Novels2Search

Chapter 36

Third Person's POV;

The news of Naruto Uzumaki's supposed death didn't take long to reach the village, Dexter barely reached the gate of the village when he heard the first shouts of joy about the dead devil spawn.

Unbeknown to him, but surely noticed by Kurama, he clenched his fists almost hard enough to draw blood. She also noticed how he glared at most of the population, with exception of a few. However, those could be counted on two hands with fingers to spare.

The memories she has finished reading through showed her that almost everyone in Konoha insulted or hindered the blood clone. Be it by denying him service in a shop or forms of psychological torture by normal insults or systematic degradation. The clone had no one to speak to for the whole time. Hinata, who may have held him in a good view was too shy and fearful of doing anything and he never met the family of Ichiracus Ramen because Dexter doesn't like ramen.

The other Genin of the academy weren't even the real Naruto's friends before the Chunin exam, so nothing on that front as well. And Iruka wasn't his surrogate brother as the blood clone never behaved like the attention seeking prankster that the normal one was.

Seriously, the blood clone dropped its task to behave like the real Naruto after the first week, he just couldn't be as stupid and annoying as the real one, so it chooses to go with the silent broody style. Also, something that isn't likes Dexter, but more doable.

Kurama had to agree that Dexter had his broody moments, those had the tendency to involve the desire to kill anyone in his surroundings or the hard choice of eating chicken fried or grilled when he comes home.

So a broody Naruto wasn't, as previously mentioned, impossible. It may have had the downside of many dark and homicidal thoughts or, but more often than not, the death of some unfortunate chickens. Well, everything had a price.

Kurama was contemplating this and many other things while Dexter kept walking towards his home.

Once there the 'joyous' news had already spread like a wildfire in a dry month and by the time Dexter opened the door to his home the villagers began to decorate the streets for a festival.

He took his shoes off and searched for Yuugao, but couldn't find her. This meant that she was still at work or out with Hayate and would come home in the late evening or maybe only at night. So Dexter began to cook something for him and his 'sister' so that they could eat and speak once she is home.

Half an hour into the cooking Dexter was able to hear the explosion of some fireworks and music, as well as shouts of joy.

°Seems like the village is throwing a party°, Kurama noted dryly and Dexter scoffed.

°Yes, stupid villagers, I would love to see their expressions when they find out that Naruto wasn't real to begin with and that I was him all along°, replied Dexter.

°Then why aren't you going to reveal yourself during the finals?°, she asked.

°Because it's stupid. As much as I would love to see their faces, it would force me to leave the village directly after, and I would not be able to speak to Tayuya and Kimimaro. Well, at least not as easily. By the way, what happened to the sound three during the Chunin test? I did plan to recruit them, but that never happened°, he explained and Kurama chuckled nervously.

°Well, I might have killed them accidentally. My concentration wasn't really on the completion of your plans...°, she admitted but Dexter just gave it a shrug and continued with his cooking.

°No problem, their nature wasn't really something for Uzu, except for Kin. I also decided to not include Jirobo, Kidomaru, and Sakon in my plans. They are too dark to take in°.

°And what about Tayuya? She isn't the nicest person as well°, asked Kurama slightly confused. She knew from Dexter's memories that Tayuya had a tendency for foul mouth speeches°.

°The seal is influencing their mind, so she might not be as psycho as she acts. The cursing isn't really troublesome, more funny than bad and I still think she's an Uzumaki.

And Kimimaro was one cool character. I will beat him and then offer him to heal his disease. He is someone who will do anything for someone who saved his life. That's why he is so fanatical about Orochimaru. He thinks he saved his life and as such has to repay him with loyalty. But once I defeated him he has to admit that he did anything in his power and fulfilled his debt. At least I hope so. If not, then he will die like the others°. Dexter finished the explanation of his plans and with them the cooking. He grabbed a plate, sat down and began to eat. The festival music that filled the background wasn't helping his slightly sour mood.

The sudden bang of an open door and a Yuugao Uzuki, who rushed inside and hugged the stuffing out of him did.

“I'm so proud of you, I heard how your team reached the tower after only one day and how you beat the Yamanaka heiress.

But I also heard that your opponent in the first fight will be Neji Hyuuga. It is said that he is a prodigy in the Hyuuken. The Hyuuga and their style are a force to be reckoned with. We will have to train hard to beat him”, she then said and released Dexter from the hug.

Her eyes held a determined glint and the tone was filled with competitiveness.

“Yuugao-nee? Why are you so hyped about the fact that I will fight Neji? Sure he might have been good in the academy, but he still failed the second Genin test during his first try”, asked Dexter.

“Vira, this stupid bitch of Hyuuga had the guts to tell me how their prodigy will beat you up like a Jonin would beat up fresh Genin. She even said that a branch member would be enough to beat my brother. Stupid pale-eyed main branch Hyuuga whore”, rambled Yuugao and fell into a cursing fit about the woman that was a co-worker of her and not on good terms with Yuugao.

