Chapter 13: Genin Exam Part 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any other references mentioned in this fanfic.

A/N at the bottom. So without further adieu, here is your fresh does for that Fiction-Addiction.

Chapter 13

"Ha!"

Kenji ducked under the sword's swing into a crouching position, then shot toward the enemy, firmly planting his foot into their diaphragm.

The folded like house of cards, falling toward their knees. Kenji didn't waste time as he kicked them in the head, smashing the headband and rendering them unconscious in one move.

With his current opponent incapacitated he moved on to the next.

It was only mid-day but they had already encountered an enemy team. This red team had 25 members in their group, five more than them.

Bending his legs, he leaped into the sky. He quickly surveyed the situation and unhooked his bow from his shoulder. He quickly loaded five arrows and let them fly.

Each arrow met their mark, as they shattered the plates of five members on the red teams.

Obviously, he was using blunted arrows with rubber tips, he didn't want to kill anyone, just cause them a lot of pain. That's not to say, that killing wasn't allowed. They had all signed a death waver before the exams, cause you know 'accidents.' So while they wouldn't be reprimanded for the death of a fellow candidate, it still wasn't something that would appear good on their record.

He also didn't use the full power of the bow, but the heads of each of the academy students' still snapped backwards rattling their brains. No one from their team had been disqualified yet, but a few had been injured and were just barely holding on.

The chubby child didn't have much time to rest however because now everyone that even had a lick of sense could tell he was a major threat, as he continued to snipe at them from a distance.

A volley of weapons bombarded him while he was still freefalling. Since it was too late to use the substitute jutsu with nothing nearby to switch with, he quickly used his ring to switch out his bow for a red oil-paper umbrella.

Red Umbrella Shield +13

Quality: High-Human

Defense: 10

+1520

10+: 25% of chakra attacks get stored to create a powerful force field around the user. Amount of chakra stored is equal to its Defense rating.

12+: 4% chance to reflect jutsu back at the caster.

Chakra Points Needed to Upgrade: 1150

He opened the umbrella to its full size, completely hiding his small frame from view. The projectiles bouncing of its surface without leaving a so much as a scratch.

Taking a quick peak over the edge, Kenji saw a giant fuma shuriken heading his way.

Immediately he closed the umbrella and held it as if he was holding a sword at his hip.

He waited until it was almost on him before he pulled apart the handle from the rest of the shaft.

*Click*

His arm blurred as the giant metal shuriken was split in half. In his outstretch hand was a tanto that was giving a dangerous red aura.

Hidden Tanto +12

Quality: Mid-Human

Attack: 450

+900

10+: Iaijutsu is 5 times faster.

12+: Kinetic energy is stored inside the blade and can be unleashed into a single attack. Amount store is equal to its Attack rating.

Chakra Points Needed to Upgrade: 400

Kenji grunted slightly as his arm was still unused to the speed needed to draw the tanto. 'I think I pulled something.'

He sheathed the tanto back into the umbrella's shaft.

The fighting was still going strong, and some of his teammates looked like they could use help. He landed lightly on the ground but quickly jumped away, dropping an explosive tag behind him.

Two hands sprouted from the ground and a red candidate immerged from the ground, only to be left dumbfounded as they didn't see Kenji. They did however see the left the remaining explosive tag land next to them, "Oh fuc-"

*Boom!*

Kenji used his smaller size to slide in between the legs of one of his teammates and an enemy ninja, that were locked in a stalemate. When he was underneath the red team's member, he shot his fist up and hit them right between the legs, with enough force to push them 3 inches off the ground.

As expected, the stalemate was broken instantly as the enemy ninja dropped to the ground foaming at the mouth, their eye's rolled back into their skull.

His teammate looked both shocked and a little scared as they subconsciously crossed their own legs.

Kenji used the pommel of his umbrella to break their plate, and then he was off to the next target.

But before he could do that, he had to lunge out of the way as a giant human boulder threatened to crush him. The Akimichi clansmen made a sharp 'U' turn as they tried to crush the tiny academy student.

Kenji however was ready as he wove hand seals and slammed his hands onto the ground. Immediately a 90-degree earth ramp formed in front of him. The Akimichi saw it, but he had already built too much momentum to stop, so he was forced to flew over the edge and into the air.

Kenji wasn't done however, as he switched his umbrella with a long steel chain. Channeling chakra through it, it followed his command, moving through the air like a snake. It tied itself around the 'big boned' teen, forming an iron net with the end of the chain still being in Kenji's hands.

Using chakra to anchor himself firmly to the ground, Kenji pulled on the chain using his monstrous strength. He gritted his teeth as he began to swing the chain around him, using the other ninja as an improvised flail, spinning faster and faster until he looked like a top.

With a heave he sent the incapacitate ninja into another member of the red group.

Poor bastard didn't stand a chance as he was flattened by his teammate.

'Behind you.'

Kenji heard Akame's message just in time as he backflipped twenty feet into the air.

From his upside-down position he saw the ground exploded into a fiery crater on account of the giant fireball jutsu that had been sent his way.

Equipping his umbrella again, he landed behind the ninja responsible for the attack.

