Chapter 7: Third Kazekage
Now 9 years old, Rasa not only graduated from the academy and officially became a Genin.
He also managed to master his magnet element better and better and his results were quite extraordinary.
He can now control up to 77 kilos with effort and 50 kilos instantly.
But the extraordinary thing is that he finally achieved his greatest wish, which was to fly.
Although he cannot perform many attacks once he is flying, as he is almost at his weight limit when flying, this is still the perfect way to escape from any dangerous situation at all times.
Besides that for Rasa it felt great to be able to fly, so he was now very happy to achieve this.
Few ninjas could fly in Naruto's world, so it was a great advantage in any combat, although he had not yet mastered it enough to be able to use it in combat.
Rasa also increased the flexibility in the range of extraction of metal objects, but it was still difficult for him to take advantage of the metal materials that ninjas have to finish them off from a far outdistance without exposing himself to close combat, so if he were to use his magnet element to attack from a far outdistance, he would have to use his own metal reserves.
Among the many ninjas that were watching Rasa's confrontation with the Chunnin, there was one that stood out.
This ninja wore a piece of cloth resembling a turban to cover the lower half of his face, leaving only his eyes visible, he also wore gauze covering his head along with a sandy brown bulletproof vest with extended shoulders.
As soon as Rasa's confrontation was over, this turbaned ninja disappeared, and soon after he was already in the Kazekage's building.
Once he entered the Kazekage's office, the turbaned ninja knelt down in front of the Third Kazekage.
"Lord Kazekage!" the ninja greeted with a very respectful tone.
"Report" was all the Third Kazekage said without even glancing at the ninja kneeling in front of him, he continued to look at the papers on the table.
"Rasa officially became a Genin of Sunagakure by winning his match against the Chunnin assigned to him for the graduation exam and defeated him in just one minute" the ninja reported in a deep voice.
But even in this ninja one could tell that he was quite astonished by Rasa's quick victory.
This information seemed to catch the Third Kazekage's attention as well since he raised his head and gave a curious look to the ninja kneeling in front of him.
"Oh, so he defeated him in a minute, tell me Skull, how did that happen?, I'm pretty sure Rasa still doesn't have the level to defeat a Chunin so easily"
"Kazekage-sama, the Chunin allowed Rasa to attack first and he quickly used his mastery of gold dust to defeat him in one attack, then the chunin had no chance to escape."
"So that's how it was, he must have used all his chakra in a single attack that ensured victory, risky if there is another enemy, but being a single enemy it was the perfect opportunity" reflection the Third Kazekage.
"What do you think about his current strength and his mastery of the Kekkei Genkai Magnet?" asked the Kazekage.
"Well... in my opinion, Rasa could fight an ordinary Chunin and have some chance of winning, but against a more experienced elite Chunin he would have no chance of winning, he still needs training" assured Skull.
The Kazekage just nodded and asked for him to continue.
"On the other hand, his mastery of the Kekkei Genkai Magnet surprised me, he has an excellent command over the manipulation of Gold Dust, unlike you Kazekage-sama that uses your advanced nature to control iron, he seems to have a greater facility to use it on gold dust and already seems to be able to summon large amounts of this material for his techniques" Skull finished saying.
"Interesting, it seems that Rasa already managed to manipulate the nature of the Magnet, it only remains for his chakras to increase" commented the Kazekage after listening to the report. "And as you said, he doesn't use the iron sand like me, but he developed the Gold Dust as a weapon that he can manipulate just like my iron sand."
"Kazekage-sama, you plan to..."
"That's right Skull, now go call Rasa, tell him to report to my office" ordered the Third Kazekage without letting him finish speaking.
"Right away" nodded Skull saluting the Kazekage and disappearing from the Kazekage's building.
'I was not wrong about him, it seems that young Rasa is going to help me to dissuade the opposition I have in Sand Village, yes, with him by my side I will be close to achieving my goal' thought the Third Kazekage with a small smile.
After a while, the ninja named Skull appeared next to Rasa who was chatting with Karura and Pakura.
'An Anbu?' thought the three of them as they saw the turban ninja.
"Genin Rasa, the Kazekage summons you immediately, report to his office" once he said that, the turban ninja disappeared again.
Karura and Pakura looked at Rasa.
"Well, looks like I have to go, it will only take me a few moments, I'm sure he wants to assign me a teacher along with a team," Rasa told them.
