Chakra Wizard
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Chapter 017: The Devil At Work
Their search for another scroll had continued no more than ten minutes ago, yet Manako and his cousins had already caught view of two more teams from whom to obtain it. …Much to Manako’s dismay, though, one of the teams was already on the verge of defeat…and the other was under the leadership of Asuka, the Stone genin from the written exam.
Manako: Stop here.
Having no prior knowledge of Asuka themselves, Akame and Katsuto followed the order, though not without questioning his actions.
Akame: Hm? For what?
Manako hesitated to answer, as his mind was deeply focused on deciding whether to approach this new opponent directly, or instead, hide himself from view for the time being, in order to gather more information on Asuka’s abilities. …Of course, after witnessing only a sample of what power resided within his eyes during the first stage of the exam, the former was hardly an eye-catching option anymore.
Manako: Come on.
Falling below the tree line, the trio continued traveling a short distance farther until the open area where the two teams stood was in sight, at which point Manako retreated to a nearby bush, followed shortly by his baffled cousins.
Katsuto: Manako, hiding to avoid detection? …Heh, just when I thought he was fearle-
Manako: Katsuto, shut up.
Katsuto: Huh?
Rather thrown off by his cousin’s sternness, Katsuto immediately redirected his attention towards the Stone genin standing just sixty feet in front of them, …now curious as to what made Manako so cautious around this seemingly normal, young shinobi. Both the other team and Asuka’s own seemed to have collided just moments before their arrival, the team of young Leaf genin already having falling under the enchantment of Asuka’s glowing eyes. They stood there in silence just a moment longer before one of the genin finally pulled an earth scroll out of his flak jacket and tossed it to Asuka’s female teammate, who, upon noticing its color, dropped it and assumed a look of utter disappointment, as did the third member of their team.
Takeshi: Huhhh, unbelievable.
Amiko: (Holding her hands against her face for a moment to relieve her aggravation, she eventually removed them and turned to address her teammates.) Well, let’s get going.
While Amiko and Takeshi turned to leave, however, their teammate did not, continuing to stand where he was now, staring at the blank faces of the three hypnotized genin before him. …Already fearing the worst, Amiko tried to get his attention.
Amiko: Asuka, come on.
His response to her was silence, though the edges of the frown which decorated his face gradually began to curve upward, into what would soon become a blatantly wicked smile. At the same time, the three genin in front of him each slowly began to reveal a kunai, much to the horror of both his teammates and Sasuke’s grandchildren.
Takeshi: Asuka. …Asuka, let’s go. …Dang it, man, cut it out!
Having seen enough of this, Akame pulled out a kunai and attempted to leave her team’s hiding spot, only to find her movements halted. Turning around in a bit of a fright, she noticed that her cousin had grabbed ahold of her arm, causing her to snap at him, though not loud enough to be heard by those whom they were observing.
Akame: Hey, what the heck are you doing!?
Manako: (Not willing to miss this opportunity to further examine Asuka’s technique at work, he calmly responded to her retort without removing his gaze from the aforementioned genin.) …Stay put.
Katsuto: (Agreeing fully with his sister’s actions, he defended them, making sure to keep his voice at the same level as theirs.) What, and just let ‘em get killed!? They’re LEAF ninja, in case you didn’t notice! Come on, you could take that punk just by yourself-
Manako: I don’t know that!
Both of them rather startled by this soft outburst, Akame and Katsuto spent the next eight seconds in complete silence, staring frighteningly at their cousin. …Neither was exactly used to seeing Manako with this kind of doubt in his eyes.
Manako: I’ve got no idea what this guy is capable of and I’m not about to jump in without having that knowledge at my disposal, …even for our comrades. …That’s just suicide and you know it is.
Still quite unhinged by his uncertainty, the two nonetheless ceased any further action, a mixture of sadness and irritation gradually developing in their eyes. They looked back at the spectacle before them, only to turn away in the next second in both fear and repulsion, the same reasons for which Manako found himself unable to look away as the three Leaf genin drove the kunai into their chests, falling to the ground seconds later, …dead. With this, Asuka’s eyes reverted to their typical brown color and a smirk began stretching across his face, though this feeling of satisfaction was hardly shared by his appalled teammates. Horrified, Amiko placed her hands over her nose and mouth before lowering her head and looking away, seemingly on the verge of tears. Takeshi, on the other hand, upon noticing this, found himself unable to hold his tongue, though Asuka’s homicidal disposition prevented him from raising his voice against him.
