Chapter 3 - C

Laxus shakily returned to his apartment. Every muscle on his body trembled from the training he put himself through. Slowly, he walked up to the table in his kitchen and plopped himself on one of the two chairs there.

Laxus looked towards the notebook that he left there earlier and noticed that it was perfectly aligned with the corner of the table. Almost exactly the way he had placed it.

It's just that he had not left it in such a perfect position. Laxus understood that someone had already examined it, but that didn't bother him that much. Not only was the alphabet that they used different, but he didn't think that they would be able to translate it. And even if they did, he believed that it would take them a long time to do and he also hadn't written anything about him being from another world.

However, Laxus had greatly underestimated the people of this world. Even though their technology level was incomparable to the one from Earthland, that didn't mean that the people of the world were not intelligent. They had simply never had the time to focus on improving the technology of the world and had rather focused on improving their personal strengths. After all, peace never lasted for long in the Elemental Nations and war was always on the horizon.

Darui had assigned two Anbu to keep an eye on him. As soon as Laxus had left his new home, the Anbu had entered his apartment, inspected his notebook, and copied everything that he had written. They had continued observing him while he was training, and once he was done, one of the Anbu left to report to the Raikage.

A was sitting on his desk, grumbling how stupid is for the strongest man in the village to be put behind a desk and forced to deal with paperwork when the Anbu appeared inside his office. "Raikage, I have something to report about Laxus."

"Already?" C, who was also in the office, asked with a raised eyebrow.

"What is it?" The Raikage asked impatiently. Although he wanted Laxus for his bloodline, he still found it a bit suspicious how the boy had appeared in his training grounds.

"After Mabui left Laxus, the boy went out to purchase a few things. He bought clothes, food, and a notebook. The boy then returned back to his apartment and wrote something in his notebook, but we weren't able to decipher it. It looks like it's coded."

C interrupted the Anbu at that point. "Really? Did you copy the contents of his notebook?"

Knowing that C is a personal assistant of the Raikage, the Anbu confirmed. "Yes."

"Give it to me then." C requested.

The Anbu took out a scroll, injected some chakra in it, and another scroll popped out of it. He then gave it to C, who received it with a confident smirk. The blond Shinobi was one of the most intelligent people in Kumogakare, if not the most intelligent one. His intelligence was comparable to the likes of the Nara from Konoha. It was one of the reasons he was a personal assistant of the Raikage.

The Anbu then continued his report. "After that, he went out to the roof of his building and started training. He ran laps around the roof until his legs couldn't carry him anymore. Afterward, he proceeded to do physical exercises like push-ups, sit-ups before returning back to his apartment."

"Humph." The Raikage grunted and looked towards C. "How does it look?"

"Give me some time, Raikage. I should be able to decipher it soon." C said with confidence. "I think I already found a pattern, but it doesn't look like it's coded. More like it's another language."

The Raikage raised his eyebrow, but didn't say another word and left the blond Shinobi to do his thing, but Mabui said with a surprised voice. "The little pervert knows another language?"

Mabui's comment made the Raikage focus his attention on her. "What do you mean little pervert?"

"He couldn't stop staring at my behind while I was showing him around." Mabui briefly explained.

With a grin, the Raikage slammed his hand on his desk with excitement. "Great! That means he is already interested in the female body!"

The Raikage's desk fell to pieces, but no one commented about that. C was too busy translating the contents of the notebook, while Mabui was looking at A in surprise.

"Mabui, what do you think of the boy?" A asked with a grin.

"I'm sorry, Raikage, but the boy is a bit too young for me." Mabui said, knowing what A was hinting at. She was more than double his age and didn't like the boy at all.

"No problem, he will grow up in the future." A said.

"We can talk about this and decide what to do when he grows up." Mabui said, trying to get out of this situation without disrespecting the Raikage.

"Then it's decided. We will decide what to do in the future!" Hearing the excited voice of the Raikage, Mabui's eye twitched in annoyance, but she didn't say another word. At least he wasn't forcing her to do something she didn't want to do.

About three hours later, C was sitting with two scrolls in his hand. One of them being the scroll that the Anbu had given him and the other being the translated version of it. "I think I translated it, Raikage."

"What does it say?" A asked.

C chuckled before saying. "Laxus had started with writing the most basic capabilities of a Shinobi. And I mean the most basic you could think about. Like being able to transform into a different person, creating a basic clone, walking on trees and water. The boy had probably encountered a Shinobi or two during his time in the Land of Earth, but hadn't seen what they are truly capable of.

Afterward, there is something about a blond boy Naruto and another emo boy, but he hadn't really written anything detailed about them. He called Naruto a dumber version of Natsu. Most likely they are his friends from the Land of Earth.

The last part is pretty much a training program about training his "magic" and his physical strength. Maybe he wasn't born in Iwa but in a village where there are no Shinobi. His abilities were probably called magic from the villagers there since they have no knowledge of the Shinobi arts."

"So he is not a spy?" A asked bluntly.

"I don't think so, but I could have missed a coded message or mistranslated something. I will try a different approach and see if I can find something hidden." C said.

"No need." A said. "We will call him tomorrow and see what he has to say about this."

"I understand, Raikage. But I still want to try my hand at this." C said. He found the task of translating Laxus's notes fun and challenging.

"And Raikage, since Laxus is more than likely not a spy, I will advise that we send the boy to the academy as soon as possible. He already has a training plan for himself and plans to become stronger. But It will best if he is supervised and doesn't go the wrong path.

Judging from the report of the Anbu and his notebook, his training is focused on strength and endurance. That's not a bad thing, but being flexible is important for a Shinobi. The earlier he starts working on that, the better his future would be.

