Kai was done with half of what was expected of him to do. The diversion was complete but by now... things were on a roll. It was expected. The first time can be considered lucky. The second time was already stretching it and the third time the chunin in the meat store was prepared but clearly not enough as one of his famous— Pepper-Diarrheal-Vomit Bomb. Even a Hyuga wouldn't see such a threat coming a few inches away. After all, who in their right mind wouldn't use dangerous poisonous gases that killed at once but... such a diabolical method of orificial release?

Well, Kai never claimed he was right in the head, did he?

But they had a tail since then as Kai suddenly threw a simple shuriken behind that clashed with one kunai and then reflected onto another and then another until the Shuriken removed half the barrage of Kunais towards Kai and the Co. as they were close to exiting the town.

[Uchiha Reflective Shuriken/Kunai Jutsu (30/30): A series of throwing techniques that utilize trip wires and the predicted paths of thrown weapons to use a smaller number of weapons to deflect and attack the enemies including the methods of predicting the path of deflected thrown weapons.]

The Uchiha didn't have the patent on copying moves now, right? All he had to do was understand the basic underlying method of predicting the range of deflection which was the essence of the technique from Mikoto and the rest was easy.

Still, Kai deflected the other half with the sword strapped on his back, his rags long replaced with his war attire and he glanced at the stunned group behind him with a grin, "Go on, now. I promise, I'll find you."

Though reluctant, the sight of the scowling dark-skinned shinobi suddenly breathing out a massive rock hurling in Kai's direction... did persuade the group to continue running as Kai turned back to the enemy with a cautious look. With the Chakra Storing Seals, he didn't need to unveil his suppressed chakra and could keep the pretenses up as he evaded the attack while his left index finger twitched back. The chakra thread coiled around the shuriken tugged it forcefully under Kai's exceptional control and flew straight into the Iwa Nin's neck as his eyes widened while Kai himself dodged the rock blast.

Not waiting for any kind of last-ditch efforts, Kai tugged on the same shuriken lodged into the man's throat and tore it out as his half-torn head slung down with the shinobi's eyes still wide.

Kai would have stored the shinobi's body but now wasn't the time for it. Kai had only targeted three key locations but this town was filled with shinobi of various strengths and even with Sakumo doubling down on his side, Kai needed to prepare for various more attacks before actually coming close to regaining the control of this town and since this town was marked to be migrated, Kai had the urge to keep his record pristine thus... he couldn't really use bait.

'The cave itself would work as a good spot for a retreat for Sensei and others, good thing that Sakumo at least knows that.' The first thing Kai did after finding out about the trio's hideout was to report it to Sakumo and the location was truly good by chance. It was either this town or that cave of theirs. Either way, it was upto Sakumo on how to lead Team Hiruzen there should they need respite but before any of that...

Kai narrowed his eyes. He's always been good with effective killing techniques but even if he hid now, the other Shinobi wouldn't mind razing half the town to kill enemies. Which... Sakumo didn't want and as the man was the team leader, Kai wanted to see that he did his duties as a subordinate well. He totally wasn't eager to try THAT technique out which would be effective against multiple enemies.

As Kai ran through the alleyway, weaving closer and closer to the exit of the town instead of taking a direct path, the other older and a few physically stronger shinobi caught up with him. The Seven of them didn't care he was a youngling. In fact, this only stroked their killing intent further.

A dozen of kunai strapped with explosive tags flew in his direction as Kai had a hard time controlling the... itch.

'Ah, fuck... I'm cornered... I didn't lead them to this dead-end purposely and am truly cornered! I can now use it, right? I have a reason to use it, right?'

Kai wasn't all that afraid of the higher chakra signature on his enemies. Even a talented pig can be a god with supreme chakra reserve but one slice of the neck and we have godly bacon instead.

The explosive kunais reached Kai as the expression of his enemies... and his own, grew malevolent.

Before the kunais reached him, Kai's hair fluttered briefly and—

*Boom*

"What was that?!" Two from the seven frowned, all Iwa Shinobi considering their headgear which made Kai a little relieved in itself. Fighting puppets, poisonous with blades even up their asses can be troublesome.

Yet, the smoke of the explosion itself was forced away with a swirling dome of chakra that made Kai even more relieved by the Basic Chakra Storage Seals he formed over the course of this mission.

