21 Chapter – 19 Konoha Hot Spring & Tree Climbing Exercise
"Now that I have expanded my sensory range…" muttered Sasuke as he focused his Chakra and activated the Sensory Jutsu, instantly a circular area with a radius of a hundred meters was within his coverage, and he could sense all the chakra presence within his sensory range. Being able to sense all the presence within this area, Sasuke thought to himself, 'Today is the day I will figure out the identity of the person keeping watch over me…' and walked out of his apartment.
As early as a few days ago, Sasuke had confirmed that someone was indeed keeping watch over him all the time. He reached such a conclusion based on the fact that he sensed a particular Chakra signature always following him from a distance no matter where he went. Whether he is carrying out Kenjutsu training with Yūgao & Hayate, honing his Shurikenjutsu skills alone at the Training Field, attending classes at the academy, simply studying at his home, or shopping for groceries and other necessities at the shopping district, this particular Chakra signature always follows him from a distance. For these reasons, he can be certain that someone is definitely keeping a watch over him, it's not just him being paranoid.
Now that he has confirmed this possibility, the next thing he must figure out is the identity of the person keeping watch over him. It's not that Sasuke is interested in getting to know the person; it's just that he needs to figure out that person's abilities and set of skills if he wants to bypass this person and gain control over his surroundings.
Exactly how (using what skills) does the person keeping watch over him keep watch over him? He needs an answer to this question, and Sasuke believes that by figuring out their identity, it might be possible to determine their abilities. For instance, if the other person turns out to be a member of one of the prominent clans of Konoha, then their set of skills can be easily determined, and determining a person's background (which clan they belong to) is not so difficult considering they have unique physical features. The Hyugas have the Byakugan, the Aburames have a particularly unique dressing sense where they always cover their eyes using shades, the Inuzuka have clan marks painted on their faces along with those beastly eyes and brown hair, and so on.
Naturally, Sasuke doesn't think that a member of the Root/Anbu would reveal themselves before him that easily, however, he has a plan in mind to deal with that problem as well. He has thought of a way to prompt the person watching over him to show themselves without giving away their cover. In fact, he has been using that plan for a while now, it's just that the other person hasn't taken the bait so far. But it doesn't matter, they will take the bait sooner or later, 'They will definitely…!'
With such a thought in his mind, Sasuke patiently traveled through the streets of Konohagakure and soon arrived in front of a public establishment, 'Konoha Hot Springs.'
Konoha Hot Springs is a public bathhouse facility in Konoha, it is commonly used by ninjas as a training ground for basic Chakra Training as well as relaxation. Konoha Hot Springs is Sasuke's attempt to identify the person keeping watch over him. After all, at a public bathhouse, the watcher wouldn't have to be worried about giving away his identity. Sasuke feels that even that person would be tempted to soak in the warm water in order to relax. After all, everyone wants to relax once in a while, and ninjas are no exception. If the watcher gets to continue their mission while having the opportunity to relax, perhaps they would take the bait.
Walking inside the Facility, Sasuke stopped at the reception. The Onee-san at the reception recognized him, and greeted him with a teasing smile, "Ara~ if it isn't the ever-so-popular-Uchiha-Sasuke-kun… are you going to use the same one as always?" This isn't the first time he has come to the Konoha Hot Spring. Ever since he started learning Sensory Jutsu, Sasuke also started coming to the Konoha Hot Springs. His plan was the same from the very beginning, and in order to not raise suspicions he has been coming to the facility every once in a while.
"Yes, the mixed gender…" nodded Sasuke. That's correct, the mixed-gender bath. While the mixed-gender bath never appeared in the anime and the manga of Naruto, that doesn't mean they aren't a thing in this world. They are widely popular and conform to the culture of this world. Naturally, there is a very good reason behind Sasuke's intention of using mixed-gender baths. The gender of the watcher could be either male or female, if their gender turns out to be female, they would definitely feel restrained when entering the male bath. However, if it's the mixed gender, the watcher wouldn't feel as restrained and might get hooked to the bait.
"Alright, I will prepare the towels…" nodded the Onee-san. She took out a basket and put a few towels inside it, and as she handed it over to Sasuke, she bent down a little to give him a clear view of her cleavage, and said as she exhaled hot breath in his ear, "By the way… if you help me clean the baths later, Onee-san can provide you with some exclusive special services…"
"No need…" answered Sasuke with a disgusted expression as he snatched the basket containing the towels and went toward the mixed-gender bath.
"Awww~ I was hoping for some positive reaction…" said Onee-san with disappointment in her voice, then grinned. Of course, she was just teasing Sasuke, it's fun when stoic people suddenly become flustered, but she hasn't been able to get any reaction out of Uchiha Sasuke so far. Naturally, not every customer can make her take such a step as to reveal her cleavage and what's underneath it to them, but Sasuke is such a cute boy that she can't help but want to do it in order to tease him. 'Sooner or later, onee-san will definitely get a reaction out of you boy~' She thought cheering herself up, then returned to the reception desk to entertain the next customer who just walked in after Sasuke.
Looking at the person, the Onee-san thought to herself, 'Ara, this is a new face,' she smiled warmly, and greeted them with a polite bow, "Welcome to the Konoha Hot Spring…"
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Inside the Mixed Gender Bath
'It's common sense to wash one's body prior to soaking in the hot spring,' at least that's what he was told the Onee-san at the reception had told him when he first came to the Konoha hot spring, and that's what he was doing.
While Sasuke was washing his hair using the Shampoo his mother used to wash his hair, suddenly, the gate of the mixed-gender bath opened as a teenage girl wrapped in a white towel and carrying a wooden basin walked in. Despite not having raised his head to look at the person who walked in, Sasuke's lips arched in a smile, as he thought to himself, 'The fish took the bait…'
Without any doubt, the person who walked inside the mixed-gender bath has the same Chakra Signature as the person who has been following him everywhere for the past few months.
