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"Dispatched, in mankind's darkest hour, we, are knights of the eternal rock. " |
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Basic Information: Name: Hazama Nickname: Nanadaime Tsuchikage Gender: Male Age: 27 Clan: Kiyoshi |
Looks: How do I look you say? I mean formality is integral I guess; I was brought into this world to connote some sort of creepy archetype. Being depicted with a bright green, radiant hair colour which acts as the centre of my persona, along with an ever-present psycho-pathological fake smile. I have been described as having my eyes slanted, almost closed, perhaps belying a demonic nature of sorts. Though my eyes are of a gold colour with snake-slits for pupils, and a smile of a benevolent creature. Now, my clothing. I used to wear a simple black suit with a white shirt underneath, short brown gloves and brown steel-toed shoes. Having donned a pair of black trousers held up by two brown belts, the outfit was then completed by a black fedora hat upon my Iwagakure headband. But recently I've altered my clothing a bit, depending on where I reside in the Ninja world, due to certain circumstances which erupted from my fights, the formal clothing had become a bigger part of me than my personality. These days, I tend to wear a hooded yellow cape along with long black ribbons across my arms. Still retaining a few articles from my previous clothing, including the open shirt beneath my vest, the belts and black pants. | Personality: I'm a bit of a freak, really. During my childhood I always maintained a kind and innocent personality. Showing care and respect to those around myself, and I'd do anything to make my parents proud. You could suggest that my maturity grew before my age, and thus made me be seen as more of an adult rather than a child. I have stayed up nights debating the influence of my childhood actions on my choices now in adult life, since my general and attitude and personality has drastically changed, just as it is with every other adult in the world. We grow up with the world and we become accustomed to this reality we exist in, we learn to adapt to hell. I had to go through such a pain when I was young, seeing my parents cease to exist in front of my very eyes have struck a nerve in my heart not to even think twice about someone's life. As I pass by people on the streets I don't stop to think about their lives, I carry a sense of destruction and, even to an extent, a sense of greed and selfishness. Merely setting my sight on various individuals to see how they could be manipulated, how their pathetic little lives could be destroyed and twisted for my own gain. Now you could be calling me a ruthless murderer, having no qualms with killing those who seem to get in my way and an apparent lack of remorse for all my actions. But that's not true, when it comes to people that I care about,t he turn of the events will be reversed; the little voice in my head will revert me back to the way I was when I was a child. I'll show love and care, gratitude and respect for their well-being. I'd look after those who may be hurt, even risk my own life just to ensure their safety. I don't look at life in terms of what you make of it but of how you intend to survive within it, how you will pass obstacles blocking whichever theoretical path you follow, it's when you're facing said obstacles where a person's true colours shine. My favourite book has to be The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde; an analogy for my character. Stevenson wrote a line of great importance to me in that book, which read ''Man is not truly one, but truly two.'' MY actions, beliefs and complexity all matter on who is part of the equation, and what the likely derivable consequences are. Some see me as a crazy psychopath, others see me as a hero , yet it's laughable that I can't even read myself. |
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Village Information
Village of Birth Konohagakure | Village of Alliance Iwagakure |
Rank and Chakra Info
| Ninja Rank: Unofficial Sage Specialties: Earth | Taijutsu | [tr]CREATED BY MCRAZOR [td] Background Information History |
The Story of a Conqueror It was a dark stormy day. The snow was blitzing down from the skies, and thunder roared through the oceans. Hazama was sitting on a rock in the peak of the highest mountain, in the middle of nowhere, whistling to himself, almost like he was waiting for someone. And then it struck, the lightning stopped and the storm quieted down. A second man approached the former with his head down, the sun escaped from the wrath of the clouds and glimmered onto his body, raying a hope of light onto mankind. The closer he was getting the clearer the day got. He was wearing traditional Japanese clothes, and his hair was shining in gold. He lifted his head in a polite manner as the sun shined into his eyes, and the gold pupils glared into the eyes of Hazama, as the man took a seat next to him. ‘‘Tell me about your past’’ Said the man, as his words rocketed down Hazama’s mind. Thoughts, feelings and memories drowned him in his own subconscious. As sweat was running down his face like an avalanche on a snowy mountain, and his teeth were grinding vigorously. At the end he beat his temptation though, and he sighed in relief as he looked up at the questioned man. Hazama took a deep breath and opened his eyes, revealing a tinted golden glare as well, which made the man chuckle, as the story of Hazama was about to begin.
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‘‘Many have called me a disaster of mankind, a waste of our resources and some have even questioned the point of my existence. Life hasn’t been all too great for me yet, and I’ve strived and fought for my own survival, done things others would see as an unexplainable action, things I’m not generally proud of. But let’s start at the beginning before we go off track. It was a long time ago, of course I can’t remember it, but many have described it as a horrible event, others have signified its importance in our world, but I just know it as my birth. It was on the outskirts of Konoha, located inside a barn that my father had bought for the family. You see we weren’t really the rich kind of people, and we were never officially part of a village. Therefore, the consequences were very dire, my father and mother had to work for themselves and we lived in that small barn and a small field that soon enough after a few years would turn into a great farm that was my first and still to this day, my home. I wasn’t an ordinary kid, or so I was told by most people. I don’t really remember being a kid at all, since the beginning of my existence, I was always treated as an adult. I helped both my parents around the farm and hence became mature way before people my own age. I had no time to involve myself around the Academy that was close to our farm, because of the situation that my family was in. However, I was always interested in the shinobis that would run across our field during their missions; sometimes I would catch them on their way to the mission and act as a kid, rather than the adult that my parents had made me out to be. It was fun, because these people weren’t aware of my maturity and thus paid me much more respect and sincerity, which somehow made me feel happy inside. That moment would only last a little bit because we both had jobs to attend to; the shinobis had to go forth on their mission, whilst I had to go back to the farm and get back to my work. This was pretty much my life for a short amount of time, I don’t remember most days well because the pattern of events would always be the same, I never had a goal, I never even knew what a goal was, I was isolated from the rest of the kids and I had led a different life. Until one day where this all changed to me, I was out playing in the field one day with a wooden kunai that was left to me by a special shinobi, I also had been spying on a particular person that I saw from a distance. His body was covered in a thick fog, though I could see a golden shine come from the fog, I just couldn’twonder what it was. Once done and on my way back I heard a noise come from inside the barn. Anxious to know what was going on, I obviously went to approach this noise, and this sound sent a chill down my spine. I could tell something was wrong so I dropped the kunai and began descending towards the barn. I slammed the door open only to witness horror that still to this day shock me everytime the thought comes into mind. My mother was lying on the floor covered in blood, a katana was stuck in her right lung and her eyes were wide open, and right In front of her fell my dad. He was still just alive, crawling towards the door with his right arm extended, motioning me to run away, but I just stood there in shock. I didn’t know what to do, I was scared and worried, but I just stood there. And then, right in front of my eyes, a katana was stabbed straight onto my dad’s back, blood was gushing out and splattered all over my face. My eyes widened and the veins were popping out. I couldn’t believe what I had just seen; I fell onto my knees and lowered my face. Seeing the corpses of the only people that actually cared about me, the people that raised me and the people that I loved. My whole world was crushed completely, my heart was broken, I thought this was the end, but nothing happened. The clock just went on, tick tock…. tick tock. And then came two men, dressed as shinobis who were chuckling to themselves, like this was some kind of joke. Realizing that this is the true world, finding out the truth in our pitiful existence, I came to a halt. All emotions that I had felt at one point in my life was now gone, and a new me was born. A heart full of hatred and sorrow, I looked up at my first sight on these two shinobis as they were deciding on what to do with me. And as one of them approached me with a katana out of its sheath, I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. Clenching my fists as hard as I could, I let out a roar that shook the world apart and went on a rampage, I myself don’t know what actually happened. I just kept screaming with my eyes closed, I heard the sound of pain ravaging through their veins, hearing their blood swivel out of their bodies, felt the evil side of me take over as I stood there beating two shinobi to death. The deed had been done and there’s no undo button in our life, I was now in even more shock as I had pummelled these people into nothingness with my own fists. Covered in blood I sky-rocketed out of the door and ran as far as I could. I didn’t care as to where my destination would be or for how long I’d be running. I only cared about running till I could run no more. I probably ran for days, weeks or even months, I couldn’t tell, I just kept on running. Tears were rushing down my eyes as people from the streets were looking across their shoulders in disgust. I came to a dark alleyway, and as I ran down I hit onto a person and staggered onto the floor. The person jumped in shock and quickly bent down to his knee, in order to help my dizzy and confused body. My vision was mostly blurred and I couldn’t really distinguish what was going on around me, though I could feel being dragged around due to the fact I couldn’t walk on my own legs. I then felt the soft sweet tender touch from a duvet, I was lying on a bed and I fell onto its resistance. This was the first time in weeks where I could take a nap, and of course, I fell into a world of dreams. Several hours later, my mind was clear again and my vision was perfect. I woke up to three boys around my age sitting down smiling towards me. They all came up one by one and introduced themselves as I was attempting to figure out where I was located. The first approached. ‘‘Hello there, my name is Scaze. There’s not really much to say, apart from the fact that if you ever try getting in my way you know what’d happen.’’ I looked at him with a slight confused look, since his approach wasn’t all so friendly. The second followed shortly after ‘‘Why hello there, I’m Baldy. People call me that because I’m Bald. I like to talk very fast and in long sentences, so you’d have to listen carefully if you want to get along here.’’ Again, this was said in a quick manner and disturbed me to an extent. Finally, the third and oldest came up. ‘‘Hello there, I’m Erzo and we’re just like you. I saw you run along the streets and knew you needed help, and that’s what we’re here for. Make yourself at home, because this is your home now.’’ This one seemed like the leader to me, but I was too confused and tired to work out what was going on. Later that day, Baldy, Scaze, Erzo and I took a trip around the new village that I had landed in. Much to my surprise, this village was Kumogakure, the land of the clouds. And as I was taking a stroll I got to adapt more and more to my new home, the Raikage, Mugiwara, was out for a walk. Village kids would run around friendly without a care in the world, and a man walked past the four of us and glimpsed with his eyes, as I saw a golden taint shine like a light in a dark room. The man kept on walking without looking at us again, as the four of us finally reached the destination. It was the Kumogakure academy. We ran to the front doors as my newfound 3 friends knocked hard. A lady answered it and soon enough I found myself inside where I had always dreamed to be. In the exact place that will train me to become the person that I always wanted to be. Before I couldn’t achieve that goal due to how I was raised up and helping out my family, but now the time had come. The gates opened and a swarm of kid ran past us, some of these would later carry on becoming very close friends of mine. Five kids approached Erzo and Baldy since they knew each other before this event. They later then identified themselves to me as –Naruto- Zwei, Kryptiic, Dead Bones and Klaus. I could sense their innocent and calm nature, and I felt happy being around them. They decided to give us a tour of the academy, and my mouth was gaping in awe as we walked around the facility, I could pin-point the exact personalities of all the kids just judging by their body position. Two boys, called Selendrile and Coyote, were leaning on their backs against the wall, and I could tell they were the so called supposed ‘‘cool kids’’ of this lot. We carried on our tour around the academy, met the teachers and had conversations with everyone around. Once done with that we went towards out first lesson. And before the blink of an eye the time for graduation had begun. Years have been spent now at the academy and in Kumogakure. I had made lots of friends and my life was on track, everything was going perfect, and apparently, my potentiality was looked over by a feared person across the Ninja World. He was regarded as a very strong sensei that approached me on the day of graduation, and that was when my life took a turn for the better. His name was Gobi Gobletsson. And is one of the people that I look up to the most, the reason why I’m sitting right here is because of him. He took me in under his wing, and taught me for days to weeks, to months and even years. My training was severe; it’s funny because I still remember my first day with him. I had to leave everyone behind and both of us went on an adventure together. I packed all my clothes and equipment, my blood gushing excitedly through my body as the life of my journey was about to begin, Gobi and I waved goodbye to the academy and set out. Our times of training is not something I’d like to share with everyone, since it’s something really private and important to me, thus the information would be kept secret to myself and Gobi only. But all I can tell you is, during this journey I’ve met with countless of people, both that would turn out to become either friends or foes. One person could be considered a mutuality between the two, you see me and Gobi would visit Kumogakure every now and then whilst we were in the neighbourhood, and one time we were caught in the midst of a war. The Akatsuki, had attacked my previous home. And two men, called Goro Kaguya and Izanami Kaito were flying above, their high positions in comparison to the clouds and the villagers signified their dominance. And within an instant the whole Kumogakure was about to fall from beneath my eyes, or so I thought. As I was in shock from the invaders attacking, Gobi went out of my sight due to the distraction. And something struck to me right there, memories began swarming my body as I recalled all the people that cared about me in Kumogakure. Everyone that helped me put my life together again, and with those memories I began running towards the gates. The time for reminiscing wasn’t just there yet, as we had to hold the Akatsuki off. I helped my friends and the villagers, but we couldn’t last long. So I decided to give it all with one shot. I let my body get the better of me as I ravaged towards the pair of Akatsuki, and fought just like I did back in my childhood, though this time with my eyes open. I couldn’t land a hit though; these guys were out of my league. But in a glimmer of hope, just before I would pass out, I saw the same man again, he was standing from a distance and his eyes were shining gold. I couldn’t hope but wonder who that man was, and that’s a question I have been wondering my entire life. This man has appeared in rather different situations during my life, he’s been there the entire time, almost like he was watching me.’’ Hazama chuckled to himself as he raised his head and looked towards the man sitting In front of him. He stopped for a second to breathe in as he was finishing off his story.
