ZEKE POV

I stared at him not even blinking for even a second, afraid that I might miss what he was going to do.

He seems to have been shocked by what I said.

HEHHEHHE

I mean anyone would be surprised if someone randomly asked them if they were a pedophile.

Especially if they were in a situation like this.

Hmmm

“What the… where did he go?” I thought to myself.

The Anbu was no longer to be seen on the branch.

It was as if he had disappeared into thin air. My eyes darted from tree to tree trying to find a glimpse of where he could have gone to.

“He must have used shun shin.” I thought to myself.

It was then I heard a voice come from behind me.

So close to me that I could hear the sound of the man’s breathing.

“What if I do little boy” I heard him whisper.

It brought goosebumps all over my body.

Spooked, I jumped forward turning towards the Anbu behind me, with my hands tightly clenched on the kunai handle.

“Scared little boy?” he taunted me.

“What do you want from me?” I asked even though deep inside I already knew why.

He just pointed at my bag. Confirming my suspicions.

“But how/” I thought to myself.

The Anbu must have seen the confusion on my face.

“The seal on the door handle had some of your chakra trapped inside of it”

“Even then nobody would have known it was you if it wasn’t for me.”

“I felt your chakra once or twice before. So, I remembered how it felt like due to how unique it was”

“It is much wilder and denser than any other chakra signature I have come across before. Its almost akin to a wild beast waiting to be unleashed.”

“So, you can only blame your bad luck for having such a unique chakra signature being felt by the second-best sensor in the village”

“There is nowhere in this village that you can hide from me unless you learn how to control that beast you call chakra” he said in a smug tone.

“Fuck” I couldn’t help but curse under my breath.

“I knew I felt something when I touched that handle,” I thought to myself as I remembered the stinging sensation I felt.

“So, what now?”

“Are you going to take me somewhere and take the books back?” I asked.

“And why would I do that?”

“Those books are not that important to the village.”

“The only reason they separated the two places was because of that stupid civilian that tried to mess with the seals.” He said waving his hands in front of him.

“So, you are going to let me go?” I asked him.

Surely, he didn’t track me all the way here just to tell me that?

“yeah”

“But only if you impress me.”

“Your sensei brags about you all the time to me. “

“So, I want to see for myself if you are as talented as your sensei said you are.”

“Now Get ready boy. Let’s see how good you really are. “He said.

I slowly took the bag down and kicked it away from me.

After all the extra weight would only slow me down.

Holding the kunai with one hand I focused on the Anbu Infront of me and tuned out everything else.

It felt as if there was no one in the world except us.

Seconds felt like hours as I just watched him unwilling to make the first move.

Without any warning, he ran towards me. His footsteps echoing throughout the forest as he broke the dry twigs that littered the forest floor.

Within a few seconds, he was right in front of me. His huge figure looming in front of me as he was within the striking distance.

“Damn he is tall” I thought to myself.

He made a striking pose with his right hand and stabbed it at me. Ready to piece my body.

Without thinking any further I squatted as low as I could Unwilling to find out what would happen if I made contact with his hand.

Something told me that it wouldn’t be pretty.

*WHOOSH*

I heard his hand slice the air on top of me.

Strands of ruby red fell in front of me. My eyes widened as I realized who they belonged to. It looks like I wasn’t completely able to evade his attack after all.

Thankfully it was just my hair that paid the price.

Unwilling to give him any time to think.

I lunged toward at him. Stabbing him multiple times with my kunai only for him to dodge each one of my attacks by a hair’s breadth.

“Good effort”

“But you would have to try a little harder than that”

“Your attacks are too predictable and slow”

“Even Genins won’t fall for attacks like this “The masked man shouted as he did a roundhouse kick to my chest which sent me flying towards an oak tree.

*THUD*

*cough*

*cough*

The blow to my chest Knocked the air out of my lungs.

Both my chest and back felt like it was on fire due to physical assault it just endured.

Slowly I got up from the ground and assumed my fighting position once more trying my best to ignore the pain I was feeling.

“PUFF’

“PUFF”

I took in a huge breath trying to get my breathing back to normal. The masked man just stood there just waiting for me.

Taunting me with his uncaring attitude.

“I need to trigger that chakra coat I had when I was fighting that bully If I’m going to impress this weirdo”.

He is just too fast. So, this is what a ninja is capable off? I am sure he is down playing his Abilities just enough to match my level” I thought to myself as I tried to recall the emotions I felt during that time.

Hoping that it would trigger the same reaction once more.

Closing my eyes, I brought forward the unwillingness to run away, the desire to win and the thirst to bring my opponent unimaginable pain to forefront of my mind.

All the while chanting “I will not lose, I will not hesitate, I will not give up and most importantly I WILL NOT LET HIM HUMILIATE ME LIKE THIS” like a mantra inside my mind.

FOX POV

“what is he doing?”

“Is he really closing his eyes Infront of an enemy?”

“That is akin to suicide in a real battle” I thought to myself as I could not help but shake my head in a disapproving manner.

However, Instead of taking this opportunity to teach him a valuable lesson, I decided to wait.

I wanted to see what he had up his sleeve for him to make such a dumb move like this.

Surely, He must have done this for a reason.

From the short exchange we had I could tell that he was a smart kid.

His attacks were both ruthless and calculating.

He did not hesitate when he attacked me with the kunai.

If any of his stabs hit me it would have definitely left a mark later on for sure.

That is Something even new Genins sometimes have trouble doing at the beginning. This is the reason why the majority of the genins never get to go on a second mission.

The boy was also remarkably fast for his age and this was even more impressive considering that he had non-ninja background.

However, His kunai stabs were a little sloppy, but that is to be expected.

It was probably his first time holding one. He is still very young. He has plenty of time to hone his skills in the future and become better at wielding weapons like kunai.

But what most impressed me was his endurance.

Even though it was controlled  I kicked him with enough force to take down a Genin but he just shook it off like it was nothing.

Subaru wasn’t kidding when he said that this boy could take a beating.

His incredible endurance and instinct coupled with his ridiculous chakra reserves. He would be a force to reckon with when he grows up.

“Maybe he might even end up rivalling the likes of Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara in the future.” I thought to myself with a smile.

“Now we have to nurture this seedling so he will grow up to be tall and strong like these oak trees. So, he can endure whatever challenges he may face in the future.”

“Speaking about chakra. Didn’t Subaru seal this boy’s chakra ?”

“Should I unlock the seal a little bit more so it would be easier for him to access his reserves?” I questioned myself.

*bubble*

*bubble*

I turned my attention toward the boy once more. Chakra bubbles were slowly being formed on top of his skin.

“It looks like my help wasn’t needed after all”

“His chakra still looked as bloody as ever”

“Now it looks even more menacing than before”

“The last time I saw it, It was just bright red. Now it even has A black tint to it “

“Was this kid a demon in his previous life?” I thought to myself. Fascinated by the unique chakra color I was seeing.

As far as I know, only the tailed beasts had this kind of chakra color.

Slowly the bubbles settled on top of the boy’s skin making him glow in an unholy red color.

As he opened his eyes, I noticed that his previous amethyst eyes had a faint yellow tint to them.

“ This is one scary kid” I thought to myself as I watched him look at his hands with a satisfied smile on his face.

Whatever the boy was trying to do has definitely worked as he planned.

“ Now Let’s try this again ” The boy said to me as he Leapt towards me, Almost becoming a blur.

Surprised and shocked by this sudden change.

“what the…” was all I could think of before I felt a heavy fist sink deep into my abdomen.

The pain soon followed as I was thrown backward by the force of the fist that just hit me.