Chapter 9: Chapter 9: Ambitious Goals!
[A/N: Yo guys, sorry for not being able to write much, I've got some important exams going on, I managed to squeeze out this chapter during my break times over the coarse of a couple of days. So, enjoy.]
Also, I put up a poll/ question chapter like 2 weeks ago and literally no one has responded yet. I need proper feedback to make a more entertaining story.... It's in the auxiliary volume, make sure to respond after you read this chapter! You can also give suggestions if you want.
[ An important thing:-
In this chapter, I'm going to experiment a bit... like any good scientist should. Things like 1st person POVs, a bit more in depth with the emotions (I'll try at least), more detailed description of how characters look, etc. Tell me if you guys like this style of writing better.
Also, when I go back and rewrite the previous chapters, I'm gonna include more dialogue, reactions, etc that will hopefully make the story more immersive. It's better to do that after I get more experience though. So, that's gonna be after a while and when I'm free and have time. ]
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(Narration is in normal text while actual thoughts are in single inverted commas. Do suggest some better ideas for 1st person pov format if you have some.)
Kagaku's POV
I turn my head towards her and say with a straight face, in the most factual tone, "I displayed some talent that was considered 'unnatural and abnormal' and Lord Hokage decided that it's better if I get ninja training early on. So, I've been separated from others my age and have to sit and well, live here."
"Oh? Is that so? Then you must be very exited to become a ninja as cool as me right, little fella?" She said in a baby voice
'God, I hate when they do that.'
Remaining calm, I said, "Cool? You? You're teasing a kid who's not even 3 yet on his first day. I doubt that's what people consider as cool. Besides, aren't you trying too hard to fit in with the younger generation oba-chan?"
A visible tick mark appeared on her face and I could see her friends laughing hysterically behind her. Not gonna lie, I had to try pretty hard to keep my face straight too.
With a fist raised, she exclaimed on an angry voice, "You little brat! Who are you calling a grandma yo-!"
Before she could continue, Axolotl was standing behind with a hand on her shoulder and I could just feel the 'sweet' smile on his face as he said in a sing-song voice, "Whach ya doing there with my trainee... Rabbit? I hope you're having fun~"
The annoying anbu, Rabbit's expression quickly changed from anger to terror with drops of sweat coming down her forehead. While she tried to hide it, it was very obvious. She slowly and mechanically turned her head halfway so that she could look at Axolotl with the corner of her eye and said nervously, "I - uh... was just .... getting to know my kohai you know? Yeah, that's it!"
Axolotl said 'sweetly', "Is that so? Well I almost thought you were just about to hit my trainee, I must be getting rusty."
"Y-yeah that happens sometimes haha...." Rabbit tried to play it off.
Axolotl replied, "I see, then I think I must start training again shouldn't I? How about you help your senpai out then?"
"H-how should I help?"
"Well, since you were the one to point out that I'm getting rusty, you should help me brush up! We'll have a spar after lunch."
"A s-s-spar? W-why? You shouldn't spar right after lunch senpai, you'll ruin your health!"
"Oh, okay then, we can do it four hours from now, you'll be all rested up by then won't you?"
At this point, everybody in the vicinity was either secretly giggling or chuckling openly.
'This is going just great! Man, being a kid is so good, relatively no responsibilities, everyone helps you out, you don't even have to do anything!'
Then, while mentally pouting I thought, 'Unfortunately, someone is going to interrupt my fun... bad anbu!'
The reason for me thinking this was revealed when a voice came from the entrance of the mess. It was domineering and confident, it was as if it commanded respect and signaled the authority of the person it belonged to. Based on his slightly different uniform and everyone's reaction to his entrance, he was likely an anbu captain.
He said, "Quiet down now, Axolotl, Rabbit. This is lunch time and you're in a mess, be mindful of your surroundings.... and as for the rest of you, quit snickering and get back to your lunch."
Axolotl, Rabbit and everyone else straightened up and said in unison yelled, "Hai! Understood, Eagle-taichou!"
Axolotl and Rabbit got back to their respective seats, and no one made a single sound.
Wow, they're terrified of this Eagle guy huh? That's interesting. He must be pretty strong then. My suspicions seem to be correct, he is indeed a squad captain or maybe even a department captain, who knows. Although, he's at least at a higher rank than everybody here.
'Eagle' wasn't a burly man, he had a lean build, but I was sure he had a ton of compact muscles under his clothes which did well to conceal his physique, you cant be a captain and be weak after all.
