9 Chapter 8: The Mighty - Part 1 1/2

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, The Gamer or any other familiar characters.

Chapter 8 – The Mighty, Part 1.

"So, if I'm reading this right, team formations come in three flavors: Attack, Protect and Move," I continued, "and each formation depends on the type of mission, location, weather and a shitload of other factors too." Kazuya nodded. "It's plainly stupid to memorize this kind of things only to never use them with your teammates unless each of them falls under one of these categories…"

"Yeah, I mean, where the fuck are we?" Tadashi started, "A heavy hitter team where none is specialized as support, whose jonin sensei is a heavy hitter too, and we have to learn all this fucking stupid ANBU formations? Fuck you, Kazuya."

"Well," Kazuya commented looking at the book, "it is something we have to learn eventually and-"

"Yeah, but fuck you anyway. I'm not learning a hundred and one formations that we'll never use until we start working with other genin teams. Are there any fucking formations for heavy hitter genin teams under a heavy hitter jonin?"

"Let me see…"

We were sitting inside a small café close to the entrance of the training grounds, all three of us having lunch while discussing an ANBU training book Kazuya borrowed from his house. He was rummaging the book while Tadashi was clearly bored, playing with the leftover ice on his glass.

"If we are ever escorting or protecting someone on a mission, the idea is simple: that person cannot die. So, we should just use a triangle formation with the fastest one in the back in case of an ambush," I started, "Or maybe the strongest ones should cover the rear and the faster one on point… In that case, the jonin should be stationed even further back in case of an ambush if we don't have a sensor." Granted, I'm some sort of sensor if my ability to sense metal is anything to go by, but that's still a secret; I've trained my magnet release to a point I don't really need to consciously move my chakra around, but it still uses just a bit of chakra, enough to be detected by any jonin and I wanted to keep my kekkei genkai a secret as long as I could.

"Yeah, but who would protect the person?" Kazuya interjected.

"Anyone, the last fucker to be engaged, maybe. It's not like any of us have some sort of people-protecting jutsu or shit."

"Why not an echelon formation if the attackers all come from one direction?" another voice talked from behind.

'Observe.'

Name: Kouki Sohda.Title: Genin of Kumo.Level: 18Age: 12Kouki is a recently graduated genin from Kumo. He followed the shinobi path only because all other members of his family had done the same.Relationship level: Neutral.

Kouki was another newly graduated genin from our class, a middle lister with no notable specialization whatsoever.

"But we are only genin, we might not even sense if the enemy tries a diversion tactic to slip through a one sided formation." Kazuna answered looking back.

"Yeah, that's a war formation and it relies on shinobi capable of holding a line against another attacking formation, which doesn't really happen in shinobi wars. Even more, that formation was originally conceived for samurai bowmen; we might be able to use it as a moving formation in some terrains, but it's too open to serve as a protection." I added.

"But he's not wrong though. Most of the clients we'll be protecting along our careers will be civilians and we'll be forced to move at a civilian pace." Another voice joined from our right.

Name: Chinatsu.Title: Genin of Kumo.Level: 17Age: 12Chinatus is a recently graduated genin from Kumo. She believes her only way to succeed as an orphan in this world is to become a shinobi.Relationship level: Neutral.

"Yes, but you are talking about general war formations designed mostly for samurai," I interjected, "shinobi do not use formations unless under strict orders; guarding a place, prepare an ambush, etc. Even in war, shinobi fights are reduced to quick scuffles and duels. Those formations, columns, lines, echelons and wedges are solely used by shinobi to hold and defense or support platoons under direct attack. If we are going to discuss formations for each team, we have to specify each team nevertheless."

"The fucker is right. We are a heavy hitter team and have to work with it." Tadashi added. "Also depending on the situation and the type of enemy that's attacking..."

"We are a sensor team, so we mostly take turns between us to sweep the area." Yet another voice interrupted. "During civilian escort missions, I normally take the front and my teammates the back in a triangle formation. They are both specified on mid to long range and genjutsu support, so the heavy hitting is left to me."

