-4632 words-
Tosen Kaname watched as his opponent jumped down into the field. He looked nonchalant, confidence blaring through that even he could pick up. All around him, the fighting square had already been reduced to nothing more than a broken training area. Cracks in the ground, uprooted trees, and signs of the previous battles riddle the field as far his eyes can see.
Well of course, not in a traditional sense. After all, he can't 'see' like normal people do. It was a condition he was born with, and the reason why most people believed that he couldn't cut it as a Ninja.
What use is a tool if it's defected?
But what people did not realize, is that even though he lost his sense of sight, his other senses have all dialed up to eleven. His smell, hearing, taste, and even his 'sixth' sense that allows him to detect presences.
It was how he managed to graduate, and wasn't that a major shock towards his classmates who used to call him names.
Nevertheless, it was why he was here now. To prove that even a blind man like him could become someone a Shinobi. He doesn't even have loyalty for his sorry excuse of a village. Why would he? The village has given him nothing. They initially brushed him off, thinking he was nothing more than a failure. But the moment he proved his capability, they treated him as nothing more than an expendable tool.
Ay, his teammate, the son of the Raikage, was decent enough he supposed. But he genuinely held no attachment to the arrogant boy.
He initially thought this was normal for shinobi, but his beliefs were struck down when he saw the teams from the other villages. The Konoha team and the Suna team had chemistry. He could tell how much as it was practically screaming at him. They were genuine, they were teammates, they were friends. Being born an orphan and then labeled a cripple, friendship is a word he's very unfamiliar with.
"Hey, gotta ask. Are you really blind?"
The voice of his opponent cut into his thoughts. Opposite him, Souei Matsuri asked with a tilt of his head.
"...Are you really asking because you're curious, or are you just making conversation?" Tosen asked with a sweatdrop.
Souei shrugged. "Does it matter?"
"I suppose not." He sighed. "To answer your question, yes I am. I was born this way. Although I can't 'see' in a traditional sense. I can perceive my surroundings just fine."
"Cool." The grin on Souei's face grew a little wider. Seeing different people with different abilities like this fascinates him to no end after all.
"Are you two ready?"
The voice of their proctor cut their conversation short. Tosen simply nodded in response as he unsheathed his blade while Souei cracked his neck and took a stance.
"Match start!"
The proctor jumped back just as Souei dashed at the Kumo-nin. Tosen drew his blade, now coated in electricity, and slashed at Souei. Souei ducked and swiped a finger at him, a strange line was outstretched from his finger that threatened to cut Tosen in half.
Tosen however, simply leapt back and slashed down with his blade, successfully snapping the thread in half.
Souei's eyebrows slightly tilted upwards at that. This was his first time fighting a swordsman and by extension, the first time he's seen his thread cut like that.
Not wanting to engage the Suna genin in long range combat, Tosen immediately shortened the distance between them as he sped towards Souei, sword drew back as he sent a quick slash aiming at his jugular. Souei quickly dodged, as he ducked down and swept his legs at Tosen's feet.
The Kumo-nin jumped and lashed out with a downward slash. Souei however, suddenly jerked backwards, strings pulling him through the air as he dodged the slash.
He immediately aimed his fingers at Tosen's direction before he let loose with bullet strings.
'Bullet String: Rapid Fire'
Tosen could sense the strings coming at him. Usually, the bullet shaped strings were too thin to be perceived by the normal person, creating an invisible attack most people wouldn't be able to react to.
But to the blind Genin, they were useless. Taking a deep breath, Tosen's hand whipped out left and right, deflecting the bullets to the sides as Souei watched on.
'Looks like regular attacks won't work on this guy.' Souei thought as he began going through handseals.
At the same time, Tosen had finished deflecting all the strings. Immediately, he sheathed his blade and took what most shinobi in the stands recognize as a quickdraw technique. Tosen faced his opponent and put his hand on the hilt of his blade.
After a few seconds, both Genin unleashed their attacks.
"Fire Style: Heatwave!"
"Thunder Sword Style, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash!"
Souei took a deep breath before unleashing it, a huge stream of fire was unleashed towards Tosen's position. The Kumo Genin however, suddenly disappeared from his spot.
