Disclaimer good to go, sir!


We left the town the following day but since Karin had her time drinking more than necessary; we had to wait till noon before leaving the town since she needed to be at her best or at least to a level where all her senses worked.

Finding enemy shinobis for improving and adapting my abilities was still fresh on my mind, with Karin sensory abilities we head out to track every potentially missing-nin that was within the vicinity.

The forest itself was a perfect place to hide, and of course a source for pocket money.

Our first target was an ex shinobi from a minor village, the moment Karin sensed him I rushed at the direction she pointed with the rest following me close. But as expected from a fugitive, he immediately started his futile escape since no matter where he went Karin always knew his direction. I enhanced my legs with chakra and caught up with my target before he could turn to check I already was on him with my hand grabbing his shoulder and pulling him back.

I didn't him time to even react before I brought down my blade on his neck, doing a clean cut of his head before the body could hit the ground.

My team finally caught up with me, Karin immediately pulled out the bingo books while Suigetsu gave me a knowing smile. The adrenaline slowly wore off, before I stretched my arms and back.

I had no need to activate my sharingan which was a pleasant sign of strength, however he was too easy to kill and Karin confirmed his identity as a chunin, I couldn't get overconfident but with the ease I ended his life other chunins will not be a problem, of course I needed to fight a couple more shinobis of the same level to consider it a fact.

Karin pulled out a storage scroll and sealed the corpse, then she wrote the name and stored in her belt.

The hunt was only starting.

We ventured deeper inside the forest until Karin picked multiple another signatures and pointed us the direction; I gave Juugo the role to act as our shock troop on that occasion. Only when Karin was sure that they didn't detect us or were preparing to move, I allowed him to go head on first.

The primal beast unleashed his contained fury against the fugitive group, instantly crushing one of their members when he landed with his abnormally mutant hands. He didn't waste a second before lunging to another member like a tiger and throwing him to the ground.

Then again, with his hands he pushed his thumbs inside the eyes sockets, ignoring all the agonizing screams and opened the head as a watermelon feeding the ground fresh blood and brain bits.

With reasoning lost, he proceeded to beat and destroy the corpse below him.

With a group of five reduced to three, they finally reacted and prepared their own countermeasures, but that was my cue to go.

Wielding the Kiba blades I send a lighting strike at them to begin my own attack, except they couldn't avoid my strike and received the full force of the lighting but that didn't deter me from going forward with the plan.

Weakened by my lighting, the kunoichi couldn't dodge or even block my slash. Receiving the full force on her upper body, she collapsed on the ground bleeding like a fountain gurgling in despair.

The other two tried to get away, but Suigetsu impaled one of them to the ground with his sword.

The last one fell on his knees watching the scene with a face filled with tears and mucus, but he didn't move or said anything.

I slowly walked up to him waiting for any kind of counterattack but he kept staring at the gruesome fate of his teammates, we crushed his spirit so my weapon was no longer necessary and returned them back to their sheath before grabbing a kunai and promptly aimed to his throat.

The kunai landed on its mark, piercing his skin and reaching the other side, yet his body remained in position.

With the fight over I looked at Juugo who was still punching the corpse with his primal rage, it was obvious that he would not calm down with words so I allowed my seal to partially spread.

With the sudden influx of strength, I grabbed Juugo's neck, forcibly separating from the meat-bag and send him crashing to the ground.

He slowly got up to his feet while reverting back, conveniently that was enough for him to calm down and return to his normal calm self, Suigetsu was kind enough to give Juugo a napkin to clean himself.

Only then Karin came down and did the same procedures, the only difference being that the Kunoichi was a jounin B-rank missing-nin while the rest were chunins and genins. They used to be shinobis from Iwa and Ame, the black market might buy them but with lower prices.

Yet that was what the closest I could experience to a fight, the third bastard we randomly tracked was no fight at all, better said it was an outright execution. Karon pointed the direction and my blade sliced his throat.

We kept searching inside the thick forest without losing track of time, in that time every single encounter resulted in an execution as well while others a short chase occurred only to end in a quick but clean beheading.

The fourth day inside the forest Karin sensory abilities picked up another signature, however she was quick to warn us that the target was trying to get away.

