5 Chapter: 5
'But why? What does he stand to gain from orchestrating an assassination attempt on the jinchūriki?'
At that exact moment, the waitress brought over her dango... and she decided to leave the problem to her future self. Right now, all she wanted to do was stuff her face full of sweets and then have a full bowl of ramen before chugging down a shit ton of sake.
Doctor's advice be damned!
Kaori nibbled on the sweet, sticky dango, savoring the sweet and slightly savory flavor, letting the chewy texture of the rice cake and the sticky glaze fill her senses. It was a moment of pure, unadulterated bliss!
Her thoughts drifted off to Aiko as she indulged in the sweet treats, and her mood soured quickly. The last she had seen the girl was on the first day of her arrival into the world, after that, she was busy adjusting to her own memories to care for the pawn-ish girl.
'Deck,'
She summoned the interface and accessed the 'Deck,' selecting Aiko's Subordinate Card. Instantly, she was connected to Aiko's memories and consciousness, looking at her through a bird's eye point of view.
The apartment was impeccably clean, must have done so over the week. Even the walls had been repainted, and any splinters or dents on the floor had been smoothed out. Meanwhile, Aiko was training in the middle of her dining room, which now had considerable space after the removal of the large dining table.
Aiko was still swinging her wooden sword, although, now her movements were considerably smoother than before. She was persistent alright, sweat glistened on her brow and blood stained her hands,
'Looks like she has been at it for some time now.'
[Subordinate Milestones Achieved: Sword Swings!]*3
[Subordinate Milestones Achieved: Shurikenjutsu!]*3
[Subordinate Milestones Achieved: Ninjutsu Release!]*2
- [Swordsmanship Milestone 6: Perform 1,000 Sword Swings.]
[Reward: EXP Points +100, Kenjutsu: C-Rank: Iai]
- [Swordsmanship Milestone 7: Perform 2,500 Sword Swings.]
[Reward: EXP Points +250, Physique Enhancement Card (+25), 100,000 ryō]
- [Swordsmanship Milestone 8: Perform 5,000 Sword Swings.]
[Reward: EXP Points + 500, Kenjutsu: C-Rank: Chakra Blade(Re-purposed Chakra Scalpel)]
- [Shurikenjutsu Milestone 1: Throw 1 Shuriken or Kunai(Must hit the target.)]
[Reward: EXP Points +1]
- [Shurikenjutsu Milestone 2: Throw 10 Shuriken or Kunai(Must hit the target.)]
[Reward: EXP Points +5, Old Shurikenjutsu Set(15 Blunt Kunai, 30 Blunt Shuriken, & 20 Blunt Senbon)]
- [Shurikenjutsu Milestone 3: Throw 100 Shuriken or Kunai(Must hit the target.)]
[Reward: EXP Points +10, Physique Enhancement Card (+5), Shurikenjutsu: D-Rank: Shadow Shuriken Jutsu]
- [Ninjutsu Milestone 1: Perform 1 Ninjutsu(Must perform accurately)]
[Reward: EXP Points +1]
- [Ninjutsu Milestone 2: Perform 10 Ninjutsu(Must perform accurately)]
[Reward: EXP Points +5, Leaf Concentration Practice Technique]
*Whistle*
'She's been busy!'
Eight milestones in a week was impressive... right? Maybe? Not really. Most of them had very low requirements. One or ten or one hundred.
She wasn't all that pleased with the Exp points from the Milestone, after all, her own abilities could only be upgraded through cards. The Exp was exclusively for the subordinates.
'Well, let's see if anything interesting happened.'
A strand of Kaori's mental energy connected with the card, allowing her to view Aiko's memories in fast-forward motion.
Aiko has been following a fixed routine for the past week. She wakes up as early as 6 AM, practices her Kenjutsu for an hour, has breakfast in a food stand downstairs, attends the ninja academy from 8 AM to 2 PM, returns home, has lunch in the same food stand, practices Kenjutsu for some more time, practices Ninjutsu, finishes her homework, has dinner downstairs, and goes to sleep.
'That's... surprisingly monotonous!'
Aiko's life was quite routine and mainly focused on her training. However, Kaori couldn't help but wonder if such a lifestyle would make her seem a bit too mechanical and might draw unwanted attention.
"Hah... it's such a drag."
Kaori groaned, slumping back into her seat, drawing the attention of some sparse patrons in the tea store.
"A Nara?"
"What did she say?"
"She said 'drag,' definitely a Nara!"
Kaori's eyes twitched as she heard the chatter in the tea shop. Even though she was a bit lazy, she was nowhere near the level of a Nara... cut her some slack!
*Sigh*
'Talk about troublesome.'
"Did she just sigh after saying 'drag'?"
"Yeah, definitely a Nara!"
Kaori rolled her eyes at the rumors, the last thing she needed was to be mistaken for a member of the Nara Clan. Sure, she appreciated their laid-back attitude, but she had no intention of being arrested for masquerading as one of their members.
