pretty smart!" Mangetsu replied cheekily.
Retsu's right eyelid twitched in anger. His stomach growled in protest as he eyed the empty bowls.
Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Retsu straightened his posture, and stood tall.
"Let's go to the coast, Mangetsu. I suddenly have a hankering for shark fin soup, and I have the perfect bait right here." At the end of his statement, Retsu clamped his hand down around Michi's shoulder.
"Heh, heh. I'm sure it will be a good place to spar." Mangetsu made sure to remind Retsu of his purpose.
"Mnm mmm!" Bound and gagged, Michi was tied up to a plank, and held over a section of the ocean.
"You sure it's okay to leave your brother like that?" Mangetsu questioned the turn of events, but made no move to help Michi.
"Enough chit chat, let's battle, so you can tell me what's on your mind." Retsu unwrapped his blade, and gripped the hilt with two hands.
"You're scarily smart for a Kaguya." Mangetsu praised. At the end of his sentence, he already had two swords drawn, and held them at Retsu's neck.
Retsu's collarbones expanded upward, and caught the blades, stopping them in their tracks.
"Come now Retsu, I'm a Hozuki. My family's rich!" Chakra coated the exterior of Mangetsu's blades, showing that they were the highly priced, and heavily coveted chakra blades produced in the Land of Iron. Mangetsu sliced down through the boney protrusion, drawing two lines down Retsu's chest.
In response, Retsu's body, which was a bone clone, exploded into a thousand shards of bone. Much like a grenade explosion, each and every one of his bones was like a flechette, dangerous to the extreme!
Bursting from underneath the sand on the beach, a large, scorpion shaped tail made of bone pierced upwards towards Mangetsu, forcing him to jump into the air to dodge the attack.
Running up the bone tail, Retsu launched finger bone bullets at Mangetsu as a form of distraction. Unphased, Mangetsu hydrofied, and allowed the bone bullets to pass through his watery body harmlessly.
Mangetsu's twin swords clashed with Retsu's singular blade multiple times while they were both falling down toward the ground.
Pieces of bone were constantly formed, and were chipped off in an effort to block Mangetsu's blades.
At the same time, Retsu's chakra infused bone blade, which was channeling chakra similar to a Land of Iron chakra saber was slightly effective against Mangetsu's watery body. Mangetsu eventually took a glancing blow that he barely dodged. One inch higher, and he would've lost an eye! Instead, he settled for a shallow slice to the cheek.
Flipping in the air, Mangetsu kicked off of Retsu with the back of his foot. When he did this, he released a high pressure water jet that pierced Retsu's shoulder front to back.
Landing heavily on the ground, Retsu kicked up a huge plume of sand.
Retsu's heart rate began to dramatically increase. His eyes dilated, and a savage aura took ahold of him. A maniac grin of ecstasy spread across his face.
"There's the Kaguya I know!" Mangetsu shouted in recognition.
Pointing twin finger guns at Retsu, Mangetsu unleashed a torrent of water bullets straight from his hands!
"Hozuki!" Retsu shouted in return.
Placing his sword on his back, a small bone stuck out, and strapped the sword to his back like it was attached by magnets. Freeing up his hands, Retsu furiously shoved his arms up, presenting his forearms to the water bullets. Within seconds, bone began to spread out of his arms, and created a shield the shape and size of a turtle shell.
Dashing forward, Retsu bravely faced the hail of bullets. Several struck the side of his arms, and legs, but Retsu was uncaring, and pressed on despite the pain.
As soon as Retsu was upon Mangetsu, Mangetsu unleashed his swords, and sliced the shield in half. Retsu tilted his head back, and just barely avoided losing his head.
Stopping dead in his tracks, the look of bloodlust faded from Retsu's eyes, and a cruel smile played across his face.
Mangetsu, noticing this evil look, quickly scanned his surroundings, and even utilized his sensory ninjutsu…only to come up with nothing!
"Who are you trying to bluff?" Mangetsu twirled his swords in a flourish, and assumed a stance ready for battle.
"It should be about. Now." Retsu's face was full of smug confidence.
"Well I don't feel anythi-kuh! Poison!? Your blade was covered in poison?!" Mangetsu took a step back. His face was filled with shock.
"That's right." Retsu grinned at his defeated rival.
It wasn't just Retsu's blade that was coated in poison, but the very blood coursing through his veins! Every bone in his body, if he so wished it, could contain a drop of poison. For years now, he had been imbibing small doses of poison from the local wildlife and fauna. Now, before every serious battle, or minor excursion, he would take a little poison, and flush his body with the stuff.
"Ur, ugh, I think I'm going to, blergh!~" Mangetsu unceremoniously barfed his guts out on the beach.
"Don't worry, you'll only be sick like this for about a week. Although, you're a Hozuki, I'm sure you could find some medicinal herbs. After all, your family's rich." Retsu couldn't help but maintain a smug attitude over his fallen rival.
After this victory, Retsu was one step closer to evening the score. As it stood, they were 22-29.
Oh, how delightful Mangetsu's face of suffering was! Only, Retsu couldn't help but feel like he forgot something?
"Mnnmm!" Retsu could barely hear a muffled shout.
"Michi!"