"Yes, but if it was just for that, he wouldn't require your presence, the Kazekage could send any ninja to inform you of your master and team," said a doubting Karura.
"That Rasa, he must want to tell you something else, so be prepared for anything" added Pakura.
They were both from important and powerful families inside Sunagakure, so they knew that being called specially to the Kazekage's office was not normal and it must be for some important matter.
"Don't worry, he might want to talk about my progress in the Magnet element and that's why he called me, after all, he gave me the scrolls to achieve change and transform my chakras into magnetic forces" Rasa tranquilized them.
That calmed them down since the last time Rasa had gone to the Kazekage's building, he had given Rasa the scrolls about his Kekkei Genkai which meant that he had high expectations of him.
Saying goodbye to the two, Rasa quickly made his way to the Kazekage's building.
After becoming a Genin, Rasa knew he would be assigned a master and a team.
But he had other plans.
"Lord Kazekage" Rasa bowed his head as he entered the Kazekage's office.
The Kazekage waved his hand and then asked, "It's good to see you Rasa, how is your practice with the magnetic release scroll I gave you before, is there a problem?"
"It was very helpful. The changes in the Chakra properties are quite manageable, I managed to quickly transform my chakras but the coordination of the chakra ratio of combining the magnetic fields is still not very efficient. It may take a little time to really use the magnetic release without using so much chakra," Rasa answered honestly.
Rasa had subjected himself since transmigrating to this body to harsh training in which his chakra only increased a little more than that of an average ninja.
But he knew that increasing chakra is only a matter of training and time, so there is not much more that can be done to increase chakra, so his chakra increase is completely insignificant.
The only major improvement Rasa got under this training was an amazing chakra manipulation ability.
With such an outstanding chakra manipulation ability, when Rasa used to practice the skills for the execution of the gold dust he naturally controlled, he basically managed to create and learn to do skills in one sitting.
And when the Third Kazekage gave him those scrolls that helped him understand the steps of transforming his chakra into magnetism forces, it was extremely easy for him to do so thanks to his outstanding chakra manipulation.
It was now clear to everyone in Sunagakure that Rasa had already mastered the magnetic escape of gold dust that controls the gold dust as opposed to the sand iron of the Third Kazekage.
The magnetic tunnel that Rasa successfully cultivated naturally is different from the cultivation in the direction of sand iron.
Chapter 8: Manipulation of metals
But what no one in Sunagakure knows is that Rasa not only successfully cultivated in the direction of the gold dust that everyone saw, but he also successfully cultivated in the iron sand, or rather, the manipulation of metals in general.
Which was extremely rare, as cultivating in only one direction was already extremely difficult for the few who had the Kekkei Genkai Magnet, so difficult that only Rasa and the Third Kazekage had succeeded.
This was also because those born with the Kekkei Genkai Magnet were very rare and in most cases were not even able to use it successfully.
The first to manage to master this Kekkei Genkai was the Third Kazekage, but even he was not able to use it properly since manipulating large metals would require knowledge of magnetic fields that he does not have.
But if it were not for the fact that the Third Kazekage studied Shukaku and managed to imitate his techniques, the Kekkei Genkai Magnet would likely be useless since controlling metal is simply impossible without knowing the basics of magnetism.
He only discovered a small part of the enormous potential that this Kekkei Genkai has and the truth is that all the Third Kazekage really managed to do was to combine sand and iron dust and thus create iron sand, this sand was manipulated through magnetic fields made with his chakra, allowing him to mimic the control over the sand as Shukaku.
And this was only achieved after several years of study on Shukaku, only then he could unite sand and iron dust to create iron sand to copy Shukaku's techniques to control the sand at will being able to use it defensive and offensively.
In short, the Third Kazekage only uses the Kekkei Genkai Magnet to convert his chakra into magnetic fields and thus use his chakra to mold the sand into weapons and also crush his opponents with it.
But the jutsus that were used by him based on the Iron Sand can only be used thanks to the fact that he has the Magnet Element that allows him to naturally convert his Chakras into magnetic fields, otherwise not knowing how a magnetic field works, it would be impossible for him to master this Kekkei Genkai.
Currently, Rasa is the only one to have successfully mastered more than one direction of cultivation in the Kekkei Genkai Magnet (Iron and Gold).
