Systematic Shinobi - Chapter 4.2 (Patreon)

Daiki found himself arriving back within the Leaf Village in the early morning. He could have been back earlier, but decided to make camp and rest for a few hours before he did.

…And make a copy of both the instructions of the Electromagnetic Murder ninjutsu and the seal matrix of the chameleon clan summoning scroll.

Something interesting he'd learned about seals, was, that for the most part, one could not actually activate the seal matrix without understanding how the seal worked and triggering the effects with chakra.

Only the very basic of basic seals could be triggered by one who didn't understand how they worked, because the trigger was just that simple and could be activate just by running chakra through it.

It was a bit of a bummer to learn really at first, because, it meant he couldn't just get Naruto shirtless and copy his eight trigrams seal and bam, plop it on himself and find him a Bijuu or something to stuff in there and them gains.

Then again, it made sense, kind of. If one could just copy and use a seal, the Hiraishin wouldn't be so rare, now would it?

Anyway, copying down the matrix of the summoning contract scroll, at least allowed him to study a high level and rare type of seal matrix and expand his own knowledge.

He only understood a fraction of it when he was copying out down, but already, Daiki's head was filled with ideas.

'Perhaps I can etch a seal onto weapons and other items and connect the seal to a storage seal, a weaker version of the summoning seal to have them return to the storage seal after a set period of time.' the boy mused as he made his way through the village towards the Hokage tower.

He didn't exactly have legendary weapons on hand, but, launching tons of weapons from a seal may as well be a jutsu in of its own make.

He could make his very own bootleg Gate of Babylon.

Gate of Shining.

Now that was a sweet and totally original name. His name meant shining after all!

Or maybe Shining Gate would be better?

Granted, there were kinks that needed to be ironed out, a scroll wasn't exactly the best use of that. Perhaps if he tattoo'd the seal on his palm? He could even possibly edit the sealing matrix to add part of the force from the explosive seal, to have the option to basically point and shoot his weapons from it instead of having to throw them, like Tenten.

Further study and experimentation was definitely required on that front.

Either way, he copied them down simply because, he wasn't sure or not if he would be allowed to keep them. Summoning scrolls were incredibly rare after all, and Electromagnetic Murder was a B-rank jutsu, probably worth a pretty penny for sure.

Well anyway, he had the copies, and his name was already on the contract scroll, so even if they were confiscated, he wouldn't really be losing out on much.

It was also a test.

To see how much he could get away with. Would the Hokage take his loot from him?

Seeing as it was Hiruzen, while the possibility was always there, he doubted it. But, the pragmatic thing to do, was cover his bases and test it regardless.

A few minutes later, Daiki arrived at his destination and put those thoughts out of his mind for the moment.
The genin made his way into the Hokage tower and through the bottom floor of the building to the mission admission room.
It seemed it was early enough in the day, that once again the Hokage was in the room. Which saved time, the second he unveiled the summoning scroll, he'd probably have got directed to his office anyway.

"Ah Daiki-kun, back already?" the Sandaime greeted him warmly.

"Yes sir," he stopped in front of the main desk that the Hokage was sat behind and bowed his head respectfully, "It wasn't far to travel and the bandits were easy pickings, they didn't even notice at all."

"Splendid work," Sarutobi praised him, puffing lightly on the pipe hanging from between his lips, "I'll be sure to let the client know, so you can collect your payment."

"Thank you, but before that…" Daiki began.

"Hmm?" the elderly Hokage raised an eyebrow at him.

"There were a few hiccups that the mission details did not account for." he added.

"Is that so?" the Hokage hummed, eyeing him with interest, "What kind of hiccups?"

"The bandits were lead by a missing-nin," Daiki revealed, reaching into his tool pouch and pulling out the bingo book within and flipping to a specific, dog-eared page, "Komaya Gekazu, a former genin of Kumo."

"I see, that would indeed boost the ranking of a mission and I would not send a rookie such as yourself to deal with a missing ninja, especially not alone," Sarutobi leaned forward lightly and read over the entry within the book before looking the boy in the eyes, "I take though, since you are standing here, reporting the success of your mission, he has been taken care of?"

"His sensing abilities were poor, I plastered the hut he was taking residence in with multiple explosive tags, he didn't survive," Daiki explained promptly, "I admit, I was expecting more from him."

"I dare say it's a good thing there wasn't more to him, or you may not be standing here now," the old man shook his head lightly, "You should have returned when you noticed the change in mission parameters." the scolding was light.

Daiki winced lightly, but he'd already prepared his cover story, "I would have, but while spying on them, he revealed a piece of information that prompted me to act."

"Indeed?" Sarutobi mused in return, prompting him to continue.

"He was in possession of a ninjutsu scroll for a B-rank lightning jutsu, but not only that," Daiki continued, "He spoke of a summoning contract scroll that he had discovered hidden in a castle not far away from the outpost he and the bandits had taken over."

The Hokage blinked, that was the only action of surprise he gave, "Truly?" he asked.

Daiki nodded, "I decided to take care of him then and there, then secure the contract scroll myself." he revealed.

Hiruzen sighed, and lifted his hand up to rub the bridge of his nose, "And again, seeing as you are standing here now, I'm sure you were successful," he replied, before shaking his head and lowering his arm, "In future, do not take risks such as this lightly, your life as a shinobi of Konoha has far more worth than a mere B-rank jutsu or summoning scroll."

