__________ POV Narration __________

The children didn't linger in the courtyard for too long.

Motivation was at an all-time high, but they didn't start training right away.

Instead, they were allowed to have a free day, to celebrate their progress up to that point.

Even with that free day and celebration, many still chose to do some light sparring at the very least, as at that point training had become their most enjoyable pastime.

Once physical effort became part of their routine, it simply felt wrong to skip it, even for a single day.

Even so, they weren't all that focused on it, for now, all of them were far too happy to even focus properly.

Instead, they were going around, laughing playing, beating each other with sticks, the usual child shenanigans.

All good and friendly fun.

Ken was pleased to feel the atmosphere was no longer strained. He wasn't sure if it would be like that forever, but at the very least he would be there to help them.

At that point, even if the Children were to no longer want to be assassins, Ken would simply create a different division within the Brotherhood and let them stay together.

Seeing such a close-knit group get separated was not something he wanted to witness in his lifetime.

He had plenty of heartbreak and hardship, all that he wanted now was to be able to 'see' a bright future ahead of him.

But it wasn't like he could 'turn a blind eye' to the past and his actions up to that point. There were some relationships he couldn't quite sever, nor could he fix...

And he had one such example facing him right now.

"A letter from the Raikage, huh?" The Blind Assassin cracked his neck as he listened to his First blade's report.

"Indeed... An invitation to the formal burial of the late Raikage's son, A... You were specifically invited there as a family friend."

Tosho sighed as he looked over the invitation once more.

The fate of the Raikage and his son was truly somewhat tragic. To that day, the leader of the Cloud had no idea just how involved Ken had been in his son's death.

And he would never learn either. To him, Ken had played an important role in helping them take revenge for their killer.

Even if the Tsuchikage slipped by them, and managed to hold onto his life, the Raikage still appreciated Ken's efforts.

He had done a lot more than he had been hired for that day anyway. Ken's job had simply been to hold off the Mizukage after all.

But the Raikage had gotten frustrated at the time and even dared to lash out at him, something that he was now very much ashamed of.

That invitation was sent alongside Ken's payment for his help in that incident. And it was likely also where the Raikage planned to apologize for his outburst.

That was if Ken decided to show up in the first place...

But the Blind Assassin wasn't sure if it was right for him even to show up.

He still didn't know if he could keep a straight face at the funeral. And at some point, he also started feeling a bit of pity for the Raikage as well.

But it wasn't too much pity.

At the end of the day, the Raikage had been one of the main actors in starting the Third Shinobi War, which was essentially a World War at that point.

Even if things had calmed down slightly due to their alliance breaking down, the war was still raging on.

Now the smaller nations that had previously formed an alliance were at each other's throats for whatever resources they could scrounge up.

Now, one couldn't possibly blame the Raikage for the greed of the other parties participating in the war. But he was still the one that had started it.

In the end, Ken decided to accept the invitation. Keeping an overall friendly relationship with the Raikage was good.

It would help make sure that the Raikgae never grew too suspicious of Ken. It had other benefits as well, such as the fact that the Raikage was very generous with his payments.

So he would start making his way over to the Land of Lightning the very next day, or well, whenever he felt like it.

But for now, he just sat in his office and twirled a pencil around his fingers.

Eventually, like usual, someone entered his office. It wasn't unexpected or anything either, no one could really escape Ken's senses.

Well, the Blind Assassin was unsure if a fully-fledged Sage could manage to hide from him and blend into nature, but there weren't that many of them in the first place.

Even if there were, Ken could likely kill them with one touch just due to his overwhelming control over Nature Energy.

Regardless, the person that came in was by no means a Sage. His Charka was so massive that it was difficult to hide in any way.

"Kazue, what brings you to my office?" The Blind Assassin asked as he slowly reached down onto his desk and put his mask on.

The Uzumaki that entered the room was dressed in civilian clothing, covered by a long coat very similar to what the other members of the Dark Brotherhood were wearing.

He had hidden his headband and had somewhat blended in with the rest. But he was still not a member of the Brotherhood. His loyalty lay with his clan.

"Lord Ken... I want to take a few weeks off of my mission in order to visit my sister." Kazue bowed towards the Leader of the Assassins.

He felt ashamed to ask such a thing of Ken. But after hearing that his sister was lonely in Konha, he couldn't quite stay still or even concentrate on teaching the second batch of children that were assigned in his Fuinjutsu Class.

His mission details were frankly quite vague at first, he was to be the Fuinjutus instructor of the Dark Brotherhood in general, for an unspecified amount of time.

The mission was essentially an S-Rank Mission, and it was going to take a few years at the very least.

That was a few years of teaching the young and the Executives of the Dark Brotherhood constantly.

Now he was essentially asking for a break, something not at all within the code of a respectable Shinobi.

Normally, an employer would laugh at such a suggestion. But Ken was neither a Shinobi nor a normal employer.

"Fine, I did promise your sister that I'd tell you to go visit her sooner. Take the month off, the children need to do some self-study anyway..." Ken didn't hesitate for even a second, just waving off the stunned Uzumaki while resting his legs on the table.

Kazue didn't even know what to say, he stood still for a while, before nodding and smiling.

