CHP 26: Meeting

~Jacob's Pov~

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"Come on! Strike harder than that!" I yelled at Naruto, motioning for him to put more force behind his punches.

As if on cue, both his fists blurred as he unleashed a flurry of strikes, but I could tell he was still holding back. With a frustrated growl, I deflected his attacks and delivered a stinging kick to his midsection, causing him to double over...

"You have to mean it!" I chided. "If this was a real fight, you'd already be dead. Don't think, sometimes you just need to let your instincts take over!"

Naruto shot me a defiant glare, rubbing his abdomen where I'd struck him. But I could see the fire rekindling in his eyes.

In a burst of speed, he charged straight at me, fists cocked back. This time his attacks felt heavier, more primal, yet focused. I smirked. That's more like it.

I weaved between his blows, parrying and countering, pushing him harder and harder until he was both a cyclone of fists and fury. Our sparring session had evolved into an all-out brawl at this point.

"Good!" I shouted over the whirlwind of strikes. "Let the beast out! This is how a ninja fights!" In an instance of his loose guard, I flipped him over using aikido. but he landed quite well, counter attacking with a low kick immediately after.

I blocked it of course, "Not bad for a kid, huh?" I heard him say cockily. I smiled at his little antics, he could afford to be a little cocky, especially at his level.

Though he didn't possess the edge I wanted him to, Naruto's will and fighting spirit made him particularly strong for those around his age, regardless of his talents.

He got up, using his arms as a pivot to launch himself back at me, a whirlwind of fists and fury. I blocked and deflected his powerful strikes raining down with ferocious intensity, grinning fiercely all the while. Maybe one day, this kid would actually land a solid hit.

"Alright, let's stop here." I called out, quickly swatting away his kick, but unfortunately, it made one a hell of a sound... At the rate Naruto was improving, we'd soon have to find a more remote location to spar without making too much noise and disrupting the village.

"Not bad." a familiar voice chimed in, "I couldn't even see you both move."

I glanced to my left to see the new librarian recruit I'd brought on board a few weeks ago, a sly smile playing across her lips. Her name was Ayata Nara.

"It's just light work is all," I replied with a casual shrug, though~ the heavy breathing betrayed Naruto, since he was pushing himself to the absolute limit. The kid had heart, I'd give him that. 

Brushing aside the few stray strands of hair were in my face, I sized up our little newcomer with a bit of a critical eye. While nowhere near Naruto's level, she was definitely showing a bit of promise, which genuinely surprised me. Enough that I decided to take her under my wing alongside him.

Initially~ I was against her training with us, but she insisted rather heavily, and with my new Chakra conversion seal on her body, courtesy of her volunteering; boosted her strength passively, and she was actually growing rather quickly because of it...

"Alright Naruto, I'm gonna need talk with Ayata for a sec, can you give us a minute." 

"Uh, Sure, I'll go get something to eat..." He waved me and her off. But, really and truly, that kid had began changing massively over the past few weeks, he had grown a few inches taller, around 2 or so. And the changes didn't stop at his height either.

His body was more developed as well, likely due to training and foods he was eating. I can already see Daniel's genes affecting him greatly in terms of his appearance. Interestingly enough, his looks were more refined in a sense as well, or angular even.

With the training we did so far, I was confident in him being the strongest in his age group, and by a pretty decent margin too...

However, Naruto wasn't the only one going through some changes... I had been receiving some as well. My facial features began changing, albeit slightly. Not that they were particularly bad changes, in fact it was the opposite. I was slightly more attractive than I used to be... At least I think so...

Here and there, I've even seen some strands of white hair on the very tips of my black ones, albeit they were slight in amounts.

Regardless, the differences were undeniable, even for me. I was positive I wasn't getting old, or anything either, I could live up to 40+ thousand years. So, I chalked it up to the mutation stat changes I received a while back.

With those thoughts squashed, I turned my attention back towards Ayata, But instead, I was greeted with my shirt being slammed right back in my chest, "Hmm? What's up?", She didn't say much, she didn't even look in my direction, "Just... Put this on before we talk..."

I simply held it, 'Uhh... O-k?...' and quickly put it on, while doing so, I pulled back my hair into a ponytail while I was at it. I would be cutting it soon, it seems to be getting a little straighter than before too...

"Anything on those Fuuinjutsu books?" I asked, and she gave the one thing I didn't want to see, "Unfortunately, no... I can only get access to one more level which is VII, and they've been getting rather suspicious because of it too... The rest are either buried with the Uzumaki's, or-"

"Their in the hands of the Hokage himself...", I saw her nod slowly, watching as her expression turned a bit somber. That little revelation just slowed things down, quite a bit too. Which means the worse case scenario for me... Orochimaru. He was someone who likely had the knowledge up to the last level I needed to improve my level. Luckily enough, I didn't need to go to him just yet.

