Chapter 17 – Strong Together

After everyone left the house, Raito asked Naruto to focus on the theoretical portion. Thanks to the skill, '[Teach]', he found it much easier to teach Naruto. 

Time passed more swiftly than he had thought, sun had set, and the night breeze gently swept through. Lights flickered to life, casting a warm glow upon the house in the chilly night.

Grabbing a cup and filling it with warm water, Raito let Naruto to do his reading while he quietly retreated to his room, locking the door behind him.

[ID Create – Zombie Wasteland]

Standing on top of a building, Raito looked beneath and found zombies walking in groups, wandering aimlessly.

"Let's start. Notification, ON." Raito said to no one but a box popped in front of him. 

[Notification - ON]

Walking away from the crowded area, Raito reached a more secluded area in terms of zombie population. When he saw the zombie, he took out a dozen of stones and lured it into a quiet alley. Closing the alley with ninja wire and kunai, Raito successfully trapped it. 

Testing the strings, Raito guessed it was strong enough to withstand the zombie.

Snake, Rat.

"[Demonic illusion: Hell Viewing Technique]"

The chakra flared, affecting the zombie. 

Raito watched in trepidation as the zombie moved the same way that it had been before. 'There is decrease in CP but-'

All of the sudden, the zombie began shrieking, attracting quite a few zombies towards his direction. One by one, the zombies gathered. Some entangled in the wires while others struggled to enter the alley, only to get stuck 

Raito hid behind the windows and used the Genjutsu on the one in the middle. The same thing happened, after a couple of seconds, the zombies started shrieking then eventually began to calm down then everything returned to the scene before. They began moving randomly without any goal in mind, wandering aimlessly.

'Not even one point of drop in HP.' Raito sighed as he closed the window and looked at the room. It was a small room with one bed, one table and one wardrobe. 

"It's a girl's room." Raito looked at the poster of Sasuke and sat on the comfortable looking bed.

Raito activated '[Meditation]', replenishing the lost chakra.

In his peak physical and chakra condition, Raito began the hunt. 

Casting Genjutsu, '[Hell Viewing]', then using Taijutsu to kill the zombies. Raito focused on increasing the level of his skills. Taking a long time to kill his opponents Raito used many skills. Shuriken and kunai were leveling faster than others. He also used the 'Academy Three', though the 'Clone' jutsu was of not much use. His best guess was that the zombie could 'lock on' to their opponents. 

Raito sighed as he killed the last zombie in the area. His Chakra pool was his biggest disadvantage right now. After using a high-level skill, his chakra would be completely depleted. 

'I need to raise my INT.' Raito thought as he looked at his skill list and status screen. 'More books, more chakra control, more… more many things.'

[Chakra Control Exercise – Leaf Sticking Lvl 10 (passive) Exp 12%] 

When the chakra was used up, Raito walked inside the nearest house and used meditation along with 'Leaf Sticking Exercise'. 

Cycle of killing zombies, recovering chakra, practicing chakra control took most of the time. With the experience and loots halved, Raito focused on the skills. 

Stealth, Shuriken and Kunai, and Taijutsu had improved rapidly. '[Hell Viewing Genjutsu]' increased by a couple but nothing more.

Leaving the few zombie behind, Raito exited the dungeon and reached back home. In his room, Raito made a set of hand seals and channeled his chakra on a book. "[False Surrounding Genjutsu]"

[Introduction to Medical Herbs]

A book introducing the most common herbs found in the Konoha.

Owner: Yoshizawa Raito 

Currently under a Genjutsu, changing the outside cover from 'Introduction to Medical Herbs' to 'Intorduction to Magical Hrebs'. 

"It was this simple," Raito remarked, placing the book on the table before descending the stairs.

Naruto was sitting on the sofa with a paper, practicing his calligraphy. There were similar paper all around the living room.

He had a hand resting on his knees and the other, holding the brush, making strokes.

"Naruto, help me with this Genjutsu." Raito approached near Naruto and called. He tapped Naruto's shoulder and said, "You look bored."

Naruto threw the ink brush down and jumped in excitement. "I thought I was gonna die of boredom."

"Iruka-sensei taught us how to dispel Genjutsu. You know how to do that, right?" Raito asked, scanning the house.

"Naruto, look at everything then close your eyes. I will use a Genjutsu called 'False Surrounding', and all you have to do is dispel it."

Naruto looked the things near him then at everything around him. He closed his eyes then opened after a couple of seconds. He did it couple of times, opening and closing his eyes, making Raito give him a death stare.

Snake, Rat.