"Thank you, Lord Ken, I will make sure she knows you made our meeting possible." The Uzumaki bowed once more, pleased with the outcome of that extremely short conversation.

Ken just scoffed.

"Don't do unnecessary stuff... Just go." The Blind Monster wasn't feeling like he was doing Kazue or Kushina that big of a favour, he wasn't lying when saying that the children needed to do some self-study.

Currently, Kazue was spending most of his day lazing around with the exception of one or two hours where he answered questions that the books he had brought with him could've answered as well.

So Ken didn't see his absence as all that crucial. He'd have to be present for the more advanced courses, but the second batch of students was still quite far off from that level.

After showcasing his gratitude a few more times, Kazue bowed once more and left the room.

Ken felt him wasting no time in leaving, apparently not bothering to bring much with him besides whatever he carried in his seals.

Saburo also already knew of the situation since his clones were right at the door, so his clones guarding the gate didn't get in Kazue's way.

After he felt the Uzumaki getting further and further away, Ken sighed and slowly stood up from his chair, he didn't bother taking off his mask as he slowly walked over to the door and opened it.

He turned his head towards one of Saburo's clones and opened his mouth.

"Saburo, I need your help with a little side-project..."

The clone simply nodded and Ken then proceeded to make his way towards the Strawman's laboratory.

He gave him a proper warning as he knew that Saburo liked to be in control of things, so keeping him updated on what he did was one way of giving him some sense of control.

It was one of the many ways that Ken kept Saburo in line.

The Strawman was by far one of the most suspicious people within the Blind Assassin's employ, he couldn't even be counted as family.

It was a purely business relationship, one that needed to be managed accordingly.

The Assassin tracked the corridors of his large building, heading directly for the basement.

He opened up a set of two doors, undoing the seal on both of them as he walked in.

Even within the compound, Saburo was a cautious man, so he always set up seals to keep him and his experiments protected.

The Strawman's laboratory and what was happening in it wasn't exactly a secret to Ken regardless of how many seals were placed on its doors.

The inside of the laboratory had still seen some redecoration since Ken had last stepped foot in there.

It was filled with Saburo's clones now, all of them working on his main project.

'The effects of Genjutsu on a person's body...'

It was a seemingly endless quest for the Strawman, as it wasn't exactly easy to pinpoint.

Thankfully, his list of lab rats grew was quite expansive, handpicked scum of the earth that no one would ever miss, of course.

"Leader! You grace me with your presence..." The Real Saburo stepped forward, dressed in casual clothing, he was also not even wearing his mask.

But he was essentially in his personal space, so it wasn't exactly required.

"No need for the formalities, Saburo. As I've said, I have a project for you."

Ken's senses scanned over the laboratory around him, he scanned over its pieces of equipment.

It was strangely modern, but then again, the world he was in was strangely evolved in terms of medical science.

It was only left behind culturally and in weaponry. One could say that the world was simply evolving on a different path than his original one, as it was inhabited by people capable of what was essentially magic...

Saburo had a wide, fake smile on his face. Even though he wasn't wearing a mask, Ken could still feel that he always put on a porcelain mask over his face.

Even with that smile, Ken could feel some repressed frustration from the Scientist. But he didn't care. He was Saburo's employer, and he gave him prime working conditions.

If he told Saburo to do something, then he was going to do it.

"I want you to build a database." Ken crossed his arms as he resolved himself and turned his attention away from his thoughts and back towards the original Saburo.

"A database?" The Strawman rose an eyebrow in confusion, his face morphing slightly.

"Yes, a database of bloodlines from every single clan that you can find."

The Strawman's eyes widened when he heard that, he scratched his chin with a more genuine smile on his face.

"It's certainly an intriguing side project... But I must ask, why exactly do you feel the need to have the database of DNA from so many clans?"

Creating a comprehensive database like that would take both time and resources. So Saburo hoped to at least hear a reason from his employer.

The Strawman may have been a bit frustrated at first since he was interrupted while at work, but Ken had never really disappointed him when it came to interesting ideas and plans...

"I want to find out more about my own clan and bloodlines. We need DNA from as many of the clans within and surrounding the Land of Iron."

The Strawman nodded, scratching his chin for a few seconds as he tried to think if such a project was even feasible.

Besides collecting blood samples on the field, which was a bit problematic, there was also the option of ordering and buying vials of blood from clans.

'It should be possible, both options are feasible... It all depends on how much Ken is willing to spend.'

Saburo had already started calculating a proper cost for the operation.

And even at worst, it was all within their budget.

"As a budget, you are allocated half of our current treasury. Make use of it well." Ken then waved his hand and walked off, leaving behind a smiling Saburo.

'Good... So he's willing to spend as much as possible to get this done quickly...' The Strawman immediately started on the task.

He appropriated some of his clones to build the station where the database would be. He would need proper storage for the blood, and proper testing machines for it as well.

Storage he had, but the blood testing machine was going to be costly as well.

'Thankfully, money isn't an issue...'

And so, the Strawman got to work.

At that same time, Ken decided to slowly start making his way towards the Land of Lighting as well.

To visit the Cloud Village and... Pay his respects to the deceased A? Well, at least on paper anyway.

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Heyy, I am not yet dead. Pretty goddam busy and tired, but I ain't dead. Anyway, hope you liked the chapter! 

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