Chapter 22: Chapter 22: Bait, Twin and Collection Plans

__________ POV Narration __________

Mabui stood there for a while, contemplating the logistics of meeting and talking to an actual Kage-level samurai, who also happened to be a bounty hunter.

Now, saying that Ken was Kage level might've been a bit much, but Mabui really had no good frame of reference on anything in between Jonin and a Kage.

The criminal that Ken had just decapitated was also in between a High-Jonin and a Low-Kage level of strength, but he was far from being called an actual Kage.

Sure, most Kage would've been able to kill the criminal with just as much ease. But there were plenty of others that might've been able to do the same.

The title of Kage was only reserved for the strongest in the village usually, but that didn't mean the title didn't have a number of contenders in each village.

As a Jonin, she should've had a bit more information regarding that, sure, but she was still relatively young, and she had yet to witness the change of a Kage in her time as a Shinobi.

She was unaware of the power struggle that ensued when a village was to change leadership, that was the time when all the hidden powers made themselves known, vying for control.

Most people would scoff at Mabui for comparing a vagabond samurai with the leaders of established clans of powerful shinobi, even if she did so unknowingly.

But Mabui wasn't ignorant, and she was well aware of the fact that there were much stronger than her in the world.

But she was also well aware that when it came to speed, there were few that could ever boast of being anywhere near as fast as what Ken had shown off.

And currently, all of those people were masters of some movement technique, either secret technique or regular mastery over basics coupled with great talent.

She had seen plenty of them, and their Raikage was considered to be the fastest at that time.

In speed alone, without any established technique, Ken was already near the top.

And that wasn't all of it. His techniques were something else entirely, she had no actual knowledge of them, but Mabui could surmise that they were a lot more complex than what she was accustomed to.

'Controlling everything from his breathing to his body temperature... Absolute control over one's body, being able to blend perfectly with one's surroundings.

Whoever created this technique must've been either a genius or a madman...'

She had heard of people being capable of controlling their bodies to sickening degrees, but none were actually able to do so and hide their Chakra signature as well.

The blind samurai in front of her was able to do just that.

Ken then proceeded to search the criminal's body for a while, finding a few scrolls and storing them on the same scroll as the head.

That gave Mabui a bit more time to calm down and regain her bearings. She had thankfully met a Kage or two before, so she knew how to carry herself.

She was to treat him with respect befitting his strength, for as long as he didn't bear his fangs towards their village.

'Even without a village backing him, an individual with his strength can prove a worthy enemy for any hidden village...'

As she was further contemplating that, the Kage-Level Bounty Hunter simply turned around and started walking into the forest.

"W-wait!" Mabui said instinctually, wanting to at least thank Ken for saving her. But at the same time, it had downed on her, how convenient the situation was.

Ken just happened to start walking out of the woods as soon as the criminal was distracted by her...

'Wait... Was he using me as bait?! He must've known the criminal's 'tendencies' and likely location... I guess he's been tracking us ever since we met?'

"Oh... Apologies for using you as bait." In truth, Ken didn't even bother to hide it either. Why would he?

Anyone with a brain and some foresight would've been able to come to that conclusion, let alone people that were part of the Shinobi World.

"I was going to thank you... But I guess we did use each other to some extent."

"Indeed, you owe me nothing. Nor do I owe you anything. That apology was mostly out of politeness." Ken said as he continued walking into the forest.

Mabui at that point also got up, but she didn't pursue him in any way. 'Not like I could keep up with him... Though I'm sure Lord Raikage would've loved to meet him...'

Ken then stopped suddenly, turning his head in one direction and tilting slightly in a confused manner.

'Hmmm?'

----- BOOM-----

An explosion could be heard in the distance, and Mabui's eyes widened as well when hearing where exactly it had come from.

"Shit! My students!" She quickly got up and dashed in that direction, ignoring her tiredness as she passed by Ken, who was still standing there with a bit of confusion present in his mannerisms.

'The Genin are in danger? The criminal is dead, that much I am quite sure about... Would enemy Shinobi attack this close to a hidden village? Isn't this a bit too brazen for them?' 

With a bit of curiosity, Ken decided to scout out the situation a bit more.

He immediately became a blur, as his speed carried him through the wind, stepping from leaf to leaf and reaching the source of the explosion.

He actually arrived there quite a bit sooner than Mabui, as his speed far exceeded hers.

The scene he saw was about what he had expected. The Genin were mostly unconscious, with the two boys suffering from burns on their bodies.

The only one still conscious was the girl, and she was being held up by the neck, and Ken could only raise an eyebrow when sensing the person that was holding her up.

'Didn't I just kill him?... Was that a clone? No, his aura is slightly different, not weaker, but different.'

Then it simply ticked for Ken. It was a rather easy conclusion to come to as well.

'A hidden twin brother, huh? That would explain how the criminal always managed to escape from every situation.

Even if Seza was a bit better than some Jonin, he still shouldn't have been able to give an entire village that much trouble...'

"Hikari!" Mabui shouted as she finally arrived at the scene, she immediately looked at the genin being held up by the neck.

"Huh? Did you escape from big brother? I guess he does have a soft spot for hot women!" The Twin Brother spoke out with a grin.

