As many a drinker could tell you, waking up to a hangover is not a welcome experience. With a groan, I untangled myself from the bed sheets and sat up, quickly using a Water release technique to draw water from the air, purify it, and drink it, relieving the dehydration effects of the hangover.
Granted some relief, I took a look around the room. It had been over a year since I had actually slept in this place, and it showed: in the corner, a large book shelf had lots of my old ninja tools on it; old pots full of poisons and paralytics, a small pile of seals I had written when I was a genin, a bunch of jars filled with rusted senbon, pouches filled with rusted shuriken, four different journals filled with notes regarding techniques I had been developing at the time, and at the bottom a bunch of books I had read as an academy student.
None of these things had anything to do with my current combat style; I hadn't used poisons and paralytics in ages, knockout seals were pointless for me now with my ability to easily restrain people, and I didn't need storage seals for survival gear because I had learned how to use chakra for everything. The journals I didn't need anymore because I had the Sharingan to memorize everything, and I didn't need to buy books anymore for the same reason.
In fact, everything on that shelf spoke to my fear for my life as a genin. In my youth I had been desperate to fill out my repertoire of techniques so that I could have a tool for any situation I was likely to encounter… but for the most part that was no longer necessary.
It turned out that once most people were restrained and had their chakra taken away from them… they were pretty helpless, and my Sharingan techniques made it very easy for me to extract information from them.
It had gotten to the point that I was starting to worry that hubris might get to me… thus I had created my motto: never underestimate anyone, cause all it would take is a genin with a cunning plan to off me. The smart people with a small repertoire of useful techniques tended to survive more often in this world than dumb people with a big repertoire of flashy techniques.
It was part of the reason why I had found it difficult to believe Minato when he said I was famous, because I didn't want my supposed fame to go to my head.
I had always struggled with egotism… even in my past life. Remaining objective was difficult, which is why I had believed humility was key. Remain humble, and you'll see what people with an ego can not.
And when I turned to regard myself in the mirror, I saw something that gave me a hell of an ego-boost, exactly the last thing I needed right now.
It had nothing to do with my body, specifically, but instead had to with what was on my forehead: The Strength of a Hundred Seal had finally manifested.
After two years of constant effort, it had manifested and I hadn't even noticed…
The Strength of a Hundred Seal was not a Hidden Technique, the knowledge of how to manifest it was common knowledge, included in all books related to Chakra control, and the main reason why was because the Strength of a Hundred Seal was viewed as the most difficult of the known chakra control techniques to master. It was considered to be eighth in rank of difficulty for Chakra control techniques.
Most people never got past the Seventh, which was Chakra phasing, where you phased through an object using pure chakra control.
The Nine Ranks of Chakra Control Techniques were:
1. Chakra Sticking: where you stick an object to your body using Chakra.
2. Tree Climbing: Where you walked up the side of a tree by sticking your feet to the bark using Chakra
3. Water Walking: Where you walked on water using Chakra to keep yourself from sinking below the water's surface.
These three techniques I had mastered by the time I turned 8.
4. Chakra Strings: Where you manifested a string made of Chakra, and used it to manipulate objects. It had taken me a while to figure this one out. It turned out that after pushing your chakra out of your fingers, you had to spin it to make it maintain a consistent shape. This technique had taken me another year to master.
5. Chakra Planes: Where you manifested a flat surface made of Chakra. This technique was necessary for mastering barrier related techniques. Maintaining a flat surface with chakra had turned out very difficult. It had to be razor thin and perfectly flat. If it had any whorls or imperfections in it, that meant you hadn't mastered it, and you had to be able to maintain the shape for a consistent period of time. in the end I'd had to cheat by making shadow clones, usually up to three at a time, to master this. I didn't master it until I was 12.
6. Chakra Volumes: Where you filled a volume of space with your Chakra, and controlled it to create discrete objects. After mastering Chakra Planes, this one wasn't as difficult. It only took me about 6 months to master this one.
7. Chakra Phasing: Using Pure Chakra Control to phase through a physical object. When Orochimaru had disappeared into a tree trunk in the original Manga, he was using Chakra Phasing. There were a lot of techniques out there that could cheat doing this, like Hiding like a Mole Technique, but this was the real deal. I had mastered this when I was 15.