But Rasa did not plan to tell anyone about this.
Besides currently being able to master gold dust was more important than mastering iron sand for Sunagakure.
This is because everyone in the village can distinguish the value of iron and gold.
That is to say, a magnetic ninja mastering gold dust will bring a great growth point for the village hidden in the sand, just for this alone Rasa was already highly valued by everyone in the village.
"Not bad, to be able to master the magnetic gold dust escape at your age is enough to prove your talent!" nodded the third Kazekage satisfied.
"Well, it's all thanks to my innate ability to control Gold Dust, without the limits of the blood succession I have it wouldn't have been possible!" said Rasa modestly.
"It's part of your talent Rasa, don't take credit for it. I also heard that you defeated one of our Sunagakure Chunin in just one minute with the use of your Gold Dust, very impressive!"
"So it was sir, although the Chunin was overconfident and I just took advantage of the moment to use all my strength and defeat him in one move, if the situation had been different I don't think I could have defeated him without suffering lethal injuries" expressed Rasa telling the whole truth about the situation without bragging.
Rasa already suspected that the Kazekage not only knew that this was the real reason, but that the third Kazekage was probably looking to see the attitude he had after overwhelmingly defeating a Chunin at a young age.
It was almost obvious for Rasa to assume that the Third Kazekage wanted to see if he was arrogant after such an accomplishment or if he could still analyze the situation clearly.
The Third Kazekage nodded in relief and seemed satisfied with Rasa's response.
"Well, it seems that you know your limits and your strength, so you should also know that consuming all your chakra in one move is extremely dangerous in a mission, as unexpected situations can always happen and one must always be alert to this."
"I understand sir Kazekage."
"I don't doubt that you understand, you are extremely intelligent Rasa despite your young age and you are also the second after me to succeed in mastering and manipulating the Kekkei Genkai of the Magnet, I am happy to say that you did not let me down like many others, is there anything you wish for as compensation for your achievements?" asked the third Kazekage.
"Well...yes there is something I would like to ask of you if possible," said Rasa.
"Oh, tell me, some kind of ninjutsu perhaps?" the third Kazekage asked inquisitively.
There was nothing Rasa asked for that would be hard for him to get unless Rasa went overboard with his request, but no smart ninja would do that.
For the Third Kazekage to indulge Rasa a little with benefits was the best way to keep him happy and loyal to his side, thus keeping him away from the opposition he had in the village.
"I..., I wanted to take the chunin exam, I know I am already at the level of a mid-grade Chunin, so I should be able to take the exam," said Rasa catching the attention of the Third Kazekage who was not expecting him to ask for that.
The truth is that Rasa wanted to become a Chunin as soon as possible because in Sunagakure the Chunin didn't have to team up with anyone to go out on missions and Rasa didn't want to be part of a team with other Genin, he preferred to continue working on his own and research his Kekkei Genkai more.
"I see, ambitious, I can understand that, but I can't agree with you taking the village exam to become a Chunin, your strength may be on par with a common Chunin, but you still lack combat experience and your chakra is still low, in a long combat you wouldn't stand a chance" the third Kazekage answered him.
Rasa wanted to insist, but he knew it wouldn't help.
"Even so, your achievements must be compensated and since I cannot grant your request, as compensation from now on you will become my apprentice" the Third Kazekage suddenly said, this time catching Rasa's attention who despite thinking about the possibility of this happening, didn't think it would be so soon.
After all, the Third Kazekage can't go out on missions with him or spend much time teaching him since in his position he is usually very busy.
And it is known that when the Third Kazekage is not busy with village affairs, he is constantly studying and improving his mastery over his Kekkei Genkai, it is said that he is often looking to create new jutsus that will help him be more offensive in a fight.
Rasa had even heard rumors that the Third Raikage had mocked the Third Kazekage's famous defense by saying that he was just a scared ninja hiding behind his iron shell and that offensively he was no better than an ordinary Jonin from his village.
"That would be quite an honor sir Kazekage."
"Well Rasa, from now on you are my apprentice, so no need for formalities in private, you just call me Master would be fine."
"I understand, thank you Master for accepting me as an apprentice."
"Very well, now Rasa, as you may already know, I don't have much free time and I can't go out on missions with you either since I have to be in the village, that's why I have other things planned for you as my apprentice."
Rasa looked at him confused not knowing what he might have planned.
