Ranmaru was 13 years old, but looked like he was 9 due to his congenital weakness. Of course, after Jugo broke up with him, the boy looked much more masculine, his features had become harder, his height had increased and his physique had become filled with lean but explosive muscles.
He didn't look any different from a 14-year-old boy.
To be fair, Ranmaru wasn't a bad boy, just a lonely child who leaned on the wrong person. Even so, the crimes he committed alongside Raiga were enough for Jugo to transform him into a werewolf.
Raiga was also another victim of the Blood Mist, his body was also brought back sealed, the goal being to deliver it to Orochimaru to use the Impure World Reincarnation. Even though Raiga could barely be compared to an Elite Jonin, he was still a top-tier fighting force that could be used in the future.
Ranmaru initially wanted to die, it wasn't Naruto who came to him this time. He didn't go through any redemption, after losing Raiga, he just wanted to die.
They were also unlucky to encounter Dosu, who didn't rely on his visual senses to fight. When Raiga activated the Hidden Mist Jutsu, he was the one who suffered, Dosu, who was used to fighting in that environment, had the advantage and Ranmaru couldn't even affect him with illusions.
Even though Ranmaru possessed a powerful kekkei genkai and now had a body that could carry him forward, he knew nothing about fighting.
Thus, Jugo brought Ranmaru, Sasuke and Karin directly to a training camp.
Sasuke looked at the pair with narrowed eyes, he was already much better than before, now wearing black training clothes like when he fought in the Chunin exam.
Karin was wearing a short red Yukata with black shorts, Jugo said he thought she looked cute wearing it and she started wearing Yukatas ever since.
Ranmaru was wearing training clothes similar to Sasuke's, but purple.
Among them, Sasuke seemed slightly annoyed, but serious. Karin seemed excited to learn away from the scroll room and Ranmaru looked at Jugo with admiration and subservience, he was the only one among them who was a werewolf, in addition to having Jugo's seal.
Karin had Jugo's seal and Sasuke had Orochimaru's seal.
Sasuke was especially unhappy because Jugo appeared behind him when he went to call him, startling him to no end, he had no idea there was anyone behind him until Jugo simply said "yo".
Sasuke wasn't angry about the lack of privacy and the scare, but the fact that Jugo managed to do that meant he was still very weak!
Sure, even if he became as strong as his Shippuden version, he still wouldn't notice anything.
Jugo wasn't doing this for fun either, he was still acting as Wraith, so he would always appear behind people, make noises during the night and show up in mirrors for a fraction of a second, enough to make someone paranoid, but not enough to make them certain.
The ninjas of the Sound Village have suffered a great deal lately.
Karin didn't experience that because Jugo treated her better. Ranmaru had just arrived and wasn't afraid of Jugo because he had transformed into a werewolf, so he wouldn't do that to him.
Sasuke was the one who suffered the most out of the three.
-Ju-Aniki! - Karin lowered her head, but still called out shyly.
She still tended to call Jugo "Jugo-sama" when speaking to others and was also embarrassed to call him Aniki, even though secretly she was very happy to do so.
This time she almost took another blow to the head, she noticed Jugo's hand rising and quickly corrected herself.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes, sensing that Karin could be another useless Sakura because of her lovesick little girl attitude. He clicked his tongue, but said nothing.
Ranmaru smiled at Karin, his gentle personality now that he was free.
-Alright, let's introduce ourselves first.- Jugo smiled at the children, then looked at Sasuke, feeling a slight mischief as she continued speaking. -Your names, likes and dislikes, hobbies and dreams for the future.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he seemed thoughtful for a moment, then Jugo noticed his fists clenching.
-Why?! I thought I came here to get stronger, not to play house again!- he shouted sharply.
-I thought I made it clear that you would be part of the Village Hidden in the Sound from the moment you accepted me as your teacher.- Jugo smiled slightly, causing Sasuke to clench his teeth but he calmed down and fell silent.
Jugo shook his head as he pulled out two Hitai-ate with the symbol of sound, before throwing them to Sasuke and Ranmaru. - Speaking of which, here, you are officially Sound Genin now.
Sasuke wanted to complain, he clearly had the strength of a Chunin, maybe even a special Jonin but here he was, remains a Genin.
Even so, he picked up the Hitai-ate and looked at it with complicated eyes.
Konoha...
Sighing, Sasuke tied the headband to his forehead and Hanmaru did the same. Karin already had hers tied to her arm, just like Jugo.
