Chapter 31: New Recruits and Journey

Chapter 31: New Recruits and Journey

__________ POV Narration__________

Ken and Saburo's Clones continued dashing from tree to tree, with the Blind Swordsman adjusting his speed and allowing the clones to keep up with him.

They eventually stopped in the middle of a clearing, with Saburo looking at Ken with a curious gaze through many pairs of eyes.

"So, now that we are away from that mess... What does your organisation have to offer, Red Dot?" One of Saburo's clones stepped forward, who had been acting as an Anbu Captain previously.

"First off, call me Ken. That moniker is not something I actually go by..." Ken sighed as he sat down a bit, speaking in an even tone with Saburo.

"Second of all, my organization is still quite new, and growing, it hasn't even made an appearance in the world as of now." Ken didn't bother lying or sugarcoating the state of his 'organization'.

"So we're talking about a fledgling group of nameless shinobi?..." Saburo's tone sounded a bit less impressed.

"We aren't exclusively recruiting former shinobi... Plenty of our recruits are just former orphans that we deemed talented enough to learn."

Ken wasn't exactly discouraged, he had already decided that Saburo was going to join him, so he wasn't exactly stressed out about impressing the Strawman with the state of his organisation.

'He can either prove to be a great asset or a liability. If he refuses to join, or his demands are too annoying, then I will kill him and all of his clones.

If he joins, then all the better. His technique does seem extremely useful for reconnaissance.'

"... Former orphans? Well, I guess that's certainly a way to build up a loyal following... Say, how many people are there currently in this organization?"

"Adjusting to development speed, and some information that my right hand provided, there should currently be around 16 people, 15 of which are in training."

Ken remembered Tosho mentioning that he had found a dilapidated orphanage to recruit from, so the Blind Swordsman expected even more people to be recruited on his next time checking up with Tosho.

"That doesn't sound quite as promising as what I had in mind..." Saburo seemed wholly disappointed now.

'The only reason I'm still even talking to this man is that he is truly powerful enough to build something great...

In the future, he will certainly build something worth joining, but I also need support in the short term.' The Strawman scratched his chin a few times, weighing his options.

"I can see you aren't quite as satisfied with what you're hearing." Ken decided to just call out the Strawman on his indecisiveness.

"I won't lie to you, Ken. I expected a lot more from someone like you, but you did say it's a new organization."

"Hmm, I can understand a bit of hesitation. Maybe I can help convince you further. Currently, I am close to 11 years old, my current strength should speak for itself." Ken decided to attract Saburo with his talent instead, seeing as his organization wasn't proving to be enough.

Saburo and all of his clones seemed to start choking instantly when hearing that. Any composure that the Strawman might've had vanished completely.

He studied Ken for a few seconds, and now he could see it.

Ken was still short by adult standards, he was also skinny by adult standards, even if he was well-defined.

In retrospect, one could still guess Ken's age from his appearance. But his raspy voice, scars, and overall demeanour made it absolutely impossible for anyone to guess his age.

'To think... To think that the one to bring a village to its knees would be a child...'

Saburo still remembered seeing Ken coldly ripping people apart, how his tail and claws cut through everyone who even got close to him.N0v3lTr0ve served as the original host for this chapter's release on N0v3l--B1n.

'If he is already this strong... Then he even has a chance to become the next god of shinobi, doesn't he?'

"I would ask for further proof... But I doubt someone like you would have any identity documents relating to any nation." Saburo smiled with a glint in his eyes. Ken just nodded, not bothering to say anything more after confirming his age.

'Since he's so young, doesn't that mean I can take advantage of his lack of experience and end up leading this organization?

No, I can think about that later, he doesn't seem especially inexperienced in the ways of the world either.'

"I agree then. Just because I want to see how much you are able to grow in the future. If your organization grows large enough to rival other villages, then that's also good..." Saburo extended his hand, and Ken shook it without any hesitation.

"You're officially one of the leaders of this organization and the one in charge of all research. I hereby give you the right to help me come up with a name..." Ken crossed his arms and spoke in a resolute, confident tone.

An outsider wouldn't even notice just how shamelessly the blind swordsman was pushing his work onto Saburo if they listened to his tone. His confidence made it look as if he was rewarding Saburo in some way.

'I guess he really is still a child... Well, I can still work with this.' Saburo was too flabbergasted to speak for a while, and Ken continued inside.

"I guess I'll come up with a few possible names by the time we arrive at the location of our main base..." The Strawman could only relent, not willing to call out his new leader on his shamelessness.

"Is this place to your liking, Ken?" Another version of Saburo walked up to the group from inside the room, behind him were another two dozen clones.

"Oh, finally speaking to the original, huh? This place is much nicer than I expected." Ken said as he turned his head towards the one that had stepped forward.

From what the blind swordsman could feel, the original Saburo looked much the same as his clones did, he was however dressed in casual attire, and not wearing a headband of any kind.

The original Saburo also seemed to be about as much Chakra as a High-Level Jonin, though Ken had no way of knowing how good he really was when it came to technique, he could just assume that he was at least as good as his clones were.

"I am indeed the original, though I didn't think anyone would be able to catch on to my technique so easily..." Saburo tilted his head and smiled warmly at his new leader.

The Strawman instantly decided to start sucking up to Ken. But it didn't seem to be having much of an effect...

As well faked as his smile was, Ken still didn't react to it in any visible way.

"I am just special. I doubt anyone would be able to tell you apart from your clones under normal circumstances..." Ken was quite sure that he was speaking the truth.

He was also quite sure that the elders of the Grass Village actually thought that one of the Anbu Clones was actually Saburo.

From the number of 'people' that had come to greet him at the door, Ken could also observe that Saburo had kept quite a few clones hidden from the village.

'Special huh... I guess he truly is special in more ways than one. His talent is quite unheard of...'

"Under normal circumstances, my technique would be flawless... Yet you also managed to find this place with relative ease..."

"That's inevitable, my powers as a sensor are a lot greater than any Shinobi I've ever met. I would say that is actually my strongest point." Ken nodded his head, looking to reassure the Strawman that his technique wasn't exactly faulty in any way.

"Understood..." 'That is his strongest point? So that transformation, coupled with his skill in taijutsu and kenjutsu are not even his main powers?'

"Now, let us start heading out, have you already grabbed everything you needed from this place?" The Blind Swordsman asked as he tapped the tip of his shoe on the ground a few times.

He could feel quite a lot of interesting things residing inside that laboratory, including a mound of corpses that Ken assumed were Shinobi. The Blind Swordsman was still quite unwilling to harm innocent

'Even if they were civilians, I won't be getting into a fight with Saburo over this. He's too useful, and they are already dead, so it can't be helped. I'll just make sure his victims are criminals and other Shinobi in the future.'

"I have already prepared everything that is needed. I don't wish to destroy this place however, I hope that is ok with you." Saburo seemed happy to leave as soon as possible, but he still wanted to keep the laboratory intact.

"No reason to destroy it. Seems like it could be useful in the future as well." Ken seemed to be quite ok with it, he had already not destroyed the entrance, so it wasn't like he was going to have a change of heart.

"Let's get going... We still need to go and get Akira."

"The thief?"

"Yep, he is also a recruit."

And just like that, Ken and Saburo started heading off.

Saburo's clones now were somewhere around 50 in total, so the organization's numbers were bolstered greatly just like that.

The Blind Swordsman continued dashing from tree to tree, quite excited to make his way back home and introduce Tosho to the new recruits.

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Hope you liked the chapter! Finally got around to writing a bit on this one today :))

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