Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/ works/13452786. Rating: Explicit Archive Warning: Graphic_Depictions_Of_Violence, Major_Character_Death, Rape/Non-Con, Underage Category: F/M, Multi Fandom: Naruto Relationship: Uchiha_Itachi/OC, OC/Harem Character: Uchiha_Itachi, OC_-_Character Additional Tags: Torture, Psychological_Torture, Violence, Blood_and_Gore, Child_Death, Child_Abuse, Mind_Control, Self-Insert, Child_Murder, Murder, Genocide, Sadism, Rape/Non-con_Elements Stats: Published: 2017-09-27 Updated: 2017-12-25 Chapters: 4/? Words: 32782 ****** Black Eyes ****** by Notsae Summary A child is born under an eclipse, with memories of a past that never happened and eyes as black as the void he set his sights on the distant stars. ***** Rebirth ***** Rebirth I was born during a solar eclipse; and in the superstitious world I was born into, that was bad enough. The fact that my eyes were… wrong just made it worse. I knew where I had been reborn the moment I looked up into my mother’s eyes and saw two solid white orbs staring back at me. My father was no different. I was a Hyuuga, specifically, a main branch member from the lack of swastikas on my parents’ foreheads. Unfortunately, the eyes I saw reflected in my mother’s gaze were not solid white. In point of fact, they were quite the opposite; solid black. A gruff voice spoke up; a language I vaguely recognised grinding against my infant ears. “なぜ彼は泣いていないのですか？ 待って...何が彼の目に間違っている！嫌悪！” And that was how I got my name; Ken’o. Abomination, aversion, malevolence, disgust, hatred, repugnance, so on. My father named me in an exclamation of disgust and horror. My mother died not long after I was born and father hung himself two weeks later. He couldn’t stand to look at the monster that killed his wife. Unfortunately, the bastard branded me before he kicked out the chair. From that day on I was a main branch member in name only; I still had the privileges of the main branch, yet the mark that marred my forehead and my inverted eyes saw me treated like trash. Honestly, I’m surprised they didn’t outright kill me. Had the clan head not been such a good friend to my father, they probably would have. As it was, I was looked on with distrust and treated much harsher than anyone else. Especially after the string of misfortune started. it was little things at first; a few people got mildly ill, some accidents resulting in minor injury. At first everyone just wrote it off as bad luck; though any Hyuuga tripping was rather odd. That is, until a genin died in a training accident on my first birthday. After that people started connecting the dots; dots I’m not even sure are there myself. I hardly cared at first. As an infant I barely even noticed; only realising my father hated me when he slammed his palm into my forehead and condemned me. The vindictive smile he had as he tied that noose around his neck filled me with rage. He kept smiling even as he formed the seal to activate my brand. Nearly five minutes of mind shattering agony later and my father kicked the chair and snapped his neck. Apparently he didn’t have it in him to take the “honourable” route and disembowel himself. I was found hours later, almost brain dead. I spent two months in the hospital afterwards. It was immediately apparent (at least to me; it took the doctors a few more weeks to figure it out) what had happened to me; the bastard had fried the pain center of my brain, in the process destroying my sensation. From that moment on, every sensation was agony; every beat of my heart, every breath I drew, every movement sent fiery lightning bolts of pain shooting through me. Even the most gentle of breeze felt like fire on my skin. From that day on I spent every moment in unending torment. I wrapped my entire body in bandages soaked in a powerful numbing agent and flooded my veins with painkillers; it had little effect. I unlocked my chakra at six months, my Byakugan a week after. The clan was shocked; most people didn’t unlock their chakra until they were six or seven; later if they weren’t in a clan. My unprecedented achievement had whispers of “prodigy” on everyone's tongue. At first I hated my chakra and hated my Byakugan even more. Channeling chakra felt like pouring electrified fire through my veins and the Byakugan felt like I replaced my eyes with balls of magma. Even wrapped in bandages soaked in numbing agents and doped up on as many painkillers as I could find the searing agony brought me to my knees. I could barely keep my eyes active for ten seconds, let alone the hours of most clan members. At first, anyways.     =======================================================================================     “Ken’o, what are you doing?” I acknowledged the question with a grunt, continuing to throw knife hand thrusts at an upright log wrapped in coarse rope. I flashed my Byakugan for a second to see who it was; ignoring the blistering paroxysm of pain the action brought me. When everything is agony, pain starts to lose its meaning. My brief glance revealed that it was one of the elders standing behind me; specifically, my grandfather. I never cared much for the man and he obviously felt little for me. His confusion didn’t surprise me; I had only learned to walk a few weeks ago and only became stable enough to stay standing for extended periods a few days ago. Seeing a child barely over a year and a half battering their hand against a training pole must have been a rather unusual sight; even in a world of fireball shooting child soldiers. “Training.” As soon as I could support my own weight I had moved on from exclusively training my Byakugan and what meager chakra control exercises I could think of to actually training my body. Of course, I would frequently be dragged away so I spent most of my days learning to read. Apparently being a prodigy bought you plenty of liberties; a dedicated tutor being one of them. One of the first things I had studied (when that blasted tutor fell asleep during one of our sessions) was a book on chakra’s effects on the body. The book was very, very old and equally weathered; based on the studies it described, I presumed it was from before the great clan era, perhaps it was written soon after the sage spread chakra to the world. The experiments that took place would only make sense in a world where chakra was new and unstudied. In a world where chakra had been around as long as anyone could remember no one would have thought to study its effects, considering they would have nothing to compare it to. Apparently, chakra had the unique effect that it kept heavy training from having deleterious effects on the body, even going so far as to quicken recovery times. “Hmm, It matters not; the clan head’s child has been born. As a member of the main branch, you are required to attend the celebration. Your “training” will have to wait.” So saying he turned and walked away; evidently eager to be out of my presence. I had been told (or, more accurately, heard whispered when they thought I couldn’t hear) that I had an unsettling presence that grew more uncomfortable with time. I watched him go, my blank face hiding my disdain. Unlike most clan members, my grandfather refused to acknowledge that I was in any way special; he went so far as to ignore the oddness of my eyes. Slowly I turned to the house, depthless and cruel apathy in the soulless abyss of my eyes as a wicked smile spread across my face. So, little Hinata was born, eh? Hmph, at least her weakness will take some eyes off me. Perhaps I’ll even be able to study some of the things they’d rather I not.   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------     The ceremony was just as inane as I thought it would be. Lots of useless congratulations and  posturing on every side. At least I could take solace in the waves of noise against my skin, and the pain it brought. Huh, I think I may be turning into a masochist… good, at least I won’t be bothered by the ceaseless agony of my existence… god that sounds emo; damn Uchiha must be infecting me with their proximity. I grimaced at the thought and received a smack to the back of the head courtesy of my “honourable” grandfather. I glanced over at him to see him shaking his head disapprovingly, “Fool, don’t scowl at the clan heir’s birth.” How he could even see my expression with my whole body encased in bandages as it was I had no idea. Regardless, I sent him a glare before plastering the largest and most obviously disingenuous smile I could on my face. “Of course, Honoured Grandfather!” He sent me a dark look and I could see a veiled hatred in his eyes. I felt oddly invigorated by the hate flowing from him and felt a real smile spread unbidden across my face. My grandfather suddenly nervously looked away with a muttered curse. A loud call for attention drew my gaze to Hiashi, who was holding his daughter before him. I could see people’s  fear and disdain as they looked at her eyes; her lavender eyes. Ever since my birth the Hyuuga have been even more stringent about their eyes’ purity; one dead genin and half a dozen major injuries all possibly connected to me and suddenly tolerance for odd coloured eyes dropped like lead in the ocean. Hiashi spoke up, his voice silencing the discontented whispers,  “On this day my daughter is born. On this day many years from now she shall take my place as head of our great clan.” He paused and made sure to lock eyes with everyone, even me, before continuing. “May she lead us to ever greater heights when that day comes. On this day I name her Hinata Hyuuga; may she bring honour and glory to her name.” Hmph, what a grandiose load of bullshit. I scowled beneath my bandages; I don’t have time to waste on this meaningless nonsense. Hinata’s birth tells me roughly where I am in the timeline; it also tells me that Obito is already active. I can only assume the Kyuubi attack has already occurred, considering Naruto is like three years older than Hinata and the rest of the main cast. I haven’t heard anything about the Kiri civil war; though considering I’m not even two yet that’s not surprising. I turned to leave when I saw Hiashi was done speaking; sending a disdainful glance at the people around me. I had training to do. Before I could make it to the door I was roughly grabbed by the shoulder. I was spun around to face my assailant; who turned out to be, to my total lack of surprise, my grandfather. “Where do you think you’re going boy?” He quirked an eyebrow, and for all the hate I could feel burning in him he rather impressively kept it from both his face and voice. I met his eyes unwaveringly,  “I have better things to do than sit around eating snacks and chatting with nobodies. Training; for instance.”  I shrugged off his hand and once again turned to leave, dodging his attempt to reestablish his grip on me. I made it two strides before I felt his rage spike and instinctively activated my Byakugan. The world seemed to slow down as I saw his hand approaching; I could see the chakra build up in his hand as it headed straight down where the blind spot should be. My eyes widened even as I whirled to the side, hand instinctively forming into a Gentle Fist strike as I dodged. My grandfather had just attempted to murder me right in front of the entire main branch; I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, like father like son after all. I slammed my fingers into his side in a practised strike, shooting the destructive needle of chakra into his tenketsu as his hand passed through the space my head had been seconds before. He screamed, dropping to his knees and gripping his side; his face a rictus of agony. I watched as burns spread from the spot where I hit him like snakes as he writhed on the floor. With my Byakugan I could see as my shadowy orange (orange?!) chakra burned his chakra coils. His body, weakened by age, alcohol abuse, and grief was unable to properly combat my raging chakra as it burned through his coils; leaving ravaged flesh and… something else on its way towards his heart. I felt a strange burning sensation in my eyes (unlike the usual, familiar pain) as my chakra reached his heart and black fluid leaked from his mouth. As his struggles ceased I felt like a hot knife was carving a circle in my eyes. I stared at his body in shock, “I… I didn’t…” Hiashi’s stern voice knocked me from my stupor, “Of course not; I witnessed the whole event. Ken’o’s grandfather attacked him unprovoked and only his instincts prevented him from serious injury or death.” He glanced at my grandfather's burned body, grimacing as more of the strange, tar like fluid poured from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. “Furoshu’s odd reaction to Ken’o’s chakra will, however, require investigation.” I partially turned to look at him as he spoke before my eyes settled on a mirror on the wall. My reflection put a finger over its hidden lips and I could tell it was smiling. I stared into my own eyes, only to see a red circle in each eye encircling where my iris would be if I had any. I watched as this facsimile of myself flexed its hand and tore the bandages, revealing crimson skin and black, claw like nails before carving words into the mirror. ‘Their eyes deceive them; the truth is hidden… but for how long?’The doppelganger reached up and tore the bandages from its mouth, revealing a ragged and lipless grin full of far too many teeth, each and everyone looking like an overly sharp canine. Silent laughter shook the copy’s form and it doubled over as Hiashi grabbed my shoulder and guided me out of the building. Hiashi lead me to the clan’s clinic and sat me down on an exam table before heading out to find the doctor. He didn’t even get two steps before the door opened and said doctor walked in, a concerned look on his face. “Hiashi-sama, what’s wrong?” Hiashi shook his head and turned to look at me, “Not me Yasashī. Little Ken’o here was attacked by his grandfather. He managed to avoid the opening blow and instinctively lashed out with the Gentle Fist. Up until the strike connected everything was normal for the situation.” Here he paused for a moment, a nearly imperceptible shudder passing through him, “When Ken’o’s chakra shot through him something changed; Furoshu screamed in agony and dropped to his knees before collapsing on the ground. Serpentine burns began to spread across his body almost immediately.” Yasashī frowned, stroking his short beard in thought, “Well, that could be caused by an adverse reaction to his chakra; not entirely unusual. A less likely but still possible cause would be if he instinctively channeled fire or even lightning chakra into the strike.” Hiashi gave a mirthless chuckle, “I’ve seen the results of both your hypotheses before; if that were all that happened I wouldn’t have brought him to you. No, it didn’t end there. Ken’o’s chakra seemed to attack Furoshu’s, burning out his coils and seeming to convert Furoshu’s chakra into more of Ken’o’s; Ken’o himself may not have noticed given the state he was in but after Furoshu died the converted chakra was drawn into Ken’o.” He frowned, “And that isn’t even the oddest part. While most of his screams were incoherent I managed to make out a few words; and what he said haunts me. He spoke as if his wife and son were berating him; as if fallen friends and family were attacking him…” Yasashī’s eyes were wide, “That’s… I-” Hiashi whirled on him, “I’m not finished.” His tone was harsh and clipped. He took a moment to collect himself, seeming to have forgotten I was even in the room. “I’m sorry doctor. I… shouldn’t have lashed out.” Yasashī gave a slight smile, “It’s quite alright; stress can bring out the worst in people.” Hiahsi nodded gravely and sighed before continuing, “As Furoshu was writhing on the ground a thick black fluid began to pour first from his mouth, then nose, ears, and finally eyes. I… I have no idea what that fluid was but it reekedof suffering.” Yasashī frowned, “The way you describe it it sounds almost like advanced necrosis or acid. But that makes no sense…” He locked eyes with Hiashi, “He isa pure blood Hyuuga, right?” Hiashi raised an eyebrow and glanced at me before nodding, “As far as I’m aware he is. Why?” Yasashī turned to look at me more thoroughly before moving over to a cabinet and withdrawing a needle, “Because the only explanation I can think of is a bloodline. There are two clans that fit the bill of that last description; the Fuhai-Omo and the Tokasu.” He approached me, blowing air out of the needle before cleaning my arm. “So, with your permission, I want to take a blood sample and test to see if he has either.” Hiasshi nodded and a tourniquet was swiftly wrapped around my bicep and the good doctor promptly drew a syringe full of blood. The clan head spoke up, “Would chakra paper be able to detect such a bloodline?” While the Hyuuga possessed a bloodline, it had no effect on their chakra nature. Yasashī paused, glancing over at Hiashi. “Perhaps, though the Hatake white chakra doesn’t show up with such tests so it might not show anything.” Hatake white chakra? I’m fairly certain Kakashi had no bloodline save the eye Obito gave him. The only thing that comes to mind is Sakumo’s Sabre. My musings were cut off when Yasashī let out a cry and jumped back. Hiashi whirled from his position halfway out the door. “What is it?”   Yasashī stuttered, a look of horrified shock on his face., “I-it meltedthe glass… and th-the metal.” he pointed at the floor before him. I followed his finger and felt my eyes widen; the syringe full of blood he had just drawn was dropped to the ground... and was currently burning through it. The glass and metal that made up the syringe was molten and bubbling. My blood itself looked normal; save for the fact that the linoleum (or at least that's what it looked like anyway) was melting and on fire. My gaze was drawn from the flickering flames to my reflection on the polished floor. The grinning creature seemed to silently laugh before scratching words into the floor, ‘Will the truth set you free… or see you locked in a cage?’ I quickly hid my scowl; I didn’t fully understand what the creature meant, but I knew that even if they did find something I couldn’t do anything about it. I was too young and weak to go rogue with any hope of surviving. Hiashi’s normally carefully neutral face was a rictus of shock, “Wha-what the fuck?! I’ve never seen anything like this!” Yasashī gaped like a fish, “This is… this is unlike any bloodline I’ve ever heard of, let alone seen.” He paused, a contemplative look spreading across his face. “The Hokage will need to be informed…” He turned to Hiashi. “But first, we should carry out that chakra test; best to go to the Hokage with as complete of information as we can.” Hiashi looked at the doctor for a long while and I can't say I blame him; what Yasashī was suggesting was technically not illegal, but it was borderline at best. Slowly he nodded, apparently deciding that the knowledge was more important than telling the Hokage about what didn’t seem to be a threat. “Alright, I’ll get the chakra paper.” So saying he turned and left; leaving me alone with the doctor… and my reflection. I turned to look back at the distorted echo as it grinned up at me; once again scratching symbols into the floor. ‘For every swallowed soul you grow stronger, for every life taken your eyes slowly, ever so slowly evolve.’ I blinked and went to speak before remembering the doctor. I looked up to find him still staring at my blood, now having taken out a throat swab and begun poking it. I turned back to my doppleganger as the man watched the stick burn up in his hand. I didn’t know any form of sign language so instead I used a technique I had spent months learning as an infant; chakra strings. I had by no means mastered the technique, I could barely form three strings; the sheer amount of control necessary for the technique was astounding, especially if you want to make them invisible. Even with the difficulty I simply couldn’t neglect the skill; the things I’d seen Sasori and Chiyo do (hell, even Kankuro and Sasuke) and the implications of those things were something I just couldn’t ignore. With sufficient control I would essentially have telekinesis; the possibilities seemed endless. Now though, I simply formed the thin strands of glowing and shadowy orange chakra into words. Even if the doctor looked over he wouldn’t be able to understand what I was writing given I used my native language. The strands twisted and curled, spelling out a simple question; ‘What are you?’ The being laughed, the silent cackling almost amusing were it not so unnerving. ‘I am but a messenger of one who is eager to meet you. I am here to assist in your training until you are ready to meet them.” My eyes widened and I almost spoke aloud before glancing at the doctor, ‘Who are they? What are they?’ The reflection shook its finger ‘Tsk, tsk; all in good time. You are not yet ready. She has waited for a very long time; she can be patient.” She? Well, at least that’s something. I now know exactly one detail about this entity; other than that it has servants and is obviously not from canon. “Oh, practicing with chakra strings, eh? That’s unusual for a Hyuuga; you’re even more advanced than the rumors say.” My head shot up to find the doctor looking at me curiously. “Orange chakra huh…” He leans close to look closer at the short threads before backing up with a slight shudder. “It’s almost like you’ve got bijuu chakra in you.” The door opened before I could question him; Hiashi walking in with a small slip of paper in hand. He paused in the doorway upon spotting my orange chakra threads. The clan head sighed and shook his head before continuing into the room. He raised the paper up and looked at me, “Ken’o, this is chakra paper; if you channel chakra into it it’ll tell us what nature affinity you have.” I nodded, taking the paper from his outstretched hand. It took me but a moment to channel chakra into it. The paper seemed to dissolve into ashes that scattered in a breeze that simply couldn’t be there; a faint, mournful wail sounding with it. Hiashi blinked, “That has to be the strongest fire affinity I’ve ever heard of.” I frowned, somehow I don’t think that’s what it was. Yasashī slowly shook his head, “No… that doesn’t seem right. It didn’t burst into flames it just… dissolved.” He watched the white ash settle around the room with a frown. “And I’m certain there’s no breeze in here.” They soon fell into a cyclical discussion as I sat and watched before giving up on them figuring out what was going on. I instead channeled chakra to my hand, staring at it with my Byakugan. I watched the shapeless shadows shift in my orange chakra and it took me a moment to realise what was different. It didn’t hurt nearly as much. Ever since I killed my grandfather, using chakra hurt significantly less and even my eyes felt better. One of the shadows formed a familiar shape; my grandfather's face screaming in agony.   