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‘‘After taking a heavy beating, the Raikage had arrived with his wings flapping magically into the air. Him and the Daimyo of Kumogakure, whose name I never got to find out, fought the Akatsuki duo and beat them. My body was heavily beaten and after I got healed I decided to go on my own adventure this time. I spent weeks gathering Intel on this person, finding out why he’s been following me and more importantly what he wants. Who he is and what he is famous for, after all this time. I was told that if I came here, on this specific day at this specific time, I’d finally meet you… His eyes widened, as he took a gasp of breath and finishes his story. …Roku Kiyoshi.’’ Roku laughed to himself, as he stood up from the rock. ‘‘Your story is very interesting, and yes it is true. You were a special one from the start, I can tell you know why I’ve approached you.’’ Words muttered out of Hazama as his smiled went inhumane ‘‘The Kiyoshi Clan?’’ Roku put his hands behind his back and faced the other way ‘‘Come forth now Hazama, your time has only just begun.’’ They started a walk towards the direction Roku came from, it was quiet and took some time. And as they walked, the birds flew magically, the grass swayed in a generous manner, and Roku turned towards Hazama for a split second, letting the sun shine into his eyes again, glaring with gold, because the story of Hazma Kiyoshi, has just begun... Well well, it sure as hell as been a long time since I've decided to reflect back on my life, the mysteries that all surround me. I started of as a nobody, no one knew me and with the friends I had created, I had actually made myself reach somewhere in this pitiful existence I have. Some time had passed and I was settling in with the other Kiyoshi students. Funny, I still remember the first day where we were all introduced to each other, somehow I knew them from many places before, I had encountered each of them individually, but this was the first time we were all brought as part of the same clan, as family. I could sense their energy, they were much stronger than me, I would never be able to amount up with their capabilities, however that was not to hinder me from my ambitions. We spent many fortnights, without any sleeping at all with the Grandsage, Roku Kiyoshi. He taught me the fundamentals of life, and brought me closer with the way of Shinobi above ways anyone else could, and every now and then I'd get visits from Gobi when he passed by my new home; Iwagakure. Speaking of Iwagakure, the village is very close to the Kiyoshi hideout, and in result me, Erzo and some of the other new students lived there, settling in really quickly with the family-like atmosphere all around, I grew accustomed to the village and consider it my only home now. We have been through everything together. For instance, this one time Iwa was attacked by Suna, and along came many Suna shinobi, among them was an old companion of mine that went by the name of Zoro, whom we had a scheduled fight but instead decided to not exchange fists. To sum it all up I have been accepted by everyone in Iwa and grown to be known as a member of the Iwagakure village. To add on from this, I enrolled into becoming a senpai, and took another shinobi that goes by the name of Tybone under my wing to teach him the element of Earth, I myself saw it as a test to see whether I was actually capable enough of teaching a variety of different people. You see, I was always in love with teaching, ever since the good ol' days with Gobi, I appreciated the bond we had together, and his presence there rather than what I was actually learning. Either way, the test with Tybone was a success and words spread quickly, on an unannounced day, Gobi showed up and asked me to travel with him whenever we felt like; across all the borders and different villages, teaching people as we moved along and learning for ourselves, and so I agreed. This plan however, quickly came to a close as words were spreading around the village, apparently there was a new tournament being held up. Invited for only the strongest of the strong, with a prize that shinobi around the world only sought to achieve, it was truly a magnificent place to be, and coincidentally Gobi's presence quickly went absent during the planning of the tournament. However, he did tell me to practice and train myself a lot, and so I did. Day and night whether it was in Iwa, or in the Kiyoshi hideout, I put my blood, sweat and tears into getting stronger, into just striving to achieve the ambitions that I wanted. Not necessarily to gain anything that'd make me stronger in the physical sense, no... I just wanted to be happy. A month or so had passed and I was called up, along with a hefty number of people, both my brothers from the clan and several Iwagakure shinobi, we all traveled together to the main battle arena, which was nothing less than spectacular. From the outside it looked like a fully built Colosseum, shining with all its glory. When you walked inside, you could just feel the massive, dangerous atmosphere all around. Shinobi gathered from all the countries, the strongest of the strongest were to contest and the last man standing beneath all the corpses would be crowned the eventual winner, it was something I had been waiting for my entire life, something that would end up marking at least some significance towards myself. Without any further inspection the judges of the tournament gathered up, standing beyond the horizon of the Colosseum, shining with all their glory over us, from a retrospectial view they might have seen to be looking down at us due to their power, but of course in my opinion they were much higher than all of us. Then, out of the blue, the tournament organizer came up, the person who was in charge of who would square off against who, and in what area, and how long each battle would last, the shadow glimmered under the sun as it engulfed the entire arena, everyone's eyes were fixated on that single person, seeing his notorious head shimmer above the balcony. And there he stood, the man I had both loved and looked up to my entire life, Gobi. He didn't really say much apart from the generic rules of the tournament, however I could sense he knew I was there, it was blatant. That means this was my chance, my time to show him how much I had improved since our times from before, I had to give it my all, nothing else was acceptable within my own boundaries. And so the battle's ensued, my first opponents provided a heap of joy and danger in one go. It was an honor to step into the same battlefield as them, and they did put me all the way to my limit from the very beginning. I knew it was no joke, this was the real shit. Either way I managed to end up on top, and advanced through the tournament with great difficulty. This was something of confusion to me though, as I had no idea I would even be able to grace the skin of my first opponent. Perhaps I underestimated myself, or as I have been told for a big part of my life, maybe it was that I was just lucky. But there was no turning back now, my only goal was to appease Gobi for now, show him how much I had grown, and so the ambition I set for myself was to slaughter everything in my way, beat everyone that may obscure my path, the path to becoming a true conqueror. I began to inhibit this different personality and it was taking me over, changing me into someone I wasn't before, someone cocky and arrogant that now overestimated and was not aware of my capabilities. But all that became clear soon anyways. My next opponent was the famed man whom I had met before, he went by the name Mugiwara, and with simple ease he flicked me away like I was a mere bug. All the power I had constructed, the mindset I had built and the courage that was deep within me, all gone, in mere seconds. I bit off more than I could chew I guess, but it served as a wake up call, seeing Mugiwara wasting little to no energy in order to beat me, it proved that I had to step my game up, I had to dust myself off and try again, it was not the end yet. I was given one more chance, was on my last lifeline is one could call it that, one more time to prove myself worthy. There weren't that many people left, meaning the weaker ones were defeated, and only the elitist of the elites remained, including me. My bones trembling in fear as I approached the battlefield, head down and sweat pouring off my face, I took feared steps into the Colosseum and lifted my head to witness the man who I was going to engage with next. He had a stern face on his look and was rather formal, didn't appear to be as strong as the others whom I had conflicted with, but he was somewhat different. A strange aura emigrated from him, an aura that hinted sight of both confidence and a great sense of power, however there was no time for greeting. The battle ensued and carried on for what I thought would be an entire lifetime, I truly gave it my all, to the very last drop of blood and sweat exerted from my body, to my absolute limit. But in the end, everything that I had worked for in this battle, the man managed to fight back with some ease, I did pressure him at some points though the result would still follow the same sequence of events for any sort of attack I pushed onto him. And when the dust from the battle cleared, he claimed victorious, though in a sense of hostility he whispered his name to me, McRazor. Though I only heard it once I still remember it to this day and most likely will never forget that name. I was out of the tournament, but that was not on a bad note. It taught me one of the most valuable lessons I hold dear to my heart, it proved to me that I was capable of achieving almost anything I wanted if I put my heart and mind to it. To think that I started from nothing, from zero, being infamous in my own village, knowing absolutely nothing and having a next to no purpose in life. And then after all this time, to come out as one of the best in a tournament for the strongest throughout the Ninja World, it brought a smile to my face, a new-found purpose in life I wouldn't mind basing the rest of my existence on. And the best of all, I somehow felt that Gobi was proud off me, I managed to show him what I wanted and achieved what I wanted from the tournament, I was happy. Walking out the Colosseum I was saying goodbye to my first achievement and hopefully, my first of many. Standing outside was my own family, greeted with tons of respect and love we embarked on the journey home to celebrate the accomplishment both myself and various other members progress throughout the tournament. The journey seemed like a flash to me, I don't remember much of it, just a nice and cozy temporary environment, and after a day or two we reached the outskirts of Iwagakure. Now came a choice, whether to continue on and head to the Kiyoshi hideout to train with the Grandmaster Roku, or to stay in the village and help out in case my assistance was needed. I decided to rest in Iwa for now, I needed to take a small break and just relax, put my head at rest and concentrate on what to do next. Confusion flooded me now as I walked past, villagers would look at me differently, but more importantly I had received a substantial amount of both fame and respect from the, why would that be? Was it because of what I achieved in the tournament? Pondering with that question in my mind, I drew to the conclusion that fame is the result of power, what a shameful world we live in, but perhaps this is only my own opinion, I am still naive when it comes to human, more specifically shinobi behavior and their philosophy behind actions, one day I hope to understand the mindset of all shinobis, to understand their power you have to understand them individually, or well, that is what I believe. A few weeks passed and my life was uneventful, not boring but uneventful. Me and various other members became teachers in the academy, raising the newer generation of shinobi in our precious village. Then one day fear roared through the skies of Iwa, I heard people scream from the very top of their lungs, and hearing blood being shed like there was no tomorrow. Quickly running out of the residing place most of the villagers gathered up at the office of our Tsuchikage. Panic spreading epidemically into the hearts of our people, yet somehow I couldn't help but wonder what everyone was so worried about. The officials of the village notified everyone what's happened ''I'm afraid we're being under attack, an evil scheme set by Konohagakure. Their war general was spying on us for some time and now have enough intel to hint out all of our weaknesses, we got screwed over.'' The man bowed his head down for a split second, but instantly lifted it up as a smirk grew on his face ''However this is no time to be frail or fear, we must stand together, as a family, as one. In times of despair like this, we must combat the problem, so who's with me?!'' The crowd clapped and suddenly the confidence was over the roof, a great sight to be part off. ''Right then, there's nothing to waist. Everyone get in order, we will have our sensors deduce who is coming this way, strategy is the key for us to come out on top, we're at a disadvantage for now, but that'll soon change. Hazama and Erzo, you wait here-'' I didn't hear much of what else he said, my mind simply went blank. A massive grin grew on my face as I exchanged eye contact with Erzo, who was on the other hand stern and expressed a stoical face, this meant more for him than it did for me. I wonder how much he had grown in time as well, I was yet to experience the power behind his name. We stood still, the officials finished speaking and most of the villagers scattered out. Within seconds I could hear it all, the innocent gushing of water, roar of thunder, intensity of fire, elegance of the wind