“Don’t hold it against him…”

Carrying Yumi like a Princess since she refused to ride in his back, Shirohi flickered through the net of trees, Shizune following closely behind him, in front of Shirohi was Tsunade carrying Nomi the group of 5 had been running through the day and night, Yumi had long passed out in Shirohi's arms with a 'stupid' smile on her face not that Shirohi could see it as she had buried her face into his shirt.

They were closing in on the border of The Land of Fire, their goal was to pass the border before the sun rose and from their pace it seemed possible. Tsunade wanted to return to Konoha but Shirohi was hesitant, Konoha was currently going through internal conflict and he didn't want to be thrown into the thick of it let alone Shizune or Tsunade so he offered the idea of stopping at Kimoyaya Village, the village was far from the border and a decent distance from Konoha it was the safest place he could think of without looking at the map.

Just as they crossed the border Tsunade skidded to a stop, Shirohi passed Yumi to Shizune as he wielded his Kunai while sliding past Tsunade, his free hand reaching towards a pouch on his waist, "Come out! We know you're there!"

Silence, Shirohi's expression tensed as he scanned the bushes surrounding them. Slowly a large group came out from their hiding spots, some haphazardly brandishing their worn weapons while others looked over them menacingly… however as they saw the group of girls their gazes turned amoral, aberrant, depraved… downright disgusting… obscene gestures were everywhere but Shirohi snapped when one called out.

"Ouuuu, DAMN! I was just needing a new co*k sleeve…" Shirohi went stiff, his pale blue eyes tainted with specks of white as he dropped the kunai, running through a set of hand seals before the kunai hit the ground 'Raiton: Little Moon' a soft tune played for a moment before silencing and with the sound of silence Shirohi; clad in a veil of lightning, disappeared from nearly everyone's vision.

Appearing in front of the closest one Shirohi grabbed him by the throat squeezing hard enough for loud disgusting pops to sound out, dragging his body as he shunshin'd Shirohi used the momentum to throw the body at another, the thrown man's body wrapping backwards around the other as visceral cracks sounded out. Another had his skull caved in, flickering in front of the one that dared to use one of them Shirohi hooked his hands under the man's rib cage and with a violent jerk many more visceral cracks sounded out.

Like this, Shirohi killed the group of bandits in the most violent manner he could think of, as the man who's rib cage he ripped out of all but the flesh watched in agony as his organs all stacked into his stomach with nothing to hold them. Before the man could plead for his life Shirohi sent a Shunshin fueled front kick to his jaw causing the flesh rip at the neck before arcing through the air and rolling a few meters away…

Nomi stumbled back, in tens of seconds she had watched a dozen people die… pale as a ghost while pointing at Shirohi as if he was guilty of something, "Y-y-y-you j-just killed them all… like they were nothing but insects…" Shirohi gave a shallow "Yeah…they were," before taking Yumi from Shizune and flickering away, he didn't really feel like talking he was still angry but it would be wrong to vent that anger on her or anyone accompanying him… he could only wait for the next group of 'dead people' to pop out from the woodwork.

With Shirohi far ahead, Tsunade talked to Nomi ``Don't hold it against him… he's been through a lot more than you could imagine, he probably wouldn't have been so brutal if that man had kept his mouth shut… it probably would have ended with their throats slit and they would have never met such a violent end…" Nomi just stayed silent, she didn't know how to process what she just saw. She was just a civilian and never saw bloodshed a day in her life, yea she had seen the occasional street fight but nothing this gruesome…

Shizune watched Tsunade in hidden amazement, there was some faint trembling but she seemed fine… so despite her skepticism she followed Tsunade as they went to catch up to Shirohi.

As night approached, Shirohi began setting up the tents. His tent was gonna be occupied by Nomi and Yumi while Tsunade and Shizune shared a tent as usual, a small distance away from their camp Shirohi sitting in the lotus position with his eyes tightly closed gripping the bark of a tree.

A few beads of sweat ran down his face as he continuously poured chakra into the tree, hiding behind a tree behind Shirohi was a young girl with silver hair, half her head was peeking around the tree as she watched Shirohi. She didn't understand what she was seeing but merely because it involved Shirohi she was curious…

With his chakra running dangerously low, Shirohi fell back in frustration, he needed his chakra control to be on a whole different level then it was and he had already done all the basic training in the scrolls he has. Tsunade rarely gave him pointers anymore and he didn't want to ask, he got this far with his own efforts and he will continue paving the path forward solo…

While his chakra naturally recovered, Shirohi pulled out a tight leather bound scroll taking the seal that sealed the scroll he unsealed a sword. As his hand wrapped around the handle he could feel it conforming to his grip, slowly pulling it from its sheath it responded with a pleasant hum as it glided across the mysterious material.

Slightly spreading his legs, his left leg a half step ahead of his left he raised the sword high with a swift exhale he swung downwards. Feeling the difference in weight between a kunai and the sword instantly as his balance was shaken, he stopped his movements and started over, taking a slightly different stance and swinging it as identical as possible. If he made too many changes at once it would open up too many variables and he didn't have time to waste, slowly night turned to day with Shirohi swinging the sword he had moved from his spot away from camp to the middle of camp as everyone went to sleep.

By the time Tsuande awoke Shirohi was back in front of a tree pouring his chakra into it, she was curious what he was up to but knew it wouldn't be long before she found out. As she heard rustling coming from the tents she began unsealing jars of soup before placing them in the warm coals from last night's fire, she was startled when Shirohi shot to his feet he would exclaimed if not for them being in unknown territory…

While Shirohi was silently celebrating a small section of the bark fell from the tree revealing its white pristine interior, Tsunade smiled affectionately as she watched to seeing him like this brought a warmth to her heart she didn't even know she could feel anymore…