The shadows

ch23

They were a day away from the target village. They were waiting for sundown to enter the village. They couldn't be seen. Naruto had devised a simple plan of action for the time being.

While Naruto was a powerhouse in his previous life, in this life, he chose a different path to power. He used to rely on his large chakra reserve and large-scale jutsus to defeat his enemies.

His battles were upfront, and he was basically a berserker. He wasn't a master in any skill and had many weaknesses, so he would one-shot his enemies to ensure they wouldn't get to him.

But in this life, he learned to value skills. He knew how to use his brain and not brute force. He wouldn't jump into situations first and face the consequences later. He was a ninja.

A ninja must be able to operate from the shadows. When you had enough skills to remain in the shadows when facing enemies, they would never know what to expect, so you would immediately have the upper hand. A great ninja was an unknown one.

Underestimating your enemy was the fastest way to death. Plus, Naruto was a jinchuriki. The more unknown he was, the better for his future plans. He couldn't risk and bring unwanted attention to his status.

While Naruto despised Danzo, he would admit to his skills in training shinobi. Since the beginning of his training, he has learned how to master his skills and complete his missions without being seen.

His skills weren't limited to causing mass destruction, while he was taught how to do so. Danzo wanted him to be his heir, and thus he was introduced to sides of shinobi skills he never knew.

He was taught about politics and, blending in with any social situation, how to play political games and send subtle messages. He was taught about art, music, history, and literature. Now it was time for him to use these skills.

One secret that no one knew about Naruto was the extent of his henge. While typically, it was a simple genjutsu and was susceptible to the user's skills to hold an illusion around the user. Naruto was capable of solid henge.

It was a skill that came with being the jinchuriki of the nine tails. The same as the one-tailed host could control the sand, the two-tailed host could use the blue fire, and so on. All jinchuriki shared some abilities. They all healed fast and had vast amounts of chakra.

This skill, however, was unique to the nine tails. In his previous life, he subconsciously used it for his sexy jutsu, but in this life, he expanded his skill. When Danzo saw this skill, he believed it to be due to his heavy and large chakra reserves, which Naruto was grateful for.

He learned how to hold his henge for long periods and subconsciously. It began with him holding the henge during his training and continued until he could hold it in his sleep. Then he learned how to fight with a henge and many other activities.

While his body was solid, his strength, speed, and other physical attributes remained the same. The only limitation was his body. He couldn't improve his power by henging into a muscular body or run faster by henging into a taller one.

His plan for infiltrating the village was to henge into a traveling gypsy. If their intel was correct, he should be targeted and find his way into the mansion. He was going to play some music and perform to gather some attention.

In the meantime, Fu was going to alter some people's memory to plant memories of the disguised Torune as one of the villagers so that he could gather intel in the city with his Kikaichu. Fu was going to pose as a ronin and join the thugs to pick his own intel.

It was near the evening, and they were camping in a clearing while working on their disguises. There wasn't much Fu, and Torune could change without using chakra, so they changed as much as they could to blend in.