I rushed along with Suigetsu leading the charge, yet no sooner did we start he got cut in half and became a puddle of water as the Kubikiribōchō lodged itself in a trunk.

My vision went red thanks to the surprise filling my veins with adrenaline activating my sharingan and only then I noticed the wire traps spread everywhere like a web, I had to stop and check my surroundings with detail. It was the first time in days that the enemy such complex series of traps.

Soon after, Karin and Juugo arrived.

"The entire place is a trap, do not move carelessly.

Suigetsu resurgerd from the puddle and reformed his full body, then checked for any imperfection. "Yeah, being cut in half isn't nice."

He quickly grabbed his necklace and pulled the twin swords, the small weapons glowed and grew in size before changing form.

When the glow died down, it revealed a new form which I associated with a boomerang which Suigetsu didn't wait to throw around. My sharingan followed their trajectory and how perfectly and safely they cut all the wires which opened a path for us to continue the pursuit.

His boomerangs returned to him and shrank in size again before he stored inside a pocket, however his smile of confidence along with his carefree attitude deformed in resentment.

"Where is the bastard?!" Suigetsu yelled at Karin who only pointed the way before he jumped towards a tree as a starting point before rushing towards that direction, not before recovering his favorite sword.

I followed him still with my active sharingan in case there were more funny business around, it took us less than a minute to catch sight of his fleeing figure.

And took us less than ten seconds to catch up to him.

Suigetsu landed right in front of him and without giving him an opportunity to react kicked his stomach, effectively blocking his route for escape and sending him flying back towards the ground.

The poor bastard crashed beneath my feet, coughing and gasping for air.

I unsheathed my dual blades, my feet shifted in position creating the best stance for the oncoming fight.

Soon after I could feel Juugo behind me watching with slight interest while Karin was sitting on a tree watching us at a relatively safe distance, I had to admit that they were quite fast.

The missing nin frantically checked his surroundings before immediately kowtowing in front of me. "I surrender!"

His words ignited my anger, earning a kick on his chin with all the strength I could muster to that limb, my rash action brought the sickening sound of broken bones as his head did a 180° degree turn before collapsing to the ground.

Suigetsu looked at the body and frowned when he looked at me silently asking for an explanation, I couldn't exactly blame him since he had a bone to pick with him but I was boiling on the inside.

"What's the deal with everyone? I barely exchange blows with them and immediately give up or try to run!" The first day felt like progress but then it became stagnant real fast to even consider it a waste of my time and to make matters worse the Chunin exams were closing in, only a week remains.

Karin faked a cough to get my attention."Well, you have been hunting/butchering a lot of missing nins in these parts and the news of Orochimaru death by your hand must have spread everywhere within the Elemental Nations, is next to impossible to not get recognition."

"So it would have been better if I kept my silence?"

Karin hold her chin in thought for a moment. "Perhaps, now all the missing nins would rather avoid you at all costs or plead for mercy if caught, but you can try hiding your identity."

"Playing hide and seek with these idiots is a waste of time." I commented.

Karin pulled out her bingo book and searched for the information before sealing the corpse inside another scroll.

"Let's go after village shinobis then." Suigetsu spoke.

I turned to look at him with a frown. "Didn't I explain that I want to avoid trouble?"

He tilted his head. "You have been pardoned and as far as I know they won't bother you...much... as long as you don't kill them."

That was very poor reasoning.

Karin quickly intervened between us. "Well, the minor villages won't bother you if you beat up their shinobis but from the big five, they might retaliate." She was slightly worried for the consequences, just like me.

But honestly speaking the only shinobis I should encounter would be from Suna, Konoha and maybe from Kumo.

"I can't believe I will have to act like a stupid thug." I pronounced my words with disbelief, yet I was considering the entire thing.

"You wanted to improve, so this seems the best way to do unless you go a village and request duels." Suigetsu again let loose his tongue with idiocy, but I would not bother with insignificant things when bigger things were at stake because he was right, I really wanted to test myself and a couple of jutsus.

"Let's go to a busy bridge." The best place since caravans and merchants used to travel between villages and towns, and they always had escorts with them.

With Karin words still in mind I couldn't be out in the open showing my face, so to hide my identity with disguise was the best option, but I didn't possess Tsunade perfect henge which made me rely on clothes.

