Chapter: 98

After dodging, Eiji's foot connected with Chouji's abdomen as he sent the other boy flying against a tree. Immediately after, he jumped up to avoid a clawed sweep of Kiba's, which he responded to with another kick, this time down. The Inuzuka's face got very familiar with the ground right then and there.

Looking down as he landed, Eiji raised an eyebrow at the way his shadow was connected with another. Then, he directed the expression towards Shikamaru, unimpressed. Hearing a familiar 'chirping' behind him, Eiji didn't even turn around as his wires rose and wrapped around the running Uchiha that had charged at him.

"How's that going, Shino?" Eiji asked then, feeling the bugs on him trying and failing to drain his chakra. First, because he had a decent recovery rate, and second because Tsuchigumo was the one actually fueling his techniques. That meant that the only thing working against his energy pool were the bugs and they weren't precisely fast even if his Aburame friend had gotten much better in his absence.

"You are as ridiculous as ever, Eiji," The quiet boy replied, pushing his shades up.

"Or more," Shikamaru grumbled to himself before sighing. "You up for it, guys?" Eiji blinked as everyone around him nodded. From Chouji and Kiba, who were still recovering from all the hits they'd been taking through the spar, to Sasuke and Naruto who were both strung up in the air by his wires. The latter of which had been the first to be taken out as he donned on his orange seal armor.

"Born ready, Shika!" Naruto exclaimed as everyone's shadows connected with Shikamaru's. Meanwhile, Eiji's was the only one that disconnected.

'What's that about?' He thought with a frown. If it went to allies though, one simple idea came to mind. 'Does everyone and their mothers-' His thought was interrupted as Chouji and Kiba rushed him instantly and much faster than before. '-have a boosting jutsu now?' He finished as he blocked both of them with one arm each before pushing them away.

As for the Uzumaki and the Uchiha, they freed themselves from their thread prisons with sheer force alone. It was something that they probably didn't need help with all that much, Eiji was sure. It certainly helped though. Even Shino armed himself with kunai and rushed at him, his bugs still working tirelessly to drain Eiji's reserves.

'This is fun,' He thought to himself as he dodged, blocked, parried, deflected and countered the attacks coming his way. Even Tsuchigumo was excited, it seemed, as she broadcasted her delight to him.

"Aren't you gonna actually attack?" Kage asked casually as if he weren't in a battle against a small group of what he was sure were overpowered children. Not that he was one to talk, but Eiji was sure he didn't count. "It's not really all that fair to them if you don't attack during training. Doesn't reflect reality."

"He's not wrong," Hachi pointed out, surprisingly agreeing with her 'brother'. "For once," She added as an afterthought, which made more sense.

"Hey!" Kage protested indignantly.

"Say, would you like to participate, Kage?" Eiji asked then, receding his control the smallest bit.

"What kind of question is that?!" He replied, instantly grasping at the opening and taking over. All of Eiji's friends seemed surprised with the sudden change in style but they recovered quickly. Not that it meant much, if anything it just made things worse, since Kage was much less inclined to give them mercy or go easy on them.

Soon, they were being smacked around like they owed him money.

"That was mean," Hachi pointed out, not sounding amused.

"He wasn't wrong, I was going easy on them and that's not really gonna help much," Eiji defended himself. It was just… difficult to actually go as hard on them as he'd need to. He didn't want to do that, even if he knew it was necessary.

"I meant giving him control instead of me," Hachi clarified then.

"Ah… next time?" He offered awkwardly, earning himself a huff from the obviously annoyed woman.

"You better," The woman told him and he almost could imagine her eyes narrowing before she sighed and continued. "Well, guess I'm the only one keeping an eye on Hinata and Hanabi," She added then. "The little one is doing really well, by the way. She must have been working on that a lot since you left."

"That's good. Web Sense would be useless for her, but maybe I'll teach it to her anyway, just in case. And also… maybe Chakra Flow through the wires?" He mused, brainstorming ideas more than actually suggesting anything.

"That might be a little much, don't you think?" She questioned unsure, before making a suggestion of her own. "Maybe one of your latest creations? Last Embrace should be useful."