"Skull!" called the third Kazekage and quickly the Anbu ninja appeared in front of him.
"Lord Kazekage!" said Skull as he knelt down.
"From now on you will take my apprentice Rasa and include him in an Anbu team to perform missions given exclusively by me."
"Understood Kazekage-sama" Skull nodded quickly.
While Rasa looked at the whole situation astonished, he had not planned to join Anbu, but now that he thought about it, it was the best option.
Now he would not only be the direct apprentice of the Third Kazekage, but he would also be able to gain real experience with the best ninja in the village.
Anbu may not be the most powerful ninja compared to some Jonin, but the Anbu were always noted for being very skilled geniuses for all kinds of missions.
What better than to learn from those ninjas who have an understanding and skill above most ninjas.
"Rasa, from now on you are part of Anbu's corps and my apprentice. Now Skull will take you to meet your team."
"I understand Master."
"Good, you are dismissed" the third Kazekage waved his hand and dismissed them both.
Skull nodded and walked out of the office along with Rasa.
"Follow me," Skull said in a deep voice to Rasa once they were both out of the Kazekage's office.
Rasa nodded and followed Skull.
Chapter 9: Training?
Now that Rasa knew the name of this Anbu, he knew who he was: Skull, a shinobi renowned in the sand village for being the best Anbu assassin, he was the captain of the Sunagakure Assassination Squad.
He is also a very gifted shinobi praised for his talent in the ninja assassination arts, being the right-hand man of the Third Kazekage.
In battle, Skull is a truly powerful shinobi and it is said that his power and abilities are no inferior to those of Chiyo and Ebizu who were currently known as the Honorable Siblings.
Rasa knew that these three were the strongest shinobi in Sunagakure after the Kazekage.
Skull as the best assassin.
Chiyo as a famous puppeteer and an expert in poisons, but she was also a Medical Ninja.
And Ebizu who was a master puppeteer and stands out as the best strategist in Sunagakure, he has a strong and analytical mind.
Skull and Rasa walked through the complex until they came to a large subway chamber that was below the Kazekage Palace.
'It looks like this is the Anbu headquarters, but why isn't there anyone' thought Rasa as he looked around the subway chamber without finding a single person.
It was almost as if Skull had guided him on a specific path so as not to come across any Anbu.
Finally, Skull led Rasa to one of the many sectors that were in the headquarters.
Then they both entered a room filled with weapons and objects of all kinds, puppets, gauze, turbans, and bands of different colors.
" Starting from today, you are one of the Anbu ninjas of Sunagakure" began Skull saying seriously.
"Here, this is your Anbu certificate and your identification, as for your forehead protection, you can wear it wherever you want, but the turban you must wear at all times while on duty to cover your identity," Skull told him handing him a small paper sealed by the Kazekage that identified him as Anbu of Sunagakure along with his new Anbu uniform.
Rasa calmly received everything, as for the forehead protector, he had already put his protector on his leg.
He then looked carefully at the certificate.
The certificate didn't say much about him, there was only the hourglass seal stamp of the Kazekage and then his codename:
"Gold?" wondered Rasa without realizing he said it out loud.
"Yes, from now on that will be your name as Anbu, it is strictly forbidden to mention it to anyone. Only the Kazekage and I will know for now your true identity. Now get changed and get ready to meet your team" said Skull indicating to Rasa the changing room.
Rasa nodded calmly and went to the room to change into her new Anbu clothes.
When Rasa finished changing, he was wearing some gauze on his head along with a turban that covered the lower half of his face, leaving only his eyes visible, he was also wearing a black t-shirt and pants clinging to his body along with a sandy brown bulletproof vest with extended shoulders and his forehead protector on his right leg.
'I guess the Sunagakure Anbu must have their reasons for wearing these turban-like pieces of cloth to cover their faces instead of the Konohagakure animal masks' thought Rasa as he walked out of the room to meet Skull again who was dressed just like him as a Suna Anbu.
'But if I remember correctly, the Sunagakure Assassination Squad wears masks with demonic features unlike the other Suna Anbu who only wear turbans, Skull being the captain shouldn't he be wearing the same?' wondered Rasa, but not finding an answer he left it for another time.
The way the two were dressed now, if it wasn't for the difference in height between the two and where they wear the front shield, it would be almost impossible to tell them apart since their outfits were the same.