Conveniently the missing nins wore many types of masks and equipment to hide their identities from the public, so I gave the task to Karin to search and collect all their equipment for that specific purpose.

And as expected from a meticulous girl like her, she did it in no time and presented me everything in order and categorized, ready for easy picking.

For my new identity I picked the long straw hat, a pair of oversized goggles, a blue handkerchief tied around my mouth and for the finishing touch I grabbed a beige raincoat long enough to cover my entire frame.

Suigetsu suggested that I was missing a long sword like his strapped on my back and while I would look cooler it was counterproductive since the oversized sword would definitely slow me down.

However, we first took a detour and returned towards the black market outpost and cash out all the heads I got. The rewards had variations since some bounties had village preferences like it was the case for Kabuto, even if the money wasn't a problem anymore we couldn't keep traveling with so many bodies on us, it was a waste of space.

The same shady guy greeted us and paid us every bounty with minor issues, he didn't ask a question or bothered of my new looks; that was professionalism.

Only then we headed towards the busy bridge.

The bridge connected the land separated by a river, according to Karin this particular bridge is part of the preferred route for merchants and caravans since they considered it safe and it could save a day in time.

Since I needed to be alone I let my group rest, Suigetsu didn't hesitate to dive into the river and followed the stream to who knows where.

Juugo on the other hand found a new bird and started to communicate with more critters that arrived in succession, soon after our big guy ventured deeper inside the forest.

Karin was the only one who stayed by my side but didn't use the opportunity to get all that close and lovely with me much to my surprise, she merely jumped on the bridge railings and took a seat next to me and hummed a song I never heard before.

"I feel a group coming...Kusa shinobis." She spat venom from her voice before leaving my side and hide somewhere between the trees.

I looked to the right and waited for the spotted group arrival, a group of four to be exact.

One adult and three teenagers following behind all of them dressed identically with baggy clothes and a straw hat slightly different than mine.

The group didn't pay any attention to my presence and kept walking forward but when they were about to reach the other side I stepped in front of them blocking their path.

"Move aside, you are interrupting official business or we will be forced to use force against you." The leader of the group quickly changed his stance and grabbed the hilt of his tanto while the teenager behind him pulled out their kunais glaring daggers at me.

"The rules are simple, you either pay or fight me." I delivered my bold declaration to them.

The leader took offense by my words and pulled out his tanto pointing the sharp edge toward my throat. "A low life won't extort us."

With his indirect confirmation I didn't waste time for idle chats and lunged at him with a fist directed towards his diaphragm, he could only look at me with widened eyes as my fist reached him before I darkened his vision with a follow up uppercut directly landing on his chin with enough force behind that the shockwave sent his hat flying away.

He fell flat on the wooden floor.

I waited for his counterattack but for several awkward seconds nothing happened. "That easy?"

I poked his unconscious body with my foot a couple of times to be assured of his incapacitation.

"Sensei!" The teenagers ran towards the downed jounin and tried to wake him up with no avail.

"You might have a chance if you all go at the same time." I stated and adopted a new stance to face those three.

However, they looked between themselves before giving an audible gulp.

They quickly throw their heads on the floor.

"We admit defeat, so please let us through." One of the genins spoke out for the group,

I accepted theirs pleads not before taking their money and their storage scrolls, yet I found amusing their glares of impotence as they handed me their scrolls and money I didn't know if they had something valuable inside but I wouldn't know until we unsealed them later.

It was convenient that my rain coat had many pouches inside.

I watched the group leave the area dragging their sensei sorry ass, when they were outside of my sight Karin came down from a tree and nudge herself on me like a cat. I didn't comment but Karin still held a lot of resentment towards Kusagakure, I knew her past but she didn't know that I knew.

"That was beyond disappointing for a jounin."

She quickly stood up straight and adjusted her glasses "The quality of shinobi depend of the village, a jounin from a minor village can't compare with one from a major one. Besides, not every jounin is an expert in every branch of combat, the majority prefer to become a specialist in a single area."

I took her words into consideration, perhaps that Kusa shinobi was specialized in another area that wasn't close combat and underestimated me hence why he was easily defeated.

