Chapter 28 - 28. Reunited

Monari just rented a small room to stay the night and started compiling all the information she had gathered about all significant shinobi who lived or were still alive. She knew someone was trying to spy on her, and she knew it wasn't the Hokage. He wasn't dumb enough to be doing something like this.

She wanted whoever this person was to make a move, so she could interrogate him and get some information. But that person was proving to be a coward. ​​

"Hmm, this shop wasn't here last time. I must test it so Shiro can later come to the best place to eat." She responsibly went to a ramen shop. It was not long since it was opened and a young man ran it. The shop was called Ichiraku Ramen.

"One bowl of your most famous Ramen, please." She sat down.

The owner of the shop, Teuchi, first paused seeing her beauty, but quickly resumed his professional duty. "One seaweed-topping Ramen coming right up."

"Boy, do you have dumplings too?" She asked normally.

Teuchi's face contorted, ~Boy? I am 25~

But, how can anybody know she was old enough to be a grandma by now.

"No, we don't serve dumplings at the moment," Teuchi replied.

Monari turned sad, "Well, it's your loss. I recommend you start giving dumplings as a side dish too. I know someone who is very rich and loves dumplings. If you can make him happy, he will give you lots and lots of money."

Teuchi was young, so of course, money would entice him, "Really? Who is he?"

"Just a lord of a very rich village. He might come in a few years, you have enough time to develop a tasty dumpling recipe." She said and waited for the Ramen.

"TEUCHI!... GET ME MY USUAL!..." A boy ran in and took a seat.

It was Obito. He noticed Monari and cheerfully talked, "AH... It's you... Thank you for that kunai... But I don't even know your name."

"I am Monari Nidama." She replied.

"What? Aren't you an Uchiha?"

She sighed, "You don't become an Uchiha by just having the word in the name. I have a long story. You tell me about yourself. Did you get assigned to a team?"

Obito widely smiled, "I got in the same team as Rin hehe... Ah, why don't you come with me? I'm sure Rin will love to see you again."

"Hmm, who is your sensei?" She asked.

"I don't know much about him, his name is Minato Namikaze. He's Lord Third's student I heard, his name is very famous. WAAH... this is the best Ramen ever." Obito told her everything while eating Ramen.

He ate his meal quickly and got up, "Let's go, Lady Nidama." Obito held her hand and tried to pull her along.

*THUD*

But she was far too strong for a kid to move. He fell comically with his legs forward and arm still holding Monari's hand.

"You are too weak, boy. You need to practice harder than anyone if you really want to become the Hokage. Let's go now." She said, and once again held him by his collar, to pull him along like a lifeless ragdoll.

Obito screamed in fright the whole way.

...

"You are late." Rin pouted when he arrived.

Obito shyly rubbed his messy hair and apologised. Then he turned to his other friend/opponent Kakashi to bicker.

"Ah, thank you for the gift, uhm miss…" Rin quickly bowed and thanked her.

Monari ruffled her hair, "It's okay, just use it wisely. Call me big sister Monari if you want."

She felt the ashen haired boy looking at her. She went to him and patted his head too, "Good child, your father was probably one of the only ninjas in the village who had the guts to use his brain and save his comrades instead of completing the mission. Human life is always more valuable than some mission. And those who can't even save their friends when given an opportunity don't deserve to be called a Shinobi. I wish you luck that you will become a ninja who uses his brain, not just muscles."

Monari then turned to look at where Minato was about to appear. Then out of nowhere, he popped up.

~Hmm, some kind of a teleportation jutsu?~ She deduced.

Minato was surprised to see her here, but he felt better knowing he won't have to look for her anywhere now.

"Lady Nidama. Good to see you here, you can watch us if you want. I will be taking their test." He addressed her respectfully.

Without saying anything, she just went to the side, clapped her hands and immediately the ground rose and formed a bench for her.

Minato then proceeded to conduct the Bell Test. The test was for each student to take one of the two bells from their soon-to-be teacher within a set time limit in order to pass. Since there were three students, it would seem that one of them will be sent back to the Academy no matter what. This, however, was a ruse to test out whether the three can work as a team.

Obito being ever excited, charged first and got beaten badly. Slowly they started to team up and corner Minato. But all their efforts were in vain.

Obito fell to the ground, tired and hungry. "Ha... this is impossible. You are too fast, sensei."

Minato smilingly denied, "No, you just need to work harder."

"We know you are called Yellow Flash of the Leaf. Nobody can be faster than you. I bet even Sister Nidama can't take those bells." Obito argued.

Minato, seeing the perfect opportunity, turned to her, "Do you want to try, Lady Nidama?"

*WOOSH*

Even less than a tenth of a second, that's all it took. Minato didn't even see the blurry figure.

*TING TING*

Monari had the bells in her hand and played with them using her fingers. Minato seemed shocked. He didn't know how she moved so fast, the obvious conclusion he could think of was she also used a similar jutsu as he does.

