As his mother's fingers run through his hair, his eyes narrow into slits as the corners of his lips curl.

"When you left, Madame Yan sent a ninja back to gather us up and moved us to a new location. The ninja told us that you would be undergoing a selection process, and If you had talent you would undergo a three-year experiment." She pauses for a moment as she looks down at her son.

"After you passed the selection they moved the parents of the five here, saying that if word got out about the enhanced children, someone might try and capture us to threaten you. Moving us closer to the capitol building we would be safe, and it was easier to go see you every month." She smiles a bit "Those clothes are something I bought for you."

Listening to his mother's words he feels released, he had no idea Kiri would protect his mom with the reputation it has.

Sitting up he looks around "You paint?"

Clapping her hands she stands up with a wide smile. "Because I didn't have to work anymore I had a lot of time. Soon I discovered I had a talent for painting."

"Can I see?" Pointing at an unfinished painting he looks at his mother.

"Sure!" Walking to a cabinet she grabs some paint supplies.

Back in his room, eight clones stand around a bathtub as it fills with water.

"The tub is only big enough for five of us to practice."

"That just means three of us will have to do other things."

"Two can practice Taijutsu?"

"Fool! How can we be the same person with your rotting brain! Taijutsu is too loud and it will bother main bodies bonding time."

"He's right, besides one of us need to regain chakra and make more clones."

"Don't forget the ones who are practicing chakra control need to periodically release to share experiences."

"Ok, so five will practice chakra control, two will regen chakra and make clones."

Suddenly a clone raises his hand. "I'm going to practice sensory techniques, too many people have disappeared right in front of us today."

All the clones nod and move into position. Five around the tub, two sit on the bed, and one sits on the floor. The ones around the tub begin pushing their hands into the water, the ones on the bed regen chakra, and the one on the ground sends chakra towards his brain to heighten his senses. The ultimate goal is to develop a sense to detect chakra.

Because they have practiced like this before, it runs very smoothly. When someone has inspiration on chakra control they release and the clones on the bed make a new clone to replace them, becoming like a self-developing Ai running five simulations at once. And like that, a couple hours pass.

Watching his mom paint he has a smile on his face.

Suddenly she puts down her brush. "You still have to rest for tomorrow honey, don't get complacent or you will get in trouble."

"Ok mom, I'm going to be leaving at sunrise tomorrow. Can you make breakfast in the morning?"

"So early? Don't worry I will" putting away the painting supplies she begins to clean up.

Seeing this Zitsu heads back into his room. Closing the door he sees two clones sitting in the tub, fully nude. Two clones are still on the bed and five clones on the floor.

As he was watching his mom paint he got a steady supply of information on water walking and sensory technique. The sensor technique isn't even close to working yet, but you gotta start somewhere.

Sitting down he begins rotating his chakra to work on shape manipulation and increase his overall chakra capacity.

After an entire night of practice, he rises to his feet. "I can't leave you guys here in case my mom finds you guys."

Looking around the entire room and bathroom is filled with clones. After they all nod they cross their fingers.

"Kai"x18

The clones disappear and Zitsukani closes his eyes.

Level 3

[Health 110]

[Chakra 132/260]

[Stamina 84/120]

[20 Points]

[Taijutsu 3, Ninjutsu 4, Genjutsu 0]

[Ninjutsu cost reduced by 4%]

Opening his eyes he walks out of the room, as he does the smell of food hits him. A smile blooms on his face as he sees his mom at the stove cooking in an apron.

"Oh you're up, I was going to come get you. It's almost done, have a seat." She continues to flip something that looks like pancakes.

Sitting down at the table he sees something that looks like sausage patties and something that looks like orange juice.

After a few seconds, she puts a plate of hotcakes on the table.

"Itadakimasu!" grabbing some sausage and hot cakes he begins to eat.

Watching her son eat she sits down and eats as well.

After eating his fill he stands up "Ok mom, I have to go!"