"Go look for those two and set up a camp somewhere relatively safe but close, we might stay here for a couple of days." I gave her a new task which was happily accepted and left toward the forest first.

I looked at the sky and the clouds slowly flow through the skies; it was a bold move to picking up fight with random strangers but with the battle against Kakuzu closing in I had no more time for idle chatter since I couldn't put all my hopes in the Kirin blasting him in a single move.

But the rustling sound of cart wheels interrupted my peace, eyes fixed on the newcomers and easily noticed the shinobis in the group of four, only two were wearing their hitai tae for everyone to see.

"Takigakure?" Another minor village which coincidentally was part of my objective but their affiliation didn't stop me from stepping in front of the group forcing them into a halt, getting all their attention on me.

"Fight me or pay." I demanded.

Both taki shinobis stood up and cracked their knuckles as they closed the distance with each step, their confidence only made me chuckle in amusement, they couldn't be higher than chunin level.

However, the merchant rushed in front of me with a small pouch on his hands and kneeled in front of me, presenting me as a tribute.

"We do not wish problems, please accept this."

His sudden action left me stunned for a moment, but I grabbed the bag and checked the contents, filled to brim with money.

I didn't have a fixed price for free passage so I stored it inside my coat and moved aside, allowing them to leave unscathed.

They quickly got up on their cart and left, but the Taki shinobis glared daggers at me. The frown in their faces and eyes were wishing for us to meet again for a fight.

Me on the other hand sighed in disappointment, even if they were chunins at most I wanted to fight those two because after some deliberation of the events their confidence couldn't come out of nowhere unless I was mistaken, and they were just arrogant idiots.

I returned to my spot and leaned my back on the railing surface before returning my gaze towards the sky wondering how many fights I would have and what moves I should use the next time.


There were mixed feelings if the last two days had been actually productive, every single shinobi that came through the bridge met defeat by my hand and didn't put much of a fight to even call it one, at least very few paid the toll.

If I used Taijutsu they were knocked out in a couple of moves.

With my controlled ninjutsu they fainted after after failing to put up enough resistance against my own jutsus.

And even Kenjutsu, which Suigetsu criticizes a lot, were no match against my Sharingan.

But most of the shinobis were from the minor villages and Karin's statement became the truth, they were easily knocked out with a single attack that they couldn't block or dodge unlike their counterpart from Major villages, the few Suna shinobis that passed did put up a short fight but my fire was far stronger than their wind, of course I used my sharingan to copy their jutsus and increase my arsenal.

And much to my surprise not a single Konoha shinobi passed through, which was a shame since they would have made the perfect practice target for their renowned fame as the bests of the bests.

As for my team, they enjoyed their free time unlike Karin who diligently practiced the control on her sealing chains, at least she could keep them at a stable form.

It would be great if she could use them freely for our fight against the Akatsuki, the sealing chains would come in handy.

But my train of thought died down when from behind and to be precise, the stream below the bridge, I felt the flow of the water forcefully change with chakra I wasn't a sensor like Karin but such chakra strength couldn't go unnoticed.

I didn't move from my spot and waited to see what could happen next.

The water erupted in a power torrent of water aimed at me.

My adrenaline shot up my excitement and used both swords to block the strike on purpose, the jet stream collided with my defense and the strength behind it forced me to take a step back before I forcefully broke the attack which in consequence dispelled the jutsu, the gravity once again taking control and pulling the water back to the origin.

It was impossible that everything could end there, my eyes quickly scanned my surroundings at every possible direction trying to find the disparity until I felt a strong killing intent coming from above.

Instinctively I looked up to sky and noticed the closing sword reaching to my head, my vision went red at that exact moment and the world around me became slower, with no time to unsheathe and use my weapon I had to parry his strike with my hand braces destroying the direct path of his attack.

Since his entire weight was on the strike, his body shifted to a new direction, but I didn't stop with such simple action because my sharingan instantly recognized the next attack with a smaller weapon aimed for my chest.

I dove my fist to his face, completely breaking his concentration before I exploiting the clear opening and slightly jumped to catch and get a firm grip on his ankle, wasting no time I slammed his body on the floor with all the strength I could muster on a single arm.

The floor was immediately stained with red, but I didn't stop there was no way I could risk him getting up, so I stomped on his neck and head as many times as possible, possibly causing him a severe concussion or a cracked skull.

