Chapter 17

After blabbering all the bullshit and trying to act wise, we just had a casual talk and I returned to my home to train. Training had become a daily routine and i would feel weird if I didn't move my body. I just did a little weight lifting and jogging to keep my body in shape.

I guess the thrashing I got from Hinata helped me with other things as well, because after that day, there was only one ninja stalking me. I guess Danzo felt that I was not a threat when I got thrashed by the weakest of the Hyuga clan.

I still had one ninja surveying me, who must be here on Hokage's orders. I was lucky to lose the root in just a day. I have to thank Hinata for this later.

I didn't have anything to do after my daily training and headed to Ichiraku ramen to earn money. I like working at that place because they give me food after working.

The day went by normally and the next day, I woke up and went out for my daily training. That's when I saw something move near the tree branch. It could be the root ninja surveying me again after they found something, but as the ninja used body flicker jutsu and hid from me, I noticed purple hair.

I obviously wasn't going to waste time thinking about it, so I followed her. I think she also sensed me approaching her, as she used the body flicker jutsu and increased the distance between us. I obviously wasn't going to give up since I can sense her.

I kept following her despite her efforts to hide from me using various techniques like erasing tracks or using kunais to distract me. After an hour of playing tag, she stopped and said "You really are persistent and annoying. You haven't changed at all."

"I could say the same about you master. You always run from me when I try to follow you." I said and looked at my master who thrashed me with a wooden sword before I left the village, Yugao Uzuki.

"Don't make it sound like I am running away from you due to fear. I am supposed to survey you. I can't let myself be discovered." She said and I was confused. She just used body flicker jutsu right in front of my eyes. Did she really expect no one to look.

"How come you are the one stalkin..*cough* I mean surveying me?" I asked, because I remember that she was promoted to the position of the captain of the Anbu. She is the last person you would want wasting her time for these things.

"Don't ask. I don't know what Hokage-sama was thinking when he gave me this mission but still, we ninjas have to strictly follow orders." Yugao said and I wasn't surprised by her loyalty. I was thinking about the Hokage.

I can't understand what was happening in the village and what is going through the Hokage's head. Everything that has happened to me till now, there were many incidents where I could have died or could have been captured, but nothing of that sort happened.

And I don't think it is just the Hokage, because the elders of the village and Danzo care little about Sarutobi and do whatever they want. I don't want to think that I just made it out with luck, as luck is the lowest stat I currently have.

While I was thinking about this, Yugao looked at me and asked "So, what do you want? If you followed me out of curiosity, then get back to what you were doing and I will continue to do my work."

"Master, are you free for three days?" I asked and Yugao could already sense that it isn't going to end well. She still replied "Yes, Hokage sama has arranged someone as a temporary replacement for my position in the Anbu."

"Great. Master, your disciple hasn't asked anything from you. I would like you ask you to take me to the Black stone mine." I asked in the most pleading way possible, which wouldn't make me look like a idiot.

"What master? What disciple? I just sparred with you once and you want me to disobey orders for you." Yugao refused like I expected her to.

"We will not be breaking any rules. I am allowed to leave the village if I inform them, and you were instructed to just survey me. There would be no problem with this." I said and Yugao said "Yes, but you should know that ninjas are not supposed to harm civilians without a valid reason. After hearing about you, I don't think you will go to the mine just for sightseeing. You are bound to cause trouble. I don't want any part in this."

I still wasn't going to let her go. After the blacksmith mentioned the ore, I enquired about its mines and got to know about a mine in the Land of Fire, where a mine is being operated by bandits. Since the village didn't get any mission request and the bandits didn't have any Bounty on them, no one took care of this.

I could get into the mine easily, but getting out is the difficult part, as I feel that there are bound to be rogue ninjas working with the bandits. I will need a second person to cause a distraction. Since I have no money to take the help of ninjas, I could only ask her for help.

Actually, I thought of asking my friends for help, but I didn't want them to get in trouble with me, as a ninja isn't allowed to leave the village without permission.

So, I kept pestering her the whole day, and after she believed that I would go there either way, she decided that it would be better if she was there to survey me and prevent me from causing trouble.

"Fine, I will come with you, but remember that I am not going to help you with anything or save you if you are in trouble. My mission is just to monitor your activities." she said, highlighting the last part.

How is this helping me? If I just wanted someone to stalk me, I could have left the village without informing you. I would have to just inform those gatekeepers and you would follow me anyway.

