Chapter 25

He was going to get rid of the seal for free. After all, who wanted a liability in their team? Orochimaru would be able to activate the curse mark on her body from a distance if he wished. He wanted an asset, not a liability like Sakura.

But she offered him a good deal, a deal without limits, for something he was going to do for free. So be it.

Kuzo was still a human, a male human, and he wasn't ashamed of his needs. Hearing such an offer fired dopamine in high levels in his system.

He smiled as he touched her neck, caressing and playing with it.

Anko took a few quick breaths, her chest jiggling. It was a pleasant sight to Kuzo, who had just absorbed Orochimaru's chakra.

At his current level, a small piece of Orochimaru's chakra couldn't do much to increase his own. But nevertheless, it still counted.

"Your touch is taking too long, and my boobs aren't on my neck," Anko replied, noticing how Kuzo was suddenly acting sweet.

"I just got rid of it," he replied, taking his hand back. He gave her chest a quick glance. As curious as he was about it, it wasn't the right time. He took his hand back and put it in his pocket.

The older woman touched her neck. She closed her eyes, and then opened them in shock. She channeled her chakra.

Normal people might not see it, but a sensory shinobi like Kuzo could tell. Anko's chakra felt warmer and saltier.

Kuzo was familiar with this. It meant one person was sad and happy. The chakra was a mix between physical energy and spiritual energy, which was affected by emotions. One could read people by reading their chakra, even if they were trained to have cold faces.

"You have no idea how annoying that old snake's chakra is," Anko said. She gave Kuzo a slight bow. "I never expected the curse to end this easily and not so randomly. But you have my thanks."

"No need to thank me," Kuzo patted her on the shoulder. Since he couldn't get an apology from her, he'd make sure to tease her, emotionally torture her. "You have to become an honorable woman who respects her promises."

'I get it. It's in my genes. Those Asian parents passed them to me.'

Anko paused, stared at him, and laughed. She then said, "just a horny teenager." She put her hand in her shirt, grabbing one of her huge melons, and she was about to bring them out. Kuzo's heartbeat increased like crazy, spine shivering and energy going down. 

Honestly, he could see that Yamato was looking at well, and he was using wood-style without chakra. So he didn't want to have anything right here and next to him. 

Anyone who fell for Naruto's sexy jutsu isn't trustworthy. 

Kuzo held Anko's hand. "We didn't agree on time and place, and how much. That's left for me." 

"It's Okay Kuzo san. I don't mind." Yamato said, "In fact, you can use me as a witness if she decided to escape from the deal." 

As expected from a man whose nose fell victim for sexy jutsu. He could be a good wing man. 

But they were her to discuss mission. 

Kuzo shook his head. "We're here to discuss the missions and when we'll depart from the village. Besides, I have to infuse Anko's body with nature chakra to make it a vessel for her transformation."

"Hold on. Nature chakra? Isn't that Senjutsu?"

"That's what the curse mark of heaven is about. In addition, Orochimaru's chakra makes it easier to control people," Kuzo replied. "But the curse mark itself isn't necessary."

"Kuzo-san, you may not realize this," Yamato said, "but Senjutsu puts any shinobi in their own league."

"Who knows, it may work, it may not," Anko replied, not holding high expectations. "Anyway, I'm going to eat my dango. Send me a letter when you guys are ready to move."

"I'll request resources and summoning contracts from the Hokage in the meantime."

Summoning contracts could be used to bring ninjas from Konoha to the marked location, a crucial step in Kuzo's plan. Fortunately, he still had Sakon's head. With it, the members of the Yamanaka clan could examine information regarding Orochimaru's facilities. Once they had the details, Kuzo would be ready to act. The last thing he wanted was to delve back into that head to find information.

-x-X-x- 

Later that day, Kuzo found himself outside with Hotaru, seated at a barbecue shop.

He had already submitted Sakon's head to the Hokage's Intelligence Department and informed the Hokage of his intention to embark on these missions. Well, he was the leader, after all.

Kuzo had deliberately omitted the desert village from his plan for a simple reason—it served a purpose in his Plan B.

'I wonder how strong I am now, though. Is it enough? No. It's never enough.'

"Sensei, your food is getting colder," Hotaru's voice interrupted his train of thought. Observing her, Kuzo sensed something was amiss. Despite this being her first time living outside the fortress, she didn't appear to be enjoying the barbecue experience.

"You don't like it?" Kuzo inquired.

"I like it," Hotaru replied, "but I feel like we're wasting our time."

"Wasting?" Kuzo sought clarification.

"I should be getting stronger right now. Barbecue, ramen, and all these things don't help me protect myself or the people I love in time," she said, clenching her fist and lowering her head.