Name: Umeko Kumagae.Title: Genin of Kumo.Level: 26Age: 13Umeko is a genin from Kumo. She works hard to be a respected shinobi to maintain her mother and her sick little sister.Relationship level: Neutral.

"But what do you do in case you are ambushed anyway, and someone gets past your sensors?" One of the other genin asked Umeko.

"We normally react: the fastest goes to protect the client and the other two intercept the attackers. Sometimes if I'm closer to the client I take the place of caregiver. All in all, it depends so much on the situation and after training with each other for months we can simply make decisions on the fly."

"So, we have to train together like crazy until we can make those assessments on the fly then." Kazuya concluded.

"It seems like so, yes. We should learn the formations but adapt them to our own strengths and limitations. A triangular formation to escort civilians might be the better one to start, and we can work our way to one that feels better to us. We should train that too and ask Yugito sensei to help us." I concluded, remembering to refer to Yugito as sensei when she's not around.

Five other genin were now lounging around us, throwing in their cents to the conversation or just listening with thoughtful expressions. The other shinobi around the café, jonin and chunin alike, were also sparing glances at our now busy table.

"Your jonin sensei is Yugito Nii?" Another genin asked incredulously.

"Yes, and she's as tough as you imagine." Kazuya answered the genin.

She was. Her training routine this morning was gruesome. Sprinting exercises, pushups, jumps and hurdles. The three of us were tired as hell, and both Tadashi and Kazuya were covered in bruises and limping a little. Not that I was in such a better shape, but at least I was clearly recovering faster.

Yugito was right; inviting the two to lunch to this shinobi café was a good idea. My teammates were smart, quick to react and were capable of taking and giving advice when needed –Tadashi in his insulting way, but his intentions were in the right place, I hoped. There was no sign of that child behavior I worried about from my experience in the real world, my real world; shinobi kids, whether from training, family or just because of the world we are living in, were clearly more mature and I was happy to find that.

I strafed right and went on the offensive, a kunai in each hand.

The clear signs of a replacement technique surrounded Yugito, so I dashed left worried about any attacks while looking for the real one. I sensed her to my left and turned just in time to block her attack.

I countered with a slash to the neck and tried to slip past her defense, but she read my intentions like a children's book and moved her arm to block the kunai that was heading for her kidneys.

Out of the blue, her foot connected with my sternum hard, and I flew back.

I replaced myself with one of the stones lying next to the area, but, obviously, it didn't stop my momentum. I turned mid air and skidded back on my feet, my eyes roaming the area looking for her.

"Stop." I heard from my right. Yugito was standing next to her clone. "Why didn't you go through with your attack when I replaced myself?"

I relaxed my posture and took a deep breath, that kick hurt like hell.

"You can't replace yourself with an illusionary clone, so that should be an elemental clone. I wasn't going to risk taking the fight to a clone that could be a lighting clone waiting for a hit."

'Observe.'

Yugito Nii [Shadow Clone].

Well, that was a shadow clone and it didn't have an ounce of metal on her. Note to self, I wouldn't be able to sense a clone sneaking on me, but I could single them out from the original enemy without Observing them just by sensing if they had any metal on them.

"Correct, and impressively quick deduction by the way." She said "You also replaced yourself without using handsigns, which is great for a genin."

Oh, that. After my chakra control reached 60%, all jutsu I had maxed out didn't require handsigns anymore, which indeed was fucking great for a genin.

"You are improving well; your taijutsu is efficient and polished. It's not easy to read your movements even for a jonin like myself. Your use of kunai and supplementary jutsu is top notch also."

"You read mi slash easily." I commented.

"Yes, but it wasn't muscular memory, I had to analyze your movements."

These last weeks have been amazing. Yugito would train us physically in the mornings and would make us practice taijutsu, ninjutsu and formations on the afternoons. She wouldn't really teach us anything directly, that was left for us personally, but she would answer all our questions accordingly.