I still agreed to her conditions, as I would make her help me. There is no way I can take on rogue ninjas with my current battle experience. Rogue ninjas have a lot of battle experience.

I asked Yugao "Master, since you refuse to help, can you atleast teach me along the way. Since you know that I am a great learner, I should be able to defend myself if someone were to attack me."

Yugao sighed and said "Fine. When are we leaving?" she asked in the end and I replied "Tomorrow, before sunrise. Only then will we be able to return back in three days."

"I don't know where you heard that, but three days is for ninjas. With your speed, we will need the whole week." she said and I replied "It's not like you have any other work the whole week."

She was sort of pissed when I said that. I think she was planning on relaxing while she was monitoring me, because it is way less work as compared to the daily tasks of an Anbu Captain.

She finally agreed with a grumpy tone and vanished again using the body flicker jutsu. I both love and hate that jutsu. It is the best jutsu to dodge questions or awkward situations, but it is really annoying if someone else does it to you.

I also returned home and continued exercising. I had nothing else to do in the village. My friends have jobs to do while I am the only jobless one. The training was slowly proving ineffective, as my body was getting used to the weights on me and my muscles were strong enough to move normally with those weights.

With nothing else to do, I just slept the whole day and prepared for my departure at night. Since I was leaving early in the morning, I had already asked permission to leave the village, the day before itself.

With everything ready, I was waiting for my master outside the village early in the morning. I didn't have to wait for long, as she appeared before me using body flicker jutsu. It is the perfect jutsu to look cool or escape from any awkward conversations.

"Shall we leave, master?" I asked and she just replied with a nod. Even just by looking at her face, I could tell that she is not happy, which makes sense. I slept the whole previous day while she had to monitor me the whole time.

The dark circles under her eyes displayed her lack of sleep. She said "Keep up with me if you can" and immediately ran in the direction of the mine.

I followed her and could keep up with her quite a bit with the help of the Nature energy. Since she had chakra, she was able to move faster than me using body flicker jutsu.

While we were travelling, I asked Yugao "Master, do you know any means to earn money. Not the small amounts we get from working in shops or restaurants, but at the level of chunin at least."

She looked at me, thought for a while and replied "If you eliminate the method of robbing someone, I can think of only one way." I looked at her, waiting for the answer. She said "We are going to have the chunin exams in three weeks and the village is going to be understaffed, as they have to guard the borders. You can apply to help in conducting the exam. Since you are not a ninja, you will be given a simple task of handling papers and such."

'The chunin exams huh. Why is it that every time I am in the village, some or the other person wants to destroy it. Last time was the Uchiha massacre and now it's the Konoha crush.' I thought and just nodded. Yugao added "Other than these, the only other option is to become a ninja, which is going to be difficult for you, or marry the daughter of some rich family."

I didn't think much about what she said later, as I was thinking about the chunin exams. I was thinking of going to the chunin exams and seeing how my friends are doing, but I thought of something better. It was going to be very risky, but the results I would get if this succeeded, are a lot.

We travelled for a while and decided to rest for a while near a river. After we had our brunch, Yugao started my training. We both stood before each other and Yugao said "Since you can't use ninjutsu and genjutsu, you can only train in taijutsu and kenjutsu. Kenjutsu is where I specialise in, but the sword style I use also uses a little chakra. So. I don't have much to teach you."

"If it's a little chakra, then I can somehow force it out of my body. Master, teach me your kenjutsu." I asked because I can substitute it with the nature energy or haki if I learn the technique.

"it is not that the technique requires chakra, but the strength required for performing these techniques requires enhancing strength with chakra." she explained and I replied "Then I don't think there is going to be a problem. I can produce the strength required."

(since her kinjutsu wasn't explained in detail, I am going to add my imagination to it.)

Yugao just looked at me, thinking that I was just lying. She still decided to teach me a kinjutsu technique because she knew I would keep pestering her till she did. She then stood far from me and lifted her sword. She moved her sword in a circular motion, creating afterimages of her sword.

Even before she completed the whole circle, she dashed towards me and delivered a diagonal slash upwards, cutting a few strands of my hair.

She then jumped away from me and said "This is the Hazy Moon Night technique. It is where you move your hand in circular motion. In each position, your hand is in a different position, enabling you to deliver a different strike every time. The afterimages from the movement makes it difficult to predict which direction the slash is going to come, making it an amazing technique."