"Hm, now there's an idea… Anything for Hinata?"

"Well, if she wants to use the wires in conjunction with her medical training then I think you can easily make something that she can use for that, don't you think?"She replied easily enough. Sure enough, an idea did pop in his mind… maybe he could even use that to fight even if it'd be a little… gruesome.

"Something to work on, yeah," He said then, just as Kage smacked Shikamaru and basically ended the fight.

"How is it that you get more and more ridiculous every time?" Kiba grumbled before groaning and slumping down on the ground. Apparently, he was a little too exhausted/bruised to stand up. Eiji was sure that Kage was preening proudly somewhere in the Mindscape now that he was back in control.

"He is. It's rather pathetic, really," Hachi confirmed and commented, earning a protest from her 'brother'. Tsuchigumo, meanwhile, was laughing because of… reasons, he supposed. He wasn't too sure, it could be because of his friends getting smacked, she always had fun when he sparred against people. Or maybe it was because of her 'siblings'? Or maybe both, he guessed.

"So, our turn, huh?" Sakura asked then, sounding almost amused as she approached the groaning boys. Hinata stopped her own exercises and walked closer too, as Karin did the same from the house. Those three were the medics, after all, and they very much wanted to practice too. Eiji had a feeling that they'd get very good after some time to help after spars.

Ino meanwhile, poked Shikamaru with a stick with an amused expression.

'God, my friends are weird.'

"You're one to talk."

[}-o-{]

"I think I've been made to wait long enough, Eiji Satou," Sasori said one day, after he finally finished making his body/puppet. It was strange, looking at him standing there looking like he was about the same age as Eiji himself. Then again, he looked quite more… puppet-like than he had with his previous one. It either wasn't completely finished or there was something he couldn't make without his/some other body…

"I'm surprised you even did at all," The team leader replied with a slight smile. "I guess you decided that getting your body was a good enough priority in the meantime?"

"Indeed…" The ex-Akatsuki member replied stoically as always.

"So, what do you want to start with?" Eiji asked, sitting against a tree and overlooking the team training. Initially, he'd wanted to separate his 'Suicide Squad' from his group of friends/siblings. However, some talks here and there with the Hokage and the other teens' parents had assuage his worries.

Now, there they were, Temari, Tayuya, Shikamaru and Shino plotting stuff that would probably give most people nightmares. Jirobo, Chouji, Kiba and Sasuke trading blows. Kabuto, Hinata, Sakura and Karin were probably talking about medical stuff by themselves off to the side. Meanwhile, Naruto and Yugito were quite a bit more separated than the rest, and Eiji didn't need to be psychic to know what that was about. Ino, for her part, seemed to hop between groups, except for the Jinchuriki's one, since they had asked for privacy. Poor Hanabi would have been a little left out if she wasn't busy with classes at the moment.

Overall, the two groups seemed to bond well enough. Although Eiji suspected that his team was merely humoring the others out of respect/fear of him. If that was the case then… Well, he couldn't precisely force them to like his group of friends, really.

"What was that… technique?" Sasori asked, bringing him out of his observations.

"I believe that's one question I've already answered," Eiji replied with a half-smile.

"That could be interpreted in a number of ways," Sasori reasoned flatly. "A more detailed explanation would be appreciated."

"I guess it can, can't it?" He admitted as he pondered what the best way to answer that was. "The Void is what I think waits for all of us after we die. That's all there is in the afterlife in my opinion. Absolutely nothing."

Silence fell between them after his words. Eiji was a little surprised by it, but not overly so. He simply waited for another question to come, surely Sasori had a bunch of those. Maybe he was just sorting through them?

"Do you have an opinion on art?" He asked then, catching the boy completely off guard.

'Seriously? That's the second question?' Eiji asked himself incredulously. Then again, much of Deidara's and Sasori's characters were based around their definition of art. In the later's case, puppets that symbolized eternity. Or something along those lines, at least. He didn't have that too clear, if he was honest.

"Not a strong one, no," Eiji admitted in the end, considering the question for a moment as it was the other's time to wait. "If I had to describe what art is for me though, I guess it would have to be something meaningful," He explained then. "One can paint a beautiful sight, play a wonderful melody or tell an amazing story but… in the end, if it means nothing, I don't think it is art. It should mean something, if not for the public, for the creator. Especially for the creator."