The girl walked over and sat beside Sasuke and removed the towel, exposing everything for others to see. Naturally, Sasuke turned his head a little to look, the girl caught him in the act and asked in a stoic voice, "Is something the matter?"
"I was just hoping to catch a glimpse, it's a pity there's nothing there…" Sasuke shook his head with a wretched smile and closed his eyes while thinking, 'She doesn't have Byakugan, so not a Hyuga and she doesn't cover her eyes using shades, so not an Aburame either… at the same time, she doesn't have claw marks painted on her face, so not an Inuzuka either… Now there's also a possibility of her being from some other clan like the Yamanaka, or the Sarutobi, or the Shimura, or perhaps from some other less prominent Clan, in fact, she could even be someone from the civilian background.'
"Is that so?!" mumbled the girl doubtfully as she looked at her own chest. Indeed, she was flat as a wooden board, there were barely any protrusions. She has never really cared about the lack of a curve, since there has never been a need for her to care about it in the first place, but this is the first time someone has directly pointed out the lack of a curve.
"Hmm…" nodded Sasuke lightly as he poured a basin of water over himself to wash off the shampoo, then began to leather his skin using a soap bar while thinking to himself, 'Not even a little flustered by my comment which was basically sexual harassment? The Anbus seems to retain a certain degree of emotions, Yūgao, Kakashi, Itachi, and other Anbu are direct proof, yet she showed no signs of embarrassment or shame when I ogled at her or commented on the absence of her rack, which can only mean either she has some Dandere traits, or she lacks emotions at all. The fact that she didn't even bother to hide her snatch means that it has little to do with possessing Dandere traits, and more to do with lacking emotions such as shame, and only Root Anbu are known for lacking emotions… Regardless, should I try to use Genjutsu on her? No perhaps using Genjutsu on her this early might not be the best choice… she might have her guard up considering that it's the first time she has made close contact with me… maybe a few more tries later…'
He was really tempted to put a suggestion (the same way as Itachi did to his two Root subordinates in Itachi Shinden) using a Genjutsu into her mind as that would give him more leeway to act freely.
In fact, Sasuke had a feeling that even if he attempted to put a suggestion into her mind on their first meeting, it would work without any problem. He reached such a conclusion based on the fact that Root Anbu doesn't seem that good. Just think about it, the best Anbu that Shimura Danzō had under him were Sai, Yamanaka Fu, and Aburame Torune. Granted, the three of them are somewhat tricky, especially Fu and Torune but overall, their level of strength wasn't all that exaggerated in his opinion. Therefore, Sasuke didn't think that this nameless Anbu who clearly did not make any appearance in the Canon would be any better either, however, upon mulling over it for a while, he decided to control himself and chose not to do so on their first meeting.
After making up his mind, Sasuke once again poured a basin of water to wash off the soap leather. Since his body was clean now, he decided to enter the hot water.
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The next day, at the training Field Twenty-Seven
"Alright, let's start with the infamous Tree Climbing Exercise…" mumbled Sasuke while looking at the tall tree in front of him. Tree Climbing Exercise is one of the many basic Chakra control exercises that Genins learn. He has been focusing on Leaf Concentration and Multiple Leaf Concentration Exercises for the past few months and has decided to change things a little. In fact, there's still a variation of the Leaf Concentration Exercise that he has not worked on, but he would do that at a later date, for now, the Tree Climbing Exercise is the focus.
'Based on what I can recall from the Anime about the Tree Climbing exercise… using too much Chakra will push me away from the bark of the tree, and using too little Chakra will make me lose my footing… and as the height I have climbed increases, I would need to constantly adjust the output of Chakra in order to not fall off because the word done would constantly increase with the increase in displacement… well, these are the key points I need to keep in mind…' with that understood, Sasuke took out a Kunai from his Kunai holster and held it in his right hand, then he weaved the hand sign to focus his Chakra on his feet and walked toward the tree in front of him.
Sasuke lifted his left leg and put it on the bark of the tree while focusing his Chakra on his sole, with neither there being too much output nor too little output, and only when he felt his sole firmly stuck on the bark did, he lift his right leg off the ground, and put it on the bark while focusing his Chakra on the sole. Now standing parallel to the ground, Sasuke thought to himself, 'That's the first step completed successfully…' Then he slowly stopped focusing Chakra on the sole of his left leg and removed it from the bark, then put it higher while once again slowly channeling Chakra on the sole until he felt his sole firmly stuck to the bark and repeated the same with his right leg.
Sasuke was going slowly step by step while constantly adjusting the output of Chakra until he felt his feet firmly stuck to the bark, so he managed to reach the top without falling once. Sitting on one of the thick branches of the tree, Sasuke mumbled to himself, "I guess, carrying out the Leaf concentration exercise and the Multiple Leaf Concentration Exercise did help out a lot in improving my Chakra Control…"
The fact that he was able to effortlessly control the output of Chakra and climbed the tree in one go proves that his Chakra control is already quite good. But of course, he was taking one step at a time while consciously controlling the Chakra output, so it can't really be said that he has mastered the Chakra Control. True mastery of Chakra Control is achieved when the actions he carried out are performed rapidly and unconsciously. He is still far from reaching that level.
Shaking his head, Sasuke focused his attention on the exercise, "Now that I have climbed the tree… let's try to descend it…"
In the same manner that he had climbed, Sasuke started to descend the tree. One step at a time while consciously controlling the output of Chakra, as a result, without any major difficulty he was able to descend the tree.
"Now that I have got a feel… let's try to do it quickly and without consciously controlling the output of Chakra…" With that in mind, Sasuke started the second step of the Tree Climbing Exercise.
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