—Big Brother Takeshi, please teach me Ninjutsu!— Karin said with clenched fists and a determined look.
The group was walking along a less traveled road, heading to the Land of Fire to begin the search for a certain Legendary Sannin.
The goal? To have the best Medical Ninja in the world check Yumi's condition.
A few minutes ago, while Takeshi was teaching Karin how to guide the horses, a giant tiger emerged from the tree line.
The beast leaped to devour them, but Kimiko spat a mouthful of water that impacted the tiger mid-flight, stopping its momentum on the spot.
Takeshi made a one-handed seal and bombarded the feline with a series of water balls, soaking it and making it run away.
Karin, who witnessed the spectacle, had a flash of interest in her eyes and remained silent for a while, considering the best way to make her declaration.
She couldn't come up with anything better than her previous words.
For her part, Yumi was worried, but didn't say anything. She didn't want her daughter to get involved in the dangerous shinobi world, but at the same time, she wished the girl could become strong and never be at anyone's mercy.
—Hm, sure, but it's still too early for Ninjutsu. First, you need to strengthen your body— Takeshi said after giving it some thought.
Uzumaki or not, Karin was barely four years old.
—I understand. I will train hard, Big Brother Takeshi— she nodded. Takeshi couldn't help but pinch her chubby cheeks, which made her gasp in surprise.
—Hey!— she snapped.
—Haha, sorry, I couldn't help it— he smiled.
The next day, Karin's physical training began.
Every morning, the girl dedicated half an hour to working on her stamina, which translated into maintaining a light jog for that entire time, something which of course, she couldn't complete.
The goal was to give her a target. First she had to reach a certain point in her stamina before moving on to agility, strength, and Taijutsu proper.
Only then would Takeshi begin with chakra control.
One day, while the girl was gasping for breath, leaning against a tree, she asked Takeshi a question.
—Big Brother Takeshi... Don't you have a last name?
Yumi, who was approaching with a handkerchief to wipe Karin's sweaty face, stopped her actions and looked at the boy curiously.
—Hmm, yes, I do have one— he hummed. —I belong to the Yuki Clan, at least on Mom's side— he explained without ceremony or drama.
Yumi blinked, searching her memories. She wasn't a kunoichi, but the name sounded familiar for some reason. Fortunately, Takeshi gave a demonstration that surprised the girl.
Cold air condensed around him and ice sculptures resembling flowers formed at his feet, pointing toward Karin.
—My clan possessed the Kekkei Genkai of Ice Release. Although mine is a little different—he muttered the last part so softly that neither of them heard him.
—Woah! How pretty!— Karin was excited looking at the ice flowers that reflected the sunlight. But then, the words Takeshi said out loud made the gears turn in her head.
—What do you mean "possessed"? Don't you have it anymore?— she asked innocently.
—Karin!— Yumi admonished gently, having better understood what Takeshi meant. However, the young man gave her a smile and a reassuring look.
He knelt before Karin and held the flowers in his hands, offering them to her.
—It means my Clan no longer exists. Mom and I might be the last ones in the world— he said calmly, with no pain in his voice, as if he didn't care.
—And Haku, I suppose, but the truth is I don't know at what point that Clan went to hell. Haku should be about five years older than Karin, so maybe I was very lucky that Mom didn't wait to grow up before getting pregnant with me— he thought.
*********************************
Finding Tsunade was, truly, complicated. Sure, he knew what she looked like and also knew what kind of establishments she usually spent her time in, but that alone didn't help much when you consider how really big the Land of Fire is.
What, did you think the Five Great Nations were just the Hidden Villages and nothing else?
This world is vast. Enormous tracts of untouched land everywhere, cities that have little to envy the Ninja villages in terms of size, many of them surpassing them.
The population of these nations was counted in the millions. How else did the Daimyō finance their respective village, with the exception of the idiot from the Land of Wind? It was with taxes, taxes that their many inhabitants had to pay.
So no, it wasn't as easy as walking into the first casino he saw and expecting to find her.
For a start, that woman wouldn't stay for years in those places, waiting for the plot to catch up with her. And even if she did, finding one person in a city you don't know and with many more casinos than temples would be tedious, at best.
The days ran, the weeks passed, the months went and came. Takeshi even had to leave his mother and the Uzumakis in a small city, undertake a swift journey to Suna, fulfill his contract, and return.
Fortunately, chakra allowed one to maintain high speeds for hours.
But there was a small mishap on his way back, one he couldn't avoid given his lack of sensory abilities.
That, and the masked idiots didn't seem to have a sensor either, so they noticed his approach too late.
Takeshi was traveling at high speed over the trees; his body, nourished by a superior vitality given his strange arrival into this world, allowed him to exert strength far above the human level.
On the path beside the trees, shadows moved at high speed against a horse-drawn cart, killing the occupants in a matter of seconds.
While this was happening and the leaves were cutting the flesh of the innocent, or perhaps not, everyone became aware of the presence of the shinobi running a few meters away from them.
Takeshi saw them out of the corner of his eye but ignored them. It was none of his business, and he wasn't going to act like a vigilante idiot. Not if he didn't feel like it, and right now, that wasn't the case.
But the sinister types with masks didn't think the same way. Suddenly, they all jumped after him, their blades ready and their hands weaving hand signs.
Several shuriken and kunai shot at Takeshi's back, but they bounced off on contact, and the young man didn't stop running.
Until one of the kunai seemed to catch fire. Specifically, a tag tied to its handle.
—Tch, how stubborn— Takeshi complained as he moved away from the explosion.
As soon as he interrupted his run, the masked shinobi unleashed their Ninjutsu.
A pair of fireballs approached the young man, while two other masked figures used the jutsu as cover to surround him.
Takeshi made a one-handed seal and unleashed two water balls that countered the Fire Release, generating a thick cloud of steam.
The masked figures took advantage of the opportunity and shot kunai like crazy, a couple of explosive tags among the projectiles.
However, the tags did not detonate. Instead, four Takeshis shot out of the smoke cloud, each charging against a masked figure.
The two closest ones used their tantos to engage in a close-quarters duel, while those who had unleashed Ninjutsu began weaving seals again.
Chakra mobilized, energy traced the appropriate patterns, and the Ninjutsu was about to be unleashed again, but something unexpected happened.
One of the Takeshis running toward them extended his left palm, a strange mark glowing in its center.
A wave of chakra was shot against the masked figures, interrupting their chakra flow and canceling the almost formed technique.
They felt their strength abandon them, their low reserves forcibly plundered. Their faces lost color behind the masks, and their legs gave out from the sudden drop in energy.
The other Takeshi continued his run and mercilessly stabbed a kunai into the throats of both masked figures, while the one who stole their chakra turned back to the close-quarters combatants.
He stomped the ground without forming any seal, sending a wave of chakra through the earth that traveled silently until it settled beneath the remaining masked figures.
Ice spikes suddenly emerged, pinning their feet and piercing them.
Both men groaned, but were immediately stabbed by the clones they were fighting.
One, however, managed to block the kunai and slid his blade to the opponent's throat.
To his surprise, the clone blocked the tantō with its forearm and did not dissipate.
—E-earth clone?— he questioned with a grunt. There was no other explanation for it to be so tough, but even an earth clone would have been cut by that.
—Hm, who knows?— the Bunshin mocked as a kunai pierced the back of the masked figure's head.