In a luxurious estate.
"Fuck! Fuck! Goddamn it! All of my plans have gone to waste!"
In the room, Masaru cursed loudly and threw items on his desk, clenching his head at the result of his supposedly good plan ahead.
"Yoichi!!!"
Gripping his fist as the beads of blood came out, Masaru remembered Yoichi's capability and felt extremely jealous with the resentment in his eyes.
"Sabito, do you know his weakness?! I'm asking you a favor as a friend. We need to get back on the right track or else, we will get reprimanded by Kouji-sama and our backers!"
With a fiery glint in his eyes, Masaru glared at Sabito and explained the situation.
Throughout his entire lifetime, Masaru has gotten anything that he desired.
From wealth, power, genetics, and even manpower, he was truly appreciated by his sponsors and trusted him to do the right work for them.
But the feeling of losing to someone was more disgusting for him, especially failing against Yoichi, a child without any resources as he thought.
Now, backed against the wall, Masaru imagined his Kouji and his backers' disappointment in him. As if like a cornered beast, the desperation for survival reigned in his mind, losing someone's trust was overwhelming.
"Masaru... I don't know." Sabito lowered his head, afraid of facing Masaru's wrathful facial expression.
"Do you truly not know or are you hiding his secret?" Masaru furrowed his eyebrows and revealed the harsh truth.
"Each thing that you hold right now was something given by our sponsor! This house, nice clothes, sumptuous meals, a training guide, it's their reward given to us because we are trusted by them! Do you honestly understand?! These things could be gone in a second just by a wave of their hands!"
Masaru criticized, unable to hold his anger, and constantly pointed out the things Sabito received over the past few months.
"It's a give-and-take situation, Sabito. I'll give you some time to think."
Looking at Sabito's complicated emotions, Masaru patted his shoulder and sighed, ultimately leaving the room with a dejected expression on his face.
"Shit! It's too messed up! I need to save myself before helping others..." Biting his nails as a coping mechanism, Sabito took his time until he decided to go with the flow.
I'm sorry, everyone... I can't seem to get out of this... Yoichi...
As the lavishness of royalty began to bloom in his life, Sabito understood his part to completely keep the life he wanted, no matter what the cost.
...
Konoha Year 17, June.
As 2 weeks passed by, the scene gradually vanished while the people of Amegakure soon worked as usual like a cog in a machine, lifeless and monotonous.
[Heavenly Demon Posture: (Great Success) 230/500] (+17)
[Mountain Crushing Fist: (Entry) 48/100] (+6)
[Lightning Spear Thrust: (Entry) 40/100] (+8)
[Phantom Steps: (Small Success) 2/300] (+5)
In contrast, Yoichi was diligently farming in proficiency and achieved pretty sizable gains but they pale in comparison when he had Qi Blood Pills.
Still, his small breakthrough in Phantom Steps was crucial and helpful for him. What actually changed was that the flow of the Qi Blood was smoother and the swiftness became easier to access, a marginal progress over all.
But by the time he was working in the workshop, a familiar yet foreign man visited him and asked for his time, breaking the two-week silence between them.
"Yoichi! Someone's looking for you!" At the counter, Old Man Gunbai shouted as his grumpy voice was instantly heard by Yoichi.
"... I'm here..." As he emerged from the back door, Yoichi wiped his sweat and glanced at the man in the raincoat.
"Brat, do you know him?" Gunbai couldn't help but be worried and doubtful of the man.
After all, who the hell still wears a raincoat in the middle of the shop?!
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I know him. Can you give me a break, old man? I just need to talk with him."
Hearing Yoichi's confirmation, the old man sighed and gave them breathing room.
"Shall we go?" The man in a raincoat replied, frequently looking left and right as cautiously as a cat.
"Yeah..."
Soon, the two went into a dark alleyway with a nice shade from the rain.
"So... What should I call you?" Yoichi initiated the conversation with direct words.
"I'm Yoshiro. Nice to meet you, Yoichi." Later on, Yoshiro took off his hood and introduced himself with a smile.
"Now, let's get directly into the information. You don't want to waste time like me, do you?"
While Yoichi told him, he soon took out some paper with drawings on it which Yoshiro was deeply curious about.