'[Demonic Illusion: False surroundings]'

Releasing his chakra, Raito visualized the changes. Using '[Chakra Sense]', he was able to visualize specks and lumps of chakra coming out from his body to a certain distance and stick to various surfaces and covering them, then creating a new membrane with different patterns. The patterns were similar to those that Raito had visualized.

"Raito, can I open my eyes yet?" Naruto asked in an impatient voice. 

"Just a moment," Raito replied, lifting the cup concealed by Genjutsu.

"[Observe]" 

[Raito's cup]

A common cup brought from the 'Dancing leaf market'. 

Made by Tokio Manufacturers 

Owner: Yoshizawa Raito 

Price: 200 Ryo per set 

Commonly used to drink tea 

Special – Currently under a Genjutsu, altering the cup's exterior color from green to yellow.

[Skill Demonic Illusion: False surroundings leveled up by one.] 

"Naruto, open your eyes and try to find it. If you think there is some problems, than just do as Iruka-sensei said. Make a rat seal then release a little bit of your chakra and dispel it." Raito suggested, providing a simple example.

"I already knew that." Naruto said as he grabbed the nearest shirt and shouted 'Kai'. Visible chakra projected outwards and dispelled the Genjutsu on the cup even when it was not targeted. 

Surprised by the powerful wave of chakra from Naruto, Raito sighed and again performed another 'False surrounding' then let Naruto try again. After five or six times, Raito was out of chakra but Naruto still had a ton of chakra—an envy-inducing reality.

Raito started using 'Meditation', to quickly recover his lost chakra. 

With everything the day had to give, it had now come to an end. Nothing to do and when no one was around, Raito felt exhausted. 

Looking at the ceiling with the lights on, he couldn't think of what to do next.

Train his physical attributes or mental attributes, or train his skills. Looking at the screens, he had many things to be done. 

Before gaining these powers, he would use his 'Chakra Sense' to just search for anything else. People walking on the streets, their faint chakra emissions and their unique chakra signatures. Sometimes with their emotions, their chakra would either flare up or dim down. A totality among the normal villagers.

Sometimes, no many times, shinobis would walk by. Their chakra had more things, more amount, and are difficult to read.

"It will be fun." Raito mused, closing his eyes and activating '[Chakra Sense]', and its various specialty. 

[Area Sense], [Chakra Signature Sense], [Clarity], [Remote Viewing]

With the help of these skills, Raito felt like a bird soaring through the skies. He could go anywhere he liked, see anyone he liked. He tried moving forward, so his vision move forward, then he tried moving backward and his vision moved back. Experimenting a while, Raito felt extremely satisfied. Combined with 'Fast Thinking' and 'Clarity', Raito found that he could see even a drop of water rolling down the flower and from the tap of the sink. 

In just one minute, Raito had traveled all the way into someone's house and see the people living in there. The people were talking but their voice was slow and droning.

"La-y du-own fu-to-on" With the help of 'Fast Thinking', Raito improved his lip reading skills and learned a new recipe that his distant neighbor created.

[Skill 'Lip Reading' has levelled up by 1.]

'Back.' With just one word and one thought, the ethereal journey vanished, and Raito reopened his eyes to his own living room.

Leaves came out of the inventory and hovered above his body, connected with a thin chakra threads —though slightly wobbly and weak. Before they could stabilize, the leaves began to spin rapidly in clockwise direction, casting an enchanting dance in the air.

Sunday morning, Raito woke up to the sharp ray of light, sneaking through the curtains.

With everything done and gone, Raito looked at the backyard, where Naruto was training with his clone.

Just outside the window, there was M-level thick scroll and with it, a letter with a big lip mark.

A small smile appeared on Raito's face as he stood outside, just in front of the door. Taking a deep breath in, Raito shouted to the clones littered everywhere. "Naruto's we are going for ramen."

"Ramen?" Naruto rushed over when he heard his favorite word. He ignored everything and rushed towards the door. Just when Naruto felt like everything was just as any other time, he felt something slamming against him. Then there was a 'bang' and Naruto fell on the ground. 

The Genjutsu disappeared and Raito was there with his hand on the stomach bending over and laughing madly. 

The Genjutsu vanished, and Raito stood there, hand on his stomach, bending over and laughing madly. Naruto quickly woke up, glared at Raito, and, making a cross hand sign, shouted, "Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!" A hundred angry-faced Naruto clones materialized.

Facing the small army in front of him, Raito felt a twinge of fear. Anyone would, when they see a hundred of angry-faced Naruto with pure evil mind. 

Raito did what he thought would get him out of the trouble. He used '[ID Create]', disappeared from the real world and landed in the dungeon. Raito locked on to the space, where the real Naruto was or what he captured through his 'Fast Thinking'. Appearing at that spot and exiting the ID, he caught Naruto and dragged him in the blank wasteland. 