They turned around faster than he thought possible with a chakra coated fist cocked back, ready to brain him. Unfortunately for them, his unsheathing speed was faster than they could throw a punch. The pommel of the tanto hit their chin, forcing their head to tilt upward, then he used the blade and stabbed it through their left foot. They screamed in agony, but Kenji didn't have time to worry about that. Jumping up he grabbed their head with his two cubby hands and gave them a flying knee straight to the face. He made sure to hold back his strength, since he didn't want to outright kill them, but the plate was definitely destroyed… along with their nose.

Retrieving his tanto and sheathing it back into his umbrella, he scanned the chaos of the battlefield to pick his next target.

'Watch ou-'

Kenji couldn't catch the end of the message as he felt someone kick him in the ribs, launching him away like a football.

The kick that was meant to break his ribs did no damage thanks to his upgraded clothes and armor.

He righted himself in mid-air and saw the culprit, a Hyuga clansmen that was currently sprinting toward him.

Putting his game face on, which still looked ridiculous with his fake beard, he stored his umbrella into his storage ring.

Now most people would say that it was foolish to fight a Hyuga in pure taijutsu, and frankly they would be right. However, that did not apply to Kenji who had more tricks up sleeves than- well anyone really.

"Eight Trigrams: 64 Palms!"

Kenji let himself be hit.

"2 Palms!"

"4 Palms!"

"8 Palms!"

"16 Palms!"

"32 Palms!"

"64 Palms!"

Kenji sprung his trap just as the last attack was about to land. Out of his sleeves came out a flash tag that flew toward the Hyuga's face.

No normally a flash tag wasn't enough to hinder a Hyuga's ocular power, since like all dojutsu they had a natural resistance to things that would harm them, like dust, light, etc.

But then again, no one had faced a shinobi quite like Kenji before.

The flash tag's light was four times stronger than normal. Even Kenji who had closed his eyes and used his arms to cover his face was momentarily blinded.

"Aaaargh!" The Hyuga clawed at his eyes, as for the first time in his life, he was betrayed by the very eyes that he was so proud of.

Using a bit of medical chakra, Kenji fixed his eyes at lightning speed. He glanced at the Hyuga who was rolling on the ground covering his face, his skin was sporting a light tan and Kenji could see steam rise off his body.

That had only been a +6 Flash Tag. The full powered +10 was so powerful that it would instantly burn whatever skin was exposed during the explosion and cause clothes to instantaneously combust. He had tried it only once, and he was left blind for 5 days straight, and not even medical ninjutsu had helped.

Walking closer toward him, Kenji didn't let down his guard even once. Then when he was close enough, he broke into running start and kick them in the head like professional soccer player, inadvertently saving them from anymore agony as they were knocked unconscious.

Tsubaki who was fighting her own opponent winced at the brutality that Kenji was displaying.

Her opponent also gave a wince and turned to her, "Damn, just what kind of monster is that kid."

"…This is his first time," she admitted, trying to defend the small boy.

"Well I mean that was obvious, but no kid should be that good or that brutal. Ah! And now his looting the body of the Hyuga!" the red team's member shouted in indignation, wondering if the fat child had ever heard of battle etiquette.

'Oh Kenji,' Tsubaki sighed, unable to defend his behavior. She clashed with the other ninja a few more times before she saw an opening.

She sent her kunai sailing toward his face, only for the man to tilt his head to the side just enough to avoid it, "You're going to have to do better than-"

He didn't get to say anymore as Kenji came flying out of nowhere and planted his two feet straight into his face. It was almost in slow-motion as his face deformed from the sudden attack and he was launched backwards.

The fat boy landed in front of Tsubaki.

Under his breath Kenji whispered, "…Dynamic Entry."

(Monitor Room!)

"Ha! I fuckin called it! Pay up!" Tsume said as she slapped her hand on the desk. She just knew that he had picked up some of Gai's bad habits from all the time they spent together.

Inoichi, Choza, Shikai, and the Hokage grumbled as they took out money from their wallets and handed it to the Inzuka Head. Betting during the genin exams was a long held tradition after all.

(Battle Field)

The man was sent skidding along the ground like a stone across the water.

Kenji turned to saluted his superior, "The battle is almost over Captain. The tides of battle are currently on our side. Still, we should not let our guard down. We never know if another Red Team is hiding nearby just waiting until we become exhausted."

"Right…" Tsubaki looked around and saw that her group was actually pushing back the enemy.

"Oh, look! There's the enemy's Captain, perhaps we should go and say hello," the small boy, stroked his ridiculous beard, trying to sound mature.

The opponent's captain was an Akamichi clansman that couldn't be older than 15. She was currently facing Yuuto, who was dancing circles around her.

"I'll do a mind transfer, Kenji watch my body," Tsubaki ordered as she began to perform her clan's signature jutsu. Kenji caught her body and took out some Shield Talisman from his pouch. At his mental command they soon started orbiting around the two, ready to defend them from any and all attacks.

He noticed that it didn't take nearly as much effort to keep them afloat like it usually did.

That wasn't all though, since he could sense a sort of emotionally charged chakra ball leave Tsubaki and travel toward the Akamichi woman.

'Wow, ninshu sure comes in handy at times.'

The plump girl stopped her assault on Yuuto who continued to hurl insults at her.

"You mama so fat, I tried picturing her in my head, and the bitch broke my neck," the black-haired teen said expecting another attack.

The girl however didn't retaliate as she just gave him a small glare, "That's enough Yuuto. Kenji, come over here!"

Kenji did as he was told and brought her body with him.

"Do you have something to restrain her?"

