Battle

(Aizen POV)

I would have been starting my final year at the academy around this time.

I couldn't help but think about such things now and then. Even though my strength was increasing rapidly by being in the Root, I missed being with my friends.

Hanging out with the group after a hard day of work, seeing the clouds with them, talking with them.

They provided me with a semblance of a family, though I haven't seen them for about two years.

Sigh.

I brought my attention back to the matter at hand.

I was in the middle of a mission, after all.

Looking at the target approaching, I brandished my tanto and got ready to work.

Performing the body flicker technique, I arrived right in front of her throat and got ready to slash, only for her to dodge at the last second.

I expected this, however, and used my other hand to perform the hand seals for the electromagnetic murder jutsu.

I poured a little chakra into the jutsu, enough to briefly stun someone, and ejected the jutsu from my left hand.

The wave of lightning ejected from my hand and hit her, successfully stunning her.

Using this brief moment, I slashed my tanto toward her throat, but she blocked at the last second with a kunai.

She dashed backward, but the result was already set in stone.

A kunai flew toward her head.

She was sure of that, I made sure she was sure of that.

She saw the kunai threatening to pierce her head.

She heard the air slicing from the sharpness of the kunai.

As she raised her kunai in defense, I performed the body flicker technique and arrived near her, piercing her chest with my tanto.

She looked at me in disbelief as I slid back my tanto from her body, proceeding to end it with a swift slash to the throat.

After her body fell to the ground, I searched it for the mission objective, a scroll, and buried her after I found it.

Although we had no enmity, I killed her for my mission. Thus I wanted to show my respect by burying her body.

I completed the mission, but I still didn't go back to Konoha.

I was currently in Shimogakure, the village hidden in the frost.

Although there wasn't much to sight-see, I enjoyed the stark contrast from Konoha, which had sunny weather.

I visited a few restaurants over the next couple of days, a hobby of mine, and then started returning to Konoha.

Danzo usually didn't give dates on mission completion.

He just demanded that missions should be executed flawlessly and without error.

After a day and a half, I made it back to Konoha. Although the gate was near, I took a detour and instead went to the Root tunnel.

After going down, I reported my mission status to Danzo and delivered the scroll I was tasked with retrieving.

"Good job, Kira. You may return to your dwelling."

"Yes, Lord Danzo."

I did as he said, returning to my room and resting before I went to the training ground.

This training ground was now exclusively mine, as training grounds were abundant and Root ninjas were scarce.

"Shadow clone jutsu!"

Three shadow clones were summoned, before each taking on separate tasks.

Three separate shadow clones working on three different tasks was the current limit of my ability with shadow clones.

The burden of three conflicting memories was larger than three sets of similar memories, so I could only do three.

The three shadow clones took over half of my chakra, but it was all right since I would strictly focus on Taijutsu and body conditioning.

The first shadow clone began practicing the Water-Rock Fist and will practice Genjutus later.

The second shadow clone began practicing Kenjutsu and will practice one-handed hand signs later.

I learned one-handed signs when I realized I would usually hold a weapon in one hand. That limited my ability to use Ninjutsu and Genjutus, so I took it upon myself to use one-handed signs from now on.

The final shadow clone began practicing nature manipulation and will practice Ninjutsu later. This clone had the bulk of all the chakra which I distributed to the clones.

The shadow clone jutsu provided me with an abundance of training time, so I began training to merge my Earth-nature and Water-nature chakra. Before I could achieve that, however, I had to achieve a level of nature manipulation.

Over the past year of training, I attained the first level of chakra manipulation for all the elements, including fire and wind.

Although they weren't elements I possessed an affinity with, training them to the basic level was still acceptable.

The first level of nature manipulation consisted of this:

Soaking a leaf with water through only my chakra for my water element,

Cutting a leaf in half through only my chakra for my wind element,

Crumbling a leaf through only my chakra for my earth element,

Wrinkling a leaf through only my chakra for my lightning element,

Burning a leaf through only my chakra for my fire element.

Although I could already perform elemental techniques like the Water Release: Gunshot and the Earth Release: Earth Wall, I could only achieve those with the assistance of hand signs.

Without them, I wouldn't be capable of using elemental chakra.

Thus, I had to learn how to manipulate my chakra into an element on my own, without hand signs.