Finishing her dango and tea, Kaori paid her bill and left the tea house, the idle chatter of the patrons fading into the background as she stepped onto the busy streets of Konoha.
'Man, what a nice day!'
The snow had been melted by the Uchiha clan to make way for vehicles and pedestrians, not to mention the variety of snacks being sold at different food stalls. best of all, the sun was high, the sky clear, the wind silent and it was bearably chilly despite being mid-winter.
'A Perfect day to get some training done!'
Oh yeah, just because she is an ANBU, it doesn't mean that she doesn't have to train anymore. In fact, she would have to increase the intensity because she really had no idea about her powers and how to use them.
As she strolled through the streets of Konoha, she couldn't shake off the feeling of excitement bubbling within her.
Jutsu! She has never performed one before, or, well... at least 'She' has never used one before. The 'old' Kaori used to practice Ninjutsu all the time, so she should recover most of her strength through muscle memories alone.
'Well, how about starting now? I can use Body Flickering Jutsu to get to the training ground.'
She balled her hands into fists, thumbs brushing against each other. Then she straightened her index finger and middle fingers against each other, pointing them outwards. Her palms faced down, creating a horizontal line with her extended fingers. The remaining three fingers on each hand curled tightly against her palms, forming a tight interlocking seal.
A surge of chakra crackled beneath her skin as she concentrated, preparing to vanish in a puff of smoke...
"Oi! You can't use fire style in the middle of the village!"
An Uchiha police force member screamed at her from a distance once he caught sight of the tiger sea but,
"Ah, my baaaa..."
Her muscle memories took over and before she could reply, her body disappeared in a puff of smoke, flickering to the roof of a shop before automatically repeating the process and flickering over to the next building.
"...aaaaaaaaaaddddddd!!!"
Not until she reached the training ground, did she finally get her body under control.
'Muscle memories are dangerous alright!'
By now, she could already hear the faint sounds of shinobi sparring and training in the distance, their voices echoing through the wide training area. She gave her greetings to the ground keeper, a retired Special Jonin, and showed him her Ninja ID before she was allowed to enter the grounds.
She took a moment to soak in the scent of wet earth and bloodlust, her lips parted and her tongue licked her lips hungrily... wait, what!
'So the old Kaori was a nutjob!'
With a sigh, she walked deeper into the training ground, finding a secluded spot away from the main training area. Finding an empty spot near the river, Kaori began the standard training regime.
Starting with some basic warm-up exercises, stretching her muscles, and loosening her joints to prepare for more rigorous training. With each movement, she focused on channeling her chakra, feeling its flow within her, connecting with vital organs and layers of muscles. It was a feeling of power and vitality, as the chakra flowed through her chakra veins, she couldn't help but groan as her wound began to sting again.
'That's enough stretching for now.'
Next, she moved on to practicing basic Taijutsu techniques, simple kicks and punches. Old Kaori wasn't an expert at Taijutsu, her focus lay on the fluidity of her movement, and execution with precision and quickness.
She started with basic stances, shifting her weight smoothly from one foot to the other as she practiced various strikes and blocks. Her muscles tensed and flexed with each movement, her body moving on its own and her mind recording everything anew for the new inhabitant.
Her breath came in steady, controlled bursts as she exerted herself, the cold winter air thawed under her exertion. Beads of sweat formed on her brow, glistening in the sunlight as she tried to push past a certain limitation.
She continued her training, her body automatically increasing the intensity with each moment. She transitioned from basic Taijutsu to more advanced techniques, incorporating acrobatics and evasion maneuvers into her movement.
As she trained, Kaori also began to experiment with her chakra control, practicing simple techniques such as sticking to the tree with her chakra, substitution jutsu, and basic chakra strengthening.
Gradually, she transitioned completely from Taijutsu to Ninjutsu practicing, focusing her chakra in the palm of her hand, she attempted to perform the three basic jutsu in rapid succession. Cloning, substitution, transformation, each one after the other. First creating intangible clones, then substitution herself away from them, and finally transforming into a tree trunk.
Perhaps now would be a better time to practice some elemental offensive jutsu, just in case she might need them,
'Fire style: Fireball Jutsu!'
With a single tiger seal, and without shouting the name out loud, she visualized a swirling sphere of fire gathering in her lungs. Her chest swelled as her lungs expanded to accommodate the chakra and with a mighty roar, she unleashed a sphere of flame four meters in diameter.
"Hah... hah... hah... I got about nine or ten more of these in me and then I'm out."
It took about 300-500 chakra points to perform a fireball jutsu, depending on the diameter of the sphere and the chakra wasted while performing the jutsu. She glanced at the system panel and groaned, she hadn't gained any Exp points in either of the skills.
'Damn it! I can't level up shit without a card huh.'
