The next morning came fast; it was 6 am, and Sasuke was out going through his morning workouts, but unlike the group he usually works with, who were doing theirs on the other side of the prison.
This one was only with two people in the forest outside the prison: Daryl and Ghost.
He tossed the boulder he was holding aside, deactivated the weight-adding seal, and turned to the Dixon brothers who were holding up pretty well.
"How many times had you gone on supply runs so far with your group?" He asked Daryl who was usually leading Axel and Big-Tiny.
"3, we didn't find much...and you specifically told me not to wander far off."
"Because things are turning out to be troublesome."
"Is it related to that woman in red?" Ghost inquired; the raiding group came suddenly, but it was honestly not much of a trouble.
That only left the Asian woman that Sasuke seemed to be keeping her matter as confidental.
"Yeah, but nothing is clear for now, so I'll leave it to the right time. Currently I have things to discuss with you two in specific."
Daryl and Ghost nodded, wondering what the matter was to have him call for them separately here and put them to drills.
"I checked your progress, and we are grown men here, so I'll be frank, in a nice way...you are lacking, and if I have to be brutally honest...you are too lacking." Daryl squints his eyes, not really liking that.
But he let the man finish his talk; he knew Sasuke was not the sort to humiliate anyone, especially a buddy.
"Strength-wise, combat tactics, stamina, agility, and most importantly...diversity and flexibility with different tools and weapons." And that surprisingly made Ghost nod his head in agreement; he felt like all his progress was laughable compared to what a little masked girl can do.
"I by no means am downplaying your adaptability; that's your strong point, but you still rely too much on what you are comfortable with, here."
Sasuke jumped lightly and swept a kick, breaking a somehow thick branch apart; catching it, he tossed it to Daryl, who caught it with a questioning look.
"What are the chances of you hitting that tree with a bow and arrow or a crossbow and a bolt? Or simply a gun." Sasuke pointed at a tree 30 meters {32,8 yards} away.
"No chance of failure," and Daryl replied instantly, confident in his aim.
"Yeah, try it with that branch." Daryl blinked.
He saw Sasuke leaning against the tree there silently and shrugged.
Daryl then stood in a throwing stance, took aim, threw the branch...and failed miserably.
Before Sasuke could say anything, Daryl clarified:
"It's a damn branch; the weight and shape are messed all over the place. I can't throw it with such force to do damage anyway even if I were accurate."
"What's your take on this, Ghost?"
"I agree with him; we aren't you. Maybe if we were similar, we could have enough force to achieve such feats, for now...even if our aim got accurate with random objects, there will be no real result."
Sasuke nodded, satisfied with hearing what he wanted: the truth.
"I see. I knew a boy; he got...nah, he was lacking what makes us shinobi. But he got resolves no other kid his age can ever hope to have, even adults in that matter; even though he had always failed miserably in everything we found easy to do, such as..." and he jumped. Merle and Daryl watched with wide eyes, seeing him standing upside down, feet seeming to be stuck to the damn tree branch above their heads.
"But like I said, he got impressive resolves and a will of steel." Sasuke dropped down, telling Daryl that this is the effect of suction and pushing that streams from his limbs' pores.
"The point I'm trying to make is… yeah, he was different from you in some ways, but not by much. Even when everything seemed to be stubbornly working against him, he still pushed and pushed and pushed, trying to master a body-strengthening art, And in the end, he did.
The first time we met, we were just kids. I wasn't weak back then — hell, I could've beaten you two ten times over. And no, I'm not exaggerating." He made it clear what he was telling them was necessary and not just him filling their heads with random shit.
"There was this competition for kids our age, he was a year older. I'll admit, I underestimated him because of how he looked. We fought...and he caught me off guard by his incredible fighting skill and took a damn beautiful clean hit. At that time, I recognized that •Bushy brows• as a rightful opponent."
He chuckled, recalling the scene of the Taijutsu Freak in the ugly green suit, stupid bowl cut, and thick eyebrows whose teeth shine whenever he smirks, kicking his ass in the Chūnin exam.
"So, to put it simply, that tree you couldn't even scratch? He could punch a hole clean through it with a pebble he tossed on a whim… and if he really tried, a single tap from his fingers would split it apart. Those trees are just too fragile for what we were used to training with anyway..." He spoke seeing their incredulous looks.
"And yeah, that is with his pure physical strength."
"So, you are saying that you can have us train like him? Be like him?" Ghost asked him, hoping he would get a yes as an answer.
"Maybe, I won't promise such strength because he and his teacher are the only ones who succeeded, because they were the only ones who persisted, following the teachings of Might Duy, the guy who made the impossible and created such body art.
If you manage to reach even five percent of that strength, I'll make sure you get your hand back myself."
The eyes of Merle that were visible from the mask widened, his pupils shrinking from the sheer surprise of hearing he can have a real hand instead of the puppet one acting as a decoy, now strapped to his wrist.
"Don't doubt my words," Sasuke spoke first, knowing Daryl was about to say his usual denial lines even though he had seen all the impossible feats he achieved.