"Okay, follow me," said Skull as Rasa followed him again to another sector of the headquarters.
A few moments later, they both arrived and entered a room where there were 3 people dressed in the same clothes as Suna Anbu.
"Alright, let's get this started," Skull said, straightening up.
Making both Rasa and the three already present pay attention to him.
Skull held out four different colored bands to them, orange, blue, gold, and green.
"First of all, you will start by wearing these bands at all times to identify yourselves within your group and on any mission, only when I consider it necessary you will stop wearing them and you will be able to know the identity of your teammates until then your true identity is confidential."
The oldest of those present besides Skull nodded and took one of the bands, the orange one.
Then another of those present nodded and took another of the bands, the blue one.
Rasa was the third to take one of the bands and chose the golden one, which he assumed had been made on purpose because of its code name.
While finally, the fourth ninja present took the last green-colored band.
"Right, now the introductions" Skull sounded rather cold as he spoke.
"His code name is Canteen and he will be the team captain," said Skull pointing to the ninja who took the orange band.
"Orange Canteen for other teams, to distinguish you from anyone else with a similar codename."
The four nodded without saying a word.
"He is Nomad" Skull pointed to the one who had taken the blue band.
"And Nomad Blue for other teams"
"He is Gold" Skull finally pointed to Rasa.
"Golden Gold for other teams"
"And you are Custus, Green Custus for other teams" Skull concluded pointing to the last of the members who took the green band.
'Are names always based on things in the desert?" wondered Rasa amused as he heard the codenames of his new teammates.
Rasa's thoughts ended abruptly as Skull continued speaking.
" You will be training for a few days, until your first mission," announced Skull as he pulled out a map of the desert and pointed it to a wide part of the desert surrounding the village.
"That's where you will train and I will personally see if this team works or not. If you do well you can be running missions in no time to earn your commission. Until then, if you want to be reassigned to a new team or leave ANBU completely, that's your right but remember that everything is recorded on your Anbu certificate"
'Now I understand, my Anbu certificate had no information other than my codename due to me being new to Anbu, once I complete missions they should add things' Rasa said to himself in understanding.
"What kind of training?" asked the now appointed team captain Canteen.
Even though they were all dressed in the same Suna Anbu clothes and were identical, it was noticeable among the 4 on the team that Canteen, the captain, was the oldest due to his height and physique.
Orange Canteen was approximately 180 cm and was only a few centimeters shorter than Skull.
Then there was Nomad Blue which measured approximately 167 cm.
While Rasa averaged about the same as Green Custus, 155 cm.
They were both quite short compared to the others on Anbu, but Rasa knew that a ninja's age, gender, background, or previous rank didn't matter on Anbu.
The shinobi in the Suna Anbu are hand-picked by the Kazekage, chosen for their individual abilities and special skills. Age, gender, background, or previous rank have no bearing on this decision.
The only true ranks within Anbu are based on merit and experience.
Rasa knows that there are the regular forces which are all Anbu who are part of a team under a captain and cannot undertake missions alone. These usually only do A or B rank missions as a team and if very necessary they are allowed to do or assist in an S rank mission.
Then there are the special Anbu, who specialize in doing missions of a specific type such as assassination, tracking, investigation, infiltration, espionage, tracking, interrogation, surveillance, torture, and even renegade ninja hunters. These usually do S-Rank or A-Rank missions.
For S-rank missions of great importance, a team is usually formed with special Anbu led by a Captain assigned by the Kazekage.
And finally, there is the Captain or commanding officer, which is a position that is held in high esteem in Anbu, and only those with great merit and extensive combat experience can reach this position. These can be Captains of an Anbu team of the regular forces or they can go out on missions alone as a special Anbu.
The Anbu Captain is the only Anbu who can lead a team for an S-rank mission.
This is why special Anbu who have not reached the rank of Captain cannot lead an S-rank team.
"Well, that was the question I wanted to hear," Skull replied.
His hand flickered and reappeared with four small scrolls of four different colors between his fingers.
"I have a scroll here for each one of you."
"That has the training information on it?" asked Custus in a soft feminine voice.
'It seems that one of the members is a lady, no wonder she is around my stature' thought Rasa because in the village he was still short compared to other Genin or Chunin due to his young age, but there were some female Genin or Chunin ninja that despite being older in age than him, they had his same stature, it seems that her teammate was one of these cases.