8 Chapter 8: The Finale of a Deadly Night

Before Kuzo could insult the other chunin any longer, a man appeared behind the latter with a kunai at his neck. He was wearing a green vest of a jonin. The headband indicated that he was from Konoha, meaning that Kuzo could relax, finally.

"Genin, good job on hanging on," said the jonin before slashing the throat of the guy Kuzo had been fighting.

Kuzo squinted his eyes upon the murderous scene. He had done the same without blinking an eye. But that's not the reason why he squinted his eyes and felt sore in his heart.

He couldn't believe that he lost a huge deal of power because of the jonin. If Kuzo was the one to end that chunin, one could only imagine what height he would reach tonight. Nevertheless, taking 8 shinobis with a skill level of a genin was worth it.

Kuzo forcefully said, "Thank you, sir."

Ano appeared behind the jonin running and smiling. "Relax, Kuzo. You've done well. You should be proud."

Kuzo took a deep breath and shook his head. "This guy is called vice captain, and his skills are around chunin level. I don't know how strong the captain is, but I guess she's more experienced. We should hurry, or Hamuro will be in danger."

"Relax. I'll take it from here." The jonin then jumped. He gave a look to the ground, and he could notice many bodies on them. He didn't say anything, but he vanished.

Kuzo sat down and laid on his back.

"Excuse me," Ano approached Kuzo. "Why are you wearing like them?"

By them, she meant the enemy since Kuzo had taken their attire.

Kuzo gave her a side eye. "Why are you polite all of a sudden?"

She forced a smile. "Just answer the damn question."

"That's more like you," Kuzo replied. "It's to gain the surprise element."

"I see, but you could use the Transformation Jutsu."

"I can change my look, but what about my scent or other things?" Kuzo wondered. In the anime, the transformation jutsu could be exposed by some people, yet one would find it hard to believe when it fooled god-like beings. Kuzo wondered if it had something to do with experience.

"That's good." She laid down on the ground. "For a moment, I thought you died."

"Why do you care? Weren't you the one who told me not to end up as a burden?" Kuzo said.

"True. I thought of you as a brat who was very stupid to pick up a C mission as his first mission. But the way you acted, the way you planned, changed my mind about you. You even employed the clone jutsu to our advantage, and thanks to that, I managed to escape."

That was a lot of praise. It made him feel quite uncomfortable.

"It's too early to celebrate." Kuzo looked at the moon. "Hamuro may be dead by now."

"By the way, where is Kabuto San?" Ano asked the one million dollar question.

"I think that he'll appear somewhere, injured and say that he lost consciousness while trying to stop the enemy," Kuzo said, thinking of Kabuto. That guy was praised by Orochimaru to be at Kakashi's level, pre-war, of course. But he would act weak on many occasions.

Kabuto was nowhere weak, even at this stage. In the anime, he had put up a good fight against Tsunade, a legendary shinobi, and gave her a good beating. Despite losing in the end, he still proved his skills.

Five minutes later, it happened as Kuzo predicted. Kabuto appeared with blood dripping from his head. He approached them.

"Sorry, guys. I was coming. But I was ambushed and lost my awareness," Kabuto said. "But seeing you lying down, I assume that everything went alright."

Kuzo waved his hand, turned, and closed his eyes. Kuzo had a strong hunch that these guys he fought were hired by Kabuto, maybe to test the defenses of the village.

Ano explained the situation to Kabuto.

"So, you are saying that Kuzo took care of the squad before the jonin arrived, and he could fight on par with a chunin, an experienced one," Kabuto said, sounding interested.

'Please, don't be interested,' Kuzo thought.

"It's nothing. Just the result of an extra year of academy."

"You're quite wrong," Kabuto said. "Experience is something that you can't get in the academy. You can learn as many fighting techniques as you want. But only with experience can you apply them perfectly in the battlefield. Or, at least, you need immense talent."

"I'll take that as praise," Kuzo replied. He then sat up. "I've recovered. Let's head back and see what happened."

Being praised by Kabuto somehow didn't make him feel uncomfortable.

"Let me help you stand up." Kabuto said, extending his hand to Kuzo.

Trying not to make Kabuto feel anything suspicious, Kuzo shook his hand and stood up.

