First C-rank

It's been a long month, with my torturous training schedule and all. But the gains make it absolutely worth it.

[Taijutsu

Skills: [Flash Step, lvl 20], [Academy Taijutsu, lvl 5 (max)].

Progress: 39%]

[Kenjutsu

Skills: [Tanto-wielding, lvl 15 (max)] [Katana-wielding, lvl 35]

Progress: 42%]

[Fire Release

Skills: [Shikai, lvl 1] [ Fire Release: Two, lvl 5 (max)] [Fire Release: Ember Clone Technique, lvl 15 (max)] [Fire Release: Mythical Fire Flower Technique, lvl 15 (max)] [Fushibi, lvl 6]

Progress: 25%]

[Chakra

Skills: [Leaf-sticking, lvl 5 (max)] [Tree-walking, lvl 10 (max)] [Water-walking, lvl 15 (max)]

[Clone jutsu, lvl 15 (max)] [Transformation jutsu, lvl 15 (max)] [Substitution jutsu, lvl 20 (max)]

Progress: 66%]

My fire release and chakra were my biggest gains. I have officially stepped into the realm of elite jounin with my chakra reserves and have boosted my taijutsu and kenjutsu to elite chunin levels. My weights maxed out at 400 pounds, which is 100 pounds on each limb. I'm not stupid, though. So I only activate my weights while I'm training, not just for everyday life.

I don't get how people like Rock Lee wear weights 24/7. Like, I know chakra's amazing and all, but that has gotta be messing up your knees.

I unlocked my first hado; Fushibi.

It's a pretty simple move. It's like a thicker chakra string that you can attach to just about anything. The trick is, it's also extremely flammable and will explode when ignited. It seems useful, but I haven't been able to use it in a combat scenario yet, because I don't want to hurt anyone that doesn't deserve it.

Also, I unlocked my Shikai, which I was super pumped about… Until I tried to use it with my regular sword.

////// Flashback /////

"Reduce all creation to ash, Ryujin Jakka!"

And oh boy, it did. Flames burst up around me immediately. It wasn't as much as Yamamoto showed when he released it in the anime, but I assumed that was because my fire release wasn't high enough yet.

The flames were sweltering, though. Flames that are lauded as the strongest in soul society. It was a huge drain on my chakra, but I was grinning madly.

"Haha! Finally!"

And then, the moment I tried to swing my sword, the handle burst into cinders and the blade got incinerated.

"Huh? Are you kidding me?"

With the sword gone, the flames had no catalyst, so they dissipated.

"..."

"..."

"FUCK MY LIFE!"

////// Flashback End ///////

Soooo yeah. I need a better sword to use Shikai. And I also had to beg Fukumoto to buy me a new katana as well.

Anyway, I am currently standing next to my team as the Hokage hands out our first C-rank mission. Which is weird, but I guess it's some sort of tradition.

"Fukumoto, I need to talk to you alone for a minute." Said the Sandaime.

"Yes, Lord Hokage. Brats, you heard the man; scram. I'll be done in a minute."

We shuffled outside. "I wonder what that's all about?" I said.

"Eh. Who knows? I'm just glad we're finally done with D-ranks."

Ayame just nodded at that.

We stood in a comfortable silence for a couple minutes before Fukumoto walked outside.

"Well, brats, it looks like we're going to the Land of Iron," he said.

"Really!?" Isamu exclaimed, "That's the place with all the samurai, right? That is so cool!"

Fukumoto sighed in exasperation, "Brat, we don't interact with the samurai. They're a neutral party. We're just escorting a merchant to the edge. After that, the samurai will take over."

"Aww," he whined.

Fukumoto then addressed all of us, "Meet at the front gate in 2 hours. Make sure to pack equipment for about 3 weeks. I will provide you with rations."

We all nodded and went to pack.

"Mom, I got a mission so I'm going to be gone for a while, ok?" I said.

She got teary-eyed, "Oh, my baby boy's all grown up! I'm going to miss you so much!" She started crushing me with a hug.

My cheeks turned red, "I get it! Geez, Mom, it's not like I'm leaving forever. I'll be back in a couple weeks."

She let me go and looked me in the eye, "You be careful out there. I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you as well."

Ah, I forget I used to have a dad sometimes. It's just been Mom and I since I can remember.

"Yeah, Mom. I'll be careful. Make sure to make some barbeque when I get back."

She smiled brightly, "Of course, honey. See you soon."

As I was walking out of the house, she yelled after me.