"Why so?" Sasori prodded and if Eiji didn't know better, he'd thought he sounded eager.

"I'm no artist, I don't think," He replied, not really answering as he pulled a notebook from a scroll that he took out of his pouch. Opening it, he started going through drawings he'd made. "But I still consider these to be art," He said, showing the ex-Akastuki some. A few had sights of Konoha, most, however, depicted his family, his friends and his team. "Because it means something. I care about this, and because of that, when I see them, I can think of them as art."

"I see…" Sasori said then, slowly, considering. "What is your goal, Eiji Satou?" He asked, although his 'eyes' seemed to be still trained on the pages of the notebook. Silently, the boy passed the item to him so that he could see however much he wanted. There wasn't anything in there that really meant anything or that could be dangerous for him to see. That much he knew and Kage and Hachi confirmed for him.

"My goal? To achieve peace, so that what I care about can be safe," He replied, much more confident with this question. "Get strong enough that nobody will even think about going to war. I'll be their deterrent and their motivation, if I need to be. Peaceful times to enjoy my life, that's my ultimate goal, you could say."

"That's… a rather simple objective, I would say. A difficult one, but still simple," The ex-Akatsuki commented. "And I'm guessing I'll be part of this process now, then," He stated more than asked.

"You'll help me deal with Akatsuki. After that… I guess it'll depend," Eiji replied.

"Oh?"

"It'll depend on how helpful you are, I guess," Eiji clarified. 'And how much humanity remains in you too,'He added in his mind. "Your situation is quite different from the rest of the team, I'm sure you realize." He could probably talk his way into making his team not be considered criminals at some point, especially if they helped against Akatsuki. Sasori was another thing entirely. As it was, he risked Suna reacting… badly, to his inclusion, even with Akatsuki looming over the Nations.

Without that threat? There was no way they'd let the man live at all.

Then again, Gaara was Kazekage, and if Eiji could get some of the other Nations on board…

Something to think about.

"So, it's either working under you or dying," Sasori reasoned, as if he were talking about a game of Shogi and not his life. Then again, Eiji wondered if he would even be able to show emotions at all if he had them. "I guess I have some thinking to do."

"You could say that," Eiji replied wryly.

[}-o-{]

"You've grown a lot, brat," Anko said as they sat on a tree near the middle of the Forest of Death. Each was on a branch, resting their backs against the trunk, Anko eating and him drawing. It was peaceful, which made him smirk the smallest bit. He was sure there weren't many that would think that regarding that Training Ground.

"I mean, yeah, it's been like a year since we met, right? More or less?" Eiji asked, blinking as he realized he was about right. 'It's been that long?... Wow.'

"Time passes. Shocking, I know," Kage said in his mind, clearly amused.

"You know that's not what I meant," Anko replied and he remained silent then. "When I was told to teach you, I knew you would grow a lot. To get that kind of privilege and that kind of attention, you had to be that kind of person. Even then, I wasn't ready for what you'd become, Eiji."

The boy himself kept his mouth shut then, taking in her words.

"Look at us now," Anko continued. "You are Jounin and I'm still a Tokubetsu Jounin. You could kick my ass without even having to go all out. Probably without even using half your tricks and techniques."

He didn't correct her. Eiji probably wouldn't even need to use more than a handful of techniques, if that. It was… sad, in a way. Anko had been his teacher for so long, it was difficult to see her as just… a beatable person. That image felt all sorts of wrong.

"What I'm trying to get at is…" She kept on going, before the words seemed to get stuck in her throat.

He stopped faking to draw and stored his notebook and pencil inside a scroll before turning towards her. She was sitting sideways already, apparently having turned towards him too. The look in her eyes was one that he'd never seen on her, if he was honest.

"I'm proud of you, Eiji, and I'm proud of having been your teacher," She finally managed.

He gave her a small smile. Anko sounded so terribly awkward saying that. The words felt strange to even hear, like she wasn't supposed to say that. It wasn't in her character to say something like that at all. The fact that she did at all spoke more than the words themselves, actually.