In the real world, the clones were confused, making noise, but one suggested to dispel. One by one, they all vanished.

In the dungeon world, Raito held Naruto in a submission lock.

Naruto was glaring at Raito and spitting fire. He struggled but Raito had a strong hold.

"It was just a joke. I didn't-"

"I also want to do Jutsus." Naruto shouted, cutting off Raito. 

Raito was silent after hearing Naruto. A few moments passed by then bringing out a scroll from his inventory Raito handed it to Naruto.

"That's what Anko-nee and Yūgao-nee gave to us. Jiji was able to give these with a lot of trouble on his head. Same is with that 'Shadow Clone' technique and that 'Fūinjutsu' book."

"You didn't just think he could just give you jutsu without those people at the council saying anything?"

"…Why?" Tears welled up in Naruto's eyes as she clenched his fist and gritted his teeth looking at Raito. "Why me? Why us?"

Raito grabbed the jacket on his shoulder part, pulled him forward then held Naruto by his face. "We don't have a clan or a big family with us to give us high-level Ninjutsu and all, but there are Shika, Chōji, Mari-nee, Anko-nee, Yūgao-nee, Jii chan, and so many more… helping us, teaching things whenever they have time."

There was a long paused. Raito released Naruto then turned around.

"Just wait… wait until we become shinobi. Then we can learn openly as much Ninjutsu as we like."

"Yeah," Naruto wiped his tears and nodded vigorously.

"For that, you need to pass the academy finals, alright?"

"Mm," Naruto nodded vigorously.

"Now get up and learn those Jutsus." Raito opened the scroll and smiled.

Trembling, Naruto supported himself. Hand on his thighs, he took a deep breath and shouted with the top of his voice, his declaration, determination, and will echoing in his shout. "Believe it."

It only takes one moment to make a sharp turn in life. It may not be this one, nor may it happen anytime in future. But if you are not trying than what the hell are you doing? 

Raito made a copy of the scroll, using it for himself. With the help of the gamer's ability, he grasped everything about the techniques, at least in theory.

Learning a new skill, Raito learned about the skill itself. How was it made, how could it be used, who was the inventor of the jutsu and on what principle it is used. Basically, everything on the theoretical basis. Raito knew about the jutsu when he pushed the 'YES' button. 

"Learn about those right now and later, we'll go for the monster hunt." Raito said, wanting to draw a sword or anything but remember that there wasn't anything like that in his inventory.

Ox, Snake.

'[Lightning palm]'

With the stretch of his hand, Raito's hand glowed in blue and small snakes of thunder danced around. Touching a tree nearby, it made a light buzz sound and the technique died down. Trying it again, this time Raito did not touch or do anything but just kept it in the air, and after a minute, the jutsu died down. 

"It's really a D-rank." Raito sighed at the weak attacking power of the technique then looked at other techniques.

"Earth Pit and Earth Cover are simple." With a Snake hand seal, the earth below had a small pit then it was covered by a thin layer of earth.

While Raito had fun trying out the various techniques, Naruto had a glum face. "This doesn't work, that doesn't work. What the heck is this?"

He threw the scroll on the ground and plopped. 

Moments later, he picked up the scroll and went for the last jutsu on the list, 'Erasing Wind'. 

Tiger, Snake, Rat

After making hand seals, Naruto released his chakra and clapped, "Erasing Wind."

With the clap, the wind gathered around Naruto.

Naruto had his eyes peeled as he looked at the surrounding. A smile formed on his face as excitement bubbled up. "I did it."

"Let's try it again." "Erasing Wind." 

This time, the wind formed into rings that slowly dissipated but then produced an aftereffect, a sudden and violent gust of wind throwing everything into disarray.

Raito, who was standing at the other end of the area, was thrown a couple of streets away.

"Damn it, Naruto." Raito used a quick heal on himself and dashed towards Naruto.

In the new clearing, Naruto was with his hand clasped as rings of wind formed around him. 

"Erasing Wind"

"Damn it." Raito activated 'Fast Thinking' and, with its help, quickly found a solution.

'[Earth Pit].' With a moderated amount of chakra, the earth below Raito's feel sank, creating a pit big enough for him to take cover.

As soon as the wind died down, Raito dashed towards Naruto and grabbed him by the collar but stayed silent, only giving him a hard stare.

"What?" Naruto asked in confusion but soon began to feel a little faint.

"Take care of yourself, for Kami's sake." Raito looked at the numbskull for a while before loosening the grip. "I had something to say to you."

Naruto shook his head, drank a bottle then sat on the ground. "So, what is it?"

"You have 15 hours to train… everything you have learned till now."

