Chapter 50
Orochimaru and I made our way back towards the camp killing any wounded enemy ninja we came across.
"Why did Kumo attack us this time...?"
Orochimaru rolled a body over with his foot and stared at the unconscious Kumo-nin before answering.
"It doesn't matter." Meaning he didn't know.
I nodded and pointed my foot at the unconscious Ninja and launched a Bone Spike through his skull.
...
I found my bone clone covered in blood and looking scary as hell.
Spikey armor and blood mix well together.
"How goes it, friend?"
My clone sent me a wave but didn't move from where he stood.
I got closer and looked at him, he had horn-shaped protrusions coming from his head and had a tail that was swaying behind him.
"Could you look any more demonic?"
My clone shrugged and the bone started to recede into its body.
"Probably not." My clone looked a tad bored.
We stared at each other for a moment before my clone broke the silence.
"I can't dispel..."
I raised an eyebrow.
"Eject some bone and let me grab it."
I held my hand out and a bone spike thwacked against my palm a moment later.
I started absorbing the bone wondering what would happen.
The clone made a horrified face and turned into a visible yellow blob of chakra which was also absorbed by me.
The memories hit me as soon as I finished and I had to blink my eyes a couple of times.
Clones are so weird...
I should probably stop using them...
I took a deep breath and started towards the camp while reviewing the memories.
The clone just Shunshined into enemies like a spikey bulldozer.
He made his way around the battlefield bulldozing as he went and eventually ran into Aomi who was defending the Field Hospitals.
He heroically bulldozed through his enemies with a few Shunshins and then made his way around the battlefield helping Konoha-nin and bulldozing those who stood against him.
It might have been heroic-looking had the clone not been a devilish spikey blood-covered monstrosity...
I sighed and interlaced my fingers behind my head...
Mom hasn't come looking for me so I was starting to get worried, neither I nor my clone ran into her when we were running around the battlefield.
I tried not to think about it and instead focused on another topic.
Kumo getting past all our scouts was a piss-off.
Bastards...
...
Kumo had destroyed one of the barracks at the edge of our camp, though that's where it had stopped, I figured that it was a crime of opportunity and not a specific target.
Other than that things were mostly undamaged and a majority of the camp dwellers survived.
Mom was alive and well but holed up in the hospital as someone had stabbed her in the back.
She had gotten overwhelmed but survived as Duy opened the first four Gates and opened a can of whoop-ass on mom's attackers.
A bunch of Uchiha reinforcements arrived late for the fun and were now wandering around the camp and fighting with the other clansmen.
So, we did alright all-round.
...
After making sure mom was ok, pulling an all-nighter in the hospitals, and then sleeping for fourteen hours I was ready to start on my muscles.
First, I'd change their composition and then I'd edit my DNA and make an Overwrite Seal...
Then I'd enlarge my reserves to their maximum...
Then I'd apply DNA overwrite to my body using my new chakra reserves...
And then I'd have to wait three to six months for the changes to slowly take effect...
While that was happening, I could train my control back to what it was and explore DNA a little more...
Though when I edit that DNA, I should be using the youngest possible DNA...
I guess I get to use that enzyme and de-age the DNA some...
Fun stuff...
...
I waved a Bone Sword around swiping at imaginary opponents, trying to get some practice in with my new muscle composition.
I went for a speed build and so far, it seemed to be working well.
My stamina was stupid before so I hadn't noticed much of a change but I'd had a moderate increase in speed.
Now I just needed to finish up the Overwrite seal and I'd be golden...
"So Aomi, yes or no to the muscle enhancement?" I said while absorbing the bone sword back into my palm.
Aomi looked unsure but nodded and handed me an envelope.
I read it and stared at Aomi, she squirmed under my gaze.
"If I die, bring this to my family..." I stared at her with a raised eyebrow.
No-one has died yet...
"I don't think I've killed anyone with this at all..."
This time Aomi stared at me with a raised eyebrow.
I raised my eyebrow back and Aomi let out a silent sigh.
She ran and got some paper and a pencil and started scribbling something down.
She handed me the paper and stared expectantly.