"My type's more like this one here!" He then dropped the Genin on the ground, allowing the little girl to finally get a breath of fresh hair,

But he didn't allow her to get much time to relax, he immediately grabbed her by the hair, and put a kunai to her throat.

"Well, you might as well look since you're here!" "T-teacher! Help me!"

Mabui could only tremble for a few seconds, realising that if she moved, then her student was likely going to die. But then she simply stood still, all of her worries disappearing in an instant.

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'Of course, he'd still be nearby...'

Behind the criminal stood another figure, squatting slightly with a palm on his cheek as he seemingly waited for the twin to notice him.

After the man started trying to undress the Genin, Ken somewhat realized that the man had no intention of looking around himself. Therefore, he decided to simply end the man's miserable life.

With a swipe of his hand, the Twin's head was cut into four different pieces. Splattering blood on the grass in front of him as the pieces flew off a few meters away from the rest of the body.

Hikari, the genin, quickly dashed away when she felt the hold on her loosen. Stumbling as she did so and doing a roll in order to regain her balance.

Only when she turned around did she notice the black-haired samurai from earlier squatting over the headless body of her previous assailant.

"There's no wanted poster for this one... How peculiar." Ken said as he started searching the man's body for anything useful, well, anything that could remotely resemble a scroll.

"There was no report of this on our side either... They do look alike." Mabui spoke as she started tending to the injuries that the other Genin had sustained.

Hikari was still a bit too shocked to move.

It would've been a traumatizing experience for most girls, but as a shinobi, she was trained for everything already.

So she recovered quickly and went to assist her teachers, only muttering a few words of gratitude to the samurai that was still inspecting the criminal's body.

"Possibly twins, their bodies are also the exact same shape..." Ken said as he ran his hands through all of the pockets he could sense.

"... To think there was no record of this..."

"It can't be helped, he wasn't worth anything either, he was also weaker.

It's hard to tell which one was the one with a bounty on his head, but I doubt anyone will be able to tell the difference."

Ken eventually found only one scroll on his body and proceeded to store it away.

"... Thank you for your help..." Mabui said, bowing a bit towards the wandering bounty hunter.

"Don't bother, I still get paid and I did use you all as bait.

Though, I'd advise you to have more caution in the future. Something like this was bound to happen regardless, of my actions.

At least I was here to take care of things this time... Next time though." Ken then waved his hand and turned to leave.

"I-I'll keep that in mind..." Mabui said as she sighed and continued to tend to her wounded students.

This time, Ken didn't stop, nor did any explosion interrupt his departure.

Instead, his back disappeared into the forests. Neither Mabui nor Hikari did anything to stop him, not like they could.

'I guess teacher was right... He really was a lot more dangerous than he let on...' Hikari thought to herself as she continued to tend to her wounded teammates.

__________ POV Ken __________

Such an odd turn of events.

I can't really blame Toshi for this either, as it wasn't exactly his job to gather intel on my targets. We were basically just relying on the Bingo Book records.

It's annoying, not being able to read normal books. I'll have to gather information in different ways.

Now, to give Tosho the bounty.

The process we surmised is rather simple. A summoning jutsu. The perfect way to instantly transfer both information and the bounties I collect.

This is something that Tosho thankfully already knew. His former Jonin teacher had gotten to help him learn this trick, though it took a while for him to remember it.

The contract was also rather simple. All I had to do to sign it was feed a random turtle on my travels. Odd condition, but I am not one to judge.

All I have to do is make a few quick hand signs, bite my finger and tap the ground. I could sense my chakra spreading out, forming a summoning circle out of sigils.

__________ POV Narration __________

In an instant, it was almost as if a small smoke bomb went off, and a large turtle with a gigantic green shell appeared in front of the blind swordsman.

It was easily twice the size of a regular adult in height. Its limbs were thicker than tree trunks. Overall, it was a sturdy summon.

"Ken..." The turtle spoke slowly. It wasn't exactly the energetic type, nor was it a summon that could be used in combat against anything other than Genin.

"Donatello..." Ken's voice was also slow, his tone calm, not giving off any emotions.

"... Stop calling me that... My name is Akira..." The turtle's tone was still slow, it was also obviously feminine now that it spoke a bit more. And it was also clearly offended.

"Donatello, I need you to deliver this to Toshi." Ken held out the scroll storing all of the loot from his bounty hunt.

Akira looked at Ken with lazy eyes, blinking slowly as she then took the scroll in her mouth.

"... Please stop calling me and my family strange names," Akira spoke with a bit of desperation in her slow tone.

"Thanks. Talk to you later, Donatello."

The turtle simply shook her head. Her eyes looked downcast, slightly disappointed as she then proceeded to disappear in a puff of smoke, undoing the transformation and taking the scroll with her.

'Tosho is to do a summoning at least once a week. So he'll get this scroll soon enough.'

Then, Ken simply continued jumping from tree to tree.

'Onto the next bounty then...'

____________________________________________________

Hope you liked the chapter! Felt like writing a bit on this one today...

More on these summons will be explained in the future btw, including why Ken doesn't use them to read sht for him. 

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