A Shocker

10 advanced chapters on my Patreon: Fiction Haven

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After a four-day stay in the Land of Spring, I decided to go back. The Chūnin finals were nearing soon and I couldn't miss the brats' performances. Haku and Koyuki became more comfortable with each other during my stay. That was a good thing to witness, but they couldn't leave me alone. They had been sleeping with me for the last two days. I was not complaining, but the morning was always awkward as their hands always wandered to the same spot.

"Be sure to visit us soon, Naruto-kun," Koyuki said with a smile. Technically, she could immediately summon me the moment I arrived at Konoha by commissioning a mission, as she normally did.

"I hope you get less strenuous missions to make time for us," Haku added with a shy smile. I believed it would be hard to find a strenuous mission, but my life wouldn't be rainbow and sunshine either way.

"Well, see you girls on my next trip," I gave the girls one last hug, out of obligation.

"Be careful," they said in unison.

I turned around and dashed. I could have taken the train to make my trip less tiring, but I took every chance I got to train. My usage of Shunshin might have rivaled Shisui. I couldn't tell for sure since I hadn't seen his might personally. However, if the anime did him justice, then my assessment should be true.

Speaking of speed reminded me of the fact that my research on Hiraishin was finished. The hard thing about creating the seal was to make sure that it wouldn't get me lost in the void. I had tried using it on a few things and only some of them returned. That was until I perfected it. However, I still hadn't tried to use it on myself.

Another thing that I found quite bothersome was creating the seal for the Chakra usage management. Without a proper mechanism, the Hiraishin took however much Chakra I gave it and performed its task to whatever state the Chakra could take it. That could work with Kuchiyose, but since Hiraishin teleported things that were already defined, that instance would bring a disastrous result.

As such, the new seal that I incorporated into Hiraishin allowed it to absorb the needed Chakra to teleport the desired things. Nevertheless, I believed it was something that Hiraishin had originally had. The next thing I had to do was mark as many projectiles as I could with Hiraishin. I tried to be original, but I thought I had to use the three-pronged kunai like Minato.

Two days passed and I was finally back in Konoha. The two Chūnin guards looked at me in shock. Although the more I got older the more I resembled Minato, they were probably shocked because of the Jōnin vest resting comfortably on my body. It might also be because of my eyes, but who cares?

"Jōnin Uzumaki Naruto, returning from a mission."

"A-Ah, welcome, Naruto…"

"Good work, Izumo, Kotetsu."

The two Chūnin saluted as I passed them. Although they had never teased me like they did Naruto, seeing them being tensely polite was quite something. Using Shunshin, I headed to the Hokage office. I flared my Chakra lightly, allowing the geezer to register my presence. Seeing no attempt to stop me, I took that as the green light to use the window.

"Uzumaki Naruto has returned to report!" I announced.

Hiruzen turned his chair slightly to the side and sighed. Tsunade was also in the room, looking at me as if I had just grown another head.

"Yo," was my immaculate greeting, still crouching on the windowsill.

"You hang out around Jiraiya too much," Tsunade stated.

"Don't lump me together with that pervert, Tsu-chan. It will tarnish my reputation," I retorted wisely.

"Like you have a reputation to begin with!" Jiraiya joined me on the other windowsill.

"Get inside, please," the Hokage said in defeat.

Feeling bad for the geezer, we entered the room and closed the window. We stood before his desk and waited for him to say anything.

"We were about to discuss something regarding you, Naruto-kun. However, since you have returned from your mission, let's hear your report first."

I quietly took out two scrolls and put them on the table. "Kurosuki Raiga and Kiba." I sensed a surprise coming from Tsunade. Jiraiya seemed intrigued, but he was not in any way surprised. "Kurosuki Raiga enslaved a mining village in the Land of River named Katabami. He was not present when I arrived, so I had to wait for two weeks."

I recounted my mission as accurately as possible. That was to say, I only told Hiruzen what Tora had reported to him. I didn't find it necessary to lie. However, I also didn't find it necessary to tell him things that didn't interest him.