Kenji looked confused at the strange request, "Why not just smash her plate right now?"

" I-I think it would be better if we took her captive. That way the enemy doesn't know it lost a Captain until the time is right," she said uncertainly.

'That would definitely give us an advantage should the enemy grow arrogant because they think they have more allies. Not a bad strategy Captain, you might just have what it takes to be a leader,' Kenji thought in secret. Turning to the most senior of the group he asked, "Yuuto, what do you think?"

The 17-year-old just gave a shrug, "I don't really care."

"…Fine. Just wait a second," the small boy said as he reached into his pouch and took out a glass marble filled some strange purple liquid. "Sit down and put your hands behind your back."

Tsubaki did as she was told and felt as Kenji placed the orb into her hands.

Kenji flicked the surface of the marble with his finger causing the container to break. The mysterious liquid inside began to expand until it was ten times its original size, then it froze and hardened into a clear purple glass sphere large enough to encompasses the girl's two hands.

Yuuto looked surprised, "What was that?"

"It's a little something I came up with," the tiny ninja said as he stroked his fake beard trying to give a teacher like feel, "I call it glass cement. It's 5 times stronger than steel and completely temperature resistant. Plus, it's great at absorbing kinetic energy, so no amount of bashing it will break it."

The black-haired man still looked confused as he scratched his head, "So then how are you supposed to free them?"

"I have a solvent that will be able to melt it so there's no need to worry."

Tsubaki chose this moment to release her jutsu and go back to her own body.

The chubby woman also regained consciousness, "Huh? Wha-Where? What the hell?"

She immediately noticed that her hands had been restrained, and no matter how much chakra she sent into her arms, she could not get them free. She glared at the three of them with fury, although she was momentarily confused by Kenji's choice in appearance.

"Now that we captured their Captain, what should we do with the rest of the her team?" Kenji asked as he equipped his bow once more.

Yuuto yawned as he had his arms behind his head in a very relaxed position. Now that there was no more fighting for him to do, he was showing his lazy side again. "Just get rid of them. We can't let them contact another red team and tell them about our little plan."

The small boy thought so too, but he needed permission first.

He looked up to Tsubaki who gave him the go ahead.

"Fine."

Scanning the battlefield, he looked toward places that needed his help. He quickly spotted a Nara who had captured one of his teammates with his shadow while his partner was going in for the kill.

Taking two rubber tipped arrows, he shot them in rapid succession one after the other.

They flew across the battlefield in a fraction of a second.

The first hit the Nara's hands and accidently pierced his palms all the way though.

"Tch, my bad. I added too much power," Kenji clicked his tongue at what he saw as his failure.

The second arrow aimed at the other ninja was seen however as they dodged it at the last second. The ninja turned to glare in their direction.

Kenji looked impressed as he stroked his beard with his free hand, "Not bad. It's good that he chose to dodge instead of blocking it. Let's see if he can do that again?"

He loaded another arrow and activate the bow's special ability.

Giving chakra an elemental nature was said to be incredibly difficult to do and Kenji would have to agree as his chakra started to plummet rapidly. His strongest elements were currently earth and fire, as those were the jutsu he used the most.

The arrow turned red as it gained the fire element.

Kenji released it, and it flew like a comet, with a fiery tail trailing behind it.

The red member leaped into the air to avoid it, causing Kenji to smirk.

The arrow corrected its course at the last second and flew toward the airborne ninja. At Kenji's mental command the arrow exploded with the force of five explosive tag, gaining everyone's attention.

Kenji didn't waste time however as he quickly began to snipe the enemy while they were distracted.

The ninja crashed back to earth. He had been in the outer rim of the explosion where the damage was reduced, but he still suffered first and second-degree burns all over his body.

Lowering his bow Kenji saw that there were no more enemies left standing.

"Looks like we won," Yuuto chimed, "We should treat our wounded now, then move as far away from here as possible. No doubt the sound of battle will attract others."

"Oh let me do that Captain. I have plenty of items still left," Kenji vouleteered eagerly.

Yuuto gave him a suspicious look immediately. From what he knew of the boy, it wouldn't be wrong to say that the little brat would sooner bite his own hand off than give something away for free.

Tsubaki who didn't know Kenji's true personality yet looked touched thinking he was just concerned about their teammates. "Sure Kenji do what you can, but you also shouldn't push yourself. You fought an awful lot already."

Kenji gave her a thumbs up and turned around to go help out his teammates. Neither one of them saw the shark like grin as he walked away.

(Monitor Room)

'The little midget figured out the hidden condition needed to pass the exam,' Shikaku thought mildly impressed.

He was able to see the battle through all the small hidden cameras that were being carried by Shibi's insects. The headbands all had a built-in microphone, so sound wasn't an issue either.

Still he was surprised that someone taking the test for the first time was able to figure out the true purpose of the test. After all you could still fail even if your team survived till the end, and you could still pass even if your forehead protector was smash.

No. The true purpose of the last test was to appeal to one of the different branches of their military. It worked similar to a show and tell. Those that managed to catch the interest of even a single branch passed, simple as that.

Apparently, the small dumpling shaped boy knew this too, as he was making an effort to appeal to all of them. The Research and Development had already called 'dibs' on him, which caused the other departments to keep a close eye on him too.

