Celestial Path Chapter 5 (Patreon)

There was a moment of silence as Anko stared at me incredulously and I... I wanted to phase into the ground die from a misused Mole In The Ground jutsu at this point.

But as Anko's incredulous look faded as her brain rebooted, I smiled wryly and asked. "I don't suppose you could just forget what you saw and I don't hold a grudge for following me?"

And Anko raised an eyebrow and retorted flatly. "You have the fucking Mokuton. The bloodline of the first Hokage, the strongest Kage and ninja to ever live... Yeah, no way in hell am I forgetting that!"

I facepalmed and mentally screamed with my feet actually making thudding noises as I kicked the ground in a mini tantrum. Because I wasn't fucking ready!

I thought this abandoned ass training ground only Genin and Academy Students used would be fine for me to mess around in! I didn't count on Anko being a fucking weirdo and trailing after a random academy student she mooched off of!

"So what happens now?" I asked dryly.

And Anko actually hesitated before biting her lip and shaking her head. "Sorry kid, but you are coming with me, I will have your little Uchiha girlfriend told about your training being canceled as you got called in for something but yeah come on with me."

I sat there... And I gave her a long look before I decided to be an asshole troll and I asked. "Where are you taking me?" And even as I said that I invigorated my Chakra with the tree behind me groaning as wood swallowed most of my body and leaving only my head.

"Hey wait, what are you doing kid?" Anko asked holding up her hands in worry at seeing me being swallowed up by the tree.

And without a moment of hesitation, I took a deep breath and spoke deeply. "I am becoming the Lorax. I refuse to be taken to the breeding pits you guys took from Kumo... I shall become one with the tree!"

I finally won... I saw Anko panicking as she shouted and flared her chakra powerfully in rapid odd thumps that pushed the forest grass flat around her. "What the fuck is a Lorax? Wait, Akari!"

But I had sealed up the wood of the tree. I was now one with the tree. 

Encased in total darkness within a large 'NUT' of wood I held up a hand back in the Ram sign and I decided... Fuck it, let's go even further beyond.

The 'NUT' of solid circular wood sunk through the tree trunk and into the ground with chakra pushing my sealed-up, air-tight ball into the ground and then as I pulsed my chakra I found out that I could feel the Earth above me being a good five or meters above my head.

"Go Katamari ball!" I whispered as I made to remind myself that although I was immortal... Suffocating like a dumbass here in this orb would be a painful way to die my body healed itself.

But I was away... Rolling under the ground as I quickly learned how to use the 'NUT' to burrow through the ground silently like an ashamed fart in the wind only to hit someone far behind them as I left behind me.

The mother of all gopher hole tunnels of softened earth leading to where I was going.

But as I got a good couple dozen meters away I grunted as I swung forward in the 'NUT' as I abruptly stopped.

"Uh-oh!" I muttered as my wooden vessel shuddered as I felt foreign chakra surround my vessel and then I was pushed downward into the vessel as I was abruptly pulled upwards out of the fucking ground.

And as I pulsed my chakra outwards to get an idea of where the hell I was. I shuddered as I felt a large hand of iron-hard stone wrapped around my vessel of wood that was filled with foreign chakra and a void of anything else before my chakra hit the ground to my senses a bit below.

Which meant that I was being held up in the air by the earth jutsu that had obviously got me.

"Which means I am boned." I groaned before a series of knocking rang out on my vessel and keeping to the bit I flexed my chakra and a small door/hole formed on the 'NUT' that looked like the door that would be on a clock that would have a bird or something come out when it rang out the hours.

 The small door opened up with a creek and a new female voice spoke carefully. "Akari... Are you in there?" 

And I responded in a dull deadpan. "No, there is no Akari... There is only the Lorax now."

A sigh rang out before the female voice said. "Akari please just come out. You aren't in trouble yet..." 

After a moment I sighed as I knew what little fun I could have was over so with my hand still in the Ram sign I controlled the wood surrounding me to open up around the door I had already made.

And as light and fresh air streamed in, I saw that I had actually made a bit of distance but as I took in my surroundings my lips twitched as Anko had fucking cheated.

"Three Anbu? Is that really necessary!?" I demanded as I looked at the grinning face of Anko who stuck her tongue out at me shamelessly.

