"And if I don't?" Reiran mused. "Are you going to kill me?"
"It is not uncommon for kids to go missing during the night," Orochimaru remarked silently.
Even though his intimidation seemed pretty solid, Reiran just brushed it off.
Yeah, the snake bastard is not a snake bastard yet. He's going to go rogue much sooner. Now he's just a tsundere.
That was why Reiran went behind the tree and grabbed his kunai.
And of course, he tried to attack Orochimaru again and again.
Yet each time, he was left battered and bruised. There were even times when he had blacked out for several minutes.
Still, he had realized something interesting.
He's not using Chakra to fight me. His physical abilities are just that overwhelming.
But Reiran's efforts didn't all go in vain. He was training by being beat up, and at the same time, he was increasing his Chakra Control.
In turn, he saw some unexpected results.
[Status]
Name: Reiran Yozora
Age: 10
Chakra Points (CP): 12 / 100 → 12 / 109 (Low-Genin)
Affiliation: None
Rank: Unaffiliated
Condition: Stable
—Perks:
Eclipse Eye (Progressive) (☆ — Mastery: 1% → 6%)
Photographic Memory (☆ — Mastery: 0% → 5%)
Chakra Control (Beginner+) (☆ — Mastery: 0% → 32%)
—Techniques:
Taijutsu (☆ — Mastery: 34% → 42%)
Kenjutsu (☆ — Mastery: 2% → 28%)
His max Chakra Points increased slightly, and his mastery of all his abilities increased drastically as well.
And all of that was within 6 hours of fighting against Orochimaru. It was practically a gold mine.
Therefore, while the sun was still not out, he decided to make use of this opportunity.
.
.
.
Nearly 12 hours had passed, and by now, they had traveled a bit further ahead. Even then, Amegakure was still far away.
It really made Reiran wish Boruto would come around sooner so they could invent a motorcycle or something.
But before he could complain further, Jiraiya raised a single hand, causing them all to halt.
"Shinobi ahead," Jiraiya said, then shot Orochimaru a glance. "Your Chakra Sense is the best of us all, why didn't you tell us someone's there!?"
"Calm down, it's just Genin," Orochimaru said plainly. "Genin from Iwagakure, might I add. There's a Chuunin with them, and no Jounin in sight."
He let out a sigh. "So no, we are not in trouble. We can ignore them or kill them. That depends entirely on you."
Jiraiya nodded. "Alright, let's—"
"Not you," Orochimaru cut in, then pointed at Reiran. "I mean you. What do you want to do here? Avoid them or fight?"
Uhh... did I somehow get in this guy's good graces? No thank you, Reiran thought warily.
Still, it was a good opportunity to fight someone his level.
"I want to try fighting them," Reiran said plainly, causing Konan and the other two behind him to gasp.
"Reiran, why?" Konan spoke up. "You almost died to Genin last time. How is it going to be any different this time?"
"Well, if I'm close to dying, the three Jounin will step in and save me," Reiran replied confidently.
Tsunade is someone who wouldn't let a child she's protecting die, so I can push myself to my heart's content.
Besides, they already knew he was different, so what was the use in staying low key?
"Very well then, they are in that forest canopy to the west," Orochimaru said. "The Chuunin is scouting slightly to the left."
Jiraiya grumbled. "I'm not letting that kid fight a Chuunin. Even a Genin is pushing it. I'll capture the Chuunin, and you interrogate him. As for Tsunade... just watch over the reckless kid, will you?"
Tsunade rolled her eyes but still went along with it.
Reiran nodded in satisfaction, but as he began heading toward the forest canopy, he heard a few extra footsteps behind him. Turning around, he realized Konan and the others were following him.
Noticing the determined looks on their faces, Reiran didn't bother stopping them.
It took only a minute to arrive, and once he did, Reiran tapped on the bark of the tree, drawing the attention of the three camping Genin.
They stood up, startled, then without warning, dashed toward Reiran and the others.
Reiran didn't panic. He simply narrowed his eyes and activated his Eclipse Eyes, causing the chakra of the Genin in front of him to become visible.
And the moment it did, he waited for the Genin to arrive.
One of them threw a punch, when in reality, they had focused their chakra into the right leg.
It was faint, and Reiran easily caught onto it.
So with a single step backward, the Genin's kick missed completely.
Even then, Reiran only had a small window of opportunity since he was much slower.
He stabbed his kunai straight through the Genin's foot, and as another chakra-infused fist came flying at him, Reiran took a sudden step forward, grabbed his kunai, and thrust it straight through the Genin's elbow.
"AAAH!" the Genin screamed, trying to go back to his team.
But it was too late.
Reiran kicked the Genin's knee, causing him to buckle. Right after, Reiran infused 40% of his chakra into his fist, and in the next moment, struck the Genin straight on the forehead, killing him in an instant.
"No! Rokuro!" the other Genin yelled with malice in his tone. "Y-You bastard! What do you want from us!?"
"That's a bold thing to say in a warzone," Reiran remarked, wiping the blood away from his fist. "You came here to do what exactly? Came around outside of your land because you were bored? There are no missions in the Rain Country. Everyone's too busy fighting bastards like you back."
Reiran tried his best to maintain his composure; however, consciously killing someone wasn't pleasant in the slightest.
His heart raced, but by using chakra, he calmed himself down.
This won't be the first time I kill... after all, in the world of Shinobi, living and killing go hand in hand.
However, his words only fanned the flame as the two remaining Genin took deep breaths and dashed forward, hatred in their eyes.