Chương 31

Rei didn't let the surprise in the eyes of everyone around distract him. He went forward and tied Haku's hands as he winced in pain. He didn't care, and then after seeing that Haku had been put sealing ropes that, he proceeded to heal him. Both the bullets had went through and thus left an exit wound, Rei just needed to conduct some Mystical Palm Technique which he had mastered, and heal him. But Haku by that time had already lost consciousness.

Meanwhile, Kakashi took the advantage of the surprise on Zabuza and finally defeated him, the same way he first defeated him in the canon. Using a huge water vortex jutsu. Damn, I need to learn it someday. Rei didn't waste time there too and just tied down Zabuza too, thankfully he wasn't dead. Zabuza was one of his primary targets from the very beginning, it would be a shame for him to die before getting a signature from him. Afterall, he was one of the seven swordsmen. His mist technique was one of a kind.

Even during the fourth great ninja war, he had given everyone quite the headache.

And hour later The atmosphere around the unfinished bridge had finally calmed down. The mist slowly disappeared while the sound of waves crashing beneath the bridge returned again. And honestly… Team 7 looked mentally exhausted. Naruto still looked shocked from everything that had happened while Sakura remained unusually quiet. Sasuke meanwhile kept glancing toward Rei every few minutes like he was trying to recalculate his entire understanding of the guy from scratch. To be fair, this was expected.

Because today's battle had been ridiculous from their perspective. Earth style. Water style. Hiruzen had told him that Rei was learning sealing jutsu and he was surprised that Rei was progressing so fast with funinjutsu but now a weird weapon that exploded thunder and pierced through Haku's body faster than eyesight itself.

Currently both Haku and Zabuza remained unconscious and heavily restrained several meters away while Kakashi sat nearby recovering chakra slowly, he felt very exhausted using that Sharingan but needed to understand what was going on before he could say "peace out". Eventually Kakashi finally spoke.

"…Alright." Everyone looked toward him.

"We need explanations now." Naruto immediately pointed dramatically toward Rei afterward.

"YES! Especially that exploding weapon thing!" Hearing all three bombard him at once made Rei feel slightly tired internally. Still, he already expected this conversation eventually. Especially after using a pistol openly in Naruto world. After all this was his plan to begin with, right from the start. So after making sure Tazuna safely returned toward his house first, all of them eventually moved deeper into the nearby woods for privacy.

Kakashi especially insisted on that part because discussing strange weapon that seemed to be fast wasn't something a civilian should know.

"My kekkei genkai allows me to acquire abilities from other people."

"…Explain further," the jonin said calmly. Rei quietly materialized one of the half-contracts afterward. The paper immediately made Sakura almost choke from surprise while Kakashi's visible eye narrowed slightly. And thus, Rei explained. Not everything obviously. He didn't speak of the other world. Even if he explained that, these bumpkins wouldn't understand at the moment. It was harsh, but that was reality.

"My contracts allow me to obtain half of another person's skills, techniques and abilities through consent." Rei replied calmly.

"Including body constitution compatibility." Naruto immediately puffed his chest proudly afterward.

"HAH! I already signed one long ago!" A short silence prevailed and then everyone slowly turned toward him.

"…What?" Sakura whispered. Naruto looked unbelievably proud now.

"Rei trusted me with the secret first!" Naruto declared loudly like he had just achieved world peace personally.

"And the fact I never told anybody already proves the contract works! Since Rei now allowed me to speak, I can do so now.. Hahahah.. I was dying to say this secret to someone. Thank you Rei..." Rei could only shake his head. Kakashi meanwhile quietly stared toward Naruto for several seconds afterward before sighing internally. Of course Naruto would be the first person to sign a mysterious magical contract without asking questions properly. Still… the jonin looked back toward Rei afterward.

"So your water style…"

"Comes from the demon brothers. They are under different kind of contract. The harsher one. I would explain that later but for now, this is what important to you." Rei replied.

