Submerged within the warmth
Standing at the very top of the mast I watched as we approached our destination. Which was a port. The only issue would be the lack of any sign of life. Oh and the corpses that littered the ground, both Shinobi and civilians alike.
slaughtered.
Dropping down, I landed directly behind Orochimaru who was quite displeased with the situation.
"This is the closest port to Konoha?" I ask.
"Yes," Orochimaru responded as he stepped off the ship, "stay with the ship."
That's not good.
Doing as I was told I returned to the top of the mast.
15 minutes had passed in tense silence when something of note finally happened.
A rather thick mist had emerged from the sea despite definitely not being there before. It didn't take long for the mist to engulf my surroundings.
There's chakra in this mist.
It's faint but definitely there.
Pushing my senses out I searched for whoever was responsible for this mist.
Ah.. there you are.
Now the real question is can you locate me as easily as I can you.
With a surge of chakra I vanished from my position to a different part of the ship where I suppressed my presence as best I could.
Ok let's see if you can find me.
As I was monitoring my assailant position I felt another fluctuation of chakra, followed by a few more.
Two of the three were fairly average with the last one being on the weaker side of what I'd consider Jonin.
The Jonin was going to be a problem.
They don't seem all the keen on approaching the ship so I'll just wait here for Sens-
Emerging from water Gray sank his fangs into one of my onlookers dragging him from the shore into the depths of water.
Oh… he got the Jonin, that certainly changes things.
Vanishing from my position I appeared directly in front of a very surprised Shinobi from Kirigakure.
He looked quite young, only a few years older than Taki. All that potential. Gone in but a moment.
Removing my blade from his neck I tried to kill the last Mist Shinobi, unfortunately she was ready blocking my blade with her own.
Not wishing to test my kenjutsu against a much more experienced opponent from a village known for its kenjutsu I immediately tossed a C4 seal as I disengaged. Simultaneously all five of my barriers appeared lined up in front of me, bracing myself. I detonated the seal.
The resounding explosion sent me flying towards the tree line while my opponent was tossed towards the sea.
Sitting up I was disoriented but pretty much fine, thanks to proper chakra reinforcement my hearing was still intact. Getting back onto my feet 8 dismissed what was left of my barriers as I approached my opponent who was still alive somehow.
I'd capture you but something tells me you'd rather die than be subjected to the intelligence division.
Stepping closer I hold the hilt of my sword with both hands before plunging the blade into her heart.
Turning around I was met with the sight of Orochimaru, he had an unconscious Kiri Shinobi with him tied up by rope that was definitely actually a snake.
Oh you poor thing.
"You better not have been just watching me," I say to Orochimaru who only smiles in response before walking past me towards the ship.
Unfortunately with all the staff of the port dead, along with the help Orochimaru had ready to transport his new equipment. We ended up having to leave it all in one of the warehouses with a snake security detail.
…
What causes someone to be a natural sensor?
Because I've always assumed it had someone to do with the chakra system, more specifically the tenketsu.
Now I may have quite the robust chakra system but so do others, like the Akimichi, they aren't known for being sensors.
Hmm… I wonder if the big boys of the yang department have a history of natural sensors?
I'll have to check Sensei's personal collection once I'm back in the village
…
Arriving back in the village it was clear something had happened. Orochimaru disappeared the moment we entered through the front gates, presumably to the Hokage's office.
I myself decided to visit the hot spring I always walk past on my way home.
Leaving my things in a messy pile I donned my towel before stepping outside.
I was pleasantly surprised to see I had the place to myself.
Stepping into the water I close my eyes as I let myself be enveloped by the warmth of the water.
This is nice… I should come here whenever I return from a mission… or just whenever I feel like it.
Hmm… I wonder?
Releasing my chakra I begin to push my chakra into the water surrounding myself before completely sinking into the water.
Oh yeah this is much better.
I pushed more and more chakra into the water until it felt as if I was submerged within my own chakra.
I could have stayed like this for hours so of course someone had to ruin it.
A foreign entity entered the water. My chakra pushes against him before retreating as I pulled it back towards myself.
Poking my head out of the water I opened my eye to see who the intruder was.
"Hey kid," said Jiraiya casually with a little wave.
"Interloper," I responded before sinking back into the water.
With my air supply topped up I was ready to stay under water for as long as possible when another much more familiar entity entered the water.
Surfacing I open my eyes to see Gray who likely just reached the village and came straight to me.
"I see you've come to join me Gray," I say as he submerges himself in the water.
"So you'll talk to the snake who didn't even respond but you won't talk to me," Jiraiya said.
"I suppose I came off a little rude."
"You called me an interloper."
"My apologies. Now did you need something or are we gonna pretend our meeting was pure coincidence? I'm fine with either option."
The two of us stared at each other in silence for a bit before he finally spoke up.
"Don't suppose you'll tell me where you and Orochimaru have been the past couple days?" Jiraiya asked.
"We were volunteering down at the orphan puppy shelter," I responded with a smile.
"Right… puppy orphan shelter. I should have known."
With it clear i wasn't going to tell him anything I continued to pull as much of my chakra into a little ball of water in my palms.
Usually I have no issues with leaving some of my chakra laying around but I actually put quite a lot of my reserves into the hot spring.
With all my chakra packed neatly into a ball of water I am just about to get out when Gray jumps out of the water swallowing the water blob.
Well that solves that issue.
"Later toad man," I say with a wave of my hand.
...