Chapter 15: New House

Kuzo entered a new path that led to the top of a mountain, and he was surprised to see a residence. There were a couple of large houses, a lake, and a few trees here and there. And below the mountain was a beautiful view. Buying a house here would be worth it for sure.

"You like it?" Hotaru asked with a smile.

Kuzo, who was putting his hands on his hips and looking around, turned to her and nodded. "I have to admit, it's a pretty place you live in."

"I don't know about that. Sometimes, I feel bored here," Hotaru replied.

"I can guess you spend most of your time here, and you barely go outside," Kuzo said, feeling quite happy that he could finally have some rest. Ninja's life was surely painful, especially for one's back.

"Yes," she nodded.

"I can see why you get bored." Kuzo nodded. "But if you lived where I lived, you'd appreciate the scene."

She chuckled. "I think I'd find your village pretty too if I visited."

"Sure. I'll show it to you one day."

Tonbee intervened. "Kuzo, come here."

Kuzo turned his head. From one house, an old man was walking toward him. The old man had a posture similar to the Hokage. Despite looking very old, one could tell that this old man wasn't in bad shape.

'So this is the man that the 3rd had to make a deal with to keep him peaceful.' Kuzo examined him. 'Too bad he's not in his prime.'

"So you must be the man my friend sent to me," said En No.

"Yes. My name is Kuzo. I'll be in your care," Kuzo said, giving a slight bow as a form of manners.

En No seemed to think about something as he looked at Kuzo. "He's told me about you and your potentials. Hmmm…"

"Is there something, sir?" asked Kuzo.

"According to the 3rd, you'll be staying to train, and sometimes go outside to hunt rogue and missing nins, is that right?"

"Yes."

"But it's not completely free," replied En No. "I'm not a motel."

"Do you want me to do something in return?" asked Kuzo.

"First of all, show me what you are capable of. Your jutsus."

Kuzo shrugged. Using shadow clone jutsu, he created two clones. Thanks to the combined stamina and chakra of the people he'd killed, he could do as much.

The clones then demonstrated a few jutsus he'd learned from earth, to water jutsus, to fire.

The clones then disappeared.

"You've potentials," En No said. "You can stay here, but in return, I want you to help Tonbee protect this place, and I want you to help my granddaughter with her ninjutsu."

"Can't you do that? You're basically a legend." Kuzo turned his head to the blonde short girl. She was standing there, her eyes wide open. She looked at Kuzo with stars in her eyes. She was excited about the part of teaching.

Kuzo found it weird. In the anime, this girl could learn walking on the water out of the blue in one day, the same for using a water jutsu. Matter of fact, she could be considered a genius when it came to controlling chakra. No one showed her, her in the anime, how to do that, yet she figured it out.

En No shouldn't find trouble teaching her.

"My health isn't at its best," replied En No. "I can barely use ninjutsu anymore, and I don't have much energy like I used to. She's good at throwing shurikens. Tonbee here is good for sealing arts. But she's not suitable for sealing arts yet."

Kuzo could read between the lines. En No was dying from illness and old age, which prevented him from doing what he wanted.

"I'll help if I could," Kuzo replied.

"That's good. Tonbee, show our guest his room. I believe he's tired of moving all the way here," En No said.

Kuzo concealed his smile. The old man had no idea how much right he was. Kuzo could kill for a comfortable bed and a meal.

Kuzo went to his new room. It had a nice size, bed, and desk, and a closet. The first thing he did was take a long nap. When it was midnight, Kuzo woke up got out. Everyone else was asleep as he felt from their chakra signature. In front of his door, there was a food box. Apparently, they left him dinner and didn't want to bother him by waking him up.

'Such nice people,' Kuzo thought as he picked up the food box. He went to the lake, put the box down, and then, channeled his chakra to his feet to walk on the water.

After walking a bit on the water, Kuzo ran on it. He flipped, channeled chakra on his hand to push him from the water surface, before getting back to his feet. Despite pulling it off from the first, it was easy for one reason, and that was with him doing it without distraction. If it was the battlefield, it would be a totally different story.

Kuzo continued with his training, which consisted mostly of doing acrobatic movements while performing jutsu in their middle. He didn't manage to get it on the first try and not on every try, but that's the purpose of training.

It wasn't about doing it until you get it right. It was about doing it until you don't get it wrong.

Once he stopped doing it wrong, Kuzo stopped, and he realized that he still had some more chakra to spare.

He looked in front of him, and he thought about his curse, his power. In the past, he had been unable to learn how to use or control chakra because of the seal. Which meant that he was not capable of increasing his power on his own.

But was that the case? Maybe he needed to kill people to get stronger and get their skills. But what about the ninjutsu?

After all, hand signs are pathways to manipulate and play with the nature of your chakra.

'Maybe I'm not able to get stronger on my own, but how about I try to modify my jutsus.'

Luckily, he had devoured the mentality of a jonin from the root.

Kuzo weaved the hand signs of earth wall jutsu. Instead of using earth hand signs, he used water ones. He then put his hands on the water's surface. The water rose, creating a wave that could barely be called a wall.

Still, it proved that he could modify the knowledge he already had. It's like learning a chess tactic and changing it when it's no longer convenient to use.

'So I can test this theory with more hand signs. I may not be able to learn new jutsu, but I can surely use derivations and modify what I have.'

Kuzo exhaled a long breath, feeling quite tired.

He walked to the lake's surface, took off his clothes, and started squeezing them. A sense of someone's chakra alerted him.

"How long are you planning to hide behind the trees, Hotaru?" Kuzo said. He had felt someone there, but he had been ignoring them since he was immersed in training. It was like listening to a song and reading a book at the same time. You may end up realizing that you didn't hear the lyrics.

'Another weakness for a sensory ninja to be trained. Pay special attention to chakra until any change wouldn't go unnoticed.'

Hotaru got out of the tree and smiled. "So you have noticed me. Even though my grandfather had taught me how to conceal my presence."

Kuzo asked, "Have I been noisy?" He was worried if he caused the others to wake up because of his training.

"No. I was quite curious about seeing a real ninja," Hotaru said as she approached him. She looked at him, his chest exposed. A little blush got on her cheeks.

Kuzo didn't feel embarrassed or anything. He came from earth. Beaches were a thing. But for these people who lived in mountains, seeing other people exposing so much skin can cause them to be uncomfortable.

"Excuse me for making you uncomfortable," Kuzo said as he put on his shirt.

"Ahem. Never mind me. I'm just curious, how did you do that thing, walking on the water with your feet?" asked Hotaru.

Kuzo raised an eyebrow. "So you want to know?"

"Yes. If possible, can you teach me?"

"I may not teach you, but I may give you insights," Kuzo said. He pointed to the lake, "You channel your chakra to your feet. Until you find the right ratio, you keep doing it."

"Huh? That's it? Is there more to it?"

"No," Kuzo said, pointing to the lake. "Do it anyway."

Hotaru nodded, walked toward the water, and drowned.

Kuzo resisted the urge to laugh. When her head got out of the water, Kuzo waved his hand at her.

"I'll be taking a rest. Notify me when you're done." Kuzo then walked toward his residence, thinking about the next steps.

For some reason, he had a hunch that things would be fine for so long.

But he would make the most of it.

He opened his food box, and he thought about his next steps. 'What should I do? I can't be a burden. I can hunt some animals. Some missing nins while I'm staying here.' But for now, he would enjoy seeing someone else suffering to become a ninja.