"My kekkei genkai is almost same as your Sharingan..." If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it. That comparison immediately made Kakashi pause slightly. Because annoyingly enough… it made sense. Sasuke meanwhile had gone unusually quiet now. Because unlike the others… his mind focused on one specific line only. Body constitution...

"…You can copy clan traits too?" Sasuke finally asked quietly.

"Yes.. My body can now get any kekkei genkai that I want, given I get their signatures." And slowly… something complicated passed through Sasuke's eyes afterward. Jealousy, shock, confusion... But beneath all of that… something else lingered too. Relief. Because for years now Sasuke carried the weight of being "the last Uchiha" completely alone. He didn't consider that man as the last Uchiha. He was blot in the name of the clan. But if Rei's ability truly worked like this… Then he wouldn't be alone anymore.

Kakashi however remained thoughtful now. Because despite accepting the explanation outwardly… he could still feel there were missing pieces. What was the weapon? He was sure that there was more to the contract, but he couldn't find or detect any ill will from Rei. Rei had gone for Naruto's sign and from the Mystical Palm technique, he could tell that Rei had gotten them from his parents, which meant that his parents trusted Rei. He had met Daichi Amagi before, and multiple times at that.

The man was jolly and loved Konoha, so Kakashi didn't have any reason to not trust them. Besides, Hiruzen even trusted him with funinjutsu. So he could trust him too. But that didn't mean, he would just sign something so arbitrary.

"Why didn't you speak to tell Hokage-sama of your ability. Wouldn't it be convenient to ask him for the signature, instead of asking us?" Kakashi asked, as that was main burning question in the brain.

"The reason is simple. I trust him, but he is a man of governance, and he has subordinates under him that will almost never leave him. He has ANBU following him everywhere, so if I ask him it means, the ANBU would get to know and thus my secret wouldn't be my secret anymore. Besides this contract wouldn't just allow me have half of your abilities, it will open a world to you which you can't imagine."

"Besides, I am not some great friend of Lord Hokage and I only ask this to people whom I think are friends. Naruto is my friend and thus I had asked him long ago. And even if you don't sign this, I trust you enough that you won't go around speaking of this kekkei genkai of mine." Kakashi couldn't help but agree with Rei. He had been in the bright side of Konoha and also with the dark side, the Root. He knew that once Rei spoke of kekkei genkaki to Hiruzen, it might not end up on the good ears.

And the fact that Rei didn't speak about it to others, who he didn't term as close friends spoke volumes of his awareness and sense of survivalism. The shinobis survived on deception and holding back their trump cards until it was absolutely required. [A/N: At least that's how the show started and later devolved into something else]"Hey, what does it mean by a new world? You never said anything about opening new world? What does that even mean?" Meanwhile Naruto concentrated on other part of the monologue.

"Naruto, I am getting to copy half of your ability, you don't think, that I am taking this for free, are you?" Rei asked.

"... You never spoke of anything like that?" Naruto was offended.

"Really? Didn't I feed you all kinds of Ramen for the next month.." Rei reminded.

"Uh... Yeah.. Sorry forgot about that.." Naruto said. Sasuke looked offended that his own teammate would just do such a lowly trade. Hmph! I would never sign such a bad trade.

"Jokes aside Naruto is right. While what you get in return might not be the same as what I receive after you sign this contract, but I can assure you that you will receive and get to see something of huge significance. If you play the cards right, you will receive greater power than you can imagine. Given you have the talent for it." Rei said. Now this caught the attention of Sasuke.

"What do you mean we will get more powers/abilities?"

"I didn't say you would definitely get it. I said signing the contract will create avenues for you, far more than you can imagine in your wildest dreams. I can't speak more than that, not until you sign. And only after then I can show you what I mean." Rei said. The words caught the attention of everyone. Including Naruto, though he was a bit downtrodden thinking Rei didn't speak or show anything like that. Was there something better than eating favorite Ramen?