"Do you... also, use a jutsu like mine?" He asked her.

She chuckled. *WOOSH*

In an instant, she appeared in front of him, standing just 3 feet away from him, handing him the bells. "No, this is my pure physical speed. Shocked, right? Haha... this world is much more dangerous and mysterious than you can imagine, Minato Namikaze."

He took the bells. But his mind was in a flurry. To achieve this much physical speed one must have an inhuman body too. But Monari didn't have some crazy overgrowing muscles. This meant her body was inherently this strong, from the bones.

"Well, it's my time to leave. Goodbye, kids. Make sure you survive this war of big men, where you might have to fight soon. Be a shinobi who uses their head instead of blindly following orders" she waved at the three tired kids.

Minato spoke up before she left. "I'm sorry for what happened to your family and what the previous Hokage did. If I ever find 'him', I will tell you about it first,"

Monari paused and replied, "Don't make empty promises, Konoha Shinobi. We all know, when the time will come, you will choose to lie and betray me in a second, for this village of yours. Admit it, you Shinobi don't see each other as fellow humans, instead, you first notice the clan, the village, their strength. That has always been the case and also the cause of conflict"

She then vanished from her place.

Minato was left standing there with conflicted emotions. He knew that what she said was absolutely correct to some extent.

...

A few years later,

Unknown Cavern,

Shiroken was still physically unconscious, but his mind was a hub of activity. He was feeling new things, new powers. Slowly, as his power increased and he started to reach closer to Minoshiki's power, his speed of absorbing the Natural Energy increased.

But, he was not just absorbing the energy of Minoshiki, also his body's experiences. The fighting, the use of various ninjutsu. He was getting them all, except his memories.

However, he was confused about something else, ~Hmm, what is this weird thing keeping an eye on me. It does look humanoid but I'm certain it's not a human~

He had noticed this strange white creature inside the ground, keeping an eye on him.

~I must deal with it as soon as I wake up~ He decided, not knowing that the creature in the ground was thinking the same thing.

He focused on looking out. He was trying to develop the ability to focus on one direction and see far away locations too, instead of seeing things around in a radius.

"Ah, what is going on here? So many adults have surrounded two kids?" Shiroken came upon a scene while randomly looking around.

"WAIT!" He suddenly sensed something familiar in the girl. His heart became happy immediately.

Finally, after so long, he finally found one of them. ~ISOBU?~

"HAAAA..." But Shiroken saw the ashen haired boy punching the girl with Isobu in her body with lightning. It made a hole in her chest.

~NO, NO... I can't let you die, Isobu. There is no telling when you will reappear~

Shiroken focused on the closest tree to that location and controlled it with all his might. The tree immediately grew taller than any tree in the jungle, and its roots spread out everywhere.

He made the sand go soft and the girl's body disappeared in it. In there, Shiroken sent one root directly into her heart, because as long as she lived, Isobu would too.

~ISOBU! CAN YOU HEAR ME?~ Shiroken tried to communicate.

There was no sound. Shiroken continued to move the girl's body underground, towards his location while calling the name.

~ISOBU!~

"SHIROOO?!" a scared and familiar voice came back.

"YES, YES! It's me, your Shiro." Shiroken's voice bloomed immediately, sounding happy and tearful. He finally found a lost part of his family, after so many years.

Isobu was also very excited and happy, "REALLY? YOU ARE OKAY? AH! I'M SO HAPPY! You saved me... but how are you doing this?"

"Hehe, I have grown very strong, Isobu. I can control nature like it's a toy. But, I am still stuck inside that crystal, it will take me a few more years to completely destroy Minoshiki. Until then, I will have you to talk." Shiroken said joyfully.

Isobu affirmed with his voice, "Yes, Yes, we will be together forever now. But... don't hurt this girl, I was forcefully sealed in her by the enemies of her village, so she can be sent to her village and throw me out to cause rampage."

Shiroken felt sad for this child, "The Shinobi world has truly gone insane. Sending children to war. I will straighten it all up once I'm out, I will have the needed strength for that too. Ah, by the way, did you meet anyone else?"

Isobu chuckled, "I was in Kirigakure, Saiken is there too. Hehe, he only talks about you and his milk farm. He misses you a lot, and worries about you too much, anxious while thinking if you are even alive."

Shiroken teared up, "Just a little more, we will be together once again."

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[A/N: The time to get out has arrived. Shiroken will be OP for the world of Shinobi, but he will still have to fear the Otsutsuki because if they came in large numbers, his might will not be enough, but that's a threat for the future, right now, he gotta get his family together and bury some bodies.]

[You can see Obito, the team Minato, Rin and Kakashi, and Isobu on my Discord - https://discord.gg/DgHkrAn OR see them on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mister_immortal_novel]

NO STONE! NO HAPPY MONKE!

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Special thanks to *Douglas Flower* *Umar Latif* *Julian Rocamora* *Darrien Steely* *Franklin Walley*

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