Takeshi: Asuka, come on. This is the second time you’ve picked off a team for no reason.
Asuka: (Possessing a natural annoyance towards those who detest his methods, his smirk quickly faded at the sound of his teammate’s complaints.) …I had a perfectly good reason for it, Takeshi.
Takeshi: (The apparent calmness of Asuka’s reply caused him to swallow all the air in his mouth, but he stood by his words nonetheless.) What? Aside from the fact that they had the wrong scroll? What?
Not even milliseconds after the words left Takeshi’s lips, the petrifying, blue glow from before returned to Asuka’s eyes once again. Almost immediately, his teammate’s entire figure became frozen with fear, a sight which transformed Asuka’s irritated frown into a wicked smile.
Asuka: Because I can. …How’s that for a reason?
Anyone watching this spectacle could easily tell that the only thing preventing him from taking Takeshi’s life was the fact that he needed all of his teammates alive in order to move on, something the latter understood perfectly, …as did their third teammate. Still in shock at having witnessed the apparent suicide of three genin slightly younger than herself, her eyes had just begun to water as she finally found the strength to speak again.
Amiko: Can we go now? …Please?
Takeshi: (Having had feelings for Amiko for some time, the sight of her nearing emotional breakdown was more than enough to dishearten him, …but in the end, it was their teammate who made all the calls.) Huhhh, I don’t know. …Asuka?
Asuka: (Being fond of neither of them, he was nonetheless convinced that they had no further business in this area of the forest and succumbed to their requests.) Let’s go.
Giving Amiko some time to regain her composure, however short a time it was, their team left the scene without further delay, leaving behind the scroll they had taken from the three genin lying dead in their wake. Manako and his cousins allowed a few more seconds to pass following their departure before emerging from their hiding place, the former immediately kneeling down to check the vitals of the deceased. Seeing the look of disappointment on his face upon doing so, Akame bit her lip in both grief and frustration, while Katsuto walked over to pick up the discarded scroll, taking the opportunity to express some level of optimism, …however morbid of him to do so.
Katsuto: Well, …at least we have two scrolls now.
Manako: (Shaking his head in utter disbelief that Katsuto had said this aloud, he was nonetheless unable to shake the fact that he was thinking the same thing.) …Yeah. …Now, come on. Let’s go.
Akame: Not yet.
Manako: Hm?
Somewhat surprised by Akame’s imposition, Manako and Katsuto turned to face her, quickly noticing that her eyes were beginning to water as she stared angrily at her cousin.
Akame: You lied to us, didn’t you?
Manako: (Though fully aware of what “lie” she was referring to, his inclination to not answer her prompted him to suggest otherwise.) About?
Akame: STOP PLAYING ME LIKE A FOOL!! You could’ve stopped him and you know it! Even if he did use a genjutsu on you, what could’ve POSSIBLY made you think that YOUR Sharingan wouldn’t have broken out of it!? …You just let three people die. From our village. …Why?
By this time, there was nothing preventing the first, but ultimately only, tear from trickling down her face. She knew her cousin’s abilities too well for him to hide the fact that these genin would most likely still be alive now, had he chosen to intervene. Manako, however, was still uncertain of this himself, but refused to allow this argument to escalate further, his previous suggestion to leave quickly becoming a full-on order.
Manako: Go…now.
Seeing the burning look in his Sharingan eyes as he said this, Akame decided to put up with his stubbornness for now, albeit with much reluctance, and the three took to the surrounding tree line, once again set on reaching the central tower. Though apparently in the clear, Manako was not oblivious to the fact that he had just barely avoided a disastrous altercation with Akame, the thought of which prompted him to close his eyes and let out a sigh of relief as he leaped from branch to branch.
Manako: (…I should probably put this event out of my mind now…before I meet up with Airon again.)
Asuka’s eyes claim the lives of three young shinobi…and is Manako really as heartless as Akame suspects him to be!!?