'What about subjects one through five...' I raised an eyebrow.
What about them...?
"Those underwent extremely invasive DNA manipulation and died because I exhausted their lifeforce."
I was being stingy with my chakra and just edited a few cells and made them divide a bunch until they aged and eventually died a few days later.
Though it was still chakra expensive either way...
"Whatever... let's get to it." I said with some cheer.
I couldn't wait until I could fully expand my reserves...
Sadly Playing with Aomi's DNA would delay my chakra expansion by a few days...
It wouldn't be too much of a problem...
I'd just have to expand my reserves a little quicker to make up for lost time...
...
"Kumo is making it hard not to dislike them..." Orochimaru said while he browsed this week's reports.
Kumo had attacked one of the Uchiha's compounds outside of Konoha and tried to capture some of them.
The keyword being 'tried'.
"What happened to Iwa sending their best?" it'd been a while and nothing happened.
Perhaps the Raikage destroyed a regiment of their best or something...?
"Kumo and Iwa are fighting along the borders of the Land Of Snow." Orochimaru flipped through the pages of his report as he spoke.
I hummed...
"Should we give killing the Raikage a shot?"
Orochimaru shook his head near instantly.
"Had Iwa not volunteered so kindly I'd 'give killing the Raikage a shot' Kekeke..." Orochimaru chuckled softly "But as it is, we should let Iwa throw themselves at the Raikage."
Orochimaru finished reading the reports and stacked them neatly before putting them in the top corner of his desk.
"Come, let us see what mystery's A's blood may hold..." Orochimaru smiled and started laughing. "Kekeke..."
I sighed and trailed after him, hoping he'd let me have a little of that blood.
The Raikage had Tailed Beast level reserves, hopefully, I could add that gene to myself.
Unless it was some sort of bloodline...
But hopefully, that isn't the case...
...
My reserves were expanded as much as I could and the Overwrite seals were finished.
Both my DNA and Aomi's were 'de-aged' and I was ready to go...
I just needed fuel the changes and all would be well...
"Aomi, come empty your chakra into the seal." Aomi ducked her head and made her way to the center of the room where the large scroll containing DNA Overwrite laid.
She started sending her chakra into the seal and the seal responded in kind, it started sending Chakra into her as well enacting the changes as it was 'programmed' to.
"Empty your chakra faster then what you are doing, the less chakra you have in you the faster the process will be."
The less chakra the seal had to fight against the better...
Aomi nodded and started pouring her chakra into the seal with renewed vigor.
"Keep your hands there, I'm going to start fueling it with my chakra."
I placed my hands on the edge of the seal and started adding my chakra, though I let Aomi do most of the heavy lifting for the moment.
I'd be up to me to fuel it when she ran out of chakra...
Aomi's final dregs of chakra sputtered into the seal and she looked at me with teary eyes.
"Don't worry, there's going to be... Minimal death today."
Aomi's eyes teared up a little more before she fell unconscious while the seal continued its work.
Now I just had to wait...
Hopefully, I wouldn't have to tap into my seal for this one...
...
Sadly I did indeed have to tap into the seal...
"Hurts..." Aomi woke up with a groan.
I stared at her for a moment before speaking.
"If it hurts it's working, rest for a while I'll take care of everything..." I spoke as soothingly as possible while I ran the Diagnostic Jutsu on her.
Nothing had changed, but as months went by, the change would become apparent...
"Sleep..." With a tap to her forehead, I sent her into dreamland.
I stood and rolled my slightly stiff shoulders.
I needed to wait for my chakra to regenerate and then I'd be able to use Overwrite on myself...
...
Some bloodlines were both physical and spiritual...
One could have the DNA corresponding to a bloodline and not be able to use it without a specific kind of Spiritual Energy usually produced by the bloodline holders.
The reverse was also possible, someone could have the right Spiritual Energy and lack the corresponding DNA so the bloodline couldn't express itself.
The latter is likely why I was able to awaken the Shikotsumyaku...
I had the spiritual energy but I lacked the DNA for the bloodline to be expressed...
Though I wondered why my spiritual energy let me use both the Shikotsumyaku and the Byakugan if I was a reincarnation...
