Chapter 20: Making Acquaintances

"Have you seen this guy?" a red nosed man with a fathered green cap showed a shopkeeper a picture of a young man with shark teeth and spikey white hair that stopped just over his eyes. "No, never seen him." The shop owner gave the picture once over and replied. The red nosed man sighed and went away. 'It was a long shot anyways, He is probably in disguise anyways, I'll just have to run into him.' Shin thought as he roamed the streets. He had been tracking that man for 3 days already but had yet to find a trace. He was hesitant to show the guy's picture because the target might get wind of it and escape. 'One last stop for today.' Shin went into a tavern and passed the owner the picture, the big man gave the picture a glance and smiled, he was used to such things so he rubbed his fingers in front of Shin. Shin Passed a 100 Ryo note to the big man and his smile widened, "Seen him about half an hour ago. Got dead drunk speaking about how he just got a big score. A couple of guys bought him a few more drinks and took off."

"Any idea where they might've gone?" Shin asked to which the man gave a contemplative look and scratched his head, "Difficult to say, my memory is not what it used to be." The man smiled widely as Shin passed another note, "No idea where they took him but I recognise the guys, they belong to a gang north of the city." Shin got up to leave but the big man stopped him, "You know, I might have something more that I might need help remembering." The big man grinned. Shin scrutinized the man before putting another 100 Ryo on the table but kept his hand on it when the big man tried to grab it. The tavern owner looked at Shin and spoke while trying to pull the note from Shin's grip, "A couple minutes ago someone else came looking for your guy, a woman with a nasty scar on the face, real rough type. I didn't tell her about the gang though…" the man gave a flattering smile that was just creepy on his fat face, "She wasn't as understanding as you."

Shin let go of the note and left the tavern, 'Another hunter? I should move quickly.' Most of the missing ninjas had a bounty on their heads, even if they didn't any village would fight to get the information inside their heads. After getting the information, the villages would then claim the bounty, earning a pretty penny in return. Shin started to walk north, 'If Ihurry Ican probably catch up to the guy before the other one- !!!'

Just as Shin was walking north, he happened to glance at the passing figures, one of which had a straw hat and pure white robes, it was difficult to see the face but Shin didn't need to.

 [Name: Orochimaru (Demi-human)

Level: 145

Title: Traitor of Konoha/ Legendary Sannin

Age: 

Stats:

Strength: 130

Vitality: 160

Agility: 150

Sense: 140

Chakra: 145

Control: 145

Notice: Biological signature is inconsistent with humans.]

Shin could feel his muscles tightening as his heart rate increased but he kept his steps consistent and kept his eyes to the front as he kept walking. After having walked for 10 minutes Shin glanced back and saw that he hadn't been followed so he went into an alley and collapsed, panting and thanking the Realm lords for his safety. 'What is he doing he- of course, he had a base somewhere close to the land of waves!' Shin could feel the disturbing chakra that lay dormant in that body, dangerous and vile. It made him want to vomit. 'I have to get out of here as quickly as possible! Assal, did you get his chakra signature?

[No. Recording chakra signatures requires contact with subject chakra.]

'Right, of course you didn't, did you get anything useful!?' Shin cursed the useless system but instantly took back his thoughts.

[Subject's spiritual and biological signature has been recorded.]

'So you can tell me when he is around?'

[Yes, so long as he is within the effective range. Would you like to set a reminder?"

'Yes! You beautiful system!' Shin all but yelled, 'Now let's get this missing nin and get away from here, or stay because it seemed like orochimaru was leaving so maybe I'll stay for a couple of ...months… you know, just to be safe! Yah lets go!' Shin got up and quickly changed, wearing a dark clock with a hood and completely black attire underneath. Shin supported a white Cat mask that covered his face entirely. It was a standard issue and apparently had fuinjutsu seals to make the wearer more forgettable to ordinary people.

Shin climbed on the roof top and started to leap from building to building as he made his way north. He went to the place where apparently the gang mostly lingered according to the tavern owner. It was an inland wearehouse that was close to a small river tributery. It was a bit further from the rest of the city and close to the woods. Shin dropped onto the roof gently and put his ear to the roof, 'No sound.' Shin crawled on all fours like spiderman and tried to find a window to get a visual.