The End
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Chapter 017: The Devil At Work
Their search for another scroll had continued no more than ten minutes ago, yet Manako and his cousins had already caught view of two more teams from whom to obtain it. …Much to Manako’s dismay, though, one of the teams was already on the verge of defeat…and the other was under the leadership of Asuka, the Stone genin from the written exam.
Manako: Stop here.
Having no prior knowledge of Asuka themselves, Akame and Katsuto followed the order, though not without questioning his actions.
Akame: Hm? For what?
Manako hesitated to answer, as his mind was deeply focused on deciding whether to approach this new opponent directly, or instead, hide himself from view for the time being, in order to gather more information on Asuka’s abilities. …Of course, after witnessing only a sample of what power resided within his eyes during the first stage of the exam, the former was hardly an eye-catching option anymore.
Manako: Come on.
Falling below the tree line, the trio continued traveling a short distance farther until the open area where the two teams stood was in sight, at which point Manako retreated to a nearby bush, followed shortly by his baffled cousins.
Katsuto: Manako, hiding to avoid detection? …Heh, just when I thought he was fearle-
Manako: Katsuto, shut up.
Katsuto: Huh?
Rather thrown off by his cousin’s sternness, Katsuto immediately redirected his attention towards the Stone genin standing just sixty feet in front of them, …now curious as to what made Manako so cautious around this seemingly normal, young shinobi. Both the other team and Asuka’s own seemed to have collided just moments before their arrival, the team of young Leaf genin already having falling under the enchantment of Asuka’s glowing eyes. They stood there in silence just a moment longer before one of the genin finally pulled an earth scroll out of his flak jacket and tossed it to Asuka’s female teammate, who, upon noticing its color, dropped it and assumed a look of utter disappointment, as did the third member of their team.
Takeshi: Huhhh, unbelievable.
Amiko: (Holding her hands against her face for a moment to relieve her aggravation, she eventually removed them and turned to address her teammates.) Well, let’s get going.
While Amiko and Takeshi turned to leave, however, their teammate did not, continuing to stand where he was now, staring at the blank faces of the three hypnotized genin before him. …Already fearing the worst, Amiko tried to get his attention.
Amiko: Asuka, come on.
His response to her was silence, though the edges of the frown which decorated his face gradually began to curve upward, into what would soon become a blatantly wicked smile. At the same time, the three genin in front of him each slowly began to reveal a kunai, much to the horror of both his teammates and Sasuke’s grandchildren.
Takeshi: Asuka. …Asuka, let’s go. …Dang it, man, cut it out!
Having seen enough of this, Akame pulled out a kunai and attempted to leave her team’s hiding spot, only to find her movements halted. Turning around in a bit of a fright, she noticed that her cousin had grabbed ahold of her arm, causing her to snap at him, though not loud enough to be heard by those whom they were observing.
Akame: Hey, what the heck are you doing!?
Manako: (Not willing to miss this opportunity to further examine Asuka’s technique at work, he calmly responded to her retort without removing his gaze from the aforementioned genin.) …Stay put.
Katsuto: (Agreeing fully with his sister’s actions, he defended them, making sure to keep his voice at the same level as theirs.) What, and just let ‘em get killed!? They’re LEAF ninja, in case you didn’t notice! Come on, you could take that punk just by yourself-
Manako: I don’t know that!
Both of them rather startled by this soft outburst, Akame and Katsuto spent the next eight seconds in complete silence, staring frighteningly at their cousin. …Neither was exactly used to seeing Manako with this kind of doubt in his eyes.
Manako: I’ve got no idea what this guy is capable of and I’m not about to jump in without having that knowledge at my disposal, …even for our comrades. …That’s just suicide and you know it is.
Still quite unhinged by his uncertainty, the two nonetheless ceased any further action, a mixture of sadness and irritation gradually developing in their eyes. They looked back at the spectacle before them, only to turn away in the next second in both fear and repulsion, the same reasons for which Manako found himself unable to look away as the three Leaf genin drove the kunai into their chests, falling to the ground seconds later, …dead. With this, Asuka’s eyes reverted to their typical brown color and a smirk began stretching across his face, though this feeling of satisfaction was hardly shared by his appalled teammates. Horrified, Amiko placed her hands over her nose and mouth before lowering her head and looking away, seemingly on the verge of tears. Takeshi, on the other hand, upon noticing this, found himself unable to hold his tongue, though Asuka’s homicidal disposition prevented him from raising his voice against him.