"I'm proud of having been your student," He replied, his smile widening.

"Oh God, this is awful, let's do something else."

He couldn't help but laugh out loud at that. Now that was more like the Anko he knew. He definitely preferred things like that, honestly. However, her next words made him narrow his eyes.

"What do you say, brat? Snakes vs Spiders? We'll win, of course, but we can fake that intrigue."

'She didn't just say that,' Eiji thought to himself.

"She certainly did," Kage commented, sounding positively amused.

"We are going to kick your old slithery asses, you can bet on that."

"You didn't just call me that," Anko hissed, eyes narrowed.

"He certainly did," Kage said in his mind, as if the woman could hear him.

"Already losing your hearing, huh? Understandable."

"Brat, I so want to smack you right now."

"You sure that won't hurt you more than me."

Overall, meeting with his sensei was great.

[}-o-{]

"I didn't expect that to happen," Eiji mumbled, earning himself agreeing hums from Kage and Hachi and barks from Tsuchigumo and Yuki. And a whole lot of other dogs around, since they were at the vet. "Welp, is my food as good as you remember, guys, or is it better?" He asked then, turning towards the puppies that surrounded him.

They replied very enthusiastically, but Eiji couldn't know which answer they were actually giving. It wasn't too important though, he was just enjoying doing this after so long. 'How long has it actually been?' He wondered to himself as he petted Yuki with one hand and a puppy with the other.

"A while," Hachi commented. "Entirely too long, considering how much it helps you relax," She added then, ever the thoughtful one.

"Indeed," Kage agreed, although Eiji noticed something weird in his tone.

"He likes the vet, it seems," Hachi explained, immediately ratting her 'brother' out. "So does Tsuchigumo," She continued, getting an easy agreement from the Chakra Beast, contrary to the sputtering denials of Kage.

"Well, get used to it," Eiji replied with a smile. "We are gonna come here a lot. I've missed this."

"... Good," Kage said, which almost made Eiji laugh out loud.

It wasn't helped by the sight before him, really, which had prompted the whole line of thought. Kabuto and Hana trading notes on how to treat ninken. Apparently, while his teammate was confident enough in his ability to treat Yuki, he wanted to be better. And who better to teach him a thing or two than the person in charge of treating the Inuzuka's partners?

They'd been talking for most of the visit and Eiji was sure this would be a common occurrence if they came again. Which they totally would, of course. Not only did Eiji want to see his canine friends again, but Kabuto himself seemed keen on the idea. So, with a partner in crime, he would definitely visit more. And that wasn't even counting Kage and his weak spot for the puppies.

"I don't have a soft spot for them!" The aforementioned protested.

"You certainly do," Hachi pipped, sounding supremely amused.

"Don't worry, Kage," Eiji reassured with a grin. "Nobody's gonna mock you for that."

"Speak for yourself," Hachi said then.

"Oh… my bad," The boy replied. "Well, too bad for you, Kage," He added 'solemnly'.

"... I hate all of you."

Tsuchigumo barked something that Eiji knew meant 'no, you don't'. That got a laugh out of Hachi, while Eiji himself had to do his best to keep his amusement to himself. No need to look like a weirdo… At least until a puppy jumped on him and started licking his face. No need to hide laughter after that.

It also reminded him that he had a whole bunch of canines ready to play with and, really, who was he to deny them?

[}-o-{]

Eiji laid on the ground in a Training Ground by himself. He'd come to train a little… harder than usual, which meant that he was a danger to anyone around. Not even his own team could be around in case something went out of control. Considering the level of destruction he'd unleashed? He'd made the right decision.

It also let him have all the time in the world to check his screens without drawing attention to himself. Like he was doing at that very moment, since, for once, his training had been eventful system wise. After all, as time passed, his stats and skills grew harder and harder to level up. It was the late game for him, it seemed. He wouldn't be surprised if he got more stat levels through quests than through training, even taking into account how rare the former were.

Back to the subject at hand though…

[Dexterity has gone up a level.]