Dexter knew from experience that his sister wasn't fond of Vira, that was always the case, even during Genin times. That she was her competition during the ANBU training wasn't helping.

So he understood why she was so fired up and amused by the fact that Neji and he have to continue the fight between these two women.

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“You don't have to worry Yuugao-nee, the Hyuuken isn't as strong as the Hyuuga made everyone believe to be”, assured Dexter and Yuugao stoped mid-rant. She focused back on him and then processed the words he said.

“What do you mean with not as strong? The Hyuuken is almost a sure death for anyone in close combat”, she asked back, remembering all the fights she lost because this stupid bitch Vira got too close.

Dexter just scoffed and directed his sister to the table, where she got a plate of food for her own. She waited for him to explain and knew that he would, but only after eating his chicken. It was a wonder that he even allowed her to distract him from his food. Chicken is his food of gods and he defends it as fanatically as Anko defends her dango or Kushina-sensei did with her ramen.

So she had to hold her curiosity in and ate her food. Food that tasted as good as it normally does. Dexter sure knows how to make a good chicken dish, behaviourwhich was almost guaranteed by the amount of chicken he eats in a year.

A lot of his payment goes into his chicken supply.

But back to the topic, Dexter finished and looked at Yuugao who could almost hold her questions back.

“Let me ask you why do you think is the Hyuuken so strong?”, he then asked and Yuugao was quick to answer.

“Duh, because it seals your Chakra and is a combination of attacks that stack on each other to fully make their opponent immobile once they manage to land a single hit. In combination with their Dojutsu, that allows them to see Chakra, they are able to see every tenketsu point in your system and are easily able to stop your Chakra from moving or even let it burst out.

And then there is their Kaiten that blocks any attack from reaching them and will also allow them to start one of their moves on you when you get caught in it.

And let's not speak about the fact they can see through Genjutsu like it was a walk in the park”, she listed.

“Hmm, yeah that pretty much sums up why they are so weak”, Dexter said with a grin and Yuugao raised an eyebrow. Didn't he listen at all? These are strong techniques.

“Do you think Guy-sensei is strong?”, Dexter then asked and Yuugao nodded. She might not like his excentric behavior, but she had to admit that he was one of the strongest Jonin in Konoha.

“Why do you think is he so strong?”, he then asked.

“He's a Taijutsu master and his training is harder than that of the ANBU training”, she answered. That's obvious, isn't it? You get strong with training and Guy did a lot of that.

“That is one part of his strength, but what about his Taijutsu style?”, Dexter asked again and Yuugao realized that he was doing his annoying way of explanation again.

He isn't going to simply tell her why he is going to hint her in the right direction for her to realize it herself. Couldn't her stupid brother do it the easy way for once?

So the answer was in his Taijutsu, it's the Strong Fist, a style that was developed by himself and has its foundations on heavy hits and strong leg attacks. They are designed to be in combination with the eight gates and it's said that it even allows him to fly after opening the fifth gate.

She never saw Guy opening more than four, but the strength he showed after only half of the eight gates assured her that she would never want to fight him in a live and death battle. Guy was a monster and the rumor she heard of his defeat by an Uzumaki wasn't damaging his reputation at all.

Everyone knew that an Uzumaki is an army in itself when they reach a certain proficiency with seals. And it's said that this Uzumaki was a master in seals and could apply them without ink and only by his Chakra alone.

However, this wasn't about the Uzumaki that threw the T&I department into panic by not knowing about him, it was about Guy and his self-made style.

The differences between the Strong Fist and the Hyuuken were that the Hyuuken relies on precise and fast attacks who are done in conjunction. It is old and has a long history.

The Strong Fist, on the other hand, is more like a heavy hit attack. The attacks are still fast but they have a wider range to hit and are effective on almost any body parts, while the Hyuuken only bruises slightly if it hits a muscle without a tenketsu.

It is also more for damaging the outside of a body, while the Hyuuken is perfectly able to rupture organs or cause internal bleeding.

Another difference is that it is only performed by Guy and his Genin Lee. Normally this would mean that it has many flaws that weren't corrected over the span of time, but Guy is seriously a master in Taijutsu and what little flaws that are left over aren't really of concern for most fights. However the same can be said about the Hyuuken, the years have refined the style to almost perfection.

Yuugao didn't think that the thing Dexter meant was in the fact that the Hyuuken is precise and the Strong Fist a heavy damage dealer.

It must be something else. What makes a Taijutsu style weak?

Other than the obvious fact of not being lethal. There is also the matter of usability. An attack that won't hit your opponent won't win your fight, but both aren't lacking in that department. The Strong Fist is used in combination with the gates and they increase the speed of the user tremendously. And the Hyuuken has the Byakugan that helps the user.