8. Strength of a Hundred Seal: Where, using extremely delicate Chakra Control, you squeezed part of your chakra into a single part of your skin, usually the forehead, over a long period of time, with the hope that eventually, the Seal would manifest. This seal was so difficult to master because if you pushed too much chakra into it, it would explode, but if you pushed too little, the seal would never manifest.
Eventually, the cells in that spot would get used to the increased presence of Chakra, and would adapt, eventually manifesting the seal, but it took a long time, and when you first start out you have to keep the chakra you've already pour there in place, and continuously, steadily, pour more chakra into place.
You had to do this until it became second nature, until your chakra started to do it naturally without conscious control. The many medical ninja who had attempted to do this had had many sleepless nights trying to get to this state before giving up. It was believed by many that Tsunade had devised some secret method, perhaps related to her medical ninjutsu, to keep herself awake during the early process.
Me? I cheated and used a shadow clone to do it.
When I went to bed, I would have the shadow clone place their hands on my forehead and control my chakra to keep it in place while I slept. This cheat process worked, and eventually my chakra had started doing it naturally, so then it was simply a matter of waiting for it to manifest.
It was amazing what one could do with Shadow Clones when one really thought about it… and the proof was that I just used it to master a technique that only a few people in history had managed to master.
Anyway.
9. Chakra Levitation: where you used Chakra to levitate off of the ground. Only one person in history had mastered this technique, and that was the Sage of Six paths. There was no known knowledge of how to achieve Chakra Levitation, but it was believed that you needed a lot of chakra to do it, which was why this was ranked above Strength of a Hundred Seal, because most people believed that you needed the extra chakra provided by the seal to master the technique.
My own personal theory was that it had something to do with controlling and manifesting kinetic energy, but I couldn't say how.
I stared at the black rhombus on my forehead… I had been waiting for years for it to manifest, and part of me had wondered if it ever would… but it had.
Of course, all this meant was that I had an extra pool of chakra to draw from; I had no knowledge of Creation Rebirth. That particular technique was hidden, and you had to become a Medical Ninja to learn it.
But still, this meant I had a lot more staying power in any battle I engaged in, and that the first step on my path to become a God among Shinobi was complete.
When I had been but an Academy Student, I had done my best to figure out a way to equal the most powerful Ninja that I had seen in the Manga: Madara, Obito, the Hokages, and eventually, even Sasuke and Naruto.
Eventually, I had devised a plan, a three part technique that I had dubbed, in my mind at least: Lightning Release: Thunder God. In order to make this Technique a reality, I needed to master three separate Techniques: Strength of a Thousand Seal, Lightning Release: Chakra Mode, and Sage Mode.
The combination of these three techniques would, in my mind, make me unequaled among Shinobi. I would be able to wade into armies of Shinobi with impunity, safe in the knowledge that I was unstoppable.
I suspected that I might even be able to stand up to Madara himself… if he was alive that is. His undead form couldn't be killed.
At any rate, the first part of my plan had been fulfilled, and it seemed like the second part would be fulfilled soon as well, as I had managed to observe the use of Lightning Release: Chakra Mode with my Sharingan, I just hadn't had a chance to use it or test it yet, as it was dangerious to use an untested technique in the field.
I hadn't had a proper break to train in years, so this three week period that I was banned from doing missions would be the perfect time for me to start experimenting with Lightning Release: Chakra Mode.
With a sigh, I made the bed, got dress, and went down to the kitchen to start my day. It was 6 o'clock and still dark out, but some light colored the sky outside with the hint of dawn.
From my pack, I pulled a small bag of Coffee beans, my own personal reserve since it was impossible to get coffee out in the field.
Using Chakra, I ground up the beans into a fine powder, then mixed them with some water I had manifested from the air, already warm and purified. I then separated the powder and tannins from the coffee, dumping them in the sink, and then started taking sips of coffee from the pouch made of chakra that I held in my hand.
Chakra made everything so much simpler. No need for cups, spoons, or a coffee press if I could just do everything with chakra.
God I loved being a ninja.
It was dawn when Mikoto entered the kitchen. She seemed surprised to find me there.
"Kazuto, I didn't know you were back… " She trailed off.