It didn't make sense to me...
I drummed my fingers on the book I had sitting in my lap and drifted into more idle thought.
The Byakugan likely had the DNA that could enable a transformation into the Tenseigan...
But the Hyuga lacked the correct chakra...
Mr. Moon Ōtsutsuki had the right spiritual or physical energy and that allowed for the activation of the eyes...
But how would I get said spiritual energy...?
Physical energy was easy...
spiritual energy was not...
I could probably keep the Ōtsutsuki alive but limbless and use him as a battery...
But that sounded less than ideal though...
I stopped drumming my fingers and sighed.
There was also the fact that most bloodlines either leaned one way or the other in terms of how they express themselves...
Some bloodlines affected only the physical body and had little to do with spiritual energy...
And some bloodlines had everything to do with spiritual energy...
The Sharingan was mainly the latter with a little bit of DNA stuff on the other end.
The Byakugan leaned more towards physical as far as I could tell...
I sighed...
It's best not to agonize over it...
Moon shenanigans were looking to be way off...
...
I stood in the center of the Overwrite seal pondering my next DNA shenanigans.
Sensor DNA was delayed for the foreseeable future...
I could change the DNA corresponding to chakra reserves...
Or perhaps I could see what else Orochimaru had hidden away...
Decisions... Decisions...
My clone gave me the 'Ok' symbol and motioned me to lay down.
I obeyed and laid down after giving the seal one final look over.
I gave the seal on my forehead a twist and my body was flooded with chakra.
After a moment my surroundings lit up and the seal started sucking chakra from me at an astonishing pace.
I looked at the clone for a moment looking for any trace of panic or worry.
I found none and took a deep breath before the seal knocked me unconscious.
...
I woke to find my clone alive and well.
"How much of the chakra in the seal did we use?"
The clone looked half asleep as he spoke.
"A good part of it..."
I sighed and smacked him on the head as I passed, dispelling him.
Now I needed to spend time on chakra control and Taijutsu...
Then I'd go over all my jutsu and make sure everything was in working order...
Starting with Lightning Release and ending with Medical-Ninjutsu...
So, there was lots to do...
I could probably use this time to train with Mom and Duy...
They were my official team...
Even though we haven't done any missions together for almost a year...
Something to rectify perhaps...
I don't want the team disbanded after all...
...
I gave my weird spikey sword a swing whilst mom stared at me.
"Were you trying to make it creepy?" Mom sent me a bland look.
I shook my head and started absorbing the sword.
"If I don't have a tight grasp on my chakra it becomes spiky by itself." My tone was as bland as the look mom was sending me.
Mom hummed.
"Don't go out of your way to make it creepy, it's already creepy enough when you pull bones out of yourself."
I smiled at the idea that I had.
"You mean like this?" A handle exited from my back and I ripped it out with a squelch.
I waved my spine at her teasingly.
"Shiro!"
Her disapproval only fueled my desire for shenanigans...
"Fine then, how about some Gentle Fist tag?" I planted my spine sword into the ground and crossed my arms.
After a moment mom nodded.
"Alright, you need to use your Gravity Seal though."
I nodded.
"Already done, now your it!"
I took off with a Shunshin leaving mom behind and disappearing off into the land of Hot Springs.
I wouldn't want her tracking skills to get rusty...
...
My minion had joined me for some Youthful exercise with Duy and now looked to be regretting it.
She was drenched in sweat and running through some sort of Kata with her sword.
"That's it! That's the power of Youth! Never let that Youth fade!"
Duy kept shouting Youthful encouragements almost non-stop and poor Aomi couldn't seem to stop herself as long as someone encouraged her.
"Yosh! Now it's time for our most Youthful spar!" Duy looked like he hadn't just spent hours exercising.
Aomi on the other looked exactly like she had spent hours exercising.
"Perhaps Aomi should sit this out." I said in consideration of her fatigue.
Duy looked genuinely disappointed as did Aomi.
'Negative' A hand sign from Aomi made Duy change his tune.
"Yes! That's the spirit! Aomi please do me the pleasure of a Youthful spar!"
