21 Chapter 21

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Unedited version, will update once it's edited.

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After my reunion with Tsunade, things… continued, it was good… a sense of continuance I needed, it was as if I never left the village, as if I hadn't killed thousands. It made me feel, for a moment once again, normal. Though, if I have to be honest, something did change, Tsunade was a bit different, not a bad different though, I… just don't know how to explain. Is… like, she didn't want to spend a day without me, every morning I wake up to her knocking at my door, to talk… or train, or just sit on a tree without doing anything.

I liked it, maybe that is why she was doing it. Who knows.

"Wake up!" A cheerful voice interrupted my meditations. "Ready to train!?." Tsunade smiled, jumping to my window.

I returned a grin, "I am, but… aren't you getting tired of losing?"

Tsunade rolled her eyes as she snorted, "I know I can't beat you, but it's fun, besides, while I wait for my sensei to arrive, you are the best teacher available," well she was right.

"Fair enough," I chuckled, flickering out of my room.

"Show off," Tsunade mumbled.

A few minutes later, we were in the middle of the woods. Where Tsunade was sparring against one of my clones, while I ate some breakfast. The fight was one sided, with my clone dodging and deflecting her attacks at every turn, "Force is meaningless without skill Tsunade, you pack quite a punch… but that without speed and precision, it's nothing,"

"I can see that," Tsunade chuckled, as my clone kicked her in the guts. "Can you lower the difficulty… to genin?!" ahhh, how cute… she thinks my clone is fighting above genin level, adorable.

"I am…" I grinned, "I am keeping my clone to the level I had when I left Konoha… in all actuality, you are stronger than my clone, but…. My clone has something you don't. Experience,"

"Huh," Tsunade sighed, "So… to defeat him, all I have to do… is get creative!" I wonder where this is going.

Punching the ground, Tsunade threw several smoke bombs into the ground, creating a thick curtain of multicolored smoke, then she pulled a kunai from her pouch and lunged at the clone, a good strategy but ineffectively slow. "Nope," My clone chuckled, jumping into a tree.

"Oh come on!" Tsunade cried.

"You are getting closer," I assured her, "But… if you want my personal recommendation, you need more speed… you have strength and chakra, but you are painfully slow… maybe get some training weights?"

"Speed got it," Tsunade nodded.

"Yeah," I nodded, wondering if I was doing the shinobi world any good by telling Tsunade to increase her speed.

"Alright… I am done for the day," Tsunade sighed, sitting on the grass.

"Well, it's my turn then," I chuckled. It was time to train my shurikenjutsu.

"Yes! Go go!" Tsunade urged me in a spirited tone, unable to hide her excitement, she had gotten a liking to see me train, she… thinks it's awe-striking.

Chuckling at her enthusiasm, I grabbed my kunai, as I ordered my clone to put targets around. Once the clone was done, I wedged one kunai in between all my fingers, making a total of eight kunais in my hands. Eight iron claws that reminded me of the days I used to pretend I was Wolverine. Taking a deep breath, I lowered my face and focused on my surroundings.

For a brief second that expanded in the shaking of the trees under the wing, I let out a small breath, as I kicked lightly at the ground beneath my feet. In the air, with my body upside down, I looked around, locating the targets, and with a swift movement, I threw the kunai, shortly followed by a familiar sound.

Tsk Tsk Tsk Tsk.

"All eight of them in the center, wow," Tsunade said, amazed with the result.

"It was good, but a moving target, it's harder…" I added.

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Soon after we finished with our daily training, I walked Tsunade back to the Senju compound, where Mito resided. Today I had been invited to dine with her, and Tsunade, a very prestigious invitation apparently, considering Mito didn't invite anyone, according to Tsunade.

As we walked out of the forest, a very familiar feeling caught my attention, killing intent, "Tsunade, I want you to run and if possible bring help," I told her, with a tone of finality.

Tsunade, quickly catching what was happening, asked, "How many?"

"One," I wasn't sure, in fact, sending her alone could result badly. "Change of planes," creating two clones, I ordered one of them to carry Tsunade back to her grandma's house, and the other to protect them.

"I will send help," Tsunade mouthed, as my clone flickered away with her.

"So, are you after me… or her?" I asked, loud enough to be heard.

"Both, but for different reasons… we want you dead, and we want her… to be a wood style brood mother," A tall man, of burly composure said as he landed a few meters behind me, "My partner will get her… two clones won't stop him,"

Looking over his level, [Uzunaga Botaru LV 21] I smiled, "You are severely underestimating me, but that's good, for me.. Not for you,"

Hanging his head low, Uzunaga let an ironic smile slip across his face. "Am I though?" In the blink of an eye, the distance between us closed, and with incredible speed, Uzanaga punched my throat and solar plexus simultaneously, he then pulled a kunai out, digging it into my stomach.

"Haha, so much for the Undead Calamity!" Uzanaga laughed, but as my body fell to the ground leaving a trail of blood.

"So you are from Iwa," I whispered into his ear.

"What?!" Jumping into a tree, Uzanaga growled, "I killed you… how?"

"The undead part should be a dead giveaway, but it's not because of that," I chuckled, looking over my corpse, or should I say… my illusionary clone.

"Genjutsu… but… the files say you don't use Genjutsu," Uzanaga muttered in disbelief, as my corpse disappeared into nothingness.

"I normally don't, but Tobirama sensei was very clear when he told me… a shinobi must master everything," I chuckled.

"But when?!" Uzanaga asked, "When did you put me in the illusion!?"

"The first clone I created, and never dissipated, he did it for me… you would be surprised how easy it's to infect someone else with your chakra when they are overconfident," I answered, "Anyway… time to take a nap," using Hammer of Justice, I stunned him into place, and then with a chakra powered punch I knocked him out cold. "That's one, now onto the…" before I was able to finish that sentence, one of the clones I had sent with Tsunade dissipated, transferring to me the information that the other enemy had been taken care of rather easily, and that Tsunade was already within Konoha walls.

"Well, let's see what the Torture deparment wants to do with these two," I sighed, as I wondered I would have time to buy something for Mito before seven.