Based on Yoichi's research, he couldn't say the word or write Hanzō, Motoyasu, and Hayate into the paper since every recall or intent to reveal the names would alarm the Battle Instinct in his mind, a great warning sign to understand the limitations of the curse seal.
Yes, Battle Instinct could be applied to the curse seal since it was another sneaky way to blow off somebody's head, still sensing the malice beneath it.
After that, Yoichi took Hanzō, Hayate, and Motoyasu's portraits, made a cutthroat gesture, and pointed to Yoshiro, who was so clueless.
"Hanzō... Motoyasu... Hayate... Kill...Me?" Yoshiro replied with some understanding until Yoichi shook his head and made a wide gesture.
"Us? So Hanzō, Motoyasu, and Hayate will kill all of us?! How do you know it?"
With Yoshiro's question, Yoichi pointed at Hayate and made a writing gesture then implied to himself.
"Hayate... Write it... For you?!" Yoshiro was shocked until he realized that the child had some connection to the Amegakure higher-ups and was a talented brat.
Yoichi nodded in acknowledgment.
Nice, this Chūnin wasn't as foolish as I thought it would be.
"So Hanzō ordered Hayate and Motoyasu to kill all of us!" Yoshiro exclaimed while Yoichi nodded again, still afraid to let out a sound or word.
"Then, what about Hanzō's plans?!" Back to being calm, Yoshiro asked the child in front for other news.
Yoichi pointed at Yoshiro's forehead protector and brought up a ladder stick man drawing with weapons and children.
"Konoha... Stairs... Fighting?" Seeing Yoshiro's confused tone, Yoichi took out a flat metal and pasted it on his forehead as a way to visualize Amegakure Shinobi.
"Ah! Shinobi, Higher-ups, Children, and Fighting! Is that it?"
Yoshiro failed again but he wrote the words so Yoichi could remove some of his misunderstood words.
How can I say trial in gesture?! Hmmm...
"Okay, I know it! Children are fighting in a trial just to be a shinobi, right?"
In an enlightenment, Yoshiro ultimately comprehended the way.
Again, Yoichi nodded in agreement.
"Is there still any information you have?!" Yoichiro asked.
"Yes," Yoichi spoke with coldness, "Now, look into my eyes and don't be surprised."
Soon, the irises from his eyes slowly turned into a bloody red while the pupils began to form another pupil in the side, the mystical eyes known to the Shinobi World as Sharingan.
"Sh—Sharingan?! Where did you get it?!" Gobsmacked, Yoshiro faltered at the sight of the infamous Kekkai Genkai, stuttering with his words.
"... I was born of it, alright? Do you think I gouge an Uchiha Member's eyes at the age of 4?"
On the other hand, Yoichi couldn't help but be perplexed by Yoshiro's foolish and illogical questions.
"You are born with those eyes?! You mean, you are an unregistered Uchiha Member?!" Yoshiro was shocked again and cursed inwardly in his mind, Who the hell would throw away a genius like this?! This is a child with awakened Sharingan at 4 years old!
"That's right, I am. So get me out of here or else..." Then, Yoichi took Hanzo's portrait and made a gesture gouging his eyes out of his head.
"... I understand. Still, you are a very talented kid. Even without using the Sharingan, you can do just fine! Anyway, I'll report it urgently to Ishida and tell it to the higher-ups."
After that, Yoshiro hastily left the location while Yoichi stood there silently, thinking of the worst case possible.
"I hope that you could escape these lands before they killed you all. A little bit of hope was all I requested..."
With mumbling words, Yoichi returned to the workshop and continued working on it since there's no point trying to think of it in the long run.
Furthermore, his expectations were lowered to a minimum degree.
The higher the expectations, the higher's disappointments.
Still, his hope was always there.
Mom, wait for me!
______________
(Current Progress)
[Heavenly Demon Posture: (Great Success) 230/500]
[Mountain Crushing Fist: (Entry) 48/100]
[Lightning Spear Thrust: (Entry) 40/100]
[Phantom Steps: (Small Success) 2/300]
___________
Another one!
Thanks for reading the chapters and bookmarking the novel. See ya! XDD!