and wisdom of the Earth. I could hear and feel it all, my blood was rushing like ants, time to put my skills to the limit, these weren't everyday normal battles- no, this was war. ''Sir! Zanji is approaching the village gates!'' A man shouted to the officials, their eyes fixated towards myself and Erzo, a simple nod was all that we received and we knew straight away what they wanted. Zanji is who our opponent was, we rushed straight towards the main gates before he got any chance to even grasp the beauty of our village. When we crossed paths, he showed no emotion or speech, he simply sighed, almost as if he was disappointed. ''This is all that Iwagakure can offer huh? Two infamous rookies? I expected more to be frank, pathetic.'' His words stunk horribly, and his very face annoyed me to the utmost limit. I turned my head to Erzo and he had his head down, fists clenched, but he spoke no word. I had to take the responsibility to reply ''If you don't even know how us how are you able to judge our power? Arrogance always prevails'' The man shook his head in anger ''You don't seem to understand, you're insignificant. Both of you, all of you newer generation shinobi seem to think you can achieve all that you want. We live in a cruel world, a world with no mercy, and sooner or later you all have to come to reality with what you are, mere fools.'' I sighed ''I've heard this many times from many people. What you hear can be your greatest enemy, though the truth is always in sight'' I smiled and pointed forward, my finger aimed at Zanji ''albeit only to those who aren't blinded by their own obnoxiousness'' ''W-what did you just say...?'' Zanji was furious by now to be treated in such way. ''Just who do you think you are? You're no match for me and you never will be...'' His face quickly reddened, almost like he was about to explode in fury ''I didn't come here to talk, I have a mission and I aim to complete it. Just like I've been doing my entire life, I've seen fools such as yourselves claiming to be big, claiming to be worthy enough to engage in a combat with me. And they have all failed, one by one their pitiful existences eradicated from the very surface of this Earth. And that will happen to you today, too bad you can never live up to the promises you've set for yourself and your accomplices'' He was in the motion of raising hands to determine his obedience ''prepare to meet your fate, the wrath of Tobira-'' He stopped speaking, but his mouth was still open and his hands were on their path of being raised. Though something didn't feel right, his body was not moving at all, almost as if he was paralyzed. His eyes, turning from their initial stern look, into eyes that have just looked straight into the depths of hell. He was terrified, clearly the fear itself has rendered his mobility useless. Sweat was draining off his face, I could hear him panting like a dog begging its owner not to be put down. ''...Silence.'' I felt the same chill through my spine, it wasn't anyone else but Erzo. His face still emotionless, no expression whatsoever. But he was looking straight at Zanji's helpless body. I thought to myself if Erzo was the person who put him in that state, and it appeared so. Erzo began walking towards Zanji, every step formed tremors that spread to the entire battlefield. Once reached he grabbed Zanji's chin and picked his entire body up, looking down upon him, he spoke no word but the intensity of his eyesight was astonishing. Zanji started to pant more and his heartbeat increased rapidly, he let out one final cry for aid.
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And that was the last words he ever spoke, as in front of my own eyes Erzo ripped out Zanji's skull from his body, it was something peculiar. I have never seen Erzo like this before, it was truly something terrifying. Holding Zanji's head within the grasp of his hand as the lifeless body now fell completely on the floor. The aid was here, it was the Jinchuuriki Roushi and his partner Haku, of the Yuki clan. Their first reaction was a massive shock, to see such highly regarded shinobi of Konohagakure, headless on the floor, sent a shock in their body. And now I could sense us have an advantage, we may just be able to clear the doubts and win this war. Erzo dropped the skull on the floor from his bloody hand and looked at our new opponents, analyzing everything about them, he then turned around towards me. ''Hazama, let's go.'' ''Sure'' I replied excitingly, and so our battle commenced. The two proved worthy of being shinobis from Konoha, unlike Zanji. And it was a tough battle, seeing as how this would be the first time me and Erzo fought side by side, strategy was the key as we were told. The other two possessed Ice and Lava, disregarding the fact one was a Jinchuuriki. But we had something better equipped in our hands, the training received from Roku. The ability to understand chakra rather than abuse techniques, the energy both within us and in the environment. We used this to our advantage and with ease proved to be more powerful than the other duo. The battle stopped for a minute or two to exchange words. Roushi spoke ''I've never heard of you two before, but to leave Zanji headless isn't something I was planning to see. Maybe we underestimated Iwagakure and their shinobi.'' I opened my mouth to answer but Erzo raised his arm, signalling me to stay quiet. ''You should never underestimate your opponent if you don't know who they are. That was the mistake your fellow fool here committed and look where he ended up.'' He pointed to the corpse ''Now you have the advantage of that not happening to you if you leave. We can do this the easy way or the hard way, but Konoha will not gain anything from this, you messed with the wrong villlage'' Erzo was right, I looked around at the other battles occurring and it seemed like what the officials had proposed was correct, from the strategies we placed we managed to accomplish victories, not individually but as a village. Iwarians were slaying their opponents like bugs, we were stomping on our opponents and this brought forth a warmth feeling in my heart, I felt secure. It proved to be too much for the fellow opponents ''Hmph, I could just transform right now and your poor village will turn into ashes in mere seconds'' I hesitated to reply once again ''Go on then.'' The tone of Erzo's voice was securing. Enough to pressure the duo. ''I've seen enough, until next time, Iwagakure.'' Roushi and Haku began running away, though no one followed them, it seems we had enough as well. Various villagers were hurt and buildings suffered minor damage, but now that we had came out victorious in the war we needed to treat everyone hurt and repair damage. Many people crowded both me and Erzo, I felt truly happy fighting by my friends side, it was an honor and I wish we would be able to do that many more times in the future. He was recognized now as well throughout the Ninja World, many people spoke about him in the village, a perfect role model to the aspiring shinobis of the next generation. To be honest, I could see him becoming the next Tsuchikage and leading us. A few weeks passed and life was turning back to normal, all the casualties of the war were now healed and the damage had been repaired, we resume training as usual in the academy and the Kiyoshi hideout. Constantly waiting for another event to happen, I don't remember if Iwa wanted to retaliate against Konoha but that was not for me to ponder, I merely aimed to continue gaining strength and making a better person of myself. One time I was on my passage towards the Kiyoshi hideout and a strange person approached me, he had his face hidden and was carrying a rug-sack. His voice was raspy but soothing, and so he called me towards him. He gave me a single letter and told me to prepare myself for the battle of my life in two weeks. What was this? Who was this? Was I going to fight this lone man? Or would it be a collection of people? And for what? And why would I even have to accept this? But it somehow felt really important to me. Maybe this man knew me and didn't want me to know who he was, at least not for yet. Though now I had a purpose to train, a purpose to put myself to the absolute limit for these two weeks, and so I did. Every day all the way throughout until the night, I did nothing but train, it's funny but those times took me back to the very beginning of my path as a shinobi. The continuous training I would be put through by Gobi, felt really nostalgic for once. Now I could tell he did that for a good reason, it was to shape me into the individual I was today, i can only hope he understood that in the tournament. If he saw me fight and witnessed the transition from the kid I once was into the supposed man some people call me, into a shinobi. Two weeks had now passed and the fated encounter had come, I walked into a plain field, knowing I was being followed. The grass swayed majestically, the birds in the trees were tweeting their rhythm and the sun was shining down upon the Earth. I could feel footsteps approaching my location, it was the same man, he walked onto the field as well and carried with him was a belt-like whip of some sort that caught my attention. After closer inspection I realized what it was, I had heard many stories about it, but to all I thought it was nothing but a myth, the whip that is able to split mountains individually, the all collector of everything Earthen in this world, the Goddess of Earth itself, the Haniyasu Hime. The man lifted off his hood and much to my surprise it was the man who has been following me my entire life. From the very beginning he watched me grow up, and even assisted Roku in picking me out to be a Kiyoshi. Not only that, but then the man who took me in when I was nothing, the man who trained me into becoming the person I am to achieve everything I had wanted. The man who not only watched me raised up, the man who raised me himself, the man whom I owe the most to out of every person in my life, the man himself, Gobi. ''Well, seems our reunion has come as planned Hazama, you've grown a lot'' His words carried wisdom. ''I always knew somehow I would come to meet you again Gobi, I'm not going to say anything, but ask one question, what do you think of me? ''Regardless of my answer it would not have a significant effect on your behavior, young one. Yes I have been watching you, and I am proud, indeed. But that does not matter to me at all, as long as you have grown into the fine shinobi that people speak of you, and as long as you are happy, then I'm happy.'' My eyes widened ''What do you mean? I thought I was going to come out here for the battle of my life? I can't fight you'' He chuckled to himself ''You see that is where you're wrong Hazama, you are here to fight indeed. And-'' He raised his head to take a breath of fresh air before fixating his eyes on me once more ''You are going to fight me.'' ''No, this can't be happening please'' My body fell to the floor as fear consumed my entire body, there is no way I could bring myself to even touch my sensei in a harmful manner. Not that I could anyways, he was much more powerful than me, I'd stand no chance. ''I can't do anything to you, your power is too great, not that I want to anyways.'' His face became expressionless ''It's either that you defend or I kill you. Things aren't the same as before anymore, I can't keep looking after you, that job is now up to you. If you're challenged you must accept it, now come forth... Show me what you're made of Hazama, make me proud.'' Those words were enough to persuade me that whatever I wish, would not happen. All this time I was being delusional to myself, the only way to truly prove my strength to Gobi was not to fight in a tournament, it wasn't to advance far and gain both the fame and respect of many people. No, the only way that I could truly show my progress was to fight Gobi himself, to put every ounce of breath and sweat I have into this one battle, this was not just a test for my progress but it was a test for my limit. It would be the very first time I exchanged fists with Gobi with the intention to do so, but then again friendships are forged through battles. And so it started, the test of my life, the battle that would describe me for who I am. It began off at a slow pace, Gobi wasn't really attacking at all, simply just waiting for me throw my moves straight at him. And so I did, I fell right in his trap and attacked endlessly, using anything that I've got to gain some sort of advantage against him, albeit none of that worked against this man, his entity was incredible, fond of super-human abilities. I was astonished to say the least, yet somehow disappointed. I could sense that he was not going all out on me. No, he was going easy, he wanted me to show all I've got, and so I did. I was placed to my utmost limit, and the battle was drawing to a close, he had me cornered with nothing to prove anymore, I had given it my all.. Using a sacred technique he taught me himself, I activated Asura's solution, my hands glowing in a vibrant red colour due to the friction of energy. I was standing on the ground, nearly worn out with the last bit of chakra left, he hadn't used the Haniyasu-Hime so much, but for the times he did I could truly grasp the power it carries with it, only a true shinobi would be able to carry it, a majestic entity in the shape of a whip. ''Why are you not destroying me?!'' I shouted at him furiously ''You think I'm not going all out? Don't underestimate your own power baka~ I have given it my all this entire time, you're simply much stronger than you make yourself out to be.'' He grinned and slammed his palms together, as if he was about to use a technique ''We haven't finished yet, don't you even think about stopping.'' The tone of his voice became calm and soothing.
