1 CHAPTER 1

The fresh breeze of the morning swept the young boy as each of his punches connected with the tree, leaving marks behind on it.

Even though the sun had just appeared, he was already covered in sweat, panting heavily, and really tired. Despite that, it seemed like the strength hidden in his muscles was enough to make one shudder, as even though he was young, the print of his hands on the tree could be perfectly compared to each one of his fingers.

The young kid was twelve years old, with a slim body and attractive face. His black hair was tied in a ponytail, and his eyes... Oh, they were different than usual, there aren't many words that could be used to describe it, and even though they were just like crystals, they had a charming aura that could attract curious glances with ease despite the cold grey color.

This young man's name was Tokugawa Tsuneo, a cursed existence as far he's concerned given his circumstances...

In a world where Shinobis and Kunoichis dominated every aspect of society and were the true powerhouses behind empires and countries, someone like him was doomed to live a life of struggles and misery.

"Damn it!" With a shout he punched the tree using all his strength, the impact being so heavy he managed to poke a hole in it.

Given his strength, you're probably wondering the reasons behind his plight, his anger.

Tokugawa Tsuneo, it's a beautiful name, when his mother gave birth to him in a dark and dirty alley, with the last drops of vitality slipping away from her, she prayed to kami with all her might, her cries echoing on the walls while the rain made her drenched. 'Kami! My son! The son of Tokugawa Miwa! I beg of you! Just like his name... Tsuneo... "eternal hero", give him the opportunity... to become someone like that! This is the last wish of a dying mother! Kami-sama! Please!'

Tsuneo heard this story many times from the orphanage director, who claimed to have heard her while he was walking nearby, it used to be a tale of encouragement, one to give him the necessary push to keep going forward, and surpass his limits. But when he became four years old and started attending the Ninja Academy...

Reality slapped him in the face.

"W-what did you say?"

"Tsuneo-chan... I... I'm sorry... Himiko-sama's diagnosis arrived, she is certain that your body is completely devoid of chakra, it can't produce it nor store it in any way."

They were just words, but for him, it was like someone had just pushed him into the abyss.

From that day forward, Tsuneo was dominated by his negative feelings, every friend he ever had was pulled away by his efforts and behavior, and his only dream... to become the hero his mother wished him to be... was stripped away from him in the cruelest of the ways, by making it literally something he would never be able to solve with effort and training. In other words, he was a crippled kid.

"Ahh... Ahh..." Tsuneo leaned his head on the tree, the sweat slipping through his face.

*crack*

His ears perked up. Something just cracked nearby, but what could it be, and who could have caused it? While he searched amidst the trees and bushes, a boy fell from the tree behind him and hit him in the head, making him fall on the ground.

"WHO!?" Tsuneo shouted.

"Who do you think?" An arrogant voice answered. As four other kids appeared from the shadows accompanying him.

"Keiichi..." Tsuneo's body shivered, he knew those kids, they were criminals.

Each one of them was recruited by the Tiger Claw gang, usually, they were just errand boys, but sometimes the head of the region made the kids go around beating people and stealing them.

"Hehe... Am I so famous that a nobody like you would recognize me? Congratulations, unfortunately, there's no prize."

Tsuneo stood up, his eyes focused on the beige-haired boy in front of him with a cheesy smile on his face.

"If you know me, that means you know how this works, give me everything, and maybe I'll let you go with just some bruises."

Tsuneo's narrowed his eyes, this Keiichi probably thought he was just another dumb kid, unfortunately for him, that was far from the truth, in fact, he knew very well that even if he did give everything he had, those bastards would still break one of his legs and arms as they always did with their victims.

Instead of playing his game, Tsuneo preferred a much more direct approach, call him 'muscles for head' if you want, but as far as he knew, in such situations, it was always better to make the first move.

Before Keiichi or his friends could react Tsuneo had appeared in front of one of them.

Masahiro who was just in this for the easy money and had no real battle experience, in all of his life he had just bullied individuals who did not dare to strike back, so when Tsuneo dashed towards him so fast, all he could do was think 'What!?' before a heavy punch connected with his face and transferred so much energy on impact that he instantly lost consciousness as his body spun on the air before falling on the ground.

"MASAHIRO!" The kids shouted. They couldn't believe what just happened! Why... why was this retarded fighting back!? Was he a suicide wanting to attract Tiger Claw's attention!?

No matter what, they couldn't slack off in this situation. The fat boy, Masato, and the one closer to him with a ripped body, Gorou, stepped forward.

Masato tried to hold Tsuneo so that Gorou could freely punch him, however, just as he tried jumping on him, Tsuneo counter-attacked with a kick so strong they heard something cracking as Masato's head was hit and he fell unconscious face-first to the ground.

But that did not stop Gorou who was already approaching to punch him.

Keiichi and Osamu also followed him since two individuals from their group were already down and just 10 seconds had passed.