Shikaku watched on his monitor as Kenji began to distribute 'homemade' bandages and patches to his injured teammates. At first he was confused by what he was doing but when he saw the familiar green glow of medical chakra come out of the bandages, his eyes sharpened. 'What in hell is that?'

He looked around the table subtly and saw that the only one's who seemed to know anything were the Hokage, Tsume, and Madam Shijimi.

Frowning, he looked at the screen closer, he hated not knowing what was going on.

He was just in time to see the boy perform the Mystic Palm Technique. His hands gained a layer of healing chakra, then he started to heal the more serious wounds of his teammates.

'Great. Now the Medic Corps will no doubt want him too. So troublesome.'

(Battle field)

"There, that should do it, shoulder is all fixed," the ten-year-old said.

The kunoichi rotated her shoulder and noticed that all the pain was gone, "Thanks kid- I mean Vice-Captain."

Kenji gave her a fox like grin as he gave her a small pat on the head and walked away stroking his beard laughing, "Hohohoho." He was still working on his old kung-fu master persona.

The girl watched with deadpan eyes as he walked away. It was a tough to believe that a kid that weird could be so strong.

Looking at his chakra level, Kenji noticed that he was down to an eight of his full reserves. Still he couldn't complain, they had immerged victorious without any casualty to their side, plus he finally had some real combat experience. Sure he had to hold back a bit so as not to really hurt anyone, but it was still something. Now he knew what he was capable of.

That didn't mean he would allow himself to grow arrogant though. An important rule of combat was to think of your opponent either as strong or stronger than yourself, and that for any trick you might have expect two from them. Which is why he had dozens of tricks up his sleeves, with more being made every day.

He gave a low whistle and Lin-Lin popped out of a bush near the tree line. She rushed over to him immediately. Kenji didn't want to use Lin-Lin if necessary, as he didn't yet trust her to go easy on anyone that wasn't him or Akame.

Speaking of Akame, he received a mental message from her.

'Can I stop hiding?'

Kenji discreetly shook his head. 'Not yet."

Once everyone from his side was healed, Kenji turned to the rounded-up members of the red team, who were being watched by a couple of guards.

Kenji gave them his infamous fox smile. "Hi there."

The group was understandably wary, as they huddled together.

"Ah, no need to worry. Since you've all lost your plates this means that we are no longer enemies," he said as he sat down on the grass, the two older shinobi stood close to him, ready to protect him. "See, I have a deal for you guys?"

A kunoichi that looked to be the oldest in the group was the one to speak up, "…What kind of deal?"

"Well you see, I have a very basic talent in medical ninjutsu."

The woman looked at all of the lively members from the green team currently celebrating and gave the bearded child a look filled with sarcasm, "Basic, right~"

"Yep, now technically I have no obligation to treat anyone-"

"What about the Hippocratic oath to help those that are injured?"

"I'd never said I was medic-nin. I'm just a simple academy student that might know a couple of healing jutsus," Kenji said innocently.

The woman clicked her tongue as she held a hand to her side where a kunai had managed to puncture the skin. "What's this deal then?"

"Oh it's simple really. I offer to provide medical assistance to you and your group and you agree to donate 80% of your supplies to us."

"What?! You can't be serious!" the substitute leader shouted in indignation, "This is highway robbery!" Those from the red team that had been listening in also began to voice their complaint.

The small boy tilted his head to the side in an innocent gesture, "How so?"

"You're asking us to give you almost all of our supplies, just so you can heal the very wounds that you and your group were responsible for. How does this make you any better than bandits?!"

"Well, you are still alive for one, but I see your point," the chubby merchant said before looking at one of the two guards, "Akira-san what do you think? Should I heal them without anything in return? Should I waste my chakra on them even though I have no responsibility to do so, and potentially put myself and the team in at a disadvantage situation the next time we have to face the enemy just to be a good person?"

Akira got into a mock thinking posture as he rubbed his chin, "Well now that you said it, I don't think that's very fair Vice-Captain."

"See, there you have it, an unbiased opinion," Kenji said as he turned back to the current leader of the red team as she ground her teeth together. "Of course, the decision is entirely up to you, but you should really take into account that, the village is more than 34 miles away from here, and the blood on your clothes will no doubt attract predators. Plus, there is always the chance of meeting bandits and with many of your teammates being injured and exhausted it will be a much harder fight. Again the choice is yours," Kenji said it with a voice so sweet that it caused the hairs of his two guards to stand up. They couldn't understand how a voice so childish and sweet could be so menacing.

The red team all looked like they eat lemons, but they finally relented after a few minutes talking to themselves. "Fine! We'll accept you damn deal?"

The greedy child clapped his hands together. "Splendid! Now if you could just point to your camp on this map. We can head there, and I can begin to heal your injured." Kenji took out a handmade map from his ring, although it appeared like he pulled it out of thin air to those that didn't know about the ring's ability.

"Wha-How do you have a map? And why not heal us here?" the woman shouted in surprise, since they were not provided with a map.

"Well this place leaves us open for an attack, so it would be best to get out of here as fast as possible."

"And the map?"

"Well that's not really any of your business is it?" Kenji said with a smile, causing a tick mark to appear on the kunoichi.

Truth was that last night he had sent Lin-Lin and Akame to scout the area while everyone slept. Then he had simply looked over Akame's memories to draw the map in the morning. Their special abilities made it almost impossible for them to be spotted after all.