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''I'm nearly worn out sensei, there's nothing else I can do, you might as well kill me now.'' The vibrancy of my hands increased as fury enveloped my emotions, I had to give one last shot. I was not going to give up till I was at both my physical and psychological limit. I was ready to greet death with a smile. Screaming- no, screeching at the top of my voice as I ran towards him I heard a silent and innocent sentence, like it was whispering to me in my head. ''Even if i wanted, I couldn't kill you.'' It was the voice of Gobi, and it was nothing in my mind, it was reality. I looked up and my attack successfully collided with him. The rest was nearly a blank in my mind, an explosion occurred which disintegrated anything within its radius, excluding me. The wildlife was being destroyed, nature was disturbed, the grass and trees incinerated into ashes, and the entire ground exploding into a massive crated. This carried on for what I thought was forever, but when it finished, when this traumatic experience was finally over, I lied on top of the crater, looking high up in the sky. Attempting to deduce what just happened was over me, I was beginning to think whether I was turning psychotic. Did I just kill my own sensei? The man who placed me where I am now, the man who did everything for me, did I just end his life? But then his statement came back to me and I was at an emotional drain, did he do this purposefully? It seemed like it. Did he waste his own life just so I could get some self satisfaction? No, it couldn't be, I felt like nothing without him. I was nothing without him. And then it struck me, I lifted myself off the ground with the small might I had left in my legs, and stuck on the ground laying there in the middle of the crater was the Haniyasu Hime, in all its glory. And that's when I realized what the purpose behind this all was, he had nothing left to teach me. He had nothing left going for him and he wanted his legacy to be passed on. The whip was a symbol for everything he has done for me, to bring me from zero to hero, and now this. I'm indeed thankful Gobi, and I wish I would be able to say that to you once more again. Even at his deathbed he managed to teach me something new, and with pride I walked over to the glory, to the reward, the legacy that was left for me. The Haniyasu-Hime, picking it up and effectively encrypting my name into history now, my mind was at peace from this fight, and apparently so was my body, as I passed out in the crater. Everyday now I walk around the environment, not taking what us shinobis have for granted. I go on many different journyes and adventure in regard to my sensei, to Gobi. One thing we did good together was all the walks, the runs, scoping this entire world, searching far and wide for anything we could find, we didn't know what we were searching for, but we searched. So I leave this page with a memory in mind, something that I still hold dear to my heart. Though there may be obstacles that will obscure my path, none of it will matter, as it can be overcome. Friends and family will come and go, but it's the lessons we learn from them that makes us unique, this short time has taught me a lot, and I am truly great-full for everything I have, as my path has only started. My path, as a conqueror. The man chuckled to himself, as he flipped the page over to a new, blank and empty slate. Leaning back on his chair, the wooden floor creaks, he puts his pen down onto the desk and stares upwards at his ceiling for a few minutes, not saying anything but just pondering about the events succeeding the moments written in this book. A smirk grows on his face as he levels out the chair again, and clicks his pen; placing it on the paper, he writes another page: Great to be back again I guess, and in the time since I last covered a page with ink, I've gone through a lot of adventures. Many of them were good and many of them were bad, but in the end they all contributed to shape me into the person I am now. But looking back at all I had written, I guess that was the turning point in my life, since now I'm much more of a renowned person, I am respected and I am known. My name actually holds some importance within our village, and people don't see me as a nobody anymore. Well, I owe it all to the man that took me in when I was nothing and for some reason, I wiped out from the face of the Earth. I was able to hit him with his own technique and take his life in front of my very eyes, for what, a mere weapon? Speaking of the weapon, it has brought me immense attention across the ninja world. Walking around with it within Iwagakure I was approached by a man who did not appear to be part of our village, his appearance was creepy to say for all, wearing a hood covering his forehead, and he eyed me from head to toe, noticing the whip being tied around my waist. ''That weapon you have there, it can't be the Haniyasu-Hime no?'' He delightfully asked. ''It appears to be so yeah'' I laughed, scratching the back of my head to emit a humorous and friendly approach, but the man didn't seem phased by it all. ''I want it.'' ''That's a bit advanced don't you think'' My expression turned stoic ''It's my weapon so I have to respectfully refuse to give it to you.'' He sighed in disbelief ''Either you will give it to me, or I'll take it off you by force. And trust me, you don't want to go down that hard path, there exists only one copy of that weapon in the entire Ninja World, it's practically priceless, and the power that is stored within it should not be with someone of your calibre, what I'm saying is it would just be better for everyone if you handed it straight over rather than making me hurt everyone you love.'' He lifted his hoodie off his head, revealing a Kumogakure headband, shining bright with the sun's rays reflecting off it. ''You're a Kumo nin?'' I asked angrily ''That's really the only thing you could ask at such a time? I'm the one asking the questions here, you only answer.'' He crept closer withdrawing a kunai, in the middle of the village as well, it was rather weird and a lot of questions were pondering my mind. But no one was back to cover me, plus I didn't want to put the village's safety on the line to settle a feud, so I took matter in my own hands. Grabbing his hand with mine I took the kunai and threw it down onto the ground, allowing it to settle in a crack in the Earth, sending a few dust particles in the air. ''Alright then, I knew what I was getting myself into when I picked up the whip, meet me at the borderlands in 3 days, don't bring anyone into this, the second we start to fight the alliance between our two villages is severed, have I made myself clear.'' The man smiled creepily ''With pleasure.'' For 3 days straight I sat down on my bed doing nothing but wondering on why this man was sent. Was he meant to set up an invasion on Iwagakure? Was he meant to distract me from the rest of the villagers so the rest of the Kumo nin could invade without anyone noticing it? Why would Kumo even try to set an attack on us, we have a strong alliance that has spun on for generations, and we have not had any serious conflict since I can remember. The only idea keeping my mind intact is that this mysterious man acted merely on his own, as a rogue ninja with nothing going for him whom seeks great power, and is knowledgeable in the secrets of the Haniyasu-Hime, either way I could not let him have such a treasure, as the power within it must be used catiously. For the sake of the village as well I dictated the fight outside the borderlands, and as he reluctantly agreed it must mean his target is not Iwagakure, but me personally, or rather my weapon. Standing up from my bed, I did not this time wear my usual attire, placing my fedora and blazer on my bed, and opening a drawer revealing something made by a student of mine a few years ago, a long cape of a yellow hue with a green pattern along the neck area, the cape itself reaching down to thigh-length. It would be a perfect attire to wear, something that would be a mix of both deviating from the norm that has been associated with my character to add a scent of uniqueness to myself, but at the same time something that wouldn't idealize me as someone different, something that would still keep my name and personality intact to those that actually knew me. Running out of the borderlands not being seen by anyone I stand in front of the man by the borderlines, he has a kunai down by his right hand, and his headband was removed, lying down on the floor besides him. ''The name is Yashiro, prepared to be killed'' The tone of his voice was extremely confident, almost cocky. He didn't know what he was getting himself into and before we knew it the battle began. He gave it his all, throwing everything his way and even utilizing his Snake Summoning Contract, summoning the big boss into the battlefield, but my superior tactics and massive arsenal just proved to be too much for him, as he came in near to engage in close quarter combats I sent him crashing into the ground, taking out my whip and pointing the tip of the blade at his throat. With a clear, anger in my shout I roared ''Why have you come here? What is your purpose, who sent you?'' A maniac's laughter was the only response I received, well that and silence. I felt humiliated, embarrassed, as if I've been played. Without a second thought I lodged the blade deep into his throat, cutting off his entire head and placing it into a bag, tightening the top. I then formed a small swamp t hat would sink the rest of his body into the ground, since I wouldn't stoop down to his level and let his carcass be used as meat for the crows around. Though I was feeling berserk, there was a rage behind me that I hadn't gotten rid off during the fight, someone had to answer my questions. Amidst the rocky borderlands, as I made my way back to the village gates a man approached me from my back, thinking it was still the man that I had just beheaded or someone else from Kumo, I attacked ruthlessly without turning around, knocking him into the ground and placing the tip of the blade to his throat much like I had done before. ''Relax! It's me, Daemon.'' The man lying on the ground was someone of Kumo yes but it was my brother, a person who I highly regarded and respected ''Daemon?!'' removing the whip and tightening it around my waist again, I relaxed. ''You really startled me there you know, do you know what I just went through?'' ''Yes, I was watching it all, I was sent by the Raikage to ensure that he didn't do anything stupid but I could easily tell you were able to handle him yourself, so there was no need for me to intervene.'' ''You knew he was going to fight me?'' The tone in my voice drastically changed, questioning every motive that Daemon had fired at me. ''No, he defected from the village and vowed to put the entire Ninja World against us, knowing that the strongest alliance we had was with you guys, the Raikage managed to oversee Yashiro's actions and thus predict where he was going to go and what he was going to do. Albeit he didn't imagine he'd come out and fight you for the Haniyasu-Hime, he was correct in his assumption that he was going to put Iwagakure against us.'' I sighed, holding the bag tightly in my hand as I processed his words. But before I could speak, he interrupted me. ''You believe me right? Come with me, you can sit down and talk to the Raikage himself if you want to.'' ''I doubt Mugiwara would still want to see me after I left the village, sure it will always hold a deep place in my heart but I can't bare myself to be ridiculed by your villagers.'' He laughed out loud ''You really think they will laugh at you? After what they see the contents of that bag I doubt any one of them will open their mouths about you.'' His voice quitened down ''Also Mugiwara stepped down as Raikage some time ago.'' My head turned to stare him into his eyes ''So who is it now?'' ''You'll see.'' His voice softened the rage inside of me, as it appeared I still had friends that resided in my previous village, and before we knew it we were off on the long journey back to where everything started, to where it all began. Just before we embarked on the journey Erzo came running in, noticing Daemon who was standing beside me, and the rotten smell reeking from the bag. But instead of saying anything he just simply nodded, having shared a bond since all three of us are Kiyoshi brothers, there would be no feud and the questions would be asked later. Returning to the village he saw us off and we started walking. Talking about the past, the present and what will become of the future. About the plans of our villages and what we individually would seek in the foreseeable future, what the training with Grand Master Roku would become of, how we'd fly through the ranks of the Kiyoshi warriors and become happy in the situations we had placed ourselves in. Basically just our aspirations and dreams to an extent, and before we knew it we had reached the borderlands leading to my previous village. The village hidden in the clouds, taking a breath of the air I was amazed at how much has changed, yet I still felt attached to the place. Just before we departed into the gates I was instructed to lower my hood, so that my headband was not visible to any individual within the village. We were greeted by two guards ''Welcome back sir, who's with you?'' ''An accomplice of The Raikage, don't worry