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------   I joined the academy at an unprecedented four years old; even younger than Kakashi. I graduated at five at the top of my class. I made no friends, no connections. Not only was I not interested in such things, but even if I was no one would associate with me. Everyone hated the little brat that came out of nowhere and showed everyone up. The ill fortune that seemed to plague those around me made me out to be a bad omen and it only got worse after I “accidentally” killed the class bully in a spar. He had thrown mud on my lunch and insulted me to my face; called me a worthless orphan. His parents died in a house fire a week later. When he returned to class the following week the Chuunin instructor, a taciturn and unsympathetic man, had him spar against me. The boy was usually a decent fighter, but with grief clouding his mind it was easy to get within his guard and plunge my hand into his gut. I had found a scroll on the chakra scalpel and had been practicing the technique; the idea of turning my hands into blades appealed to me greatly, especially with how complimentary it seemed to the Gentle Fist. My hand slid through his flesh with ease, my caustic chakra burning through him like a super heated blade. I hid my sadistic grin as I pulsed my chakra through my hand, a shapeless blast of malevolent orange light expanding into him and reducing his innards to ash. He dropped to the earth, the blackened ruins of his soul dripping from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. I was scolded heavily, but eventually it was decided it had been an accident and no charges were levied against me. Ninja’s die, even in training; no point crying over spilt milk after all. As I waited for my Jonin sensei to arrive I watched the five screaming shadows move about my chakra in amusement as I practiced my chakra strings (the only thing you really can practice while in class without getting in trouble). I watched the invisible threads with my Byakugan as I moved them over towards the front of the class from my seat at the back. I had learned that the longer the strand was the more chakra and more control it took. As it was I could barely get them across the twenty foot room while keeping them invisible; manipulating objects without burning them to nothing was even more difficult. I had used them over the year to fuck with my fellow students and teachers, making things fall from their positions, jerking pencils when people were writing, and stealing things from people were not only amusing distractions but also good practice. Making people who annoyed me spasm in pain by attaching a string to them and pulsing a tiny bit of chakra through it was even more enjoyable; watching them scream and writhe as a tiny part of their soul was blackened and burned and knowing that a small amount of their chakra was being stolen forever was down right arousing. Huh, guess I’m more of a sadist than I thought. My musings were interrupted by lazy drawl, “Alright, Team 2; meet me on the roof.” I blinked, shifting my focus to look at my new sensei as he vanished in a leaf shunshin. I frowned, watching him sit lazily on the railing, gazing up at the clouds. Just by his attitude I could guess he was a Nara; though I didn’t recognise him. Deactivating my Byakugan, I followed my teammates up to the roof. Sensei’s head lolled to the side to look at us from his new position lying on the ground. I blinked, noticing the two large scars on the right side of his face and felt my mind skidding to a halt. “Alright, sense Hokage-sama pressured me into this I guess I gotta train you.” He sighed, “Try not to be too troublesome.” He paused, looking us over, “Alright, how ‘bout you introduce yourselves.” The girl on the team raised her hand, displacing her long blonde hair. “Sensei, shouldn’t you go first? You know, to show us what to do?” His black eyes, drifted to her bright blue before he sighed. “Troublesome already… Alright, My name is Shikaku Nara. I am the Jonin Commander of Konohagakure. I like Shogi, Go, clouds, and sleeping. I dislike troublesome things. My dream is for this period of peace to last longer than the last.” He lazily waved a hand at the girl who had spoken, “Alright, your turn blondy.” Her eyes lit up, “My name is Hakai Jibaku! I like blowing things up! I dislike things that I’m not allowed to blow up! My dream is to surpass my cousin as an even greater artist than him!” Looking at the nearly rabid gleam in her eyes I got a horrible suspicion. I decided it was better to know than to wonder, “And, who exactly is your cousin?” She turned to me and I knew the answer before she spoke up by the fire in her eyes, “Deidara, the greatest artist in the world! For now, anyways.” Great, a Mini-Mad-Bomber and a lazy genius. My gaze turned to my male teammate hopefully, maybe I’ll get lucky and nothing will be wrong with him. He spoke, his voice a cold monotone. “My name is Kenji Shimura. I do not like anything. I do not dislike anything. I do not have any dreams.” Oh, lovely. My team consists of a Mini-Mad-Bomber, an enlarged Shikamaru, and one of Danzo’s drones. I can see why this team didn’t exist in canon. Shikaku swung his eyes over to me with an expectant look, eliciting a sigh. “My name is Ken’o Hyuuga. I like growing stronger. I dislike stagnation. My dream is to be stronger than anyone in history… and to enjoy life.” Freedom is the privilege of the strong; the stronger you are the more free you are. When you are the strongest, you are the free-est. Shikaku raised an eyebrow, “Alright then. I’m supposed to test you to see if you’re worthy of being genin… but that sounds troublesome so I’ll just pass you. Meet me at training ground seven tomorrow at eight A.M.” So saying his head lolled to the side and he promptly fell asleep. I stared at my sleeping sensei as my teammates shrugged and walked away… I’m gonna fucking die, aren’t I? A team with a terminally lazy sensei, a psychotic arsonist, an emotionless drone, and a borderline psychopath? No way are we gonna last. I shook my head and walked away. At least Shikaku is smart; hopefully I’ll be able to learn from him. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The next day found me crouched down in the branches of one of the many trees in the forest that was training ground seven, Kenji sitting silently in a small clearing, and Hakai setting things on fire while we waited for our sensei to arrive. I was beginning to think he wasn’t gonna show when a lazy drawl whispered in my ear, “Well, well. Aren’t you a sneaky one.” I whirled, an orange chakra scalpel lancing towards the unexpected intruder’s chest before I consciously realised who it was. Shikaku dodged, watching my hand burn through the tree trunk with a curious look. “Jumpy too.” I pulled my hand from the tree and deactivated the scalpel, turning to send him a blank look. He chuckled and jumped down towards the rest of the team, scolding Hakai and shooting a large stream of water from his mouth to put out the small forest fire she started. I watched him for a moment before jumping down to join him. He frowned at the smouldering ashes of a portion of the forest before turning to us. “Alright, so it turns out the Hokage requires a test.” He pulled out a single bell, jingling it about to draw our eyes. “The test is simple; whoever gets this bell passes. Now this is also an evaluation of your skills, so come at me with everything you’ve got. Lethal force and attacking each other is allowed.” He looked us each in the eyes to make sure we understood before nodding, “Begin.” Kenji and Hakai jumped away to hide in the forest while I appeared not to move. Shikaku raised an eyebrow. “You’re not too bright are you?” I simply smirked, “That so?” Suddenly sensei gasped and leapt back. Seeing that stealth was right out, I raised my hands and started twitching my fingers; the action speeding up my chakra strings. Shikaku’s eyes widened before narrowing as he continued to dodge the invisible threads. “How very sneaky of you.” He looked me in the eyes with a raised brow, “Though if you’ve mastered threads to this level you should know you can’t do real damage with them.” My smirk widened, “Really?” As my now visible threads kept attacking him, twenty more shot out of the woods. Three of the new threads managed to hit sensei; one slashing into his leg and two latching onto an arm. His eyes widened as a pained cry wrenched itself from his lips. A deep burned gash stretched across his calf and his left arm spasmed violently, driving him to one knee. As he fell the rest of my threads latched onto him, allowing me and my two clones to channel our caustic chakra into him. “Are you sure about that?” I laughed as he screamed and writhed, flicking my pinky out to detach a thread; allowing the now free thread to snatch the bell off his waist. I turned my hand palm up and placed the bell in it. I smiled victoriously… before leaping forward as the ground beneath me exploded. I whirled, lashing out with my chakra strings and slicing a tree into ten burning pieces. I barely spotted Hakai jumping from the tree before I had to dodge a tipless tanto aimed for my throat. I smiled, activating my Byakugan with a thought. I leaned to the side, allowing a kunai to fly past my head. Kenji knocked the blade aside a second before it exploded. I abandoned the chakra strings from my right hand and swapped them out for a chakra scalpel. As the smoke cleared I leapt forward, attempting to impale the young Shimura. Kenji dodged the blow and swiped at my arm with his blade; a blow I redirected with a single thread. As me and Kenji dueled, each making sure to dodge every blow, Hakai ensured I couldn’t attack him with my threads by throwing a hailstorm of explosive kunai. I used my threads to snatch them out of the air and either throw them back at her or throw them at Kenji. I highly doubt the two of them planned out this strategy; Hakai was too impulsive and reckless to even consider it while Kenji wouldn’t bother. I attempted to destroy the ROOT shinobi’s blade with my scalpel and swiftly regretted it. While my chakra degraded his blade it was nowhere near fast enough to prevent him from cutting me. A shallow cut across my hand and minor damage to Kenji’s blade was my only reward. Before my clones could back me up the entire section of forest they stood in exploded in a massive fireball; sending Kenji and sensei flying. I used surface clinging to grip the earth beneath me as I watched them fly. Both slammed into a tree, Kenji dropping to the earth with a groan… and sensei being impaled through the chest by a broken branch. As soon as he died I felt my reserves expand and the constant pain existing caused me lessen as usual… along with a burning in my eyes. I watched as a line burned across my eyes; connecting the bottom of the circle to the upper right portion. I shook off the odd event and whirled towards Hakai; I could always ask my reflection what the new addition did later. Hakai was too stunned to dodge in time and I easily ensnared her; my infernal chakra rampaging through her system. I released her half a minute later, allowing her lifeless body to fall to the earth as I dodged a vertical slash from Kenji. I smirked, without Hakai to distract me I was able to attack with my strings. I blinked when his blade slashed through the strands, temporarily disrupting them. It took me less than a second to figure out what was happening with but a glance from my Byakugan; Kenji was channeling chakra through his blade. I frowned after a few moments of watching him dodge and destabilize my strings; he was better with his tanto than I was with my strings.  I wasn’t willing to bet that our stalemate would last; while I could easily outlast him in chakra, he was obviously trained by Danzo, and Danzo doesn’t allow his forces out if they’re less than Anbu level. Kenji would almost certainly figure away around my technique if given enough time. I released the strings on my right hand once more, spearing towards him with a chakra scalpel. As expected he dodged the blow, swiping his blade to destabilize some threads. I smirked, turning to follow him and biting my tongue. I spat a modified water bullet at him, modified in that it was made from my own blood. I was still working on a way to use my blood techniques without injuring myself. His eyes widened as the blood bullet slammed into his chest. My molten blood and caustic chakra easily burned halfway through his chest before exploding. The superheated liquid burned away his innards in a fraction of a second, assisted by my chakra that once compressed it. My smirk faded as I watched his smoking body hit the ground. I turned to look at the bodies of what was supposed to be my team with a scowl. “Well, that certainly went to shit fast.” I flicked my wrist and sent chakra strings towards my fallen comrades before heading off to the Kage tower. I received several strange looks and was followed the whole way by at least one team of Anbu. I guess a five year old walking through the streets, followed by the floating bodies of two genin and a jonin is rather unusual.   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------   The Hokage looked from me to the bodies I had laid before him with an incredulous look, his pipe having dropped from his mouth. “You killed your entire team?” The disbelief in his voice was obvious. He didn’t seem to notice as his fallen pipe set fire to one of his massive stacks of paperwork. I waved my hand noncommittally, “Eh, technically I only incapacitated Shikaku.” I pointed to Hakai’s corpse, “Technically she killed him. It wasthe shock wave from one of her bombs that launched him into the tree branch.” Hiruzen shook his head, “Yes, but that wouldn’t have killed him had you not incapacitated him. How did you do that anyway? He is not only a jonin but the Jonin Commander.” I twisted my hands up and into a partially clenched grasping position, a chakra string coming from each finger. “Ten chakra strings kept him from staying still long enough to use his techniques. Two clones tripling the amount allowed me to get a hold of him. He underestimated the damage I could do with the technique.” Hiruzen nodded slowly, “Ah yes, your unusual chakra must have taken him by surprise.” He picked up his pipe, stuffing it with an unknown herb and lighting it on one of the now many stacks of burning paperwork. He took a long drag, blowing out several smoke rings with a sigh before looking back to me. “Still, that doesn’t explain why you killed the rest of your team.” I shrugged, “Sensei gave us permission to attack each other and use lethal force. After I put sensei out of commision Hakai and Kenji attacked me. I retaliated and managed to slay both of them.” He frowned, “Hmm, authorising lethal force is not unusual for a genin exam; though it is rare for anyone to actually die” He sighed, “Given Shikaku did authorise lethal force you have technically committed no crime. Though this does leave you in an awkward situation; I have no team to put you on as of now.” I scowled, thankful for the bandages hiding my expression. “So where does that leave me?” The old Sarutobi puffed on his pipe, “For now you'll be placed in the reserves until a spot opens up.” My scowl deepened. Great, the old bastard’s testing me; he wants to see if I'll “manufacture” an opening; and if I take the bait it probably won't be long till I'm on the wrong side of an interrogation cell. “Hai, Hokage-sama.” He gave a wave of dismissal and I left. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------- The aged Hokage watched the young prodigy leave with an indecipherable expression on his face. He took a long drag from his pipe, blowing out a cloud of smoke with a sigh. “Something is deeply wrong with that child.” His voice echoed in the empty room. “Hmph.” Impossibly, the empty room responded. “He’d make a good hunter-nin, or perhaps a T&I member. That lack of empathy could be very useful.” Hiruzen sighed, staring blankly forward. “He expressed only annoyance after killing his whole team. No shock, no horror; just mild irritation. He was annoyed at the trouble not having a team would cause him.” The Darkness-Of-Shinobi stepped out from a darkened corner, his cane tapping on the hardwood floor. “He’s definitely a potential flight risk as is; no loyalty whatsoever. He’s as likely to kill an ally as an enemy.” HIruzen put his head in his hands, “Yet he’s an unprecedented asset; no one has ever made genin as young as him. And the only ones who come close certainly weren’t able to kill a jounin at that age.” Danzo’s pitiless gaze fell on his old friend, “Then give him over to me. I’m sure I can mold him into something useful.” Hiruzen glanced at him before returning his head to his hands. It was true; they had already seen the results of their differing styles. Of Hiruzen’s three students one was a drunken wastrel, one a perverted wanderer, and the last a monstrous traitor. Danzo's single official student was Itachi Uchiha; enough said. The God of Shinobi locked eyes with his once teammate, “He is a main branch Hyuuga and a prodigy at that; they won’t let you make him disappear and they will certainly check for that seal of yours.” Danzo’s lips twitched downward minutely; the equivalent of a growling scowl from an average man. “True, but that doesn’t mean I can’t train him.” The third Hokage stared out the window, gazing upon the village he had dedicated his life to defending. “You’ll have to handle this just as delicately as with Itachi.” Danzo’s visible eyebrow quirked upwards, “Do you think I can’t handle it?” Hiruzen sighed, “No old friend, I know you’re more than capable.” “Then let me mold him.” The shadowy elder’s voice was as sympathetic as an iceberg. A long moment passed in silence, the Fire staring out the window and the Shadow watching him. The elderly Sarutobi was conflicted; could he really do this? Could he subject another child to Danzo’s none too tender mercies? Looking out on the village, imagining the smiling faces of his subjects; his hesitance did not last long. A slow nod was all the confirmation Danzo needed. ***** A knife In The Dark ***** A Knife In The Dark As soon as I left the Hokage tower I headed out to find a weapon’s shop. My fight with Kenji taught me a valuable lesson; my chakra doesn’t degrade metal fast enough to counter a blade. My solution to this was to get a blade of my own; though I would need to find something exceptionally durable and even then I would need back ups. My clan certainly wouldn’t approve, though I hardly cared. Honestly, it’s kind of amusing; swordsmen and ranged specialists are the Hyuuga clan’s greatest weakness. Someone like Deidara could annihilate any Hyuuga with ease and seven out of ten times a swordsman will beat a Hyuuga of equal skill. It didn’t take me long to find where I was looking for (with the help of my Byakugan) and I soon found myself standing outside the Higurashi weapon’s shop. I glanced at the)ll window and saw my reflection grinning at me, ‘Jigokugan, not Byakugan,’ scratched into the window above it. Huh, he’s usually not very keen on giving new information; perhaps the new upgrade loosened his lipless mouth. I nodded to him (earning a silent laugh) and opened the door. A small bell chimed as I opened the door and an older man came out from the back of the shop. He gave me a curious look, “Hello kid, what are you doing here.” I kept my face blank (one of the few benefits of the Hyuuga clan’s teachings; though my bandages made the gesture pointless) and responded, “I am looking for durable, chakra conductive blades.” He raised an eyebrow, “Aren’t you a little young to be playing around with real swords?” I pointed to the HItai-ate woven into the bandages on my forehead, “I am a genin.” I just knew my age was going to be a constant point of annoyance for years to come. His brown eyes widened, “But you’re my daughter’s age…” he mumbled. I wasn’t sure I was meant to hear that, but anyone who interacted with ninjas for an extended period of time would quickly learn that whispers rarely go unheard. He shook his head, “Alright then; what kinda blade are you looking for?” I glanced around the room looking at the various weapons contemplatively. My short stature would definitely be a hindrance for now. My eyes skim over the longswords; an image of a massive and powerful blade flashing in my mind for a moment before I shake it off. The blades were much too large and heavy for me to properly wield at my age; perhaps when I’m older. I turn to more reasonable blades. For awhile I considered getting a tanto or wakizashi; something suited for my size. Then that Greatsword flashed behind my eyes once more and I turned my gaze to the katanas and chokuto; if I’m gonna work my way up to that I may as well train like the berserker. I sized up the blades before turning to the shopkeeper, “How much for ten chakra conductive Chokuto?” He raised an eyebrow, “Why on Earth would you need that many swords, kid?” I barely kept from scowling, maintaining my blank mask with some effort. “I tend to go through blades quickly.” I admitted; though I wasn’t actually sure that was the case yet, it was fairly likely. He frowned, moving over to the chokuto rack and picking out ten of them. There was nothing special about them; just ten uniform and utilitarian grey straight swords. He placed the pile of blades on the counter before him, “That’ll be 100,000 ryo, kid.” Apparently he didn’t want or need any further explanation. I blinked, I didn’t have anywhere near that much money. A dismayed look managed to break through my well trained icy mask, “I… I don’t- “Allow me, Ken’o-san.” A cold voice followed by a familiar rhythmic tapping sounded up behind me. Before I was consciously aware of what I was doing I had pulled my Hitai-ate over my eyes; upon reflection I realised this was pointless given the massacre had yet to occur and he certainly didn’t have Shisui’s eye. The elder raised an eyebrow but thankfully didn’t comment. I turned, activating my Byak- er, Jigokugan and greeted the man. “Greetings Danzo-sama; to what do I owe the honour?” I am not ashamed to admit (internally, at least) that I am afraid of Danzo; if this man wants me dead there’s almost nothing I can do at this point. Given a few more years I may be able to take him on; but now? Not a chance. Even as much as I dislike and distrust the man, blatantly disrespecting him would be idiotic at best. His single eye, hidden behind a seemingly closed lid seemed to evaluate me for a long moment as he placed a small stack of bills on the counter. “Hokage-sama informed me of your… predicament and allowed me to take you on as an apprentice. Your clan head has already confirmed my request.” My mind short circuited for a long moment and I merely stared at him opened mouthed. I couldn’t understand; Hiruzen and Hiashi sold me into the ROOT? I was already half way through plotting two very high profile assassinations when I was interrupted by an odd sound. It was like the quiet rumbling of a distant landslide or avalanche. “Hmhmhmhm, I see I chose well with you.” Even staring straight at it, my mind could hardly comprehend what I was seeing; Danzo had a small smile on his face. Did… did he just laugh? The founder of the ROOT gestured to the pile of swords he had just paid for, “Take your blades and follow me.” He turned, not waiting for me to follow. I shook off my shock and grabbed up my blades, rushing to catch up to the surprisingly quick man. He sent me a glance, looking at the way I carried the blades. “Hmm, if you insist on having so many blades you’ll need a method of carrying them around. I’ll add Fuinjutsu to your training.” I kept pace with the elder easily as we walked. I had no idea where he was leading me, but I assumed it was to some hidden ROOT base. Imagine my surprise when he stopped walking just inside of a large, empty training ground. The slippery Shimura turned to me. “Do laps until you collapse, then repeat the process with sit ups, push ups, squats, and pull ups.” I gaped at him and received a blow to the head from his cane. “Now, boy.” I got the message and began running. Ten hours later I was lying in the dirt, my short green tinged black hair was glued to my pale skin. I had torn the bandages from my face when they became so soaked in sweat that they were hindering my breathing; for a few moments I learned what it felt like to be waterboarded. My breath came in ragged gasps, the air steaming above me from my sheer body heat; the already abnormal temperature spiking from exertion. A rhythmic tapping alerted me to Danzo’s approach. His cane stopped next to my head as he stood over me; looking down at my fallen form with an unreadable expression. “Tomorrow you will do a hundred more of each.” He dropped a canteen of water on my chest and turned away, “When you have recovered we will begin your studies of Fuinjutsu and strategy.” He walked away as I stared at him. I didn’t have the energy to shake my head, let alone grab the canteen he dropped; luckily my control over chakra strings was enough to lift the precious source of water, unscrew the top, and pour the blessed fluid down my throat. Hours later I slowly trudged home; my blades stored in a small seal on the bandages around my wrist.  