[Swear I don't have patience to properly save chapters before releasing. We going back mute after this chapter.]
.
.
.
.
.
__________________
When I finally got to the end of the district, I was moving fast.
I have come to hate people a lot, and my tolerance is in an all time low.
And let's not forget that these people with agenda have been frequenting on my turf lately.
What's this? I don't remember Konoha being the Agora of Athena where those pedophile and rapist philosophers always talked shit.
Danzo is the obvious guess for causing this stuff. He cannot touch me directly because the Daimyo, GMA, Mito, and Gintoki have my back, but he can fund someone else to do his dirty work.
A radical who hates the rich on principle? Easy.
But here is the thing that confused me... the village operates as a military dictatorship or a stratified oligarchy controlled by a small elite.
Ninjas are state owned mercenaries, not civilians, and this is fundamentally at odds with the ideals of socialism or communism which aim to dismantle class systems.
So what's the plan?
The Will Of Fire prioritizes the group over the individual, and this collectivism often justifies horrific actions for the 'greater good' as Dumbledorians love to say for every shit they commit.
The Hokage, through the will of fire, preaches that true power comes from cooperation for the common good, and this is actually connected to socialist beliefs.
So I don't know. Maybe the plan is to fund radical leftist bullshitters to cause chaos? which they then manage to tighten their grip on me if successful?
By framing me as an 'enemy of the people' exploiting the poor, they can shift public anger towards a class struggle narrative to demolish a threatening number one political rival.
Though, they have miscalculated that in these times, what I offer in exchange for work, is actually this age's 'American dream' crap with how generous I am when I pay my workers.
Not a single person in the entire world offers what I offer in exchange for work.
And my identity as a famous philosopher have made many see me as a sort of "One who actually cares." Since my actions correlate with what I preach.
So creating an uprising when I as an owner haven't been a bad person that pushes people beyond what's reasonable, then this will never work.
It's like cornered cats struggling hard to escape control.
So, there's no need to worry.
*Step step step step.*
As I finally got out of the district, I relaxed my posture and started to walk slowly toward my house, which was not too far from here. The walk was quiet, just me and the evening air, and I used the time to calm down my racing thoughts.
I feel so restricted as if in prison currently and it has been some time since I handed somebody's ass to them. I should do something about this.
*Step step step.*
When I approached my house, I noticed that nothing had changed about the old building except for the smaller house I had built next to it for 'IT'
The main house still looked the same as when I was a kid, same wooden walls, same sliding doors, same garden that my mom refused to let anyone else touch. Just some repairs I had done so mom wouldn't complain.
*Swoosh.*
Out of nowhere, a very black, six eyed dog monster appeared and hit my stomach with its whole body like a cannonball.
It was fast, but I had seen it coming from the corner of my eye, so I just took the impact without moving an inch.
"Woof woof woof!"
Rover barked in excitement, his tail wagging so hard it was practically a blur that created a small dust cloud. I chuckled and hugged my ugly little dog. He was as big as half my size now and weighed as much as a grown man.
"Little shit, did you miss me already?" I rubbed his head and looked into his big ruby colored eyes, which were staring back at me innocently while he enjoyed my scratches. "I was gone for some hours and you already miss me, you spoiled fuck,"
"Woof woof woof!"
Rover has these ruby colored eyes that seem to glow in the dark, very large fangs, and four toes per paw. His fur is shaggy and roughed up on the outside, but the inner part of his body has less hair and shows off his muscles clearly. He does not have visible ears or a nose, which makes him look like something out of a nightmare, especially if you see him in the dark, but to me he is just a dog.
[Picture]
It was some time ago that I discovered my new abilities, and I was really excited when I figured out what I could do.
Status...
I opened up my status screen to look at the two abilities that did not have a description before.
Now they were clear.
------------------
[Monsterification: You are the King of all monsters. How can there be a King without subjects? As you are the origin of your own kind, you can turn any living being into monsters by blessing them with a part of your body or your blood. Every monster you create or turn are loyal.
Note: Individuals with insanely strong wills can resist your control after being turned.
Note: The potential of the monsters is randomised.
Warning: @%Do@@£!^@*#**#÷&#@%nt.]
---
[HumanoidShifting: You can control the outward appearance of your subjects and decide how they should look. For example, when turning someone into a monster, you can decide their appearance, their size, and even some of their personality traits. You can also modify the appearance of non monster living beings if the individuals do not resist your genetic manipulation.
Note: Your interference with this manipulation ability may affect what monster powers the said individuals will inherit according to what you pictured in your mind in the process of Monsterification.
Note: If you do not interfere with the monsterification process through your imagination, then the subjects may randomly change according to their own traits, deepest Desires, and Dreams.]
-----------------
I still remember that day when I found a weak white dog that was malnourished and about to die from old age in the Forest of Death that I visited some time ago. I pitied the thing and wanted to help, but I knew nothing could be done at that time because the dog was already dying.
Then something inside me whispered that I could actually do something about this.
I followed my instincts, which were telling me that if I gave some of my blood to this dog, it could be saved. So I approached the dying dog that was breathing hard, grabbed its head gently, and slowly extended one of my fingers until the end turned sharp. Then I dug that finger into the dog's neck and started pumping my blood into its body.
I remember that at the time, some memories of me meeting the Rover dog inside the Monster Association base from the One Punch Man world surfaced in my mind, but I did not know that this sudden thought would change this dog exactly into the Rover I remembered, which made me realise that I can turn living beings into whatever I wished.
The poor pup started to shake uncontrollably after I removed my finger from its neck. Its fur began to fall out quickly, its skin started peeling off, and every part of its body began to reconstruct and change into what I had imagined.
For several minutes I watched the dog get tortured, unable to even let out a sound because it was just a pile of bloody organs at one point, regenerating new cells and muscles around its visible bones.