"It's been a long time, Mikoto," I replied after drinking the last of my coffee.
I took a good look at her: it was obvious that she was pregnant, though most people wouldn't be able to tell just by looking at her. I could sense a second chakra signature inside her body, though it was faint.
"Congratulations on the new child," I commented. "Have you thought of a name yet?"
She blinked with bewilderment. "What?"
I blinked with surprise. "You don't know? I can sense a second second chakra signature in your abdomen."
She flushed with surprise, and placed a hand on her abdomen. "I'm… pregnant?"
I rolled my eyes. "I suppose you should go see a doctor about that."
"Uh, yes, I'll go see a doctor as soon as I can," She nodded, before turning to start working on breakfast for the household.
"It's good to see you, Mikoto," I said a moment later. "How is Itachi?"
"He's doing well," Mikoto replied. "He turned four recently."
"I'm sorry I missed him growing up," I apologized. "You should probably know… I've been dismissed from the Intelligence Department."
She paused in the middle of cutting a carrot when I said that. "Why?"
"Apparently I'm too famous," I said casually. "Utatane said that the fame meant I couldn't serve the Intelligence Department in the usual way, as too many people recognize me."
She turned around and looked at me curiously. "Does that mean you'll be joining the Police Force?"
"No, I'm planning to stay within the general Shinobi population," I replied casually. "The Police Force is not for me."
"Alright," she nodded, turning around and resuming her work.
"It's not all bad, though," I commented. "Utatane promised me that she would help me get promoted."
"That's wonderful, Kazuto," Mikoto replied casually, dicing up a pair of onions now.
"Thank you," I nodded. "Will Fugaku and Itachi be joining us this morning?"
"Fugaku left on a mission two days ago," Mikoto shrugged. "Itachi should be down soon, though."
I regarded her carefully. It was not commonly known outside the clan, but Mikoto was kind of like the power behind the throne for Fugaku: She maintained personal connections to every member of the clan, and could easily get them to do stuff for her, or for the clan as a whole.
I suspected that Fugaku didn't really appreciate what kind of resource he had at his disposal. Simply put, their marriage had been more of an alliance than a proper relationship.
Before his marriage to Mikoto, Fugaku's position as clan head had been tenuous for a number of reasons:
Firstly, he was my uncle, the younger brother of my father, who had died in battle when I was six. When my grandfather died shortly after I turned seven, I had passed on taking the position of Clan Head, and it had fallen to Fugaku to take it up.
I had passed it up mainly because I was seven, and because taking it would require that I join the Police Force when I grew up and became a ninja.
There were many within the clan that felt that the position of Clan head was still rightfully mine… but I couldn't care less about it.
Secondly… Fugaku had poor social skills. He was not very good at winning people over to his side, so it was decided that he needed someone on his side to pick up the slack in that regard.
For those reasons, he had chosen Mikoto, who was the pretty socialite girl who had the ear of everyone in the clan. Mikoto hadn't objected to the marriage, on the condition that she had a say in how things were run. With Mikoto's aid, Fugaku had gained a firmer grasp on the clan head position.
And now the two of them had produced an heir, a little genius boy who was amazing at anything he put his mind to. They called him the Prodigy of the Uchiha, and his birth had more fully secured Fugaku's position as Clan Head, mainly due to the fact that I had refused to settle down and get married myself.
As I had been thinking, Itachi finally arrived in the room.
"Hello, Cousin Kazuto," Itachi said when he arrived in the room.
I nodded, before giving him a good look: he had been little more than two years old when I had last seen him, so the fact that he remembered me was a little creepy.
I used to be scared of the idea of Itachi, the man who would one day wipe out the clan… But that fear no longer concerned me… I was fairly confidant that I could beat the Itachi whom had wiped out the clan in the original manga. I had nothing to fear from him, not any more, and especially not since the Strength of a Hundred Seal had manifested on my forehead last night.
Eventually Mikoto finished preparing breakfast, and laid out a plate in front of me.
I dug in with gusto: after a diet of nothing but food pills for more than a year, I was ready to eat anything, even pickled foods.
Very soon, my plate was clean, and I sighed with satisfaction. "Thank you for breakfast, Mikoto."
"You're welcome," She replied with a smile.