"Tell Isamu and Ayame I said goodbye! And that they're welcome to have barbeque with us when you get back!"

"Ok, Mom. Bye!" I shut the door.

After a minute, I made it to the front gate to see Isamu and Fukumoto waiting with a plump man and his caravan, which I assume is the merchant.

"Hey, guys. Where's Ayame at?" I asked.

Isamu replied, "She said she had something to take care of first."

Huh, I wonder what?

I was about to ask when I heard her arrive.

Fukumoto cleared his throat, "Now that everyone's here, come grab these rations."

He presented to us the grossest-looking protein bars I have ever seen. We all grimaced and took the rations.

'I am definitely going to hunt some food whenever we stop.'

After the rations were handed out, the merchant spoke up, "Hello, my name's Tanaka Koji, but you can call me Tanaka. I hope that you guys are ready because this is going to be a long journey." He looked at us somewhat skeptically.

"I'm an elite jounin; you're as safe as can be," Fukumoto spoke up, noticing Tanaka's unease.

"Alright, then. I suppose we should get going," said Tanaka. After he spoke, he walked over and grabbed one of the carts. And then we were off. I led the front since I was the heaviest hitter, while Ayame and Isamu flanked the sides. Fukumoto covered our rear.

The mission went on slowly. Like, civilian pace slow. I mean seriously, it takes two and a half weeks to get there with civilians, and 4 days to get back with just shinobi. That's bullshit.

And so, two weeks passed uneventfully, until suddenly, it wasn't.

"Oi! Heads up, brats! We've got some enemies incoming, and they aren't bandits!" Fukumoto yelled.

We immediately got serious and grouped up toward the front of the caravan. Fukumoto jumped forward and landed in front of us.

Soon enough, the rogue shinobi appeared. There were about fifteen of them.

"Heh, just a genin team to protect such important cargo? This is our lucky day, boys!" Said who I assumed to be the leader.

"Brats," Our sensei said without his usual snark, "I'll handle the leader; he's out of your league. I'll finish quickly, so just hold out until I'm done. Got it?"

We all nodded and got into a formation. Isamu and I were side by side while Ayame moved behind us and activated her sharingan.

We stood at a standstill for a minute, before the leader signaled to his men and they all rushed us at once.

"Get ready!" Fukumoto yelled as he charged in to meet his opponent.

As Fukumoto engaged the enemy leader, I glanced at my teammates.

"Isamu, when they get within 10 feet, use the Rock Bed Thorn Jutsu. Ayame, support Isamu with your sharingan genjutsu and fire jutsu." I grinned, "It's time to cause some chaos!" With that said, I unsheathed my sword and flash-stepped into the center of their group.

"What?!? Ho- *Shlick*" Blood splashed across my face. I slit his throat before he could finish speaking.

The other shinobi looked behind them, unsettled by how quickly I killed one of their own. But they were already too close to my other teammates.

"Doton: Iwa Toge Fushido no Jutsu (Earth Release: Rock Thorn Bed Technique)!"

He caught most of them as earth spikes jutted out of the ground and through their feet. Five, however, saw the attack coming and avoided it. But Ayame was ready.

"Katon Housenka no Jutsu (Fire Release: Mythical Fire Flower Technique)!"

She shot multiple bullets of flame at the ninjas who dodged the earth spikes.

Most were able to dodge these as well, but one got hit directly.

"Ahhhh!" He screamed as he caught aflame.

I moved over towards the shinobi that were unharmed while attaching strings to the ones stuck to the ground with Fushibi.

I quickly decapitated the one on fire, ending his misery, and then muttered,

"Hado #12: Fushibi (Ambush flare)."

Then, the strings ignited. It was a lot more visceral than I thought it would be, with limbs and organs flying through the air and blood showering the ground with crimson gore.

It made me sick to my stomach.

'No! Now is not the time. I'll think about this after.'

I looked over to where they were engaging my teammates. But there were only two.

'Shit! The merchants!' I turned back and sure enough, the last two enemy shinobi were heading in for the killing blow.

But they were still too slow as I flashed in between them and the merchants. Their eyes widened as I batted away the kunai he was attacking with and stabbed him through the chest

*Cough*

He spat blood into his mask as I yanked my sword out of his chest.

"You bastard!" The other one yelled.

He threw a wild slash at me that I easily ducked under. I launched a horizontal slash at his chest. My sword traveled through his ribcage and out the other side, dividing him into two pieces.