Once the Red team's leader marked their camp's location on the map, they set off.

"Ah, wait!" Kenji said suddenly causing everyone to be on guard ready for an ambush.

Tsubaki held a kunai at the ready, "What is it? Another enemy team?"

"Huh? No, I just need to pee. Wait a second?" he said as he ran behind a shrub. Everyone faceplanted at the ridiculous of it all.

Making sure that no one was watching him, Kenji relaxed a bit. 'Akame could you scout ahead and check for any traps they might have set up beforehand.'

At first nothing happened but then two long white rabbit ears peaked out of the surface of his shadow. Akame's head was the only thing that emerged as she nodded, before sinking into his shadow once again. His shadow morphed to have two red circle as eyes, a mouth of triangular teeth, and two rabbit ears.

'Stop that! You know I hate when you do that!' Kenji mentally scolded her. It creeped him out, how similar she looked like black Zetsu.

His shadow moved of its own accord as it stuck out its tongue before it returned to normal.

As a level 2 chakra beast, Akame had two elements natures. When she first gained her beast crystal, she was granted a low yin affinity, but since neither one of them new any yin related techniques there was no real use for it until now.

When her beast crystal gained an additional layer showing her statue as a level 2, her yin affinity grew stronger and she gained shadow affinity similar to the Nara's. But for whatever reason, using them together allowed her two transform her body into spiritual energy and merge with shadows. She couldn't attack of course but she could definitely scout unnoticed. They called this jutsu the Dark Moon Technique.

Now that that was taken care of, it was time to get down to business. He still had a child's bladder after all, and that shit was ready to burst.

(Scene Change)

They arrived at the Red Teams camp in just a few minutes thanks to the map.

Akame had reported back after disarmed the few traps near the entrance of the cave.

Tsubaki took this opportunity to take command, "Go and gathering everything in the cave and place it in a pile. We will give them the option of what they want to take."

Some people grumbled, but they listened to the Captain.

Kenji also felt like grumbling, but he had other things to worry about like taking care of the injured.

He took a few of his first aid equipment and began to apply them to the lesser injuries. This was a great chance for him to promote his shop's items. By the way, on a totally unrelated note, those that fought Kenji had the worst injuries and needed the higher-grade recovery items.

Kenji was even forced to take Chakra Elixir to replenish his lost chakra.

"Oi, what's that you just drank," Yuuto said as he walked behind Kenji who was using medical chakra to heal the Nara who's hands, he had skewered.

Taking the glass vial from his lips Kenji began to explain, making sure that he talked loud enough for everyone to here.

"This is a Chakra Elixir, it replenishes chakra."

"You mean like a soldier pill."

Kenji shook his head, "Nope, better. Unlike the chakra pill which forces you to make more chakra to fill your reserves, this elixir contains chakra. After you drink it, it will seep into your chakra coils and go directly to your reserves. This means that you can use then indefinitely without any negative side effects to your health or chakra coils."

Yuuto began to ask more questions about his items, and Kenji tried to answer all of them without giving too much away. He took the chance to let it slip that he would be opening a ninja tool store after the exam and began to shamelessly promote his store.

"Well I'm finished Captain," he said as he finished healing the last of the injuries.

Tsubaki turned to face him and smiled kindly, "Good, we were just about to divide the supplies."

"Anything good?"

"Just a couple of camping equipment and some food. Most opted to take their clothes and money?"

"Tch. Cheapskates."

"Right. Anyways, now that that's taken care off, I think we should head back to our base," she said adjusting her glasses and dusting off her clothes.

"What about our guest," the chubby boy said as he pointed a finger at the Red's Captain that was glaring at everyone.

"We'll blindfold her before we go."

"Okay, if you say so?"

After sealing everything, Squad D bid the red team farewell. Kenji made sure to hand them all coupons for his upcoming store as a sign of good gesture.

They made it back before noon, but during that time 2 green flares went up in the air, indicating that 2 captains from their side had been defeated.

"Damn, that means we only have 8 on our side including us," Kenji grumbled.

"Oi, someone go fill the canteens, there should be a river a quarter of a mile from here," someone shouted from inside the cave.

"I-I go!" Tsubaki volunteered as she raised her hand nervously. She had been feeling particularly useless all morning, so she was eager to prove herself.

"I'll come with," Kenji said as he stood up from the boulder he was sitting on, "Akame, Lin-Lin you're coming too."

The river that was mention was relatively easy to find, since they could see it even from their cave. It was 40 ft wide with a slow moving current that made it perfect for fishing. Smooth stones covered the edges of the river like a small stone beach.

"I'll get the water Kenji, you can rest," Tsubaki offered, taking out the empty canteens from a sealing scroll.

"Okay, I guess I could do a little fishing," the small boy said as he took out a fishing rod and a battered fishing hat from his rings inventory. He jumped on one of the large boulders near the edge to get a better look.

"Time to unleash my secret weapon."

He attached a small chibi version of himself to the line to act as the bobber. It had a large smile as it held up a peace sign.

Fishing Bobber +10

Quality: Ordinary

Attack: 3

+90

10+: Increase fishing encounters by 1000%

Chakra Points Needed to Upgrade: 40

"Oh! I think I see a catfish!" Kenji exclaimed as he tossed the lure into the deepest part of the river.

'Dummy. Enemies are near.'

