Chapter 96: Will, Eyes Peeled and Success

Chapter 96: Will, Eyes Peeled and Success

_________ POV Narration_________

Flying didn't come naturally to Ken.

He had practised it during the creation of 'Flash Step', but he hadn't actually ever flown with his own two wings.

Mainly because he didn't even know he had them.

He had only been tracing the Raikage's steps, catching up to him, when he finally sensed his targets, flying high in the sky.

His frustration rose at that moment when he realized that the Waterfall Jinchuriki was much faster than expected.

Even if the Raikage was injured and tired, the fact that he hadn't caught up already was impressive in itself.

He still had the 'Flash Step' up his sleeve, but while it would give him the speed to catch up, it was by no means sustainable.

It would take a while to even catch up, and it would surely tire him out.

At that moment, Ken really wished he could just grow some wings...

And from his scaled-back sprouted a pair of wings.

The assassin was so disoriented at first that he almost tripped and fell, something he hadn't done ever since he was a wee child in his first life.

The wings had a strange feeling to them, he could control them like his own limbs, just like his tail. They also ripped the back of his coat apart as they came out, but ah well, you can't win them all...

Still, it was then that his desire to learn more about himself grew once more. Not that it needed to grow any more, but it just added more intrigue on top of intrigue.

He already knew his body adapted to its surroundings constantly. His 'underwater form' was proof of that.

But now? It seemed that his body didn't just shift in major ways because of his surroundings, his transformation depended on his will as well.

He may have gotten some hints regarding that when he managed to cover his Tenketsu and alter his height, but he didn't think he'd ever be able to grow more limbs from his body.

At that moment, the first thing he tried while flying was to grow another arm... But he was not able to do so. He then tried to grow another leg, but that was not successful either.

He did manage to alter their size greatly but did not grow more limbs.

He couldn't grow another mouth, nor could he grow himself a pair of eyes. It was regrettable, but also expected, and likely for the better.

Getting used to new limbs was not all that easy, and he had already lived his entire life the way he was.

What he did manage to do, however, was grow a second pair of wings, which seemed to increase his speed as well.

He made his body slimmer as he eventually caught up to the Jinchuriki and struck him down, slashing him in half with his strongest attack.

He knew that he couldn't go easy on a Tailed Beast of all things, so he didn't hesitate to kill it instantly, using the vast majority of his chakra, keeping only enough to not turn to stone.

He did notice the distinct lack of Onoki, he had felt the old Tsuchikage somewhere within the forest as he flew by.

But the midget seemed to be immobile at the time, so Ken didn't bother going after him and wasting precious minutes while Yusuzo got farther and farther away.

Yusuzo was already at the edges of Ken's perception at the time, even a minute of stagnation would've likely meant losing him.

Sure, following his scent might've been possible, but there was always the possibility of him hiding his scent, making clones and sending them in different directions. Just the possibility was too much of a bother.

Well, now that the Jinchuriki was dead, the first thing the masked assassin did was to check his corpse.

The Tailed Beast chakra had already dissipated, and the body of the Kage returned to that of a human, still split in two right down the middle.

His kage hat had long since been blown away, and Ken could clearly feel a split expression of pure terror on his face.

It was clear that Yusuzo's last moments were not pleasant. But Ken didn't care for that one bit.

He simply walked over to his body and started searching him properly.

Eventually, he managed to find the scroll he was looking for... A's arm. Well, it was most likely the scroll that contained A's arm.

It was hidden in a seal hidden in between some bandages that he wore on his arm.

Ken just flexed his back, his scales entering his body and disappearing, alongside his large wings.

The Raikage raised an eyebrow at that. It couldn't be helped, the scene was just that odd. The wings themselves were bigger than Ken's body, and seeing them just disappear was strange.

To add to that, the assassin's flesh seemed to shift visibly as he retracted his wings, his muscles twitching as if an earthquake was contained within his body.

It was both an unnatural and unnerving sight for B and the Raikage.

Meanwhile, the 8-Tails was just intrigued, curious about the nature of Ken's existence still. But it didn't overstep boundaries to try and speak to him again.

He merely hoped they would get a chance to do so later.

The Raikage didn't dwell too much on Ken's monstrous abilities and body. Instead, his mind focused back on his own body, then on his missing arm.

And then, he turned back to Ken.

"What about the Tsuchikage?" He grasped at his stump, most of the bleeding had stopped thanks to B's chakra, but it wasn't looking all that pretty.

"That midget escaped... He was dropped off in the forest while I was following the Jinchuriki. I decided to prioritize chasing the still-escaping target rather than the unconscious one..."

Ken's tone was steady, and his words sounded reasonable even, but that didn't mean the Raikage liked hearing them.

"What?! How long would it have taken to just fly down there and cut his head off?!" The Raikage raised his voice without even realising it.

For once, he didn't care about shouting at Ken, he didn't care about diplomacy. He just cared about his son's killer getting away.

"I don't know... A minute, maybe a few seconds? But the Jinchuriki was already getting away from my sensor range." Ken didn't react at all to the Raikage's raised voice, if it bothered him, he surely didn't show it.

"Sensor range?! He was in the middle of the sky! If you kept your eyes peeled, you could've tracked him easily!" The Raikage scowled, not satisfied at all with the assassin's explanation.

"First off, we don't all have eyes, Lord Raikage. Some of us just don't get that lucky.

Second, if you had 'kept your eyes peeled' maybe you could've noticed that the Tsuchikage had only landed a few dozen kilometres from the place you stopped, and maybe you could've finished the job yourself."

Ken's tone was just as cold as before, but there was a mocking undertone to it. The assassin didn't bother sticking around to hear the Raikage's response either.

"You can send my payment to the Dark Brotherhood compound. Bye." After that, the assassin just disappeared.

His job was done there, he saw no point in arguing with the Raikage.

He didn't bother to focus on the Raikage, or B, he didn't care what they felt.

But the two of them couldn't help but stare at the assassin's disappearing back in absolute shock.

'... One of the most intimidating assassins alive... Someone capable of hunting down Kage like they're prized prey... Is completely blind?!'

B's mind had just imploded at that point. The Raikage himself was both too shocked and embarrassed to say anything.

'Well... That could've gone better...' The Raikage sighed as he turned and looked at the scrolls on the ground.

He joined B in searching for his son's remains after that, knowing that there was no use in trying to find the assassin.

Meanwhile, Ken didn't even spare them a thought.

He just smiled as he hoped to feel a nice reaction from the Hokage.

'Missions success... I wonder what Tosho is up to... I'll just send him a message to go back to base.

Meanwhile, I'll just take my sweet time travelling back to the Leaf...'

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Hope you liked the chapter!

Btw, yea, slowly but surely, the world will find out that the Red Dot is a blind kid :))) That's gonna be a fun reveal, innit?

Story Shoutout! : The Last Observer

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