Jugo was enjoying this, there wasn't much to do in this village, taking some apprentices was fun. He thought about bringing Suigetsu too, but the boy was on a mission with Guren and Kimimaro to find Utakata right now.
So, only those three guys would be his students for the time being.
-Let's start with Karin.- Jugo smiled at the little girl who was on the right of the group.
Karin blushed slightly, but did not refuse.
Just as she was about to begin, Sasuke narrowed his eyes. He remembered Naruto telling Kakashi to introduce himself first. He snorted slightly and said. -Why don't you start?
Karin swallowed her tongue and glared at Sasuke, but seeing Jugo-sama nearby, she restrained herself, even so, Karin's dislike for Sasuke grew tremendously.
Jugo smiled, unconcerned. -My name is Jugo, I like to get stronger, I don't like weakness. My dreams for the future...?
Jugo seemed to contemplate his figure seated on the throne of the Tenebrous World, surrounded by tremendous power, and smiled slightly. - ...Immense power. My hobbies are training, acting, and...
Jugo imagined him grabbing Kin while she moaned his name..., he shouldn't say that to children. -... Well, have fun.
Karin was a little surprised that Jugo liked acting, she had never seen him act before. Would he like to act in a play with her? She would be the heroine and they...
Jugo had no idea what was going on in Karin's head, but he saw that she was laughing to herself and daydreaming again, making him sigh slightly at that perverted little girl, she couldn't be thinking anything good.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes, focusing on different aspects: training, getting stronger and he disliked weakness...
Was that the mentality of the strong? Perhaps that's why Kakashi lost to Itachi.
Ranmaru simply memorized these things in his heart, just like Kimimaro, when he turned into a werewolf, Ranmaru placed all his affection for Raiga in Jugo, so he took Jugo's preferences very seriously.
Jugo noticed that the more dependent the werewolf was on another person before being transformed, the more dependent he would become on Jugo once he transformed.
Jugo didn't care about that and looked back at Karin. - Your turn.
Karin snapped back to reality, looking a little embarrassed, before clearing her throat and speaking. -My name is Uzumaki Karin, I like... my dream is... my hobby is...
Jugo slapped his own forehead and Sasuke's lips were trembling fiercely.
Karin's gaze fixed on Jugo while her nose bled made everything very clear.
He didn't even know what to say, Sasuke felt a tremendous sense of déjà vu and for a moment wanted to stay as far away from Karin as possible, one Sakura was enough.
-Well... and what don't you like? - Jugo asked, intrigued.
Karin paused for a moment and remembered the village of grass, her mother's smile, the bites that had healed but still marked her soul.
Everyone could see that Karin's mood had become much more somber, even Sasuke raised an eyebrow.
-...I don't like being useless. - Karin finally replied lightly, but the smile on her face had vanished.
Jugo looked at Karin calmly, he felt he should spend more time with her in the future, she still had so much inside her.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes and stopped comparing Karin to Sakura, at least she had a desire for change. He looked away immediately afterward, his interest in the girl waning.
-Your turn, emo kid. - Jugo finally pointed to Sasuke in the middle, who was now silent.
Sasuke sighed, but seeing Jugo's playful eyes, he knew that running away from this wouldn't be helpful, he preferred to finish this quickly and start training.
-Uchiha Sasuke, there are no likes, but many dislikes. My goal hasn't changed, it's always been just one, to kill Uchiha Itachi. - Sasuke finished quickly.
Jugo raised an eyebrow, it wasn't much different from what he remembered. Finally, he looked at Ranmaru.
Ranmaru smiled before calmly introducing himself. -My name is Ranmaru. I enjoy exploring new places, I dislike seeing others suffer and my hobbies include many things, such as drinking tea, enjoying the view, eating new foods and meeting interesting people... in any case, my dream for the future is to travel the world and help Jugo-sama achieve his goals.
Sasuke and Karin glanced briefly at Ranmaru, describing the boy as kind, naive and a good person.
Jugo smiled slightly, Ranmaru's thoughts hadn't changed much, only Raiga had been replaced by himself.
-Alright, now that you all know each other a little, let's begin.- Jugo clapped his hands, drawing the attention of the three. -The training is very simple.
Jugo started walking to the center of the training field and stopped. - Your objective is very simple, fight me with all your might. You can use whatever you want, fight together or separately.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips, annoyed.
Karin clenched her fists and became excited, ready to show Jugo how much she had improved.
Ranmaru scratched his head, he didn't know any Jutsu, he had no training and he could only rely on Jugo's seal and the werewolf's power. This training wouldn't be easy for him.