'Is she crying?' Kuzo wondered, patting her shoulder. It hadn't been a week since her grandfather died, so he understood her feelings of helplessness and powerlessness. Kuzo had experienced similar emotions when he transmigrated to this world; he had been unable to use chakra or any jutsu, constantly contemplating how he would react if a simple genin decided to attack him.

"I see. Finish your food. I'll take you to the training ground," Kuzo declared, standing up and turning his head, providing her with an opportunity to wipe her tears. Kuzo also needed to train; by now, he had completed 50% of the process of mastering the Rasengan.

-x-X-x- 

Kuzo was at training ground 67, seated on a tree branch alongside his shadow clones, utilizing the chakra reserves inherited from the Kaguya clan and En No. Thanks to these resources, he could create and control numerous shadow clones simultaneously.

Executing a hand sign, Kuzo dispelled all the shadow clones at once.

"All I need now is to gather all that I've learned." Due to his near-Kage level experience in chakra multiplication and control, Kuzo could swiftly master the Rasengan.

Chakra rotated in his hand, compressing around a central point, gaining power as winds swirled around it. A few markings covered half his hand, and the ball in his hand expanded. Sensing its instability, Kuzo threw it away, causing the Rasengan to gradually vanish upon impact with a tree, leaving a sizable hole. The ink marks on his hand disappeared.

'I can master it in one more day.'

Once his contemplation ended, Kuzo looked down.

'She's a fast learner, almost perfect chakra control in one day.' Hotaru stood alongside an identical clone, having just learned the shadow clone and basic academy jutsus. If she continued at this pace, she would likely master the Fury Jutsu in less than a year. 'No wonder the Hokage is eager to teach her about the Will of Fire. But she can be extremely useful if she masters the Fury Jutsu.'

On her back, a scroll containing the jutsu rested, featuring a Fuinjutsu to activate the jutsu automatically when filled with sufficient nature chakra from Heaven and Earth release.

Hotaru and her clone waved at him, drawing his attention as their huge melons jiggled. Despite being his age, she had a large chest.

'Wonder what she would look like when she grows up. This reminds me of Anko.'

Reaching into his pocket, he threw a couple of kunais at Hotaru, deliberately slow.

A clone vanished, and the other Hotaru was replaced by a wooden log. She then appeared standing on a tree above him.

Kuzo gave her a thumbs-up. "Go home. We're done for today."

"But I still can go more," she replied, raising her arm as if flexing her bicep. "I'm a clan shinobi after all."

Great. His student had turned into a Goku-like character.

"Is there such a thing as overtraining? Your talent is not bad, so take your time to recover."

"It's quite hypocritical if it comes from you."

Kuzo raised an eyebrow, not quite understanding where she was coming from. Sure, he had trained when he was at her house, but that was only to master the power he had. He never considered himself overly hardworking.

She continued, "Your sister said you were untalented, failed the exam six times despite hard work. And in your first battle, your efforts paid off, and you were on smooth sailing. It shows talent is useless if you don't unlock your potentials."

So, she took inspiration from an incomplete story about him.

Kuzo chuckled and flicked his finger on her forehead, causing a red mark to appear. "In the battlefield, it doesn't matter if you're talented, a hard worker, or have hidden potentials or a trick. The one who can't tough it out to the end is the loser." Kuzo raised his head, "The last thing you want now is to stay in bed for two weeks because of chakra exhaustion."

She nodded, eyebrows furrowed, taking his words to heart.

"No, go home," Kuzo said.

She wondered, seeing him still sitting. "Aren't you coming?"

"I'll come once I'm done with my training."

-x-X-x- 

Three days later, Kuzo found himself back at the same training ground. Hotaru was diligently training at the back, practicing with shurikens as usual.

Meanwhile, Kuzo was engrossed in refining his Rasengan technique.

Suddenly, Anko's chakra manifested behind him, accompanied by the subtle sound of a snake slithering its way toward him.

Reacting swiftly, Kuzo leaped forward, turning to face Anko and noting the snake making its way from her sleeve toward him.

"I was planning to surprise you, but tough luck," she said, biting her lip.

"Why are you here? We aren't going to move until one day later," Kuzo replied. Just a day ago, the intelligence-gathering department had compiled information on Orochimaru's hideouts and marked them on the map. Kuzo planned to move to some of these locations, place summoning scrolls on them, and then head to the Sound Village, burying a summoning contract closer.

Anko lifted her arms up, cracking them, causing her chest to jiggle. Kuzo followed their movement for a moment, convinced that she was intentionally teasing him.

"It's about that thing you said. I want to see the snake's reaction when he realizes that I can use that Senjutsu without his help. That his experiments succeeded and he's not credit in him. I know he'll be furious about it." 

Anko said, taking off her coat. "So, we do it here?"