about it'' Daemon said, placing 4000 yen into one of the guard's pockets, patting him on the shoulder as we both walked past them, and all the memories hit me back like a boomerang. Seeing the old training grounds, the old battle arena, the run down and previous Cloud Tavern, the little kids running around and the old couple crossing the road together, arm in arm. A grin grew on my face, it was good to be back here even if it was temporary, but alas I wasn't here to simply enjoy the atmosphere, and I was dragged into the new cloud tavern where a meeting was occurring between the top village officials. Something that was a secret and no one apart from the officials themselves should have been allowed to enter the tavern without the kage's permission. So obviously when we entered we turned all their heads faced us, their attention was diverted and the discussion that was going on abruptly stopped. One man stood up from his chair, my hood was covering my eyes mostly so I couldn't identify most of the people there, but one person that I remembered was still there, but I just couldn't put my finger as to where I knew him from before. The man approached me aggressively as Daemon walked away, sitting down on a chair by the only occupied table in the tavern. ''Who's this?!'' He shouted, his voice echoing off every wall in the building. ''That's none of your business'' I replied, ''I haven't come here to speak to you'' I could tell this man had some importance within the village now, and what my response to him was clearly angered him, to a saddening point. ''Do you have any idea who I am? No one can talk to me in such a way...'' His appearance was frightening to say the least, nearly twice my size built like a giant, with a pale-green colour radiating what seemed to be spike-like hairs, not wearing a top to show off his muscles and physique, matched with baggy kind of kilt like thing, he did seem menacing but at the same time someone with a short temper. ''Who are you?'' I reluctantly asked, knowing that it would push him off the edge, not trying to intimidate him in any way but I was not going to fall into his trap and succumb to his dominance. ''You're a funny one, I guess I'll just knock my name into you'' He prepared his fist, retracting it backwards generating a massive amount of chakra in his fist, causing the entire room to shake, plates to fall down, glasses to break, stools to crumble to dust and the floorboard creaking up, it was clear he was angry or this was just a fragment of his power, but I was not going to hold back. His fist flew outwards and before I knew it had already connected with my face, he let out a roar of anger at the same time and all I could see was white, as if an explosion had occurred, dust was coursing through the wind and pieces of wood were flying everywhere, but everything was still quiet and my mind seemed fine. Letting the dust settle I still felt his knuckles touching my face, and I was feeling ok, as if the attack really hadn't done as much as I would have expected it to, the reaction on his face was the best thing to see. He moved backwards in shock, wondering how someone of his calibre wasn't able to inflict any damage at all to me. At the same time the impact of the conflict caused my hood to fly off my head and reveal both my face and headband, and the minute all the dust had cleared a loud laughter came from the back of the room, revealing none other than the person I had seen before, the great Better. ''Where the hell have you been all this time ay? Never would I expect you to come back to your home, come y'all, have a sit down by the table-'' He patted the table, only to see half of it had been destroyed in the man's angry punch. ''Look what you've done now Broly, didn't even manage to do anything to the thing you were supposed to hit in the first place.'' So Broly was his name, walking past him as I sat down I stared straight into his eye and I could feel the fear in his heart, he may be strong and an impeccable warrior within these lands but even he knew that he wasn't a match for me. And to add insult to injury I sat down at his chair, smiling straight at the Raikage, my old friend. ''Look at yourself Better, back when I was here we were all nothing and you've managed to get yourself to a position one would only dream of.'' ''What can I say? Y'all left me for other villages while I was still young but I never gave up, being one of the only children left back when we were young I managed to push myself forwards and take the throne.'' He smiled in a peaceful way. ''Well I am really glad for you but that's not what I am here for, I ran into some trouble a few days ago and I engaged in a fight with a villager of yours earlier today.'' Better turned to look at Daemon ''Was it Yash?'' ''Yeah.'' ''What a shame, let me explain.'' But before he could continue, I placed the bag that I had been holding in my hand this entire time down onto the table. ''Open it.'' Better extended his hands out and untied the top of the bag, leaving the rotten head of the decapitated Yashiro. The smell reeked through the entire tavern, but he couldn't help but laugh. ''Don't tell me he tried to take you on by himself?'' He asked ''Unfortunately yes, the greatest worry in my mind was whether you had sent him here. And I can't say I was but a little annoyed when I found out he was one of your shinobi, you should be happy he came to me first rather than any other ninja from my village or otherwise the stability of the alliance between our two villages would be at stake.'' I bent forwards on my chair, placing both my elbows onto the wooden table awaiting a response. Better laid back on his chair looking up at the roof. ''You see ever since he left the village gates he immediately became an ex-ninja of this village. He was a member of my personal squad but he never listened to orders, he never did anything we wanted him to and just sought to seek actions and consequences that would benefit him in some way and not the village as a whole. Because of that I had to take him off such a high role since he could take the village into jeopardy.'' He lent forwards now as well. ''And what do you think he did when I said that? We started arguing, he even wanted to start a coup to knock me off the throne, just so he could run the village the way he wants it. I tell you, when you become of someone with power people will always come to you in order to try and steal that power from you, and when they can't have it their way they make it seem as if it was all your fault. So obviously he wanted to ruin my position, he wanted to make sure that he put this village in the worst scenario possible. And because of such actions I kicked him out, knowing exactly what he was going to do, I know he was going to come to Iwa and try and ruin the alliance that we had with one another, and I knew that he would stand a good chance of doing so unless we kept a close eye on him, which was why I sent Daemon after him. But I didn't think he'd be stupid enough to attack you one on one, maybe he just wanted a death wish.'' In anger, he slapped the severed head off the table, allowing it to roll on the floor besides us. ''You remember back in the day?'' I asked. ''Back when we had no worries, back when we were children and everything went out way, how we could get away with everything and how we had our whole lives in front of us?'' My voice lowered in pitch ''There's a part of me that wants to go back to those days, to go back and relax like we used to, to run around the training grounds like we used to, to fight and learn like we used to, knowing our whole lives were ahead of us.'' I was almost muttering now ''But then there's the part of me that wants to stay an adult, to stay like this, the way we are now. Talking about our villages and our alliances, traitors and all of that sort. We have power now, and with power comes responsibility Better, we can't let ourselves be hindered by the actions of one man, but rather allow that certain exaggerated action to further boost our morales, because that's one bad person out of the way, imagine the rest of the damage he could have caused if we didn't stop him, we should be proud of ourselves for stopping him and keeping the peace between us at store.'' ''I guess you're right, it's just somedays I don't see the point of doing this at all when there are so many people that have their back turned against you and just put on a fake smile to get to a higher position in the village.'' He muttered angrily ''That is true yes, but that was something our predecessors were also going through, and something our successors will go through as well no doubt, but they kept all the feud within themselves and sought to settle any trouble that could potentially spark off an event by themselves, ensuring the safety of the village and most importantly the development of the newer generation. We were brought up well and the accomplishments we've achieved is the result of that, so one can only assume that the children these days will one day get past us as well, we have to ensure that they do, right?'' A chuckle came from the Raikage ''You've changed, you know that? You're much more cautious these days and you seem to be smarter'' I sighed ''Yeah, well that's because I've done things which have made me this way. My seek for power evidently turned me against those that were there for me the most'' ''You mean Gobi?'' The sound of that name kept ringing in my voice, no matter what I would do in my life I could not stop thinking about him, I can hear his voice in my head always judging my actions and that's why I've always trusted my gut feeling. ''How did you know?'' ''Everyone knows, but word around is that he isn't actually dead you know'' My mind snapped, staring Better straight into the eye ''I saw him die in front of my very eyes, by my hands! What are you talking about?!'' ''See that's where you're wrong, you think you could actually defeat him even if you wanted to? Don't get me wrong I'm not insulting you, but we all know the great man that Gobi was, and the fact that he wouldn't let his own life go to waste so that he could pass to you his most prized possession, he could have just given it to you.'' ''It wasn't a matter of life or death, it was a developmental situation for me, it was all that which changed me into the person I am today, heck I wouldn't even have had the courage to fight the man that sought to take this whip off me if it wasn't for that one battle.'' ''Just trust me on this, word spreads quicker than you think.'' Better abruptly stopped, before shouting at the bartender ''Venom! Get us a bottle of sake.'' The bartender listened straight away, And Better relaxed on his chair ''Listen, my sources have told me that he has taken a place within the Akatsuki now, and that he is still very active in the Ninja World, but discreet enough that no one has really caught him out yet. But if you keep doing what you're doing now I'm sure eventually he will make his appearance to you, there's no way he'd leave you so simply, and deep down you know that too.'' It was almost as if Better was speaking my true consciousness, as if what he was saying was what I wanted to believe all this time, but just didn't have the confidence to say it out loud. ''I just miss him, I feel both strong and much more powerful now, but empty now that there is no one to look up to. ''Didn't you just say earlier that we all go through this? It's the circle of life. We will all lose someone that we love and we will all die eventually, we are not immortal and never will be, but we must ensure that we bring the newer generation into the world the way we were brought, you must make sure that you treat the younglings at Iwa the way Gobi treated you when you were young.'' His voices were full of confidence, and brought my heart at peace. I chuckled ''Speaking of which, you still haven't changed, that confident and leader-like personality still resides within you, I can tell you've made a fine Kage.'' We got up and hugged each other like brothers that hadn't seen each other for a long time, and I was ready to depart back home. But as I was walking up to the door of the Tavern, a man came running in with a massive grin on his face, full of delight. ''Raikage Sama! Raikage Sama! There's been an announcement to the ninja world, the famed Ninja LoK is hosting a tournament, it will happen approximately in a month's time, and the winner will be able to learnt he secret ways of the Eight Inner Gates!'' As he finished his speech he flailed around a piece of paper in his hand and ran out of breath, sitting down on a stool besides Better and handing him the paper over, being intrigued I followed on as usual and sat down by the table again, the bartender now finally having finished getting the sake, he brought the bottle to the broken table and placed down two cups. Better filled each one up and gave one to me, holding one for himself, taking a sip as he read the leaflet out loud. ''Attention Ninja World, in one month's time the annual Grand tournament will occur once more, this time with a twist which will be announced on the day when the tournament starts. Each village bring forth 10 of your strongest men to the old Colosseum by the land of fire, in again, one month's time. Be prepared to be killed, but the person that emerges victorious shall seek power that is out of this world.'' A smile rose on all of our faces, as we all had something to prepare for then.
