Betaed by Doodledon122

Chapter: 2

The camera panned down from the sky, revealing it was just an hour or so past midday. Eventually, it locked onto me, showing that I was walking alone through an open field. I had very short, dirty blond hair and blue eyes. My attire was simple: a gray shirt, a thin red jacket, and a pair of gray pants. I no longer wore my headband—I felt I had lost the right to wear it. I wasn't sure how long I had been walking or where I was going. My encounter with Orochimaru had exposed the severe gap in strength between us. Before I could even consider hunting him down again, I needed to find a place to grow much, much stronger.

The scene shifted to show me sitting on a mountain near its peak in the middle of the night. Using a stick, I poked at the fire, shifting the coals to keep the flames alive. Thoughts about how I should proceed ran through my mind. Defecting to another village wasn't an option—I still had some integrity left. My best bet was to find a quiet village where I could rebuild myself and grow stronger.

Suddenly, I heard footsteps approaching. Turning toward the sound, I saw Senshi Uchiha and Kaen Hyuga, my two closest lifelong friends. Kaen wore loose-fitting white Hyuga robes, had long hair running down his back, and bore the unmistakable Byakugan. It had been about three weeks since I left the Hidden Leaf Village, and I had assumed no one was coming after me. Their sudden appearance was a surprise.

"If Sarutobi could see you now, he would be so disappointed. Come on, get up. We're taking you back to the Leaf Village, and we're not taking no for an answer," Kaen said, his tone sharp and angry. "You made a stupid decision that led to a stupid and avoidable loss. Now you're coming back to face the consequences."

Senshi remained silent, simply staring at me with disappointment. Letting out a sigh, I dropped the stick I'd been using to tend the fire and stood to face them.

"Look, guys, I'm not coming back to the village—at least not until I've redeemed myself. You can try to take me back, but I'll fight both of you if you do."

I took a simple taijutsu stance, my left hand out in front of me since I no longer had a right arm. I waited, knowing that attacking them first would be a bad idea. Kaen and Senshi rushed forward, flanking me from both sides. As they got within ten feet of me, the world became tinted purple, and time slowed. I could study their movements more closely. I didn't fully understand what this phenomenon was, but it was helpful, and I was starting to get a feel for it.

When time returned to normal, I jumped to avoid their dual attack and performed a split kick, striking both of them in the face and forcing them to step back. Landing on the ground, I held my left hand out toward Senshi while keeping an eye on both him and Kaen.

"If you come at me half-cocked like that again, you're going to regret it," I warned.

Kaen rushed forward but quickly stepped back to avoid my spinning kick. He retaliated with two quick jabs, but I deflected them with my left hand. Suddenly, Kaen dropped low and swept my legs out from under me. Now on the ground, I rolled to the right to avoid his open-palm strike, then spun to kick his legs out from under him. With Kaen on the ground, I leapt into the air, aiming to fall on him. However, Senshi intercepted me with a flying kick, sending me crashing into the mountainside.

Standing up, I saw Senshi and Kaen regrouping. They charged again, and once more, the world turned purple, slowing time. Their punches were powerful, and I knew I couldn't take them head-on. When time resumed, I jumped as high and fast as I could. Their attacks struck the base of the rock wall behind me, causing it to crack and shatter. As a large boulder fell, I flipped and heel-kicked it toward them. They jumped back, giving me a safe landing.

Without hesitation, I rushed Senshi, flipping and aiming a kick at his right collarbone. He caught my leg effortlessly.

"Messing with time... interesting," Senshi said, his fully developed Sharingan activated.

Before I could react, I felt three sharp jabs to my side, dropping me to my knees. I had no idea what Senshi meant by "messing with time." Sure, things had seemed slower recently, but controlling time? No way.

Looking up, I saw both Senshi and Kaen standing over me. Before I could move, Kaen delivered a swift kick to my head, knocking me out.

When I woke, my vision and hearing were blurry and distorted. After a few moments, my senses returned, and I realized I was back in the Hidden Leaf Village. Not just in the village—I was in my own bed. My room was small and basic, consisting of a single bed and a small dresser with a TV on it.

In disbelief, I glanced at my right arm, hoping it had somehow been restored, but all I saw was the familiar nub. Letting out a sigh, I got out of bed and made my way through my home. Like me, it wasn't anything special—just an ordinary one-person dwelling.

Opening the front door, I was greeted by Senshi and Kaen, who seemed less angry than before.

"Morning. Good to see you're finally awake. Probably a good thing you didn't have to speak to the elders," Kaen said as they stepped inside.

"Yeah, but that's not going to make the news any less rough. They said you're no longer a shinobi, and until you can be fully trusted, you have to be watched," Kaen explained as the two entered my home. We made our way into the kitchen, where I provided refreshments while we spoke.

