Chapter 8:

Every soul had at least some reiryoku, extremely small amounts mind you, but it should be there. This didn't matter though, even without reiryoku, this man walked and moved like a trained warrior; every step he took was measured and there were no wasted movements.

His breathing was perfectly regulated, obviously utilizing an advanced breathing technique that was difficult to master even while in meditation.

Sui-Feng watched from beneath her bangs, making sure to keep her reiryoku down to the level of a normal plus to avoid detection as Naruto made his purchases and waved to a few young women who were busy ogling him shamelessly as he passed, giggling away in their little huddle as he did so.

After that he turned, slinging the large sack of what she assumed was his supplies for the next month or so over his shoulder, and made his way towards the edge of the village. His pace was sedated and slow, and Sui-Feng had some difficulty making it look as if she were a normal young woman living in the district who was simply out to do some shopping of her own.

She stopped at several stands and shops as they made their way closer to the edge of the village, sometimes even moving ahead of him to enter a shop in his line of sight. When they finally reached the outer edge of the town Sui-Feng walked into a shop before walking out the back entrance, completely ignoring the rather disgruntled shop-keeper, and then blended with the shadows.

She moved quickly in order to get Naruto back into her line of sight, and even then she only just barely noticed him moving into a thick corpse of trees before vanishing into the shadows cast by the canopy overhead.

She quickly made after him, keeping low to the ground as she made her way through the alleys and across the small clearing before leaping into the high branches of the trees overhead.

After that she could only ever catch small glimpses of the man, and worried that he'd caught on to her. If he was employing the same tactics he'd used against the Onmitsukidou against her then there was a good chance she would be lost inside the forest and forced to return to the town to try again another day.

Just when she was starting to think that she'd lost him, she came to a halt when she suddenly realized that there were no more trees in front of her. She was now looking out over a beautiful forest clearing, dominated on one side by a large crystal clear lake, and on another by a sprawling manor house surrounded by high walls, with a large training yard and a small shed nestled in one corner of the grounds.

This place was almost as large as the Niban-tai Barracks! And there at the door was the man whom she'd been following all this time. He did something to the door, and unless her eyes were playing tricks on her she was positive that the entire compound had just shimmered; it was onlyonce the phenomena had passed that Naruto opened the door and stepped inside.

Sui-Feng almost cheered out loud, she'd done it! She had accomplished what seasoned members of the Onmitsukidou could not do even with the help of several others keeping track of the same target. She found the home of someone important to her mentor whom they'd been searching for over the last fifty years.

Yoruichi was going to be thrilled!

After her little mental victory dance, Sui-Feng paused, placed a small locator beacon in the bark of the tree she was standing on and turned to leave before a thought struck her.

'Yoruichi-sama did say it would be alright if I decided to visit for a little bit, and I'm honestly curious about this man. ' Turning back to the house, Sui-Feng dropped down to the ground silently and stood to her full height in an attempt to gather up her courage.

'Just for a little bit, I won't stay long since I have to get back to Yoruichi-sama quickly. ' This man may not have any reiryoku, but his body and movements were those of an experienced warrior.

She was not as strong as her mentor, and thus she had to be extremely careful in case he turned out to be a threat. Though she was sure she could handle a normal soul, even one with as much combat experience as her current target.

Walking up to the door she didn't even make it halfway before a shadow fell over her, quickly growing larger with every moment. Looking up, she only caught the silhouette of the attacker, before realizing it wasn't an attacker at all.

With a dull thump, a large man landed just five steps in front of her in a kneeling position, the man was tall and lean with dark brown hair falling about his head messily. When he looked up she was met by brown eyes and a stern expression, and when he stood she realized that he was standing at around Yoruichi's height, roughly five foot four.

For a few moments they simply stared at each other, before the man straightened his back, puffing out his chest in an attempt to look threatening. "What business have you in this place, the home of Hokutan's Hermit Sage?"

Sui-Feng blinked. Then blinked again.

She had been expecting an attack from this individual, but it turns out he's simply the doorman? Breathing a discreet sigh of relief, Sui-Feng opened her mouth to speak, before another beat her to it.

"Let her in Jinzo, I wouldn't have brought her here if I didn't want her to come inside. "

The voice had come from everywhere, yet seemingly nowhere. The fact that it had said she had been brought here made Sui-Feng sweat nervously.

He had known she had been following him the whole time? Just how skilled was this man?

Looking about herself in a none too discreet manner in search of the mysterious voice, her eyes finally landed on a series of kanji on the wall not too far from where they were standing that were glowing with a faint reiatsu, but that made nearly no sense.