The woman who seemed to be in charge of this squad coughed and said. "Akari, please step out of the wood construct. We need to speak with you now." 

And knowing that with the anbu here I was in serious trouble I nodded and slowly climbed out of the capsule. when I saw the five-plus meter drop from my capsule to the ground I just fell down and rolled with the impact.

Once I rolled up to my feet with a slight groan at feeling the slight ache in my feet, knees, and shoulder go away after a couple of moments I looked around and saw I was surrounded by three figures wearing completely covered robes and masks over their faces not exposing a lick of flesh.

I held up my hands in surrender and the woman who seemed to be the leader of the squad said calmly. "Please don't make a scene... I will be taking you to the Hokage's office for him to be briefed about this finding."

I slowly nodded and I couldn't help but look over at Anko and asked quickly before I could be taken away. "Anko why the hell did you follow me?" 

To which Anko blinked and said bluntly. "I thought you were going to kill yourself practicing lightning elemental training on your own by giving yourself an irregular heartbeat."

My face at hearing that... 

Hearing how I got fucking outed because someone thought I may accidentally kill myself messing around with lightning was just a kick to the balls. 

And I wasn't even afforded time to react as the female Anbu in front of me placed her hand on my shoulder and my vision blurred as I was jerked through the air at high speed for the next couple of minutes with my eyes being unable to see beyond the nauseating blur as the anbu all but flash banged me with a surprise Shunshin that I wasn't at all ready for dammit.

And just to be a spitful cherry on the shit pie that was today the Celestial Grimoire shook and reached for the stars within and grabbed one of the dimmer stars with my mind filling with its information... And honestly, I was fucking ecstatic as I read it, as it wasn't something making more durable for a change!

[Mystic Agility] [Your body is naturally enhanced with magic that improves your agility, allowing you to more easily move with grace and speed. With this effect alone, you can move far faster, taking long leaps with each step and gliding back to the ground. Alternatively, by actively pushing magic into the ability you can levitate at running speeds. Ignoring such things as rough terrain and hot ground.]

But even as I absorbed all that information I was busy swallowing down the bit of motion sickness from the anbu dragging me across the village at breakneck speeds. But thankfully the woman gave me a minute in understanding as she said calmly. "It was a longer us of the Shunshin so take a minute, it can be rough the first times riding along with someone."

I shook my head and took a deep breath and said bluntly. "I am fine... Let's get this over with." 

One of the other anbu that sounded and had a male physique under his robes piped up quietly. "Relax kid. Cat may be blunt, but you aren't in trouble so calm down." 

Now that I looked at the squad leader's mask... I could kinda see the cat in the mask?

Yeah not really, these anbu masks were a pain in the ass to understand what they signified honestly.

I was quickly led into the large round Hokage building and as I walked in, I shivered feeling something like a barrier washing over my form. Then I noticed the anbu were looking at me intensely before ever so slightly relaxing and continuing on and I relaxed that barrier was probably a youkai detector or something.

The anbu then escorted me to a small sitting room with no windows and the leader of the anbu squad said simply. "Please sit down and pick up one of the books or something and keep yourself busy. I must go debrief the Lord Hokage."

I sighed and looked around at the plain little stack of boring as-hell books about the Land of Fire's history and more recent economic brochures... I was this close to trying to learn how to use Dust Release to really fuck with these people after they left me alone with the door closing and audibly locking behind them.

"Wait... Do those dumbasses realize, this whole building is made out of wood along with the door?" I mused to myself and a cough rang out and I woodenly looked over to the side and saw that a portrait on that wall that had depicted some kanji had moved slightly to show one of my previous anbu watchers watching blatantly through a fucking peephole.

-

Swiftly moving through the halls of the Hokage building, the Anbu Cat. Or outside the mask known as Yugao Uzuki quickly reached the Hokage's main office and once she did so, she flashed several hand signs and several alternating chakra flares as a signal to the guards poised to strike her at a dozen different place to allow her emergency entry.

A male voice then called. "Come in then." And Yugao quickly opened the door without hesitation and strode into the Hokage's office.