[New Perk Acquired: Devour Hope]

'Level 60, huh? Just like it had been level 30 before… I had almost forgotten about that,' He mused as he eyed the screen before calling for the Perk's.

[Devour Hope

The user's Dexterity is increased by 5% with every opponent defeated. (Max of 50%) (Resets every day) (Clones do not count for the effect)]

Eiji considered that for a long moment. "Do you think Pain's Paths count?" He asked then, as the idea popped in his mind.

"Don't see why not," Kage replied, and the boy could almost see him shrugging. "It only clarifies for Clones, which they are not."

"Should be useful then. It could have been better though," Hachi commented and Eiji could only agree. It sounded like a neat Perk, don't get him wrong, but it'd help little against Akatsuki, from what he knew of them.

"It's better than nothing," He decided with a weary expression before calling for some more screens.

[Eiji Satou

Main Title: Anko Mitarashi's Apprentice

Secondary Title: Prodigy

Energy Points: 1140/1140

Chakra Points: 1450/1450

Natural Energy Points: 0/1450

Beast Chakra Points: 0/0

Strength: 57

Dexterity: 60

Constitution: 57

Chakra: 57

Chakra control: A]

'God, now I remember why I don't check this nearly as often. They take forever for a single level,' He grumbled to himself before sighing. With a wave of his hand, all the screens disappeared except for one. His true ace up his sleeve.

"Slow progress," Hachi said, as if predicting Eiji's thoughts. "It'll get there, don't worry," She added reassuringly.

"I know," He replied with a sigh. "Up for some more training, Tsuchigumo?"

The energetic bark she gave in response almost returned some of his own energy.

[Lightning Release: Relentless Storm – Lvl 8]

[}-o-{]

It was late at night, about a week since he'd arrived back at Konoha. Eiji had been staying up late like usual, although it was more because he was waiting than because he had things to work through. He did, but the addition of Shadow Clones had made training and jutsu creation so much easier that he found himself with somefree time. And considering what awaited him, he thought it would be better to use his down time to relax and distract himself a little.

"Hey there," Eiji asked casually when an Anbu clad ninja appeared in front of him. "How's it going?" He added then, a lazy smirk on his face. He could hear his mind's inhabitants chuckling but he ignored them except for a small wave of praise at Tsuchigumo. Without her, there was no way that he'd been able to maintain Eternal Purge for too long.

"Rather well, I would say," The ninja replied, as if the situation were completely normal. Even going as far as taking one of the chairs, pulling it back and taking a seat. 'What the-' Eiji thought, eyes widening when the Anbu ninja was replaced by Danzo himself in the blink of an eye, as if it had always been him. 'Show off,' He added with a slight smirk. "Especially after you've basically countered all the enmity that Iwa held for us due to the Fourth."

"That's good to know, I guess," Eiji said then, tilting his head to the side. "But I'm sure you aren't here for a social visit, are you?" He better not be. Eiji didn't know how he would take it otherwise.

"Indeed, I'm not," He said then. "I'm here to issue a mission of sorts."

That gave Eiji pause, what could he possibly want him to do? Surely he was doing enough for the village just by taking down this worldwide threat, right? He certainly feltlike it was all he could do not to fail at it. What more could Danzo possibly want?

"Here, just give it a read," The man told him simply, placing a file on the table and pushing it towards Eiji. Hesitantly, the boy took it, his eyes almost refusing to leave the Root leader. Eventually, he turned to do as he was told. He could give the man that much, he mused. After all the help he'd received when he most needed it, that was something he could afford to do, at the least.

Eiji ended up being glad he did. As he read through the pages of information, he grew more and more concerned. 'I thought this was fanon,' He thought to himself, feeling his eyebrows draw together into an angry frown.

"It's on that side of your information, yes," Hachi confirmed grimly.

"This… is because of the changes," Eiji realized then, as he continued reading.

"So, I take it you are interested?" Danzo asked with a smirk. He had good reason to be smug though, considering that they both knew Eiji would take this mission. Didn't make the boy be less annoyed though.

"Yeah… I'll do it," He muttered, narrowing his eyes down at the file before looking at the warhawk. "The Seven Tails Jinchuriki won't stay at Takigakure