Chapter 5

Kuzo sat in the living room, with the headband tied around his forehead. He wanted everyone in his family to see it. Being a shinobi was like being a doctor or a lawyer back in his world.

Enough with the memes. Now, it was time to think about what to do now that he realized the extent of the potentials of the Gluttony power. He looked at his hand. He had been given a gift. It would be an absolute shame if he didn't see where it could take him.

On the bad side, training would not increase his power. But it could improve his proficiency with the jutsu.

So it wasn't bad to use some free time to get himself familiar with his skills.

Kuzo jumped off the couch and flipped. When his feet reached the roof, he channeled his chakra through his feet. He stuck there. The chakra pulled him to the roof, circling his blood down to his feet. It felt like gravity didn't exist as he looked down.

He walked around. Despite being able to crawl on the wall, thanks to the earned skills from the dead genin, he was barely familiar with the process. If Kuzo didn't train, he would find a hard time applying it in a real battle. So he started walking slowly before increasing his pace. He then started crawling on the wall like a spider.

'I remember the time I wanted to be like Spider-Man. The only dream I had and realized. The more realistic ones never happened.'

A broad smile appeared across his face. He felt as if he found a video game that he could use to pass the time.

Jumping off the roof, he landed on his feet on the floor.

He now mastered walking on the walls completely. Training wasn't useless to him after all.

Maybe inventing a few tactics would do.

Just knowing the jutsu wouldn't be the limit.

There was a shinobi called Shisui Uchiha who became so powerful by combining the clone jutsu with the body-flicker jutsu, earning him the title of Shisui the Teleporter. He achieved such a feat by combining two basic jutsus.

After gathering his thoughts, he decided to leave the house and take his training outside. After running through Konoha's roofs, he found himself in training ground 45, facing a lake.

He weaved a few hand signs. The water rose, creating compressed steam.

He then took a deep breath and repeated the jutsu. This time, he took a deep breath and exhaled, releasing it from his mouth.

'So when using real water, it consumes less chakra and allows me to shoot more water. But when there is no real water, I have to create the water from my own chakra and spit it, resulting in a weaker jutsu.'

He then used the water bomb jutsu, releasing a few water bombs from his mouth, which exploded whenever they hit something.

Getting hit by an idea, he thought of something. He created a few illusionary clones and then used the water jutsu. The clones appeared and ran forward while he released the water bombs.

"Damn it, I couldn't time it right. Those clones can't cover that jutsu." He muttered as he put his hands behind his head.

"Practice your hands weaving skills," said a stranger's voice behind him. "When you're fast enough, you could combine the two jutsus."

The voice was from a man who looked like a jonin from his vest. He was gray-haired and had an eye-patch as a headband. In his hand, there was an erotic book, which was called 'Make-out Tactics.'

When Kuzo looked at him, the white-haired shinobi continued walking while focusing on his book.

Kuzo kept examining him, his heart beating louder and louder. There was no mistake to it. It was the legendary ninja, Kakashi.

"Thanks, Mister Kakashi," Kuzo said.

"You know me?" Kakashi asked.

What a stupid question. Every shinobi from the great villages knew him, yet he was asking someone from his village if he knew him.

"Big fan," Kuzo replied. "Can I get your signature?"

"What a headache," Kakashi muttered. Then he smiled and said, "Keep up the good job."

Before the interaction could go any longer, Kakashi vanished, leaving a pop of smoke behind him.

Kuzo stopped for a second to realize what happened.

He then exhaled a long breath.

Scratching the back of his head, he thought, 'I hope I didn't act like a fanboy. Other than that, his advice was good.'

Kuzo turned back to the lake and started working out again and again and again.

-x-X-x-

Exhausted, he walked down the road back to his home. Who knew that having your chakra used over and over could consume so much stamina. Luckily, he had good stamina, but it couldn't last for very long training sessions.

He reached into his pocket. His mom handed him a few banknotes so that he could buy some gears. After that, he would be on his way to the genin corpses and find a mission for himself. He hoped that he could get C or D rank missions, for they have little risk, yet they give the chance to fight against other rogue ninjas, low-rank ones.