I didn’t notice I had taken a wrong turn until I felt cold steel press against my back. “Heh, you picked a bad time to get lost, kid.” I turned my head slightly, glancing behind me; I lacked the energy to activate my Jigokugan. My assailant was a middle aged man so covered in filth I couldn't tell the colour of his skin, what few teeth he had were cracked and yellowed; rot filling the gaps and his long dirty, greasy hair looked as if he had torn clumps of it out. “Heh heh heh, now why don’t we see what’s under them bandages, eh kid? Perhaps someone out there will pick ya up on the market.” His voice was wheezy and ragged, a cruel greed barely discernible under the coughing. Normally a civilian, especially one with such poor health, would be no threat to me. Normally I’m not so far beyond exhausted that my legs felt like rusty iron poles. Nevertheless I attempted to kill the man; a sluggish gentle fist strike going towards his chest. All I got for my trouble was six inches of steel in my gut. “You dumb shit, ya just cost me a pay day.” He shoved me off his blade and I fell back towards the nearby dumpster.  He turned to leave as the shadowy ground rose up to meet me… only for me to sink into the dumpster’s shadow like water. The shadow world was a twisted and distorted reflection of reality; warped and wrong in many ways. The sky was black with an incarnadine star burning where the sun should be. Trees were bent at odd angles and faceless shadows stood where people should be. I watched the distorted caricature of my assailant walk away for a moment before pursuing; pulling my wound together with chakra strings (a temporary solution at best; though at the moment I hardly cared). I followed the man for a long while, watching him hide in the bushes outside a playground before rising from the shadow of a tree. Black sludge began to leak from my right eye and mouth as I began to speak a vile tongue I’m certain I didn’t know; the very words darkening the air around me with every syllable. Slowly, from the man’s very own shadow, pale, emaciated arms began to rise up; their long, bony fingers ended in sharp claw-like nails. The chuckling slaver didn’t notice the creeping hands until they closed around his mouth. His screams went unheard as the cold hands pulled him down into the depthless darkness. I barely had time to smirk before collapsing to the blackened earth unconscious; black sludge leaking from my eyes. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- I was shaken awake an indeterminate time later, groaning as the red not-light of the distorted pasquinade of Konoha shined right in my eyes. I blinked my eyes open, only to come face to face with my twisted reflection grinning down at me. “Ah, we finally meet for real.” Its voice was like gravel in a wood chipper. My eyes were wide, “H-how are you here? I thought you only existed in the mirror.” I barely noticed the pale and emaciated humanoids milling about. His lipless grin stretched impossibly wider, “Making assumptions is a poor practice to get in, little prince.” “Prince? Prince of what?” At this distance I could see the way his cheeks split to widen his grin. “Well, you’re not the king yet; and the queen doesn’t want me to spoil your larval stage too much.” His forked tongue flicked out as he laughed, “Though she did tell me to inform you of what you’ve gained when you get it. And to give you a… warning of sorts.” He dragged his index finger along my cheek, lifting it up to show the thick black goo that poured from my eyes. “Every time you use those eyes of yours you become a little less human.” He gestured with the goo covered finger, “This is your soul burning away to make room for something more suitable.’ I didn’t think it was possibly for my eyes to widen further, “My soul? ...Will I even still be me when it’s gone?” I’ve always heard that the soul is the self; if that’s the case, what happens when you lose it?” The fiend’s eyes glittered in a way my own never could, “Of course, the Queen wouldn’t be interested in you as is if you wouldn’t exist by the time the metamorphosis was over.” Blood leaked from his face as it tore open to enable his grin to widen even further, “Though, the process will hurt, a lot. Nothing quite like feeling your soul burn, eh? Hahahahahahaha!” He stood up and roughly pulled me to my feet. His clawed index finger got a little too close to my right eye, an oddly serious look on his face. “This circle can force any who meet your eyes to experience the world the way you do; every sensation replaced with pain for a week. That power is single target though; if you switch before time runs out the timer resets on a new person and the old is freed. The first line lets you communicate with the denizens of the shadow realm and, perhaps more importantly, makes it so they won't attack you on sight.” His finger shifted to my left eye, his smile returning “Now this one's fun; the circle can force anyone you lock eyes with to experience all the pain you ever have… all at once. Considering you’ve felt nothing but agony since you were two weeks old; that’s quite a bit of pain. Now don’t worry about the soothing balm that is the souls you swallow, they don’t actually lessen the physical pain, just what you experience; your nerves are still pumpin’ out agony twenty four seven.” His smile faded, “The line lets you enter and exit the shadow world.” I was still processing his words when he pushed me forward. I fell on my ass and just sat there; watching him walk away as his words swam through my head. It took me quite a while to get home (after a quick trip to the hospital); and even as I lay in my bed my thoughts kept swirling around one sentence as my hand trailed over the stitches holding my guts in. “Every time I use my eyes I lose a piece of my soul.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- A manipulative and cold hearted man Danzo may be; but he was an excellent teacher nonetheless. Two years later saw me standing before him decked out in black, flexible bandages under black and grey camo patterned Anbu gear (minus the sandals. Unlike seemingly everyone else I wasn’t about to break my fucking toes in combat and instead wore black, steel toed combat boots) and a solid black, featureless mask. Two black lenses filled the eye slots in the mask, protecting my eyes and further securing my identity; the seals within filtering out gasses and allowing one to breath under water. The black colour of my bandages hid the numerous seals of strengthening and flexibility covering them. I was tall for my age, standing at 4’6”. Danzo looked me over before nodding in approval. “Today I give you your first mission, Ken’o-san.” He tossed me a scroll that I caught with my chakra strings; unfurling it before me and incinerating it after I committed it to memory. Danzo waved his hand, “Go.” I nodded and vanished in a shunshin; appearing in one of the numerous tunnels beneath Konoha, already racing towards one of Danzo’s many hidden entrances to the village. The mission was relatively simple… for an Anbu anyway. It was a time sensitive assassination mission; some dictator was encroaching on Konoha’s border and it was only a matter of time before he did something to piss the Daimyo or Hokage off. Normally his upstart nation would simply be burned to the ground in the night; unfortunately this particular bastard had managed to get the backing of Iwa to protect him. If Konoha nin were found to have killed him it could spark another great war. That’s why I was being sent; as a ROOT agent I was disavowed as an actual Konoha shinobi and if I was caught the Hokage would deny Konoha had anything to do with it. His genuine lack of knowledge and my lack of any symbols of affiliation might make the difference between a war and an increase in tensions. Not that I had any intention of being caught. The mission was time sensitive because the idiot was trying to expand into the Land of Fire’s territory; an action the Hokage simply can’t ignore. Eventually Konoha would be forced to retaliate and this would almost certainly begin the Fourth Great Shinobi World War. That could not be allowed to happen; he needed to die as soon as possible. Unfortunately, the urgency of the mission had me sprinting through the Fire Country’s infamous forests in the dead of night at top speed. It would take a solid day of sprinting to reach the upstart nation. A solid day with no breaks. Luckily Danzo’s hellish training had the side benefit of massively increasing my endurance, though my simply obscene pain tolerance certainly helped; it’s hard to hear your muscles screaming from exhaustion over the rest of your body screaming because your clothes shifted or a light breeze touched your skin. Not that I could really feel any of that under my bandages; though I no longer soaked them in numbing agents. Can’t really be anything approaching accurate if you can't properly feel your limbs. I arrived at the small village at dusk the next day; a little ahead of schedule. Apparently I’m faster than I thought. I smirked beneath my mask as I activated my Jigokugan, searching for my target. It didn’t take long to find him, the short, fat and balding man was in his bed room on the top floor of the largest building. My smirk faded into a blank expression when I saw him; he was raping a seven year old girl. I frowned beneath my mask as I began to sink into the shadows beneath me; my inability to use genjutsu making this one of my very few stealthy techniques. The technique to cast a genjutsu requires subtly slipping your chakra into someone else's; any attempt on my part only results in a weak and easily fended off attack on their chakra. Fortunately the same reason I couldn’t use genjutsu made me immune to such; my chakra would immediately attack any foreign influence. Unfortunately “any foreign influence” included medical chakra; meaning I could only heal the old fashioned way. I slipped through the town in the shadow realm and into the large mansion that housed my prey. Unfortunately, even in the shadow realm, a locked door is still locked; though a subtle application of a chakra string quickly fixed that and I was soon roaming the halls. While I couldn’t really see who anyone was (one faceless shadowy humanoid is much the same as any other save their build) it wasn’t hard to tell that the large, fat shadow thrusting into the small, frail looking one was my target. I rose from shadows under the luxurious bed; crawling out silently and turning to face my quarry. His eyes widened in fear and surprise as he met my hidden ones. A dark smile spread across my hidden face as the circle in my left eye glowed for a moment. The pederast gave a choked scream before collapsing to the ground dead of a heart attack. My gaze was drawn to the weeping child before I turned away; I couldn’t do anything for her without compromising the mission. I took two steps and sank to my hands and knees, barely managing to sink into the shadow realm and wrench my mask from my face, taking several of my bandages with it (huh, those strengthening seals probably need more work), before I began vomiting up the blackened ruins of my soul all over the shifting, shadowy ground. A flash of near mind-shattering agony and exhaustion burst through me as my arms gave out and I collapsed; slowly curling into the foetal position as I twitched and shuddered in the puddle of my burnt soul. My tremors slowly settled down, though I was still left paralyzed with exhaustion and pain for several minutes. I gasped for breath, slowly dragging myself from the small pool of my no longer so immortal soul. The few feet I crawled forward felt like miles as I rolled onto my back, ragged gasps misting the air above me. “Th-that… fucking hurt .” I groaned. Coming from me; that meant quite a bit.  I slowly sat up, wiping the slime from my face with shaking hands. My clothes were ruined and I definitely need new bandages… luckily I brought spares. I didn’t bother stripping out of my clothes, simply flaring my chakra to incinerate them after unsealing my equipment; though I did have to unravel my much more durable bandages. Many of the seals on my bandages were for the sole purpose of surviving my chakra (many of these same seals were on my blades); though even with these seals they couldn’t survive extended contact for very long. Standing naked in the shadow realm only accentuated how odd the place was; the air was far colder than the “real” world and the red sun’s light only seemed to make it colder. There was no breeze in this shadowy land yet the distorted branches of the trees still seemed to sway in one, the flickering shadows of people following them as distorted and twisted creatures that certainly didn’t exist in the sunlit world. Somehow I found the creepy, silent land oddly comforting. I shook off the thought as I finished wrapping my bandages and placed my mask back over my face; I was already late to report in. The journey home felt even longer, especially when my muscles spasmed in an aftershock and I fell from a tree; several times I was only saved from a nasty fall by grabbing my surroundings with chakra strings. Eventually I decided it would be best if I stayed on the ground for now. I reached Danzo nearly a day late; though by that time I had recovered enough to not show any signs. I didn’t want the shark to smell blood. I gave the elder a salute, “Mission successful Danzo-sama.” He looked me over, “You're late. Your clone has been dispelled for seven hours. This mission never officially happened; what excuse will you use against your family?” I kept my expression blank even with my mask and bandages concealing it, “If they even care enough to ask I’ll simply tell them I’ve been training. I won’t specify whether I was doing it with you or not encase you were spotted around town.” He nodded slowly, seemingly pleased. “Good. Dismissed.” I nodded and vanished, heading home to recover. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- A month of training later (during which I began to practise with a heavy weight on the end of a long rope and swapped my three foot blades for four foot ones) passed and I was once more standing before Danzo. The elder’s face was as impassive as always when he spoke up, “The ROOT needs funds.” He tossed me a small book. “That is a standard bounty hunter’s Bingo Book. It contains a compilation of ninjas with bounties on their heads and what’s known about them.” I flipped through the book for a moment, noticing that some pages had been written on, the neat-to-the-point-of-obsessive handwriting denoted these targets as threats to Konoha. I looked back up at Danzo at the clearing of his throat, “Pick out twenty of them, kill them, collect their bounties, return.” A small frown briefly passed across his face as he considered me. “One fourth of the money is yours upon successful completion.” I nodded, ignoring his reticence to pay me. “Hai, Danzo-sama.”  I once more vanished from his shadowy lair. As I ran through the tunnels I flipped through the book, contemplating targets. If I recall correctly Kiri is currently engaged in a civil war; making the divided country both rife with deserters and easy to infiltrate. Unfortunately the Land of Water was a week away as the crow flies; and I can’t fly. I stopped in a random tree somewhere outside the village to check my map. Hmph, unless I want to try and navigate the infamous waters surrounding Uzu the easiest path is through Wave country. A smirk crossed my hidden face; perhaps I’ll get lucky and Gato will have some missing-nin for me to slaughter. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- I realized as I walked into wave country, that I had forgotten something important; I fucking hate humidity. Every step felt like I was half swimming and I was more grateful than ever for the filtering seals on my mask; I’m certain I would have straight up drowned without them. And this is beyond the furthest outskirts of Water country? I’m starting to think this may have been a rather bad idea. The town itself was less dilapidated than I was expecting; but that’s not truly surprising considering less time has passed than when Naruto arrived here. I took in the sights, looking at the people moving about with an air of veiled misery and fear. A brief glance down a dark alley revealed the dead and defiled body of a young woman just lying out in the open. Hmph, what poor waste management this country has. I reached out and grabbed a passing fisherman, “Excuse me, could you direct me to Gato-san?”   The man shot me an odd look before glancing furtively around, “I don’t know where you’re from kid; but we don’t talk about him around here.” He patted me on the shoulder and ineptly attempted to slip a folded piece of paper in my jacket collar. I pretended not to notice, returning the gesture in a deliberately awkward manner. I walked away, pulling the paper out and making a one handed seal of confrontation (in honour of the master) as I turned the corner. My dark eyes scanned the paper as a building collapsed behind me in a fiery explosion and my chakra coils expanded ever so slightly. The note was a simple guide to Gato’s mansion that was obviously meant to be given to missing-nin looking for work. The little guide tried to sell Gato a little too hard; it was honestly rather pathetic. I followed the guide to the mogul's mansion and smiled at all the thugs surrounding the place; hopefully some of them will have bounties, though even if they don’t killing them would still be worth it for their souls anyway. The guards outside the gaudily decorated wrought-iron gate were asleep, leaning against the wall. I slashed open both their throats with a single swipe of my blade before leaping over the six foot gate. Landing silently on the other side I grinned at the thugs milling about, about thirty in total. I rushed forward and beheaded a group of four before anyone even realised I was there; dashing forth and impaling the first to spot me. I ducked a clumsy swipe aimed for my head, claiming the fool’s arm as it passed over me. The one eyed man dropped to the ground, screaming as my caustic chakra ate away at him. I grinned as his screams attracted the rest of the hired goons before gutting him with a flick of my wrist. My blood was flooded with adrenaline and I was rock hard from excitement and sadism as his intestines tumbled to the dirt. Five thugs rushed out of a tent, swords drawn and scowls on their faces. I raised my left hand and attached chakra strings to each of them, the sheer pain overwhelming their meager wills and allowing me to force them to turn on their comrades even as my hellish chakra ate away at them. Their own skill was pathetic, but with me at the helm they easily cut down a dozen mercenaries before being cut to ribbons; my own chakra degrading their bodies certainly not helping. My eyes burned as two new lines joined the old, connecting the upper right to the bottom left and the bottom left to the bottom right. The blinding pain of my eyes’ enhancement distracted me just long enough for a slightly more competent goon to fire a crossbow bolt at my head. I came to with the sharpened stick barely a foot away. My adrenaline spiked higher than ever as the bolt seemed to zoom forward in slow motion. My right eye bled oil and my sword fell from my hand (I wasn’t coherent enough to berate myself for that at the time) as I frantically tried to dodge. The bolt sank into my forehead… and I dispersed into ashes as it passed through me. At first I didn’t understand what was happening as I drifted in different directions. Then it hit me; I’m a fucking ash logia! Gaining control over my new form took me a few minutes and I’m sure this new ability will take quite a while to master. I drifted through the air, slowly moving towards the crossbowman. The merc seemed confused, looking between the slowly approaching cloud of ash that was my body and his crossbow with a look of bewilderment on his face. This bewilderment quickly turned to pain and fear as I settled around him, the hot ashes making up my form burning him and sticking to his melting flesh. Slowly I completely enveloped the man, turning him into a white statue like the citizens of Pompeii. The remaining thugs stared in horror as I began to move, forcing the still screaming man