"You alright?" I asked, glancing over my shoulder at the visibly shaken merchant.

"Y-yes. T-t-thank you…" He said.

I nodded and then turned over to where my teammates were. They had both killed their opponents. Ayame's had a kunai in his neck while Isamu's had their neck bent at an awkward angle.

I sighed in relief, seeing that they were okay.

Then I saw Fukumoto, dragging towards us the now limbless enemy leader.

"You did good, brats." He said, "I am going to interrogate this fucker to see if this was an isolated event. I'll be back."

He walked off, his back disappearing into the forest.

I headed over to my friends.

"Are you guys okay?" I asked.

"Y-yeah… I'll be fine." Said Isamu, who looked to be shaken up and a little green as he looked over the road where I blew up those shinobi.

Ayame just nodded, looking slightly disturbed, but otherwise unaffected. I guess she had already seen a scene like this before, huh?

Then, as I looked over my victims, I felt sick to my stomach. Not because of the smell or the limbs and organs laying around. No, it was because of one, simple fact.

'It was so… Easy…'

I remember the sensation of cutting through flesh and bone and the smell of a burning corpse, which, contrary to popular belief, smelled just like barbeque.

I wasn't as affected as I thought. I just accepted that this was my reality now; a world where death and scheming are commonplace.

Looking back on it, the feeling of adrenaline running through my veins the moment I decided to step into enemy lines and the feeling of triumph when I defeated my adversaries.

It was exhilarating.

Now, I'm not going to go off and become a murder hobo like most people do in gamer stories. But I can still appreciate a fight with your life at stake.

While I was dealing with the aftermath, our sensei came back, this time without the rogue.

"How are you brats holding up?" He asked, uncharacteristically gentle.

"I'm fine,"

"Good as I'll ever be,"

"Hm,"

He sighed, "You brats are made of some tougher stuff. That's good; that mentality will take you a long way in this profession. Now, it's time to show you how to deal with the bodies."

Oh, yeah. I guess we can't really leave the bodies on the road and go about our day.

He showed us a special sealing scroll. "This scroll will hold the bodies until we get to a place where we can burn them." He then turned over to the battle scene where I exploded a bunch of people.

"For the love of God, did you have to blow them all up?" He asked

I looked away sheepishly. "It seemed like a good idea at the time."

He just sighed and started working, all the while mumbling about, "Brats," and, "Pains in the ass."

After we sealed up all the bodies, we started to move again. Sadly, nothing happened and we reached the Land of Iron in about 3 days.

As we were about to head back, the merchant, Tanaka, approached me.

"You know, you saved my life back there. Thank you. I owe you a debt." He said gratefully.

I scratched the back of my head in embarrassment, "It was part of the job, don't worry about it."

He shook his head, "No. If there's anything I can do for you, tell me."

That got me thinking, "Hey, do you think you could get me a chakra blade?"

He laughed at that. Then stopped when he realized I was being completely serious.

"Oh, wow. I can't do that myself. Chakra blades are a bit out of my league. I could get you into contact with someone from Konoha that can make chakra blades. You'll have to pay on your own though." He said.

"Seriously? Awesome."

He then told me about a blacksmith that visits Konoha once a year to take make blades.

"His name is Tanaka Kenji, and he's my father."

I was not expecting that.

"You can tell him I sent you and owe you a debt. He should give you a discount. I'll make sure to visit him soon as well. He will leave for Konoha in about 4 months, so be ready when the time comes."

I nodded, "Thanks for the help."

After chatting for a few more minutes, the samurai escorted Tanaka deeper into the Land of Iron.

"Let's head home," said Fukumoto.

"Yes, sensei." We all said.

And in about 4 days, because of shinobi speed, we had made it home.

"I'll go report to the mission desk and grab your pay. Go ahead and do whatever. I'll bring your portion to tomorrow's training." Fukumoto said.

That got Isamu whining, "We've been gone for three weeks! Can't we take just one day off?"

I laughed at this, "You can do rest if you need to, wimp. I'm gonna hit the grind again."

He looked at me weirdly, "What is the grind?"

"Only real men can understand."

"You're an ass sometimes."

And so we headed over to my house for dinner, bickering all the way.

/////// A/N ////////

Hello everyone. Let me know how the fight scene was and the gore. This is my first time writing violence so idk. Also, I'm going to try and give Ayame some more depth of character soon. Let me know if you want Kaen's team to participate in the canon chunin exams or if I should make my own. Leave a review please!