Growth (2)

Fertile land. Lively atmosphere. In this sunny village hidden in the leaves, Konohagakure, everyone seemed to have a smile of relief on their faces, glad that the Second Shinobi World War has finally come to an end.

Many passed away, and people mourned. However, in span of 6 months, the sorrow faded away, and everyone was busy living their daily lives.

Funnily enough, however, the atmosphere of the room within the Hokage office was full of tension.

"...Are you sure that Iwa has made its move?" The middle-aged man wearing a white hat with kanji 'fire' embedded in the middle, Sarutobi Hiruzen the Third Hokage of Konohagakure, asked seriously to a dark-haired man with a bandage over his seemingly-lost right eye, Danzo.

"Whether it's the work of Iwa or not hasn't been confirmed yet." Danzo replied calmly, "I did hear that Kusagakure formed a pact with Iwagakure, providing the way for Iwa to enter the land of fire by the Kannagi bridge, but..."

It was the information that Danzo managed to acquire just three days ago, from the hidden Anbu subvision, Root, that he was in charge of:

[At the northwest region of the land of fire, an abrupt forest fire was sighted, burning away the entire vegetation within the 50m radius.]

"...This indeed is the matter that should be investigated." Hiruzen said after a brief contemplation, "And its danger can't be overlooked either."

"Yes." Danzo nodded in an agreement, "And it must be done swiftly."

Hiruzen pinched his eyebrows together to think, before shifting his eyes to a member of Anbu that stood strictly on the side,

"Call upon the team Jiraiya."

__________

6 months passed since Gin's death.

Train, train, and train more. I lived a life of seclusion, bringing my entire focus to the training.

So,

"Hurry up, you slowpokes!! We have to finish this before the end of the year!!"

"Y-yes..."

"...A**hole."

Why was I currently on this construction site, carrying a huge cubic rock on my back in the broad daylight instead of staying in the cave, you ask? Well,

'The combined potency of fire and wind... it was far more synergistic than what I expected.'

It took months of time for me to gain an increased understanding and mastery over the Wind Release. Though there was a limit to how much I could learn by myself, I eventually came to transform the chakra to wind in accordance with my will.

Then, boom! One day, I tested the use of Wind Release on my fire-based kenjutsu, and ended up burning away the entire forest. Call me stupid, but I... might've underestimated my own strength. I immediately ran away from that burnt forest after, to this location where I currently spent my days in: Tanzaku Quarters.

'Without a doubt, the ninjas must've been dispatched to investigate the forest, especially when another war is about to break out at any moment.'

Boom! I now placed the huge cubic rock down at the assigned location, before wiping my sweat off.

"Huff... huff..." I breathed heavily as my legs shook. I had sweats all over, and had to maintain my focus just to keep myself standing up.

In the past, although I had a regular routine of physical exercises, most of my time went into the development of sufficient stamina for the purpose of learning kenjutsu—I focused on aerobic exercises such as running. Though my body ended up becoming quite strong thanks to that, I've realized that it amounted to nothing in front of someone like Kurosuki Raiga. What I needed was an intense muscle-building exercise.

So I've contemplated for a while after arriving in this town. I needed a way to blend in, find a way to survive, and train without wasting the time. In the end, I found a job as a construction worker.

And I had to say, this had to be the most painful exercise that I've ever gone through—especially since I couldn't afford to use chakra to reinforce my body and reveal my mastery to the hidden eyes of ninjas.

'Chakra is the balanced mix of one's physical and spiritual energies.' I licked my dry lips as I walked back and lifted up another piece of cubic rock, and resumed my work, 'By straining myself physically through this arduous work, and by honing my mind with meditation and study,'

By theory, my overall chakra amount should increase.

'Additionally, the eight gates.' I still wasn't sure how those vital points of a human's body can be opened—or if it even is possible to do so—but I couldn't give up such a thought.

...Though I kind of wished that the pay was more than a mere 1,000 ryo per day. A literal rip-off it was.

Then,

"Hey kid, huff..." One huge man tapped my back in concern at the next moment, waking me up from my thoughts, "Are you alright?"

...F***. Mind your own business. I was temporarily able to forget this stress by thinking something else, and you had to wake me up.

"Yeah... just... haa... one... sec..." I managed to mutter barely as my body shook uncontrollably from carrying a rock on my back.

"Take it easy. You're just a teen, so—"

"HEY, YOU TWO!! STOP LAZING AROUND AND MOVE!!!" A loud scream was heard then from afar, causing the two of us to shift our heads to the source of the noise.

"Tch, the riches never know how painful it is to carry all these." The man muttered, before leaving me, "Take care, kid."

I snorted weakly with a half-lidded eye, before resuming my hard work.

Huff puff, huff puff. For two more hours, this continued. I pushed myself far past my limit, and knew that muscles are going to hurt far more tomorrow than they were today when I woke up, but I found a smile on my face, that I was improving.

Some people stared at me as if I've gone insane, but I didn't bother to pay attention.

Now,

"...Next." The employer, a rich man wearing attire made out of high-quality silk, handed out the daily payment to the lined-up workers with a visible frown on his face.

"...Next."

With the man in front of me having received his payment, my turn has arrived. The employer's eyes narrowed as he stared at me with dislike.

"You are the one who lazed around, aren't you?"

"Huh... what..." I said weakly in exhaustion, but before I could retort,

"Shut up! 800, I'm being generous here—even 800 is too much for you!"

'...This f****** b******.' I inwardly cursed as I pocketed the 800 ryo to my right pocket. Hiding my twitching face, I lowered my head while walking out of the way.

'But little did he know,'

In my left pocket, there was another 2000 ryo.

'Generous? It was me who was being generous, taking only 2000.'

I grumbled as I walked in exhaustion with both hands in my pocket. Behind the tattered clothes that I was wearing, I had a small pouch strapped around my right thigh, containing only two miniature-sized storage scrolls that contained Ryuma and Kibas.

"Hey, kid. Stop there."

Then, I stopped in the middle of my track, as I heard the regal voice from the right; it was clearly meant for me.

"Come here."

Turning to my right, I saw a group of... street thugs, staring at me with vicious grins on their faces.

...Should I kill them—no.

Quickly suppressing the thoughts of violence, I feigned a scared kid as I slowly walked toward them.

"W-what is... it..."

"You got money from that rich dude, didn't you?" The one who seemed to be the leader of these 5 street thugs in total, said in a low tone, "Hand over that 800 ryo if you wish to preserve your life."

"I..." I lowered my head and continued acting like a scared teen. My right arm restlessly moved, to make it seem as if I was pondering if I should listen to this thug or not.

'And now, what to do.' I contemplated, thinking of how I should handle this situation. Just then,

"If you don't—"

"If you don't, what?"

Another voice was spoken behind me all of a sudden, interrupting the thug leader's words.

I turned my head with a feigned fearful expression and saw one boy, who seemed to be of a similar age as me.

He had long and spiky blonde hair, along with bright blue-coloured eyes, which were of a brighter shade of blue than mine.

And most importantly, he had a forehead protector of Konoha on his head—signaling that he is a shinobi.

The young shinobi curled his lips up into a cold smile, as he gazed at the thugs impassively,

"How about you let him go instead?"

I felt like groaning.