to move with me. Their shock and horror allowed me to kill three of them (including one who sank to his knees and begged some god for forgiveness) before they retaliated. Unfortunately this technique was slow and exhausting (not to mention the impressive amount of pain I felt as my soul burned from this extensive use of my eyes’ abilities) enough that the rock hard exterior of my captive didn’t last long and he quickly had ten swords through his abdomen. I turned from tuff to ash in a second, flying behind the group and reforming facing them. A flick of my wrist had a replacement blade in my hand and three thugs lost their heads before the rest turned to face me. Once more my eyes burned, a new line connecting the bottom right to the top left carving its way across my eyes. The power this one gave me was much more obvious than the last; I could see the souls my eyes hungered for. I was briefly distracted when I gazed at myself and saw that parts of the blue orb that was my soul were replaced with shadowy black smoke. My brief distraction didn’t last nearly long enough for my foes to take advantage; though one did try. My chakra enhanced blade cut straight through the offending bandit’s own cheap sword… and his neck. I moved slightly to the left to dodge a swipe, bisecting the bandit as I passed and running through another. A vertical swipe forced me to jump back and abandon my sword. I smiled at the man as he stood in front of his gurgling comrade; a twitch of my fingers had my abandoned blade whirling around and slicing through the body it was sheathed in and the man that stood before it. I turned to the remaining three terrified mercs; reveling in the terror in their eyes. I raised my hand theatrically, the chakra strings connecting it to my blade causing it rise in the air. My other hand shot out and connected more strings to the blade I dropped before turning to ash, lifting it into the air. I swept my arms forward as the men attempted to flee. Two were stabbed through the back before they got three yards; though the last actually managed to evade my attempt to cut him into thirds. I raised a hidden eyebrow as he drew a finely crafted blade and turned to face me. I swiped my right blade, aiming to take off his head and was greatly surprised when he managed to block the blow. The left blade joined the first, aiming to cut him off at the knees. The unusually skilled bandit jumped over the blow, flipping over the blade that still pressed against his own before sprinting at me. He got five steps before I dropped my blades and just diced him with my chakra strings. I collected my two blades and sealed one back in my wrist before strolling casually up to the large, wooden double doors of Gato’s mansion. I blew on my fingertips as I kicked down the door; channeling enough chakra to turn my strings solid was still a strain on my tenketsu, as the slight burns on my finger tips testified to. Gato’s arrogance was evident in his lack of guards within the building; the only ones being the two that stood outside his door. They couldn’t even draw their swords before I cut them both down and entered Gato’s office as a new line carved its way across my eye; completing the pentagram I had suspected it would form. Even though the eyes looked finished I could tell there was more to them; the smile my reflection in Gato’s mirror sent me only confirmed it. The man himself was huddled behind his desk, a look of absolute terror on his face as he stared up at me. I sneered when I noticed the growing wet stain on his pants. “P-please! Please don’t k-kill me! I’ll give you anything; money, woman, drugs, anything! Just don’t kill me!” His pathetic begging annoyed me even more than his mere parasitic existence alone. I contemplated just killing him for a moment before speaking up, “Where is your vault?” A man this conceited and greedy would probably want to be able to look over a physical representation of his wealth; of course a single glance with my eyes confirmed my hypothesis. A tenuous look of hope spread across his face, “I-in the basement! I’ll lead you to it!” I nodded, gesturing with my blade for him to lead the way. I followed the vile, cretinous little man as he scuttled along; my fingers twitching to kill him. With every step I was searching for some method with which the three foot dictator could attempt to screw me over, but even with the ten miles circumference my immature Jigokugan could see I saw no threats. I was unsurprised by the massive pile of liquid currency the detestable little man had in his vault, having seen it before I even entered the house with my powerful eyes. “H-here it is!’ Gato threw his arms wide to display the wealth after (very, very reluctantly) opening the vault door. ‘T-take what you want and go.” The words were obviously like pulling teeth to the avaricious man. I frowned at the ocean of wealth, calculating how many sealing scrolls I would need to carry it all. As I began to unseal several scrolls from another scroll (and wasn’t that a useful trait of storage scrolls; you can seal full scrolls within each other) I noticed Gato attempting to scurry away like the rat he was. I shot out a hand, grabbing the wretched man with my chakra strings and dragging him back. He squealed in pain and fear as I held him over his ocean of wealth, a dark smile on my face. I formed a one handed tiger seal with my left hand, and blew out stream of black fire at the gold beneath the man. I blinked my eyes, idly noticing they were trickling out the burnt remains of my soul as I watched the off coloured flames reduce the gold to ash. What few elemental jutsu I could do were all far more destructive than they should have been due to the nature of my chakra; but they had never come out this different or enhanced. I had expected the gold to melt so I could dip the mogul in it; not turn to ashes in a way that simply couldn’t be natural. The smell of burning flesh drew my gaze to Gato. I watched as he ignited from shear proximity to the black blaze that burned beneath him. Watching his flesh burn away reminded me that I was literally burning money right now and I tossed the shipping magnate aside. I ignored Gato’s screaming and writhing as I flashed through another series of hand seals; launching what I thought would be a blast of water at the powerful flames… instead a massive ball of what was evidently my own scorching blood shot out and smashed into the flame. I watched in horror as my apparently highly flammable blood only helped spread the blaze further; adding caustic fuel to the fire that was consuming my newly acquired wealth. As the fire rapidly spread all over the room I turned to flee; only to find the exit wreathed in even more black flames. I tried to enter the shadow realm but the omnidirectional light cast from the intense flame eliminated any shadows I could hide in. I desperately looked around for an exit as the flames grew ever closer. Seeing nothing I flashed through a set of seals, heavily overcharging the only earth jutsu I knew (I only really use hand seals and say the name when I’m overcharging the technique; I don’t consider a technique mastered until neither seals nor words are required (my tendency to make a single one handed seal when not in combat was more of a decoration then a necessity, though it does make the jutsu easier). “Earth Release: Earth Spear!” A massive pointed pillar of obsidian speared up out of the burning earth, shearing through the vaulted ceiling and crashing through the entire building. The desperate jutsu drained a huge portion of my chakra reserves, making me light headed as I ran stumbling towards the pillar; drunkenly dodging falling debris. I jumped up, turning to ash and slipping through the cracks in the ceiling too small for a human to fit through and flowing up and out of the burning, collapsing house. I drifted in the air, watching the house fall apart, weakened by the titanic pillar of obsidian and the black flames that rapidly consumed it. My theoretical eyes widened as I watched the black flames spread across the island. I formed ashen hands as I floated high in the air; forming the seals for a technique that I hoped would stop the flames. “Wind Release: Great Crushing Vacuum Sphere!” The jutsu was of my own design; an improvement on the vacuum sphere to actually be a vacuum. A giant amethyst vortex shot forth, sucking in the air around it as it moved. It collided with the flames and, of course, made things horribly worse. As soon as the only potentially anti-fire wind release technique hit the blaze it burst into purple-tinged black flames. Honestly, I can’t say I’m surprised; fire beats wind after all. Though the colour was a surprise; reminds me of Sasori’s poison. I watched as the black flames swept across the island in muted shock. As the mansion crumbled to ash the flames devoured the grounds around it, including the bodies I had intended to check for bounties. The flames quickly reached the village and I felt my coils expand as more and more people succumbed. My shock faded quickly and my horror was nearly non-existent; and I had a guess why. With my new ability to see souls I could actually watch as more of my soul burned up into black smoke with every second I remained in my ashen form (I just knew as soon as I had nerves again I was gonna regret staying like this, the metaphysical pain was already great enough); I had to assume this would have some consequences beyond mere agony. Every one of the two hundred and seven villagers died screaming in agony and fear as I looked on; shock fading into a sort of prideful fear. Black flames crawled across the village, reducing the destitute civilization to ashes. I felt an incredible pain in my currently non existent eyes; if every previous line felt like a hot knife carved it in, this felt like Hell itself was trying to burn itself out from my skull. I fell from the sky, reverting back to my human form as I landed amongst the ash and flame; my hands clutched to my skull as I screamed and writhed. The black flames licked over my squirming body… doing nothing at all. My body simply crumbled to ash and reformed unharmed. I writhed and screamed as my infernal chakra devoured the souls of the villagers around me, before simply going limp and falling unconscious. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- I blinked awake, staring as blearily as my powerful eyes would allow at my surroundings. I appeared to be in a cavern lit by skulls burning with black fire. The walls appeared to be made of screaming faces that released a purple smoke and raw, pulsating flesh with random bones and abnormally large teeth protruding randomly. Green lightning occasionally sparked from the ceiling to the floor; leaving rotted scorch marks where it came from and hit. The floor appeared to be made from an odd mix of bone and obsidian with finger thick criss crossing streams of what appeared to be blood. Huh, well that’s unsettling. I slowly stood up; glancing about before shrugging and walking in a random direction. I mean fuck it; there’s at least a fifty percent chance I’m heading somewhere considering there’s only two paths. I walked about for what felt like hours, taking random turns and trying (unsuccessfully) to ignore the way the millions of bloodshot eyes followed my every move; before a crimson skinned, black clawed hand large enough to wrap completely around my head tore through one of the walls in a spray of blood. The hand was swiftly followed by a massive creature, its curved horns catching on the fleshy wall as the creature’s furred and digitigrade legs broke free; hooved feet sending cracks through the floor as it stepped out from the wall. It grinned at me, its black eyes gleaming above its shark-like teeth. “Ah, the Prince-ling. Delightful to meet you,” the creature purred; its voice like two belt sanders grinding together. I raised an eyebrow, idly noticing that I appeared to be naked. “And who, and what are you, exactly?” I asked. The creatures malevolent smile widened to a face splitting grin, “Oh, you don’t know? Hmhmhmhmhahahaha! Ah, the Dark Prince doesn’t know who he is?” He pointed a clawed finger at me, “You, my little Prince, are what the Queen has been looking for for so very long…” My eyebrow remained where it was, that didn’t answer my question at all. Regardless, I pressed on, “Queen of what exactly?” Though I did have my suspicions, the aesthetics of this place are quite the hint. There was also the wonderful classical melody of screams of the damned and screeching implements of pain and torture echoing maddeningly throughout the halls. “Where do you think you are, Prince?” The unholy glinting in the beast’s eyes grew more intense. “Well then; allow me to be the one to welcome you to Hell, little Prince!” ***** Demons In The Mist ***** Demons In The Mist I stared at the demon, “How did I get here? Am I dead?” The thought was mildly disturbing; had I accidentally killed myself with the most basic fire technique? The fiend’s maniacal expression didn’t change, “No no no, little Prince.” He reached out and tapped me on the forehead with a clawed finger; a gesture I was terrified to notice I was too slow to dodge. “Your eyes are a gateway to hell, your chakra its power bubbling out.” He gestured about as my eyes went wide as dinner plates, “You being here is like a Jinchuuriki being in their mindscape.” “So… I’m essentially the Jinchuuriki of Hell? How does that even work?” My thoughts were swimming in my head at the implications of this revelation. If my chakra is Hell’s power then all the souls that swim in it… “Oh, pondering the implications, little Prince? Hmhmhmhm, indeed little princeling; every death at your hand is swallowed by the Hungry Dark.” ... Everyone I kill exists in ceaseless agony. It should disturb me immensely to find out that I just condemned over two hundred debatably innocent men, women, and children to endless torment… but I just can’t bring myself to feel anything but amusement over that. “The mechanics behind your existence are beyond me; though I imagine the Queen could explain.” A dry chuckle escaped me, “Heh heh, then shouldn't we speak to her?” The beast shook its head, “Unfortunately you are not ready, nor do we have the time to go find her.” My brow furrowed, a frown spreading across my face. “Then why am I here?” The creature threw its arms wide as it laughed, “Hahahahaha! Do you know where you stand in the Abyss?” It leaned down to look me straight in the eyes, “No? Hmhmhm, this little slice of Hell here is called the Labyrinth. Its sole purpose is to bring false hope.” He gestured behind me, drawing my gaze to a hunched over figure, so thin its bones were clearly visible through pale skin covered in weeping wounds. “That wretched creature is one of Hell’s tenants who was either let out to run around this beautiful little lie or they somehow “escaped” from their keeper.” He reached over and grabbed the scurrying creature by the back of its neck. He splayed his fingers out in a grasping position before ramming his hand through the struggling creature’s stomach in a splash of blood; sharp claws easily piercing all the way through. His fist came out the wretch’s back, clutching the man’s spine and trailing intestines behind it. To my surprise the creature kept struggling, only a high pitched scream evidencing its horrific wound. “There is no escape from Hell; not even death. Those who have been bathed in Hell’s energy can never die; though it comes at a cost. Pain is ten times worse for all residents of Hell.” He smiled at me, “Whilst you are not a true resident here; you are being constantly bathed in Hell’s power now that your eyes have reached their second stage. Of course these energies also cause your soul to burn a little quicker.” Everything has a price after all; it makes sense that immortality would have one of the greatest prices. Intensified pain and speeding up my transition into… something else. “Does this immortality have any weaknesses? Atomization, starvation, something else?” At this point my soul is lost to me; best to focus on the future. The monstrous creature’s smile grew even more unnaturally wide as it shook its head, flicking its arm and flinging the writhing creature off its wrist. My eyes followed the creature’s path before it crashed into the wall with a wet crunch and a splatter of its putrid blood. The woeful creature barely slid three feet down the wall before a section that looked like a diagonal mouth opened up and bit it in half; a spear ended tongue impaling the piece that fell free and dragging it in. I turned back to the towering demon as repulsive chewing sounded from the wall, accompanied by screams of abject terror and agony. “Not a one. Even were you destroyed on the atomic level a new body would form, molecule by agonising molecule around your facsimile of a soul.” His smile faded minutely, “Even so… the pure regeneration is slow when compared to other enhanced healing factors; barely thrice as fast as normal healing. This “blessing” is designed to extend suffering; its use in combat is purely coincidental given how rarely demons leave Hell.” Here his smile regained its massive size, “But now you have the ability to change that!” He pointed two fingers at my eyes, his long claws coming uncomfortably close to piercing my conjunctiva as he traced the new circle that had burned its way into place. “Those eyes of yours now act as a summoning contract for the denizens of Hell! Though I recommend learning the Infernal Tongue to commune with some of our less… humanoid members. Besides, it’ll complement the Black Speech of the Shadowlands you already speak.” I didn’t think my eyes could get any wider, “With these eyes I can open the gates of hell and loose those who dwell in the shadows? I’m literally a walking apocalypse! His smile faded, “Not yet. I doubt you’re strong enough to summon the Queen even if you did have the ten thousand undisturbed years and the ten million sacrifices it would cost at this stage. No, until your eyes reach their final stage you won’t be summoning any Archfiends and greater demons, or even drawing out the greater creatures of the shadow realm. No, only lesser demons can be summoned in less than a week; even the weakest of greater demons would take upwards of a month to summon.” Well, that’s less useful than I had hoped; but it still has potential. “Do… do demons have a Sage Mode equivalent?” His grin stretched behind his ears, “Equivalent? We have so much more. Not only do some of our infiltrators know vanilla Sage Mode, we have our own version utilizing the negative energies Hell is so rife with. We call it Demon Sage Mode; creative, I know. Though the two modes clash heavily, three demons have managed to draw on both the positive energy of vanilla Sage Mode and the negative of Demon Sage Mode to acquire an unnamed hybrid of both. These three are unquestionably the strongest denizens of Hell, one of them is the Queen herself.” My eyes lit up, this is exactly the boost I need to propel me into the upper echelons of the world. “Can you teach me?” He threw his head back and laughed, “Of course!” His expression turned serious as he looked down at me. “But right now you need to wake up. Meditate when you have time and we’ll begin your lessons.” So saying he tapped me on my forehead and I dropped to the mismatched floor like a puppet with its strings cut. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- I awoke to find myself lying in a pile of ashes. Slowly sitting up, I glanced around to find nothing but ash and fog until the horizon met the sky. I picked a direction and started walking, reaching the coast in a few minutes at the leisurely pace I set. I stared as the shore swept ashes out to sea, “At least the flames didn’t manage to spread to the mainland. No more fire for me.” I decided there and then that until I have a method of putting out the flames I start Fire Style was only a last resort. It wasn’t hard to spot as the mist began to artificially thicken; the chakra that suffused it was rather obvious to my eyes. The mist itself did nothing to hinder my vision, though the chakra diffused with it was mildly annoying. Shapes became blurry, like I was looking through a frosted stained-glass window rather than the clear glass I was used to.   “So you did this?” A gruff voice spoke up, the sound seeming to echo from everywhere. Even though I could see the man creeping closer to me, I didn’t turn to acknowledge him. “Yes, though it was an accident. I don’t imagine you much care the reasons though.” “Heh, can’t say I do. You just cost me a payday kid.” As he spoke he pulled the massive blade from his back. I noticed right away that something was different; everything was moving in slow motion. As the man slowly approached I wondered if this is how the Sharingan sees the world. I nodded, “That I did. At least with you here I can reimburse myself somewhat for the money I burned along with this village.” He was less than two feet behind me, his blade drawn back to strike. “How do you plan to do that…” He swung, “when you’re dead!” His gargantuan blade swept through me with ease, dispersing the ashes I had become. I drifted behind him, my upper body reforming with my sword in hand. I swiped my blade to take his head, only commenting when he ducked. “I’ll claim your bounty; Zabuza Momochi, Demon Of The Bloody Mist. He raised a hairless brow, “Ash based Genjutsu, eh? Never seen that before.” He stabbed his blade into the ground and formed the confrontation seal. I, of course, took advantage and spat a ball of burning blood at his head. His eyes widened as he dodged to the side, leaving his blade behind in his haste to dodge the blast. I darted forth as my attack smashed into the ground, my blade slashing out to take his head. The kunai he raised to defend himself barely slowed my blade as it was sliced in half. The millisecond he gained was just enough to avoid a fatal injury; only a thin and burning line scratching across his throat through the bandages he wrapped loosely around it. I furiously swiped at him, the same chakra that was slowly disintegrating my blade turning the numerous scratches across my enemy's body to far more dangerous wounds as they bubbled and burned. A grin spread across my face beneath my bandages as my blade swept out in a blow that would cut the infamous ninja in half. My long and now ragged blade shattered on a short blade of ice that appeared between me and my foe. I jumped back as a figure slightly shorter than me leapt between me and Zabuza. “Oh, taking on a little genin of your own Zabuza?” I looked the feminine child over, “Or perhaps you keep this one around for other reasons.” One of the best ways to win a fight against a superior or equal opponent is to get them mad. I may have gotten lucky early in the fight by separating him from his blade, but Haku’s interference just put me at a disadvantage. I flicked my wrist and summoned another blade as I dodge the innumerable ice senbon the child sent my way. Dodging the thin needles was relatively easy, apparently Haku hadn’t gained the speed he would have in a few years. Even were that not the case, this new stage of my eyes appeared to have the same predictive powers of the Sharingan for I could see exactly where the senbons’ paths would take them before the child even finished throwing them. Even with this advantage I still didn’t manage to dodge them all and was forced to resort to my ashen form, my body's speed simply not enough to act on my eyes guidance. I grinned, reversing my momentum and moving through the hail of sharpened ice towards my assailant. I maintained my general shape as I approached, my arm and blade fully reforming just as I reached the child. My smile widened as I rammed four feet of chakra steel through the boy’s heart, twisting my blade to face upwards before carving up and out of his body through his head. As the boy, barely older than me, fell to the ashen earth beneath him I leaned forward to allow the Kubikiribocho to pass over me. I whirled, my blade slicing through the air… only for the legendary blade to cut clean through mine. I saw satisfaction flash in Zabuza’s eyes for but an instant before his fury overwrought it as I slid passed his massive blade, slashing open his throat with the foot of my blade still connected to the handle as his blade crashed into the ground. I reversed my grip as he fell to the scorched earth, driving the shortened blade through the back of his head; piercing straight through to split his nose in two. I was unsurprised when the skewered Zabuza dissolved into a puddle of water. I turned my head towards the massive water dragon roaring towards me from the middle distance. “Oh, upset that I killed your fuck toy Zabuza?” I tauntingly called as I dropped my broken blade and formed a tiger seal. Guess I’m already breaking my rules; least there's nothing around here to burn.  Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation! ” Honestly, why no one had figured out how to perform this jutsu I don’t know; literally all you have to do is massively overcharge the Fireball jutsu. An ungodly sea of black flames shot from my lips, easily overpowering the water dragon and sweeping across the island. I watched in amusement as Zabuza’s two lesser minions were incinerated in an instant and the man himself sprinted from the wall of fire with terror in his eyes; stumbling in a very un-ninja like way in his desperate dash to escape the tidal wave of fire. He kept running even after he met the coast line… and the fire followed, turning a massive swath of the ocean to steam. I grinned as I followed the wave of fire, my lower body turned to ash as I flew through the air above and behind my technique. The massive drain on my chakra creating the unholy tsunami of black flames cost clued me in on a possible reason so few people use the Great Fire Annihilation. As the flame finally died out the entire land was coated in a thick blanket of steam for miles around; though this steam was not infused with chakra like Zabuza's mist and thus did nothing to inhibit my vision. I darted towards Zabuza, blade trailing behind me. He whirled as I approached, perhaps having heard me closing in. I whipped my blade forth, once more aiming to take his head off even as the steam scalded his skin a lobster red. He raised his blade in a desperate bid to block mine; and again, it worked. My blade was sliced in two as it passed along the edge of his own… except this time I had planned for it. The detached piece of my blade continued forward and lodged itself in his throat. He collapsed into the boiling water he stood on, fingers desperately trying to keep his blood in his body as it flowed around my broken blade. He looked up at me, fear and defiance in his dark eyes. A water clone formed beneath me and attempted to cleave me from crotch to crown from beneath. I maintained eye contact with the dying Zabuza until his clone’s blade dispersed my own into ashes that diffused into the steam around us. The clone stumbled drunkenly towards its creator, the swordsman’s obvious desperation weakening his creation. As the clone unwrapped its bandages and attempted to staunch its creator’s bleeding I reformed just my arm and impaled it from behind; splashing the near boiling water it was formed from all over the true Zabuza. This time he didn’t have the chakra to form another clone as we locked eyes. As I watched him bleed out I considered saying a few words; the man had meant nothing to me but he was the strongest opponent I’ve yet fought and I can’t help but respect the man for the way he originally went out; hell, even using a clone to try and take me out after I fatally wounded him showed how much will power the man had. I couldn’t think of anything to say so instead I simply drove my blade through his heart. Coming from me the action wasn’t a mercy; only hell awaits those who die at my hand and quickening their end is a few seconds longer they’ll spend in the fire. I watched the life leave the man’s eyes as his chakra and soul became mine before turning my head to his discarded blade; ignoring the oil that flowed from my eyes. The steam was too hot to leave my ashen form without injury, as evidenced by the burns covering Zabuza’s body, so I reached out with chakra strings and dragged the blade out of the cloud behind me. It took every one of the ten strings I could form to lift the massive cleaver enough to impale Zabuza on it (I came for bounties, no way am I leaving Zabuza’s behind just because I respect the man) and just how much the blade slowed me down showed me that I was a long way from the top. I burst from the bank of steam and dropped the blade (and impaled body) on the ground before returning to my human form… and promptly dropping to the ground screaming. Jesus, when that demon said pain would be multiplied tenfold he wasn’t fucking kidding! I could hardly feel it in my ashen form, but now the pain abusing my eyes caused hit me like a dump truck full of uranium bricks; my soul was on fire and oil poured from my eyes like two small rivers. I flashed my eyes on to see what was left of my soul, only for them to widen when I saw that more than a fourth was burned to smoke. The thought that twenty five percent of my soul had been converted into… something else was highly disconcerting. What am I becoming? I shakily rose up, vomiting more of the tar like remains of my soul and rolling onto my back. “I’m beginning to see a pattern.” I groan out, wiping the tar that dripped from my mask (which I had modified to be able to exfiltrate material (both for this very situation and for certain jutsu)). “Ugh, if that hits me in the middle of a battle I’ll be cut to shreds.” A smile crosses my face as I watch two souls sink into the earth, making sure not to look directly at them. One was distinctly inhuman, looking like a cancer upon reality and the other looking like someone soaked a human soul in bleach for a couple thousand years. The twisted and nearly black soul was wrapped around the bleached one like a parasite of the worst sort. There’s no better way to ensure victory than to feed a spy false or incomplete information. Now Zetsu thinks he has a method to beat me in the future; a method that will let me get him close enough to me that he won’t be able to dodge. And, perhaps more importantly; if he thinks he can easily kill me in the future he won’t send a pair of S-rank ninja to murder me before I become a true threat. Though why the schemer was here in the first place I could only guess at; perhaps he saw the massive plume of smoke from the burning island or perhaps he just stumbled across my battle. I turn my deactivated eyes over to Zabuza’s corpse. Hopefully I didn’t just fuck things up too bad by killing him this early. I shake my head, rolling my shoulders in a shrug as I rise to my feet; too late to second guess myself now. Walking over to the swordsman’s body I pull out a scroll, wrench Kubikiribocho from his body, seal him in the scroll than secret the scroll away in my jacket. I look at the blade in my hands, giving it a few experimental swings. I nearly throw myself on my ass with the first swing, the weight of the blade pulling me along with it. “Great, looks like I need to get used to swinging what must be over two hundred pounds of steel around.” Kubikiribocho may not be the sword I was aiming for, but It was still a legendary blade; no way am I gonna let it fall into someone else’s hands. Hell, maybe its regeneration ability will let it survive continued use. I hefted the five foot blade onto my shoulder and turned towards Kiri, “One down, nineteen to go. Hopefully they won’t all be that strong.” I glanced at my new sword, a sword that’s taller than me by four inches. Hopefully I’ll hit a serious growth spurt soon or else I’ll never be able to wield the damn thing; let alone my real goal. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- I had originally planned to hire (read; threaten) a fisherman to take me by boat over to Water Country. Unfortunately; killing all of them kind of ruined that plan and I found myself walking the several miles of open water into the archipelago that housed the Village Hidden In The Mist. Luckily the first of the numerous islands that made up the land was barely twenty miles from Wave and I reached it before day's end even at the sluggish pace I was going; the exhaustion of my previous fight hitting me as I walked. I knew I would tire before I reached the next island, but there was no way I was going to sleep in the ruins of wave. Perhaps the steam and smoke would attract plenty of targets, but waking up to being diced and burned would not have been pleasant. A small pillar of smoke rising into the sky informed me that I may just be in luck as I approached the island. I grinned tiredly, quickening my pace slightly. When I touched down on the island I leapt into the trees, moving through the branches towards the source of the smoke. Not noticing the way my exhaustion seemed to flow from me like water from a colander as I moved When I arrived I was disappointed; nothing but bandits. I flashed my eyes to count their numbers. Twenty six in all; five around a campfire, five pretending to act as guards while getting hammered, and sixteen spread out through four tents. The apparent leader had a tent to himself, though he wasn’t alone; apparently they had conducted a successful raid recently considering the defiance in the captured woman’s eyes. I smiled, ten chakra strings shooting out to latch on to each of those outside their tents. Again I usurped their will through the truly unholy pain my chakra caused; though this time I forced them to clench their jaws shut to muffle their screams of agony. Many of my ill-fated victims bit off their tongues and many more shattered their teeth in the process. I grinned as I forced the men to rise and move towards their sleeping brethren with blades in hand. They fought me every step of the way but it hardly mattered; unlike Sasori I’m not a puppeteer, let alone one of his ridiculous skill, I don’t control them through great skill but simply by causing them so much pain they can barely resist and flooding their bodies with my caustic chakra to make them move. I imagine that were the Scorpion himself in my place he could get much more use from his victims, but I merely used them as a shock horror tactic for the most part. My unwilling compatriots tore open their comrades tents and began to jerkily stab their friends. Tears of anguish and agony flowed down their faces as I forced them to butcher people they had worked with for years. It didn’t take long for the uncontrolled bandits to awaken, though by that point ten of them were already dead. The six survivors managed to escape their tents before my slaves set them on fire with logs from the campfire. The bandit leader was one of these survivors and the look of horror and rage on his face was delicious as he looked upon the wretches I had corrupted. By this point four of my slaves had succumbed to my chakra and died; though this did nothing to stop me from puppeting their corpses, merely making them burn away faster and granting me more finesse in their control. My living puppets screamed and cried as I finally allowed them to open their mouths, begging to die in the vain hope that death would free them from the living Hell they were in. Blood wept from their burning wounds and the vacant holes that once housed their eyes, their burnt skin flaking off as they approached their once allies. The captain grit his teeth and clenched his eyes shut at the horrid sight before they widened as my voice came from the corpse that looked so much like him, a sibling I presumed. “It hurts so much...” I whispered through the corpse's mouth, a D-rank wind jutsu letting me project my voice. Another body spoke up, my hellish chakra glowing in their eyes as they stumbled forward on crumbling legs, “Join us…” My obscene grin widened further when the chief gave a roar of rage and charged the small horde of the damned. The blue haired chief's overlarge cutlass made short work of my forces, cutting them to pieces with ease. Several of my unwilling servants crumbled to ash around his blade, but those few that didn’t I forced to crawl towards the man on what limbs they still had. Of course this tactic would hardly be able to kill even an academy student, the wretched men crumbling to ash before they even reached their crying captain. I laughed, bouncing and distorting my voice around the camp to sound like an omnipresent-demon of some sort as I watched the bandit leader attempt to dispel a Genjutsu that wasn’t there. “Hahaha, oh little bandit this is no illusion.” I took inspiration from the demons I had met in the manner I distorted and deepened my voice. “The Pit has grown tired of waiting for you to come to us… so Hell has come to you instead.” I moved swiftly around the small clearing the bandits had camped out in; placing myself behind the chief and his fellow survivors. Once more ten chakra strings creeped out, two attaching themselves to each of the five that stood behind the leader. I’m uncertain if a true ninja would be able to escape the jutsu, though it hardly matters, I’m no puppeteer and I certainly don’t have the skill with the technique to take out anyone of value with the enslaved. Regardless, for causing shock and horror, it’s perfect. The agonised screams had the chief whirling around, his eyes going wide and tears leaking from them as he saw his remaining forces begin to burn as they turned on him. “Wh-what do you want!?” He begged as he sank to his knees. “Hmhmhmhahahahaha! What do I want?”  I drove the enslaved bandits towards him, their jerky movements opening up wounds on flesh weakened by my caustic chakra. “Isn’t It obvious little bandit?” My slaves surrounded him, drawing their blades back as one, slicing each other’s carotid arteries open in the process. “I want your soul!” The living puppets all swung their swords, decapitating the chief and forming a partial pentagram. I grinned, pulsing my chakra through the connecting strands to quickly incinerate the enslaved bandits before jumping down into the clearing. I hummed as I approached the decapitated bleeder surrounded by five piles of ash. “The devil went down to Kiri, he was looking for some souls to steal~” I picked up the head and flicked my wrist, unsealing my Bingo book and flipping through it. A smile spread across my face, apparently this guy was notable enough to get himself a little bounty. I grinned as I sealed away his head in the same scroll I sealed Zabuza. “He was in no rush, he had plenty o’ time; no reason to make a deal~” I continued to sing my modified song as I jumped high into the trees, sticking myself to the bottom of a large branch. The simple chakra exercise kept me stuck to the branch as I slept through the morning, my skill simply not allowing my sleeping form to fall from the branch. Of course that would only really matter if I ever actually fell asleep. I was knocked from my pseudo-meditation (meditation is a lot harder than it sounds) a few hours later when a rock impacted the tree next to my head. My eyes snapped open and I was already moving, my blade in hand as I dropped down. I slammed into the ground blade first, nearly impaling the blonde woman who stood beneath me. I stood on Kubikiri’s guard and stared at her; she was naked save for the scraps of one of the tents she had wrapped around herself. It took me a second to realise this was the woman that the bandit chief had been raping before I psychologically tortured him to death. I raised an eyebrow, “What do you want?” My voice was like my body, oddly developed for my age; no seven year old should have a voice deeper than some adults. She shook herself from where she had fallen in her attempt to dodge my blade, standing and attempting to look dignified. “I-I am a m-member of the rebellion in Kiri! The Mi-mizukage’s genocidal reign must end! He’s ordered the death of every bloodline wielder in Kiri!” She seemed to gain a little bit more confidence near the end of her little speech. My eyebrow remains where it is, “And? Am I supposed to care? I know your country is in the middle of a civil war; why do you think I’m here? Your little war is a wonderful opportunity to collect bounties.” A determined look set itself on her face, “It’s your problem now,” She jerks a thumb over her shoulder. “Those were mercenaries hired by the Mizukage. When word gets out that you killed them, he’ll put a bounty on your head.” My eyes narrowed, “Oh, and how exactly is word gonna get out, eh girly?” A flick of my wrist had one of my extra swords against her throat, “Are you gonna tell ‘em?” Her eyes widened as she fell back, crawling backwards away from me a short distance. “N-no!” A miserable look passed over her face for a moment before she glanced up at me. A light entered her eyes as they locked with mine. “You have a bloodline yourself! What do you think will happen if he wins! He’ll come for you too!” I sighed, getting embroiled in a civil war I had nothing to do with was not why I came out here. “True enough… but I’m a mercenary and bounty hunter girl; I don’t work for free. If I do help your little rebellion, I need to get paid and I will claim the bounties of those I kill.” Even if the girl didn't spread the word that I'd killed these men, word of my actions here very well might get out anyway. The spies of this land had a nasty habit of learning things they shouldn’t and my chakra signature was rather distinctive. She smiled, “I’m sure Mei would be willing to negotiate!” Her eyes flickered to the sword I stood on, “She could probably even be convinced to let you keep that sword!” I laughed, “Ha, I’m keeping this sword whether she likes it or not.” My black eyes hardened as I stared down at her crystalline blue, “Hell awaits those who try to take what’s mine.” She weakly chuckled, shaking her hands back in forth in a warding gesture. “Y- yeah… I-I-I’m sure she won’t have a problem with that!” She sprang to her feet with surprising nimbleness, “Come on, follow me!” So saying she began to run off into the foggy woods. I blinked, watching her for a moment before jumping to follow, ripping my blade from the ground and placing it on my back as I quickly caught up with the supposed rebel. I sighed as I followed her towards what I could only assume was the location of a rebel base; how the Hell did I get myself into this? A moment later, “Fuck! I forgot to tell Itachi I was heading out!” The blond glanced at me, a question in here eyes. “Don’t worry about it, I’ll just send a message when I get wherever we’re going.” Befriending young Itachi was simple, one of the benefits of studying psychology. The only real difficulty had been getting to him before Shisui could solidify his beliefs in the boy. It wasn't until he came around and validated his abecedarian beliefs that they really took hold. I got there first and instilled my own beliefs. I taught him that in life you’re lucky to find even one true friend, one person you can really trust. I told him that when you do find that, nothing is more important; not family, not lesser friends, and certainly not your homeland. Of course, I practise what I preach; I wouldn't be here if I didn't take a bullet for my best friend. After that it was only a matter of befriending the kid. Of course, Itachi, even as young as he was, was very perceptive; tricking him was next to impossible. Luckily, it didn't take me long to build on the liking I had from his fictional counterpart to actually grow close to him. Letting that friendship grow and not quashing it like every other relationship in this world was significantly more difficult however. Breaking through his Danzo encouraged cold exterior was relatively easy. Figuring out why five year old Itachi had been trained by Danzo was a bit of a bitch (the man loved his secrecy after all), but finding out it was because his father wanted to ensure a strong heir pissed me off; the kid had been under Danzo’s none too tender mercies since he could walk. Right then and there I knocked Danzo and Fugaku up a few notches on my “to be brutally murdered at earliest convenience” list. I shook off my musing and focused on the supposed rebel I was following; getting stuck in the past will only get you dead in the moment after all. Though I don't think that applies to immortals. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- The girl was true to her word and we soon arrived at a ramshackle assortment of tents and holes in the ground. I landed on the outskirts of the campsite, the girl I had traveled with dashing further in before realizing I wasn’t following. She turned back to see me observing the camp, “Hey, you’re not backing out now are you?” I looked at her for a moment before sighing, “In for a penny, in for a pound.” I leapt forward, crossing the distance between us in an instant. “Where is your leader?” She smiled widely, “Follow me!” she yelled excitedly before running off into the camp. I wonder when the psychological trauma will set in. As I followed her through the camp I noticed several people giving us odd looks. Those sent at me were the expected suspicion and fear; but the ones they sent at my companion were odd. Eyes laced with greed and lust followed her path. I snorted, no honour amongst thieves I guess. I was unsurprised when it turned out she was leading me towards the largest tent in the camp. Unsurprised but slightly disappointed; guess these people never learned misdirection. My bubbly blonde guide threw open the tent flap and damn near skipped into the room, throwing her arms wide and shouting “Tada!” I couldn’t help but facepalm (or facemask (maskpalm?) I guess) as I followed her in, looking through my fingers to spot Mei Terumi staring in shock at the blonde intruder. My blade was in my hand before I even realized it as one of the ninja in the room leapt to attack the girl as soon as she appeared. I need not have bothered; before the man got halfway across the room a plume of steam from Mei’s mouth engulfed him and and he was swiftly boiled alive. Unfortunately, my instinctive move drew the burnt orange haired rebel leader’s gaze to me. A gaze that swiftly transferred to the massive blade in my hand. “Rei, who is this and why do they have the Kubikiribocho?” Her gaze didn’t move from my massive sword, even when I started moving it around just to watch her head follow it like a dog following a treat. “And what happened to you? Why did you take so long to get here?” My companion, whose name I just realized I never learned until this very moment, jumps onto the flimsy desk set before Mei, which creaks ominously beneath her weight. She gives the leader a massive smile, gesturing to me and seemingly ignoring the unnatural stillness with which I stand. “That’s…” She puts her finger to her chin, lips pursed in a childish gesture of deep thought, “I actually don’t know his name.” She shrugs, “It doesn’t matter, he saved me from a bunch of nasty mercs working for Yagura!” I wisely decided not to bring up the fact that saving her had only been a consequence of my actions, not the intention. “And when I found him sleeping in a tree a little later he agreed to help the rebellion! Isn’t that great Mei-chan?” The rebel glanced at the girl before looking back to me, “So you’re a mercenary?” I shrugged, “More of a bounty hunter but I’m willing to branch out.” She raised an eyebrow, “Bounty hunter, huh?” I pretended to ignore the way two ninja’s attempted to sneak behind me. A grin spread across my hidden face, “Your friend her managed to convince me it would be quite lucrative to work with your little group. I do find your goal somewhat less idiotic and annoying than the Mizukage’s.” Her visible eye narrowed, “And why should I hire you at all? What do you bring to the table that I can’t gain by just stealing that sword of your’s?” I reached into my jacket, ignoring the way everyone tensed as I did, and pulled out the scroll I had sealed Zabuza in. A pulse of chakra had his body lying on her desk, “Does that prove my value? I killed him immediately after taking out an entire compound of bandits and minutes before taking out an entire camp of mercs.” I decided it was probably best if I didn’t mention reducing over two hundred innocent people to ash and smoke. She stared at the dead man for a long while before lifting her head to lock eyes with me. “So you killed that traitor, huh? Somewhat impressive, he was rather strong. But I don’t think one A-rank ninja could really turn the tides; what about you makes you worth spending our limited funds on?” I shrugged, “My price is one hundred thousand ryu for my retainer and twenty five thousand ryu per mission. If the camp I’m located in is attacked, I will defend it free of charge so long as my retainer has been paid before hand and am officially in your service. Any bounties I collect can be removed from my bill so long as I’m allowed to keep them and any supplies I salvage.” That last bit hurt, I think I’m starting to sympathise with Kakuzu a little too much. “I am a swordsman of some skill and-” Apparently she didn’t like my offer because she fucking laughed at me mid sentence. With a gesture even my omnipotent eyes nearly missed she signaled the ninja behind me to attack; not two seconds later two blades slashed through my neck and torso, trailing ashes behind them. “I’m also quite difficult to kill.” Restraining myself from killing my attackers took quite an exercise of will. To my surprise the redhead burst out laughing once more, “Hahahaha! I can see that!” She glances at her baffled assassins before forming the release seal. Her eyes widened when nothing changed, ”Okay… how did you do that?” I chuckle, “It’s no genjutsu, that’s for sure.” I swirl away in a nonexistent breeze, reforming behind her and whispering in her ear, “I’m afraid you’ll find it’s quite real.” She swung around, swiping a kunai through my ashen form. I laugh and swirl back to my original position; god, I love fucking with people. Her face set in a serious expression, Mei Terumi spoke once more, “I suppose if I don’t hire you Yagura will…” A few seconds passed in silence. “Fine, you’re hired.” She settled her interlaced hands on her desk, “What should I call you then?” I grinned beneath my dual layered covering, “Akuma.” She raised a manicured brow above a far too green eye, “Really, demon?” I chuckled, “It seemed fitting.” No need to let them know just why demon is such a fitting pseudonym. I somehow doubt that people rebelling against a ruthless and bloodthirsty dictator, who just so happened to be a jinchuuriki, would be quite so willing to hire someone with such close ties to literal demons. “Well then, mister “Akuma”, you’ll have to find your own accommodations and supplies. We have neither the resources nor the inclination to provide you with such.” Guess I shouldn’t be surprised the desperate rebellion would be under supplied; honestly I’m surprised they can pay my bill… maybe they can’t and are just hoping I kill enough bounties so they don’t have to. I nodded, “Acceptable.” I turned to leave, memorising the faces of the people who tried to kill me as I walked out of the tent. Seeing the disarray the camp was in I sighed; people were desperately trying to get tents to stay up or digging holes to sleep in. Honestly either choice had its issues, tents are flammable, holes can be flooded or turned into death traps by a earth release expert. I raised an eyebrow as three men walked past me carrying a ladder wrapped in a thick cord. I watched them walk for a short while before an idea entered my mind and began to follow them. I didn’t need to directly follow them, with my eyes I could wander randomly around the camp and simply slowly head towards them. A dark smile spread across my face as I watched them head out of the camp. I snuck up behind them, the thought of negotiating never entering my mind as I drew my sword; I had a use for that wire. I announced my presence by bisecting the man in the rear. A spray of blood and intestines splattered over the other two as their friend’s body hit the earth. I leapt forward, catching one on the right shoulder mid turn. His scream was cut off with a crunching off bones as my inexperience with my massive blade resulted in him being more torn in two than actually cut. I locked eyes with the last survivor through the shower of blood and broken bone as he fell on his ass. I laughed as he begged for his life, some distant part of me wondering where this needless cruelty was coming from. He scrambled backwards as I approached, my gigantic sword carving a trench in the loose earth as I dragged it behind me. The thin man’s watery brown eyes locked with mine as he backed into a tree before flicking to my first victim as the man futilely attempted to shove his guts back in. My grin stretched across my face in maniacal glee as I lifted my blade in the air with a reverse grip. Psychotic laughter bubbling from my lips as I brought the blade down on his chest, the massive blade’s shear weight easily slicing through his ribs, lungs, spine, and the earth beneath him. My laughter burst from my chest as the man gurgled blood, his hands slowly twitching towards the intrusion before I began to twist. His bones tore through muscle as the tower of steel wrenched his innards apart. The man sputtered and twitched, his whole body writhing with choked, gurgled screams before falling still as life finally left his desecrated form. I threw my head back and laughed, insane cackles coming so quickly I began to suffocate, falling to the bloodied ground and rolling from side to side. As my laughter subsided and my shaking slowly stilled a thought floated through my mind, ‘Why did I do that?’ I blinked, raising my head to look at my gruesome work from where I lay. I shake my head and rise to my feet, pulling my blade from my nameless victim’s mutilated chest and walking away, grabbing the wire I had murdered three men for as I passed. I didn’t head straight back to camp right away, first I incinerated the small clearing (with a water (blood) jutsu) to hide the evidence. Knowing that a burnt clearing would be just as suspicious as one splattered with blood and bodies I used a simple earth manipulation exercise to churn the earth. A skilled tracker would be able to tell something had gone down here, but probably not what. I stripped out of my outfit and put on a spare that wasn’t covered in the blood of erstwhile allies before heading back; I didn’t want to have to come up with a reason for me to be splattered with blood already. Even with nothing damning visible I still got odd looks when I reached the base; though I shrugged these off as merely a (justifiably) paranoid group’s reaction to the outsider.  I ignored the suspicious glares and set about finding somewhere to implement my plan. I didn’t realise until I had half drawn my sword that I was about to slaughter the inhabitants of a tent for a private location to work in. I put my sword back in place and shook my head, “The hell is wrong with me?” I muttered, I had never been this quick to jump to violence in my past life. I turned away, thankful that no one had seen my slip. I shook my head, there was no way I could have gotten away with that if I had gone through with it. I wandered outside the camp, my powerful eyes making finding shelter easy. About six miles outside the camp was a small cave hidden in a crack halfway up a hundred foot waterfall. The entrance was jagged and barely large enough for my lithe form to fit through; but the interior was spacious enough to be comfortable. I sighed, sitting down in a dryer spot and leaning Kubikiri against a wall, “I better not get a fucking infection from all this damn moisture.” With a flick of my wrist a small scroll was in my hand and a pen in the other; the odd mixture of technological levels this land had no longer even fazing me. I penned out a quick apology and explanation to Itachi for my absence. Finishing the note with a small flourish, I rolled it up and began to speak the Black Tongue. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- A small child, skin made to seem even more pale by the darkness of their hair and eyes frowned minutely at a training dummy. ‘Hn, an eighth of a centimeter off… unacceptable.’ Their dark eyes shot to their side as a nearby tree’s shadow began to shift, a pitch black figure rising silently from it. The strange shadow man gave the young uchiha a short bow, extending a hand clutching a small scroll. Itachi’s head tilted to the side before nodding to the figure and accepting the scroll. Black eyes quickly scanned the scroll, ‘Hey Itachi. Man, I’m sorry I missed training; Danzo sent me on a mission to collect bounties and I sorta kinda burned down a nation and joined a civil war. So… it might be awhile before I get back. See ya soon as I can.’ Itachi’s frown deepened, “A civil war? A destroyed nation? ...and why does he keep calling me “man”; he knows I’m a girl.” She sighed, running a hand through her shoulder length hair and flashing her Sharingan to memorize the words. A burst of fire consumed the scroll in her hand, the breeze carrying away the ashes as she turned and walked from the training ground. “Well, looks like I’m heading to Kiri.” See, Ken’o had forgotten one thing about the Uchiha; one very important thing. Each and every single one of them forms an obsession at a young age; Sasuke was obsessed with revenge, Itachi was damn near the ultimate patriot, Madara sought peace to his last breath (thrice), so on and so forth. This Itachi however, never met Shisui, never fixated on his village and brother; no, this Itachi was found by a cynical young Hyuuga who gave the young heiress an idea. An idea that meshed so well with the Uchiha’s obsessive nature that it gave rise to the damn near psychopathic side that lurks beneath their obsession. He taught her to find one person she cared about, and prioritize them above everyone and everything else. He taught her that having a single, as Haku would put it, “precious person”, was beyond rare and thusly worth protecting with everything you have. He told her that neither family, lesser friends, nor homeland were worth more than this single person you cared about.   ‘True friends are rare; people you would bleed and die for and people who would do the same for you. They’re so rare, when you find one; everything else is secondary.’ he had said. He had gone on to explain that such shouldn’t truly dominate your life; but those first words were what stuck in her young mind. He had no idea what a monster these simple words would spawn. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- I sighed as the message sank into the shadows. For a long moment I simply sat in silence in that dark cave behind a waterfall. Then, with yet another sigh I withdrew a kunai and removed my mask. I slowly ran a hand through my hair (when I decided to wrap myself up I had to choose between not wrapping my scalp or shaving, I felt it would be a crime to hide such gorgeous hair and left it unwrapped (maybe I’ll figure out some hair based jutsu later to justify the choice)) before slowly unwrapping the bandages from my head. If I was going to be here for more than a few days I’ll have to remove that damn seal before my clan decides to activate it from afar. Unfortunately all of my studies into fuinjutsu had not borne fruit; whoever designed the damn thing did not want it to ever come off. However, there was one rather major oversight; the seal only affected the person it was attached to… and if it’s not attached to anyone it simply won’t function. I brushed my hair back with my left hand, activating my eyes to be sure I wouldn’t fuck this up as I pressed the small blade against my flesh. “This is gonna suck.” I muttered, steeling myself for what I was about to do; shoving the bandages that were around my face into my mouth and biting down hard. With some hesitation I pressed the blade down, cutting into my forehead and curving down before I cut through the muscle. A muffled scream tore through my grit teeth as I slowly cut through my own flesh, the sharp blade easily severing the thick layer of skin. Tears flowed down my cheeks as I forced myself to keep going. A nearby explosion caused my hand to jerk, and off came my face. ***** Chapter 4 ***** Bloody Mist A scream echoed about my small domicile; blood curdling and above all loud. It took me awhile to realize it was my own screaming; the shear agony of cutting off my fucking face, distracting me quite a bit. I hardly noticed as several more explosions followed the first, nor the numerous screams that accompanied them. I was too busy staring at the strip of meat that was my face lying on the lichen covered floor of the small cave I had taken up residence in. I watched as blood pooled around it, much of it flowing down from where the meat came from. I could feel my regeneration slowly fixing the massive wound, but I knew it would still be weeks before my face grew back. Of course, all of that was simply at the back of my mind; most of me was was focused on writhing in agony and clutching the bleeding wreck of my face. An explosion rocked my little cave, sending me flying ‘face’ first into a wall. I groaned, standing up and blink- oh, wait no fucking face means no eyelids. I slowly stumbled over to the Kubikiribocho, grabbing the massive blade with one hand as the other chugged enough painkillers (thank… well not God, I suppose… I kept those on me) to kill a herd of elephants. As sensation fled my body, replaced by a mildly unpleasant numbness, I shock my head (splattering blood all over) and crawled out of my hovel… and subsequently dropped fifty feet to the ground. I had forgotten exactly where my little hideout was located. I smashed into the water below, turning to ash and allowing the river to carry me towards the sounds of semi-distant combat. When I figured I was as close as the river was going to take me, I pulled my scattered body back together and dragged myself from the water. For a moment I just stood there watching the battle go on before me… until some asshole attempted to decapitate me. I frowned at the man, grabbing his sword arm as the blade passed through me, twisting it around and slamming the man’s head into the water. His desperate struggles managed to annoy me slightly, even through the haze over my mind, and I snapped his elbow to keep him still. Eventually I grew bored of drowning the man and simply clenched the hand holding the back of his head; crushing his skull. I smiled dazedly at the way his brains squished out through my fingers, giggling drunkenly as the water current washed the blood away. I slowly stood, still laughing like a drunken loon as I walked towards the battlefield; so many little meat bags to open up! Is it my birthday already? No... wait, do I celebrate that? I shook off the thought, approaching the dancing meatbags with a smile, though how I managed to smile without a face I’m unsure, but I could definitely feel the proper muscles moving to form such an expression. The first ballerinas I approached screamed when they saw my face; they screamed much more when I cut off their legs. Unfortunately the pretty music stopped when I stomped on their heads. I laughed joyously as I joined the dancers, my blade swinging this way and that, shearing limbs from distracted meat pies. I neither noticed nor cared which side of the battle I cut down; I just wanted to watch them bleed. My eyes lit up at the red rainbows that formed through their blood as it trailed behind my blade. I didn’t even notice as a strange symbol burned itself onto my eyes in one of the spaces in the pentagram. My maddened cachinnations drew numerous eyes to me and as I pulled my shiny stick from the thirtieth volunteer, I noticed the clangy, screamy music had stopped; prompting me to raise my head from where I was watching the sticky red stuff pour from a woman’s chest around my choppa. I tilted my head, giggles pouring from between my teeth as my lidless eyes swiveled in my skull to look at all the ninjas staring at me; all two hundred of them. They glanced to each other, before rushing at me as one; friend and foe bonding over a mutual enemy. Ah, to see Pein’s dream realized in miniature; adorable. I giggled, raising my free hand as my right eye glowed. The ninja got within a foot of me before a ripple passed through the air and a second later they shot back like a bullet from a gun; several slamming into (and through) trees, often with sickening cracks on contact. Many didn’t get back up. My laughter spiked as tar leaked from my eye; I had no idea how I did that, but fuck was it funny. Everything was so damn funny! I kept laughing as I rushed forward, slicing down the spine of a downed bleeder as I passed. The first to rise was cut from shoulder to hip, her blood splattering over me as her guts fell to the floor. I reached towards her, grabbing a loop of her intestines as she fell to the earth. Leaning back to dodge an overhead swipe, I giggled as I wrapped the woman’s guts around the next attacker’s throat. He struggled and thrashed as I choked the life from him, though a blade through the chest from one of his “allies” put an end to that. I laughed as the blade pierced my chest, turning to ash and flowing forth to skewer the swordsman, my massive blade completely bisecting his head with a single stab. I turned my head as I heard one my playmates scream, “What the fuck is that!?” I once more raised my hand, my left eye glowing. The man who had spoken up screamed as he was dragged through the air to my outstretched hand. Some small, lucid part of me managed to notice the details of what I was doing as my outstretched hand closed around the man’s throat. “I am pain on a level you simply cannot comprehend.” My lipless grin widened as I channeled my chakra into the man futilely attempting to pry my fingers from his throat. He screamed, the blood curdling sound echoing around the battlefield as the man’s extremities began to crumble to ash, burns forming all over his body. Seconds later his eyes began to swell up before exploding in his skull, splattering boiling eye juice over my skinless face. His hair fell from his burnt scalp, burning up before it reached the ground. I laughed as his body slowly fell apart, skin burning away to reveal muscle and bone that were themselves burning. Before long the man had been fully reduced to ash that drifted away in the wind. Throughout the man’s tortuous death no one moved; too shocked and horrified to even attempt to take advantage of my apparent distraction. The sound of hardened ninjas’ vomiting and crying at the sight of my actions reached my ears as the man’s screaming ceased to fill them. I raised my arms out, throwing my head back and laughing as I spun in a circle, “Who’s next, little ninjas? Hahahahahaha!” My head snapped down, as a ragged battle cry reached me, “Yes, yes! Come, face your death with defiance! Go not quietly into that dark night! Hahahahaha!” My little finger twitched as the first ninja reached me. The man’s eyes widened as his leg jerked forward and he fell back. I took his head before he hit the ground. With the Kubikiribocho in one hand and chakra strings coming from the other I clashed with a small army of ninja. Blood flowed like rivers as I butchered enemy and ally alike, my drug fueled haze preventing me from telling the difference. Oh well, I’ll just have to make sure there are no survivors to inform my employer of my betrayal. Of course, at the time this thought didn’t enter my mind; only that cutting people apart was uniquely entertaining. I stood in the middle of the crowd of ninja, an oddly safe place to be. See, I am uniquely suited for fighting large numbers of enemies; my field of omniscience granted by my eyes preventing anyone from surprising me. The recent addition of seeing the world in slow motion and predicting people’s actions making it even harder to take me out. Of course it helps quite a bit that these people are fucking fodder; I doubt any of them are above B-rank. S is for superb, A is for average, B is for bitches, C is for completely useless, and D is for dead in a ditch. It took my enemies quite a while to realize what I was doing; whenever I clashed with someone I would use a chakra string to trip them up, causing strikes to miss, tripping people, sending attacks into allies, forcing openings in defences, and generally fucking people about. While I only had five chakra strings to work with, my ashen form and the enemy’s inability to attack with more than a couple people at once (nor use any jutsu for fear of hitting each other) allowed me to breeze through the small army like a living lawnmower. That is, until a shiny black hammer decked me in the face and sent me flying across the battlefield, smashing into several people before crashing into a tree and dispersing into ash. Had I still possessed eyelids I would have been blinking in shock; how had that blow connected? I had easily killed half the ninja’s out there (causing another symbol to appear in my eyes) before this and not a one could hit me. I turned my attention towards the hammer wielder, watching a savage smirk spread across her face as the shiny black coating left her warhammer. My eyes bulged, was that fucking Haki? Like from goddamn One Piece? My haze came crashing down as lucidity flooded my mind. I had half reformed before a many voiced cry of “ Wind Release; Great Breakthrough!” sounded up from the much depleted army. A semi circle of powerful wind blasted into me, scattering my ashes far and wide. The last thing that reached my mind before I found myself scattered all over Water Country was a roar of abject rage and despair sounding out before white flames swallowed the entire area. Well, at least I won’t have to worry about survivors. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- Several Hours Earlier ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- Actually escaping the leaf village was simple; no one really expected the Uchiha heiress to attempt such. All she really had to do was just walk out the gate during one of the guards shift changes; though she did make a note of how blisteringly incompetent said guards were. She would have used one of Danzo’s tunnels, but she assumed the man would have some sort of surveillance on them and wasn’t willing to take the chance. She ran into a small amount of trouble when a chunin team attempted to apprehend her at the border. But genin or not, Itachi Uchiha was a once in a century prodigy rivaled only by the infamous Madara Uchiha himself; no chunin were stopping her from reaching her goal. A quick fire ball to incinerate their bodies and she was back on track. It didn’t take her long to reach the ashen wastes that once housed Wave country; far less time than Ken’o himself took. “Hn, he wasn’t kidding.” She sighed, “Why am I not surprised that fool managed to destroy an entire island.” She glanced around, spotting a distant shape in the uniform ashen desert. Her head tilted slightly to the side at the sight of the dead child, before her eyes narrowed as she examined her wounds. ‘Well, Ken’o was definitely here; even if I didn’t recognise his chakra signature in all these ashes, these wounds are pretty distinctive.’ Ken’o’s chakra left odd burns on his victims, looking almost like extremely rough cauterization that somehow did nothing to actually staunch the bleeding. She frowned, blowing out a fireball significantly larger than necessary to cremate the girl. She kept fueling the fire for a few moments, attempting to muddy Ken’o’s chakra signature to throw off sensors. She nodded as her chakra saturated the air and distorted Ken’o’s signature before turning and heading into the Land of Water proper. Her blank expression showed none of her irritation at the ease with which she could track her precious. She looked over the destroyed camp, not even slightly acknowledging her mental title for Ken’o as she examined the humanoid ash piles. A lesser nin may have been bothered by the excessive cruelty displayed here; Itachi was certainly not lesser. She merely grunted her clan’s signature grunt and moved on, following Ken’o’s trail. It didn’t take long for The Raven to find the Demon; all she had to do was follow the screams of pain and terror. A small smirk spread across her face as she watched him massacre the plebeians, though she did raise an eyebrow at the massive blade he wielded. Just as she was about to enter the fray her eyes shot open when a hammer crashed into the side of her fixation’s head and threw him across the field. When he slammed into a tree and burst into ashes she felt her eyes burn. The pain faded when she saw him reforming… then the wind jutsu hit and tore him apart; and the pain came back ten fold. Blood flowed from her eyes as they twisted into a new shape. She screamed, her rage and pain pouring out her mouth as white flames poured from her right eye. The flames that do not and cannot exist poured out and unmade reality before the distraught Uchiha. Everything it touched was unmade, destroyed on a level beyond most people’s comprehension; not even the components of the components of the components of the components of atoms remained. The fire did not merely burn; it destroyed absolutely, reducing reality to the same nonexistence as itself. All it touched simply ceased, made as if it had never existed at all. And when the flames faded at the Raven’s command the space the lightless white flame devoured imploded, and the universe was just a little bit smaller for even space and time were consumed by the fires of nonexistence. Dirt and broken trees rained down around the heiress as she panted, her rage fading beneath her exhaustion and grief. She sank to her knees, tears mingling with blood that flowed down her face. The “Curse Of Hatred” is truly the “Curse of Absolutes”; Uchiha either obsess or they don't care at all. They love with all of themselves and hate with all of themselves; an Uchiha has no developmental stages for love and hate and their opinions are near impossible to change. An Uchiha will go from zero to a hundred in the blink of an eye; their heart utterly devoted to loving or hating. What an Uchiha calls love or hate most call deranged obsession. Few Uchiha (and not a single pure blood) are capable of lesser feelings beyond the most basic; especially after they have found the singular object of their devotion. And when an Uchiha loses that singular focus around which there mind orbits… insanity is a mild term for it. Many an Uchiha has been turned into an omnicidal monster after their world came crumbling down; though Madara and Obito certainly got the closest to succeeding. And in the not-so-rare circumstance where their love matches up with their fixation the obsession is made infinitely more intense. Itachi’s obsession and affection just so happened to line up in the form of one Ken’o Hyuuga… and she just watched a group of Kiri nin murder him. She had no idea that Ken’o would recover and she neither knew nor cared that half the army was made up of rebels; all she saw was ninja with Kiri headbands killing her Ken’o. Her bleeding, bloodshot Mangekyou turned slowly towards the semi-distant Kirigakure, hatred glowing in her swirling eyes. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------- I groaned from where I lay on the forest floor, staring up and the full moon’s mocking light with my single fully formed eye. I raised my single arm up, pointing at the celestial body with my partially reformed middle finger for lack of an index or thumb. “Fuck… you.” My arm dropped back at my side, shattering back into ash. All I had managed to gather up was most of one arm, half of my head, and a third of my torso. Anyone who saw the ragged mess I had become would assume I was long since dead; that is, until they saw my eye swivel about. I couldn't activate it yet, most of my chakra was busy trying to pull myself back together from where ever I had been scattered to. “I’m gonna exterminate wind users; go all fire nation on their ass. Though, hopefully more successfully. No last survivors to get revenge on me!” I snickered at my own joke, though the thought of annihilating the wind release users lingered in the back of my mind. I sighed as my arm finally fully pulled itself together and began to gain colour once more; turning from ashen white back to equally pale flesh with black veins running over it. I stared at the veins for a moment as my clothes started to form over my exposed skin before shaking my head; I’m not even surprised really. I stared up at the moon for a while longer before sighing, “I can’t stay here. I’m too vulnerable like this; anyone could easily capture me as weak as I am now. Ah fuck, I need to find shelter before anyone finds me.” WIth my arm reformed I gained a little of my chakra; at least enough to form chakra strings. From each of my fingers a chakra string formed and shot out to latch onto the tree branches above me. I grimaced as I slowly reeled myself up until I was hanging a few feet off the ground, dangling by my single arm as ashes slowly floated back to me. My fingers twitched and I began to move; my strings pulling me along at a decent pace through the sparse forest. Without the ability to activate my eyes navigating the forest was significantly harder than I had expected; guess possessing semi-omnipotence from childhood leads to over reliance. After over three hours of wandering (during which my head and half of my left arm reformed along with most of my torso) I finally came across a small village. The lack of shinobi told me this couldn’t be Kiri proper; probably just some farming town. Unfortunately for the villagers as soon as I laid eyes on them a deep and utterly wrong hunger came upon me. As I hung in the branches on the outskirts my eyes snapped downwards at a small peel of laughter. Twenty feet beneath me and utterly oblivious to my presence four children of maybe five years were playing. I licked my lipless teeth as my eyes glowed, staring through their skin to see the pure young souls that danced within their nubile bodies; not noticing how sharp my teeth had become as they easily cut into my long tongue. I slowly descended, my chakra strings elongating to enable my slow descent; like a spider approaching its prey. A dark hunger gleamed in my eyes as all but my middle finger snapped forward; the associated chakra strings detaching from the tree branches above and whipping out to attach to the children. My chakra surged through them in an instant as I dragged them up into the branches above. They screamed and writhed as their skin peeled away from burning muscle, disintegrating long before it hit the ground. Before long their muscles too had burned to cinders, their eyes melting out of their skulls and eventually even their bones crumbled to ash. The whole process had taken no longer than a minute; nonetheless the nearby village had heard the bone-chilling screams and rushed to investigate. I dropped to the ground, the children’s ashes swirling to form the rest of my body as I landed amidst the terrified and enraged villagers. I raised my hand, the remaining ashes swirling to form the Kubikiribocho. I grinned savagely, noting that the ashes had reformed my face (though I could feel that the seal had not reformed with it) as I felt my new lips stretch across my teeth. My eyes flickered over the villagers as I settled my massive blade on my shoulder, my long serpentine tongue licking over razor sharp teeth. My massive grin displaced the thin black veins radiating out from my eyes. With the black hunger clouding my mind all I saw as I looked at the enraged and terrified townsfolk was their glittering souls. In a move far too quick for untrained civilians my blade left my shoulder and sheared through five of the twelve villagers around me. Screams rang out as their bisected bodies hit the earth, blood and intestines fell from them as the villagers attempted to flee. Attempted being the operative word; I chuckled as they ran away, the sound unhinged even to my own ears as I formed a half tiger seal with my left hand. I pursed my lips and blew out a hail of fire senbon; the black needles easily crossing the twenty feet between me and the fleeing civilians in a heartbeat, piercing the farmers and exploding soon after. The small fiery explosions consuming the plausibly innocent civilians in seconds. I laughed, dark amusement rolling off me in waves as I felt my hunger lessen and my chakra coils expand slightly. Honestly, Fire Release is easy; even for me. I have no affinity, not really; my chakra doesn’t lean towards or away from any element. However, you would never know that by looking at my fire techniques, my chakra’s naturally destructive nature lending itself well to fire. And, like I said, Fire Release is easy; it’s literally all shape manipulation after learning to create fire chakra. If you know the Great Fireball technique and can adjust its shape and size you literally know everything you need to about Fire Release. Lightning and Wind are very similar and Water can be at higher levels; its Earth that’s the problem. My chakra doesn’t play well with others, making manipulating existing earth difficult (even before my chakra altered my elemental natures to be just literally spitting the elements of Hell), thus forcing me to create earth in the same way I created fire, wind, lightning, and now blood. Creating dirt (now obsidian) from chakra alone is much more costly and difficult than the intangible wind, fire, and lightning; even water is cheaper and easier to create. The acrid smell of smoke shook me from my thoughts and drawing my now less- rabid gaze to the burning villagers. I didn’t even blink when I saw the black flames I conjured spreading over the small village. I sighed, raising my hand to catch my head as I let it fall. Great, nothing like a trial by literal fire to learn to put out my flames. I lifted my right arm, grabbing the wrist with my left, fingers clenched in a grasping motion as I concentrated on the flickering flames. I grit my shark- like teeth (suppressing my shock at that piece of information) as I attempt to exert control over the dancing fire. My eyes narrowed as sweat dripped down my brow, for several minutes nothing seemed to happen. Had I not been staring at the flames so intensely I easily could have mistaken it for just another, more violent flicker; fortunately I had been. I watched as the black flames slowly crawled towards a central location, leaving naught but ashes in their path. Eventually the flames formed a small, dense ball floating a few feet off the ground in front of my hand… and still managing to incinerate the distant branches of trees. I frowned, ‘Great, all I’m doing is compressing the flames; that ball is probably hotter than the core of the sun as it is now.’ I grit my teeth, trying to will the flames to go out to little effect; instead of going out the ball just compressed even more until it was barely larger than my eyeballs. I growled, slowly raising my arm and dragging the now miniscule black ball of heat into the sky. “Fuck it, if I can’t put it out I might as well get it away from me.” My right eye glowed as I blasted the ball away in a high arc; I have no idea where that will hit, but I do know nothing will be left of whatever it is. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------- On a distant island a large cabal of lunatics were performing a ritual sacrifice to their dread god, attempting to bring forth the demonic entity into the mortal realm. The high priest of this cult laughed joyously as he slit the pregnant virgin’s (and hadn’t that procedure been a bitch and half to perform) throat over the dais. The unnatural light in his ever-wide eyes brightened as her blood flowed through the strange interconnected sigils, spreading over all seven concentrically raised platforms from her position at the top. He leapt back off the platform with an unnatural grin on his face, the hooks pulling back his lips and eyelids helping him widen the expression beyond human ability as the gurgling woman’s stomach burst open. She writhed from where she hung upside down as her unborn child tore its way from her, its eyes glowing with an unholy yellow light. The fetus was twisted and wrong, its limbs extending with a series of sickening tears and cracks; its flesh and bone expanding in a grotesque manner as it devoured its mother. The woman’s tears mixed with her blood as the flesh her monstrous offspring consumed flowed straight from its jaws to its body, the corpuscles slithering into the aberrant creature's form from the moribund mother. When the abomination finished devouring its progenitor it turned its hideously glowing eyes on its creators, grotesquely elongated limbs moving the horrid creature towards them; the profane hunger in its eyes growing with every twitch and acidic saliva pouring from its distended jaw. The high priest spread his arms wide as the creature leapt onto him, flayed limbs grasping onto the man as its jaw closed on his neck. The other cultists watched on in horror or bliss as the monster gorged itself on their leader’s flesh from their place nailed to the floor in kneeling positions. Only those who turned their eyes to the sky with whispers of prayer to hopefully more benevolent gods saw their salvation and doom approaching. Their eyes widened as the ball of black flame streaked across the sky towards them. The condensed ball of flame struck the ragged remains of the sacrifice right in her devastated womb, expanding many times its size in a fraction of a fraction of a second. The flames of Hell swept across the island in an flash, consuming the twenty cultists and their horrid creation without pause. The flames spread twenty miles from the shore, reducing even water to ash before losing the battle against the sea. The black orb of fire could be seen for hundreds of miles around, looking to all who saw it like some sort of twisted, Earth born star. When the flames finally faded the island was simply gone; not even a crater was left to signify it had ever existed at all after the sea filled the massive gap the flame had consumed. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------- I panted from the exertion before falling on my ass as a wave of force accompanied by the loudest thunder clap I had ever heard sounded out. My eyes were like saucers as I saw a towering ball of black flames expand on the horizon and I felt my chakra coils expand; “What the Hell did I just do?!” I watched, stunned, as the orb continued to expand before collapsing in on itself. “Jesus Christ, did I just fire a fucking fiery Bijudama?!” I ran a hand through my sweat-matted hair, “Well fuck, if I could get the charging time down from twenty fucking minutes that would be extremely useful for dealing some serious damage… if I can figure out how to aim it properly and not accidentally vaporise myself in the process.” It didn’t entirely surprise me that the fire version of Kirin molded like a bijudama would be powerful, I just hadn’t expected this much power. Then again, over a mile of a flame I can guess either straight up is or is as strong as Amaterasu (given Amaterasu is said to be the flames of Hell and I’m pulling these flames straight from said extra- dimensional prison) being condensed into a space smaller than my fist probably would pack quite a punch. I shook my head, the middle of a hostile nation is not the place to be contemplating city killing jutsu I can’t reliably use. I walked haltingly into the burned out village, the mental strain of “putting out” my flames leaving my slightly less exhausted than I was when my hunger drove me to… hunger? I stopped in the middle of the ashen plane that once was a small town. Since when did killing people satisfy my hunger. I turned around and marched up to the pool of blood surrounding the bisected villagers, staring down into it to see my reflection grinning up at me. He laughed and beckoned me towards him. I scowled down at the demon, before sighing and sinking into my shadow. The shadow realm was just as I remembered, a twisted and red lit parody of reality; and not ten feet from me stood my own distorted reflection. The grinning creature laughed at the scowl I sent it, “Well creature, my eyes have evolved significantly; what has changed?” The being laughed, “Hahahahahaha! Oh my, you’re growing much quicker than anticipated! The Queen is delighted!” The creature clapped its hands as it spoke, the delighted gesture made disturbing by the entity performing it. I frown, “Yes, yes; I’m a prodigy, I get it. Can we get to the part where you explain my new abilities.” His horrific grin widened, “Impatient aren’t you? Oh, very well.” He gave a flamboyant and somehow mocking bow, “Why don’t we start with what’s so obviously bothering you, eh?” His mocking smile turned to a smirk, “Your brand new hunger and your inability to sleep. Congratulations; you no longer require food, water, or sleep. The only sustenance you’ll ever desire is more souls. ” I frowned contemplatively, “Well shit, looks like I picked the right career. To bad you can’t carry victims around like food… oh wait, seals. Not a problem then.” The mimic smirked at me, “Done contemplating? Well, you won’t really need to worry about always having someone murderable within arms reach; even a weak soul could keep you going for a solid year, barring any… unexpected circumstances.” Well that brightened my mood more than a small bit; without the restriction of eating, sleeping, and drinking I have much more free time to do whatever I want… mostly training, honestly. The demonic copy laughed, “Oh, seems you quite like that. Well, it gets better. You may have noticed, though considering you were high off your ass you probably didn’t, that you blasted those losers away and dragged that asshole to ya during that little skirmish with the mist and the traitors?” Huh, yeah that did happen didn’t it? Damn, maybe downing an entire fucking bottle of painkillers wasn’t the best idea. That whole fight’s a blur ‘till that hammer chick whacked me upside the head. “Well, there you go; one eye controls attractive force, the other repulsive. With some finesse you could manage a rough form of telekinesis.” I nodded slowly, contemplating the implications. So, I essentially have the Deva path of the Rinnegan; useful. “Yes yes, you stole from God’s eyes; congratulations.” The demon’s grin was a twistedly saccharine parody of joy. “Look at that; the little Devil is already stealing from the Heavens… I’m so proud.” The monstrous creature pantomimed wiping a tear from his eye as a massive shit eating grin spread across his face. “Of course, Hell couldn't simply steal from Heaven; we improved. In exchange for that omnidirectional blast of the Rinnegan you can use this force of nature from anything within your sight; a more than fair trade in my humble opinion.” My eyes widened, “Anything within my sight…” I whispered. That’s insane! With my massive visual range I could effectively attack someone without being even near them. The demonic reflection’s smile turned ever so slightly patronising, “Yes yes, you’re an omnipotent god of gravity. However, there are some limitations, with practise you can mitigate them, but for now they’re rather severe; consecutive or simultaneous strikes decrease in power dramatically. As I said, with some practise you can decrease this cost, but as is a full power blast can only be used once every thirty seconds, lesser strikes can be used more frequently. If you widen the area of effect or attack from multiple directions, the force will be also be decreased correspondingly. An overpowered strike can only be used once a day and will leave you incapable of using normal strikes for hours.” Well, that dampens my pleasure somewhat, though not all that much. With this power I was suddenly thrown into a realm few could deal with; S-rank (if not officially) at half the age it took Itachi to achieve the same level. Of course, a lack of experience and a body weakened by prepubscence would see me dead to a true, high tier S-ranker along the lines of Pein, Kakuzu, and Obito. “Exactly what counts as an “overpowered” strike?” The demon theatrically rolled his eyes, causing the now decorated pentagram to spin amusingly and sighed, “It depends on your chakra level and control; currently you could probably level a decent sized building at most.” So weaker than Pein’s super blast but stronger than the average Great Breakthrough;still very useful. I quirked an eyebrow, “Anything else?” The demonic reflection’s shark-toothed grin widened, “Well, in case you haven't noticed; you can see souls and your elemental chakra is being pulled straight from the pit. Each one has a unique effect; wind is a potent neurotoxin. Earth, the foundation, absorbs all energy it's hit with to be released at a later time. Water is acidic, flammable blood. Lightning causes decay rather than burns. And I rather imagine you can guess what fire does, hmm?” I nodded slowly, “I wasn’t aware of the source of the change in my elements; but I was aware of the change nonetheless.” I made a mental note to put more effort into mastering earth release; that seems quite a bit like an ultimate defense. The abomination’s obscene grin stretched unnaturally wide, blood leaking from his face as his flesh tore to enlarge his grin. “Well your latest ability is a rather large hint for what comes next; You can use the chakra based abilities of those you’ve slain.”   