On Wednesday and Friday mornings, we would take a local mission that mostly comprised of patrolling civilian areas, fetching documents from the Kumo's watchtowers and, sometimes, assist older genin and chunin in escorting civilians to and from the village's gates. Most of those missions were given to new graduates to slowly incorporate them into the shinobi way of life and get us used to the intricacies of how the village worked. There were no D-ranked missions as shown in the manga, no capturing cats or painting fences, for which I was grateful.

Kazuya was practicing his water walking on a small pond on the border of the training ground, while Tadashi was working on his nature transformation sitting next to a big rock.

"Hey asshole! Stop worrying too much about maintaining a good posture, just concentrate on your fucking feet and then you can polish whatever the fuck you want."

That was Tadashi's way of thinking, get on to the thing, and you'll figure out the details on the way.

Kazuya, in contrast, was a perfectionist; whenever he tried anything new, he would try to get it perfectly from the beginning.

"I got this." He answered gritting his teeth and continued with his training.

"How's your nature transformation going?" Yugito asked me after dismissing her clone.

"Well enough. I can channel wind chakra through a kunai, I'm only having problems giving it a cutting shape, but I'll get there. I just need to train more." I answered.

"Don't push yourself too hard; what you and Tadashi are doing is very advanced. Him combining nature transformations and you trying to shape it... that's a jonin skill." She said with her stern voice but a small smirk in her face. "But, you two might make it. How's your genjutsu?"

"Also much better. Say, Yugito, are you immune to genjutsu?"

She widened her eyes a bit, but answered looking serious.

"Not immune, why would you ask?"

"Well, from what I could infer, the Nibi's chakra is coursing through your body, right?" She nodded, so I continued. "Maybe that chakra could interfere with foreign chakra invasions. Or maybe, if you and the Nibi are close, she might scramble your chakra with hers to release a genjutsu."

It wasn't a completely mad idea, the biju had influence on the host body and genjutsu are created by forcing tiny amounts of chakra into the victim's brain, mostly affecting their senses in a certain way. Knowing the way and being able to do it was one thing, but knowing what the victim was going to see or hear was another thing altogether. The Hell Viewing Technique tampered with your emotions, particularly fear, and that depended solely on the victim's internal fears. The False Surrounding was based in vision and hearing, and depended on what you wanted to show them, anything too unbelievable and your genjutsu would be noticed straightaway. I believe that Itachi's Tsukuyomi tampered with all five basic senses in an advanced way, even capable of distorting the victim's sense of time. If I ever specialize more in genjutsu, I would love to try other senses too. People believe there were only five senses, but there were more ways the human body perceived the world and itself; temperature, balance, pain, vibration... there were a lot of other things to experiment on.

"No," Yugito's answer broke me from my musings, "I'm not immune to genjutsu, though I'm good at detecting them. It is true that biju chakra is mixed with my own chakra, but it's mixed well enough that it doesn't interfere with my senses nor foreign chakra."

"And if you consciously use the Nibi's chakra?"

"I... I haven't-"

"I'm sorry," I interrupted her, "I shouldn't have asked, I'm sorry."

"No, no. Is just that... whenever I'm consciously using Mat- the Nibi's chakra I tend to lose most of my rationality, enough for me to forget to check if I'm under a genjutsu or not."

There was bitterness in her words, so I didn't push the subject anymore. Her slip didn't go unnoticed though.

My spars with Tadashi were a very fun occasion now that we could use ninjutsu freely. His ration techniques, mostly supplementary, were very ingenious. He created his own technique, releasing concentrated lighting chakra from his fists a short distance away; I got hit by an underpowered one as an experiment and it really messed up my movements for a short time. It was a nice attack, but it was still too slow; he needed a couple of seconds to charge it and in shinobi fights a couple of seconds may be too much. It was a great technique if he could distract his opponent while charging it, and by the way he would use his free hand to hold his charging fist, it reminded me of the Chidori, sans the sound.

My response was creating a simple wind technique that funneled wind chakra from my mouth. I tried to recreate what I thought I saw in the manga and by channeling chakra to my lungs and converting it to wind chakra while I ejected it from my mouth, I created the jutsu:

Wind Release: Great Breakthrough. Lvl 7 (18%)C rank- By breathing out compressed wind infused chakra, the user creates a strong gale from the mouth. Stronger winds require more chakra.Requirements: 55% Chakra control, Wind Release Lvl. 15Cost: 23 Chakra points per use.