This took the better portion of the past year, as I had to go through multiple trials and errors to find the right ways to change my chakra without hand signs.

For water, I had to decompress my chakra and make it flow smoothly, like water.

For wind, I had to split my chakra and grind it against each other to sharpen it before recombining it.

For earth, I had to compress my chakra to emulate the natural hardness and sturdiness of earth.

For lightning, I had to force my chakra particles erratically to bounce against one another.

Finally, for fire, I had to make their chakra particles constantly grind against each other to emulate friction and heat.

That was the first level of nature manipulation.

That was why most ninjas aren't capable of performing more than two or three chakra natures.

The time, effort, and talent needed to do so were simply not worth it.

Instead, by focusing on the chakra a ninja had a natural affinity for, a ninja could make much more progress.

The shadow clone was now working on the second level of nature manipulation for my Earth and Water natures.

I had already reached the second level of nature manipulation for lightning, which is why I could cast the A-rank Electromagnetic Murder Jutsu with only a couple of hand signs.

I started training my lightning nature manipulation because it was my most destructive element.

By attaining the second level of lightning manipulation, I can get more destructive jutsu, like the Electromagnetic Murder jutsu.

To train to that level, I had to generate a large amount of lightning-natured chakra.

Naruto did this by splitting a waterfall with a large amount of wind-natured chakra.

For lightning, though, one had to blast a lightning bolt from their hand.

The more control over the lightning element, the faster and more lethal that bolt of lightning is.

Now, my shadow clone was working on the Earth element.

To attain the second level of nature manipulation in the Earth element, I have to crumble a boulder into dirt.

The more control I have over the earth element, the faster I could crumble bigger boulders.

Once I attained mastery over the earth element, I could finally start training my water element and try combining the two natures to get Wood Release.

My plan to train in Bleach techniques was still present, however, I couldn't do so until I attained a certain level of control over my soul or the Yin energy within my body.

Any control I had over Yin chakra is purely because of the existence of hand signs.

I couldn't control the energy itself, which inhibited me from learning Bleach techniques.

Once I attained that control, I could start training in bringing some Bleach techniques over to the Naruto world.

I continued training until night came and I had to go to sleep.

Preparing myself for the influx of memories, I allowed the shadow clones to dissipate as three days' worth of memories appeared in my head.

I saw myself doing three separate things, all at the same time.

After closing my eyes for a bit, I started making my way to the room.

After arriving, I made a meal for myself first before meditating.

Accessing my mindscape, I saw that it was different from before.

Along with the plants and rivers, a hill had formed and the once-flat plains now had some elevation.

After I admired the space, I went to a single tree in the middle of the forest.

After testing it, I found out that my shadow clones had access to the mindscape as well since they had access to all my memories up to the moment I created them.

That means we all shared an identical mindscape, and once I dissipated the shadow clones' their new mindscapes would merge with mine.

This was the cause for my headaches and inability to use more shadow clones for training, the sudden growth of my mindscape was unnatural.

My mind changes too fast; my mindscape has to grow instantly to accommodate the new memories.

But recently, I've been testing a way to change that.

By creating this single tree I am gazing upon, one day I might be able to spam shadow clones like Naruto.

This tree would represent the entirety of the shadow clones' memories.

Throughout the day, the shadow clones would constantly place their memories in this tree, which would be present in all of them.

Once they dissipate, only this single tree would proceed to experience a rapid change, which would lessen the burden on my mind.

The technique was already showing some results since I only experienced a slight headache from the three shadow clones, which meant that I could afford to start using four shadow clones and getting used to that.

My chakra was enough to support seven shadow clones, but they would each be weak and dissipate with a hit, which also meant that they were not usable in training because the strain on my chakra was too great.

After I finished meditating, I went to sleep.

As I awoke the next morning, I was prepared for another day of training, though I would be proven wrong.

Receiving a summons from Danzo, I went to his office and greeted him,

"Lord Danzo!"

"Kira, I am assigning you an emergency assassination mission. A Kumogakure Jonin, Kon Futagiri, was spotted in the surroundings of the Land of Fire. Your task is not only to assassinate her as quickly as possible but to also find out why she is near our territory. You will go on this mission alone since you are to go as swiftly as possible."