"Is that all there is to your report?" Hiruzen asked.

"At least, that is all I consider important," I shrugged.

"What happened to your eyes?" Hiruzen questioned seriously.

That question made everyone's attention turn to me. I activated my eyes and scanned everyone's mood. All of them were worried, but only Tsunade was worried about my well-being. The other two seemed to be worried about the sketchy thing I had done. It almost made me laugh for its hypocrisy.

"Raiga was accompanied by a child with an unknown Dōjutsu whom he found in Kirigakure when the war on Kekkei Genkai was still raging." Hearing the word kid already made everyone frown. Tsunade was quite appalled and looked at me as if expecting me to lie. "The kid's Dōjutsu functioned like Byakugan, but better, and it helped Raiga win every battle."

"Then, why do you have them with you?" Hiruzen asked in anticipation.

"I couldn't bring myself to kill the kid." That was a lie. "However, I also couldn't take care of him. Leaving him behind with the locals was the best choice I could afford. Life is not rainbow and sunshine, so people are bound to bother him for his eyes. Unfortunately, he doesn't have the means to protect himself. I decided to take away his problem."

"You left a kid blind, Naruto," Jiraiya rebuked solemnly.

"You are underestimating my medical prowess. My eyes work just fine on him," I scoffed.

"This is… a lot to take in." Hiruzen sighed before shaking his head. "Can you write a detailed report about what your eyes can do?"

I hummed as I cupped my chin contemplatively. "I might need a couple of days to figure out the extent of their capability." I already knew what they could do. I just didn't want to be bothered by a report when I could practice using Hiraishin.

"That would be fine." Hiruzen nodded in acceptance and then straightened up in his seat. "Now, moving on to the next agenda. I have decided to reveal Naruto-kun's heritage in the Chūnin Finals." Before anyone could ask a question, he took out a black book and opened it. "This is Kiri's Bingo Book. Naruto-kun has a bounty of 20,000,000 ryo on his head."

"What is the point, Sensei?" Tsunade spoke for the first time.

"Iwa has likely seen his picture and is waiting to put a bounty on his head."

"Isn't it better to not say anything and let them wonder?" Tsunade frowned.

Hiruzen shook his head. "It reminds me that Naruto-kun is already a capable Shinobi. He is bound to have adversaries here and there. He already knows it. Therefore, it is time to stop treating him like a child and let him step into the Shinobi world properly."

"But, isn't it—"

"Relax, Princess," Jiraiya interjected. "The kid is too capable to be killed by mere bounty hunters. Only the Kage have a sure chance to kill him. Besides, Sensei is right. It will do him no good if we keep sheltering him."

Tsunade looked at me uncertainly. I thought about the most assuring gesture I could do and decided to give her a wink. She smiled at me wryly and then shrugged. We spent half an hour talking about the technicality of the revelation. Hiruzen decided to make me proctor, so my introduction would not feel awkward.

When the meeting ended, Tsunade took me to the hospital. She insisted on checking on my eyes. She spent fifteen minutes doing that and was impressed by how clean the procedure was. I took pride in that compliment as it came from the best medic this world had to offer. Afterward, we decided to grab a bite and returned to the compound an hour before sunset.

"Ah, Naruto-kun, you are back," the exhausted Shizune greeted me.

"Hard day at the hospital?" I asked as I walked up to her. "This is chamomile tea. It makes you sleep well at night."

"Oh, thank you for the gift!" Shizune beamed and hugged the tea package.

"Where is mine?" Tsunade asked with a mature pout.

I honestly didn't prepare any gift for anyone. I just happened to have a package of chamomile tea in my storage and gave it to Shizune since she looked like she needed it. I mused for a moment before walking up to Tsunade and put my finger on her forehead. Seal characters ran down my fingers before embedding themselves on her forehead.

"Think of me whenever you need me and I will be there for you."

Tsunade was speechless for a moment before asking, "What is that?"

"Hiraishin."

"Oh, Hiraishin… what!?"