Shin found a window near the top that was used for ventilation, Shin peered inside, it was an open warehouse that had many boxes stacked in the corners and bodies in the middle. A white haired man stood over a table as he took a stuffed toy from one of the crates and used his knife to cut it open. White fillings poured out as the man took some and tasted it. "Oooh this is good stuff!" the man exclaimed as he heard the coughs of a dying man and walked towards him. "I told you man, you wanna deal in this town, you gotta pay the boss. No payment, no business." The bloodied man coughed blood as he grabbed the ninja's ankles, "P-please, I'll pay. I'll *cough* p-pay whatever you want!" The ninja's face twisted in disgust as he kicked the man away, "You piece of shit! This is a new suit!" In rage the ninja kept stomping the man dead long after he was dead before he straightened up and brushed his hair into a sleek back style as he walked towards the exit after pocketing a few bags from the stuffed animals.

Shin saw his chance and claimed inside, while still on the roof Shin threw several shuriken at the man from behind and moved his hand, 'Shuriken clone technique' The man suddenly turned around and used a kunai to deflect the real shurikens before he looked up at Shin with a grin, "I was wondering when you were gonna show up, had your fill of peeing?" 'Heis only level 50 but his senses stats are off the chart ! Having an 85 on senses is not normal, that's like high Jonin.' Shin knew he would have to overwhelm his opponent to win and luckily only the sense stat was high and others were more manageable.

Shin pushed off the wall and threw tagged kunais at the man who back stepped to dodge them. Shin made a seal and the tags exploded, using the explosion as a cover he threw some more shurikens and left a clone to charge at the guy while his real self went underground. Shin erupted from the ground where the man was previously standing only to see him running out the warehouse. Shin chased the man to a river, 'Shit, this is going to be harder." As if on cue, a mist rose from the river and started to engulf the surrounding area. 'I was so spooked by Orochimaru that I forgot to meetup with Pineapple. Wait, Assal, show me his direction!' Shin commanded a humanoid figure to light up in Shin's vision. Shin's hand hovered close to his pouch but stopped, 'Can't use so many explosive tags or it might attract unwanted attention.' Shin cursed and decided to use another jutsu but before he could, another humanoid lit up in his vision. 'Assal what is that?'

[Unknown human has entered the effective range.]

'Could it be that woman the fat guy told me about?' as he had suspected, Shin heard the sound of striking metal as the two figures clashed. Luckily, Shin could still differentiate between the two so he decided to take down the mark first before duking it out with the other hunter who was Level 45 and so Shin had an easier chance to win.

Shin decided to get rid of the mist first so he made the hand signs and blew out a powerful wind that knocked back both of them, 'Great breakthrough' The wind blew away the mist and the two kiri ninja's broke away to dodge the winds. The missing nin stood jumped on the river on Shin's right as the kiri hunter jumped to a tree on Shin's left. The Three parties observed each other for a moment before Shin spoke up, "How about we kill him first and after that… May the best hunter win?" The kiri hunter contemplated for a bit before simply nodding and the two hunters jumped towards their mark.

The missing ninja cursed as he spewed a powerful jet of water towards them, the kiri hunter dodged the water gun by jumping further left as Shin spat out a huge ball of fire, 'Fire release: Phoenix Sage fire!' The fire came into contact with the water gun and burst into many fireballs that continued to travel towards the kiri ninja as he used a water wall to block the oncoming fireballs. As soon as the fireballs were blocked, the kiri ninja jumped back as the kiri Hunter jumped from underneath him. While mid air the ninja's face twisted as he looked back, needles struck him and he fell to ground and another Shin emerged from behind a tree.

