Chapter 9
~One year Later~
UZUKI YUGAO
Uzuki Yugao was talented. She had been recruited into the ANBU because of her talents, and after joining the ANBU, she had only grown stronger.
They called her a prodigy, and even Hayate hailed her talents, yet they were all wrong. Talented, she may be, but Yugao was no prodigy, and it had never been clearer to her than in the last year, as she trained the young Hikari Hyuga—or as he preferred to call himself, Hikari Hizashi.
Years ago, there were rumors about a talented Hyuga child, but then tragedy had struck, and he was robbed of his Kekkei Genkai before he even had a chance to show his promise, and so the rumors vanished, and people all forgot about the child who was believed to be as talented as Itachi Uchiha.
But now, after a year of supervision, Yuga could say with confidence that the rumors were true, that the Hyuga prodigy was indeed a match for Itachi Uchiha.
"So, tell me about the boy?" questioned the Sandaime-sama as he summoned her into his office to give her final report on the boy.
"He is a prodigy," and those were the only words that could do him justice. Even during their first confrontation, he had fought well for a boy who was self-trained, and afterwards he had soaked each of her lessons like a sponge, taking it all in in seconds.
Mastering techniques and skills that would typically take other shinobi months, in mere hours.
"Prodigy," the aged man chuckled as Yugao stood tall in front of the man who had once had similar adjectives used for him.
"Much like you then," and coming from him, the praise was appreciated, but Yugao was not one to lie, and so she shook her head.
"No. Not like me, Sandaime-sama," she whispered as the man frowned, as she clarified.
"More like Kakashi Hatake or Itachi Uchiha," and she had both he confidence and humility to accept that while talented, she was no match for monsters such as him, and while she could go toe to toe with her charge for now, she did not doubt that in but a few months, he would surpass her.
"Is that so?" and his interest was piqued as the man leaned forward, those brown eyes narrowed as he demanded more details from her.
"Explain," and she gave herself a few seconds to gather her thoughts before she answered.
"He is a quick learner. Techniques that take even the more talented shinobi months to master take him mere hours," and that included her kenjutsu. Unlike most of his former clan members, he was inquisitive and unorthodox, willing to question the norms and traditions.
"When I first took him under my wing, he had never held a blade in his life. Yet in six months, he has mastered kenjutsu to a level that he can face me evenly with a blade," and that was just the beginning.
"He excels at each facet of a shinobi's life. Taijutsu, ninjutsu, genjutsu, and even some basic iryo-ninjutsu," he dabbled in everything, and then later used them in most unique and inspiring ways.
"I see," the Hokage-sama whispered.
"What is his specialisation?" and each ANBU agent, while capable in all fields, had a specialisation. Yugao herself was a hit-and-run and recovery specialist.
"He can do it all," and his skillset was vast and varied, which allowed him to act in any role and capacity as needed. He could kill and assassinate people quietly, and could make a show of it as well.
And while mostly the ANBU worked in the shadows, sometimes they would be asked to build a reputation, to project power, and discourage their enemies from making a mistake.
The most recent example of this was Hatake Kakashi, who, along with his reputation as the Cop-Ninja, was feared by Hunter-nin all over the continent because of his ruthlessness.
"He has the skill and the intellect to mold himself for any role needed," and that was perhaps his most dangerous and overlooked quality, for underneath that ever-present smile hid a sharp and analytical mind that understood both the intricacies of chakra and politics.
"Do you think he would be able to integrate himself into a genin squad?" he asked, and that would be a waste of his talents, but who was she to question the Hokage-sama?
"Yes, he will do just fine," and with that, the man gave a deep sigh.
"He has been under your care for a year now. So, tell me, do you think he harbors the same emotions for his clan as Itachi?" and that was the greatest question perhaps, for no one in the entire village wanted a repeat of the Uchiha Massacre.
She had read his file in detail and knew exactly what his clan had done to him. So, there was a special mention in his psychological evaluation about his intentions for his clan. Though being a ninja each and every one of them knew well how to mask their emotions, she was to provide her own judgement here.
"No," she answered, and that seemed to surprise the old shinobi.
"Why?"
"Because while he does look unfavorably upon the Hyuga clan elders and their policies, he believes that he can change them," and that was his motivation for becoming a ninja, and why he was so adamant and stubborn, so that he was expelled from the clan.
"He believes that as a Hokage, he can help bring change to his former clan," and she saw the edges of those lips turn up at her words.
"Hokage, huh?" and that seemed to have surprised him.
"Yes," she repeated, for he had told her about his dream in one of their training sessions, when she had inquired about his plans for the future.
"Where is he at the moment?" he asked, and she answered.
"He is out on a mission with Dog. They are investigating the new Hidden Village established by Rice Country, Otogakure..."