"Do you know when Fugaku will be back?" I asked curiously. "I had wished to speak with him."
"I'm sorry, but he did not see fit to give me that information," She shook her head. "What did you wish to speak with him about?"
"Well, apparently he has been using my name to demand concessions from the Village Council, without my permission," I replied casually. "You can understand how I'd be upset about that."
Mikoto tensed imperceptibly. "I see. I will let him know you wish to speak with him the moment he gets back."
"Thank you," I smiled. "In the mean time, I've been given three weeks off, and I was planning to take a spa day today. If you don't have any plans… would you like to come along? I'm paying."
"Unfortunately I have commitments this morning," Mikoto replied hesitantly.
I shrugged. "Well, the spa I was planning on going to doesn't open until this afternoon…"
"I should be available then," Mikoto nodded.
"Alright," I smiled. "Perhaps I could spend the morning with Itachi here, if that's alright…"
"May I, Mother?" Itachi asked. "I'd like to get to know Kazuto, it's been so long since last I saw him."
"Very well," Mikoto nodded. "I should be back by noon. Have a good time, boys."
With that, she got up and stepped out of the kitchen.
"So, Itachi, what do you want to do today?" I asked curiously.
"Could you teach me some ninjutsu?" he asked curiously.
I frowned in surprise. "Arn't you a little young to be learning Ninjutsu?"
He frowned. "Father said he wouldn't teach any until I was five…"
"Perhaps we should respect your father's wishes," I replied sagely. "but I wouldn't object to a general training session."
Itachi nodded. "Alright."
I nodded back, and then stood up. "Let me go and get dressed, and then we'll head out."
"Very well."
With that, I turned and made my way back to my room. After picking through a few of the drawers, I realized that all the clothing in them was too small for me.
With a sigh, I picked up my used and soiled clothing, I walked into the bathroom and used water from the tap to give my clothing a good washing with the aid of chakra. As the globe of water filled with my clothing swirled around and was agitated, I added a small pouch of detergent to it.
Soon it was bubbling up with soap, and after several minutes of agitation, I separated the clothing from the water, dumping the water in the sink, before getting more water to rinse the clothes. I then used an advanced water technique to dry out the clothing fairly quickly.
Then I got out of my sleepwear and put the clothing on.
After returning to my bed room to get my gear, I decided to take a look at myself in the mirror again…
At first glance, I looked like a lanky teenager who was just coming into manhood: long, toned arms, a buff build, short dark hair, and a thin, pale face…
The difference was in my eyes… my eyes looked like they had seen shit, and they had. I had witnessed many atrocities committed over the course of this war, and I had committed a few myself. I remembered the face of every man I killed… and that wasn't a euphemism; the Sharingan ensured that I would never forget them. I had watched the life drain out of the eyes of many a ninja… and every time I thought about it, it make me want to puke.
I wrenched my thoughts away from such grim topics, regarding myself in the mirror again.
I wore a dark blue body suit, over which I wore my green flax jacket, and I had bound my fore arms and lower legs in soft white bindings. I favored boots with long shin protectors, and a pad under the knee protector so that I could sit on them for long periods of time. My forehead protector had prongs that normally covered my cheeks and framed my face, but I had decided wear it around my neck today so that I could proudly display the Strength of a Hundred Seal on my forehead that had manifested recently.
Satisfied with my appearance, I pulled the upper rim of my body suit to cover my nose. Yep, I looked just like Kakashi but with darker and shorter hair. The effect was very cool.
That done, I made my way down to the entrance, and found Itachi there. He himself had gotten dress for the day as well, in clothing similar to mine, but without a flak jacket, obviously.
The only major difference was that he wore an over shirt with the Uchiha Crest on the back, which had a high collar that hid his chin.
"Ready?" I asked, and he nodded. "I've got to do something real quick, then we'll go."
I stepped out the door, then quickly flashed through some hand signs, manifesting a shadow clone. The clone nodded at me, before turning into a hawk and flying away. I smirked, then turned around, only to notice that Itachi had stepped out and observed me doing it.
"What was that, Cousin?" Itachi asked curiously.
"Ninja business," I replied. "Don't worry about it. Now lets get going."