All around the stands, all the crowd could hear was the crackling of thunder, and suddenly the column of fire was split into two.
Souei was shocked as he saw his attack dismantled. His eyes saw it in slow motion, the blade of his opponents coming at him with the grace of a deadly tiger. He could feel himself eyes wide as the steel came at him. But at the very last second, by pure instinct, Souei summoned strings from his back that connected with the roof of the stadium. The strings pulled him upwards, his body jerking with the movement as he nearly dodged the killing blow.
'He dodged me…'
'He nearly got me…'
Unknown to the both of them, both Souei and Tosen showed disbelief to each other as their thoughts paralleled one another.
Tosen immediately turned around and threw several shuriken toward Souei. The Suna Genin however, simply connected strings to each of them before spinning around and throwing them back towards his opponent.
Not expecting his attack to literally backfire, Tosen barely reacted quick enough to raise his blade and deflect the shuriken to the side.
Souei used that distraction to appear right above the blind Genin. His leg was raised high, a string attached to his heel and his thigh. But this time, something was different.
Instead of the boney white strings that Tosen saw his opponent usually use, these strings were red hot, glowing a fiery orange.
This was something Souei only managed after training the long month with Ishito. By applying fire-natured chakra into his strings, they become overheated. Temperatures raised to the point it could melt even steel.
"Fire Thread Release: Fret Saw!"
Tosen managed to raise his blade on time, but he found himself shocked beyond belief when the string melted through his sword like butter. He could do nothing as the attack cut into his raised arm right below the elbow, the offending limb dropping to the ground unceremoniously.
He could hear himself scream in response to the pain. Black spots could be seen at the edge of his vision as he could feel himself falling unconscious. The only good thing he could have thought out of this, is that at the very least, his injury was almost instantly cauterized. That was all he could think of as his vision turned black.
— Marionette of Suna —
'That was damn close…'
Souei thought, panting. Seeing the blade coming at him, nearly decapitating him was one of the most terrifying things he's ever experienced. That was one of the closest times he's actually been to dying.
He subconsciously rubbed his neck, only to pull it back as a flash of pain and red droplets could be seen on his hand.
On his jugular, was a very thin line of red that was slightly leaking blood.
Sighing to himself, Souei walked back to the stands to where his friends and family were located.
"Souei!" A voice greeted him.
"Hey Rukia. Could you help me with this?" he pointed to his neck.
The girl widened her eyes before reaching his side and putting a hand to his neck. It glowed green a second later signifying the use of healing chakra.
"It was that close, huh?" she said in a soft voice.
Souei just gave a small nod as he waited for her to do her thing. That was when he saw Rasa standing there, his body completely covered in bandages.
"When did you get back?" He questioned, just as Rukia let him go as she finished healing him.
"In the middle of your fight. Congratulations are in order by the way." Rasa nodded.
"Heh, thanks." Souei smiled appreciatively. "So when were you gonna tell me that the Magnet Release could be used to manipulate magnetic forces?"
"When were you gonna tell me you could imbue elemental chakra into your strings?"
Souei just snorted. "Touche."
"Well done, Souei. It looks like I wouldn't have to make do with my promise after all." Ishito chimed in as he stood to the side of his students.
"You're a damn sadist, sensei. You know that right?"
The man just smiled briefly before it fell back into his characteristic stoicism. "In any case, congratulations. You made it into the finals but don't be complacent yet. Your hardest fight has yet to come."
"Don't worry, I know my own limits."
Ishito eyed him for a few seconds before he nodded. "Just make sure not to overdo it."
Souei just smiled. His sensei may be strict at times, perhaps even a little sadistic. But he realized long ago that he only wants what's best for him and his teammates.
He then thought into the fight coming ahead. Minato and Ay. These two are undoubtedly the strongest Genin of their respective villages, and most likely the toughest pair of opponents he's ever faced on his level.
Minato Namikaze was fast. Insanely so. He was faster than Rukia, not to mention how he completely got the upper hand on her in the second half of their fight. He has a decent repertoire of elemental Ninjutsu and fights tactically, which might prove as a problem.