"Yes, Lord Danzo! I will not disappoint!"

Satisfied, he handed me a scroll with the rest of the mission details and told me to get going.

I made my way out of the tunnel, which I had just seen yesterday, and started making my way to Kusagakure, the Village Hidden in the Grass.

It only took me half a day to make it there, and I promptly performed the transformation jutsu before entering the village.

Since it was a ninja village, I was questioned on my intentions for entering and how long I was planning to stay.

After being granted access, I continued on my way in and found a restaurant. Restaurants hold a lot of information, and I was also looking forward to trying some delicacies that Kusagakure is famous for.

After finishing my meal, I went into a random alley and started sensing around.

My range had increased to more than 800 meters now, considering that my chakra was about as large as an Elite Jonin.

After sensing a chakra signature similar to Kumo ninjas, I immediately fled from the scene as multiple ninjas started making their way to me.

Having identified where the Kumo ninja is, I went to a shop next to hers and waited until she left.

Following her, I saw that she entered an inn.

It meant that she's been in the Village for more than a night and is expecting to stay longer.

Perhaps for a mission.

I rented a room in the same inn and waited for her to move for her mission.

Darkness soon came, and I heard the sound of a window opening. I quickly looked out my window and saw a shadowy figure emerging from one of the rooms.

After waiting for a while, I exited the window as well and began following her.

She exited the Village and started making her way on a road I was familiar with, heading toward Konoha.

After a while, she stopped suddenly on the road and began performing some hand seals.

I prepared myself for battle, yet she simply performed a simple Earth Release, creating holes in the surrounding dirt.

She then proceeded to put some explosive tags in the holes before closing them back up.

She was setting a trap, probably for Konoha ninjas.

Tensions between Konohagakure and Kumogakure were pretty high.

A couple of years ago, an alliance was made between the two villages, one which Kumo broke in an attempt to kidnap the princess of the Hyuga Clan, Hinata.

The perpetrator was caught and dealt with by her father, Hiashi Hyuga.

The matter should've ended with Konoha asking for compensation, however, what happened instead was Kumo doubled down on their bet and said Konoha ninja killed one of their ninjas.

Hiruzen, being the diplomatic peace-loving ninja he is, gave in to Kumo's demands for the body of Hiashi Hyuga. This was one of the reasons why even though I admired Hiruzen for his strength and patience, I also looked down on him for his 'greater good' mentality.

As long as the benefits outweighed the costs, he would sacrifice anyone or anything for the good of Konoha. While I could see the merit of that mindset, the ruler of a country has to valiantly lead the people, not sacrifice them.

Instead of Hiashi's death, however, it was his identical brother, Hizashi Hyuga, leader of the Branch Hyuga, who sacrificed himself instead.

Since that occurrence, Danzo has kept a particular eye on the activities of Kumo ninjas, and I've assassinated more Kumo ninjas than other villages.

After watching her set the trap, I threw a kunai onto one of the explosive tags and watched as it set off a massive explosion from the chain reaction.

The Kumo ninja, Kon, survived the attack, though her left arm was completely charred.

I decided to finish the assassination fast, throwing four lightning-enhanced shurikens at her head.

She substituted with a surrounding log, however, and dodged the shuriken.

Instead, I found two lightning-enhanced shurikens making their way to me. I reacted in time, dodging out of the way, before dashing to the place the shuriken came from.

I saw Kon there, throwing normal shuriken before taking out a sword.

I blocked the shuriken with my tanto and started sprinting toward her.

She couldn't use Ninjutsu since one of her arms was immobilized, which meant I only had to worry about her Taijutsu and Kenjutsu.

Our weapons clashed, sparks appearing from the grinding of steel, though I eventually won the exchange. I pushed her sword back with strength, but she redirected my tanto and kicked me.

I was flung backward, with her quickly following.

I oriented myself and dashed toward her, tanto in hand.

She jumped and swung her sword downward, in an attempt to gather more strength.

I raised my tanto, preparing to defend, but I was shocked to see the sword speed up as it was coated with lightning chakra.

Her sword clashed with my tanto, this time chipping it. She didn't let up her offense and kept attacking with her lightning chakra sword.

Eventually, I escaped her barrage as she started panting from the overuse of her chakra.

My tanto was all-but-destroyed, chipped, and cracked in multiple places.