He wore the standard anbu gear except that on his utility belt, he not only had several types of bombs, but also some scrolls. I also couldn't see any sign of anything long enough to be a katana or a chokuto but he had a strap for holding a weapon, a tanto? That would reinforce the Hatake idea.
Unlike normal anbu who either wore no cloak or a black cloak depending on preference, situation, etc, he was wearing a dark green cloak which I had never seen anyone wearing in any situation.
He had white hair, the biggest suspect to his potential Hatake heritage and black eyes. The rest of his body was completely concealed and I could only make out that he had somewhat pale, white skin but that was the norm so it doesn't really help in identifying him.
He then walked over to our table, looked at me and said, "So, you're the kid they're making such a bug fuss about huh? You don't look anything impressive."
I caught onto what he was upto, 'He's trying to rile me up huh... Well, let's see how this goes...'
I said in a neutral tone without a hint of anger, "I agree, I'm not anything special.... currently. But, at least I'm not talking smack to a toddler who's not even 3 yet as a grown man."
Instantly, everyone froze, wide eyed, 'Yeah... I knew shouldn't have done that...'
Eagle was stunned for a moment but then suddenly started laughing boisterously, "Haahahahaha.... hoh kid, you've got guts I'll give ya that much."
He narrowed his eyes at me and I felt a sudden shift in the air and I felt a cold sensation throughout my whole body. A pressure I had never felt before, I thought, 'It's significantly harder to move now! I suppose this is what they call killing intent, quite interesting.... and effective, evident by Orochimaru's actions against Team 7 in the Forest of Death.'
He continued, "I hope you can put your money where your mouth is, otherwise.... there's hell waiting for you. And if you can, well, there will still be a whole world of pain waiting for you. You think you're upto it kid?"
" I- " I tried to say but got immediately cut off before I had a chance to respond.
"Well, you better be, cause you have no choice in the matter!"
I thought, 'Intimidation tactics huh? It doesn't feel like he's lying though I mean he is an elite ninja and all but still.... well, the path to success is almost never easy, I signed myself away to that lifestyle the moment I decided to do continue to live in this accursed world. I ain't backing out now! I might not like this very much in the future but.... here goes!'
I said in the same detached, cold tone, "I am, but, I can't say the same for you. I'll do things this world has never seen before! Even the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju will look like an academy student in front of me!"
Everyone was too stunned to speak for a moment, Hashirama Senju!!? That's the God of Shinobi you're talking about! The one who suppressed the entire ninja world and bijuu singlehandedly! Making him look like an academy student?
What an absurd notion! Something like that was impossible to even imagine for most, if not all people, and here, this kid, this toddler is saying that he will achieve such strength? Words like "crazy" and "laughable" don't even begin to describe the words coming out of this boy's mouth!
'Well.... at least that's what these low level NPCs think.... probably shouldn't be calling them NPCs considering each one of them could kill with just a thought as of now but, they'll pretty irrelevant in a few decades.
Although, I probably still shouldn't get that overconfident in myself until .... well, I suppose I shouldn't underestimate anyone even after obtaining immense strength... I got into my overconfident and illogical chuniboo mode for a second there.'
Finally, the first person who snapped out of their shock at what I had just said, started laughing, this was like a neutron being thrown into a mass of unstable atoms, it set of a chain reaction. And soon, everybody except a few who were too stunned to speak, started laughing.
I didn't care however, in fact, if they didn't do so, I would be way more concerned. After all, they are just fools who don't realise the height of Mount Tai!
[A/N: Anyone? Please tell me some of you got that reference]
Suddenly, Eagle shouted, "Quiet!" And everyone immediately stopped laughing and the stunned ones also finally snapped out of it.
He looked at me and said, "That's quite the ambitious goal you got there kid, what's your name?"
"Kagaku... Kagaku Heishi." I responded.
He nodded and said, "Well, I better see a shiver going down the spines of our enemies every time they hear your name, in a couple of years, Kagaku Heishi. The 2nd Ninja World War is already upon us, it will likely start in a couple of years, and you'll barely be 5 or 6 by then.
So, I ask you again, Kagaku Heishi, can... no... will you do it?
"Yes sir!" I instantly replied without an ounce of hesitation.
He looked into my eyes, seeing not just determination, but confidence I have in myself to complete my objective.
He smirked and said, "Well then, future 'God of Shinobi', I hope you won't disappoint."
I matched his smirk and said, "We'll see about that won't we?"
"I suppose we will." He replied.
