11 Blank!

'Impossible, Genjutsu?!' were the only thought that echoed in Kaede's head. She stared blankly at Ryu who was radiating great confidence and arrogance that stemmed from his Uchiha bones.

"What's wrong, big sister? Won't you take my hand?" she snapped out of her trance and finally held his hand and stood up.

"Th- that was Genjutsu?" Kaede stuttered while asking.

"Yeah, I decided that I will create a group of my own whose purpose is to move in the shadows. I planned to join the Akatsuki if they are any good, but meeting you changed my mind. So how about it, want to join my crew?" Ryu said coolly.

"Uhh.." Kaede hesitated. She is a shinobi of konoha, and she had many responsibilities.

Seeing her hesitate, Ryu said, "Don't worry, I won't force you. I will just replace your memories of me to stop the possibility of you revealing me."

"Ehehehe, really? Are you sure that you are not just a brat dreaming about something you can't do?" Somehow, seeing Ryu talking like a grown up man in that small and cute appearance made her blush and wanted to tease him.

His eyelid twitched when he saw her teasing expression. "So, are you going to join or not?" Ryu asked, annoyed and embarrassed.

"If I join, what can you offer me?" She asked. She was not being greedy, it was just a normal thing to ask in a deal. Especially when you are interacting with a child. She already knew that Ryu is very powerful, but possessing power which you can only use yourself is useless in a war.

Sure, you could win the fight, but not that war. She is weak, and she knew that. It would be dumb to join a group when she did not knew if she will grow more powerful to protect those who she loved.

"Power. That is what I can give you. I am may be just a kid, but I know more things about power and the world than you! I am more powerful than most of the people in this world, but I also know that there are more powerful being than me right now. There are more to this world than you think." Stated Ryu. He flicked his hand and a book appeared, shocking Kaede.

"What was that? Where did that come from?!" Her eyes glittered with disbelief.

"I can't tell you, but this is just a common thing in the universe. Inside this book is a manual, but I don't have to time to teach you the language, so if you join me, I will personally teach you how to cultivate." even Ryu only knew a little about the universe. But he was sure that he, or this world he resides in is just a tiny speck of dust in this so called universe.

"Universe?" It was a new term for Kaede. She took the book that Ryu handed her, it was just a random book he got from his Universe Ring to show proof. As the saying goes, 'Actions speak louder than words'.

"The language used in that is called the Universe language, at least that was the man told me." He did not bother hiding anything as he could just replace her memory of him with genjutsu. And it will also help add another layer of assurance in Kaede's heart.

"The man? Who is the man." Kaede immediately asked, a little excited and more convinced in joining him.

"I wasn't originally strong. Although I awakened my sharingan at an early age, Fugaku-sama prevented me from training as to avoid enemies from ratting me out. It was only until we were ordered to go on missions that I met a mysterious man. He said that I have a great potential and accepted me as a disciple. He provided me with many things, and this book is just one of them." Ryu explained white lies. Telling her about the man, despite the entire story being covered with falsehood, could give her more assurance into joining him.

"Okay, I believe you. So what do we call our so called organization in the shadows?" Of course she did not completely believe what Ryu told her. But asking more question would be like asking for death. You have to be smart when making a deal, especially when you are weak.

"Name? Well, have about you naming it?" Ryu had a lame naming sense. He would not embarrass himself by thinking up lame name, would he?

"Name, huh? Then how about Red Spider Lily(Higanbana)? It sounds cool naming us after the flower of death, right?" said Kaede. It was very visible that she liked the name.

"Oh, Red Spider Lily, that sounds good." Ryu erased the names he came up in his head and agreed immediately.

"So what do we do now?" asked Kaede.

'How did I not think of that!' He raised his hands to employ a Ram hand seal.

'Kage Bunshin no Jutsu'

Puff! A shadow clone appeared beside him and immediately disappeared.

"Shadow clone?" Kaede was confused.

"I sent it back to Konoha. I am sure that they are already looking for me. I slipped out of the village after all." said Ryu casually. "As of now, there are many small villages being attacked. You should know some village right?"

"Yes, I know several places. But why would we go there?" asked Kaede.

"It is from war that talents are born. Well, you will know what I am talking about soon." Ryu replied mysteriously. He returned the manual to his ring and continued talking.

"For now, I will teach you the basics of cultivation. Listen carefully, I don't like repeating myself. There are 8 gates inside the human body, and in order to open those gates, you have to use Natural Energy. There are natural energy everywhere, but first you have to sense them. I sensed it in, I don't know, maybe a day or two since I started. So it should be pretty easy. Tell me when you sense it and I will teach you what comes next." Ryu explained. He already forgot the 2 months it took Tian Lou to sense the natural energy.

"Okay." Kaede was skeptical but still agreed. "What did you do though?" she asked.

"Do?"

"What did you do to sense your so called natural energy?"

"Oh nothing. I just sensed it... Let me see... Ah, I think I read something like meditation. You should try that." said Ryu casually. If any people from the upper realm heard him, they would surely want to beat his ass. Of course you have to meditate!!

...

Things happened while Ryu's clone rushed to the village. It would not have been a hassle if he left a clone in the village. With his chakra reserves, even with 10 shadow clones, his clone would still be as powerful as a jonin.

It would probably take 4 more days until he reached the village.