Naruto: The Blind Swordsman

Chapter 187: Progress, Encounters and Red Cloud

_________ POV Narration _________

Ken sighed as he dashed from tree to tree in the forest.

Every branch he stepped on, every leaf he used as a foothold, they all remained unmoving as he passed them by.

The Blind Monster also had the option of travelling through the skies, but it was harder to stay hidden up there, not like he could control the clouds constantly covering himself, it was rather the opposite, the flap of his wings would normally disperse clouds more than anything.

After all, the stealth techniques that he had developed and learned in his past life didn't quite help with flying.

He was still in the process of creating a method of flight and jutsu that could help conceal him whilst in the air, but that was still a work in progress.

When it came to strength, Ken had developed and honed his skills even further. Physically speaking he had not grown too much more, just his body reaching adulthood gave him a boost in strength.

Now, whilst in his base form, he could match the Raikage physically even if he used the Lightning Chakra Mode. And he could match the black lighting chakra mode whilst in his scaled sage mode.

But what had progressed the most for Ken was certainly his Jutsu arsenal as well as Fuinjutsu in general.

He had mastered quite a few nature transformations and even found out that his chakra natures had shifted over the years.

In the past, he had wind and lightning, but now he seemed to be compatible with all of them, including the rarer ones, like Yin and Yang.

This allowed him to spec out and learn a lot during those years, especially learning and even developing jutsu of numerous nature transformations.

But what improved most was certainly his Genjutsu.

After all, he had been a master of quite a few jutsu in the past, and he was certainly a master of Taijutsu and Kenjutsu.

But what was the most lacking in his arsenal was Genjutsu, and more specifically sensory deprivation illusions, activated by either scent, sound, or a visual cue.

Saburo was there to help Ken develop his illusionary skills to the fullest extent, as it came hand in hand with his research.

After Ken's direct bloodline turned out to be a dud, they weren't really able to do much.

The Shura Clan certainly housed the Blind Monster's biological family, that much was undeniable, but they didn't seem to share the same genetics as him.

The mother's side was what made the difference in his genetic makeup. His father and brother were both normal.

A rather unknown clan thought to be already extinct, the Kaguya Clan. Their bloodline limit had a lot to do with control over their bones, or so the eroded history books that the Merchant Association found told them.

Ken also shared that bone control ability to some extent, he was able to control his bones but not exactly turn them into weapons like they were touted to be able to do.

He could alter the structure of his bones, and change his height and weight at will. But those were changes that he made to his entire body as well.

In a sense, every aspect of Ken's body was already a weapon, so turning his spine into a blade or a whip to use just seemed counterintuitive, not that it was something he'd even attempt in the first place.

Overall, there was too little knowledge of the Kaguya family for any further progress to be made on that, so Ken had to focus on other avenues to improve his strength.

Ken had come a long way. Whilst not as talented in Genjutsu as he was in other aspects, he had still progressed to the point where many could call him a master of it.

Overall, Ken could only now confidently say that he was the strongest being alive. Stronger than the tailed beasts, stronger than the Great Kage. He had likely reached the level of the former God of Shinobi already, if not surpassed it.

But it was hard to gauge how strong Senju Hashirama was from just stories. He was the man who had treated all Tailed Beasts as pets at the end of the day.

The greatest issue that Ken found in his development was the lack of adversity.

The times of peace were nice, but even if the whole world was to fight him, he'd likely still be able to win. Injuries would heal and scar over, and limbs could regrow... There was nothing fast and strong enough to kill him for good.

He had no way to hone his skills in great peril like at the beginning of his life, back when regrowing limbs was actually somewhat stamina-draining, or when the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist were actually a threat to him.

He was somewhat stuck now, being the strongest was a curse that prevented him from growing further.

Genjutsu was really his last resort for monumental growth, now all he had was slow progress in all other aspects of his skill set.

But he was still the strongest by a long shot. And his reputation also reflected that. His infamy had only festered and spread over the years.

His defeat of the Raikage had further cemented him as the strongest, the fact that Hiruzen the Hokage was unwilling to face him also made others think so.

The God of Bounty Hunters was what some of the Bingo Books called Ken now.

'So where did Hanzo gain the boldness to actually act out against the Akatsuki? An organization backed by me?'

It was jarring. The Blind Assassin simply couldn't wrap his head around what stroke of madness drove Hanzo the Salamander to make such a choice.

Were the noble clans trying to diminish his influence over the rest of the lands not involved in the Three Corners Alliance?

They might have gained wind of the slight cracks forming in the alliance's foundations, but Ken doubted they'd have the guts to make a move so quickly...

Regardless, the Blind Monster would gain all of the answers he needed from Hanzo himself.

But the first place Ken visited was the Akatuski compound.

The small village created by the orphans within the Land of Rain, all of them located within a ravine, covered on all sides by large natural rock formations.

When Ken arrived in its vicinity, he couldn't help but sigh.

The entire compound was destroyed. It was most likely a man-made avalanche of rocks from all sides. The entire village was buried, and all of its residents were crushed, killed in their sleep by the look of it.

'They've barely left any tracks around this place... But I can tell this was not natural. These cliffs were as solid as those that the Cloud Village is perched upon...'

The only bodies that were missing were of the 3 leaders of the Akatsuki.

Nagato, Yahiko and Konan. The three that had done their best to start the organization in the first place.

The only possible explanation was that they were away during the avalanche.

'Nagato's eyes were special, he seemed quite strong even by my standards. I doubt he would have let this happen...'

"What a shame... So many lives are being thrown away even during peaceful times..." Ken couldn't help but whisper in the wind as he stood at the very edge of that ruined cliff.

"May your spirits at least find rest in the Pure Lands. I will make sure that whoever did this pays dearly for it."

Ken slowly turned away with that small prayer and promise. He had not bonded with the members of the Akatsuki, but he knew... He knew that, if things were even a little bit different, they could have been members of the Dark Brotherhood instead.

The only reason Nagato didn't wish to join them fully was because he and the Akatsuki were dedicated to making the Land of Rain better from the inside. They didn't wish to join an outside organization like the Dark Brotherhood.

That was their wish. To make things better for the common man and child in their homeland.

'Politics be damned, Hanzo is going to have to answer for what has happened here...'

And so, Ken turned into a blur and vanished in the wind. This time he was headed for Amegakure, the village hidden in the rain.

The journey only took a few moments, as the assassin used his full speed to reach the hidden village and pass through its gates without being detected.

Hanzo's office was very much the same as Ken remembered it, a metallic building reminiscent of a skyscraper in his old world, with a view that overlooked the entire village.

Ken couldn't quite admire the view, but he wasn't there to admire anything at all. If anything, depending on how his conversation with the Salamander went...

The entire village could end up being wiped from the map of the Elemental Nations.

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Hey there, sorry for the delay!

I've officially started writing on the original story more seriously, and already have like 5 chapters ready at this point(written over time obv)

I wanna build a proper backlog before I start uploading on that one :))

Anyway, I hope you all have a great day! Thanks for the support!

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