Chapter Five

Finally I am achieving something with my Sage Mode training.

Sure my ability to enter Sage mode takes a shockingly long time, and my ability to find the right ratio of Senjutsu Chakra results in a transformation that would make Jaraiya's look like an Abercrombie and Fitch model but hell it's a start.

When I asked Shima why finding the balance is so hard she explained that Sage Mode naturally benefits those with Large Chakra Reserves.

As such the larger the reserve the easier it is to gather the Natural Energy and find the right balance.

It was this explanation that explained why both Minato and Jaraiya had so much difficulty with the technique and Naruto, and Hashirama could use it like it with ease.

That and I suspect being the Asura incarnation helped a great deal too.

"Oh well" I thought to myself as I honestly didn't care beyond a minor amount of jealousy that was easily risen above.

I just need to practice repeatedly until I get it down and unlike Jaraiya I can spend as much time as I want here doing it.

Thanks to the Leaf thinking I'm dead and the toads protecting my secret from Jaraiya I have all the time in the world.

And then my revenge will be one step closer to being realised.

With a smirk I once more began thinking of how I ended up in this situation.

Aquilla and I were kind of dating but not calling it that.

Mother, my Shadow Clones and I managed to decode a large portion of one of Tobirama's left behind Flying Thunder God Seals.

We decoded it to such an extent we were beginning to formulate an idea of how the technique worked.

As such I now learned to use the technique.

Only my attempt created something slightly different to what I'm sure Tobirama had intended.

For example my attempt acted more like Apparition from Harry Potter complete with loud bang that made my Thunder Substitution sound like a librarian shushing you.

However unlike forcing one through a rubber tube like wormhole I instead sensed I was momentarily in both places at once.

It is this paradox that created the such a loud bang almost like I had broken a fundamental law of nature.

My attempt also lacked the bright flash often associated with the Flying Thunder God technique and at best could be described as a brief flicker of candle light instead.

It also used up way more Chakra than I expected just to move a few feet.

Obviously this meant I wasn't ready to bust this out on the battlefield.

But for a first attempt it was pretty encouraging.

Sadly my week off had come to an end so the time I would have to see where I had gone wrong would be short and sweet at least for the time being.

Thankfully I had my Mother the Fuinijutsu savant here at home determined to do it in my stead.

She was like a woman possessed and I didn't have the heart to stop her as she has so few things that hold her interest outside of seals and myself.

Sure she has a group of girlfriends she meets up with from time to time to gossip about this and that while drinking Martini like drinks and dancing the night away, but those nights out are hardly a regular thing.

As such I didn't mind her having this to keep her occupied, as long as she didn't over do it that is.

My return to the Anbu came with it the usual grind that such a position entails.

Team Honoo and I were required to take out various threats to the Leaf and Land Of Fire and do so while remaining undetected.

As an Anbu we weren't as high profile as your standard Shinobi Team.

Everything we did was meant to remain within the Shadows.

Due to this if anyone noticed our involvement then it pretty much meant you screwed up.

This was the case when a newbie not only got discovered but also allowed the target to escape.

Thankfully the mission was at best a B rank if compared to a standard Shinobi's mission rankings.

This allowed Aquilla and I the leeway to clean-up the newbies mess.

The fact our target was also only at the elite Chunin rank meant we had more than enough skill to take him out before he could report back to his superiors of our involvement.

I knew for a fact that most Anbu would be severely punished for such a poor performance fortunately for the newbie he had nepotism on his side.

That's was because he was none other than the oldest son of Hiruzen Sarutobi and the future Father of Konohamaru.

It didn't take much for me to figure this out as after all as an Anbu I was trained to pick up such information and Sarutobi here wasn't all that careful with letting anything slip.

I honestly have no idea why he was assigned to the Anbu he definitely doesn't have the mentality and fortitude required.

I guess it's just Hiruzen trying to keep him where he can see him at least for now.

Fortunately for Sarutobi (Who I discovered was named Tobi. Hahahahahaha Tobi Sarutobi) Team Honoo were a close knit group.

As such we were also patient and willing to take him under our wings. If he were to listen and learn maybe we can forge him into a worthy member of our group.

Lets hope he toughens up somewhat too as he was almost crying when he received the Anbu Tattoo on his shoulder.

Due to this my days became filled with having to train up Sarutobi. Something I lamented as I wished more than anything for someone else to get the job but alas my Captain gave me the role and so I intend to do it to the best of my ability.

And I was determined to fulfil my role as Senpai, something I was thankful for the Team Honoo did for me too when I was first assigned here.

As such I put Sarutobi through some gruelling training, the kind than made him long for the sweet relief of death.

It gained the results we needed and forged Sarutobi into a fairly competent Anbu, but had the unintended side effect of making him absolutely terrified of me.

The guy would shake at the mere sight of me.

Something the rest of Team Honoo found hilarious.