Then adressing everyone, he said, "Alright, the show's over! You have five minutes before your lunch break is over and I better see you performing your given roles!"
Hearing Eagle's reminder, everyone returned to their meals, still baffled by the conversation that just took place. The entire time, I could just see Axolotl's dumbfounded expression even through his mask.
Just then, Eagle looked at Axolotl and asked in a normal voice, "Are you the trainer of Kagaku?"
Axolotl straightened and replied, "Y-yes sir."
Eagle looked at him with scrutinizing eyes for a few seconds, during which Axolotl stood nervously, and then ge smiled as if satisfied with Axolotl and said, "Well, you heard your trainee right? He's got some ambitious goals, so, you should know what to do right?"
"Yes, sir! I will train him into the ground until he can't do anything, then, I'll heal him and make him do it all over again!"
My eyes widened hearing this which caused Eagle to laugh and he said to me, "You need this and then some if you're gonna accomplish your goal, kiddo. Hashirama Senju is regarded as the limit, the ceiling of how powerful a ninja can become. Most don't even believe his power, disregarding it as fairy tails, but let me tell you, his power is very, very real and it's not going to be easy to accomplish your goal."
He smirked and asked, "Are you backing out now that you know what's required of you?"
"No sir! I'll work so hard that nobody will even come close to my power, not even Hashirama Senju!" I replied resolutely.
He smiled and said in an amused tone, "Well, I would certainly like to see that. Good luck, Kagaku."
Then he just walked away. '.... wait a second! He didn't have lunch? Did he already eat and just came to see his subordinates? Or maybe captains just have a different place to eat or something. Yeah... that's probably it.'
Right after I thought that, I saw the retreating figure of Eagle suddenly stop after walking just a few steps out of the mess and slowly turn around and come back. 'Don't tell me.... he forgot to eat his lunch didn't he? Hehe, I'm going to enjoy this!'
As he walked back in, I said in an oblivious and 'cute' kid voice, "Did someone forget to have their lunch?~"
He brought a hand up to his mouth and cleared his throat and said, "What are- what are you talking about kid? I didn't uh... forget to have my lunch or anything I just came back to uh.... give you this, yeah!"
While saying this, he took out a black scroll with the Kanji for 'Advanced Chakra Concepts' written on it and placed it on the table, next to my food and said while clearly trying to cover up, "Make sure you learn everything in this scroll by tomorrow kid, I'll test you on it."
Kagaku thought, 'Hmm, this guy is quite similar to Kakashi... usually elite ninjas aren't such bad actors nor do they behave in such an eccentric manner, is he related to Kakashi somehow? I mean, their features are quite similar, maybe he's a Hatake clan member...
That would make sense, after all, there's about a 100% chance that this is an alternate version of the naruto universe, which means it should very well have things that are different compared to the original story.
'Did he give the scroll to me just to cover up his forgetfulness or did he actually want me to have this scroll from the start? Well, it doesn't matter, after all, I do need the knowledge and if the title's anything to go by, it's more advanced than what Axolotl gave me.
Man do I need to do a lot of stuff, I have to run a ton of experiments to make construct a sound theory of how this world works. I also need to train a lot, and the plan he described doesn't sound good on it's own, when you add to that the fact that I have to train secretly on my own as well... it's just absurd and inhumane...
.... these years are not gonna go by easy are they?....' I couldn't really do much other than let out a sigh of exasperation, thinking of the bumpy road ahead.
~~3 hours later~~
3rd person POV:-
Kagaku stretched and yawned. After coming back to his hospital room, he had gone through the rehabilitation exercises and theoretical classes and was now in his downtime.
Kagaku thought, 'I wonder how I can even fool battle hardened ninjas to sneak out and train.... The only option is genjutsu. However, I can't just use any regular old genjutsu, I need to use science for it! ..... that line's getting cheesy isn't it? Oh well, I'm a scientist, not a writer.... or an author.
Well, let's see here... I was never into biology nearly as much as I was into physics, but, I did study it quite a bit. The brain has specialized regions and nerves for processing and relaying information perceived by the senses respectively. That would mean I have two ways of going about this.....'
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Another important thing:-
The next chapter (Chapter 10) is the end of the mini-arc, these 10 chapters were kind of the introduction to the story. You'll find out what I mean exactly by "end of the mini arc" in the next chapter.
Should be out soon, probably this week itself, consider it as me making up for not uploading for a while :)
As I mentioned before, I have begun uploading this story to other sites like Royal Road, Wattpad, etc.