The Jumiboro Clan compound was a place of sharp angles and sharper sounds.
Located on top of a hill, it was hidden by a constant fog created from the cultivation of rice below. Otogakure's walls extended far, but the Jumiboro clan could be said to be quite far from its centre. At least two miles away from the nearest laboratory.
Besides the fog, the Jumiboro clan had one more natural defense structure: a rock formation providing it stealth and mystery as well as durability. Behind those rock formations stood metallic walls. Sound-based seals of the Shiin clans provided all kind of perks, from recognition of intruders, to active defense mechanism.
Two sections could be seen: the inner area, reserved to the Jumiboro's main family line and the outer area, where the secondary branches and worthy disciples could practice the Otogakure's Kenjutsu Art.
It was in the outer area, more precisely in the circular training hall, that Ryugo put his team through their paces.
The air was already thick with the smell of sweat, and blood.
"Again", Ryugo commanded, his voice flat and devoid of emotions.
He stood in the center, his own katana still sheathed.
"Full agression. Your new ranks are not shields. They are targets. Prove you deserve them"
Facing him, the three chunins under his command exchanged a glance. Fear, engraved in their bones, made them tremble slightly. But their eyes barely wavered. They were determined to prove something. To him. To themselves.
That they were not useless.
Kin moved first. Her fingers flicked, and the small bells on her wire rings gave a discordant whispering chime.
[Genjutsu: Hell Symphony View (D)]
The sound was not loud, but it twisted the air, weaving a basic genjutsu meant to disorient and confuse. The hellish illusion of horrors she attempted to show him only lasted...a pitiful couple of milliseconds.
It was her realm of mastery, but he himself was pretty decent in genjutsu.
[Status: Ryugo Jumiboro | Lv. 86 Otogakure Jonin (↑) (1 500 / 4 500)
Chakra Capacity: 5 (B) | Chakra Control: 7 (A) | Spirit: 5 (B)
Speed: 6 (B) | Strength: 6 (B) | Stamina: 6 (B) | Perception: 5 (B)
Perk: Gamer's Mind (SSS), Cursed Seal of Heaven (A)
Skill Proficiencies:
Hidden Art: Jumiboro Kenjutsu Secret Technique - Resonating Blade (216) (A) (↑)
Ninjutsu: Sound Dampening Field (115) (B), Acoustic Location Pulse (138) (B) (↑)
Genjutsu: Auditory Phantasm (88) (C), Petrification Gaze (70) (C) (↑)
Kenjutsu: Otogakure Kenjutsu Style - 12 Forms (170) (B) (↑)
Taijutsu: Serpent Fist Style (55) (C)
Miscellaneous: Stealth (150) (B) (↑), Strategy (65) (C), Logistics (55) (C), Poisoncraft (57) (C), Wilderness Survival (70) (C), Antidote Synthesis (50) (C), Trading (53) (C), Eloquence (40) (D), History (25) (D), Flute (10) (E)]
Just like shinobi possessed levels in his eyes, he had analysed the system enough to understand what the numbers meant.
Genins (Lv. 10-25) possessed attribute average of 1 or 2.
Chunins (Lv. 25-50) possessed attribute average of 3 or 4.
Jonins (Lv. 50-100) possessed attribute average of 5 or 6.
Elite Jonins (Lv. 100-150) possessed attribute average of 7 or 8.
His assumption was that semi-kage (Lv. 150-200) powerhouses had at least one attribute of S-rank.
As for kage-level powerhouses like Jiraya, Hiruzen or Orochimaru, they were all at least level 200. Ryugo only seldomly saw Orochimaru, and he had steadily risen from Lv. 230 to Lv. 238 over the past four years. It was quick, especially considering his realm. At least, it was far quicker than Hiruzen who was losing strength as time went.
Kin's strongest stat was Spirit. She had 4 points in it, making it her best attribute by far.
But in front of Ryugo, it was meaningless.
"Predictable," he said, and took a single step forward
The motion broke Kin's concentration. Her eyes widened as he was suddenly there, not where her illusion said he should be. A light tap of his fingers on her wrist, a precise strike to a pressure point, and her hand went numb. The bells fell silent. She stumbled back, clutching her arm.
"You rely on the sound to do the work", Ryugo stated, turning his back on her as if she were no longer a threat, "The sound is just the carrier. The chakra shaping is the weapon. Your shaping is sloppy. The imagery...childish at best. As expected, I have sheltered you too much. You have yet to witness true horrors"
As he finished speaking, Dosu was already on him.
His Melodic Armament (C) was a wonder from the Amubi clan. The bulky device whirred to live. He did not bother with long-range sonic attack. He used the device's amplification to enhance his own taijutsu, his fist cutting through the air, propelled by massive sound waves.
Strong. Fast.
For a newly advanced chunin, this was strength beyond his realm. Even Lv. 40 Chunins from the Otogakure ANBU would be incapable of that much strength.
But even with an armament boosting his strength, Dosu's strength was only 4.5.
[Strength Check: Ryugo (6/B) vs Dosu (4/C). Overwhelming difference]
With a twist of his wrist, Ryugo redirected the force, unbalancing Dosu. A follow-up knee to the solar plexus drove the air from Dosu's lungs. A chop to the neck sent him crashing to the polished stone floor, gasping.
"You use the tool as a crutch", Ryugo said, looking down at him, "Your body is the primary weapon. The armament is a force multiplier. If you cannot fight without it, you are useless the moment it breaks or face someone stronger. You were supposed to learn ninjutsu to compensate, but it seems you have yet to master it"
Zaku, seeing his two teammates down in seconds, let out a yell of frustration from across the room. He crossed his arms, the tubes in his palms glowing with chakra.