A man was sitting at the desk, with bright yellow hair and lively blue eyes he sat there with a hard glint in his eyes as he looked at the cat-masked anbu and barked out quickly in a rush. "What happened? Did another Kitsune go after my daughter? Or did Kumo send more Bolt agents into the Land of Fire?" 

Yugao standing still reported calmly. "Lord Hokage, a natural user of the Mokuton has been found within the village."

And Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage blinked in surprise at hearing that. Wasn't their daughter trying to burn down half the village in a prank that went too far? It wasn't another village testing the Land of Fire's border with the rising unrest?

Hell, it wasn't even that blasted three millennia-old Kappa who regularly fought Jiraiya for the right to peep into the women's baths?

The Fourth Hokage brushed a hand down his face and after a moment asked. "So did one of those old Senju take some drugs and visit the red light district or something?"

Cat's face twitched under her mask with her form not giving any expression away at the crass words before she reported bluntly. "According to Anko, the boy is a civilian-born orphan or something to that effect. I sent Honey Badger to pull his file at the Academy while Mantis watched him in one of the waiting rooms as he was caught using the Mokuton on one of the training grounds by Anko who followed him after mooching a meal off him."

"Hmm, so maybe the Mokuton is actually something of a lottery then... Fine, we can let him stew for a bit."

There was a moment of silence as the Fourth Hokage looked past the anbu before nodding and saying. "I understand... Let's wait for Honey Badger to bring his file so I can check his background and then I will speak with to get his measure. But in the meantime, if he is in the academy, get the paperwork to kick his placement up to Class A if he isn't already." 

-

I had decided to just meditate in place on one of the room's low couches and I was getting close to falling asleep actually before I heard the door audibly unlock and open with the cat-masked anbu standing there and calling out. "The Hokage is ready to see you. Please follow me."

And without a word, she turned away with her robe billowing slightly with the movement as she turned on her heel and was already walking away leaving the door ajar for me to leave freely.

I quickly followed the Anbu through the halls of the Hokage building and although a few ninja's and kunoichi looked at me with curiosity about how I was being led by an anbu they didn't say anything... Nor did the cat mask-wearing Anbu.

So I kept my own silence until I got to the Hokage's office and I couldn't help but make a joke. "Sooo any chance the Hokage is going to eat me or something?" 

But Cat didn't dignify me with an answer as I felt her flare her chakra before another female voice spoke up clearly through the door. "Come in." 

The anbu opened the door and stepped aside and as she did so... I blinked as the person sitting at the desk of the Hokage desk didn't have blond hair like I expected. It's occupants didn't have aging grey or dark hair like I thought Hiruzen Sarutobi would have had either.

I stood in confusion as I looked at a crimson-haired beauty sat proudly within the seat of the Hokage and I knew who it was... But I also knew for a fact that Minato Namikaze was the hokage, that wasn't the Hokage, that was his wife.

Kushina Uzumaki...

"Ahhh, are we early or something? Where is the Hokage?" I asked in confusion?"

Kushina's face twitched with a visible tick mark of a vein popping on her eyebrow as she looked at me with annoyance before she said 'calmly'. "Young man I know you are a bit of a joker but this no time for games. Now we need to speak about your future and-"

I coughed as I cut her off as I retorted. "Look... It's really hard to take you seriously when you are wearing a henge for an admittedly beautiful red-haired woman when I know you are a man Lord Hokage."

The room went deathly silent.

I could actually hear my own heartbeat with how utterly silent the room went after my words and I shivered feeling like blades were aimed at my vital points as the disguised Hokage stiffened and then she looked down at her hands and then back up to myself. Down to her hands and then herself.

Then she made some weird hand sign movements that I knew weren't jutsu hand signs that I didn't know the meaning off and then I felt foreign chakra touching my mind... Before washing off as I blinked and remembered the perk I got yesterday.

The 'Minds Eye' Which made me immune to illusions... 

This meant that this Hokage... Was actually Kushina Uzumaki and her husband was skivving off work or something!

"My Genjutsu just washes off him, Lord Hokage... It just doesn't take hold at all, it's like trying to put a genjutsu on one of Tsukuyomi's progeny."

Kushina literally facepalmed with her rocking back and forth with a groan as she looked at me past her hands with annoyance and I shifted feeling awkward as I asked. "Am I in trouble... Again?"