Also, calling his lightning transformation, magic, shows he is ignorant of how to truly utilize it. Kumo is the most advanced out of all the hidden villages when it comes to lightning transformation, and depending on how his bloodline works, he could become a force to be reckoned in the future." C advised.

The Raikage was the strongest in Kumo, but he wasn't the smartest. Which is why he had surrounded himself with people like C, Mabui, and Darui. Not only were they exceptional Shinobi, but they also had brilliant minds. Their advice meant a lot to A. However, he wasn't happy with how C had worded one particular part.

"What do you mean it's not a bad thing to focus on strength and endurance." The Raikage asked with a grunt. He and his father, the previous Raikage, were prime examples of doing exactly that, focusing on their strength and endurance.

C started sweating bullets after realizing his mistake. With a shaky voice, he said. "You misunderstood me Raikage. I merely meant that not everyone could achieve what you have. Reaching the pinnacle of strength is not a feat anyone could replicate."

"Humph." The Raikage grunted, but felt pleased from being praised for his formidable strength.

The next morning, Laxus woke up in his new home. His muscles felt sore from his yesterday's training, but that was something he had expected. The blond made a quick breakfast before leaving his apartment. Since he focused on his physical strength yesterday, he planned to work on his magic today.

His plans, however, were interrupted the moment he left his apartment. One of the two Anbu that were assigned to keep an eye on him was already waiting for him in front of his door. The Shinobi was wearing a grey outfit and had a porcelain mask with the number 12 written on it. "The Raikage has requested your presence in his office."

Laxus raised his eyebrow in surprise, but didn't question it. "I'll go and see him then." He said and started walking towards the Raikage tower. Laxus had already experienced how the Raikage dealt with those that don't follow his commands, he decided it would be best to deal with this as soon as possible.

Knowing that the boy doesn't deal well being a tag-alone with the Body Flicker Jutsu, the Anbu disappeared in the shadows and followed after him.

The Raikage tower was built inside the tallest mountain in Kumo, so even if Laxus didn't remember the exact route to it, he could easily find his way to it.

20 minutes later, the blond entered the tower. Seeing him, the people working there didn't stop him and he continued towards the top of the tower. The Shinobi working there were already informed of his arrival and didn't prevent him from going up.

Laxus entered the Raikage's office, where A and his three assistants were already waiting for him.

"Do you know why you were called?" A asked bluntly.

"No." Laxus said.

The Raikage pointed towards C, who held a scroll in his hand. "Do you recognize this?"

"Yes, those are my notes." Laxus said. C walked up to the blond and reached out to place a hand on his shoulder. Laxus didn't resist since he knew that the people there could kill him in a second.

"Why aren't they written using the standard alphabet?" A asked bluntly.

"Because I don't know it." Laxus said and C confirmed that he wasn't lying.

"Who taught you to write like this?" The Raikage asked.

"My gramps, before he kicked me out." Laxus said. He wasn't the brightest out there, but he realized that C was most likely checking if he was lying. The best way to handle the situation was the be truthful about it without saying the full story and directing their attention to something else.

'An 8-year-old boy was kicked out of his house village at such a young age? What did he do to deserve it?' Mabui felt a bit of sympathy for the boy. But that didn't change that she still didn't like him.

"Your grandfather kicked you out? Why?" A asked with a raised eyebrow. He didn't understand why would someone kick out someone with so much potential.

"Because I wasn't happy with how he led everyone else," C confirmed once again that the boy wasn't lying. With that, they were sure that he wasn't a spy. The blond Shinobi removed his hand and sat down on a couch in the office.

"And how did he rule?" A asked, thinking his grandfather was the village head.

"By allowing everyone to do as they pleased. As long as they were having a good time, he didn't care what they did." C said. He hated how his grandfather allowed everyone to do whatever they wanted. Everyone else looked down upon them because of that.

The Raikage grinned hearing him. "You don't have to worry about this in Kumo! You will like it here a lot more than your previous village. But this changes things a bit."

"What do you mean?" Laxus asked.

"I wanted to send you to the Shinobi Academy, but you will need to learn how to write and read before that." A said.

"What's the point of sending me there?" Laxus asked. The blond didn't want to be surrounded by children. He already had to deal with grown ups that acted like kids in Earthland, he didn't want a repeat of that.

C was the one who answered him. "Because you are ignorant of the Shinobi ways. The teachers there will teach you the basics of the Shinobi and the history of Kumo. They will show you how to use your chakra and how to fight properly. And before you ask, chakra is what you refer to as magic.

You have a lot to learn and the best place to do it is in the Shinobi Academy. You will also be surrounded by people your age, who could end up becoming your teammates in the future."

Being surrounded by kids was exactly what he didn't want, but the rest didn't sound so bad. "So I have to learn how to read and write before going to the academy? Who will teach me?" Laxus asked.

"I will." C said and pulled out the translated version of his notes. "I managed to translate most of your notes, and using them as an example, I will teach you how to write and read within a short time."

Laxus looked at his fellow blond in surprise. 'He's had them for less than a day and already managed to translate them? The people of this world are a lot more intelligent than I believed.'

"That's fine with me. When do we start?" Laxus asked.

"Right now." C said.

"Now? I wanted to practice my mag... my chakra first." Laxus said.

"That's fine. I will come with you and give you some pointers. After that, we can start with your lessons." C said. He was skilled in using lightning release and the boy's bloodline had something to do with that. He wasn't as capable as Darui and A, but those two were monsters when it came to lightning release. The Shinobi also wanted to see what his fellow blond was capable of.

"Might as well get started as soon as possible. Follow me. I will show you my training grounds." C said. He knew that the boy was already capable of using his chakra in some way, so it was better to do this in a training ground rather than his rooftop.

C led Laxus through the valleys in Kumo before reaching his personal training grounds. "Well, let's see what you can do." C said.