Another thing would be how widespread the style is. The Academy Style is used by almost every village and everyone knows how to counter this style as they know it themselves.

But both couldn't be said about the Strong Fist and the Hyuuken. Sure, the Hyuuken is known but not the in and outs of it. And that only Guy and Lee know the Strong Fist is self-explanatory.

Suddenly Yuugao stopped in her thoughts and grinned widely.

“I know what you mean, the Hyuuken with its ins and outs may not be known to many, but the style itself sure is. Other villages must have developed a counter attack against it over the years.

Still, this is not the case with Konoha, the Hyuuga were good with their politics and stopped any and all attempts at developing a counter”, she said first proudly and then slightly dejected that it might not be everything that Dexter meant. She now knew that there are counters out there, but none of those would be available for Dexter.

“Didn't stop me from doing so. Really, the Hyuuken is utter crap against a good fighter. Sure they may be able to do heavy damage after landing a few hits, but almost every attack is based on the before and a slight divination in the first one will make the remaining attacks less effective. There is also the fact that they have to hit first. The Byakugan isn't like the Sharingan and doesn't increase the ability to follow objects.

You only have to be fast enough to not get hit.

But that isn't everything, I could simply put my Chakra into my surroundings and effectively blind the Hyuuga. The amount of Chakra in the air would hinder them from 'seeing'.

They also only rely on their hands and are useless without them. A few pressed pressure point would render a Hyuuga defenseless. They are also against teaching Jutsu, as their precious Hyuuken is enough for them. This means that no Hyuuga is really good with ranged based attacks and has to run through the coming attacks before even hoping of attacking.

They do have one range based attack, its use air pressure to hit something away, not really good against single opponents”, Dexter explained and Yuugao was wide eyed. Sure it was known that speed would be a counter against the Hyuuga, but their 360° sight makes a lot of sneaking impossible, so pure speed would have to be used. Something that is a strong factor in the training of a Hyuuga. They know of this weakness and are trying to counter it from the start.

“But what about the rotation technique?”, asked Yuugao. It was one attack that often stopped her advance on Vira.

“Even easier, it forces the user to stand still. Which means an easy target. The rotation does not block air, it wouldn't have been possible to use for a prolonged time otherwise. So a simply continued flame thrower Jutsu wouldn't only cook the user, but also suffocate him as it would diminish the air inside the rotation. Every Genin with enough Chakra could do it”, he said with a large grin and Yuugao face palmed for her stupidity of not noticing such an obvious weakness.

“I get it, I get it. You know how to beat Neji, that is good, brilliant even. Now I'm even more sure about my bet with Vira. I can already imagine her devastated face once she sees her so skilled Hyuuga prodigy defeated by a clanless Ninja”, admitted Yuugao and had a stupid grin on her face.

“Yes, so I don't really need to train for the battle with him, as I know that I'm already stronger than him. Which won't stop me from doing so nonetheless. So I'll be out tomorrow morning and start with some training”, Dexter said and Yuugao nodded.

“I'll gladly help, just say something and I will try to get free from my duties”, she promised. They then cleaned the dishes and went to sleep.

A few days later, during training, Kurama decided to mention a problem that seemed to be out of Dexter's head.

°Dex-kun? What will you do about Hayate? He isn't dead yet, but it won't be long if you're not going to keep an eye on him°.

°Oh yes, him. I don't know, I could save him. It would prevent Yuugao-nee from getting sad. On the other hand, I don't care about him at all. He's alive as good as dead, maybe dead even better, as he wouldn't be able to hep with the defense in the coming invasion.

I could also use the grieve of Yuugao-nee to tell her about us and my plans. Her sudden loss off Hayate would make her easy to sway on our side. She wouldn't want to loose me as well, something that would happen if she would not come with me.

But she's still fiercely loyal to Konoha and I don't know if she would really come with me.

There is also the fact that I did hide many things from her. Most of them not really small°, he confessed.

°What were your plans anyway?°, she asked. Dexter never told her about this part.

°Eh, I just thought of abducting her during the invasion and then telling her the rest, with some use of my memory seal. I hoped that the hate, pain, and grief that would come with the seal changes her to agree in coming with me. The seal lets the user live through the content and only a few wouldn't change from it.

But now I don't know, it might also be problematic if I don't help Hayate and she finds out about my ability to resurrect the dead.

I think I'll just wing it°, he said and concluded the matter with a shrug.

Kurama didn't say anything else. Yuugao may be somewhat important to Dexter, but Hayate was not and hers and mostly Dexter's concern for people didn't go beyond those few they liked. And even then they wouldn't help their friends as well. It would only spiral down into a circle of helping anyone who came along, just because he or she was slightly befriended with their friends.

And on top of that, Kurama didn't care about anyone besides Dexter. They could all die as long as she was together with him.