"How can I trust you?" Sasuke was straight with his words.

"You saw that weapon of mine? Didn't you? You are curious. I am sure Kakashi- sensei too is. At least I can provide you with weapons like that.. Far more powerful than what I used in the fight." This made everyone's eyes wide. That weapon was fast and Rei even showed how it works after they let Tazuna go. For ninja's though such weapons were loud, but it came with fast speed and lethality. The only thing they needed to do was aim, and someone with no resistance to such projectiles would die.

"Are you serious?" This time Sakura asked. She was the one who envied Rei more than anyone here, because that weapon became her weapon of dreams for some reason. That weapon would definitely give her confidence.

"I can promise you that at least..." Rei said. This was enough for everyone to get the attention of everyone and after much deliberation, they agreed. Rei hadn't done anything that was detrimental to them, and even helped them. In a way, Rei even saved Sasuke and Naruto, though Kakashi felt like it was a bit manipulative but it were his two students who wanted to be heroes. Not Rei's fault, and it was Rei at the end who had intervene, So it was fair at the end.

And thus on the behest of Rei, the rest of the three signed. Sasuke was the first to sign as he believed that he would also receive a Uchiha brother. Kakashi was the second and the last was Sakura. She felt like her privacy was invaded a bit, but since all had done so.

"Now could you tell me about that weapon?" Kakashi had finally asked that question since they had signed but before the words of Kakashi could register on the brain of Rei, the boy himself felt like the world just became small. And then it hit him, all at once. The contracts activated fully the moment Sasuke and Kakashi signed. Sakura's addition was barely noticeable compared to the monstrous wave that suddenly crashed into Rei's body and mind. Chakra exploded violently through his pathways.

Not outwardly thankfully, but internally it felt like someone had suddenly poured an ocean inside veins that were only prepared to hold rivers. Rei's breathing immediately staggered while one hand instinctively slammed against the nearby tree for support.

"… Rei?" Sakura immediately looked alarmed. Kakashi's visible eye narrowed instantly. Because unlike the others, he immediately understood. The contracts. Rei meanwhile felt his entire body go through absolute chaos. A body that now possessed authentic Uchiha compatibility. A body that suddenly inherited an absurd amount of combat techniques/skills from Kakashi Hatake. Techniques, chakra control methods, water style variations, earth style foundations, lightning style manipulation principles and others too.

And chakra. So much chakra. Kakashi's reserves weren't Naruto level monstrous but one couldn't look down on it because unlike Kakashi, Rei had authentic body of Uchiha and thus the chakra drain wasn't as huge as Kakashi's. Combined with Sasuke's Uchiha chakra and his own already enhanced reserves… the balance inside his body immediately became unstable.

"…Tch—!" Rei almost lost control over his chakra entirely for a second. The ground beneath his feet cracked slightly while small bursts of chakra escaped around him uncontrollably. Naruto immediately panicked.

"HEY! WHY DOES HE LOOK LIKE HE'S DYING?!" Right now Rei genuinely felt like his nervous system was trying to rewrite itself in real time. His eyes burned slightly. His hearing sharpened unnaturally. Even basic movement suddenly felt wrong because too many things overlapped simultaneously now. And then suddenly, a flicker of red appeared briefly inside his eyes. Sharingan. One tomoe of course, but it was there and Kakashi and others got to see it. Though momentarily...

It took several long moments before his breathing finally stabilized slightly again. Even then the chakra inside his body still felt dangerously chaotic. Like several different systems were trying to overlap improperly.

"…You okay?" Naruto asked nervously afterward.

"…Define okay." Rei muttered weakly. Kakashi quietly observed him now with much more seriousness than before. A huge part of of him hardly believed the contracts when Rei had first spoken about it. He felt like it was all a ploy to hide his weapon that he had made. Maybe it was some kind of scientific genius and the contract was made to shut them up, to not speak of the secrets.