Takeshi: Asuka, come on. This is the second time you’ve picked off a team for no reason.
Asuka: (Possessing a natural annoyance towards those who detest his methods, his smirk quickly faded at the sound of his teammate’s complaints.) …I had a perfectly good reason for it, Takeshi.
Takeshi: (The apparent calmness of Asuka’s reply caused him to swallow all the air in his mouth, but he stood by his words nonetheless.) What? Aside from the fact that they had the wrong scroll? What?
Not even milliseconds after the words left Takeshi’s lips, the petrifying, blue glow from before returned to Asuka’s eyes once again. Almost immediately, his teammate’s entire figure became frozen with fear, a sight which transformed Asuka’s irritated frown into a wicked smile.
Asuka: Because I can. …How’s that for a reason?
Anyone watching this spectacle could easily tell that the only thing preventing him from taking Takeshi’s life was the fact that he needed all of his teammates alive in order to move on, something the latter understood perfectly, …as did their third teammate. Still in shock at having witnessed the apparent suicide of three genin slightly younger than herself, her eyes had just begun to water as she finally found the strength to speak again.
Amiko: Can we go now? …Please?
Takeshi: (Having had feelings for Amiko for some time, the sight of her nearing emotional breakdown was more than enough to dishearten him, …but in the end, it was their teammate who made all the calls.) Huhhh, I don’t know. …Asuka?
Asuka: (Being fond of neither of them, he was nonetheless convinced that they had no further business in this area of the forest and succumbed to their requests.) Let’s go.
Giving Amiko some time to regain her composure, however short a time it was, their team left the scene without further delay, leaving behind the scroll they had taken from the three genin lying dead in their wake. Manako and his cousins allowed a few more seconds to pass following their departure before emerging from their hiding place, the former immediately kneeling down to check the vitals of the deceased. Seeing the look of disappointment on his face upon doing so, Akame bit her lip in both grief and frustration, while Katsuto walked over to pick up the discarded scroll, taking the opportunity to express some level of optimism, …however morbid of him to do so.
Katsuto: Well, …at least we have two scrolls now.
Manako: (Shaking his head in utter disbelief that Katsuto had said this aloud, he was nonetheless unable to shake the fact that he was thinking the same thing.) …Yeah. …Now, come on. Let’s go.
Akame: Not yet.
Manako: Hm?
Somewhat surprised by Akame’s imposition, Manako and Katsuto turned to face her, quickly noticing that her eyes were beginning to water as she stared angrily at her cousin.
Akame: You lied to us, didn’t you?
Manako: (Though fully aware of what “lie” she was referring to, his inclination to not answer her prompted him to suggest otherwise.) About?
Akame: STOP PLAYING ME LIKE A FOOL!! You could’ve stopped him and you know it! Even if he did use a genjutsu on you, what could’ve POSSIBLY made you think that YOUR Sharingan wouldn’t have broken out of it!? …You just let three people die. From our village. …Why?
By this time, there was nothing preventing the first, but ultimately only, tear from trickling down her face. She knew her cousin’s abilities too well for him to hide the fact that these genin would most likely still be alive now, had he chosen to intervene. Manako, however, was still uncertain of this himself, but refused to allow this argument to escalate further, his previous suggestion to leave quickly becoming a full-on order.
Manako: Go…now.
Seeing the burning look in his Sharingan eyes as he said this, Akame decided to put up with his stubbornness for now, albeit with much reluctance, and the three took to the surrounding tree line, once again set on reaching the central tower. Though apparently in the clear, Manako was not oblivious to the fact that he had just barely avoided a disastrous altercation with Akame, the thought of which prompted him to close his eyes and let out a sigh of relief as he leaped from branch to branch.
Manako: (…I should probably put this event out of my mind now…before I meet up with Airon again.)
Asuka’s eyes claim the lives of three young shinobi…and is Manako really as heartless as Akame suspects him to be!!?
The End
Asuka is, by far, the "lightest" antagonist I plan to introduce in this FF=D
