The next day, at Inara's house. 

"Yawn" Inara yawns. 

"Hm... the boy developed very fast yesterday, in this sense of chakra control, he has an exceptional performance, this will help a lot when I finally show him more complex jutsus... I have my doubts about his white chakra, I've never seen anything like it, but whenever it appears, it gives me a gigantic chakra presence, it's something very absurd, but unfortunately I can't concentrate on it right now..." Inara thinks. 

In the morning, Inara gets ready and goes to Hanzõ's quarters for a meeting. 

  
In Hanzõ's chambers. 

"Sir..." Inara says. 

Hanzõ was without a bodyguard that day and was visibly more stressed. 

"We are in a delicate situation, you had given me 5 names as heads of this organization... it seems that yesterday we killed 1 of them, and today... many ninjas are out of position, and worse... we don't know anything about them, where they are, if they have escaped or are planning something..." Hanzõ said. 

Inara listens attentively to Hanzõ's words and asks. 

"What are we going to do, sir?" 

... ... 

"We're going to do what we've always done... we're going to protect those we love and when the time is right, we're going to act" Hanzõ said. 

Inara realized the cornered situation Hanzõ was in, his own internal political system in the village was corrupted, handling his position in such a situation is extremely uncertain, but Hanzõ still believed in Inara very much, so much so that his conviction remained intact, Hanzõ would do anything for the sake of the village's future. 

"Double your attention Inara and keep an eye on the boy" Hanzõ said. 

"Yes sir" Inara replied. 

Inara said goodbye to Hanzõ and went after Kosuke to continue his training, but on her way out of Hanzõ's quarters, Inara felt a faint presence of chakra in her Suzu. 

*Blém-Blém

The bell had rung...

  
Kosuke was in danger. 

  
A few minutes ago at Kosuke's house.  

Kosuke had just woken up. 

"Yawn" Kosuke yawned in his bed. 

"What a stressful few days" Kosuke thought. 

"At least the training is paying off much more than I thought, who knew chakra was such a malleable thing, I used to think about the use of the jutsus themselves but I never thought it was such a technical thing, I'm loving learning this" Kosuke thought. 

Kosuke had done his morning routine and was preparing his breakfast when he felt a strange sensation. 

"Hm?" Kosuke mumbles, observing his surroundings as he feels watched. 

Kosuke paused for a moment and looked around to see if there was anyone suspicious. 

... 

*Pluck 

"Huh?" Kosuke said, looking in the direction of the sound. 

"UUUUUURRRRGHHHH" 

Kosuke sees a ninja jumping towards him with a kunai. 

*Tclack tclack tclack tclack tclack tclack tclack 

*Tchimm 

Kosuke defends himself with his open suzaku, Kosuke uses his suzaku to throw the ninja away. 

Kosuke stands in front of the kitchen sink with the ninja on the other side of the kitchen table. Kosuke notices that the ninja is wearing the characteristic mask of the criminal organization that had attacked him before.

"I don't know how many others are here..." Kosuke thinks under pressure. 

Without many ideas how to deal with the situation, Kosuke asks. 

"Who are you? This isn't the first time this mask has tormented me." 

"You'll be seeing a lot of that mask, kid" the ninja says, throwing a smoke bomb into the kitchen. 

*Pff 

"Oh shit" Kosuke shouts, going into another room. 

*Pum 

Kosuke closes the door tightly but notices that the smoke is still coming in. 

"Tsk" Kosuke mutters. 

*Tum 

The door to Kosuke's room has been kicked in. 

Kosuke gets into fighting position and watches the smoke coming out of the newly opened door. 

A silhouette appears and says. 

"You're very annoying, you know... you're not as special as they say, if it weren't for your gift... you wouldn't be more than a child" Says the ninja.

Kosuke remains apathetic and doesn't answer anything. 

"Suiton: Mizurappa" the ninja says. 

*Puoshh 

The ninja spits a jet of water at Kosuke. 

Kosuke uses his suzaku lotus to defend himself. 

*Tushh 

Even though it was only a jet of water, the pressure it exerted on Kosuke's prosthetic weapon was immense. 

"How can such a simple jutsu have so much power?" Kosuke thought. Kosuke thought. 

As Kosuke thought about it, he realized that the liquid from the ninja jutsu no longer resembled water. 

"Hm?" Kosuke thought. 

Kosuke then hears. 

*Tchink 

Suddenly, a fire formed in the direction of the beam. 

"Ah?" Kosuke was surprised. 

The water jet of the ninja had gradually turned into flammable oil which had been ignited by the ninja's lighter. 

Kosuke had the feeling that his prosthesis was overheating. 

"What the hell, why haven't I been taught any jutsu yet man..." Kosuke thinks angrily.

*Tchlank tchlank tchlank tchlank tchlank 

Kosuke stops his suzaku lotus. 

The ninja runs towards Kosuke and the two fight hand-to-hand. 

Kosuke, being less experienced, ends up getting hit in the middle of the fight, even though his strength is greater than that of the attacking ninja. 

*Tum 

"Ah!" Kosuke exclaims, out of breath. 

Kosuke is thrown into the door of the room and with the impact, he closes the ajar door. 

"Aff... it's no time for fun kid" the ninja says. 

"Huh?" Kosuke mumbles as he watches the ninja. Kosuke notices that the ninja has thrown a round object at him. 

*Swoosh 

Kosuke dodges the object that would hit him in the face and as he hits the door, he hears. 

*Puff 

"Hm?" Kosuke thinks. 

It was another smoke bomb, Kosuke wasn't sure, but this smoke bomb was actually a sleep bomb. 

Kosuke gradually realized that his vision was getting blurry and a very heavy sleep was falling over him. 

"Oh shit... shit..." Kosuke thought. 

His thoughts slowed down, his cognition almost non-existent, but in an adrenaline rush at the sight of three ninjas in his room, Kosuke looked up from the floor to see three ninjas wearing gas masks, probably protecting them from the sleeping bomb they had dropped earlier. 

"Damn... they got me... ... fuck..." Kosuke muttered. 

For a glimpse into Kosuke's mind, he had a memory slip that was a bit muffled and distorted. 

~"If you sense danger, swing this bell with a light concentration of chakra, use it only in emergencies or danger, I will come to your location as soon as I receive the signal" Inara says in his memory. ~

Kosuke remembers and before he loses consciousness, he activates the bell and swings it. 

*Blém-blém

//

Author note

10 chapters ahead at patreon.com/persima