I am sure it hurt like hell.
Finally, the process stopped, and this stupid dog emerged from a useless pile of fur and meat that it had thrown off. I was completely bamboozled by the sight that my mouth and eyes were wide open. Then a ding sound from the status details change woke me up, and I started petting my confused dog to see if he was real.
Rover he behaves like a guard dog. He is diligent and loyal. A protection animal through and through.
He does not instantly grow hostile toward intruders, and he has never attacked or followed anyone except me or my parents.
Tsunade knows about him too.
At first she got freaked out at his appearance, but later she opened up and now she immediately clings to him whenever she sees him. Rover actually loves the attention he gets from her.
I also put a command on him and did not let him wander far from my house, so not many people have seen him yet. I hate noisy things and annoyance, and Rover even though a bit dumb, he is actually quite intelligent seldom to know that.
If anyone just says "sit" to him, he will sit down immediately, even if the word came out of an enemy's mouth which is a downside, so I am working on fixing that so that only familiar people can order him around.
Even though he is dumb, he does not cause trouble, which I am grateful for. I am more of a wolf person than a dog person, because dogs didn't have that dignified aura wolves had. At least that's how I see it.
My parents had their own reactions.
At first Gintoki was suspicious because of how weird Rover looked, and even threw some miscellaneous items at Rover while screaming and hiding behind my mom, but after seeing that the dog was docile and nice, he just shrugged it, called it a strange chakra beast that felt very nonsensical and weird, then went back to lie down near the garden doing nothing.
My mom was calm about it, much to my surprise, but I know she probably did not want to break my heart and kick the dog away, while thinking I was too lonely and needed a companion or something.
As for Rover's combat capabilities, he is at peak genin level right now, but I am sure he will become a very overpowered dog in the future, maybe even rivaling the weaker tailed beasts. That was a plus and actually what I expected from him.
I do not know what specific abilities he gained after becoming a monster except for feeling a weird energy coursing through his body that didn't necessarily feel like chakra at all, but I am pretty sure it's his signature power to throw balls of energy like bijuudamas from his mouth.
For other abilities, I know that he has a weaker regeneration ability that he inherited from me and a stronger body than most dogs out there. I bet he is even stronger than the dogs of the Inuzuka clan. I am very sure that if their dogs meet Rover, they will immediately know how inferior they are and will start to worship him as the alpha of alphas.
*Lick Woof Woof Lick*
"Stop licking me. It is really disgusting." I pushed his head away gently. "Let's go and eat the meat I bought recently, alright?"
He nodded excitedly, his tail wagging even harder.
I approached his small house that I had built next to the main building, big enough to fit his growing frame, and pointed at the entrance. "Sit here and do not go anywhere. My mom doesn't like animals inside her house that much."
He immediately sat obediently, watching me intensely as I walked back to my house.
----------
When I went inside, I found Gintoki lying on the floor in the living room, staring at the ceiling with his usual bored expression. He looked a little older than I remembered, with some wrinkles around his forehead and his hair messier, but his lazy posture had not changed one bit.
"You are back," he said without moving or looking at me.
"Am I?" I said.
"I don't know, you feel like a ghost more than a Zombie lately." He slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position. "Let's go to the storage room, I got something for you."
I raised an eyebrow but nodded, and we made our way through the hallway to the back of the house, his footsteps dragging like he was walking to his own execution.
*Step step step.* ×2
When we arrived at the storage room, there was nothing special about the plain small space. Just dust, old boxes, and a chest sitting against the wall covered in a thick layer of grime.
Gintoki approached a chest and did a hand seal, which made the keyhole glow blue for a second, then with a *click* the chest opened to reveal some worn out Warring States period clothing that was not useful for wearing anymore.
I watched as Gintoki reached in and pulled out the old clothes, tossing them aside like they were garbage. Then he pulled out some rusty kunai and dull shuriken and threw them on the pile too. Finally, he put his hands inside the chest and pulled out a sharp, gleaming blade with a handle wrapped in black leather.
"This is the tanto I used back when I beat a Kage at 5." he said with a lazy smirk.
"Cap." I immediately replied but he ignored me.
Turning the blade over in his hands. "My old man gave it to me when I became a clan head. It's probably cursed or something, I dunno. Never used it much."
He turned to look at me, still holding the blade like it was a piece of junk. "Anyway, you're the clan head now, congrats bla bla bla type shi or whatever... try not to sell the family name to some shady merchant. Oh wait! You are the shady merchant actually, sooooo, never mind."
I just looked at him.
And he just looked back without saying anything else.
"That's it? No big speech? No 'may the will of fire guide your ass' bullshit?" I said with a raised eyebrow.
"You want a speech? Fine." He cleared his throat and put on a fake serious face.
"Zombie, the weight of the Hatake clan now rests upon your broad, genetically enhanced shoulders ( Thanks to yours truly.) May you lead us to glory and free ramen for life." He dropped the act and shoved the tanto into my hands. "There, satisfied?"
I looked down at the blade, then back at him.
He patted my shoulder twice and started walking toward the door. "Oh, one more thing, those clan meetings in Konoha? The old farts will try to eat you alive, but just wave, nod, and smile and don't let them know you are an idiot. Just wave and smile, we cool?"
"Anything else?" I asked.
He paused at the door, looking back with a tired expression. "Yes, I'm gonna go take a nap, so show less of you, I am tired of smelling those teen hormones. Reminds me of unpleasant times. Wake me when dinner's ready."
He shuffled out, leaving me alone in the dusty storage room with a tanto I did not want.
I hate cold weapons.
I just threw the blade back inside the chest and left the storage room too.
The End.
[Discord link: 2B9PFW6G ]