"You won't tank this close up, sensei!"
[Sonic Blast (C)]
This was his newest C-rank jutsu, a focused concussive wave meant to pulverize organs and shatter bone. The air visibly distorted as twin blasts of compressed sound screamed toward Ryugo.
Ryugo finally drew his katana. Not with a flourish, but a simple, clean pull.
He didn't swing it. He just held it vertically in the path of the blast.
[Otogakure Kenjutsu Style - 2nd Form: Sonic Defence (B)]
The blade was shrouded in a sonic waves of chakra, producing a strident noise.
When Zaku' sonic blast hit it, the destructive waves didn't explode. Instead, they splintered. Ryugo's blade found the precise weakness point of Zaku's jutsu and shattered its cohesion.
The powerful blast dissipated into a harmless, loud gush of wind that ruffled Ryugo's hair and tore at Zaku's own clothes.
Zaku stared, dumbfounded.
"Decent", Ryugo sheathed his sword, the click final, "You see a wall, you blast it. Simple-minded, but it would have been good, had you cooperated with your teammates. Alone, however, you are very vulnerable. blasting overloads your circuits and your taijutsu is mediocre at best"
The fight was over. Less than a minute.
He could have stopped it here.
But Ryugo did not use kindness or compassion as metrics of affinity. He punched Zaku in the torso, sending him crashing outside of the training circle.
*BANG*
All three knelt on the floor, breathing hard, bruised and defeated. The blue text in Ryugo's vision flickered dispassionately.
[Training Session Complete. +30 EXP]
[Dosu +30 EXP]
[Kin +50 EXP]
[Kazu +60 EXP]
Just as they were gaining EXP, he, too, was growing. More efficient than simple, mindless training alone.
The heavy door to the training hall slid open. A Jumiboro clan member, bearing the family's mark on his shoulder, stood silhouetted in the doorway. Her purple hair was stunning, and the burnt marks on her arms showed that she was a veteran.
[Hibeki Jumiboro - Lv. 68 Jonin]
"Ryugo-sama", Hibeki intoned, bowing slightly, "The Patriarch summons you. Immediately"
Ryugo gave a single, shallow nod. He looked down at his team. Hibeki was the daughter of an elder. Born in a secondary family branch, she had initially gained fame as the Jumiboro genius, but his presence had erased any speck of glory she might have had.
His military achievements, strength and rise were such that no hate could be found in her eyes. They were not rivals. He was too high of a wall. Instead, she respected him. A lot.
"Meditate on your failures. Then run the canyon endurance course. Twice. When you are fininshed, make sure to stockpile military food pills and gear. We are going on a long-term mission. You don't want to starve on a battlefield"
He turned to leave, the sound of his footsteps echoing.
"Sensei!"
It was Dosu. His voice was hoarse from being choked, but it held a desperate edge. Ryugo paused, half-turning.
"Why?" Dosu asked, the question he'd likely held for a year finally breaking free. "Why train us like this? Push us this hard? We're… we're not like you"
Ryugo looked at them. Not with warmth, but with the cold assessment of a craftsman inspecting his tools.
"I need effective tools", he said, his voice devoid of malice, which made it worse. It was a simple statement of fact. "Otogakure is full of broken ones. Blunt ones. Useless ones. When I was tasked with creating an elite unit, I judged you to have the potential to be sharp. To be precise."
Zaku flinched. Kin looked at the floor.
Dosu swallowed, a hard gulp of fear. "And… are we? Worthy?"
For a moment, Ryugo was silent. Then he released a fraction of his chakra. It wasn't an attack, just a wave of palpable, dense pressure that made the air itself feel heavy. It washed over the trio, a chilling reminder of the vast ocean of power that lay between them.
[Acoustic Location Pulse (B)]
The sensory ninjutsu was perhaps his strongest asset. A sensing pulse that could locate shinobi around him like a sonar, giving him precise information on the number of enemies and their overall strength. Paired with the system, he could even induce their levels.
Besides the chakra consumption and range limitation, between 300 and 500 meters depending on obstacles, it had very few weaknesses and complemented his high perception well.
However, if used on a shorter range, it could give him a more detailed status on the targets.
The pressure vanished as quickly as it came.
"You are chunin", Ryugo stated, a faint, almost imperceptible note of something—not pride, but maybe satisfaction at a calculation proving correct—in his voice. "My investments are beginning to show fruit. Rejoice in that. Ensure they continue to mature or else you will be replaced"
He left then, the door closing behind him, leaving them in the humming silence of the training hall, kneeling not just in exhaustion, but in the cold, clear understanding of their place in his world.
They were tools.
If they met their ceiling, they would be discarded.
Ryugo did them a favour by choosing them. They were growing at an unprecedented rate. Some were even comparing them to the Sound Four, a quartet of four shinobi: Jirobo, Kidomaru, Tayuya and Sakon. In the Otogakure laboratories, they had been discarded as incompatible with the cursed seal of heaven.
They knew that.
They knew that without Ryugo, they were meaningless pawns.
So why? Why did they feel this uneasiness in their belly?
They did not feel fear when they talked to other shinobi, even high-ranking ones.
But Ryugo's sheer presence provided them with both relief and immense guilt.
As the door closed, Ryugo smiled.
[Reputation +20 with Kazu, Dosu and Kin]
He had trained the trio to trust him. Not Oto. Not Orochimaru. But Ryugo Jumiboro.