0000
SHIRANUI GENMA—'Dog'
This was his first mission with Sparrow, and Genma could see why Yugao and Hayate had been raving about the boy. Genma had heard whispers about the new ANBU recruit, whispers the likes of which they had not heard since the induction of Itachi in the corps, and for good reason for no shinobi came close to the ungodly talent and prowess of the Uchiha clan heir.
But this Hyuga clan boy came the closest to him, and even now, as they blurred through the forest, the boy followed after him with ease, his chakra tame and measure, his control so perfect that he left no trace behind.
"We are here," he whispered, as they stopped just a few paces away from the cave that was supposed to House of Otogakure's base, and they were investigating the village, for there were rumors that the person behind the village was none other than Orochimaru.
And the man was as big a disgrace for their village as Itachi, for Konoha had let not just one but two S-ranked defectors to survive. This was a great insult for their village, one that they planned on rectifying sooner rather than later. Still, Orochimaru was as slippery and cunning as a shinobi could be, and despite using all their manpower, the ANBU had failed to track him down until the whispers of his involvement with Otogakure had come up.
"Alert level high, do not engage unless I order you to," he commanded, and the boy nodded as they both slowly walked into the cave, and yet Genma sensed no movement or chakra from inside.
And the deeper they travelled, the more doubtful he grew over the intel's credibility, until they finally reached the end of the cave.
"There is no one here," and according to the reports, there was supposed to be a sort of outpost here, yet the cave was empty, and just as he was about to turn, he felt a small spark of chakra as he shouted at the boy.
"Shit! Cover!"
BOOOM! BOOM! BOOOM!
And the entire cave was blown to bits, as Genma felt an Earth wall surround them, and shield them from the debris.
"Good work," he praised the kid, and he could finally sense the chakra signatures gather around them, probably searching for them.
"They have a sensor," he realised as he felt them gather around them, and they must have realised that the two of them had survived and were trying to finish the job, whoever they were.
"You want to take care of them?" he asked the kid standing in front of him, and he nodded.
"Sure," he answered, and he saw the boy walk to the centre of the little cave, and place his hand at the roof, shielding them from the debris, before suddenly a massive wave of chakra rushed off of him.
"Katon:..." he heard the boy whisper, and saw the rock glow orange-red from the heat, before suddenly a massive explosion tore through the entire debris over them.
"...Fortress Blaze!" and the explosion cleared the skies as Genma jumped out in an instant, and before their opponents could break out of their trance, he jumped in and killed a couple of them with senbon.
The explosion itself had killed the rest, leaving behind only one enemy alive. And he wore a mask, and a hitai-ate of the newly found Otogakure.
The boy jumped out and joined him as the two of them encircled the lone survivor, as Genma gently asked him about the plan.
"Please, spare me," he begged, and the intel was clearly compromised, and not just that the ambush showed that they were on the right track and someone was trying to kill them.
"How did you know about us?" he asked, for it was obvious from their preparations that they were prepared to deal with them.
"Spare me. I beg you! I will tell you everything..." Yet as soon as those words left his mouth, Genma felt a wave of chakra from him, as the man's eyes rolled back, and his body fell to the ground.
He walked upto him, and saw his body covered by a sealing formula as he clicked his tongue.
"I should have checked him," and he cursed himself for being careless, but he had not expected a new and up-jumped village to have access to such fuinjutsu.
"Do you know what this is?" he asked, and the boy nodded.
"A loyalty seal," he answered, and Genma was impressed.
"Yes, these are very rare and can only be applied by an experienced Fuinjutsu user," and ever since the culling of the Uzuamaki clan, one could count such people on their fingers.
"It is standard procedure to check any and all captives for such a seal before the interrogation. Some of them have a few loopholes we can exploit. I will teach you about them on the way back," and the boy nodded as Genma quickly scanned the area and found it empty, but it would not remain so for long, for the explosion would surely draw people towards it.
"Gather the bodies, we are returning to the village," and so they quickly sealed the bodies and entered the forest once more, as the boy asked the inevitable question.
"The intel, it was false, wasn't it?" he guessed, and that seemed to be more of a statement rather than a question.
"Yes," and that was his own assumption, for if it had been a leak from their side, the Oto-nin would not have had the time to prepare as elaborately as they had.
"This was a setup," he shared his suspicion with the boy, for in this line of work, it was not so uncommon.
"It happens from time to time, so you must always remain vigilant and be ready to deal with anything like this in this line of work," and this should serve as a good learning experience for him.
"Still, you did well in there," he praised him as they spotted the village gates in the distance.
"I can see why Cat's been praising you all around...."
.
.
.
000
As always, you can read ahead and support me through my Patre 0n. Help me out by becoming a Patr 0n. Your support and patronage make all this possible. So, drop a sub if you can. It would mean a lot!
www.Patre 0n.com/Drkest
Have a fantastic day!