The thing about wind jutsu: their chakra cost was fairly low, and I was guessing it was because of my natural affinity. A big powered Great Breakthrough only costs me about 80 Chakra points with my current control, which was really low for a wind current capable of throwing a person up in the air. With each level up, the chakra cost reduced and its power increased. It was a great counter to Tadashi's lighting jutsu and was far quicker to do. I only needed five handsigns, while his required eight and more charging time. I tried to use it to impulse thrown kunai, but it wasn't very reliable; it messed their trajectory too much. I had my magnet release for that.

Kazuya was advancing more slowly. He was still struggling to channel lighting chakra through his sword -a chunin level technique from what Yugito told him- and he was getting pissed. He hasn't finished the water walking exercise properly; he could walk but not run yet and was falling behind on his physical condition. He was pouring his life and soul to training, but we could see him growing impatient when comparing himself to Tadashi and me. You could say that was a mistake and that we three were already more advanced than any other recently graduated genin, but you can't deny the fact that your point of comparison would always be your direct competition, in this case, your teammates.

Anyhow, we were proud to say that whenever we fought Yugito together, even she was hard pressed on her defense. A little bit. Sometimes.

"Yugito-sensei, when are we taking a mission outside the village? I'm already fucking bored with the routine!" Tadashi was walking in our direction, sweeping the sweat from his brow. "And fuck the simple ones, I want a proper C-rank mission."

He was right, we haven't left the village since we became a team, and we have been advancing by leaps and bounds. We were more than ready.

Yugito looked sternly at him and then lifted her eyes to the sunny sky. "Let me see what I can do."

Tadashi nodded and smiled. "That's going to be fucking great, ha?" he said to me

"Yes," I said, "It will."

"We'll have to go through team formations again tomorrow, we have to practice those more." Tadashi finished, walking away. That was the first time I heard him say a full sentence without cursing.

Kumo's shinobi library was a huge letdown: it didn't have any jutsu scrolls or books, it only had some advanced taijutsu books I didn't really need and some advanced bukijutsu and shurikenjutsu that I rented home. I believe the village was heavily centered in keeping information safe and avoiding spies and jutsu stealing. When I asked the elderly librarian for any jutsu scrolls or books, he simply said that all was taught at the academy or by sensei-student relationships, and no copies of any techniques are kept in any public building by general decree. Public, he specified; which meant that shinobi families and clans might have their own private collection.

What the library did have were hundreds and hundreds of shinobi related material; books on ancient history, archeology, shinobi law and such; but also had books and maps depicting the different landscapes of the elemental nations: the dry deserts around Sunagakure and known oasis, the mountains of the Land of Lightning, the Land of Fire and its forest and even the badlands of the Land of Earth. Those were interesting enough for me to check out and devour at nights. There was also a collection of warfare related small books, leadership strategies and unconventional war tactics, disinformation, insurgencies, guerrilla and occupations; all forgotten at the back of the library.

Map added:Elemental Nations: Landscapes.

The most useful book I found was one regarding poisons, venoms, antidotes, etc. I even got a skill by reading it. I tried making poisons by myself, but the only ones I could craft were not poison per se but toxins; simple liquids similar to the Spider Venom Extract that made wounds fester or burn and that I could cover my kunai with… but I wanted to save those for my iron sand, maybe.

Poison Crafting Lvl. 1 (1%)- The art of crafting poisons, toxins and even venoms from available materials. At higher levels, stronger poisons can be crafted.

Basic Toxin- Keep out of reach of children.Can be made from a variety of easily obtainable ingredients.Provokes intense pain in the affected area. -20 HP.

The one book I directly stole from the library and kept in my inventory was an old book about counter terrorism, special reconnaissance and infiltration. That was an interesting read, and when mentioned to old man Yataro, he asked me to lend it to him after I finished reading it; he didn't care about the fact that I stole the book from the Library.

