CH_5.5 (148)

CH_5.5 (148)

Minoru sat huddled behind a bush. His eyes scrunched in concentration as he opened his "sixth sense" to the outside world.

He was twelve years old when one random day, he suddenly could sense the chakra of people around him. At first, it was so overwhelming that his life was turned into hell. He couldn't control his chakra sense, and they were dialed up to eleven— and in a village teeming with shinobi-like cockroaches, it was literal torture for him. Every waking moment his senses were bombarded with other's chakra emissions. Headaches were all but constant— he couldn't focus on anything, and even the littlest things became herculean tasks.

He didn't know what was happening, and for a week, he tried to push through it, but then he passed by a roadside stall where a group of jonin were having a meet-up. He passed out in the middle of the road and had to be taken to the hospital, where he was finally told that he had the talent to become a sensory-nin. Minoru wasn't happy about the news at all until he was informed that he would be assigned a teacher who would help him control his new sense.

It took half a year to get his ability under control. During that time, he lived on the outskirts of the village, away from the shinobi population and their chakra emission. He was taught to close his senses and, more importantly, regulate them so he could officially become the sensory-nin.

After his training, Minoru officially became part of the Sensory Corp— which didn't turn out to be as good as a deal he initially thought. One week after his training, he was called in to be informed that he was transferred to a conflict region on the Land of Fire – Land of Rain border where Hidden Leaf and Hidden Rain (Amegakure) shinobi were stationed because of border disputes. Multiple sensory-nin were stationed on the border to monitor the Hidden Rain shinobi and their activity in the conflict region.

For three years, Minoru was on the border. At first, he hated it. He was born and raised in the Hidden Leaf and had no desire to live somewhere else, but slowly, he made friends and eventually got used to his new life. He became proud of his job; he was protecting his nation from outside forces.

But then the news came from home. The Leaf Military Police Force was recruiting— for the first time, the Police Force was going to be opened to shinobi outside the Uchiha and their cohort.

Minoru was proud of his contribution and had made friends, but that didn't mean he no longer missed the village. All of his family lived there, and he hadn't seen them once since his transfer. He immediately sent an application, and half a year later, he was officially called back to the Hidden Leaf.Follow the latest novels at novelhall.com

He was transferred to the Leaf Military Police Force.

Minoru was happy to be home; his family was especially elated at his return and new posting.

The new job... wasn't as glorious as his previous one. He was no longer keeping his nation safe; instead, he was posted at a Police Force facility with sensitive information and material. He still used his sensory-nin talent, but now he was a security guard at a building. Yes, his pay was better, but he couldn't help but feel dissatisfied with his professional life.

But then, Fuma Arisu approached him with a job. They didn't know each other, but he worked with one of her cousins. She told him that there was a raid that could use a sensory-nin like him.

Looking back at it, Minoru had agreed too quickly.

But it had turned out quite well because not only did the raid do some visible good in the village by disrupting the Maiko Triad's operation and opening a dozen more cold cases, but it also allowed Minoru to feel good about his job. Ten days after the raid, he was contacted by Takuma, who asked him to join a temporary Narcotics team that could turn into a full-on task force.

Looking back at it again, Minoru had agreed too quickly.

But things turned out quite well once again. He joined the Narcotics Task Force under Takuma's leadership. And what followed were the most satisfying nine months of life. They went after actual bad guys, decimated drug trade networks in the village, disrupted money supply to potential illegal operations— they did some real good.

And now he was on a B-rank mission. They had faced plenty of shinobi during raids, but this was different

"Minoru, update?" he heard Takuma's voice from the earpiece.

Minoru spread his senses as far as possible. Not every sensory-nin was the same; everyone had their strengths and weaknesses. In Minoru's case, his strength lay in his range; he could sense chakra from long distances, making him perfect for places like a nation border— but he also had a weakness, the way he sensed chakra was "inconvenient." The higher the chakra emission, the brighter it appeared in his mind's eye. When a shinobi with an enormous amount of chakra was standing close by to others with low amounts, the shinobi with the high chakra could mask the ones with low chakra levels.

He had once tried to look at the Hokage's Office with his senses; the entire building looked like one big light splotch to his senses. He could tell there were several jonin in the building, but shockingly, the Lord Hokage overshadowed every single one of them.

His accuracy was also not the best. The margin of error was quite high compared to some other people he knew. He could judge the bracket accurately, but the exact amount was hazy when the people were far away or were actively suppressing their emissions.

"One minute at most," Minoru replied.

He felt a ripple go through the chakra emissions through half of his allies. They were nervous. He was sure all of them were— he was not good at sensing fluctuations either.

But Minoru didn't feel overly nervous. The chunin coming for them had hefty chakra reserves, but their side also had someone with comparable chakra levels. His leader might be a straightforward person, but when he was in combat, he fought like a damned demon.

Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu

Lightning Release: Lightning Bolt Jutsu

As Gouki breathed fire and Nenro shot a bolt of condensed lightning, Takuma felt the chains snap, and the loss of tension made him stumble back. On the other end, Akimichi, too, fell as her chain snapped.

"He's free!" Takuma yelled.

The two C-rank jutsu met in the middle with the chunin as the target, but Takuma knew the chunin was free. His eyes darted everywhere to locate the chunin; every moment they didn't have eyes on the chunin was a moment their chances of death increased.

Takuma caught a shadowy blur.

"Canopy!" he yelled.

Suddenly, two white glows erupted from within the forest bushery. Masaaki's chakra metal knuckles blazed with his bukijutsu as he pounced like a wild animal toward the chunin, decking him in the jaw and sending the man crashing to the ground.

The chunin did a barrel roll to mitigate his momentum and stood up with a slight stumble. The travel robe was beyond tattered, and the chunin ditched it to reveal gear modeled after the Hidden Leaf shinobi uniform, but it was modified to be a bit heavier and was made up of darker colors. This was another Hidden Leaf missing-nin.

"An ambush... and a Yamanaka?" the chunin grunted as he rubbed his bruised jaw. He turned to look in the direction where Inuzuka was fighting the two genin; he sighed, "Useless grunts." The chunin then looked at everyone within his view. "Well, you guys fucked your chance, and I'm not charitable to give you another one."

Takuma ditched the chain and took out a kunai. He placed himself in front of the chunin while Akimichi walked behind him. Nenro, Masaaki, and Gouki stepped back but stayed in view. Yuhi and Yamanaka stayed hidden.

"Surrender, this is your final warning... I'm not charitable enough to give you another one," said Takuma.

The chunin laughed. "You all are already dead," he said.

Takuma cracked his neck before charging toward the chunin. He slashed for the chunin's neck, but the chunin dodged and grabbed Takuma's wrist. Takuma didn't falter and shot out with a punch to the throat. The chunin laughed as he caught the fist, but his smile vanished when the punch almost made his shoulder pop out of its socket.

Takuma dropped the kunai and grabbed the chunin's arm, and his other hand mimicked the moments until Takuma was clenching both wrists. He planted both his feet firmly into the ground and smirked. The chunin frowned and, without warning, slammed his head into Takuma's face.

"Remove that smirk from your face, boy—"

The chunin's eyes widened, and he immediately tried to move, but Takuma tugged sharply on his hands to keep him in place.

*Shing!*

*Thud!*

The chunin's body jerked as a giant Fuma shuriken struck him from behind, lodging itself in his back.

"I hope they don't need you alive," Takuma said as he spat blood in the chunin's face. "Because I'm going to reap the bounty on your head, and it's going to be dead, not alive."

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