[Revolving Heaven (25/25): The user emits chakra from all of their Tenketsu in a high amount and force that is rotated to form a defensive barrier that can last until chakra is pushed out. Decreases Chakra Consumption by 2℅ at every level. Current Consumption: 6000/sec]

Unlike the Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven that 'inspired' Kai for this jutsu because their Gentle Palms technique was heavily reliant on byakugan and thus not efficient to get 'inspired' with, Kai didn't need to move at a quick speed. The basis of his version was something very similar to what he and Minato were trying to accomplish in their training to mimic a tailed beast bomb. Anyway, now that he didn't have to move...

He was also free to use the cloak of smoke for a second for his advantage. Three of his basic chakra storage seals were already sucked dry, too, but he wasn't annoyed. The seals completed their purpose just rightly enough!

"Where's—" the Kunoichi whispered. Distracted. A fruit ripe for the taking as Kai's body appeared in front of her, silently. A thin layer of chakra around him silencing every single movement of his body.

[Silent Killing Technique (20/20): Chakra is used to muffle and isolate the sound from the body to the keen sound of bladed weapons. Chakra consumption decreased by 2.5℅ at every level. Current Consumption: 300/min.]

This was all Kai learned the month before the war placement but this technique wasn't usable on a sensor unless a mist full of his chakra was used, he deduced. But none here happened to be sensors given their lack of counterattack. This was basically what Kai got by trying to use [Chakra Paws] over his entire body.

*Chhk*

His blade pierced the woman's forehead. If possible, Kai just always went for the head. Even if the opponent had some crazy skill that could allow him to move with his or her heart torn... they need the brain itself to facilitate the function of any manner.

The Kunoichi still had a surprised expression as Kai let go of the sword before forming the seal of activation with his right hand and used his chakra thread to surprise the nearest shinobi to pull him towards Kunoichi. All this in three seconds.

*Boom*

His body alongside the number of shurikens and one earth release: earth bullet technique was blown away with the concluding explosion alongside the woman's head and body.

But a menace doesn't rest. It continues to move on.

'Wait... was it a menace of a dark knight? Not important,' Kai's gaze sharpened as he flipped back before flickering and appearing on the high wall of the building that blocked the alley.

"Bastard!" A burly Iwa Nin wearing a red bandana with his forehead protector stitched on appeared the next second, his fists covered in later of massive rocks as he slammed down on Kai.

"How'd you know my last name?" Kai smirked. Yet, he was serious to the core as another burst of Revolving Heaven threw the shinobi off guard before Kai was onto him, his hands clad in Chakra Scalpels as he touched the man's chest and shoulder, paralyzing him with pain, and then grabbed his head.

However, Kai's expression turned sour and he flickered away with the Iwa Nin having triggered his suicidal seal before Kai completely tore his brain into two neat halves.

And then... he settled.

Three were dead... and the remaining four retreated sensibly. Most probably taking his information to others and come back prepared.

'It would be weird if they didn't do that when I fucked three of them with barely any other revealing chakra reserve...' Kai sighed but he was content enough.

He had come up with a way to cover his shortcoming of low chakra reserve thanks to Nagato and now had some semblance of balanced techniques that worked well with enemies... but only unprepared ones.

He needed more things in his arsenal.

'I should use Hazy Mist alongside Silent Killing like Kiri nins. And I should seriously stop making these kinds of bold moves to fish out who's the sensor...' Kai chuckled internally. He had prepared a Body Replacement Jutsu in case someone noticed the chakra flow from the Silent Killing Technique.

But... all in all, he was happy. He was even eager to let his information get out. This only meant that the enemies will be cautious of a few techniques he uses the most and till then, he'll have many others prepared. He hadn't even used any of his elemental jutsus yet.

Last but not the least, he'd also mastered the two techniques before he started the specialized training schedule to get inspired by other clans.

[Training Frog Kata (10/10): An inferior version of Frog Kata that optimizes the body's strength and reflexes. Current Stamina Consumption: 0.39℅ (5℅).]

[Body Transformation Jutsu (20/20): The ability to shift the state of the body to look naturally younger than the current age by using chakra to compress bones and organs based on the cellular data bank of the body. Reduces the consumption of chakra by 2.5% at every level. Current Consumption: 1600/min.]

[Skill points: 820]

Truly, for the last one and a half months— It was either sleeping or the grind. And Kai was supremely pleased to have opted for the succulent and rewarding grind.

***

A/N: What do you think of the Revolving Heaven where the user doesn't need to waste time with rotating? I really think it's similar to rasengan... just that, Naruto would have to wear it over himself. Hey, maybe there can be elemental versions of this technique? I do feel it would be redundant and the wind version may just create a vacuum that suffocates the user... or... hehe, the enemy.

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Shoutout to metanik estrain, Xolone M, Anego, and Jared Hitch Jr.!!

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