It didn't take us long to get to the Uchiha District's Training Grounds. This early in the morning, none of them were occupied. I decided to take the smallest one, since we weren't going to be using Ninjutsu.
After doing our warm up routine, I had Itachi go through the forms of Uchiha Style. It seems that he had already mostly mastered them, as I only had to make a few small corrections here and there.
"Alright, I think we're done with that," I said after he had flowed smoothly through each form in sequence perfectly several times. "Lets spar now. I'd like to get idea of how far you've gotten with your Taijutsu."
Itachi nodded. "Very well."
We moved to the center of the training ground, before turning to face each other. Flashing through hand-signs again, I made another shadow clone.
"My Shadow Clone shall oversee the match," I said as the clone made to move out of the circle.
Itachi frowned, looking at the clone. "Arn't you controlling the clone, though?"
"It's not a normal clone," I explained. "A Shadow Clone has a fully physical form, and is capable of thought independent of their creator."
"If that's true, then why doesn't everyone use them?" Itachi asked curiously. "They seem like they would be much more useful than the regular clone."
"They are," I nodded. "However, the creation of a shadow clone halves your Chakra. This is because, in addition to the chakra needed to manifest the clone, the clone also needs some Chakra to keep existing. If you don't have a lot of Chakra to start with…"
"Creating a single Shadow Clone could kill you," Itachi realized.
"Yes," I nodded.
"Then you must have a lot of chakra, Cousin," Itachi pointed out.
I rolled my eyes. "There's no need to be formal with me, Itachi. You may use my given name."
"Thank you, Kazuto," Itachi nodded.
"You are correct, of course," I replied. "I do have plenty of chakra, and I'm not expecting to use much today. Besides, the Clone is using my chakra, so if needed I can take some of it back, like so."
I lifted my hand towards the clone, and he interlaced his with mine. Through contact, I took most of my chakra back.
"What happens when the clone disappears?" Itachi asked curiously.
"Most of my Chakra goes back to the original," the clone pointed out. "And it carries my memories."
Itachi startled at that, before frowning. "Such a powerful technique…"
I huffed. "Well… shall we get started?"
Itachi looked back at me. "Yes, of course."
I nodded, and the two of us made the Seal of confrontation.
"Begin," my clone said.
Itachi didn't waste any time, immediately rushing towards me with a precise attack at my sternum. I easily deflected his attack to the side, then dodged his follow up round house kick, then jumped over his quick jab to my side.
I did a fore flip in the air, rolled over when I landed on the ground, then quickly dodged his punch to my head.
As I turned around and stood up straight, Itachi pulled out a kunai, twirled it over to hold it with the blade down, and made a quick stab towards my armpit, which I dodged by bending over backwards and doing back flip.
As Itachi made to make a second slicing movement towards my side while I was in the middle of my back flip, I did a handstand and brought the bottom of my left foot towards his hand that was holding the Kunai, but I sensed that Itachi had managed to abort his motion just in time, instead jumping backwards and switching the position of the Kunai so that he was holding it with the blade up.
I completed my back flip, just in time to catch Itachi rushing towards me with the Kunai pointed straight for my sternum. I went to catch his hand, but he adjusted his motion just in time for me to completely miss.
Instinctively, I poured chakra to my feet and bent backwards at my knees, with my body being parallel to the ground, causing Itachi to miss. Not wasting any time, I grab his hands and tossed him over me, before standing back up again.
Turning around, I noticed that he had rolled through the dirt a few times, finally crashing into a tree. Oops, may have used a bit too much force there.
"Are you alright?" I asked hesitantly.
Itachi sat up and just looked at me, and a moment later I realized something was wrong.
Quickly casting a Genjutsu dissipation, I was only just quick enough to dodge another one of Itachi's attacks. It was a quick, jabbing motion at my solar plexus, but I moved just enough that Itachi only hit my upper chest.
I made to grab Itachi's hands, but he quickly jumped out of range.
"Genjutsu?" I asked curiously. "Arn't you a bit young to know Genjutsu?"
"Father said that they were safer to learn at my age," Itachi explained.
I frowned in consternation. My own father never taught me shit, just saying that I would learn what I needed at the Academy. I had to go to my grandfather to learn anything.
"Alright," I nodded. "Then I suppose you won't object if I use some Genjutsu of my own."