'How close are they Akame?' Kenji thought with a serious expression, as he glanced at Tsubaki who was ankle-deep in the water already.

'2 Miles from here.'

'Do you think you can take them?'

'Maybe? I feel a strong one there.'

Kenji gave her a subtle nod, as he took out a ninja pouch and attached it to her sides, then gave her the double-sided kunai. 'Take them out if you can, and if you can't then just thin them out as much as possible. Capture the captain if the opportunity presents itself, but don't put yourself in danger.'

'Reward.'

'…we'll talk about that when you get back.'

Akame nodded as she traveled up his sleeve and merged with the shadows inside his clothes.

Kenji felt a shiver run down his spine, 'Goddess, I hate when she does that!'

He didn't feel all that worried for her to be honest. As much as Kenji hated to admit it, Akame was currently the strongest member of their group, with Lin-Lin following close behind.

Just ability wise and without upgrade equipment Kenji stood no chance of ever beating them. Even now, if he fought them with all his items, he calculated that he only had a 70 percent chance of winning.

Despite this, Kenji couldn't help but worry for her.

The chubby boy was broken out of his thoughts when he heard Tsubaki speak to him.

"K-Kenji? C-can I ask you something?"

"Sure. What's up?"

She walked and sat on the ground beside the boulder he was standing on. She tucked her knees into herself as she watched the surface of the water. "…What do you think it means to love someone?"

Kenji turned to face the river as he asked worriedly, "Why are you asking me that? Shouldn't you be the expert here since you're engaged? …Or could it be that you are having second thoughts?"

The blonde hid her face and didn't answer.

"…I see. Well honestly I don't really know," he said as looked pensively into the river, "I've never really loved anyone or anything before. I'm an orphan so I've never known the love of a family and I've never really had any friends so…"

"What about Akame and Lin-Lin?"

"Them? Well Akame is well… Akame. She more like an ally than a friend. Lin-Lin on the other hand, I have no doubt that she would kill me if she could get away with it," he admitted, before throwing a glare at the Pekingese that was sunbathing beside them.

"I'll be your friend," Tsubaki offered.

"… Well I'm not really in a position to refuse, so I guess that's okay. Nice to meet you Friend Tsubaki," he mumbled as he scratched his cheek and then extend his small arm toward the blonde girl.

"Like wise, Friend Kenji," she said taking his hand and shaking it, before they both smiled and giggled.

They descended once more into comfortable silence.

"So are you?"

"Huh?"

"Are you having second thought about your engagement?"

"…I'm not sure."

"Is this why you've been depressed?"

"Huh?"

"I noticed that you've been feeling down ever since lunch yesterday. Did your parents perhaps not like the news?"

Tsubaki shook her head, "N-no, that's not it."

"Okay then, I won't but into your business. But you know? This reminds me of a poem I read once. Ahem, I think it went something like this:

My hands catch the fire.

Heart burns with love and desire

Feeding my life's pyre."

Tsubaki tilted her head to the side, "What?"

"The poem compares love to a fire. In my opinion I feel that love is as dangerous as any element, kind of like a campfire," he said as he used chakra to light his hand on fire and wiggled his fingers to demonstrate.

"This world is not nice by any means, it's cold and it's dark. But then comes love, and suddenly you can see the colors of the world and feel the warmth that you didn't know you were missing until then. But love doesn't just give, it takes too. You need to constantly feed it to keep it alive, but their will come a time when a storm will pass, and you will find yourself out of kindling. During that time, you can decide to either let the fire get extinguished or throw yourself into it, hoping that it will not betray your trust and hurt you. Tell me Tsubaki, is there a storm currently in your heart?" Kenji asked, giving his sage persona another go.

"I-I-I… I d-don't kn-know!" Tsubaki hid her face as she began to cry, salty tears trailed down her cheeks.

Kenji could feel a torrent of emotions hit him, almost knocking him off the boulder. He could feel them clawing at him, threating to influence him. Breathing deeply, he slowly accepted them, sending his own calm feeling toward her.

Ninshu was an amazing tool to understand others, but it only worked if you yourself were willing to accept everything, the good and the bad.

He didn't say anything as he focused on fishing.

It took a few minutes before Tsubaki finished, feeling refreshed by the end. Kenji on the other hand felt slightly sick and dirty, as if one of his hands was covered in motor oil.

Tsubaki took off her glasses and wiped her eyes, "Thank you Kenji."

"Hn."

"To tell you the truth, I'm not sure about my feelings right now," she said taking a stone and skipping it across the water.

'Ah! I felt something touch the line.' "…"

"What would you do, if loving someone meant going against the wishes of everyone?"

'So it was her family after all.' "While I want to say they don't matter, I don't know your circumstances, so I'll just say this. Did you think love would be easy?"

"What do you mean?"

"There is no such thing as easy love. Real love is hard work. It takes effort and most importantly it takes sacrifice."

"Sacrifice?"

"Yep. Every relationship is built around sacrifice. You give up your time, your feelings, your effort for that special person without asking anything in return."

"But what if this love ends up hurting people?!"

"Tsubaki, do you know what marriage means?"

"Yes."

