Shuttling through the lively streets, Kuroto seems to be in a leisure and contented mood, but he was traveling surprisingly fast, in the blink of an eye, he passed through several crowded streets and not long after came to a secluded practice range.
Looking at Anko who still seemed to be slightly tipsy, Kuroto said helplessly, "Come on Anko-chan, don't make trouble will you!??"
However, Anko ignored Kuroto's words and spoke, "Why?"
"What… 'why'?" – asked Kuroto in confusion.
"You know what I am talking about!" – because of the effect of alcohol she took, Anko was really emotional today, and her agitation was now clearly visible as her expression became more and more unstable and she shouted, "Why can you face others as if everything is normal? How can you not care about how others look at us? Orochimaru abandoned us, others look down upon us, don't you care even the slightest?"
Kuroto sighed when Anko mentioned these things, as he knew full well that Anko can't get over the fact that she was 'abandoned' by Orochimaru.
And unlike other contemporaries of the same generation, Kuroto and Anko have been labeled as Orochimaru's former subordinates, so it is inevitable that they will be pointed out with some sort of distrust by others, after all, their Jonin sensei became a rebel!
However, the difference between Kuroto and Anko is that Anko has been silently enduring the criticism for a few years now, however, that's not the case with Kuroto because he simply doesn't care what others think, moreover, he has been so very busy with his project and all sorts of Anbu mission, that he doesn't even have time to focus on meaningless things.
With a light sigh, Kuroto said, "Anko-chan, why do you really care what others think?"
Anko was a little puzzled, "I… I don't know, how about you, how can you not care!?"
Kuroto shook his head with a bitter smile and silently thought to himself, 'In a way, they aren't wrong, after all, I was Orochimaru's spy when he left the village so when people point their fingers towards me, they aren't wrong, although my relationship with Orochimaru has changed from subordinate to a partner.'
Seeing Kuroto's silence, Anko took out two Kunai from her bag and said, "I want to challenge you Kuroto, accept it!"
Looking at Anko's expression Kuroto nodded, "Alright!"
He could see that the so-called challenge from Anko is just a method to vent out her depressed emotions and he just happens to be someone she can trust, after all, both were part of the same genin team!
Anko's eyes narrowed and she immediately threw the kunai at Kuroto.
Whish…
Kuroto didn't even need to activate the Byakugan and cut through the kunai, but without waiting for him any chance, several Shadow Snake Hands rushed towards him one-after-another.
Hiss… Hiss… Hiss…
Kuroto was unperturbed by the shadow snakes and brought out a kunai in his other hand and easily cut through the several snakes.
Looking at Kuroto who didn't even move from his spot and defended against the Shadow Snake Hands, Anko was stunned.
She knew that Kuroto has become very strong in the past few years and it wouldn't be strange if his strength has already reached the same level as Hatake Kakashi, the genius of their generation but not that she personally saw him easily counter her strongest move, she couldn't help but be shocked!
Putting away the Kusanagi Sword, Kuroto said with a mocking smile, "If that's the best you can do then there's no point in continuing this battle anymore, you won't be able to do anything to me!"
Anko's expression was filled with rage, she quickly printed the hand seals and shouted,
"Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique!"
The flames spit by Anko rushed towards Kuroto's position in a straight line burning everything in its path to ashes.
Kuroto's expression was still indifferent and he simply used the Body Flicker to disappear from his position to avoid Anko's Fire Style Jutsu.
At this time, Anko rushed towards Kuroto and started a pure taijutsu battle.
Bang… bang… bang…
The sound of the fist to fist and fist to feet collision resounded throughout the practice field.
Anko was taking the offensive furiously, using every ounce of her power to try to beat the hell out of Kuroto as if she wasn't fighting her former teammate but an enemy she must kill, but it wasn't working as all her attacks were easily countered by Kuroto who didn't initiate the offensive from start to finish, only dodging, or stopping her moves silently.
Kuroto let her vent out her frustration and after an hour of continuous attacks Kuroto finally asked Anko who seemed too tired to continue any longer, "Feel better now?"
As soon as Kuroto's words fell, Anko couldn't hold it any longer and slumped on the ground weakly, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Looking at her crying, Kuroto just pat her head softly and let her cry out.
When her crying stalled, Anko finally spoke lightly, "I hate him!"
Kuroto knows that she was talking about Orochimaru so just asked indifferently, "Do you hate him for leaving Konoha or do you hate him for not taking you with him?"
These words struck her like a thunderbolt and she didn't know how to reply.
Looking at her silence Kuroto chuckled and spoke while he turned around and started walking away, "If it's the former, you don't need to blame yourself, it wasn't your fault, our teacher has some dreams and goals that he couldn't have accomplished if he stayed in Konoha as his actions would just be limited, but if it's the latter work hard to get stronger, and let him understand that by not taking you with him, he made a big mistake!"
Leaving these words, Kuroto disappeared from the practice range and left Anko to digest what he meant.
After leaving the practice range, Kuroto didn't immediately go home and wandered around the streets of Konoha.
When passing by the lake, he found the young figure of Itachi sitting next to a brown-haired Kunoichi with the Uchiha Clan symbol on her clothes, both Itachi and the girl are of the same age, talking and eating the famous three-colored Dango dumplings.
Even the kid Itachi, who always has a serious face showed a rare smile at this time.
"That's right, I should bring back some three-colored Dango dumplings with me too, Yui likes them after all!"
With that decision, Kuroto changed the direction and walked towards the street where the famous Dango Shop of Konoha is located.
While passing by the Ichiraku Ramen Stall, Kuroto was surprised by the long queue.
'Hmm, Ichiraku's ramen is as famous as ever!' – thought Kuroto when he looked at the long line of people waiting for their turn while passing through the queue, Kuroto found the young figure with flashy yellow hair.
The little guy was scratching his head eagerly with the Ichiraku discount coupons in his hand that were wrinkled and deformed and looked at the long line of people before him again and again.
'Uzumaki Naruto!' – As soon as Kuroto recognized the young kid, he subconsciously observed the surroundings.
And sure enough, on a tree not far away, he found the presence of an Anbu ninja.
This Anbu ninja is undoubtedly responsible for the task of protection of Uzumaki Naruto, after all, half of Kyuubi is sealed inside Naruto's body, so the existence of Uzumaki Naruto is an important strategic weapon for the village.
Activating his Byakugan while trying not to attract any attention, Kuroto looked at Naruto's figure.
'Seriously!?' – Kuroto can't help but be stunned, in his Byakugan vision, he could see that the Chakra in Naruto's body was like a raging flame, huge and fierce, filled with anger and rage, realizing the negative chakra, Kuroto can't help but suck a cold breath.
Even if he anticipated such a thing, the result still surprised him.
Kyuubi Chakra aside, Naruto's own Chakra far surpassed ordinary ninjas. From this alone, it can be judged that the Uzumaki are really worthy of being comparable to Senju in terms of physique.
And Kuroto can see that aside from Naruto's own Chakra as well as Kyuubi's chakra there was also the presence of his father's and mother's chakra sealed within him, and if he counts the presence of the fifth chakra that was hidden deeper, 'the Chakra that probably belongs to Otsutsuki Asura', then there are a total of five Chakra sealed within Naruto's body.
'Uzumaki Naruto really deserves to be called the Child of the Prophecy!' – Even at the starting line, Naruto had already far surpassed the majority of shinobi by miles, now all he needs is to train his 'Talk no Jutsu' to the max level and he would become the perfect 'Child of the Prophecy!'
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