So, before our first C-rank mission, I went to the new dungeon I saw at training ground 5; it was time to enter a new dungeon and get some experience points already. I was also looking forward to trying out all the new jutsu I learned.

At the back of training ground 5, next to the small dividing walls, floated the bluish orb of light:

Dungeon Found!

Dungeon level: 25.Enemies: primates.

Enter?

This dungeon was a simple forested area, in contrast to the grassy plain that was training ground 5, with a lot of trees scattered randomly but enough space among them to maneuver; a dome of blurred with light surrounded the large area of the forest where I was standing. The sun was up in the sky, shining harshly over the green scenery and a small breeze was kissing my brow.

I summoned a kunai to each hand and the iron sand from my inventory, almost a bucket full of sand randomly floating above my head. I breathed in a big gulp of air before relaxing my body and looking attentively at the forest surrounding me; as all the other creatures in the dungeons, I doubted these ones would be wielding any metal for me to detect.

A ruffling of leaves and hard stomps alerted me of something coming in my direction.

It was a big baboon-like creature, taller than me by a few centimeters, with black and gray fur and big canines, looking at me intensively and banging the forest floor with its front paws. It was pissed, and I knew that these primates were stronger and more vicious than they looked, so I had to tread carefully.

'Observe.'

Feral Baboon.Level: 24.- A highly territorial creature.

On my command, the iron sand soared in its direction. I didn't will it to form a giant hand or a pyramid like the Sandaime Kazekage did on the manga, only to stick to one of the creature's ankles and one of its wrists to stop its movements.

The primate clawed the chain looking shackles on its limbs hysterically and trashed around trying to free itself from the iron shackles -that was a nice name by the way- but I kept them fixed. I was watching attentively; it was the first time I used the iron sand offensively against a real opponent.

When the creature tried to grab a rock from the ground with its free arm, I violently pushed the shackles and the baboon back but made one serious mistake: I pushed the iron shackles apart.

-42 Chakra.

Hit!400 DMG.Severe Bleeding applied.

The loud scream-like howl reverberated across the forest as the ape's arm was ripped out of its socket, blood spattering into the forest floor. Immediately, I flung both kunai to its throat, still amazed about how gruesome that was.

Hit! Critical x5.725 DMG.

Feral Babon Killed.300 Exp awarded.

Without thinking it twice I ran up the nearest tree, that howl would undoubtedly call more apes. I willed the iron sand back to myself, letting it form a belt around my waist. Willing the iron sand to form a defined shape that I could carry around as a part of my attire still uses some chakra, just below my regeneration rate, and I wanted to experiment on what was like to use it like that while in combat situation.

I summoned one more kunai from my inventory; it was time to test the new skill I was working on.

Flying Swallow. Lvl 5 (27%)B rank- Infusing your weapon with wind chakra, its cutting power and critical damage increases.Requirements: 65% Chakra control, Wind Release Lvl 25.Cost: 25 Chakra Points per use

The kunai glowed blue, wind chakra covering its cutting edges with a very soft hum. This jutsu was a bitch to create: if maintaining chakra on my hands was difficult at first, doing it on a kunai was worse and changing its nature and shape was hell itself. But I had time and with each level it increased I could channel more chakra to make the wind blade longer.

-35 Chakra.

A growl alerted me of two baboons scanning the area and losing their shit when they noticed their dead comrade. Immediately, they began howling while looking and sniffing around. Knowing it was just a matter of time before they found me on their home turf -mostly because I couldn't hide my own scent- I acted.

Snake, Dog, Snake, Rat: 'Petrifying Gaze.'

-67 Chakra.

One of the baboons was immobilized in place, its eyes unmoving.

I threw the wind infused kunai to its chest, while willing the iron sand to move to the other creature.

Hit! Critical x5.870 DMG.Critical Bleeding applied.Target is immobilized.

The kunai hit the animal square in the chest, entering right above the clavicle, ripping a huge hole and embedding itself on the ground behind him. It probably went right through its spine. All it could do was release a weak whimper before collapsing back, gasping for air.