Daiki blinked in return.

Huh.

He was surprised.

…He was just a run of the mill nobody genin after all. A B-rank jutsu, never mind a summoning scroll was worth far more in the grand scheme of things than some career genin drop out scrub.

At least, that was what he was as far as the village knew.

"If you want, I can pass them over to you now." Daiki put those thoughts out of mind for the moment once more and carried on.

"No, it's fine my boy," his leader waved him off, "You found them, so they are yours to do with as you please."

Wait…what?!

Daiki gaped at the man, while he merely tapped his finger lightly to his chin, "I admit that I am curious as to what summon clan the contract is for." the Sandaime hummed in thought.

"The chameleon clan," Daiki answered on reflex, "The castle itself turned out to have been the boss summon of the clan in disguise, he had been there for fifty years after his last summoner-"

"Koza," Sarutobi finished his sentence for him, "I see, now it's beginning to make sense. We have long wondered what became of the chameleon clan and the boss Shiromari in particular, they have not been active for fifty years now, not since Koza and his men were killed by Tanigakure."

Wow, he caught on really fast. What a smart old fucker.

"Yes," Daiki nodded in confirmation, "It seems the only reason Shiromari approved of me, is because I'm a Konoha shinobi and mentioned that we wiped out Tanigakure in retribution for what they did in the Land of Necks."

"Ah, it's been a long time since I thought of Koza-kun and Shiromari, quite the pair they were," the old man sighed, before chuckling fondly, "Did you know one of my students even based a jutsu on the chameleon clan's abilities when I told him of them?"

"…Jiraiya-sama?" Daiki hedged.

In response, Sarutobi snorted in amusement, "His perverted reputation has even reached the new generation, I'm sure he'd be proud," he chortled lightly before shaking his head, "When you are able to summon Shiromari, but sure to let me know, I'd love to catch up with that old lizard."

"I'll…get right on that," Daiki agreed, finding the tension that had appeared in his shoulders as he approached the room beginning to ease away, "Are you sure it's okay to leave a summoning contract like this with me? A weak nobody?"

"Yes," the Hokage answered immediately and stared Daiki in the eyes, "Let me be clear though, you're hardly weak. Weaker than many other yes, but weak itself? No. You may think lesser of yourself for not gaining a Jonin-sensei, but I'm well aware of the abilities of your graduating class, you were easily within the top ten of your class and you seem to have grown staggeringly fast since then."

"…You think so?" Daiki couldn't help but ask reflexively.

"Your accomplishments so far, speak for themselves, and you are young, so very young, I can easily see you becoming a jonin by time you are twenty," the old man praised him, "Talent is not the be all and end all, drive is far more important and within you I can sense a deep burning flame. That summoning scroll will merely help you on that path, and again, I must add, you were the one that found it, it is yours, do not let anyone else tell you otherwise."

Daiki felt his throat close up with emotion a bit, gratitude filling him at the old mans words, "…Yes.." was all he managed to utter out.

Hiruzen coughed lightly, "Now, about your mission reward," the old man changed the subject, "Did you perhaps bring proof of this Kumo ninja's death at your hands?"

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His figurative pockets were stocked full.

Figurative, because in general it really wasn't a mind blowing amount. But, a ninety-four thousand ryo pay out from the mission, all to himself since he did it alone, plus the one hundred and fifty thousand ryo bounty he collected, on top of the ryo he looted from the bandits after killing them?

He was back to over three hundred thousand ryo again. Specifically, three hundred and thirty eight thousand in total.
Just from one mission.

Before it had taken him some if his left over savings from his orphan stipend, a bunch of D-ranks and one C-rank to get around this much.

Truly, there was a spring in Daiki's step as he left the bright red Hokage tower behind and headed home.

He was incredibly pleased with his earnings, and he felt in general, quite happy. Especially since while Hiruzen was Hokage, he didn't need to worry about turning over his loot and could keep it in the future.

…As long as Hiruzen was Hokage.

He paused in the middle of the busy Konoha street, a pit forming in his stomach, 'He's going to die in less than five months.' Daiki grimaced at the thought.

And was surprised, at how angry that made him feel suddenly. Say what you will about some of the mans more questionable choices, but, even with the few times he'd interacted with the Hokage, he'd always treated Daiki well, better than well even going by his latest meeting.

And the old man had instilled a new confidence in him.

…But, grating as it was, 'There's nothing I can do for him.' he clenched his fists tight, before hopping up onto the roof of a shop and roof hopping his way back to his apartment.

To do anything for the man, would involve showing off knowledge of things he could not know. And he would definitely get interrogated then.

Hiruzen would definitely let him live despite all the knowledge he'd gained, probably. But…the likes of Danzo? He would find out what knowledge Daiki possessed one way or another…

And then he'd be killed for knowing about the truth of things, such as the Uchiha Massacre.

'For now, I just need to focus on getting stronger!' Daiki smacked his cheeks to make himself focus.

He arrived in his apartment not long later, threw on his weights and made a beeline straight for training ground sixty nine.

Thankfully, he had a lot to focus on training wise right now. And enough money that he could focus on his training without having to worry about that factor in his life for the next at least month, maybe two.