That alone left me panting for air, but at the same time I was glad it was over; despite I ended the fight in few moves, the fact that he got very close to actually cut me showed the skill of the shinobi.

I looked at the unconscious shinobi yet the red and brown uniform was a dead giveaway however, and the Iwa symbol on his headband was enough proof for his affiliation.

"Why is an Iwa shinobi so deep in the Fire country?" I asked myself, venturing inside enemy territory wasn't a wise move unless it was to gather intel or sabotage, but since those were political moves that didn't involve me I shrugged the question.

With one hand I took a firm grasp on his collar and lifted his body, he was surprisingly lightweight, and reached for a kunai with my free hand.

I held the kunai right above his throat, there were no discernible features on the Iwa-nin to catch my interest so wasting no more time I opened his throat with a swift slash and threw his body off the bridge, letting the river drag his body to who knows where.

Nature would decide what to do with a fresh corpse.

Even if I said that I didn't want to kill village forces, after defeating the Iwa-nin I realized that nobody would question his presence or disappearance for the simple reason that both Konoha and Iwa had an open hostile relationship.

The sun was reaching the horizon in a matter of hours before I could peacefully retreat towards our camp; I had some hope that Karin improved with her control.

The peace and tranquility lasted for an entire hour, the sun barely visible on the horizon.

I was ready to leave my place until I could feel a change, an abrupt change. Carefully I turned my head towards the source of the change, and my action became a regret for doing so.

My blood froze the moment I laid eyes on the incoming shinobi wearing the dreaded black coat with red coats and with a straw hat, my eyes widened out of proportions behind my goggles when I noticed the large bandaged sword strapped on his back.

My vision instantly turned red, as my hands reached for both blades under my coat ready to strike, I couldn't wipe the sweat forming on my brow I felt like any useless movement would end horrible.

But at the same time my mind was wildly trying to make sense to the situation, Kisame wasn't that bold to travel on the busy roads with no precaution unless Itachi accompanied him. And the Akatsuki always worked in pairs, being alone didn't follow the logic of their group.

Yet I remembered Karin's warning, since the death of the six tails they must have a change of plans and strategies along with their increased activities across the elemental nations.

Kisame stopped in front of me and lifted his gaze to meet mine, while flashing his sharp teeth.

"Aren't you going to fight me?" He mocked.

"A stranger asking another stranger for a fight seems odd." I was on the edge, but I kept my voice calm.

Kisame chuckled."That's hypocritical coming from you, the lone fighter who had been fighting and defeating every shinobi indiscriminately in the last couple of days"

My vision was already red as everything became in slow motion.

Kisame reached for Samehada and brought the entire weight on me.

I jumped away from his attack while I pulled out my own weapons, just in time as Kisame didn't let me rest and followed up with a large swing of his massive sword. With no opportunity or time to avoid his swing, I blocked his attack with the Kiba blade.

Our clash made the Kiba blades create sparks for a second before being forcibly pushed away by the shock wave we caused.

I landed on my feet just like Kisame not far away from me, except his expression had a drastic change.

He threw away his hat revealing his unfamiliar expression lusting for our fight to continue, his wicked expression slightly reminded me of Suigetsu's when he wanted to go overboard.

"You are the first to take the initiative." I commented.

"Since when a shark has to wait for his prey?"

Kakuzu and Kisame were in different leagues, I lacked the confidence to face him in a duel and my team was no match for him except for Suigetsu, but even with him I had some doubts.

But trying to flee would mean a death sentence for me.

"Is not time for us to cross swords." I steeled my nerves when I spoke.

His eyes were fixed on the legendary pair, showing the little sentience they had by oozing the power of lighting against him. "I never expected I would find the new user of the Kiba blades in this place, Samehada is itching to eat your lighting chakra."

The bandaged weapon squirmed to affirm his words.

"Neither did I expect I would encounter the bijuu of zero tails but our brief clash made me crave for exotic sushi for tonight's dinner." I replied with my own taunt despite internally screaming to shut up, those weren't my words I knew for sure they just came out from my mouth with no previous thought.