When Shin saw that he was outmatched, Shin had anticipated that the kiri ninja might flee towards the water to gain an advantage so Shin had hid a Shadow clone to strike when the opportunity presented itself. The Shadow clone puffed out of existence and a silence, broken only by the constant rush of the nearby river. "So, how about we decide this over a nice cup of tea?" Shin offered the masked Hunter as she moved next to the fallen kiri ninja who was struggling to breathe. Shin had struck him to immobilize him, not to kill as his orders were to bring him back alive if possible. The kiri hunter on the other hand, only had the order to kill. Shin stealthily grabbed his shurikens under his clock while trying to fish for information, "It's odd though, he was not strong but had a rather high perception didn't he? I wonder what secrets he is hiding that they sent a hunter after him."

"You know, I wonder the same thing." an amused voice entered Shin's ears as his body froze and his eyes widened.

[Reminder: Target Orochimaru has entered the effective range. Current distance: 0 Meters]

'Oh you useless system!' Shin cursed in his mind as his thoughts raced, making plans to get away from this situation but no matter what he came up with, it would result in a failure. 'Even if I show my meta knowledge, it would only put me on a dissection table!' "Hmhmhm, You have quite the high perception of yourself." The snake whispered in SHin's ear, "Are you a sensor?' Shin couldn't muster the strength to speak, so he simply nodded.

The kiri hunter saw the happening with wonder, 'How did he get here? I didn't see him at all! No matter what, I have to complete the mission!' The hunter resolved and moved to stab the missing-nin's head. She sensed something behind her so she turned around, only to be caught by another Orochimaru as the snake held her arm and smiled, "I can't let you do that I'm afraid, I have need for this one. His abnormally high perception does interest me a bit." The kiri hunter looked at her captor's eyes as they gazed at her, her mind went blank and her breath froze up. She had never felt such an overwhelming fear before.

"Well, I best be on my way, this was just an unscheduled stop." The man released her and the missing ninja got absorbed into the earth.,"I happen to be in a good mood today so I'll let you both leave. I have a feeling that we'll be seeing eachother again." The sannin spoke and disappeared, leaving the two hunters as they collapsed onto the ground and heaved for breath as if they had just been saved from drowning.

[Notice: Target Orochimaru has left the effective range.]

Shin was far too relieved to curse again as he rolled to the ground and lay down. Shin lay there for a good while before he heard a stuttering voice, "W-who, w-what was that?" Shin had forgotten that he wasn't alone yet, he sat up and looked at his comrade in fear. Both of them had taken off their masks as they had felt suffocated, Shin could see the woman now. A young teenager with a nasty scar above her nose, dark blue eyes and dark blue straight hair that fell below her shoulders. "That was one of the legendary sannin. That was Orochimaru." Shin tried to suppress the tremors in his voice as he replied to the girl. The pure primal fear, the helplessness and despair that had gripped them was no ordinary feeling, it was the feeling of a prey in the clutches of an apex predator.

The girl gave a long sigh, attempting to breath away the remaining emotions caused by the recent events. Shin looked at the girl and tried to lighten the mood, "Should have taken my offer to settle this over some tea like I suggested." The girl looked at him and gave a small chuckle, "Well, I could definitely use some now." Shin jumped to his feet and offered his hand, "I just happen to see a tea house, wanna join? We can talk about all the ways we didn't die today." The girl didn't take his hand but got up and smiled as she started to walk towards the city, "Or you know, we could talk about literally anything else!"

The duo enjoyed the nice tea while Shin introduced himself as a bounty hunter and the girl, Mizuki who surprisingly gave her real name, invited Enma, Shin's fake name, to Kiri. The two parted ways with a promise to meet again and settle matters over tea instead of fighting, if possible that is. After separating, Shin started to search for Pineapple, finding him getting stuffed with treats by the local children and the cat and boy left with a failed mission.

When the duo returned to Konoha, his mission report resulted in quite a commotion and Shin expressed his interest in learning Fuinjutsu to the Hokage who,perhaps at the genius of Shin or regret that his former disciple could have killed the village's promising youth, agreed and Shin joined the sealing corp as a trainee. He didn't want to run into any "familiar faces" for a while and with the canon getting closer, familiar faces is all he would be seeing soon so he decided to focus on his training.