Just as the other baboon detected me and was starting to move, the iron sand grappled its torso and pushed it to the ground on its back. I jumped with a kunai in hand.

-21 Chakra.

Hit! Critical x5.725 Damage.Severe Bleeding applied.Cranial Trauma applied.

I landed on top of it, stabbing the baboon in its eye, piercing its skull with a loud crack. Even though the creature had its brain pierced, I knew it wouldn't completely die until I dropped its HP to zero. I also knew the bleeding would eventually take its life, but I replaced myself with a rock and threw another kunai to its head; maybe it could still try to attack me as a reflex.

-14 Chakra.

Hit! Critical x5.725 Damage.

Feral Baboon Killed.300 Exp awarded.

The other baboon was lying on the ground in a pool of its own blood with his eyes closed, its mouth was moving gasping for air, like it was trying to howl but no sound came.

Feral Baboon Killed.300 Exp awarded.

That was macabre, but even though I used about a fifth of my total chakra points, witnessing the iron sand move on my command was a surreal experience. The sand was fast, I could move it around without having to concentrate much, and it could immobilize any target I wanted. The flying swallow was also amazing, and by the numbers shown, it increased damage and also applied a bleeding status.

I understood I had to practice these skills up to the point where they would become instinctive, but this, this felt... right; the adrenaline, the rush!

The rest of the dungeon was more than a walk through the park, it was a massacre. The iron sand, my genjutsu and the wind enhanced kunai made short work of all the baboons in the area, even when they attacked in groups of three or more.

The dungeon boss was a gorilla, a big silver-back gorilla with huge hands and long sharp teeth that could even use some sort of earth jutsu to cover its knuckles with stone.

Silver Back GorillaLevel: 27.- Its gray hair is not a sign of wisdom.

But it was too slow, and with a combination of poisoned kunai and the iron sand it tipped like a cow.

For completing the dungeon, I received a very valuable item.

Belt of the Monkey God- Said to be worn by the great god Sarutahiko when fishing shellfish.Quality: Legendary.+10% to DEX while wearing this item.

That was a legendary item! And it gave a percentage boost to DEX in contrast to the Rat Pendant that gave a flat 2 point increase. I immediately examined it; it was made of aged black leather, with an old looking buckle made of iron with the kanji for 'ape' engraved. And of course, I immediately wore it.

It was a fruitful dungeon dive.

"Okay team, I got a C-rank mission for us. It's a courier mission; we are to deliver rotational orders to the southern borders. I expect us to take two days to arrive and two back, we may rest there after we deliver the orders to the patrolling teams. Pack accordingly and bring the basics, we travel light. We'll meet tomorrow at 8 am sharp at the main gate. Dissmissed." Yugito said to us three days later, "Kioshi, stay a minute."

I looked at her, she was chewing on her lower lip

"We are not expected to run into trouble during the mission, but it's always a possibility. I know clans and shinobi families have these conversations with their children before going into missions but... " she took a breath and looked away, "do you understand you might need to take someone's life during a C-rank mission, any mission?"

I knew that, I been thinking about it for some time now and all I concluded was one thing.

"Yugito, I know. I would love to tell you not to worry but..." I inhaled, "I don't like the idea of killing another human being indiscriminately, not if I can avoid it. But," I continued before she could interrupt me, "I understand I'll have to kill if someone tries to kill you or my teammates, but's that's only an idea, something I have never proven and I wish to believe. The truth is, I'm nervous and I don't know how I'm going to react when the time comes." I concluded. It was sometimes easier to simply tell the truth; all in all, even someone younger than you might have the answers you need.

"Don't worry, if the worst is to happen, I'll be there for you."

I smiled, looking at the mountain peaks around us, bathed in orange lights; it was late in the afternoon and the summer sun was setting.

"Why are you wearing lipstick, by the way?" I asked her.

"I have a date now." She answered with half a smile and gazing at the passing orange tinted clouds.

The wind was slowly tuning colder, another of Kumo's short summers was ending.

Quest Created:What's barely seen is always there.

Deliver the Raikage's orders.

Rewards:8000 Exp, C-rank mission payment.