"Old man, what do you know about him? What are you hiding about his powers?" Jiraiya asked as soon as they reached his office and soundproofed it with seal.Third took out his pipe, and smoked a few moments before sighing. He then turned to Jiraiya and started speaking.
"Everyone knows Senju clan as one of the fiercest clans in the warring era. If truth be told, that era was more fierce and brutal than any wars that have been fought since the creation of shin.o.bi villages. In those times, it was all about survival of fittest. A wide variety of arts and jutsus were developed in those times, even some powerful Kekkei Genkai. Few clans even tried to make new ones by selective breeding between captives of different Kekkei Genkai. Anyway, coming back to Senjus, in addition to Wood Release (Mokuton) the First Hokage was famous for, there was one more type developed by Senjus. It was however more demanding in requirements, and not as fierce and destructive as Wood style. Hence it slowly died out, but according to Tobirama Sensei, it had the potential to be the perfect all round style suitable for Ninjas. That Release type was Plant Release (Shokuton), which was displayed by Jun."
"How could that be possible? Jun is not a Senju, we would have known if that was the case." Jiraiya argued, baffled because of this revelation.
"I am not saying he is. But that"s the beauty of this Style. As far as I know, this style requires high affinity for Nature Energy, and decent amount of chakra in user"s body and approval from the collective consciousness of plants. As long as they have it, anyone can practice this style. However as you can see, having all three together is as difficult as learning Wood Style. Moreover, this style shows its main effectiveness in stealth, not frontal a.s.sault, which Wood style is famous for. Therefore this style died out with the Senjus and was not spread and no one knows of it either. Only Senjus and their smaller cousin clans knew about this. Now you and I know about this I am sure. Not even Tsunade knows of this, Not that she showed any interest in all this." Third chuckled softly as he thought about his Kunoichi disciple and Medical Genius. "With her Monstrous Strength, she wouldn"t adopt either Styles anyway."
"So, what do we do about Jun?" Jiraiya asked.
"We will lockdown the information for now. Practicing Plant Style will eventually make him a shin.o.bi with tremendous amount of chakra at his disposal and this would be a huge enticement for Danzo, who will want to make him into a weapon to serve him. Not to mention that Plant Style user has the potential to become an unparalled a.s.sa.s.sin. Therefore, No one will come to notice of this. Officially we will release news, relatively secretively so as to not alert Danzo, that he had an accident while training chakra. Let"s make him attend the Pre-school along with other kids of his age when he is of 3-4 years. Until then, let"s instruct the Nara and Yamanakas clan to train him enough to be able to protect himself. I don"t think he needs Akimichi clan"s training, however ask them to keep an eye out for him as well in case he shows any interest in them. However if I am right, all he may be attracted to may be their food, but that too in future. From what I have seen of his temperament, he will be best suited for mental techniques of Yamanaka, then techniques of the Nara, and finally the Akimichi but only to train his body. I think I will also tell them to train him in academy level Jutsus" Third decided before sending ANBU to inform Shikaku and Inoichi.
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About a year and few months later, In the Forest behind Nara mansion.
Three silhouette could be seen jumping from branch to branch. Two teens could be seen surrounding an almost three year old boy, sparring with him. Although it looked absurd, the kid was matching the other two on every move. When the two teens approached the boy to give a final combined attack to defeat him, the teen broke a smoke bomb on a tree branch, filling the tree top with smoke. As the two teens backed off, the kid jumped out from the smoke with a kick aimed at one of the teens. The two teens had antic.i.p.ated that however, and threw shurikens at the kid to obstruct him. However even when, the shurikens struck the body, the kid kept charging towards them, jumping from branch to branch.
"Something seems off, the kid is --" Teen 1
"—behind you, "Plant Style- Vine Entanglement"." The kid called out from behind the Teen 1 he had sneaked up to. While Teen 1 was being bundled up, the kid turned his glowing golden ringed eyes towards the other teen, firing off the Jutsu he had prepared for her.
