Opening the Shunin no jutsu Scroll that Shikaru gave him, Kazuo gave it a quick lookover, making it seem like he was reading it.

Before he nodded his head and put the jutsu away.

His quick actions caused a shinobi to turn and ask him.

"Aren't you going to read it? It will be helpful in the journey." The man said, clearly trying to help Kazuo.

Kazuo turned toward the man and gave him a smile.

This was the thirteenth time that he had said the same thing to Kazuo.

"It's fine, it looked easy enough," Kazuo said with a calm voice, no fluctuations in his tone whatsoever as he answered the man.

"All right if you say so." The ninja said before turning his gaze aside and listening to Shikaru's speech once more.

This small conversation however was heard by quite a few shinobi who gave secretive glances at Kazuo.

Most of them looked at Kauzo with pity, they all knew that the jutsu looked easy however mastery over it wasn't something easily accomplished, and even making the jutsu useable would take a lot of hard work.

A while later, the shinobi all started running away from the camp.

The march to the border had officially started.

For Kazuo however, it had started almost a whole month ago, this very painful day.

All because a certain Nara had decided that he had gained too much status in the camp.

'That bastard' Kazuo thought to himself before a soft smile appeared on his face as he ran alongside the rest of the leaf shinobi.

He didn't want to show a soft smile, Kazuo wanted to give a large grin and laugh in Shikaru's face.

However, he had to calm himself down and maintain his facade of a calm and amiable comrade, someone who was a genius beyond comprehension, both in the shinobi arts as well as strategy.

And the first step to truly cement this notion of a genius was right in front of Kazuo, no...

It was already in the palm of his hand.

Kazuo didn't make a single hand sign, one moment he was running alongside a caramel-haired ninja, and the next, he was beside Shikaru Nara.

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The shinobi took a moment to realize what had happened.

Kazuo hadn't made a single hand seal, there had been no smoke.

He had simply disappeared from his previous location and appeared tens of meters ahead.

A single word crashed into their minds at the same time.

'Shunshin'

It was something they would have found hard to believe however they had no choice, they had just seen Shikaru give Kazuo the scroll not even an hour ago and now he had already mastered it beyond what most of them could achieve.

In merely an hour, he had simply looked at the scroll once and done it.

Wasn't this too outrageous? The ninja thought however instead of feeling jealousy, envy, or enmity, they felt exhilaration.

This was someone who was going to accompany them to the battlefield, a genius shinobi who would protect their backs.

The Ninja's eyes gleamed with joy as they witnessed Kazuo's instant mastery achievement.

Kazuo meanwhile was looking at a holographic screen at the corner of his vision discreetly.

[ Stats ]

[ Name: Kazuo ]

[ Age: 12 ]

[ Race: Human ]

[ Strength: D- ]

[ Endurance: D- ]

[ Agility: D- ]

[ Intelligence: B- ]

[ Charisma: C ]

[ Chakra: C- ]

[ Skills ]

[ Time Loop ] [ Level 1 ]

[ Academy Taijutsu ] [ Level 9/10 ]

[ Academy ShurikenJutsu ] [ Level 9/10 ]

[ Clone Jutsu ] [ Level 6/10 ]

[ Substitution Jutsu ] [ Level 5/10 ]

[ Transformation Jutsu ] [ Level 5/10 ]

[ Hiding Like A Mole Jutsu ] [ Level 10/10 ]

[ Paper Shuriken Jutsu ] [ Level 10/10 ]

[ Water Style: Enhanced Water Bullet ] [ Level 4/10 ]

[Chakra Control: Tree Walking ] [ Level 10/10 ]

[ Chakra Control: Water Walking ] [Level 7/10 ]

[ Summoning: Lighting Flash Blade Creation ] [ Level 10/10 ]

[ Shunshin ] [ Level 8/10 ]

Whilst he had practiced the Shunshin jutsu, Kazuo had noticed that his chakra control was getting better and better, and this was reflected in his tree walking and water walking skills.

The tree walking had reached the maxed level around the fifteenth turn whilst the water walking was still lagging behind.

Glancing at Shikaru, Kazuo saw the man looking at him with surprise for a brief moment before his face regained his usual stoic calmness.

'You didn't expect that did you fucker? Just like how your mother didn't expect my...' Kazuo continued spouting various profanities at Shikaru inside his mind whilst he kept up the soft smile on his lips.

"You're good. Seems like I still underestimated you." Shikaru said as he ran alongside Kazuo.

"I don't know what you mean sir," Kazuo said, his acting almost perfect as his voice carried a tone of sincere confusion at what Shikaru had meant.

Shikaru gave him a glance before releasing a few quiet chuckles.

"Are you sure you're not part of my clan, or maybe the Uchiha would fit you better," Shikaru said as he looked at Kazuo with some kind of glint in his eyes.

"I'm just an orphan sir, i was raised in the Fire orphanage inside the hidden leaf, im sure that neither clan would have left me in there if I was a part of any of them," Kazuo said as he explained his past to Shikaru though he knew well that Shikaru most likely knew about it better than he did himself.

Shikaru stared at Kazuo for a split moment longer before turning his head and nodding.

The journey continued, and this time, Kazuo didn't feel any fatigue, he could use Shunshin most of the time and maintain a steady pace without worrying about his physical condition.

As Kazuo got further behind the group, Shikaru made a handseal and almost immediately an anbu arrived beside him.

"Tell the root to search their database for a child called Kazuo, twelve years of age. He was in our orphanage, we should have records about him." Shikaru said, his black eyes somehow growing darker, appearing as if they were an endless abyss.

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