"Losing limbs wasn't something strange in the life of us shinobi, so naturally we were advanced in that particular field too, regrowing limbs or replacing them with new and good ones.
It takes much time and resources, so I won't do it for nothing. I already did much by sparing your life...show me your value, and I'll keep my promise, cool?"
Daryl tightened his fist feeling his blood boiling. What Sasuke said sounded unreal, but...the man had never lied to him before, not only getting close to Sasuke and that creepy masked girl but even healing his brother's handicap.
"But you get to have this for now." Sasuke went to the side and picked something that the brothers were curious about since they saw Sasuke bringing it with him when he called for them. He threw the item covered in a simple blue cloth to Merle.
Untying the bundle, Merle found a prosthetic arm inside, metallic, with a steel-like arm guard integrated along its length.
"This will do for now; It can handle simple movements like gripping, pulling, and finger control—based on how tightly you tense your forearm and shoulder muscles. Definitely better than that puppet hand you're using." Sasuke pointed at the fake gloved hand strapped to Merle's wrist, the one he helped him get and put on when he gave him the mask.
As Ghost moving around with one hand chopped was no different than telling others he is Merle.
"But that's not the point; follow the motion on the paper." Sasuke helped Merle remove the scrappy plastic hand from his lump and replaced it with the new prosthetic arm, Thin cords ran from the arm's joints up along his shoulder, linking muscle movement with the mechanical structure.
Merle smirked beneath his mask, flexing the fingers experimentally and getting a feel of the new thing; it felt comfortable and much better visually than before.
With a glove, it will look no different than a normal hand. Especially since this one can move and react more •naturally•.
Taking a deep breath, Merle followed the motions drawn on the paper.
With his arms at his sides, he shifted his shoulder just so—until a faint click brushed against his skin before dropping his arm down sharply. A sound of steel meeting steel sounded, and a long blade was drawn from his wrist.
Surprising Daryl, who swore he saw this thing somewhere.
"Those are called hidden blades; the notes detail their uses and all. In short...good weapons for silent kill. You'll need to train with it until deploying and retracting becomes second nature. Especially since your piece works differently,
I didn't give you twin set considering your situation, as the activation of the blades differs, and it will be hard for you to master them since your arm conditions aren't symmetrical, so for now, you do with that."
Merle took a deep shuddering breath; no one knows how bad it feels to lose a hand and how good it feels to get something close to it back again.
Unaware that Sasuke knew exactly that feeling, and that's why he stayed awake all night to make those pieces, as he knew it was time for him to start making those people ready for whatever his instincts were alerting him to.
Merle let Daryl inspect the new thing on his arm and turned to Sasuke. "Thank you, really thank you."
Even his deep, altered voice couldn't hide the gratitude he felt.
"Don't thank me with words" Sasuke replied Looking at him.
"Prove it. Be useful, show me you can repay this with your actions. Stop being a dumbass adult and start working on being a real man,
Start becoming someone worth following. Be the fucking good example—the kind of man others can look up to."
" I'm not saying and doing all this for entertainment; I need a division." Sasuke finally revealed why he wanted to have this session separately with them.
"I'm building this division. A group who will work on different calls from the mundane watch duties and walker elimination. I want a squad special in taking out all kinds of threats, both internal and external, both mundane and freaky, and I want it to start with you two."
He looked them in the eye; Sharingan instinctively flared, making even the leaves on the trees feel like they were halted in place.
"If you accept, know that I won't take a refusal; orders need to be followed. I will explain my reasons, of course, but that's how it goes... disobedience will be met with punishment, and punishments for that will be heavy, but results will give rewards no other can have." He noticed the tension and deactivated his sharingan.
"If you don't want that, forget all that we talked about and go back to your life; you can keep the prosthetic arm as a gift."
Merle and Daryl stood silent for a while, each contemplating what they heard and their choices.
If that big talk was said by any other man? They would have flipped him a long time ago, taking him as a damn weirdo trying to play the general.
But both know who Sasuke is and what he and his people can do...thus, it felt much different to hear that you can join such a hidden division.
It felt...real and like a serious mission.
They exchanged a look, understanding what each of them was thinking.
"Alright, you got it. What's the squad name? And the goal?"
"The Brotherhood," Sasuke replied. "Objective: do what cowards can't—strike first, and cut down the darkness before it reaches our kids and family."
=====
I know...it feels like I turned it into some chunibyuu show.
The thing is, Sasuke's instincts were flared here, and he recognized how it felt like back in the time when something out of the ordinary was about to resurface; thus, he took such a step.
And seriously, the show was filled with chunibyuus, Merle is a big one, just hiding it lol.
Oh, and for the name of the division? I took it from Assassin's Creed since I have no more brain juice for this. You can suggest anything else you might prefer instead of that one, and I'll edit the chapter.
I dropped the two chapters that were both written just now, because things are going at a slow pace, and I know having this chapter tomorrow after you already get the one from the meeting conference would be boring.
So they can have some issue.
Anyway... I want to focus on all sides before diving for the mess that is named Ada and the things coming with her. That's why it is going slow burn for now.
Hope you are doing well and have a nice day.