I discarded the weapon before dashing toward her.

Her sword was similarly damaged from the overuse of volatile lightning chakra, and she let the sword drop as she got a kunai from her pouch.

She approached me with a kunai while I went bare-fisted.

We proceeded to engage in a Taijutsu battle.

I had a clear advantage since she only had one usable arm, and eventually, I overpowered her.

Catching her wrist, I spun around and kicked her in the stomach as she barreled toward a tree.

I followed after her, unwilling to let up the advantage.

As I approached, she stood up and dashed with her lightning-enhanced kunai.

I got in striking distance, but I was surprised to see her let the kunai, pointing toward me, go as it streaked toward me.

I was too close to dodge, and the kunai pierced through my left shoulder.

My body reacted on its own, using the momentum that filled my body from the kunai to strike with my right hand, which I filled with chakra.

The blow made it to her head, and I felt the impact as the blow sent her body rag-dolling away.

She struggled to recover from the blow as she couldn't get up.

I approached her and attacked her with my bare fists.

She tried defending herself, but strike after strike, I kept going until her body went limp and stopped fighting back.

I didn't use much chakra in the fight, yet I was exhausted.

Panting, I stood up and looked at her body.

Her head had caved on itself from my blows, and I saw brain matter and blood splattered on the floor.

Every one of my fists was chakra-enhanced, while her body wasn't since she was running out of chakra.

She also was struggling to even keep conscious, let alone fill her body with chakra to enhance her defense.

I stopped myself from heaving before searching her body for any evidence of her mission.

I found a scroll and opened it to see the mission information.

It said that her mission was to ambush a team of Konoha ninjas while remaining concealed. Her mission was to leave no one alive, so there would be no evidence that a Kumo ninja was responsible.

The goal was to hopefully be able to ambush a Clan ninja so that their bodies can be brought back to Kumo and analyzed.

I closed the scroll and started making my way back to the Village.

This mission was my shortest one yet, but it was very impactful.

Not only did I get a new scar on my shoulder, which was still wounded, I finally reached the level of unconsciously reacting to attacks with my Water-Rock Fist.

It meant that I had achieved a certain level of mastery over the technique. Now, my body could respond and react on its own.

Of course, just because my body could didn't mean that it would. I still had to train to master this new level, however, achieving it was the most difficult part.

After making it to the tunnel, I went in and reported back to Danzo.

He was surprised that I had made it back so fast, but I gave him the full mission report and handed him the scroll.

"Ever since Hiruzen let them get away with kidnapping the Hyuga girl, that idiot Raikage has been getting more brazen. Kira!"

"Yes, Lord Danzo."

"I'm assigning you a new mission. You are to go with three other Root ninjas and eliminate a squad of Kumo ninjas. It doesn't matter how long you take. We will send them a message that Konoha isn't one to be bullied by the likes of Kumo."

"Yes, Lord Danzo. Which Root members am I going with?"

"I'll assign them. You begin your mission tomorrow. For now, go find a medical ninja and recuperate."

"Thank you, Lord Danzo."

There were a couple of medical ninjas in Root since Danzo couldn't afford to lose any members.

I visited one of them and received healing for my shoulder. After the wound was cleaned and closed up, I went back to my room and slept until the next day.

Danzo summoned me.

I walked into his office and saw him along with three other Root members.

"Lord Danzo."

I sized up the Root members.

All of them were wearing the usual outfit.

One of them wore the mask of the man I went for healing yesterday.

I didn't know the other two.

"Kira, these will be your teammates for the mission: Isa, Saiki, and Tobe. Your objective is to assassinate at least two Kumo Jonin. You will not come back until you have done so. Understood?"

"Yes, Lord Danzo!" x4

"Good. Remember to remain secret. We can't let Kumo know that Konoha was behind the attack. Go now."

We left in a hurry.

After making it out of the tunnel, I realized how much I've been out lately.

Three missions in three days.

It was the most I'd ever gotten.

Looking at my teammates, I asked them all a question.

"What are your abilities?"

I straightforwardly asked since we needed to know each other's strengths.