"Sigh..." I saw Aomi nod...
I started making my way away from the two.
I think Duy might have a new training buddy...
...
My birthday came and went.
Nothing of note had happened.
I spend plenty of time going through my repertoire and honing my control.
I saw little improvement in anything other then my speed and reserves.
Going through my moves did help me remember different techniques that had seen little use from myself over the last few years.
All in all, things were well.
For now.
...
...
Interlude.
I was quietly making my way towards the baths eager to remove the rusty smell of blood from my hair.
Woosh*
I heard the telltale sound of a sword cutting through the air.
I quickly raised a kunai, successfully blocking the surprise attack.
I turned and met Shiro's eyes, an approving look was clearly visible in them.
"Well done, as expected of my minion." Shiro tilted his head and stared at me.
I huffed at the word minion and ignored the fact I was just attacked.
As I didn't have my notebook with me, I couldn't refute his use of the word.
I should have brought it with me, but I hadn't expected to need it on the way to the baths.
"Well, I've got a small mission for you." The sword in Shiro's grasp slowly flowed into his hand.
I sighed silently and nodded.
It looks like my 'me time' would be delayed, I couldn't say no to the boy who was essentially my boss.
"An Inuzuka is causing me grief." Shiro paused and tapped his chin. "I can't go around beating women, so now it's your job."
I blinked.
Why was I supposed to beat up the woman?
More importantly, did I want to make an enemy?
Snap* Snap* Snap*
Shiro snapped in my face successfully gaining my attention.
"Don't worry about the who, what, where, or why." Shiro stared, his eyes half-lidded.
"Just go and savagely beat her, like her father would have wanted you to."
Shiro quietly chuckled to himself, I however was horrified.
"Oh. Don't forget the dog." Shiro mimed kicking something, further horrifying me.
Shiro ignored my horrified look and pushed a folder that appeared from out of thin air into my hands.
"So, beat the woman, beat the dog, and tell her to stop fighting with everyone." Shiro gave me a bright smile. "Sound good?"
I shook my head.
It did not sound good.
I pushed the folder back into his hand trying to deny the task.
"Ah-Ah-Ah." Shiro waggled a finger "That's yours." Shiro pushed it back into my hands and stepped away.
"Well, have fun." He sent me a cheery wave and a smile before disappearing in a Shunshin.
I stood and stared at the spot he previously occupied.
What was I supposed to do?
I didn't want the task, but I didn't think I could refuse.
It was probably some sort of test.
I swallowed, feeling a slight lump in my throat.
I wasn't sure how I would go about this.
I took a deep breath in preparation and opened the folder.
Everything was blank.
I quickly flipped through some pages, and after a while, I skipped to the end, and on the final page were two words.
'BEHIND YOU!'
I stared in confusion.
Woosh*
I felt the hair on my neck rise so I ducked and jumped away successfully avoiding whoever it was that tried to strike me.
I landed in a crouch and spun towards my attacker kunai in hand.
My gaze landed on Shiro who had a goofy smile on his face.
"Well done Minion!" Shiro gave me a thumbs up with his free hand.
I stayed crouched and kept my kunai out, thinking there would be another surprise attack.
After awhile Shiro's smile disappeared and a serious look replaced it.
"Good job, but remember minion." Shiro paused and pointed at me dramatically. "CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"
Shiro again disappeared in a Shunshin a moment later.
As I doubted he left, I stayed crouched for a minute longer, he might attack again when I let my guard down.
I sucked a deep breath in and stood.
Would he attack again?
I shook my head and started towards the barracks.
I didn't want to be attacked while I was bathing.
After a tense walk to the barracks, I arrived in one piece.
I gave my surroundings one final look before I grasped the door handle.
I felt someone tap my shoulder but when I turned no-one was there.
Being in the barracks likely wouldn't stop a surprise attack from Shiro.
But hopefully, the thought of being beaten by everyone in the woman's barracks was enough to stop him.
Though I doubted it would, I wanted the illusion of safety the barracks would provide.
The illusion of safety was a comfortable one after-all.
With that in mind, I opened the door and stepped into the barracks.
...