Looking toward the far end of the beach, a gargantuan shark, the size of a school bus jumped out of the water, mouth wide open.
'Shit, I'm not going to make it!' Retsu's heart beat quickened, and for the first time since he regained his consciousness in this world, he felt sorrow and despair.
"Hiramekarei Release!" A giant blue spear shot forth, piercing the shark into two halves.
The giant shark rained blood and entrails over the once pristine beach.
The man who launched the attack was clean, not a splash of crimson dotted his attire. He prominently held a large bandaged blade in his hands. He wore a grey flak jacket, grey undershirt, and a Kiri headband wrapped around his neck. His most defining feature was a hershey kiss like swirl shaped grey hair dew.
"You were right, Mangetsu, he is an odd one for a Kaguya! Unlike his compatriots, he even has a headband tied to his arm! And you say he can read. Read! He'll be a splendid addition to my team! I can see it now! We'll be off raiding the villages off the coast of the Land of Earth, and steal all their gems! Then, we'll be free of NTR for life! Ah hah hah hah hah!" The man uproariously placed his hands on his hip, and laughed into the sky.
Retsu gave Mangetsu a strong, strong side eye glance.
Mangetsu and Retsu shared a moment, then Mangetsu ruined it by turning away to barf back into the sand.
"This belongs to you my good man!" The swordsman picked the gore coated Michi up with his finger, and thumb, and tossed the boy straight at Retsu.
Dumbfounded, Retsu caught Michi, and took the cloth out of his mouth.
"BIG BROTHER, I-" And, Retsu promptly stuffed the cloth back into his younger brother's mouth.
"I'm sorry, this is all so sudden." Retsu began, before he was interrupted.
"No, no, I get it! Totally understand! This was obviously a blatant test so I could see your capabilities! And you PASSED!
Think about it, Kaguya! Sail the high seas, steal all the booty, taste exotic foods! Learn some pointers from a world renowned swordsman! You're already strong as most Chunin, or stronger! At your age, you need some experience! And what better way than to sail on the crew of a valiant, legendary, nay, mythical sword expert!" The man spat copious amounts of saliva, and wildly gestured with his hands as his excitement grew and grew.
"Uhh. I don't mean to be rude, but, ahm, who were you again? Oh! My name is Retsu by the way! Would be rude not to introduce myself, and uh, everything." Restsu awkwardly met this Hershey swirl with uh's, and ahm's.
"You. WHOOOO!" Hershey swirl let out a long winded breath.
"It's just like that time I was in a band. Everyone wants to know who the singer is! Who is playing the piano! Or the strings! But…damnit!" Hershey swirl shouted to the sky. By the end of it all, he was crouched on the ground, and poking a few shelled creatures with a stick.
"O-oi." Retsu rubbed his forehead.
'Is this real life?'
"Bleh-ahem. Retsu, sorry for being coy and everything, this was my true objective. This is my illustrious sensei, famed Swordsman of the Hidden Mist, Iguro! Bleh." Mangetsu attempted to amp up his teacher, and give Retsu a proper introduction, but the effect was ruined by his blatant sickness.
"Alright, I've seen enough, here, chew on this." Retsu took pity on Mangetsu, and took out a crushed, and dirt smeared flower from within a pocket.
Eyeing the flower critically, Mangetsu hesitantly took it from Retsu's grasp. Yet, he didn't take a bite.
"What, aren't we supposed to be comrades on the road to hell? Seeing blood and fire together?" Retsu did his best to show an endearing smile, only for it to ccome out looking creepy, and a little warped.
"You mean?!" Iguru got up from his hunched depression, and a look of innocent joy filled his face.
"Yeah, I guess…I'm joining your crew..Captain Iguru…" Retsu proclaimed, great uncertainty, and a hint of regret entered his voice.
"Oh happy day! A Kaguya, a Hozuki, a Terumi, and that genius killer kid! I've almost got the full set! If only that Hoshigaki guy would join up, but then again, I heard that bastard, Fuguki Suikazan had taken an interest in him…Oh! That reminds me. Meet me at the docks tomorrow by noon you two! And make sure to purchase NTR insurance! The shinobi will monitor your significant other, and murder them if they're caught cheating! Tah!" Iguru talked aloud to himself in jubilation, and then ordered the duo before puffing away in a cloud of smoke.
At the side, Mangetsu had finished the flower.
"Huh, my trust wasn't misplaced after all. Welcome to Team Iguru, Retsu!" Mangetsu's smile was genuine for the first time in a long time.
"Right. Well, see you later Mangetsu!" Retsu slung Michi onto his back, and fled the scene.
"What's gotten into him?" Mangetsu pondered.
It didn't take Mangetsu long to figure out why Retsu had left in such a hurry.
*pfft*
Extremely bad smelling gas quickly escaped Mangetsu's exterior.
Mangetsu's ever present smile only widened, and looked wicked in the glaring afternoon sun.
When Retsu finally got home, he realized he hadn't had anything to eat! But when he looked down at his sleeping brother, resting his chin on his shoulder, he couldn't stay mad.
'Ah, that's a lot of drool.' Retsu bemoaned his fate.
AN: The Hidden Mist's education system is different from Konoha's. I'll very slightly expand upon this later. But it should be obvious that it's different. What with the notorious graduation ceremony.