"I have a Low Jonin level of Ninjutsu with a wind-natured affinity. I am also a healer." (Tobe)

"I have Jonin level of Ninjutsu with a fire-natured affinity and Low Jonin level in Taijutsu." (Isa)

"I am a sensor with some ability in Ninjutsu with a wind-natured affinity. Around Low Jonin." (Saiki)

Interestingly, not everyone was an elite or even normal Jonin. Some of them had supplementary abilities to make up for it.

They all had good element affinity, though, two wind-affinities that counter lightning and one fire affinity for attack.

"I have a low Jonin level of Genjutsu while having Jonin levels of Taijutsu and Ninjutsu. My affinities are lightning, water, and earth."

It was true.

With the addition of one-handed signs and nature manipulation control, my Ninjutsu was already Jonin level.

My Genjutsu, on the other hand, while extremely useful in combat, couldn't exactly be said to Jonin level.

I simply didn't have Genjutsu techniques damaging enough to say that.

Even with all that, however, I was the strongest fighter in the group.

"Kira, since you are the most capable in close and long-range combat, you will be the main point of attack. Isa, you will support Kira and be our second attacker. As for myself and Saiki, we will act as attackers when necessary. Saiki will monitor the surroundings during a fight while I can heal someone if they get injured. Since I would need to be out of combat to do that, Saiki will support the remaining attacker if I need to heal someone."

Tobe took charge and assigned each of us a role. I didn't have a problem with being the main point of attack since I seemed to be the strongest in the group.

I also didn't have a problem with the rest of the arrangements. Isa will take care of one Jonin while I take care of the other, and Tobe and Saiki can take care of anyone else.

We eventually made our way near the Village Hidden in the Flowers, an ally of Kumo.

We needed to draw out the Kumo Jonin, so we decided to lure them out with a mission.

Tobe would hire someone to go to Kumogakure and post a mission. We would provide the person with the Ryo necessary for the deposit on an S-rank mission.

The deposit for the mission was about 100,000 Ryo.

To make sure the man didn't run, we found out who his family was and threatened him with their demise if the mission wasn't posted.

After about a week, our efforts paid off as an S-rank mission was posted, eliciting a team of Jonin to accept.

The mission details were simple.

A village, an actual village, near Kusagakure was under attack by two people who attacked with their bones.

'They' posted the S-rank mission because their efforts to capture him were unsuccessful, and 'they' posted their strength as two Elite-Jonin. Since the battle would be intense, we decided to lay an ambush to gain the advantage.

We placed explosive tags and shuriken traps in the path, which we would lure them to.

The team arrived the next day, and we prepared ourselves for the ambush.

"I don't know about you guys, but this is fishy." (Nurui)

"Yeah, why would a village post the S-rank mission to us and not to the Village Hidden in the Flowers?" (Rashii)

"Plus, that man was suspicious. He was too scared. The whole thing is probably a dull set-up." (Darui)

"Yeah, but by who?" (Maroi)

"Does it matter? We have four Jonin here. This dull day will be over soon." (Darui)

"That's how you get killed, Darui." (Nurui)

"You're too cautious, Nurui." (Darui)

"That's right, Darui, a shinobi must always be prepared for the unexpected." (Rashii)

"Nah, I don't see what the big deal is. We'll investigate this mission and return home. Right guys?" (Maroi)

"You're right about that, Maroi." (Darui)

Damn.

Not only are there three Jonin here, but Darui.

Darui would serve as the future fifth Raikage, which is a testament to his skill.

He also learned the Black Lightning technique from the 3rd Raikage, and he has Storm Release.

We are up for one tough battle.

The closer they got to us, the closer they got to the trap.

There aren't any sensors on their team or they would have been able to see us coming.

"Explode it." (Tobe)

"All right. Kai!" (Saiki)

The explosion rang out as the ground beneath us shook.

The smoke inhibited our view of them, but Saiki activated his sensing ability and told us.

"The four of them are clustered in the middle. They've made a formation of a diamond."

"All right. Let's get going then, Isa."

"Water Release: Water Bullet Technique!" (Kira)

"Lightning Release: Electromagnetic Murder!" (Kira)

I attacked first with a combination technique. Since the two Jutsus were coming from different places, my mouth and hand, respectively, I could combine them to form a synergy effect.

The water allowed my electromagnetic murder technique, which could seriously injure someone, to travel to the Kumo ninjas.