Ay however, was the opposite. A user of lighting chakra that he can use to augment his physical capabilities. His speed was arguably greater than Minato's and his punches also had great power to them, if piercing Rasa's defenses were to be believed. However, his fighting style was relatively straightforward in the fact that he brute forces his way through everything.
And the worst part of it all is that he's gonna fight them both at the same time. Having three finalists means a three way fight, to which the crowd approved.
He looked back at the scroll still sitting on his back. 'If things get rough, using this might be the only chance I have.'
It didn't take long for the waiting bell to ring and the proctor reinvited all three finalists back to the field.
"The final round for the Chunin Exams will now begin! Will Minato Namikaze, Ay, and Souei Matsuri, please enter the field?"
"Good luck Souei!"
"You got this!"
"Don't lose or the deal's back on."
He looked back to his friends and family cheering him on. He smiled at them before leaping down towards the field. 'If they have that much faith in me, then I guess I better not disappoint.'
As he, Minato, and Ay arrived on the field, they all got a round of cheers and applause from their respective villages.
In the Kage box, all residing Kage paid much attention as they subconsciously leaned forward at the battle about to take place. After all, the shinobi fighting all belong to three of the 5 great villages. Opportunities to see which village is superior like this doesn't come often.
The three stood in a triangle formation with Jay, the proctor, currently standing in the center. He was reiterating the rules of the fight before raising an arm.
The three immediately sported their fighting stances as they readied themselves for the fight. Minato had a serious look on his face, while Ay smirked.
Souei opted for a blank look as he eyed his two teammates.
"Begin!"
As soon as the announcement was made, Minato threw down a smoke pellet that caused the area to be bathed in white smoke.
Souei immediately jumped up, his form getting over the dense cloud as he conjured strings as footholds. His legs bent as crouched on the string platform. Waiting for the first person to make his appearance.
Movement the side caught his attention as Ay, who was covered in blue electricity, dashed out of the smoke followed by Minato. They were trading blows, Minato using kunais covered in wind chakra to match Ay's thundering fists.
Not wanting to be left out of the fight, Souei raised both his palms as he created orbs of white string.
He chucked them both towards the two fighters, who eyed the balls in suspicion.
Souei grinned as he put his hands into a ram seal.
'String Grenade!'
The orbs combusted, sending shrapnels of string around it.
Ay grunted, the strings digging into his skin but not managing to cut through. Minato however, managed to jump back at the last second, his quick response allowing him to only receive minor injuries from the attack.
Jumping off his string platform, Souei launched himself straight towards Ay. He could see the older boy raise an arm, preparing to meet his offense head on. Souei raised a knee, his momentum allowing him to slam into the Kumo nin's forearm with the force of a rampaging bull, sending him skidding back.
Souei then immediately swerved his head to the left, a kunai passing through where his head had been just moments ago. He then swung around, his hand raised as strings extended from his fingers. Minato ducked down, sensing the danger of the attack. He then quickly went through hand signs at high speeds before hurling a fireball point blank towards Souei.
Souei's form got bathed in the flames as Minato looked on. He then widened his eyes when the Souei in front of him burned down and revealed a crumple of strings on the ground.
'String Clone?!'
"Lightning Style: Lighting Wave!"
Minato was forced out of his shock as small waves of lightning shot at him, courtesy of Ay. He quickly dodged the first one before taking out a kunai and adding wind chakra through them, the kunai's taking in a blue glow. He then used the kunai to deflect the waves before he had to quickly jump back as Ay dashed at him. The two again traded blows, Ay's punches thundering towards Minato, who was managing to deflect the blows sideways while returning a few of his own.
That was when the ground between them cracked, which startled the two fighters. The crack grew wider until a human form could be seen bursting through the ground.
Souei appeared between them, both hands aimed at his two opponents as he grinned.
"White Lance!"
Spiraled thickets of strings that resembled lances shot out towards his two opponents. Minato barely ducked in time, but he grimaced as he wasn't quick enough for a large red gash appeared on the side of his head. Ay grunted as he tried hardening his body as much as he could before the lance of string hit him square in the chest. This resulted in the string not managing to pierce his skin, but the power behind it still sent him rocketing away.