Gorou however wasn't like Masahiro, he was fifteen years old and a graduated Gennin who deserted from Sky Haven's Shinobi units.

"Dynamic Thrust!"

Hearing those words Tsuneo opened his eyes wide as the punch hit him in the face.

However...

"What!?" Gorou couldn't understand the aftermath of his technique. Tsuneo literally glided away across the dusty ground.

Seeing that Gorou managed to hit him, Keiichi and Osamu stopped as a smirk formed on their faces.

"Hahaha! You can't handle a true Shinobi! I don't even know why I was worried!"

"Yeah! I bet you can't even move after taking this punch from Gorou!"

Unfortunately, they failed to notice how he was frowning and sweat was pouring down his face.

It was only when they saw a smile on Tsuneo's face that they stopped laughing and got serious again.

"Dynamic Thrust... Rank D Taijutsu... Ha... haha! I'm not a master of taijutsu like those guys from the Might Clan but I'm pretty sure I decorated every technique on the Ninja Academy and on Sky Haven's public library!"

"W-what!?" Before Gorou could react to those insane words he had just heard, he and Keiichi heard him shout.

"Physical Body Flicker Technique!"

In an instant, Tsuneo's flashed forward and appeared beside Osamu who tried to cut him with a kunai, but he wasn't fast enough and was hit on the guts with a knee attack that made him vomit his breakfast. This attack was enough to knock him out of the fight.

"Fast!" Gorou cried in shock as he watched that scene from the corner of his eyes.

"Gorou, what's going on! Are you his friend or something!? How the hell did he withstand that!" Keiichi cried in anger.

"Shut up, Keiichi! He said it himself! He knows how the technique works, it's not impossible to devise countermeasures! Right now the only problem we have is his physical prowess, but I don't believe someone like him is better in ninjutsu than us!"

"Alright!"

Before Tsuneo could go after them, Keiichi started doing hand-signs at high speed. "Katon: Fire Needles Technique!"

[A/N: Katon = Fire release]

"How!?" Tsuneo's cried in shock as Keiichi started spitting needles made of fire.

He tried to dodge the projectiles, but Keiichi launched too many of them. So as he moved, many of them cut through his skin leaving parts of his chest, arms, and legs burnt. Wincing in pain he fell next to a tree and bit his lips as he tried to endure the pain.

This momentary action let him vulnerable as Gorou used the body flicker technique to flash next to him.

"You're done now!" He spun around himself while supporting his body with his hands, making a powerful spinning kick that hit Tsuneo on the face, throwing him towards a collection of clay jars.

As the loud sound of the jars breaking reached the street behind the forestal area where they found Tsuneo, someone who was walking nearby noticed the commotion and took out a cellphone from his pocket, seeing the man running away while calling someone.

Keiichi clenched his fist and ran towards Gorou.

"Let's go! Some bastard saw us, they will call the guards!"

"Tsk! We have to drag the others out!" Gorou nodded towards Keiichi and both of them left to take the other away.

As they fled the scene, a woman with white-grey hair sitting on top of a nearby building swung her legs as she watched everything that happened, once the kids disappeared, she stood up and sighed.

Her eyes slowly changed to a red color with three comma patterns before taking another appearance that connected them.

"Kamui." Whispering those words, the space distorted around her and she reappeared beside Tsuneo.

"Tokugawa-kun... To think you manage to grow so strong despite your weakness..."

Tsuneo groaned hearing those words, even if he was strong, to fight so many and even someone who could perform nature transformation was already his limit, and since he took such a heavy attack head-on he was still dizzy.

"Don't worry, you can rest now." She smiled and whispered the same words from before, disappearing with him just a few seconds before the Sky Haven Ninja Guards arrived at the scene.

Every guard wore a green flak vest, underneath it they had blue jackets coupled with blue pants, a small bag attached to their legs with white bands, and either a headband or belt with a leaf symbol engraved to a thin silver bar.

"Sir, we found a trail leading to the Tiger Claw's den near the Toru Lake." One of the guards approached a man with whiskers in his face and hair of strong red color.

Another one then said. "Uzumaki-Taicho, I think someone else was here, I can feel a stronger chakra signature, probably Jonin level, and the person didn't even try to mask its trail but..."

[A/N: Taicho = Captain]

"What is it, Kakei-san?"

The man with purple hair frowned. "I think it was an Uchiha that left it behind, I can feel the powerful emotions on this trail of chakra, but the problem is that it simply ceases to exist just where it first appears..."

Their captain thought for a moment and sighed as he shook his head. 'Ahh... Uchiha Hanako... what are you doing? I hope Tsuneo isn't involved in this... Orochimaru-sama won't be happy if you guys are doing that again...'

"Let's go, there's nothing else to see here."

The guards then disappeared in a puff of smoke, almost like they were never there, to begin with.