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Evidently, I was asked whether I would participate or not, and I reluctantly agreed because it reminded me of the past, of that one Grand Tournament I went through back when my Sensei was still alive, it was the first time I experienced such a thrill and I went far in that tournament, even far enough to walk out of it alive which was a massive accomplishment. But this only meant that I had to train even more and harder so that I could finally be able to achieve what I've long sought for, to come out on top and to dominate across the Ninja World, be recognized for more than just a label, not hide behind the power of a weapon which people seemed to have depicted me as, nothing more than a fake. And I'm not going to lie the mere idea of someone contemplating that thought was enough to drive me crazy at times, because it meant that I'd still live in the shadow of my master, something which I know he would despise if he was still around. With a slap across my face, I was brought back to reality to see Daemon standing by my side and Better sitting down, still drinking. ''Aren't you having a bit too much?'' His reply was full of enthusiasm ''We only live once you know, and no way in hell am I going to give up such a beauty.'' Either way, I had spent too much time here now, and I was ready to leave on my journey back to Iwagakure. Standing up and receiving yet another hug from the Raikage I walked out of the tavern, only to be followed by Daemon who told me ''I forgot to tell you, Grand Master Roku would like to see us both as well as the rest of our brothers for another training session in about a day or so, I'd rather stay with you unless you run onto some trouble on the way back home, do you mind?'' His company was something I didn't take for granted and I urged him to come with me, and just like that along the way back home we talked all the way there, and bonded closer. Perhaps this was yet another person that I would look up to and look after myself at the same time, he was younger than me in age but in no way was he of a lower mental level, his thoughts and ideology was that of a true king, and I felt happier to be around him. However, then it happened again, Daemon halted in his motion and stared at me ''Someone's following us.'' And we both scouted the area with our eyes, utilizing our Kiyoshi Sensing to see if we could spot anyone within our vicinity, after looking for about a minute there was no trace of a single person to be found, so we carried on walking. A few minutes later, as we walked past a tree the shadow was distorted, almost as if there was another person waiting behind it. And there was. Just as we were walking by a man grabbed me by the shoulder and threw a jab straight at my face, it was quite powerful indeed and knocked me back a few meters, causing me to fall on the ground. He didn't punch Daemon however, and it was a that moment where we both knew what his purpose was, yet again I was put in this scenario where I had to put my life on the line for nothing more than a weapon. It was plain sickening. ''I know you'' the man said, his appearance being depicted as a male who thinks he's the biggest shot around town, radiating red hair down to his shoulders only to be paired with a formal suit of sorts, one hand behind his back and the one he punched me with hanging down by his thighs, he sighed as he started walking towards me more, signalling Daemon to move away ''And I'm pretty sure you know why I'm here right?'' He lifted his index finger pointing down to my waist ''That weapon, I want it.'' Rubbing the side of my cheek with my hand I stood up, brushing the dust off my clothes, still looking down onto the ground I asked him a simple question ''Who are you?'' He smiled, and then started to laugh, before expressing an emotionless, blank face at me, he was serious ''I'm Teno, the Earth Prodigy, the Kazekage but I doubt you care too much about that.'' Before letting him continue on to ramble, I abruptly stopped him just to sigh ''Trust me, I want to know who it is that I kill.'' His face whitened, as he could sense the distress ravaging through my body. ''Anyways'' He stated ''As I was saying, I'm the Kazekage, and I know you're a famed ninja hailing from the Kiyoshi clan residing within Iwagakure, I know everything about you.'' He rubbed his chin with his fingers ''But frankly I don't care what you want to know or not, I just want that whip. I happen to be one of the best shinobi in the entire Ninja World you know, and Earth is my profession, my life and there is no one in the entire world that can rival me in that field. If you'd gladly like to hand it over you may do so, but if you want to fight then that will just stir up some problems, not only will I have to kill you but it will also place your entire village in jeopardy, as your sorry little villagers will be invaded by my powerful forces, I think we'll hang your head up on a flag just to seem a bit more intimidating you know?'' He was overcooked with arrogance and that was clearly identifiable, but deep within even I knew he was nothing. ''Though allow me to evaluate, you see that weapon is meant for a king alone, it's meant for only the strongest warrior with Earth, the person that will always end up on top and I just don't know if you're powerful enough, but if you were to hand it over to me then it would make an absolute valuable asset to my playing cards, and I would be the most powerful person in existence, in return I would sign a peace treaty with your village and promise not to slaughter any of your Kiyoshi brothers, how does that sound?'' I was fed up, at this moment I didn't care anymore, this wasn't a weapon of magnificence, this wasn't something amazing that would turn eyes as I walk down the street, hell this wasn't even something that boosted my morale these days, it was only a curse. But the power it holds can't be used by someone who wants it only for greed, that was the lesson Gobi taught me, to protect it with my life because of how amazing it is, these days however it was just challenge upon challenge and all that people wanted was the power. All people wanted was to use it to conquer stuff, to enslave people and to get what they want the easy way, but enough was enough. I was at my final point, and I was going to explode at this guy, who did he think he was? ''You've really pissed me off now, I don't care who you are frankly, like I said I only wanted to know your name. And why should I give you this weapon? Do you know what it means to me? What I had to do just to get it? You only want it for power, in no way can you say what it means semantically to you and that's why you'll never be the wielder of it, I suggest you move away from here as soon as possible before I do something that might hurt you. A lot.'' Much to my avail however he wouldn't stop ''You really think that's going to scare m-'' Before he could even continue his sentence he was nothing but a corpse in my hand, raising my hand upwards I caught him in an illusion that crushed his mind, leaving him to stagger at his own place and with a elegant grab of my whip I darted towards him, hardening the metal plate and driving it through his stomach, his body was crumbling in my hands, his face was white as a ghost, and he couldn't even manage to form a coherent sentence. All the evil in my heart had consumed me and I needed to take out my anger on something, on someone, unfortunately it had to be this guy. ''I told you to move away, you have no idea what this means to me, and I will never give it to someone who only wants power. My entire life, my goals, my accomplishments, my friends, my master, my village all have contributed to me being the person I am today, and this relic here is the visual representation of my physical body, I'm connected to it by mind and soul and you made the grave mistake by coming to me. A person who you hadn't seen before at all? I doubt you're even the Kazekage as someone of that calibre certainly should be able to at least put up a fight.'' His bleeding was constantly dripping but the stab wasn't fatal, he was still conscious ''Oh, and don't let me ever hear you speak bad of my brothers in the clan and in my village ever again, I won't forget your face, and I hope you live in fear for the rest of your life just incase I bump into you again, go make yourself scarce, rot in the very depths of hell by yourself, you're not worthy of being slain by this weapon, scum of the Earth.'' Dropping him onto the ground, I spat on his face and trampled over his body with my feet, staring onto the horizon and seeing Daemon observe all the actions that had happened from the background, waving my arms at him telling him to come back out again. ''You know we should probably dispose of that'' He sighed, almost in despair. ''Why not just let it rot here?'' I asked abruptly, analyzing his gestures to try and deduce his emotions. ''Just in case anyone sees it, this isn't just a random nobodies body, someone might use it for their own good and it's the least we could do, don't you think?'' His voice was soothing and brought my natural rage to peace. ''And what is up with these tantrums you are showing the instant someone tries to attack you?'' He was aware of my actions. ''Well, I might as well explain it as we throw his body back to where he belongs.'' We picked up Teno's body and walked towards the path leading to Sunagakure. ''This whip is more than a simple weapon to me, all my life no one stood by my side apart from my Sensei, no one even acknowledged my existence till I became a someone, no one had heard of my name even inside your village, I was that one weird kid parents told you not to talk to. That one kid that wouldn't go home to anyone, just wander around the depths of the village by himself and walk back to the same classroom next morning with a fake smile as if nothing had happened. Then I met Gobi, he took me in, fed me and cared for me. Watched me grew up and taught me the skills to bring me to the position I am at now, but he's no longer here. And he only left me one thing, the more prized possession he had, this whip right here. It has more of a meaning, it's more than a simple stupid weapon that only grants temporary power, anyone who seeks it only to serve that purpose will never wield it, as the whip will not obey that man's commands. It has a sentimental meaning, one that has a bond strong enough to keep itself intact with me, and when people come to me and try to take it off me, how do you think that makes me feel? To be held at a point where someone is standing in front of you, someone with absolutely no relation to you whatsoever and the first trash that he mutters out is 'I want that off you' without any manners even to begin with, what do you think my response is going to be? Think about it, and after having it for so long that's why I get angry. No one understands how much this weapon means to me, and they're simply blinded by it's power, so I have to kill them. Simple as.'' Turns out my little ramble and gone on far too long than we both had noticed and by the time I had stopped talking we were already there, crawling down behind a rock and looking above and into the horizon, what we saw was nothing but pure majesty. The village was truly beautiful, packed with sand that covered all four corners around it, was a shame that someone so disgusting could hail from there. Putting our cloaks over our heads as we walked down the high hill, not to get too close in case we provoked anyone, we dropped the body by the village and quickly turned around to walk away. The instant we turned around a girl walked up to us both, inspecting us both from top to bottom and then looking over our shoulders to see the deceased Kazekage, we were prepped for battle straight away, sweat pouring down our faces as if we had committed an atrocious act, she did nothing though. Simply smiled, and nodded her head backwards as she allowed us to exit; We had just killed the kage, why did she not fight? Maybe they hated the guy but those were none of our concerns, we were just dumbfounded by the fact that there wasn't even a single sign of retaliation, with a smirk glancing off both our faces we kept on walking as if nothing had happened, with peace in our minds to know that we may have stopped a brutal war from starting if someone had gained access to the corpse. And we walked again, it felt like forever but the journey lure our minds into conversations, and the fact that I didn't hear someones blabbering nonsense lingering in the back of my head for a few days felt good. But before we knew it we had to part, I was to recall back to Iwagakure and gather up my brothers whilst Daemon headed straight to the Kiyoshi hideout, to wait with the Grand Master in anticipation of the clan's return.