"Plant Style- Paralysis Thorn Bullets." The kid fired off thorns that struck all four of her limbs, paralyzing them instantly.
"Jun, you jerk, I will fall of this tree!!" Screamed the Teen 2 as she started falling to the ground. However the kid, who turned out to be Jun, caught her midway and placed her softly on the ground. Then he retrieved the other teen who was wrapped up like a mummy with only his eyes and nose showing, and from his expression he seemed to have already given up and wasn"t struggling. After he placed them on the ground, he heard applause and he turned around. Inoichi and Shikaku had jumped down from the top of the trees from where they were watching their spar. Both chuckled at the two teens, the one who was all wrapped up was Soushi Nara and the teen girl who had been paralyzed was Miyabi Yamanaka. Both the teens had been chosen by their clan heads Shikaku and Inoichi respectively to spar against Jun every week to improve his skills, And improved he did. As long as it was in a plant based environment, he could easily match a Chunin or even a special Jonin, and in dire circ.u.mstance could even escape from the clutches of a Jonin, as long as it was an average one, according to their estimates of his performance. All his skills were well beyond a graduate of the academy. But they wanted him to live like a kid while he can and grow like the others of his age will in the academy. They didn"t want to make this kid give up his childhood so Third Hokage had decided to let him live like a normal kid and not make him graduate to a Chunin directly without academy training or make him an ANBU. Although if one were to think objectively, this kid would definitely would flourish in the ANBU. But since all the blood and darkness of the ANBU was not meant for a child, Hokage had made the plan to protect him from all that.
Jun released the vines binding Soushi and removed paralysis of Miyabi"s limbs by reinvigorating them using nature energy. He had become really proficient at handling nature and also had surplus chakra now, incomparable to the time when he first used Plant style. They all waited for Inoichi and Shikaku to reveal their thoughts on their spar.
"Ah, that was hilarious. Soushi and Miyabi, you were defeated like that because you underestimated Jun and didn"t plan ahead." Inoichi commented.
"It"s not that we didn"t plan, but it is that he went beyond our plans. I mean like really, Solid clones, subterfuge, medicines and poisons, Taijutsu of a well-developed Chunin and not to mention his cheat Plant style, which basically gives him a free pa.s.s for stealth attacks. Which of the above do you think an average almost three year old kid has? No to mention he has them all. So troublesome!" Soushi complained while sighing.
"Ah that"s true. But this will teach you to expect the unexpected in all situations. Remember, always plan for the expected, and then plan for the unexpected which would disrupt your plan. We are shin.o.bi, that"s what we ought to do." Shikaku responded
"Ah, that reminds me--" Miyabi said before going up to Jun, and pinching and stretching his cheeks, "—you little devil, you had the guts to paralyze me like that huh. What if I had fallen on my face from the top of that tree? Who would heal my disfigured face then, huh?" She loved pinching and stretching his cheeks, really envious of him too. Only G.o.d knows how he had got it to be softer than those of even girls. And with his light chocolate colored skin and soft black hair like velvet, he would be the focus of girls when he grew up definitely.
"Miyabi-nee shaan! It Hurtssh, it hurtssh. I am shollyy!" Jun apologized, trying to escape from those demonic hands that try to pinch his cheeks at every possible excuse. He didn"t know whether it was punishment or just a chance to play with his cheeks. He finally escaped from those evil hands, under the amused and satisfied smile of Miyabi.
"Miyabi-nee san is too evil. Why do you always target my cheeks like that?" Jun asked with a tone full of hurt.
"Because you deserve it, you little rascal." Miyabi responded in a self-satisfied tone.
"Alright cut it out. Jun, freshen up quick and get ready, The Hyuga have invited us for celebrating the birthday of their clan princess, Hinatsama. We have to attend that." Shikaku remarked
"Yes. You two can rest for today. You all can spar again in a few days, if you are up for it." Inoichi told them as they all walked back. Just as they reached the backyard of the Nara mansion, a blond haired bullet, tackled Jun down,
"Jun Kuunnn!!"