Background Information | 背景资料
History:
The rain pours innocently across this vast land we call our Earth, the nature remains calm at peace and within sight a man begins walking through a cotton-field. His footsteps brought both peace and destruction wherever he went, his clothes were dry but patches of rain could be found on them, he had been out for a long time. Along with him he was dragging a whip-like structure, several metal plates all connected through strings, held by the handle, were scraping across the floor with ease, producing clinging noises disturbing the wildlife around. The man suddenly came to a stop and looked towards a small hut, he turned the door knob and entered the house.
Taking off his attire, placing his blazer onto a coat hanger and his hat onto his work desk, he turned on a small fireplace, placing some logs to heat up the room. Rubbing his hands together, he sat down onto his chair and opened a simple drawer, containing only one thing. A book with no specific title, it was full of dust anyways. Holding it by his head he blew it, revealing a black cover with a golden pattern diagonally down on the front cover, with a chuckle he sets the book down on his desk and takes a pen out of his shirt pocket. Opening his book to the first page, he doesn't just click his pen yet; he first decides to read over what he has already written:
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.
‘‘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 two 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 me ‘‘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 second 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, 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.
‘‘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...
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:
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! Tobirama 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. Tobirama Senju 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 Tobirama ''albeit only to those who aren't blinded by their own obnoxiousness''
''W-what did you just say...?'' Tobirama 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 Tobirama'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 Tobirama, every step formed tremors that spread to the entire battlefield. Once reached he grabbed Tobirama's chin and picked his entire body up, looking down upon him, he spoke no word but the intensity of his eyesight was astonishing. Tobirama started to pant more and his heartbeat increased rapidly, he let out one final cry for aid.
And that was the last words he ever spoke, as in front of my own eyes Erzo ripped out Tobiramas skull from his body, it was something peculiar. I have never seen Erzo like this before, it was truly something terrifying. Holding Tobiramas 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 Tobirama. 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 Tobirama 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.
''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.
''Hazama''
23/03/2012