My eyes went so wide I felt they would roll out of my head. “That… that’s...” I didn’t even realise I had spoke out loud until I heard the demon laughing. “Incredible?” The creature’s smug grin physically could not widen further without removing his whole face, “Ha! If you think that’s amazing you’ll jizz your pants when you get the next symbol!” My expression settled back in its default neutrality as I thought on his words. If he wasn’t simply bullshitting me with his saying this latest abblity was a clue to the next one it would have to be at the very least related. This time I managed to restrain myself from gasping, though judging from the increased amount of blood flowing from my doppelganger’s torn cheeks I hadn’t completely repressed my reaction. “Hahahaha! Now, I’m typically not allowed to tell you about what’s upcoming, mostly because I rarely know, but I’m  gonna go ahead and say your probably quite close!” “Your saying my next level will allow me to use the physical bloodlines of those I’ve slain?” I raised an eyebrow, that could be very useful. The demonic mimic laughed a high-pitched and clearly psychotic cackle, “Well, you're not wrong; though your not entirely right either!” The abomination’s maddened cachination slowed and quieted to a low, eery giggling; an image of insanity only punctuated by the creatures wide eyes and the blood flowing from its torn cheeks. “Heh heh heh heh heh…” Suddenly the creature’s head jerked upwards sharply, hate and more than a touch of fear suffusing its expression, “The Anathema approaches…” I raised an eyebrow once again (an instinctive, if pointless gesture considering the full body bandages) “The “Anathema”?” I questioned; though I certainly had an idea what he meant. The travesty’s eyes snapped to mine, unusually serious. “You are not ready to face them. Their very presence is inimical to you; this Champion of Heaven. They are your opposite but certainly not equal; they have a very distinct advantage, especially with both of you so young: they are filled with Heaven’s holy light and their very touch burns away your darkness.” A dark little smile spread across its face, “However… they are not immune to your corruptive influence entirely. This world is flooded with evil; rape, murder, war, etc. So much darkness and pain suffuse this planet that you can cloak yourself in the suffering with little issue. This will greatly accelerate your training in Demon Sage Mode; if you can achieve the Cloak of Suffering before they don their Heavenly Attire you may just have a shot.” The malevolent joy on their warped face at the thought of slaying what I can only presume was the Messiah was simply perverse. Hmm, so I’m to fight the last, best hope for mankind, eh? In all honesty it would probably be best if I just laid down and died; ‘cause if I win, humanity is fucked.  A grim smile spread across my face; well to bad for them, I rather like living and I have no intention of letting some self-righteous (or actually righteous, I guess) cunt off me just because I’m destined to drown the world in blood and darkness. My ruminations were interrupted when my demonic associate slapped me in the face. I stared at them in accusation; they merely pointed a long clawed finger back at me, “You get that damn grin off your face; right now they’d fuckin’ slaughter you!” I raised an eyebrow, “How do you know all this? Has this happened before?” I had been running under the assumption I was a unique circumstance; if that was not the case many plans may have to change. Thankfully, the mimic shook its head. “No, this… event, Heaven and Hell choosing champions, is unique. Hell tells the Queen what happens as you grow closer to it, in its own way, and she relates this information to me to give to you.” The creature shrugged, “How Hell can communicate I have no idea. Though any Demon of sufficient age or experience can tell you the effects of coming in contact with Holy Energy.”   I nodded slowly, “What happens when I kill Heavens Champion?” The demonic creature raised a hairless brow, “ When you succeed? Confidant are you?” My expression turns from placid to grim, “Doubt leads to hesitance, hesitance leads to lost opportunity, lost opportunity leads to weakness, weakness leads to death.” The mimic snorted, “‘Spose it's not the worst motto I've ever heard.” The creature rubbed its chin in a disturbingly human expression for what I knew was certainly not one. “Honestly kid, I got no idea. I've seen more than my fair share of clashes with the Heavenly Host; usually they end with a few worlds burned to ash, a couple million dead -if either side’s really taking it seriously-, and a whole lot of fucking nothing accomplished by either side. Rarely do the Ravening Horde and the Heavenly Host clash in full; and when they do they put all other wars to shame.” The twisted reflection shrugged, “This though; this is unique. Never before have the two sides picked a champion to bet on. Honestly, for all I know your battle may decide the fate of the omniverse… or it may be a meaningless little interlude to the unending war for dominance of the afterlife. Either way, you’re not ready.” My fingers drummed against the leather of my blades hilt. Well that’s just lovely; I have no idea what the result of my inevitable clash with the Messiah will result in regardless of the victor. At least I now know just how devastatingly destructive the factions I’d become embroiled with could be. Multiple worlds destroyed? Juubidara might be able to pull that off, Kinshiki pretty much dedicated his life to it, Kaguya might have the firepower for it; but none of them could say they frequently accidentally reduced planets (at least, for all I know when he says ‘worlds’ he means dimensions) to rubble. The sudden realization of just how small a fish I really was in a suddenly much bigger sea was a bit of a gut punch. Even so I knew it would be bad to stay in one place for long if this “Anathema” was hunting me; the possibility of some cosmic horror coming out of space to vaporize my planet didn’t really change my plans. The siren’s song of power filled my ears and I was more than happy to dash myself across the rocks of madness and evil. I turned to walk away, intending to head to Kiri proper (I still have several bounties to collect after all),  taking the creature’s words as something of a dismissal (though if he had any aspirations of being in charge I would happily oblige his obvious death wish) before the creature interrupted. “One last thing before you go; your eyes are complete enough to open small portals, allowing lesser demons out… or yourself in. The wreckage of your soul will burn much quicker from now on.” I stopped dead, turning to look at the creature over my shoulder. For a long moment I simply stood there, before turning to continue walking through the twisted shadow realm with a grunt. There’s no turning back now; not that there ever was.   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------   Itachi’s mind a was a maelstrom of flame, whirling like her eyes. Hatred and rage burned atop a depthless void of misery and despair. Everything her feverish gaze fell upon suffered and died; blades split the vein, illusions devoured the mind, and tongues of flame licked up the flesh. Her beloved was dead; murdered before her eyes by Kiri . And for that she would see every one of them die; every man, woman, child, pet, animal, insect and plant would feel her unending rage and know her pain. Now for most people, this would be both irrational and impossible; Itachi Uchiha was not most people. For one, she was an Uchiha and Uchiha were not known for having rational responses and the stronger they got the more crazy they became (a fairly common thing amongst all ninja, honestly; though Uchiha are certainly the kings of madness). Secondly, she wasn't just any Uchiha; she was Itachi Uchiha. In this world, at this point, that meant very little to most people; to most she was just the heir to the Uchiha clan head. To Ken’o however, she was less than four years from becoming one of the most powerful and deadly S-rank missing nin on the planet; already she was a high ranking ANBU. Now, one could argue that a lot could happen in four years; and they’re right. However, the most important thing to happen in that time was her acquisition of the mangekyou sharingan; something she had already done in this timeline. The mangekyou was based on almost fulfilling wishes; a mocking gift that never gave you what you really wanted. Obito wanted nothing more than to escape from reality, to turn the world into an illusion; his eyes let him do just that, he could literally leave reality and turn himself into an illusion (kinda). Sasuke wanted only destruction; first his brother, then his friend, then his village than the world; his eyes granted his wish with Hell’s fire. Madara wanted nothing more than to go back in time, to fix his mistakes and save his brothers; his eyes let him go back, but never far enough. Even amongst the Uchiha there was no one alive that truly understood what exactly the Mangekyou was. See, back when Indra and Ashura were fighting for supremacy Indra came to the realization that he would never win at his level; the sharingan simply didn't give him enough of an edge. So Indra did something stupid, really really stupid; he delved into horrid pits housing the worst sort of scum. In the blackest depths he found what he was looking for; a smiling monster that offered him a deal. In exchange for his soul and a blood sacrifice he would grant him great power. Indra smiled and shook hands with the devil. Nearly a thousand years later Indra’s folly still cursed his descendents. Itachi was lucky, though she didn't know it yet; when here emotions drew Hell’s attention it noticed why she was so distraught and decided to give her the best it had without the immediate blood price (a depleted army of Kiri nin was more than sufficient after for the delay). While the intelligence behind the extra- dimensional prison had no real authority over the White Flame and the Mind Eater (merely being in possession of those who held them (and having eaten up quite a few resources in breaking their wills)) and thusly couldn't give them to its other; it could bind said beings to a mortals cursed eyes. Hell was not fully sapient in the way most thought (this being much of why it had decided to fuse with a mortal), but it had enough intelligence to see the distraught girls loyalty to its other and had pounced on the opportunity to put two of its greatest uncontrolled assets to work. Most thought the price of the mangekyou was killing a loved one; this was entirely true. Killing a loved one merely fulfilled both of the requirements Indra’s descendents needed to gain the mangekyou; despair and blood. Despair to draw Hell’s gaze, blood to complete the deal. Itachi had already seen the incomprehensible power of the Impossible Flames; the strength to unmake existence. The Mind Breaker was no less terrifying in power; the absolute most powerful genjutsu. The kotoamatsukami could force one to do anything and think they wanted to; The Mind Eater could destroy and shatter the mind, twisting it into whatever it's wielder wanted. The Mind Eater gave its wielder unfettered access to the victims mind; and they could do whatever they wanted to it once they had it. From simply reading thoughts and viewing memories to completely changing who they were; nothing was beyond their reach within the victims mind. Itachi only learned this when she tore into the rebel camp in her maddened fervour. The first ninja to spot her never managed to scream; a gloved hand around his throat kept him quite until she was ready. Itachi hung him from a tree with his own intestines; letting his gurgling screams be her declaration of war. His companions came running, flowing from their tents like ants. They crowded around the hanging body; fear, anger, curiosity, and sadness driving them to investigate. They ignored his frantically shaking head; not seeing the desperation in his gouged out eyes. In an instant the most of the rebel army’s rear guard was obliterated; the dozen high powered explosive seals shoved into the man's gut detonating with a thought from the psychotic elite hidden in the distant trees under several genjutsu. She descended on the scattered survivors; contempt for their weakness only fueling the fires of her hate. Dropping silently to the churned earth with a kunai in hand she effortlessly killed the first survivor; a flaming man who ran screaming towards her, a chunk of rock where his eyes and nose used to be. She cut his throat as he ran past her, ignoring him as he ran several more feet before collapsing to the earth in a spasming pile of melting limbs. Of the forty seven ninjas that rushed forth to investigate ten were still alive and only three of them injured; two had missing arms, one’s leg was hanging on by a few scraps of flesh halfway down the shin, the rest were missing fingers or eyes. The injured were no challenge; most would have died even if here raged filled heart would have let her stop. Those well enough to move rushed to help those who couldn’t. Itachi scowled; how dare they try to take her vengeance from here, was her beloved not enough. Her right eye swirled and those laying in the blood streaked mud burst into brilliant, stark white fire; consuming them and those who sought to help them. The only survivor stumbled black, tears flowing from her blue eyes as she desperately tried to pull bits of her former friends from her long blonde hair. She screamed as a wanna be medic ran screaming towards her, white fire spreading up his right arm. He was barely ten feet from here when he started running, only his fingers alight; he was completely consumed before he made it halfway. She tripped on a severed arm as she turned to run from the shadowy form advancing on her from across the killing field. A foot crushing down on her back and neatly severing the ligaments of her spine put and end to her desperate crawling; though her broken nails still clawed futile at the broken earth. A sharp kick flipped her onto her back, and watery blue eyes met with pitiless pinwheels. Her last though was a desperate plea to any deity that was listening to save her. Itachi knew the girl’s final thoughts as she savagely tore into her mind; instinctively ripping her thoughts to pieces. Every memory, every thought the girl ever had was laid bare and subsequently incinerated; the Unmaking Flames let free upon every thought the Uchiha read. Itachi scowled down at the drooling husk of the rebel before her; contemplating what she had learned. With a growl she crushed the girls skull under foot; noting in the back of her mind to acquire some boots as she felt the girls brains squish up between her toes. How dare this harlot try to seduce her Ken’o! Of course, demented obsessing over imagined slights notwithstanding, Itachi had managed to find where the rebels were headed. The final push of the revolution was at hand; Kiri’s fate would be decided within the village. She frowned, turning towards Kiragakure no Sato proper; her powerful eyes easily picking up the subtle signs of an army of ninjas on the march. They would all pay; for none were innocent before her fanatical eyes. Three separate forces headed to Kiri; each with a different motive. One sought profit; seeking the heads of the strong and the souls of them all. One sought vengeance; wishing to bathe the world in fire for the perceived loss of her love. One sought justice and freedom; desperate to slay their Kage and free themselves from his genocidal tyranny. The bloody mist would soon live up to its name. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------- The rebellion got there first; clashing with the larger army of loyalists as only ninja can. Most ninja are not used to large scale battles; preferring to fight one on one rather than in large groups. Many lower rank ninja lost their lives when they forgot just how many foes they had as their minds focused on a single battle, only to be stabbed in the back by an enemy they had forgotten about. The more intelligent and experienced ninja used the chaos to their advantage; subtly directing their opponents into the strikes of others. Slightly less intelligent but more eager ninjas planted explosive tags in key areas; bringing down buildings on enemies (and the screaming civilians within). Before long the never thriving village was a bombed out husk, the ground pathed with broken bodies and shattered buildings. It didn't take long for the Kage to take to the field; announcing his presence with a massive cannon blast of water. The blue beam smashed through dozens of combatants; rebel and loyalist alike torn apart by the pressure. A bolt of lightning shot towards the childlike man almost reaching him before a being absorbed into a mirror of water hanging from the Mizukage’s thick, hooked staff. With a twist of his wrist the mirror turned and the bolt remerged, launching out to electrocute a rebel mid step. Yagura stepped over the smoking body of a loyalist; pupiless pink eyes utterly cold. A sneer crossed his face, twisting the long scar beneath his eye to an ugly shape as a cloud of mist approached him. He leapt back, launching himself over twenty feet in the air to land atop one of the few buildings still intact enough to have a good as his honour guard melted in the acidic mist. He ignored their screams as he locked eyes with the leader of the rebellion. “Hmph, Mei Terumi; come to die at last, have you?” The resistance leader smirked, attempting to use her sex appeal against the man; she may as well have been flirting with a block of ice for as much as he reacted. “Not quite, Yagura-chan. I've come to relieve you of that hat; and perhaps the head it sits on.” Then Itachi arrived and a veritable ocean of heatless white flame swept across the ruined city. The surprise interference of an unknown third party took everyone by surprise and hundreds fell to the fast moving flames that ate reality. The ocean of impossible flame vanished in an instant after swallowing the burnt out remains of the broken village. The subsequent implosion of reality sucked most of the survivors and and a massive amount of earth and trees into the hole in the world; many were crushed by the force or other shrapnel. Of the thousand ninjas and three thousand civilians only three hundred were still alive when the debris settled; all of them ninja. Any ninja that attempted to save anyone else either failed to escape the fire or was caught by the implosion; only the self serving survived. One might think that such a devastating attack would unite the dissaperate forces; such optimistic idiocy was soon disproven as one of the survivors stabbed an enemy nin that landed atop them. This single act of violence reignited the battle; the spark being the first to fall in the endless spiral of retaliation, finding himself with a length of metal where his trachea once was within an instant. Of the two leaders Terumi arose first, though the sight that met her eyes made her wish she had died in the attack; Yagura was impaled upon a broken tree, using his remaining arm to slowly pull himself free of the intrusion. Now, such was not enough to phase a woman who regularly boiled people alive; no, it was the horrid way his torn flesh bubbled and writhed, leathery blue-green flesh replacing the lost. His single eye glared hatefully at her from beside it's mangled twin above his shark-toothed snarl. She could see the influence of his Bijju as he freed himself; already algae and coral had begun to grow on the surfaces around him as the wood burned away. His breath fogged the air before him, the scent of seawater filtering stronger than ever ad he fused with his aquatic demon. His fleshed bulged hideously as the change overcame him, an eye patch growing from his flesh to cover his damaged eye. She charged forth, kunai in hand; no way in Hell was she just gonna let him transform unchallenged. She sent a jab towards his throat, frowning as he let her pierce his palm to block the blow. A savage smile spread across the dictators face as he twisted his skewered arm down and slammed his half transformed fist into her face. At the last second she blew out a cloud acidic fog, the caustic substance surrounding them both. Mei attempted to separate and let her mist do its work, though the Sanbi seemed to be slowing down her progress. Releasing her kunai she leapt back… Straight into a massive slab of sharpened metal. Please drop_by_the_archive_and_comment to let the author know if you enjoyed their work!