"Alright, we'll have to make do with the VII level. In another 2 months before Naruto takes the Chuunin exams. So that leaves us with 1 month to do what we need to..." Unfortunately, we needed to go find Orochimaru, preferably as early as possibly.

I sighed, walking off to go start my planning, since there's been a halt...

"Wait, is there a particular reason why you need to find that person?" I heard her ask. I nodded hesitantly. She was too clever for her own good. I hadn't even brought him up since that one time, yet she still realized it was him.

"Still, to go to him? Are you sure what you're looking for is worth finding him for it..."

"Yes," I said, my voice firm, but not commanding. She let out a soft sigh, her expression looked as if it were a mix of both understanding, and worry at once...

"Alright..." she said finally. "I'll start looking for you. But, we need to be careful. Orochimaru isn't someone to be trifled with." I took her words at heart, but whatever Orochimaru was, he definitely wasn't stronger than the current me; I was damn sure of it...

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A week had passed since then...

She began searching for hints for Orochimaru around the village for me while I worked on the seal's efficiency...

We had spent the last few days gathering information, scouring the village for any whispers or rumors about Orochimaru whereabouts. It wasn't easy of course, but eventually, we managed to piece together a trail that led us to a small, secluded cave on the outskirts of the village...

As I approached the cave, and this was it – I was finally going to meet the man who held the key to my next level, 'He should know I'm here as well..' I saw multiple seals and ninjas that were used to track anyone's presence.

With a deep breath, I stepped into the cave, my senses on high alert. The air inside was musty and damp, and the only sound was the faint rustling of unknown creatures in the darkness...

'Maybe I should consume a bat for their echolocation abilities, it could be useful too...' Not that I really needed it, the night might as well be day for me due to how potent my vision was.

Regardless, I slowly made my way deeper into the cave, and I could feel Orochimaru's presence growing stronger; I knew that I was getting closer. In fact, I could see him waiting for me with others around him that were there, likely as back up.

After walking for a few, I saw his figure emerged from the shadows. But before that, I saw his eyes... They look as if they gleamed with an otherworldly intensity, and his smile was like a cold, calculated blade...

'So this was him... Unfortunately, no one I absorbed had met with him...'

"Ah, welcome," Orochimaru said, his voice dripping with malice. "I've been expecting you. You're just in time to join me for a little... experiment."

Not going to lie, I felt a slight chill run down my spine as I took in the scene before me. Orochimaru was surrounded by a group of twisted, mutated creatures. I had heard the rumors, and remembered what was said in the original series, but this guy; He was the real deal, maybe worse...

"I heard of the rumors of someone wanting to find me... So, what brings you here?" Orochimaru smile and asked, "I came for some information that you might have. Specifically about fuuinjutsu..."

I saw Orochimaru's smile grew wider, "Oh? And why should I help even you? I have the knowledge you need, and I'm willing to share it... For a price of course...", I knew Orochimaru was as sly as a snake, a master of manipulation, and I had no doubt that he would stop at nothing to get what he wanted...

Still, I was determined to push forward at this point, no matter the costs. I was ready to do whatever it took to reach the level I wanted, even if it meant making a deal with the devil himself.

"I can exchange a seal I've been working on that allows the conversion of nature chakra to normal chakra to permanently improve ones own reserves..." I offered, and immediately I saw his smile disappear, and turn into a surprised face.

What Orochimaru didn't know, was that my seals would be going public soon, nothing here will be secretive in nature for long, however, I'll use that for whatever he knows. Really and truly, I wanted to just absorb him and this over with. But, he had major benefits towards the plot in the near future, so I couldn't just off him.

Soon after, his expression disappeared into a eerie calmness... Orochimaru's eyes gleamed at me, just for a moment, and instantly he snapped his finger, I immediately felt one of the men hiding behind me flinch to move.

I sighed... Without looking, I instantly used my lighting style, to strike the would-be attacker, sending him crashing to the ground into a charred mess... The sound of his body hitting the stone floor echoed through the cave, and I could feel the tension in the air rise...

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Orochimaru's eyes widened for a moment, but they never left mine, his gaze returned to being piercing and calculating, "Impressive," he said, his voice dripping with admiration. "You're more powerful than I gave you credit for..." I could hear the surprise in his tone.

I kept my eyes locked on his, my hand still crackling with dark-near black sparks of electricity from the lightning strike, "Let's just get down to business, Orochimaru. I've made my offer..." While I spoke, I eyed a strange seal on one of his desks nearby. I could make it out. 

Given the knowledge I had, it seemed to be some kind of seal of empowerment. Luckily with eyes and memory to help, I copied its contents instantly, with all it's details...

"Alright then, follow me..." Orochimaru disappeared back into the shadows...

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END