They then headed back to the location where they had camped.

Hamuro was sitting near a tree, an arm was missing.

Surely, the woman from the other camp was quite a formidable foe for a recent chunin. But he had held his own against her.

Kuzo scratched his hair and turned his head.

The jonin they had summoned had no scratch on him. And he had managed to take that woman down. She now was on the ground, shaking.

Kuzo thought about approaching her. Maybe if he got nearer to her at her final moments, he would be able to use the Gluttony seal on her.

"Don't get near. She took poison," the jonin warned him.

Kuzo stopped.

The jonin pulled a kunai and hit the mask, sending it flying.

What was revealed was a purple face. No features could be recognized.

"The poison attacks the brain and the skin, and everyone who touches her," said the jonin. "She had done so in case she died."

"So that's how they protect information from leaking," Kuzo said. "But won't that cause a large-scale war with their village? I guess it's the Village Hidden in the Rocks."

"Not exactly. They may originally be from there, but they aren't part of them. Even if they were, they can always say they're missing-nins, albeit I doubt a genin could be a missing nin. Besides, our relation with them has never been peaceful," the jonin sighed. "The Hokage would definitely try the most peaceful solution, and nothing would happen."

The jonin had a point. The 3rd Hokage was that kind of person. He would accept sacrificing a person from their village for the sake of peace. That's what happened with Neji's father. If the 3rd Hokage had a bit of pride, he would have announced war. But no. He accepted the sacrifice of someone else for the sake of peace. If Kuzo had been the Hokage, he would have demanded the other party to sacrifice.

Observing the Jonin's tone, Kuzo could tell that he felt the same.

"Give your captain first aid and then head back to the village and report what you found," said the jonin before vanishing.

Kuzo went to Hamuro and tied his severed arm, stopping the bleeding. He then carried him up and said, "Let's go back," before jumping back in the village's direction.

-x-X-x-

Kuzo arrived at the village. After finishing making his report with everyone else, he got his payment and walked out of the Hokage's Mansion.

When he looked at the bright sky, he appreciated the scene like he had never done.

Last night felt like a horror movie. Blood, weapons, and jutsus were exchanged. Every moment felt as if it were the line between life and death.

For a man from Earth, seeing all of this was mind-blowing.

Even until now, his heart was still beating faster than usual. But on the good hand, he earned himself a higher power than the usual genin. To be exact, 8 Genins' powers combined with ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu. And he couldn't miss the first genin he had taken down, could he?

Stretching his arms up, he thought, 'I'll buy myself more gear, and then I'll start training again.'

Training was necessary to master his newfound power and control it. The last thing he wanted was to be powerless like he had been when he had fought that chunin.

-x-X-x-

Kuzo's performance didn't go unnoticed. The jonin who had been on the last night's mission had reported everything and how Kuzo had led the enemy toward him while letting his teammate escape and report using basic jutsus wisely.

"Not only did he distract the enemy, but he managed to take them down on his own," said the Hokage, picking interest in the new genin.

"I've seen him, wearing their mask and attacking them. He even managed to sustain himself against an experienced chunin. When I've seen that it was necessary for me to interfere, I did."

"So you think that he's chunin level?"

"He's strong as one and has jutsu. But he lacks experience. Other than that, he should have beaten him easily."

The Hokage held a scroll. "Kuzo Turo. A second-generation shinobi. He'd failed the graduation exam 6 times and repeated. His teachers always said that he had no ability to control chakra. Does this sound right to you?"

"No. He was clearly capable from what I have seen. He was clearly hiding his abilities at the academy. He could use the earth element and water element."

"From what his father reported, he'd spent a lot of time training him. But he was unable to mold chakra no matter what. But when he was with a group of merchants and engaged against a rogue genin, he suddenly was able to use chakra and all of the basic jutsus from the first time."

"He's either a prodigy retard or had been hiding his abilities. I don't think it's the former since he'd come up with an excellent plan in a short term."

"It could be that he was saying the truth. What do you think we should do, since no department claimed him?"

"I'd suggest giving him more time. If he shows good abilities, he could be promoted."

"I was thinking the same," said the Hokage. "But not too much time. If I put him under watch, then that guy must be watching him too."

"You mean Danzo-sama?" replied the jonin.