"See I don't think you do. It's not just changing your last name, or uniting a family, or even about pleasing your lover. No, marriage is a promise. Not to them but to yourself. When you get on that alter and you look into their eyes, your heart should tell you this:

'I'm scared. The world is a scary and dangerous place. I am not sure what the future hold for me, but I can't imagine it without you in it. So I'll make a promise right here right now, not to God or you, but to myself. I promise that should you take my hand on this day, you will have it forever. I cannot promise we will always have good times, but I'll hold your hand through every obstacle the world wants to throw at us. And no one, not friend, not family, and not even death will ever separate us. So take my hand and I'll take yours, and we'll fight the whole world together if we have to, because that's how much you mean to me!'

…Do you think you can honestly say this?" Kenji asked her casually. Tsubaki was stunned as she opened her mouth to answer but he held up his hand to stop her, "You don't need to say anything to me. This is a decision that you need to make on your own."

Tsubaki closed her eyes as she got deep in thought thinking over what he had just said.

Kenji on the other hand was frowning, 'What the heck. How is my super ultra secret fishing bobber not working. It's been over 15 minutes without a so much as a nibble!'

(Monitor Room)

Lady Shijimi squeezed the hand of her husband as they looked into each other's eyes.

She recognized both the poem and that little speech, since they were both from the novel that Kenji had written.

The Daimyo kissed the back of her hand as he whispered, "I love you."

Lady Shijimi gave him a heart-warming smile as she choked up, "…I know. I love you too."

It was true, that the Daimyo had never once stopped loving her, even before her sudden transformation, he had always told her that she was the most beautiful woman that he had ever saw.

Years ago when she had become pregnant for the first time, she had an attempt on her life. The culprit had used an unknown poison at that time, that was supposed to kill her. She managed to survive thanks to the medic-nins employed in the palace, but it was too late. Their unborn child had been ripped away from them before she could even take her first breath. Her uterus and ovaries had also been damaged beyond the point of healing and needed to be removed so that she could live.

She had never been the same since then. For weeks after that horrifying experience she had stared blankly into the garden without purpose, just thinking about the daughter she had lost. Tora. That was what they would name her. It wasn't until her dear husband had presented her with a small kitten and promised to always love her did she finally start to go back to normal.

Her, husband had it hard as well. His advisors had all tried to convince him to remarry or at least get a concubine so that there would be an heir to the throne, but he would always refuse. He did not get swayed or tempted by the noble ladies' attempts either. He had even boldly declared to all that the royal line would die with him, because he would not take anyone else but her.

That of course had severe consequence, with every noble now eyeing the throne. She as a result had risen to the challenge, protecting her husband from any and all dangers in court, using any means necessary.

Hearing Kenji's words had brought those memories rushing back.

'I promise that should you take my hand on this day, you will have it forever. I cannot promise we will always have good times, but I'll hold your hand through every obstacle the world wants to throw at us.' She couldn't help but think how true those words were.

(River)

Kenji reeled in the fishing line and tossed it further out. He took a chance to inspect the blonde next to him. He could still feel doubt from her, but it was slowly disappearing.

"Ahem."

The girl looked up to Kenji who was busy staring at the river, "What?"

"…well since you were so open and stuff, I suppose it's only fair for me to share something embarrassing that could potential damage my reputation," he said as he briefly touch the dog mask strapped to the inside of his clothes.

"Huh? You don't need to do that?" Tsubaki said shaking her hands in front of him.

"No, its fine. You shared something so it's only fair," he said before taking a deep breath and saying what was really on his mind, "I met someone recently."

That caught Tsubaki attention, as well as everyone listening in. "Oh?"

Kenji looked away, "Yeah, the only problem is I don't know if I should trust them or not."

"Why, are they a bad person?" she said worriedly.

"I'm not sure. My brain is warning me to stay away, but my heart is saying to help her. I guess you could say I'm afraid," Kenji confessed. Dealing with Kaguya was practically the same as making a pact with the devil, and he was sure that sooner or later she would ask something in return. "I'm afraid of what they will expect of me. Will they make me do something I don't like? Will I start to change into someone else?"

Tsubaki didn't know what to say so she just sat down and leaned against the boulder.

Kenji however stood up when he noticed the bobber disappear under the water. The fishing rod suddenly lurched over, and he had to use chakra to not fall over.

'Oh boy, it looks like a big one!'

All of a sudden, the pull got stronger and wilder, 'A really big one.' Kenji tried to gain control again, but he was slowly losing the battle. 'What-"

Tsubaki was pulling out some plants growing from the ground when she finally spoke, "Looks like we both have problems huh?"

When she didn't receive a response, she got up and noticed that the small boy was gone, his fishing hat laying tipped over on the rock. Worriedly she began to look around, "Kenji? Kenji?! Where are you?"

Lin-Lin suddenly began to bark at the water.

When she turned she was just in time to see as a huge sea creature that looked like a hybrid of a catfish and an alligator leap out of the water. Almost in slow-motion she could see one of Kenji's arms trapped between its teeth while the small boy screamed and punched the cat-gator's eye repeatedly using his free hand.

"Aaaaaaahhhhhh…"

Then just like that, they disappeared back into the water.

It took Tsubaki's brain to restart but when she did, she leaped into the water. Lin-Lin followed almost soon after.

Kenji struggled to not scream out, as he could feel the razor sharp teeth somehow pierce his upgraded clothes and chainmail.

The cat-gator thing had a round flat mouth like that of a catfish, but with large triangular teeth that interlocked together. It had long whiskers, webbed feet and a fish like tail but was covered in hard mossy green scales.