"You weren't joking when you said the news was going to hit hard. I knew I was going to be in serious trouble after my plan went to shit," I said, my tone dripping with disappointment. Being a proper shinobi was all I had ever wanted, and now it was completely out of reach.

"Who says you have to listen to Tsunade? You could just... keep on keeping on. Who says she needs to know about anything?" Senshi remarked, taking a sip from his drink and setting the cup down. He laughed with a childlike smile, but Kaen and I stared at him with concern.

"Come on, guys, I'm joking! Do you honestly think I'd advise going directly against the Hokage's orders?" Senshi added with another laugh and smile, though I wasn't sure how much of it was really a joke. Senshi had always been a mysterious and suspicious individual. His absence during both the Nine-Tails attack and the Uchiha massacre was the primary reason for many people's suspicions about him.

As his friend, I had always given Senshi the benefit of the doubt, but I couldn't deny that I had my own suspicions about what he had been up to on those nights. However, with no proof, no one had ever pressed him on the matter—especially since the village needed someone to try and temper Sasuke.

After attempting to comfort me, my friends eventually left, leaving me to settle into my new life. Thankfully, I was a blacksmith—a good one at that. From a young age, I knew how to shape iron and steel as if it were clay. Over the next three months, I focused solely on my craft as a bladesmith, starting by altering my forge to accommodate my lack of a right arm. I made a few significant modifications: adding new holes and leverage points to my anvil and installing a foot pedal that activated a set of clamps on it. Fortunately, most of my tools were already usable one-handed, so further changes weren't necessary.

I soon found proper work suited to my talents. Most of the time, I crafted tools, with the occasional weapon order. I also took time to reforge my lost sword: a large, one-handed, dual-bladed weapon with a decorative iron deer skull and antlers as a hilt. The handle was wrapped in leather, with a hoof serving as the pommel. The blade itself bore an inscription: "Suffer no evil, ye who wield this blade in the name of Krom."

The phrase, though unfamiliar to me, felt oddly significant. I couldn't stop myself from inscribing it. Truthfully, I wasn't sure what upset me more—the loss of my arm or my sword. My original sword was far from ordinary. It was an heirloom left to me by my father long ago, though that's all I could remember about him. I had vague, fragmented memories of my parents and had always assumed they had fallen when I was too young to remember them clearly.

A few days after my return to the village, I sat at my design table in the back corner of my forge, working on a personal project. My forge, much like everything else in my life, was simple: a large shack attached to my house. The walls were lined with tools and designs for unconventional weapons. In the center sat a European-style forge and bellows, with an anvil and quench tank nearby.

At the moment, I was working on a simple frame with joints that allowed it to bend. That's when Senshi entered, silently staring at me. Annoyed by his presence, I stopped my work, locking the head of my design table down before turning to face him.

"What do you want, Senshi? I'm busy," I asked, my tone laced with irritation.

"I just want to know what your plans are, that's all," he replied, his voice calm as always.

"This is it. Life as a blacksmith isn't bad at all. There's always work, and it pays well," I responded just as calmly.

"So that's it? You're just done—done developing whatever it is you can do, done trying to become a shinobi? That's not the person I know. You never give up," Senshi said, clearly trying to be supportive. But these things were no longer possible for me.

"I don't really have a choice. You and Kaen heard Tsunade and the elders yourselves. I'm not allowed to be a shinobi, so what's the point? And you can say whatever you want—I'm not developing anything. Is that all you came here for? Because I've got a lot of work to do," I snapped, my tone sharper than before.

"No, actually, I have a business offer for you. Make these items and deliver them to this location. You'll be paid nicely," Senshi said, handing me a slip of paper before exiting my forge without another word.

The order itself was strange: an extensive list of weapons. Oddly, Senshi had used the name of someone else—Kanta. While this was concerning, the amount Senshi offered was enough for me to accept the order. If he was up to something, I figured I could disrupt it if needed.

Over the course of two weeks, I crafted thirty kunai, ten swords, ten bows with matching quivers, and two hundred arrows. However, before delivering these weapons, I needed Tsunade's permission.

"You want permission to leave the village so soon after your stunt?" Tsunade asked, looking up from her paperwork.

"It's not like I'm trying to slip away or anything. I've got a business order from Senshi. It looks like it's for a friend of his in a nearby village, probably to help deal with bandits. It's not far from the Leaf—maybe a day. I'll be back in two," I explained, handing her the paper Senshi had given me.

Tsunade remained silent for a moment, reading over the order. "He certainly seems to know everyone," she commented before finally speaking. "Alright, you can go, but you're taking a Genin squad with you," she said with a smile, handing the paper back.

The scene cut to me loading a cart. It was difficult to pack all the weaponry with one arm, but by early morning the next day, everything was ready. I set off, accompanied by my assigned Genin squad: Team 10.