Naruto looked confused as he asked. "Why? What?"

"Something like exams." After a vague answer, Raito added, "Mari-nee, Anko-nee and Yūgao-nee are going to be here for a test."

"They also said that if we can do any of these technique on the scroll. They will give us a C-Rank technique."

"I am not ready." Naruto jumped in anxiety and excitement then forced Raito to go back to the real world. "I need to train."

Sitting on the sofa, Raito looked back and sighed. Naruto was engrossed in training his 'Body Replacement' and 'Transformation'.

"We could have done this in the dungeon." He mused, turning the page and reaching the end of the small book, 'Snow Country'.

[INT raised by 1]

"Right hand man kills the royal lineage and rules the country and brings prosperity." Raito threw the book to a box, then grabbed another from the box behind him. "I hope this one's better."

There were leaves on his shoulder spinning clockwise and sometime anti clockwise, much like a leaf falling from a tree, tossed about by the wind.

Somewhere in Konohagakure 

A young man with glasses held an empty vial. A frown appeared as he grabbed a scroll and infused it with chakra, releasing a rectangular box with blood vials. "This isn't it either."

Several scrolls lay around, each engraved with storage seals, accompanied by detailed notes about the person it belonged to.

Throwing down the empty vial, the young man placed his hand on his head and supported it, "So they really know who I am, or maybe, who I am working for."

His frown deepened, and mouth puckered. Crossing his arms, the young man began to think, "That's impossible; I haven't contacted him in a year."

"Then again these vials are proof enough that they know about me."

The young man grabbed the storage scrolls and looked for any proof of tampering. "Sending some high-level expert, just to empty a single blood vial. Just what is going on?"

He jumped from his seat and started cleaning his mess. "But then why didn't they take anything else? Or why didn't they just kill me?"

"Who the hell are you, Yoshizawa Raito?" 

Konoha Memorial Hall,

Standing in front of a huge slab of black stone, inscribed with the names of the fallen, was the young Yoshizawa Raito. 

"Not once, but twice. If I was anyone else, I'd say, 'What a coincidence. 'Didn't expect to meet you here.' or something like that, but I won't." Raito turned around to see a silver haired figure behind him.

Standing lazily was Hatake Kakashi, with his laid-back posture and reading the same orange book. 

Focusing his eyes on the boy, Kakashi moved forward and closed the book, caressing it before slowly putting it inside his pouch.

"You seem to know that I am going to be your instructor, if you pass the test, that is."

"Heh, thank you for telling me that… sensei." Raito gave Kakashi a side-glance before turning back. "Stalker"

"Top scorer in theoretical exams and just one place behind in the practicals, just behind Uchiha Sasuke."

"So?" Raito took a step back and turned around. 

Kakashi walked near Raito and said, "I read it in a book, 'You will always chase for someone or something in every episode of your life'."

"So, what are you chasing?" Kakashi gave an eye smile.

Raito frowned, "What?"

"Uzumaki Naruto, poor chakra control. Last in theory… if I had to give a score, it would be the bottom of the barrel."

"…" Raito felt his face twitching as he heard what he had said to Naruto a couple of days earlier but with even more degrading. It didn't feel good.

"Hyūga Hinata, from the clan of great power but she's weaker than anyone in the clan. I heard that even her small sister is better than she is. Don't you want to… if you can replace her with her sister, who is more talented, more strong minded. If…"

Kakashi slightly leaned down and came to Raito's level and looked at his eyes. "If just you could…"

Staring into Raito's eyes, Kakashi could discern a fleeting mix of anger, excitement, and a palpable desire to take action. Yet, in the blink of an eye, those emotions vanished.

Though the words did provoke him, Raito had the gamer's power helped him remain cool-headed.

['Mind Disturbance – Irritation' resisted by Gamer's Mind.]

Closing the box with his mind, Raito looked at Kakashi with his 'Chakra Sense'. There were specks of chakra emitting from Kakashi's eye.

Turning around, Raito left the memorial hall and waved his hand. After walking for a few minute, he disappeared into the dungeon and patted his disturbed breathing. 

Raito looked down at the ground, he had a small smile on his face. "Naruto has lots of chakra, something at not even you could match, sensei and about Hinata, she is really dangerous with those eyes and hands. If I just do-"

Raito hurriedly smacked his mouth then looked around. Realizing that he was inside the dungeon, he sat on the ground and shook his head vigorously.

"It's just a matter of time… I can help them."

[Skill Demonic Illusion – False Surroundings leveled up by one.] 

Perplexed, Raito gazed in a daze at the notification box, then, after a moment's contemplation, closed it. "What is going on?" he mused aloud.