"Ok, stay safe" standing up she gives Zitsu a hug before clearing the table.

Heading out the door he thinks about getting the others before shaking his head. Heading down the stairs he waits at the entrance of the building.

After waiting for over twenty minutes his eyes grow cold "Tsk" with a sneer he walks off.

Arriving at the training center he sees Mangetsu already in the pool swinging his sword.

Noticing someone enter the building Mangetsu glances over for a moment, but says nothing and continues to practice.

Walking to the side of the pool he takes a deep breath "I want to learn to use the sword!" Yelling at the top of his lungs he catches Mangetsu's attention.

"What did I say yesterday?" Mangetsu stops practicing and looks over.

Zitsu smiles. Sending chakra to his feet he strides forward. As his foot touches water he continues to move forward.

Seeing him walk on water Mangetsu's brows raise and he whistles a bit. "Not bad kid!" Nodding his head he points at the swords on the wall "Go grab a sword."

Hearing his words he runs over to the sword wall. Its covered with all kinds of swords. Longswords, shortsword, claymores, bastard swords, buster swords, scimitars, rapiers, Khopesh, Shotel, Butterfly sword, and many more.

Focusing chakra into his arms he grabs a buster sword, but can't even get it to budge. Shaking his head he grabs a katana.

Walking onto the water with his sword he looks at Mangetsu.

"What do you know about the sword?" Mangetsu looks at the Katana in his hands.

"Nothing" He shakes his head.

Mangetsu looks at Zitsu's purple eyes and smiles. "The practicing of swords is called Kenjutsu. A single sword can cut any jutsu, but only if you are skilled enough." Lifting up his sword he slashes down.

"When you swing your sword you are using every muscle in your body and chakra. Chakra is divided in two, physical and spiritual. So if you increase your physical strength your chakra will increase, it's difficult to do so most people ignore it." Looking Zitsu up and down he begins to think.

"Swing the sword around and get a feel for the sword, teaching you anything right now will be a waste." Turning around he walks away and continues to practice. Doing downward slashes, cross cuts, lunging cuts, and a variety of thing.

Pulling the sword from the sheath he smiles "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." He fastens the sheath horizontally on his back, if he places it vertically he wouldn't be able to pull it out because he's too short.

Holding the blade with both arms and filling them with chakra he lifts the blade above his head. Focusing he tries to interject chakra into the blade. Because his control has improved a lot he actually succeeds.

The blade glows a faint blue as his face turns series. "HAA!"

Swinging down with everything he has the blade slightly splits the water causing it to quake. Seeing the result he smiles.

"Fool, I could have killed you thirteen times before you made that strike. Don't try to do flashy things and just swing the sword while feeling how your body moves." Mangetsu shakes his head.

Hearing his words he calms down. Retracting his chakra he swings the sword again, this time focusing on how his body moves, following Mangetsu's advice.

Up, down, left, right, and diagonal. Following his advice, he feels how his body moves with each cut. He notices that most of the time his arms only decide the direction the sword travels, and his back, core, and legs are doing most of the work.

Realizing this his arms relax a little and he continues to swing, letting his body do the work. Closing his eyes he notices his stamina draining faster than ever.

Seeing this Mangetsu nods. "He's on the right track, but is still wrong."

Three hours later he sitting on the side of the pool panting, completely exhausted. Closing his eyes he check his stamina.

Level 3

[Health 110]

[Chakra 23/261]

[Stamina 4/122]

[20 Points]

He feels excited as he tries to catch his breath. After resting for a few minutes the door opens.

The other kids walk into the building joking and laughing, Chojuro included.

Seeing this Zitsu frowns. Wasn't he supposed to be shy and timid? Thinking for a moment his eyes go wide.

"Did he change because I was there so he learned how to socialize?" he mumbles to himself.

He furrows his brow as he looks at the kids.

"Is this the first visible change I've made?"