Kuzo stopped by a shop that had a kunai symbol. A middle-aged man and a young girl around his physical age were there. She had a few buns, and she looked familiar too. Still, he was trying to recognize her.

Oh wait. She should be the girl from Guy's team. It took him too long to recognize her. Well. It's not a big deal. Some dog got screen time more than her.

"Hello," Kuzo said, grabbing their attention.

"Hello, customer, how can I help you?" replied the middle-aged man.

"I want to buy some throwing weapons," Kuzo said, looking around at the weapons displayed on the gallery.

"Customized?"

"No. Just the regular ones."

"I see. Tenten, you can help this one."

The so-called Tenten came. She was around his age. He was a bit taller than her, but not much of a difference.

"We have kunais made of…" She said as she stood next to him. She then stopped and looked at him.

Kuzo had a feeling that she was familiar not because of the memories of the previous life.

"You're Kuzo, right?"

"Do we know each other?" Kuzo asked.

"We used to be in the same class, last year."

"Oh. I remember now." Kuzo nodded.

Now that she mentioned it, she was correct. Since he'd failed the past year, he stayed in the academy.

Tenten looked at his forehead. "I see that you've managed to graduate."

"Yeah," Kuzo replied. "So you work here?"

"Yes," she replied. "Between the missions, I help my father with his job."

"Good for you," Kuzo replied.

"So, what team did they assign you to?" Tenten asked.

"No team yet. You?"

"I'm under Guy Sensei. I don't think you know him yet. But he's one of the best jonin despite being a weirdo."

Kuzo, who didn't want to have a long conversation with people mentally younger than him, shook his head.

"Never heard about him."

"If you find someone screaming youth and always wearing green and thick eyebrows, it's him."

"So, like Lee. But older."

"Couldn't find a better way to describe him. So you remember Lee, but not me."

"Guess that's because we're similar, in some areas." He made a quick excuse. Both him and Lee couldn't use Ninjutsu, putting them on the same page. But the body owner of Kuzo hadn't put in half the effort Lee had put.

"True. So, tell me, what brought you here? What are you looking for?"

"Throwing weapons, average price," he said.

"I got you. Do you want them sealed in a scroll or not?"

"Does it cost more?"

"Yes."

"Then I'll take the unsealed ones." He shrugged. It's a hard life to be a ninja. But it's harder to be broke.

Some might think that Tenten was being friendly. But that's how marketing is. You make the customer comfortable, be friendly with them, and take their money with a smile.

'Not gonna be tricked in two lives, never.'

-x-X-x-

Kuzo headed to the genin corpses, a place where people of every age gathered. If a genin is too old for the chunin exam, they come here. If they are too old, they come here. This place was for people who would do low-rank missions for a living.

When you walk around, you'd notice some chunin and jonin picking up some people.

Kuzo grabbed someone by the shoulder and said, "Excuse me."

"What do you want?" asked an older teenager, looking annoyed at Kuzo.

"Old brother, where does one pick up a mission?"

"You're new here, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"You failed your Jonin's test."

"Not exactly. But something else."

"Whatever." The older teenager pointed at a board. "You'd see there a list of available missions and their rank. You'd go to the Hokage's mansion to register it under your name. If you are new, your best bet is to do some D ranks. Once you get stronger, you'd do some low-C rank missions such as country patrols and civilian guards."

"I see, thank you."

"Just make sure you don't wait until you run out of pocket money to pick a mission."

"I see, thank you." Kuzo gave a slight bow.

Genin corpses. It felt like a new world to him. When he remembered what the older guy told him about the country patrols and civilian guards, he couldn't help but smile. In these kinds of missions, there was a high chance for him to encounter genins and probably chunins. If he managed to devour their souls, he would become unstoppable.

You know, once you are outside, you can go and look for troubles.

He gave the board a glance, looking for a suitable mission.

His eyes fell on one.

'Bingo.'