Before I could rejoice over my hit, Darui and Nurui escaped from the smoke.

Tobe cast a simple wind Jutsu to clear the smoke, and we saw both Moroi and Rashii in the middle.

While Rashii countered the combination attack by elevating the earth beneath, Moroi bore the full force of the attack.

He was currently stunned, with his legs charred and his body limp.

I sent a lightning-enhanced shuriken to finish him off.

Although everything seems to be going according to keikaku, I used up more than 20% of my chakra performing those Jutsu.

Rashii joined up with Darui and Nurui.

"Those guys already took out Moroi. They're no joke." (Nuruii)

"Moroi. I'm sorry. I'm just going to have to avenge you by ending this battle with one attack. Though it'll be dull." (Darui)

"Storm Release: Laser Circus" (Darui)

He put his hands together and discharged lightning that flowed like water.

Since I knew how that attack worked from the anime, I put up an earth wall and hid behind it.

The attack pierced through the wall, but I reacted and dodged in time.

Most of the lightning was concentrated on me, but a wayward lightning pierced Saiki's chest.

That wall took up more than 10% of my chakra, but it was still pierced through like nothing.

Rashii began his attack as well, but before he could finish the hand signs Isa and Tobe performed a combination attack of their own.

"Wind Release: Violent Whirlwind!" (Tobe)

"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Bullet!" (Isa)

The two techniques combined in the air and shot toward Rashii, the oldest one there.

I took my tanto out of its sheath and followed behind the technique.

Rashii cast his lightning Jutsu, which was destroyed by the combination technique.

Rashii used the time his Jutsu gave him to escape to the right, where I was coming.

Before he could react, I filled my legs with chakra and performed the Body Flicker Technique, appearing directly in front of him.

I slashed with my tanto, but I was hit in the side by Nurui, who attacked with his fists coated in lightning.

Darui quickly followed up with an attack from his sword, but I dodged backward just in time.

I did the hand signs for the Water Release: Gunshot Jutsu and launched a van-sized water bullet at them, which separated them from each other.

Rashii was on one side with Darui, while Nurui had dodged to the left.

Isa cast a fire-Jutsu again while Tobe attacked Nurui with a wind Jutsu from behind.

Nurui dodged the Jutsu from Isa but got slashed by the wind Jutsu.

His back had a huge gash, and he tried dodging back to Darui and Rashii for safety.

I threw a lightning-enhanced kunai at Nurui and pierced his head, successfully killing him.

Seeing our advantage, we pushed to kill even more.

Darui and Rashii seeing the situation was turning on them, chose to retreat.

At the last second, Darui turned around and cast a black lightning technique,

"Lightning Release: Black Panther!"

The technique streaked toward Isa, who couldn't react in time due to the panther's speed-enhancing from the water.

Isa incurred a serious injury, and we decided to let Darui and Rashii escape since we couldn't stop them.

Although we could give chase, we would probably end up being the one ambushed instead by either Kumo ninjas or ninjas from the Village Hidden in the Flowers.

I retrieved Saiki's body, and we started heading back to Konoha, only stopping so Tobe could heal Isa.

We arrived back at Konoha around two and a half days later and reported back to Danzo.

Tobe gave the mission report while I corroborated and confirmed all the details.

"Moroi and Nusui, two Kumo Jonin for one of our Konoha Jonin. You did well. Did you leave any clues that Konoha was the perpetrator?"

"No, Lord Danzo. We didn't use any signature Konoha techniques, nor did we use the Root masks. Instead, we bought random masks from the Village Hidden in the Flowers to disguise ourselves with."

"Good. We can't let Kumo take advantage of us again and demand another Clan head be sacrificed, no matter how useless they are. The Raikage can probably assume who is responsible for this attack, but as long as there is no conclusive evidence, we can deny it. You are dismissed. "

"Yes, Lord Danzo!" x3

Isa went to the medical unit to receive further healing, while Tobe and I headed to our respective rooms to rest.

The past three days were certainly eventful, but I thought to myself that peaceful days would be back.

I went to sleep, exhausted from the battles, and began my daily routine once again the next day.

I trained with my shadow clones every day, four of them now, went on the occasional missions from Danzo, and trained in formations with some Root members now and then.

And just like that, another year had passed since my status as a Root member began.