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Walking back into the village gates I was met with everyone's faces, it certainly felt good to be back at home and I wanted to spend a day or two here before we all left. Gathering Scaze and Erzo we discussed when the appropriate time was to leave, and just reminisced about the nostalgic times we all shared with our brethren. Then, Erzo mentioned that there was quite a young shinobi that wanted to live within our village, he apparently had ran away from home but there was doubt in his words; though there was not much that could be brought to speculation as the shinobi was just a kid and we needed to take care of him. So we brought him inside and let him stay with us, he practically lived in the tavern and he was full of enthusiasm. One day I saw him sitting down in the middle of the village at midnight, approaching him to see if anything was wrong his emotion was now expression-less compared to his usual figuratively over-exaggerative smile. ''Hey bud, is everything alright?'' I asked him ''Yeah...'' He muttered to himself as his sight was fixated on two pebbles on the ground ''It's just that I can't remember a lot.'' There was an eerie atmosphere radiating off him, he didn't seem that normal ''I don't remember much of my past, and I sit here during nights just to think about what happened to lead me here I guess'' Though physically he seemed to appear young it was clearly visible that his mental age far surpassed that of an average person his age, and his intellect was miraculous'' ''Sure is some deep thoughts for this time don't you think?'' I asked him as I flicked the two pebbles away. ''Well there's not really much else I can do since no one is out at this time'' He sighed in a depressive state. Grabbing him by the sleeve I pulled him up and pushed him forwards ''There's nothing better than a simple hand to hand spar, go on, show me what you got'' He started to smile again, the daylight expression he showed when everyone was around was back again, almost as if our conversation had completely changed him, and that made me happy. ''You got it!'' He shouted with excellence as he darted towards me and the spar begun, it was clear that he had great potential and everyone must have seen that in him. Since before I knew it we were sparring up until the sun rose, we had fought through the darkness of the night and his stamina was still running, he was tired but he was still going on, he reminded me of myself back when I was young and I guess that's what made me like him. Though the time for fighting came to an end as everyone else woke up and the village streets got busy, I saw Scaze and Erzo come from a distance and greet me, they were fully prepared with the right clothing and enough food to last the entire trip for all three of us; though they scolded me for not being prepared as well. And as such a new journey began back to where we all grouped up, where the real journey began. We walked up high mountains till we reached a certain point, and in that instant we all knew we had reached the right place. Walking past a few statues and beautiful rocks covered in both snow and moss we turned around a corner to see everyone before us sitting down on the ground, crossed legs and stern faces, immovable bodies and minds. And on a small rock sat Roku, his golden slit eyes and black spiky hair still remained adamant, though this time he wore simple robes and had his eyes closed, only communicating with the rest of the clan through the breeze of the wind, his intentions were noticed by everyone and so was our punctuality. Behind him was a humongous Sea, filled with the blackest of all water and no one had any idea what lurked in its depths. As we arrived, Roku opened his eyes and simply uttered ''You're late.'' ''Sorry master!'' The three of us shouted at the same time as our faces went pale. Roku's response was nothing but a laugh ''Nothing to fret over children.'' Taking a gasp of air he straightened out his neck, clicking the bones in his back and stood up from the rock, all the brothers sitting down also stood up, with Daemon being the nearest to us, we shared a casual greeting and our attention was brought back to Roku as he looked onto the Sea, and opened his mouth. ''Welcome to the Sea of the South. If you've felt something strange, your instinct is probably right. This is no ordinary sea. Behold, the greatest marvel of Energy since the oasis and also the most perplexing of ancient anomalies. You know that Energy itself thrives where there is life, for Energy demands the powers of nature and spirit. But this Sea, this Great wonder of nature, is life. You'll find that it, like all life, has a mind of its own, both figuratively and literally. We, as shinobi, may be able to brave the elements, but the great equalizer is sentience. What, then, happens when we are faced with elements that have the will to dominate? You will learn, now, why a will to power does not suit the reckless warrior.'' We were instructed to fill the Sea with our chakra in an attempt. Though that proved to be much harder than we anticipated. ''A word of encouragement...it is, actually, not impossible to subjugate the Sea under your will, but if your will shows any form of waning, if it bends for even an infinitesimal sum of a second, you will be made an enemy. The will of this Sea is far more volatile than you might expect. And what lies further beneath this great Sea may prove even more frightening...'' Gazing upon the majestic sea, I'm brought to a shocking state with what appears to be the pure beauty shimmering upon the surface of it. However though what appeared on top was a mere illusion from the depths themselves, energy manifested deep within the sea, and seeing it first hand from the senior students finding great difficulty to withdraw energy from the sea. It has been brought to conclusion that rather to forcefully manipulate the energy in the sea to be forcefully manipulate outwards, one must willingly allow the flow of energy in the sea to mimic the flow of ones own energy. Allow them to move in unison and be patient, be cooperative with the will of the sea, allow the will to be influenced by your energy, not forced. Closing my eyes and extending my hands outwards, rather than grab the energy from within the sea, I welcomed it, allowing the sea to come to me, not me chasing after it. At a slow, but careful pace, I begin to draw energy from the great sea, insisting on acceptance from the sea's will itself, gazing upon the glory, in a cautious movement I attempt now to shape the energy, beginning to find that the pieces of the puzzle are being set together nicely. Cascading the energy from sea with my own, in an attempt to merge the two together in unison, with hope that the great Sea will allow some of its great power to flow naturally with my own. Though to everyone's surprise, there was a sudden loud bellowing noise that appeared to be closer, and shook the surface of the Sea, creating waves after a brief period of stillness. We all then see large, round yellow eyes and a colossal mass of darkness. The sheer size and terror that struck me in the heart was tremendous, never before had I been intimated by such a huge mass of darkness. However, I wouldn't let that simply hinder me from completing my actions, staying adept to the ideology taught to me just before, I remained in a close-minded state. Breathing in at constant, slow rates to meditate and find a threshold of peace between my energy and the sea's. Though the sea seemed to reek of sheer power and magnificence, such factors couldn't take my mind off, I had to prove my dominance to the sea, resist the low self-esteem and empower any waning that I could display, as it could potentially be crucial to being one with the sea's will and energy. Then, suddenly an utmost sheer cold tainted my heart, as I felt a matter of pure evil lingering beneath the depths of shadows, amongst the sea two eyes were exposed to the shallow surface, that radiated in a lustful yellow colour that appealed to me, it was both beautiful and destructive at the same time. ''Excellent. You have discovered that there is no folly in exerting your own will upon the Energy of the Sea, but you must also understand that your will cannot bend for that of the Sea, and so you must be of strong mind and spirit. You know this well.'' Roku tainted. As we all began to discover that the will of the Sea began to move with ours, the dark figure rose from the water, raising a gargantuan volume of water alongside it, the creature was dark and still remained with the yellow eyes we all saw from deep beneath. But we were all able to make out that the body was scaly and had a bulky physique, the great beast most of all, was colossal in stature, coasting overhead each of us like a great storm before crashing back into the water, dragging Daemon in with it and nearly swallowing him. Having believed to found a harmony between the will of the sea and myself, I quickly snapped out of what appeared to be a daydream, as the monstrous beast rose above the sea in an marvellous fashion, such delicacy is only witnessed once in a blue moon. Regardless of its sheer size and beauty, one must remember the fear instilled beneath its sugar-coated shell. Listening abruptly to the instructions given, I follow my brothers into the great depths of the Ocean, however before doing so I manipulated the energy besides me, to form a bubble of energy that covers me, however with a scant tint of density, thus it enabled me to move around in the bubble freely without experiencing much friction. However that is quickly stopped, for once I entered the sea I was aware, along with my brothers, that the sea was not so welcoming for the average-man, even with the energy manipulation on our side, nature has again out-shunned. However, due to finding a purity between the energy within me connected with the sea, I was able to become one with it. Able to feel forces and other energies that dwell within the sea, easily feeling the presence of my Kiyoshi brethren lurking in the depths. Not only that, but there was a dark aura that could not be mistaken for anything else. It was the intimidation I felt at the beginning, the sheer presence of such a beast was fascinating. Knowing of the danger it possesses, I must have been extremely cautious in my actions. By manipulation not only the energy, but the water to me in close proximity, to overall lower the density of water in front of me, behind me and to my sides, it allowed me to move around much quicker. Descending downwards in the same directions as my brothers, I could feel the presence of the dark aura quickly expanding, I could feel myself getting nearer to the goal. However as I did so, the pressure applied onto me by the great Sea also increased, this was in no means going to be an easy job. Scurrying to the source of the great dark aura, I formed a singular energy spear in my more dominant hand, the beast's yellow eyes lightened up the dark ends of the great sea, there was no mistake, my target was in sight. Shooting the spear outwards, using and manipulating the water of the sea to propel the spear further increasing its speed, it was aimed straight at one of the eyes of the great beast. A faint squeal was heard, then a loud roar echoed through the water. We had all landed our attacks and managed to subdue the beat of the sea before it had killed us, we ventured into the deep and battled against the will of the sea and came out on top, we had all came together and conquered the beast. We, as a clan, as brothers, had won.
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We came out on top, both figuratively and literally, out of the water and stood back on the mountain side, the beast merely floated, still remaining deep in the water as we shunned it down from above, on the surface. Roku did nothing but smile and faded into thin air, the task was completed and together united as one we were able to secure the beast. As Roku disappeared we all had a chat, and realized that the time it took to finish this peculiar task was far greater than expected, it had lasted weeks without even any of us taking notice to it. And as such, the time for the tournament had come, only a few other brothers apart from Scaze and Erzo would have come with me, Daemon had worn himself out from the training and decided to go back to Kumogakure. The small talk conversations and the celebration for our victory was coming to a close, we sat by the running fire for a few more days in a meditative state to prepare our minds for the upcoming tournament that was going to bring everyone in the Ninja World together. As the days passed, we set off. LoK had set up various statues and signs that would lead all participants from across the world to the designated location, we were all given a week to show up. Much to our surprise it wasn't that hard to locate where the tournament would be held, because the location we went to was the old Colosseum for the previous tournament I participated in. The memories came rushing in like a coursing river and swept me off my feet, as emotions of both despair and joy came flooding in, I had to stop just to enjoy the view. This was as the Colosseum was not to be used as the tournament's location, but the building right next to it was. Turning my head to witness a horde of shinobi from all villages enter the building simultaneously I followed on, and it came immediately to me that this was no simple building, it was more gorgeous than the Colosseum itself. The ground changed, turning into tiles made of the finest granite, statues of dragons in black and red breathing hot fire going down the aisle in an omnidirectional fashion, until it was met by a humongous door, covered in black and red markings across it, though the real beauty lied once you actually stepped inside. Flowers of every kind laid out on the outskirts of the gate, covering the four sides of the building, and the building itself was jaw-dropping. A dojo made of nothing but wood, that looked out of place compared to its surroundings, but that was what made it so brilliant. The dojo was huge and could fit everyone in at once, it had walls that divided the main room into other small rooms where it looked like individual fights would take place. The main room was nothing but a long corridor, a single scroll hung down from a wall with the kanji for Youth; and below the scroll a man sat. His back on the wall, one leg up and both hands placed on the knee of said leg, he seemed not phased from the multitude of people surrounding him, and instantly I knew who he was. He wasn't a participant, rather, he was the host. Wearing a dark coloured gi, characterizing a red, sharp and radiant hair, sandals and bandages wrapped around his wrists. His eyes were open and carrying the same crimson red colour. He remained seated in his original position for hours on end, not even budging a bit or moving his eyes at all, just staring at one patch on the ground until everyone had entered and the doors automatically closed. It brought a shock to everyone, and what followed was even more terrifying, the man stood up. Creeping backwards onto the back walls with all other participants it wasn't needless to say that we were all terrified, his mere physical features alone instilled this fear factor into every other person in the room. The only reply from the man was nothing but a smile, as he was fully aware the situation he had caused. ''Fret not mortals, I'm not here to kill you. I could if I wanted to and you're all aware of that but it's not my intentions.'' He rubbed his fingers through his hair as he looked up on the ceiling, pondering what to say. ''We all know why each and every single one of you have come here today, you're here to fight. The strongest warriors from each village going at each other in hand to hand combat to see who will prosper, who will come out on top and that last man standing will receive the knowledge in opening the Eight Inner Gates. You should all feel grateful for coming here, the Eight Inner Gates is no childplay, only a few select shinobi in the existence of humanity have been able to learn the arts, and only a few of us remain today, and only fewer have been able to witness it's great power.'' He had the entire dojo in his palms, walking around in circles as he further elaborated, not a single sound was produced, not even the creak of the floorboards. ''But enough about that'' He continued ''You all must know what it is since all of you have gone through great lengths just to get here, and we will start as soon as possible.'' ''Though I want each and every one of you to come towards me individually and state your names, enabling me to see if I recognize any of you. Once you've spoken to me make your way to the room on my right and spend a few hours there, the fights will start in twelve hours. Now then'' He lifted his finger, beginning from the very far right back corner of the room, instructing the first guy to walk up. One by one people went up, I couldn't hear much over the pounding heartbeats of those surrounding me, but I was nothing short of exhilarated, the