Souei frowned at that. 'Looks like only my fire threads could pierce through his defenses, but that technique still takes a lot out of me.'
Minato, who had managed to jump back and gain some distance, threw a flurry of shuriken at Souei before going through another sequence of hand signs. This time much longer than his previous ones.
"Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
The people at the stands couldn't hide their shock, as this particular technique was famous as a favorite of the Third Hokage.
Souei's eyes mentally counted the number of projectiles in the air before he shaped his fingers into guns and let loose his retaliation attack.
'Bullet String: Rapid Fire!'
He made sure to target the ones he was sure would hit him as the string bullets collided with the shuriken mid air.
Just as he did this, Ay appeared right in front of Souei in a burst of speed. Souei couldn't react in time as the older boy grabbed him by the neck before lifting him up and slammed him into the ground. Ay continued the attack as he lifted Souei back up and used his strength to throw him across the field.
Souei immediately used his strings to create a cushion before he slammed into the walls of the arena. He winced as he got back up, rubbing his lower back in the meantime.
'Urgh, dammit. I think I felt something crack.' He thought.
Looking back, he could see Ay and Minato once again in the thick of it as they fought. However, they made sure to keep one eye on him this time to prevent ambushes from happening again.
'Fighting these two at the same time is a pain. I have to split my focus on both and I can't afford to waste too much chakra fighting one.'
Souei continued to think before coming to a decision. 'This'll have to end quickly. Looks like I'll have to use it.'
He then immediately summoned strings to jerk him upwards, dodging the attacks that made its way to his position. Looking up, Souei noticed that his two opponents intentionally shot that attack in his direction. Souei just smirked as he prepared his next move. 'Those two really don't want to give me just a few minutes of rest.'
Deciding it's time, a large amount of smoke covered Souei's form as the large scroll on his back was unsealed. The suddenness of it obviously caught the attention of his two opponents, as they stopped fighting and looked into his direction.
Two golden spike legs burst from the smoke coming in their direction. Minato and Ay immediately jumped back as the legs punctured through the ground.
The spike legs then got pulled back by an unseen force as the smoke fully dissipated. Standing in the air was Souei himself, four golden legs extended from his back.
"Woah, what is that?" Sasori said with wide eyes as the crowd around him also showed open awe at the contraption.
Even Ishito was mildly shocked, throughout the whole month of training, his student has never shown this to him. "Those legs, it's like he's resembling-"
"A spider." Chiyo completed, smiling all the while.
Souei didn't waste time as he flicked his fingers, all 4 spider legs disattached from his back and were sent flying to his two opponents. Most of the shinobi present could see thin strings connected from the legs to Souei's back.
Ay raised a fist that crackled in lightning and deflected both legs to the side. Minato simply kept jumping and swerving around, dodging the two legs that came at him.
Souei used this chance to appear right behind Minato and kicked him to the side before pulling and reattaching all the legs on his back.
Ay immediately rushed at him, his body covered in blue lightning. Souei then raised an arm in his direction, a spider leg flying at Ay's rushing form. The Kumo Genin tried to slap it away, only to fail as he grimaced when his arm pulsed in pain. No doubt from the injury Rasa inflicted on him before.
The leg turned 90 degrees sideways and flew at him horizontally before it locked itself on Ay, the boy grunting as his arms were forced to his sides as he lost momentum and fell to the ground. Panels then opened up from the leg and let loose purple poisonous gas.
Ay widened his eyes as he tried his best to hold his breath while struggling against the restraints.
Meanwhile, just after Souei sent the spider leg to lock on Ay, he found himself surrounded by 3 Minato's. One of them engaged him in combat while the other two went through a quick series of hand signs.
Redirecting an attack to the side, Souei retaliated with a haymaker that connected with his opponent's cheek. Minato's form staggered before it dissipated into smoke.
'A shadow clone!'
He looked back into the other two Minato's to see them already unleash their techniques.
"Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu!"
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"
A collaboration jutsu was sent towards Souei's direction, the wind increasing the fire ball to great sizes as it washed over the Suna Genin's form.
"Nii-san!" The worried voice of a 5 year old could be heard as the entire stadium waited in bated breath as the flames were dispersed, only to see a charred and blackened wooden log in Souei's previous position.