To my dismay Kisame's grin widened as his eyes became slightly red, the grip on the Samehada strengthened while Samehada itself revealed its sharp scales with obvious intention to rip and tear my flesh.

There was no going back, just like that moment with Jiraiya wrath I had to swallow all those insecurities and face my problems head on.

My chakra was immediately channeled towards my hands to connect with the Kiba. soon after lighting enveloped them showing they were for my next move. Kisame on the other hand shifted his stance and brought his sword in front for a more solid defense and silently stared at me with expectation.

I gave the first step then the second followed by the third, each one throwing away my initial insecurities until I was at full speed.

I used my speed to try a stab with the right sword but as I got close; I shifted my aim and used the left hand to slash his stomach but when the sharp end met its mark Kisame body popped like a bubble.

Almost immediately I turned around as I swung my right blade meeting head on Samehada full weight, yet the momentum of my strike was enough to get an advantage in our clash to be able to parry his attack creating an opening for my other sword

But as expected Kisame expertly blocked my attack with his weapon hilt and proceed with his own counter-attack, his hand attempted to pull me closer but I avoided him like a plague while the other hand tried showed his strength by moving Samehada with the aim to shred my body; starting with my legs.

Yet every time his attack missed my body felt emptier and tired, my Sharingan was quick to pick up Samehada happily munching my chakra while being flailed.

I wanted to slap myself for forgetting that unfair advantage; he didn't need to touch me to eat my chakra.

In a fight of attrition it was clear who would win, I needed to change tactics or at least think in a way to stop him from taking away my chakra.

However, from afar a lot of birds flew away from the forest caught our combined attention. Those animals usually remain calm unless something startled them.

Kisame looked at the birds going away and let out a curt laugh before strapping Samehada to his back, leaving me speechless for a moment for his sudden change of attitude.

"I will be waiting for our next encounter." He slowly walked past me without even trying anything against me and reached the other side of the river.

I returned my weapon backs to their sheath, my eyes never leaving his. "Don't die."

Kisame said nothing as he turned around and kept his way, following the road.

My vision only then returned to normal, but I never stopped watching that direction.

Minutes later two groups of shinobis arrived at the scene flashing with pride the Konoha symbol on their headbands and the green flak vest, it was clear why they were here and what caused the commotion from before.

What could assume their leader was, walked up to me. "Have you seen a man wearing a black coat with red clouds?"

I pointed the road.

"He has passed this bridge not long ago." I had no reason to lie or try to start a conflict with them just after getting an official pardon from Tsunade, I just wanted them gone.

"Thank you."

The leader left with his group following closely in hopes to catch the monster known as Kisame Hoshigaki, a death wish.

When the Konoha forces disappeared from my sight I pulled out the Kiba and pointed the sky before doing circles effectively forming a minor storm. The blackened cloud made a thunderous sound to my signal.

Moments later, my team arrived.

"Why did you call us?" Karin asked.

Coincidentally, a consecutive series of explosions went off deeper in the forest.

I pointed to that particular direction where all the Konoha forces were probably dying en masse. "Thanks to those idiots, Konoha soon will flood these parts even if I'm no longer a fugitive I would rather avoid them for the time being."

Another explosion went off.

I turned to look and noticed the massive ball of water, one of Kisame's killing moves.

While it was good that they had already taken action against the Akatsuki, it was simply idiotic to send no-names against any of their members, even if those no-names were at the jounin level.

"We are going to Suna, start packing up."

I had to retract myself, waiting and fighting at the bridge resulted in very productive results.


AN: FINALLY! I finally got paid! geez, I waited two fucking months for my check but my happiness had to be shared with others I rushed to finish this relative long chapter for you all. Now I will wait for a sale for Outward and L4d to happen.

If we reach 1k followers I will add a compilation of omakes , anyways I will a bit honest here but for some reason I wanted to play again The Chosen Ones custom campaign from WC3, which I left unfinished like 6 years ago I think and holy shit this is one of the best games, is a game inside a game the creator must be proud for such creation. I love the rpg genre why I like Skyrim, KCD and Fallout, and others, if you want to play a complex rpg that rewards exploration I highly recommend you to play this custom campaign but since Blizzard (Fuck them) killed WC3 classic, download the pirated version and patch it to 1.26 pretty easy thing to do actually.