Itachi just frowned.
I decided not to do anything just yet, simply waiting for Itachi's next attack.
He didn't do anything yet, just standing ready, his eyes probing for weakness.
After several seconds passed of this, I decided to make my own move:
Using one of my fingers, I cast an Genjutsu that would give the illusion that I was still just standing here. The Illusion would prevent Itachi from moving while he was still within it. It was perfectly formed, and would react the same way I would for any situation that emerged with in it. However, the Illusion version of me would be slightly slower and easier for Itachi to track. The goal with the Illusion was for Itachi to think he had accidentally killed me.
I activated my Sharingan, and used it to track the events unfolding with in the Illusion:
"You haven't attacked me yet," Itachi said. "Every move you'd made so far have been defensive ones."
"Well, yes," my Illusion self replied. "This spar is meant to be a teaching moment. I am assessing your strength and skills with Taijutsu so that I may instruct you on how to improve. If I attacked you, I wouldn't hold back… and then the match would end, and you would have learnt little.."
"I see," Itachi nodded.
"This spar is for you, Itachi," My illusion self pointed out. "Don't be afraid to come at me with the intent to kill. I'll be fine, and I'll be able to help you more."
Itachi frowned… "But what if I hurt you?"
"You won't," My illusion self replied.
Itachi didn't hesitate any longer, attacking my illusion sell with gusto.
The proceeding fight lasted for several seconds, then Itachi managed to trip up my Illusion self, causing it to fall flat on his back. Without hesitation, Itachi jammed a Kunai into my illusion self's heart.
Blood poured from my Illusion self's mouth, and it stared at Itachi in shock.
"Kazuto!" Itachi said with surprise. "I thought you would block that attack!"
"Itachi…" My illusion self trailed off.
Itachi bent down at my Illusion self's side, his face tearing up. "I'll take you the hospital, don't worry…"
My illusion self just grinned, before lifting his hand and pointed towards me.
Itachi's tear-streaked face looked towards me… and the Illusion faded.
We were still standing in the field, having never moved, and I turned off my Sharingan.
"Genjutsu…" Itachi muttered, staring at me. "So that's the kind of Illusions a real master can make…"
"This 'real master' can hear everything you're saying," I pointed out.
Itachi flinched. "Forgive me…"
I nodded. "I think that's should be enough for today."
My shadow clone dispelled, and I made the Seal of Reconciliation with Itachi, before we turned and started making our way back to the house.
"Well, it seems that your training is progressing well, Itachi," I pointed out as we walked.
"Thank you, Kazuto," Itachi replied, before frowning. "Kazuto, you said earlier that you wouldn't attack me because it would end the fight too quickly… what if I need to learn how to defend myself?"
I frowned in thought. "That hadn't occurred to me…"
"My father says that you're a teacher, that you teach your techniques to everyone in the village," Itachi said quietly. "He said that's why you're so famous."
I nodded."I suppose that's true… but it's not the whole truth. I'm not used to teaching Taijutsu to people. Usually I teach others my escape techniques. People in the village then use those techniques to escape sticky situations that they otherwise wouldn't be able to. For that reason, my techniques have saved lives, and that's what makes me famous."
"Oh," Itachi frowned. "Does that mean I'm your student?"
I smiled and ruffled the hair on his head. "For today, perhaps."
"Kazuto… why did you decide to teach your techniques to everyone in the village anyway?" Itachi asked curiously. "Wouldn't you be concerned about them being used irresponsibly?"
"No," I replied simply with a frown. "I did it because I made a promise to an old friend, before she died."
Itachi didn't say anything after that, and was quiet for the rest of our walk back to the house.
OO
Author's Note: Please try to keep in mind that it's the Main Character doing stuff in this story, not me, the Author. It may be a Self Insert, but the MC had gone through Ten years of War, and War is hell. Who knows how that might have affected him.
QA:
EvilHound: His seeming animosity for the other uchiha is stupid.
Author: Ok, Imagine this: it makes since for a large family to pool resources and money, but Granny would still be pissed off if her Nephew took out a loan on her house without telling her or asking permission.
Fugaku using Kazuto's name to demand concessions from the Konoha Council without his knowledge or consent is kind of the same.
