9

As it turns out, getting into the village wasn't that hard at all.

I literally just walked right through the front door, almost totally disregarding the two Chunin at the gate's entrance.

I'm not sure they even noticed I was there.

I found it hard to blame them. They were just Chunin, who, as a whole, weren't known for their overwhelming skill or talent.

The fact that I was only barely touching the World certainly didn't help. A step back and I would have left the world entirely, something that slightly reflected on my physical form.

When I was on the edge of the barrier between truly entering the world, and existing just off it, my form was a dark black shadow. Here, on the edge of the barrier between truly leaving it, and the Darkness outside, my form seemed like a normal shadow, apparently cast by nothing.

No, it doesn't make any sense. It probably never would, either.

The four ninja that were currently following me, however, well I had to give them props. Sneaky bastards had been following me from slightly outside of Konoha's gate, undoubtedly examining me.

Hell, I probably wouldn't have noticed they were there, if it weren't for the fact that I could sense their Hearts and their Darkness. I couldn't sense even the slightest hint of their Chakra, though, which meant that they were definitely skilled ninja.

Probably ANBU. Jonin, at least.

I didn't show any sign that I knew that they were there. I wanted to appear harmless, and rooting out supremely skilled ninja was not conducive to that.

As is, I just kept moving towards the spots of Darkness that I had seen before. Most of them were grouped together, near the outskirts of Konoha. I'm pretty sure that these spots were members of the Nara clan, but I could be wrong.

That was my plan and I'm sticking to it.

Playing on my shadowed nature by seeking out members of a clan that utilizes Shadows. Establish myself as seemingly harmless, which wasn't that hard, considering everything above a Genin was faster and stronger than me.

I suppose that didn't mean too much against Heartless, though. It was the conceptual things you had to worry about with the Heartless, as well as permanently destroying them if you were unlucky enough to not have a Keyblade. Which was just about everybody.

Several of the spots of Darkness began to move in my direction, one of which was a few times larger than those around it. At the same time, two of the ninja that had been following me broke off from the group, rushing away towards the oncoming spots of Darkness.

I guess that means they decided on actually stopping me?

A spear of shadow shot across the ground, reaching out and connecting with me.

Evidently, yes.

The shadow grabbed hold of me, attempting to restrict my movement.

It could try. I was a being of pure Darkness; as minimal as I was, I was still a veritable ocean of Darkness compared to him. Utterly headless of the shadows, I turned towards to the Nara.

"Captain?"

"I don't have it."

The shadow retreated, even as the Ninja prepared for combat.

I skittered towards the Nara, pulling myself closer to the World as I did so.

He tensed, preparing to act for when I did anything.

I didn't do anything. I stopped barely 2 meters away, lingering on the edge of existence.

Slowly, his Shadow extended again, reaching out to me and connecting to me.

For a few moments, I did nothing. Then, I slowly began to pull myself out of the ground, finally crossing the barrier into existence once again. I saw his eyes widen, slightly.

I twitched, before beginning a slow walk to the Nara.

I guess this was the moment of truth.