Chapter 005 – The Name Moha

[Year 69 – January – Konohagakure – Senju Compound]

Over the next three days Aika had agonised about her talk with the Young Lord.

Her fear of being trageted by enemy Shinobi fought with her desire to reestablish her Clan and have her daughter be more than just a powerless commoner.

At the end she had accepted the Young Lord's offer, as she knew from the experiences throughout her life that if she didn't take this chance for herself and her daughter, she would forever be at the mercy of those stronger than her.

The Young Lord also kept his promise and gave them their own small courtyard and they had also received a substantial sum of money for their living expenses, as well as the promise for future instructions about Shinobi training.

Aika was unsure if her decision had been the right one, but she at least wanted to try and gamble for a better life for her daughter and herself.

…

After Paku had returned from his assignment, Ryuma continued his lessons in Taijutsu and Bukijutsu under him. Training excessively everday, he relied on his great recovery to sustain the high-intensity exercises.

Ryuma was fortunate that with the help of his Shadow Clones, he wasn't stretched for time when it came to learning new abilities and/or improving old ones.

Where other Shinobi had to devide their time between chakra control training, physical training and jutsu mastery, he simply focused on his phsical body, while his Shadow Clones worked on the rest.

It was really the smart thing to do, as thanks to his heritage the amount of chakra Ryuma had been born with was already enormous, while he could only rely on himself to improve his physical fitness.

His Shadow Clones meanwhile focused on different things with Fuinjutsu being the most important, as his knowledge and proficiency in that subject was very important for his future plans.

Chakra control being a close second place on his list of priorities, as Ryuma was not a fan of normal Ninjutsu with its usage being too static and inflexible. Spitting fireballs sounded nice until one realised, that nobody would wait for you to finish your handsigns before attacking you.

He instead planned to rely on pure chakra control and close quarters combat to confront his opponents, combining these with a few practical Ninjutsu that needed no handsigns.

One such example was the Transformation Jutsu, which Ryuma had his Shadow Clone learn and practice, until the proficiency reached the level where he didn't have to use handsigns anymore.

It had been a very time-consuming practice, as even with great chakra control this took his Shadow Clone months of practice. Still, he had succeeded.

Though as normal transformations were easily dispelled and had no real physical attack power, Ryuma had his clones try to combine it with his knowledge about the Yin Release, which he had learned from the Elder.

He was sure that the result would be a transformation capable of withstanding physical blows, not unlike chakra constructs similar to the Adamantine Sealing Chains, Susanoo or the Tailed Beasts.

Once again, the only downside was the time it took to perfect this kind of jutsu.

Ryuma roughly estimated around a year to be realistic, as mastering Yin Release was especially hard.

Ryuma's thoughts were interrupted by a rapid kick hiting the side of his ribcage, while Master Paku addressed him harshly.

"Young Lord now is not the time for thinking! Remember to be attentive in battle at all times, even in spars like this! Losing focus in real combat can only lead to death!"

Knowing his harshness stemmed from Paku's desire to prepare and educate him to the best of his abilities, Ryuma stopped thinking about other things and retained his full focus while sparing with the Master.

He was currently wearing weights around his limbs to combine his physical conditioning with Taijutsu training according to Paku's instruction.

Soon, dull thumbs rang out in the training hall, as the Paku's and Ryuma's limbs clashed rapidly.

…

*Knock* *Knock*

"Young Lord, Elder Tomura has returned with his 'guests'.", Yui's voice sounded through the training hall a few hours later, after she had knocked softly on the door frames to signal her arrival.

Ryuma was currently resting after hours of physical training, Paku having already left to take care of his own buisness.

"They must be exhausted after their long journey. Let them rest and freshen up, before meeting me in the Main Hall. And help me prepare a bath, please.", Ryuma replied telepathically, before rising from his lotus position and preparing to take a bath himself.

"Of course, Mylord.", Yui answered subdued, knowing her Young Lord prefered peace and quiet.

…

Ryuma entered the Main Hall a few minutes later, cleaned and clothed in some simple black clothes.

His gaze settled almost immediately on the Elder, who had been gone for a few weeks to accomplish the task Ryuma had given him.

"Welcome back Elder Tomura, I hope I didn't give you too much trouble."

"Of course not, Young Lord. Whatever this old man can contribute, he will.", the Elder said amiably, causing the two young boys at his side to look at him strangely, as they didn't hear Ryuma speak.

"I am Ryuma Senju, heir and Future Clan Head of the Senju. And you two now have a choice to make.", Ryuma addressed the boys, after giving the Elder a nod of acknowledgment, knowing the old man's words to be sincere.

One of them had a feminine beauty to him that would cause others to easily misjudge his gender, with his straight black hair, beautiful brown eyes and a slim facial structure. The white-haired, green-eyed boy by his side was equally good-looking and while they were obviously not related to one another, both children had an empty look in their eyes.

Even though that it was temporarely replaced by surprise, as Ryuma had spoken to them using Spiritual Speech.

"You both have nothing. No home. No family. No goal."

Ryuma paused for a short moment to let his words sink in, before he continued.

"I will give you all three. A home. A family. A goal. All I expect from you is unwavering loyalty to your new home, family and goal. Nothing more, nothing less... So tell me, are you willing to become members of the Outer Senju Clan and take the name Moha for yourself?"

…

Haku had seen his own mother die before his eyes and he even had to kill his own father in an act of self-defense shortly after. And yet, the most horrible consequences weren't that he had to live on the streets and/or search for food in bins, while enduring the terrible cold in his homeland with nothing but the few rags he had managed to find or steal.

The thing that had brought him the most despair had been losing his family and home at once, never to feel the love of his mother or the fullness brought by a home-cooked meal again.

He had been lost and even if he could have gone somewhere else, where would that have been?

With nothing left, the small boy had been more dead than alive as he had rumaged for food and fought of wild dogs, before the nice Elder had found him and brought him along.

Preparing simple but warm meals for him on their journey and dressing him comfortable clothes, that had kept away the cold of winter. Even the ice around his heart had started to melt due to the care shown by the old man.

Haku didn't wholly understand what the small silver-haired child asked of him, but to keep this newfound sense of belonging and warmth he could do nothing else but agree.

"I-I am willing.", the small boy said in a quiet, almost desperate voice.

…

Kimimaro Kaguya.

That should have been his name, but the white-haired child knew this to be a lie. He wasn't a Kaguya, not really. He had been treated more like a pet than a human being, much less a clan member.

And yet, he had wanted nothing more than to be accepted as one of them.

And when Elder Tomura had come to his clan and easily dispatched all its elite fighters without even a change to his breathing pattern, having seemingly not exerted any effort at all, Kimimaru had fought to protect the clan, he had so wished to be part of.

He had been defeated, and soundly at that.

None of his attacks had even been able to reach the old man, before he had been defeated like the rest of his clan.

"The Young Lord was right, you have the heart of a Moha Clan Member. Come, they are not worthy of your devotion and sacrifice."

These words the old man had spoken, had felt like salvation for the young Kimimaro, as he had finally caught a glimpse of a place he could belong to. Especially since moments before, his own clan members had tried to offer him up as a sacrifice to the old man in exchange for their lives.

He, like the black-haired child next to him, unhestitatingly accepted the silver-haired child's offer.