The cubby boy could feel his arm grow numb, and from what he could see, the area around the wound was turning an unhealthy green. 'Oh, damn it. It has poison teeth.'

The gator began to dive in deeper towards its underwater den, hoping to drown the small boy. Kenji couldn't even summon a weapon since the damn beast would shake him like a ragdoll. Looking toward the surface he saw Tsubaki and Lin-Lin dive toward him.

However, just as he turned around to punch the gator in its eye once more, he saw that its whiskers were giving off electrical sparks.

Suddenly Kenji paled as his fox eyes opened, 'Aww shoot.'

That was the last thing he saw before one million volts of electricity coursed through his body.

(Elsewhere)

Haishi gave on of his rare smiles as he walked through his camp. Everyone was working diligently like a well-oiled machine.

He was the Captain of Squad A, the group that only had 10 members. However with his exceptional leadership skills they had already taken out an enemy squad.

Unlike the rest of the Clan Heads, he looked forward to the genin exams. There was just something therapeutic in crushing these genin hopefuls, that managed to release all of the built up stress he had to deal with back in the clan.

'No paperwork, no elders, no responsibilities. What more could a man want,' he thought as he took in a breath of clean forest air. "Ahhhh."

He gestured to the look out that he was going to the woods for some business. The guard saluted and went back to scanning the area for any trouble.

When he was deep enough into the forest, Haishi activated his Byakugan to make sure that there was no one nearby and then picked a suitable tree to mark.

However just as he let his trouser snake free, a small white rabbit with a crescent moon birthmark emerged from the underbrush.

"Oh? It looks like dinner found me," Haishi said before turning to finish his business.

But it was that moment that Akame chose to strike as she got a +10 Flash tag from her pouch and ran between the man's legs.

Haishi looked confused for a second, before he noticed the paper in Aakme's mouth that was glowing. He didn't even have time to pull up his pants before the world was bathed in light.

(River)

Gasp!

Kenji sat up as he coughed up the left-over water in his lungs. He could feel the stones dig into his back as he laid back down again.

Tsubaki stood over him, with a worried expression.

Looking around, Kenji noticed that they were back on the beach. Tsubaki sported a small cut on her cheek but looked relatively unharmed. Lin-Lin was dragging the corpse of the cat-gator out of the water by the tail.

"T-Thanks for saving me," Kenji said as he still felt the electrical current in his body.

"…"

"What? Why aren't you saying anything? Are you okay?" he said with a worried expression.

"…Kenji, promise to not freak out."

"What, why?!" he shouted, now worried. When he looked to his left he immediately saw why. "Oh Goddess! What's wrong with my arm!?"

The arm that the gator had bitten had turned black as coal and shriveled making it look skeletal and decayed. Kenji felt bile rise in his throat at the horrific scene.

'Okay, calm down. What ever you do don't. freak. Out.'

"AAAHHHhhh! What's wrong with my arm!? Why does it look like that!? Get it off!?"

Tsubaki tried to hold him down by the shoulders to stop him from thrashing around.

Suddenly he couldn't breathe properly as he went into a panic attack.

The blonde was trying to calm him down, but it wasn't working.

It took several minutes before Kenji managed to get control of his breathing again. But the problem was still his arm.

Tsubaki rolled up his sleeve all the way up, and both could now see the full extend of the damage had reached above elbow, with the remainder of the arm turning a sickly green color.

Unable to look at any further, Kenji took out a butcher knife from his ring's inventory.

Before Tsubaki even had the chance to shout in alarm, Kenji had already brought down the edge of the knife down on his arm.

He didn't even feel it, since the necrosis had already destroyed the pain receptors in his arm. He sat up and brought his other hand toward the newly made stump that was leaking some sort of black pus. Without hesitation he activated the Yang Seal.

Almost immediately the color of his arm returned to normal, and bone began to grow from the stump, followed by tendons, then muscles, and finally skin.

Tsubaki who was watching in horror, immediately stood up and rushed toward the river to empty her stomach.

Kenji fell back down to the ground, mentally exhausted.

This was the scene that Akame stubbled upon as she dragged the unconscious body of Haishi behind her.

Jiraiya who was hiding nearby broke into a cold sweat, 'The old man is going to kill me.'

(Monitor Room)

'I'll kill him!'

A/N: Finished. Hope you guys enjoyed it.

So what did you think about Kenji style of fighting. Was it too brutal? I'm trying to go with Neo's and Adam's style of fighting of fighting from RWBY. Of course, this won't be forever, but right now he is too small to use most weapons effectively … so yeah.

Did you enjoy Kenji's moneygrubbing techniques? (Twist nefarious mustache, "Yes~ Bleed them dry~")

I think I mentioned it before but Akame is special, even by chakra beast standards. (cough unknowingly connected to Kaguya cough). But she is strong enough to hold her own against most opponents.

Quick question: Should she and Kenji come up with a combination jutsu that uses yin and yang chakra?

Right, so while Kenji might not be the strongest or the fastest he is definitely the most slipper with a literal arsenal of tricks that no one has ever seen before.

The catfish-alligator is actually from Avatar: The Last Airbender. (look it up)

So Kenji got his first human friend. Yay!

Kenji will make a summon contract for all of the chakra beasts that he tames to those who were asking.

Sorry that this was such a long chapter by the way, but I originally wanted this arc to be over in just 2-3 chapters.

Until next time.