"Alright, see you guys tomorrow." Kudo waved off Ai and Enya as he headed home. He could feel his nerves finally settle. It was a heavy moment when he realized that he still had a long way to go.
Kudo walked the streets of Konoha and, after taking off his shoes, he entered his home to a wide grin plastered on his mother's face. "What did you do?" Kudo asked with a sigh. His mother had been regaining herself and overcoming the loss, which was good, and the home started to feel warm again. "What do you mean? I'm not some mischievous child. Anyway, welcome home, so tell me, how was the team, and did you finally get to meet your jonin sensei?" Ina asked, taking a seat, inviting him over.
"Yeah, it went on okay, and I did meet him." Kudo said with slight hesitation, "Uhm, his name is Shimura Takao." He said, averting his eyes. Ina felt her heart drop at the family name. Ever since their encounter with Root, she had come to greatly dislike the great clans of the village, but especially those extending their hands to her son. As for the Uchiha, although they could train Kudo, they won't welcome him unless he awakens his Sharingan, but that was nearly impossible.
"Well…Since he is assigned by the village, I can't complain, but son, you have to be careful." Ina said, reaching over and clasping his hand, "Anyway, I got you a gift. I know it's late, but congratulations on becoming a Genin once again." Ina said, standing up and going upstairs, she came back with 11 scrolls in her hand.
Placing the 11 scrolls, she flashed a shallow smile. She pushed forward 9 scrolls towards him, "Little bun, these are for you. It's something your father had prepared for you the moment you discovered your chakra nature and practised shinobi techniques. Your father had it all mapped out, but sadly, he is not here to celebrate and do it himself." Ina said, letting out a heavy sigh.Kudo sat shocked at the bundle of scrolls; he had a vague idea that these were jutsu scrolls, and so many. 'Dad.' He thought solemnly. He gently brushed his hand on the scrolls. Taking a moment, he began to unfold them each at a time.
Most were C-rank jutsus; waterwall jutsu , water prison jutsu, water dragon jutsu, water shuriken jutsu, and some lightning nature jutsus; Flash pillar, False Darkness, and Lightning dragon jutsu.There was one B-rank jutsu, Konoha's signature Shadow clone jutsu. The 9th scroll contained something he didn't expect: an advanced taijutsu scroll.Seizing the moment, Ina explained, "Although your grandfather couldn't awaken the Sharingan, it didn't mean he was weak. My father told me he was quite talented in taijutsu and kenjutsu. That scroll is his taijutsu record and culmination from the Uchiha, the war, and the Village taijutsu."Kudo gulped, looking at the scroll, and he grasped it firmly, "Thanks, Mom." Ina nodded, passing the 10th scroll to him,
"This is my gift to you, it's armour and 2 dozen of each; Kunai, Shuriken, rope, wire, senbon, smoke bombs, and explosion tags." She had a wide smile on her face. "That…is a lot," Kudo said, thinking of the village graduation gift, and it didn't come close. The Village had given them half a dozen at best and a quarter dozen for some. Unfolding the scroll, it was quite heavy. "Puff!" Along with a cloud of smoke, a heavy mass of equipment appeared on the floor, making it groan at the weight.
Kudo's eyes fell on the armor, which was a dark blue, reminiscent of armor from the Warring States, but it had some modern flashes to it. He lifted it up, and it had a light feel, not as heavy as he expected. Turning it around, he saw some fuinjutsu markings. "So, that's why." His admiration roared, and his desire to learn it ignited even more. Instead of massive metal plates, the plates were leaner, stronger, and allowed more freedom of motion. He turned to her with a wide smile on his face, "Thanks, Mom." He gave her a hug, and his eyes fell onto the last scroll.
Seeing his gaze, "Ohh, this is for Naruto. It's his gift for graduating. I don't know much about fighting, so I bought the same equipment for him without the armour and some more orange jumpsuits. There is no way he is changing that gaudy orange jumpsuit. I know, I have tried plenty." She sighed."Hahaha," Kudo laughed. He understood her frustration. "I will pass it along then." Kudo felt a fire lit up within him, threatening to overwhelm him. With this much, he couldn't afford to become mediocre. It's probably cost millions of Ryo to acquire this many high-level jutsus. Merchant had connections, but even for B rank, there was a limit, never mind A rank and S-rank jutsus.
In the Uchiha compound;"Itachi, come into my office," Fugaku spoke just as Itachi arrived. Itachi nodded and followed. The house was quiet; his mother and brother were probably asleep. Itachi stepped into the office, and Uchiha Yashiro was already waiting inside. He had retired since losing his arm and was tasked with intelligence in the Uchiha clan."Clan head, young lord." He bowed slightly, Fugaku gave him a nod, and sat down.
Yashiro began, "My lord, ever since the attack that night, I have scoured the entire black market using our clan connections. My team and I couldn't find any individuals of that level roaming the black market or renowned. So, I started searching for organisations that were on the rise in recent years, and one organisation called Akatsuki was quietly making waves as elite mercenaries. It is a small group of less than 20 members, but highly skilled rogue shinobi from what I have uncovered so far.They are very elusive, and little is known about them, but rumours suggest they wear black cloaks with red clouds like our attackers that night. Through genjutsu, we have uncovered that the other great villages also know very little about them. Iwakagure shows familiarity as they employ them on occasion.
Plans to track them have fallen through, as it seems they are active in all great villages, and either they have a great intelligence network or excellent sensors, because they have begun to be even more elusive since they discovered we were onto them. I have refrained from direct contact to avoid loss of clan shinobi." Yashiro said, awaiting a response.
"Itachi, what do you think?" Fugaku turned his gaze to his son, ' Is it insignificant because it is the clan or?' Fugaku's gaze was stern, seeking to pry his son's thoughts. "Given how they move in the shadows, I believe they have a grand plan at work, seeing that it's such an elite group. Either someone strong forced them together or a shared vision unites them. Regardless, we need to dive deeper so we know what we are dealing with and how to respond in the future." Itachi said his face did not give away any emotion.
"Alright, I have called you here, Itachi, to task you with infiltration or prying said information from their corpses if you must. An organisation of such might is too dangerous to leave alone. Son, this mission might need you to forsake the village, even momentarily, for it is a high-risk mission. I have informed the Hokage, and he agrees that it might well come to that. To make the defection look plausible, you will be given a squad of informants and traitors to the village who have been under watch by the intelligence and interrogation unit of the village. Stage a scene, wide and capable of drawing attention."
Fugaku stood up, coming closer to Itachi and placing his hand on his shoulder, " I know what I am asking of you is a lot and something that will threaten to tarnish both clan and village, especially your name. I believe in your strength and devotion to protecting our clan. I am truly sorry.""I understand, Father, I will do what is necessary," Itachi said solemnly, his gaze sharp. "Alright, let's finish here. Good work, Yashiro. We will talk further tomorrow, and what we have spoken of here remains between us. The fewer people who know, the more likely we will succeed in protecting our home." Fugaku said, leaving as they all exited the office.