time had finally come and the vigorous training with the Grand Master sure put my confidence at a much higher level. And just like that it was my turn, walking at a steady pace to the man, I shouted my name with confidence. But something was weird, I couldn't even hear myself speak, inaudible noises rung in my head and I held my head in shame. I received a grunt ''Gobi's student?'' ''Yeah, how did you know?'' I asked him in confusion, how did he hear me? ''Don't worry about it, good luck.'' He shunned me off, but I could tell that he had some sort of connection with my Sensei, as it was clear he knew who I was. Stepping into the room I saw all other participants, sitting quite a distance away from each other just to get some personal space, some were meditating, others were sleeping, there were even those who started to train in that small space. I was tired however, and couldn't even hear myself anymore or those around me, sitting down on a floorboard I locked my legs together and placed my hands on my chin, closing my eyes just to rest my eyes for a small moment. I was woken up a few hours later by Erzo, receiving a slap across the head, to bring my consciousness back to reality. He signaled me to stand up and enter the main room again, as I was dusting myself off I heard a familiar voice ''Good luck student.'' But there was no one around me, the voice was soothing and I knew in my mind who it was, but I didn't believe it myself. ''He's dead, I killed him with my own hands'' I sighed in shame as I played the voice off, scurrying back to the main room of the dojo to see a huge piece of paper where the scroll used to hang down from, and the contents of that paper were the brackets for the tournament. But it was ridiculed with chakra so that we weren't able to see who our opponents would have been, there were names on the top and names on the bottom. ''Those who's names are on the top, please enter the designated room for that specific fight, in two minutes your opponents will enter and you have one full day to fight. The winner will be decided and from there if we assume both combatants are alive, and then there will be a single day rest period until the next round. It'll run like that till the end of the tournament, there's nothing more I can say but good luck to all of you!'' He said as he disappeared, phasing with the wall to reveal the names on the big piece of paper, I saw my name and saw the room, it was located diagonally behind me, and I walked into the door, observing around to see if there was anyone specifically looking at me, slamming the door behind me I stood at the far end of the room, back on the wall and hands in pockets. I heard footsteps echoing, and the noise only grew more and more, and the door was busted open by a staff. Standing before me was the Mizukage. ''So you are my opponent today? How unfortunate...'' He sighed, and I relentlessly attacked him to start the fight. The battle lasted quite a long time, and it ended with a sort of double knock out, him being sent into the air and me crashing into the ground, both laying down when LoK came to check I stood up first and was deemed victorious. I whizzed through my next few opponents like it was nothing, beating people left and right till I was met with my doom. Waiting in the same room, in stepped none other than Better, the Raikage himself. And it was an awkward fight, neither of us wanted to fight each other but we had to, we were forced in this situation and out the battle he came out on top. None of us were seriously hurt however and as I was walking out of the dojo to get back to Iwagakure I was stopped by LoK. ''I'll tell you the real reason why I know you, come with me.'' Reluctantly agreeing as I was innately interested in what he was going to show me, he led me to a small room behind the dojo's back entrance, it was a normal room, seemed a bit dusty but the part that had me intrigued was the person sitting down on a chair. As I entered the room with Lok he shouted ''Is this the guy?'' ''Yeah Scorps, it's him.'' LoK replied, the other man seemed even more fearful than LoK, wearing traditional robes, and holding a sort of chakra saber in one of his hands he laid his eyes on me for a split second, I felt as if though he could see into my mind. Removing his hood and staring up on the ceiling he scratched the back of his head ''We're going to be straight forward with you, we're good friends of your Sensei, and he requested us to help you in your journey.'' ''Journey?'' I replied. ''Yes, we're going to put you through a test, we'll send out one of the most elitist fighters to engage in a battle with you, if you manage to survive for a month, you'll pass.'' He stood up from his chair and in a slight moment, the ground around all of us was obliterated away, as if he had pulled the floorboards off with the mere movement of just standing up, Full of awe, I asked ''What will I pass?'' ''Don't worry, you'll see.'' He replied before clapping his hands, and out stepped a man with a bowl hair cut in a green spandex suit. ''Pleasure to be of your assistance, my name is Typhon'' ''Pleasure's mine'' I replied. ''I don't really kno-'' I was abruptly stopped as he didn't waste to slide down onto one knee and deliver a kick into my stomach, and like that my so called 'test' began. The two men simply sat down on chairs and watched me fight, for one week straight I defended myself, pushing myself forth to my maximum limit. Blood, sweat and tears were wasted as I was just about to die, but Typhon fell down before I did and I sat on my bottom, looking up on the two men as they simply clapped. Scorps stood up and offered me a hand, grabbing it I was pulled up and he placed the same hand on my shoulder. ''Well done, I can see the reason why your sensei saw your potential and I'm sure you've done him proud. Your victory here will grant you the knowledge on how to open and master the Eight Inner Gates, pinnacle of Taijutsu.'' Suddenly time stopped for me. I wasn't able to comprehend what had just happened, the feat I had just achieved, the two great powers standing in front of me right now had actually acknowledged me and the mere fact overwhelmed me. There was no reply to Scorps' statement, I just stood there, white faced, and couldn't utter a single word out. I couldn't even move due to the excessive pain I was put through in the fight, I was able to accomplish something the strongest of warriors only dream of achieving, and that proved to be just a bit too much for me. Scorps simply smiled ''Well then I guess you'll need someone to teach it to you correct?'' He glanced over his shoulder, staring into an empty corner of the dojo to bring someone out. ''Guess it's time for your reunio-'' Before he could finish talking I blanked out, the entire situation was too much for me and I passed out on the spot. Fast forwards a few days later and I woke up inside Iwagakure, but there was no one around. My mind was hazy and my head hurt, but I was lying down on a big piece of cloth. Shaking my head I looked up to see no one else but the person I wanted to see the most, having made a small fire inside the village the man sitting besides me held out a stick with marshmallows stuck on it, crisping them up as he turned to me and smiled ''How you been student?'' I couldn't believe it, my mind was at a shock. It was my sensei, Gobi, right here besides me. ''No time for questions'' He smiled. ''I'm only a fragment of your imagination and you're hallucinating from the mental pain, listen to me ok? I'm always here. You don't have to worry, follow on your right path as a conqueror and you will achieve, you will become the best you can possibly be, and that's all I ever wanted from you.'' ''But Sensei, there's just so many questions; why here and now?'' ''It's too complicated to explain, but I'm here to tell you about the Eight Inner Gates, consider it a final gift before we part again. So then student, you ready for another training session?'' The smile that grew on my face was psychotic, I was in a state that I had never been in before, eternal happiness. I agreed, and didn't speak at all, we sat down by the fire and smiled, he talked through the complexity of chakra circulation and certain points that allow for enhanced physical attributes, and I listened. We had a good chat but just like all the previous once we had, it ended. He faded away and so did my imagination, this time instead I woke up in my own room, not passed out, mind was at peace and my body felt normal. But outside stood the small children of the village, calling my name. As I stepped out of my house, yawning and asking what the noise was about, I was notified that I had been called on top of the Kage Mansion. It was time for war yet again; ''I'm too old for this.'' The Tsuchikage sighed in disbelief. ''Intel has come in that Konoha are planning to invade us, so we have to retaliate and attack before they do, they'll be prepared and so do we.'' He continued ''But first we need a new Tsuchikage, during your times at the tournaments I stepped down due to my declining health and...'' All the people standing on the rooftop turned their heads to look at me ''We only have one person in our mind, what do you say; Nanadaime Tsuchikage?'' I was bewildered, looking around back at them and answering sarcastically ''Wait, you want me to be the new Tsuchikage? Sure you're joking right?'' But the look on their faces told other stories, they were serious. ''We spoke about it while you were away and the rest of the village want you as well, unless you are fully against it then we're all for it but you must agree to one condition.'' ''And that condition is?'' ''Be on the front lines as well, guide Iwagakure to victory in this war, come home with the blood of your enemies smeared across your clothes and protect the village with all your of your might, you must put the village's sake before your own and ensure the well being of all your villagers.'' I looked above the ledge down onto the ground to see the entire village gathering up by the kage's mansion, word had spread quickly and the reveal for the new Tsuchikage had arrived. ''Of course I agree.'' Smiles were worn on all of their faces as I was given my hat, and we all jumped down onto the ground, hundreds of people clapping, the anbu squad, the first officer, war general, peace general, down to the little kids and the old couple from across the street. Everyone was here, supporting me, and that drive for motivation is greater than any emotion one could feel. At that one moment in my life I felt accepted, I felt acknowledged, I felt loved. Even in the crowd I spotted a man with a scruffy beard, and spiky hair of green colour much like mine, and a pale white face. But every time I looked at him he kept disappearing. I didn't say anything for a few minutes, just kept looking around at everyone, the sight brought tears to my eyes and from that day on my motivation for the village increased by a hundred-fold, I was at this moment willing to put absolutely everything behind my village, and that's when it struck me. ''Alright everyone, let's all stick together, let's go to Konoha and win this war, let it be our first victory with many to follow!'' Everyone huddled up, we signed teams, assorted members in terms of ranks and power, and then we were off. Bursting through the gates with nothing short of enthusiasm we ran through the borderlands in the space of only just a few days, before we ended up just by the village gates. And from there the plan we had developed came into work, people charged, lured out the guards at the gates and the fighting ensued. It ran on for many days, the villagers of Konoha was aware of it, and soon enough someone intercepted me. Interrupting me on my way to get inside the village he laughed ''You really think you can get in? I'll stop you here and kill you just like the piece of trash you are.'' His words sure were strong and full of power. ''Be afraid, I'm Thunderbolt, and I'll end you here.'' Or so he thought, the fight didn't last long and I minced him into pieces, he wasn't that strong but I respected him for his bravery, but his biggest mistake was engaging me in a fight because it then allowed my other friends to lure out the Hokage, Dante. He was strong indeed and killed two experienced shinobi's of ours with ease, but as the blood of everyone's corpses ran down through the village I was seen standing down just below the Kage mansion, Dante could see me as well, there was no one else around. The tension built up very quickly and I felt as if this was the fight to assert my dominance over the Ninja World, I was known but not feared. Thunder struck the ground and I could feel his agony, his anger, his pain, his lust. He wanted to do nothing but kill because we outmaneuvered Konoha, and now they were on the defensive. He jumped down onto the ground right in front of me. ''What do you think you're doing here?''
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''Don't act petty, we both know. We just acted before you guys, if you didn't manage to see that then you don't deserve to live.'' ''You really think you can win the war? Even with all the manpower you may have or the advantages, all piled up against us it means nothing. My village is the stronger one, and I'll stand here protecting it till the very end, we can work something out and I can spare you if you want to, or I can ruthlessly kill you right here right now and use your severed head to intimidate those that still want to conquer this land, back away.'' ''Words can't change my actions, I have the confidence of the entire village resting on my shoulders'' I said, stopping for a moment to just think about what I had said. I had the village behind me, I had the power and respect from everyone on my shoulders and that drove me to new extents, normally I would not even stand in his way but now I felt like I could take him head on, that he couldn't stop me. Continuing ''And this is more than just a simple war, we as a village will develop because of it whilst the weaker village will crumble, survival of the fittest in action.'' My words played in his mind as he got angry relatively quickly and we both blasted towards each other, throwing punches, kicks, shurikens, kunais, and all techniques in our arsenal. Our bodies had been pushed to the limit and we were on the verge of giving up, taking notice of his style of fighting I decided to run it down on him, as he released a bubble of lightning and expanded it forwards I trapped him inside a tornado made of both water and earth, he stood no chance. The lightning was conducted into the vortex and his voice quieted down, all I could hear a cry, as his life was taken by me, I can't say I felt a little bit depressed. Those who I had killed before had died for right reasons, I wiped away their greed and made the world a better place, but for this guy I felt as if he died in vain. He was just protecting his village, regardless of what his future actions may have held, I had massive respect for the guy, and as my technique ended I saluted the mutilated corpse, both signifying the end of the war and Iwagakure's victory. Turning around on the spot and walking out of the Kage's mansion, I looked back on the wreck we had caused, we were ruthless animals. Capable of such destruction, to bring an entire village down by ourselves was a great feat, but the power that lies within us must be regulated, we can't let ourselves be let loose and that was my resolve. Walking past the front gates I whistled the specific tone to notify everyone that it was time to leave home, those from the opposing village who hadn't died had two options, either try to follow us and die, or go back to the village and start from the bottom, elect a new kage, and begin anew chapter in their path to becoming conquerors. While us on the other hand, could walk back with pride, with elegance in our hearts, and acceptance of our powers. We had won yet another war and it felt amazing. As we walked past the village borders and made our journey back to Iwagakure, I felt as if though Gobi had joined the journey once again, my mind was playing tricks with me again. ''I'm proud of you.'' His words echoed in my mind as I smiled momentarily, before letting out a sigh and reminiscing all the great times I had with him, the journeys and the adventures, the ideology that has now been adapted into my lifestyle and has allowed me to get to where I am today, all of that is because of him, and that's the best thing any Sensei can teach to their student. The memories we shared also brought me back to this, to where I'm sitting now, here in my dark room whilst everyone else is outside celebrating our success. Things don't last forever, and neither do people. But it's the memories that you have of those people that shape your personality, that dictate your behaviour not only to yourself but to those around you. I have gained a lot since the last time I opened this dusty book and put my pen on the paper, but this story still has a lot to go, there will be more obstacles and there will be more achievements. For my path is fully underway, and I will conquer. |
