63 Prelude To The Chunin Exams - 1

"How's this?" Daiki asked, standing back to admire his handiwork.

'Eh, it's decent I suppose, but not really to my liking.' Isobu replied half heartedly.

"What's wrong with it?" Daiki gestured to the pond he was standing before. He'd cleaned it all up, got rid of any nasty crap laying around in it and even replaced all the stones and stuff in it with nice shiny new ones.

Literally, he fucking sanded them down to make them smooth and glossy because he couldn't find anywhere place that sold crap like that.

He really needed to learn more earth jutsu.

As it was, he was forced to use the Coral Palm Jutsu to create some coral structures and the like to spread throughout the pond.

Not to mention the literal structure he'd created for a mini waterfall, now that was a pain in the ass, he'd had to send clones to the library and have them search for hours to find out how to do that.

He'd put a lot of work into this damn pond.

'There's not enough vegetation in it, I like some moss in my water at the bottom, and while the coral structures are nice, I'd prefer ones with openings at the bottom I can get beneath and relax out of sight,' Isobu rattled off, 'Also, I'd like some rocks that are easy to get atop that stick up out of the water like small platforms so I can come up and enjoy the sun as well sometimes.'

'You've thought about this a lot.' Daiki deadpanned.

'You're not one to talk,' Isobu snorted back, 'Your training would be going so much better right now, if not for the fact that the extra clones you've been able to make since we got fully started, have all been used to study house repair guides and manuals and creating the perfect 'bachelor pad' as you like to call it.'

Daiki winced, he had no come back for that. He was up to having thirty clones out at all times a day now. The same amount were still being used for training though, while the new extra nine clones running around, were all assigned to maintenance on his new place.

'Alright, alright, I'll give it a tune up,' Daiki relented. It wasn't like he'd filled it with water yet anyway, 'Any preferences for wild life? People won't pay as much attention if there's a bunch of other critters in there with you.'

'Get some koi I suppose, they draw the eye a lot, maybe add a few lily pads and some frogs I suppose,' Isobu mused, 'By the way, that girl is still hanging around outside the property.'

'I know.' Daiki nodded, it just wasn't an issue, she wasn't exactly causing any harm.

Nearly two weeks had passed since he returned from his mission to the Village of Artisans, built within the Land of Loot, sorry Land of Rivers.

He hadn't saw Sasuke much of all since he dropped the big news bomb on him. The older boy had collected the money Daiki owed him for the new place, and they'd sparred twice, but the boy was in an odd state between focused and distracted, it was weird.

He'd actually saw Hinata more than Sasuke, she popped up at training ground sixty-nine every few days to spar with him, and Daiki definitely wasn't go to turn her away. The experience of fighting a Gentle Fist user, was not only helpful for his own fighting experience, but learning from her movements as well.

If he really needed to, Daiki was sure he could copy some of the Gentle Fist and close tenketsu. It wouldn't be viable really mid-fight, because the taijutsu style didn't mesh well with his way of fighting, but it could definitely help for capturing people if needed and keeping them docile.

Plus, watching her stellar rack bounce around with like every movement she made was a treasure for the eyes for sure.

A week ago though, he'd noticed something. Hinata had a little follower who followed him to his training ground, and now to his new house.

It was a girl too, who was 'spying' on him.

Adorable little Hanabi Hyuga.

'I suppose I'll fill it up for now.' Daiki mused, putting the little girl out of mind for the moment.

What Isobu wanted added, could be done later once it was full, he'd leave a clone to it.

Focusing his chakra, Daiki brought bought hands into a seal and spread his energy out into the air around him, "Hidden Mist Jutsu." he said.

His chakra threaded through the moisture in the air and moments later, a thick, blinding mist spread throughout the property, it was so thick and full of chakra that without focusing chakra into his eyes, he couldn't see more than a few feet in front of himself.

Grunting, Daiki focused on the chakra filled mist, before using his chakra to draw it all together.

The mist cleared up in moments, coming together and forming into a large sphere of water, hovering over Daiki's head.

He flicked his fingers down, and the water sphere formed into a stream and poured into the pool, filling it up.

Daiki whistled, "Damn, has to be a good few thousands gallons in there." he noted, impressed with himself.

It had taken a ton of chakra, but he put the training in water elemental manipulation his clones had been going hard at, to good use.

'Yes, this'll do, the water is much more pure and clean than normal thanks to your chakra.' Isobu noted, pleased.

Good, good.

Daiki nodded, before bringing his hand to his neck and cracking it, 'Suppose I'll deal with my little admirer now as well.' he mused. While he didn't mind her watching him for the most part-

It would be kind of hypocritical of him to do so considering he could peek into the hot springs on the other side of the village from his living room with his eyes and had done so a few times, totally accidentally of course.

But yeah, while she was watching him, he couldn't really go about his more…clandestine training.

Quickly, Daiki made a clone and switched places with it a split moment later, too fast for a little girl like herself to keep up with for sure.

He hid his chakra completely using his eyes, before dipping around the building and moments later, silently landing behind his target, leaning against the outer west wall of his property, veins visible around her eyes and peering straight through the wall.

Hmm, odd.

Her hair was cut pretty short, framing her face. He was sure that only happened after the time skip and it was long during the chunin exam finals.

Then again, it was just a hair style change, so not really worth focusing on.

"Getting a good look?" He spoke up, crossing his arms and eyeing the girl in amusement.

Hanabi gave a startled jump, before whirling around, Byakugan blazing and falling into the Gentle Fist opening stance on instinct, "You!" she glared.

"Me." Daiki agreed with a nod, he was himself of course after all.

"Very well, since it's come to this, I'll just have to defeat you!" the little Hyuga declared, grandly.

"Okay?" Daiki replied lamely, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Feel the might of the Hyuga Clan!" Hanabi shouted before lunging at him, two fingers out on each hand and filled with chakra.

She launched into a barrage of blinding fingers strikes, aiming for his tenketsu, and he had to admit, she was pretty damn fast for her age.

…Faster than he was when he became a Genin actually.

Not fast enough though.

Without even uncrossing his arms, he dodged and weaved between her rapid fire finger strikes, stepping back every now and then for some space.

Finally, he just got bored of that though, and lashed out with both hands, grasping her wrists and yoinking her up into the air.

"So, why are you spying on me little Hyuga?" Daiki asked.

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(We've jumped up roughly 100 follows/favourites on Jordinio Version guys. You guys are quick as hell. Good stuff, as promised here's a chapter after another 50 gains. For reference for those who didn't see the AN I posted earlier, for every 50 follows and favourites Jordinio Version goes up on Fanfiction - dot - net, I'll post another chapter of this story. If you want to jump in and boost the numbers for another chapter to come out, the link is in my profile page and there's still 7 and a half hours left of this offer)