Jugo realized that his power made it very difficult to train properly with them, even if he held back, so he found some more compatible teachers.
For Ranmaru, Jugo found Dosu. Dosu had trained his taijutsu well and, above all, could fight without his eyes. Ranmaru, who was accustomed to the Hidden Mist Jutsu, was perfect to be taught by him.
According to Karin, she was trained by Kin, who was used to fighting with chakra threads and with her hair. Kin might not have been the strongest, but to Karin, she was still very strong.
For Sasuke, it was more difficult, the entire Sound Four became his trainer, taking turns fighting Sasuke continuously. Sasuke possessed the Sharingan, so his progress against them was very fast.
Of course, he still couldn't beat even one of them on his own.
Jugo also gave him some ideas on how to modify his Chidori, especially the Chidori - Sharp Spear, which would compensate for its lack of power at mid-range.
As for the fire style? Its usefulness left something to be desired in high-level fights, not that the fire style was useless, but it was too slow against fast targets. The lightning style was preferable.
Time passed, and Jugo didn't stand still either, instead, the village of sound was slowly changing.
In terms of power, Jugo's cursed mark continued to create elite ninjas, so much so that the Sound Village had more genin with the strength of chunin than actual genin.
But the real, visible change came from the infrastructure.
Jugo found himself increasingly attached to the wood style in everyday life, because he began using the wood style to build the sound village, this time not just a dark base, but an entire village.
The project was enormous, but with Jugo creating a thousand clones to help, the progress was visible.
Choosing a suitable plot of land in the center of the country, the Hidden Sound Village began to rise with ease. Orochimaru was very helpful in many aspects, his diverse knowledge aided in everything from laying the foundations of houses and constructing sewers to creating defenses based on seals and patrols.
The man was like a foreman, leading Jugo's clones around.
It took only half a month for what was once a vacant lot to become a small town capable of supporting tens of thousands of inhabitants.
But Jugo wasn't satisfied with that, he would build a city the size of Konoha! Large enough to hold at least hundreds of thousands of people.
The movement wasn't hidden, many civilians came when they heard about the construction of the new Sound Village. The houses on the outskirts were cheap enough that even before construction was finished, houses were already being sold.
The central area will be reserved for ninjas and their families, clan plots are few because there aren't many clans connected to the Land of Sound.
Even outside the Land of Sound, civilians were still migrating, sensing new possibilities, mainly from smaller countries, but some came from larger nations.
Of course, Jugo wouldn't leave loose ends so easily, each civilian had to chant their honorific name to be able to enter and then Jugo subtly corrupted them little by little. Even if someone really was a spy, it wouldn't take them long to confess.
By the end of the first month of construction, a large, solid wooden wall had risen around the city, and in its center, the tallest building in the village stood, Jugo's future home.
The Hidden Sound Village finally looked like a ninja village, the ninjas of the village were very happy.
The number of civilians kept increasing, and even local nobles or those from smaller countries were moving there, it was a slow but noticeable process.
But while the bright side of things was progressing well, the dark side was becoming increasingly heated.
During that month, the news had spread and many forces in the ninja world were alarmed, especially the five great villages.
Many spies were caught in the Land of Sound territory. Jugo needed to have several clones scout the country from time to time. The number of enemies was already in the hundreds, from genin to jonin. He had captured them all and they had all become Orochimaru's guinea pigs.
Orochimaru also receives his own underground base, he preferred it that way and Jugo wasn't going to stop him.
Things were going well, reactions from the other ninja villages were mixed, but it was the news from Kimimaro, Guren and Suigetsu that made Jugo smile. They had found Utakata.
Jugo could easily have gone there and captured the Jinchuriki, but he didn't. Instead, he left it up to the trio, wanting to see what they were capable of.
Even so, he still sent a clone just in case, he didn't want to turn them into zombies so soon.
//-//
Utakata was unhappy, the kind of unhappy you get when you're hunted simply for being the vessel of a biju, so he had been unhappy for a long time.
Being constantly hunted was something he expected when he escaped, especially knowing how important he, as a Jinchuuriki, is to Kirigakure.
But he wouldn't return, at least not alive, not to that place surrounded by lies and betrayal.
He was hiding again, in the forest, away from prying eyes, but they would find him, they always did.
But this time it was different. As he sat on a large rock, watching the calm flow of a waterfall in the land of waterfalls, some of his bubbles burst, his early warning system kicking in. He raised his head in the target direction and sighed.
He knew what it meant, more fighting and more death.
He stood up, knowing that running was useless, it was better to deal with his pursuers before fleeing again, perhaps to visit the land of rain.
But when a group of three stopped in front of him, he narrowed his eyes.
The figure in front of him confused him for a moment, he recognized that look, but it had been years since he'd seen one. - Kaguya. - He muttered through his teeth.
Then he looked at the masked Anbu ninjas behind him, the tallest was clearly a woman with blue hair, the shortest had white hair and a large sword on his back. He recognized it, Kubikiribocho, but his eyes narrowed again, the markings on their masks didn't have the symbol of mist, but of sound.
-Are you ninjas of the Mist or the Sound?- he asked, between curiosity and apprehension.
-Sound. - Kimimaro spoke lightly from the front, not caring about exposing himself.
-And what do the Sound Ninja want with me?- Utakata raised an eyebrow, sensing that the situation was getting increasingly strange.
-My master asked me to recruit you.- Kimimaro said calmly, completely oblivious to the tension of the situation.
Utakata chuckled softly, almost a sneer of derision. -And what if I say no?
-In that case, we can only take you by force.- Kimimaro continued, his indifference beginning to irritate Utakata. His eyes narrowed as he brought his bubble blower to his mouth, rapidly blowing several bubbles.
-Hey, Kimimaro, let me handle him!- Suigetsu jumped up excitedly, his hand already on his sword.
-No, stay back, you don't stand a chance against him, I alone am enough.- Kimimaro pulled his shirt off his chest, his bones beginning to churn beneath his skin, but Utakata wasn't surprised at all, he himself had participated of the "containment" operation in the Kaguya clan's rebellion, he had killed some of them.
When the bones burst out, bubbles already surrounded the trio on all sides, none of them seemed to care while Utakata grew increasingly irritated and apprehensive.
The moment he ordered the bubbles to move, Kimimaro raised his fingers and pointed outwards, his hands moving at high speed as his phalanges grew and were expelled at high velocity. - Teshi Seidan!
Utakata's bubbles burst before his surprised eyes, but Kimimaro wasted no time and lunged forward, his hand raised in a claw-like shape, a sharp bone emerging from his palm.
-Willow Dance... - He spoke softly, as he began to thrust at high speed. Utakata's eyes widened as he used his chakra-covered blower to defend himself.
Utakata clicked his tongue as he quickly backed away, sealing the air. He opened his mouth and spat out a jet of acid. Kimimaro raised the thorn, which fanned out to form a medium-sized shield in front of him.
The shield creaked as it was corroded by the avian flux, leaving several holes.
Kimimaro looked at the damaged shield with slight surprise, his bones were very tough, damaging them was no small feat.
He sighed as he moved forward again, ready to end this quickly.