Back with Ay, he could feel the poison entering his body despite his best efforts. Getting more and more pissed, he unleashed more and more lightning chakra to his body to the point his entire form was bathed in blue light. Usually, adding too much lightning chakra is dangerous due to the repercussions that would happen to his own body. But desperate times call for desperate measures.
Ay screamed as an explosion of power was released from his entire body, sending the now broken pieces of golden spike leg flying in all directions. He then looked up to see the 2 Minato's finish their attack on Souei.
He immediately rushed them, he frowned however, when his body lagged a little from the movement and he found his vision shaking slightly.
'This damn poison! I have to finish this quickly!'
Forcing through the pain, he raised both arms sideways. Ay then added more chakra to his legs as in a burst of speed, he reappeared in the middle of the two Minatos.
'Double Armed Lariat!'
He caught both blonde's in his attack, the one on the right immediately bursting into smoke. The one on the left however, was launched away as Minato crashed into the walls of the stadium. Ay stood there, panting as he waited for the dust to dissipate. When it did, it was to reveal the prone and unconscious form of the Konoha Genin.
Souei took that moment to reappear, stumbling back to the arena as he panted in exhaustion. Burns could be seen covering his body, which told the audience that he didn't come out of the previous attack unscathed.
He and Ay looked at each other and they both subconsciously knew that their next attacks would be their last.
Both remaining competitors stood for a second before they ran towards each other. At first it was a slow run, before continuing to a full on dash as they rushed their opponents.
Ay raised a fist that was covered in thunder, crackles of electricity streaming through while Souei ran towards him with his arms behind him.
"Thunder Fist!" Ay screamed the name of his technique.
Then, just as they were about to clash, Souei moved. Threads from his back pulled him to the side, dodging Ay's fist and he found himself facing the Kumo Genin's open back.
Pulling whatever chakra he had left into the surface, Souei called on fire transformation as he prepared himself to unleash his most powerful technique.
"OVERHEAT!"
Souei raised his arm, and a beam of red hot molten strings ejected from his palm as it shot towards the Kumo Genin. Ay tried his best to dodge, only to stumble as he suddenly found his body weak.
The poison finally affected him as he found himself moving much slower. It was all he could do to twist his body sideways, the red beam melting a hole through the side of stomach instead of his heart.
Unable to bear the pain, Ay had already fallen unconscious the moment his body reached the ground.
Seeing his opponent fall, Souei just stood there in a hunched form. He panted quick breaths before he chuckled in a low voice.
Souei then breathed out a heavy breath before he fell backwards, the exhaustion of the fight finally taking a toll on him.
Silence reigned the entire stadium at the display. Shocked and in complete awe.
"B-By being the last person standing, the winner of the match and the Chunin Exams is Souei Matsuri!" Jay the proctor, announced as he relieved himself of his shock.
As soon as he did that, the entire crowd got on their feet and clapped wildly at the amazing battle they had just seen. Only the people from Kiri seem dissatisfied with the result.
The people continued to cheer as a few people left their seats in stands and jumped into the field. Ishito and Chiyo went towards Souei while Jiraiya went to Minato.
Jay immediately widened his eyes in realization as he rushed towards Ay's prone form. His eyes widened even more as he took in the Raikage's son's injuries.
He immediately called for a medic as they tried their best to ten to his injuries and take him away.
Jay looked at the person responsible for this and glared at the unconscious Souei.
Ishito, sensing hostile intent, gazed back at the source before noticing the proctor. Ishito raised his eyebrow at the man. Jay immediately paled as he found himself under the gaze of the S-Rank Shinobi. He turned away before running back to follow the medical team.
"Let's get him to the med bay. He will need some serious rest after this." Chiyo said as Ishito picked up Souei gently on his back. On the other side of the stadium, he could see Jiraiya doing the same to his student. They quickly left to find the med bay.
Ishito smiled as he carried his student, as if only now realizing how heavy he is now. 'He's gotten bigger…'
He let out a chuckle under his breath. Although he'll never admit it, being a sensei has been the joy he's been missing his entire life. Seeing his student having grown this far, he can't help but smile a little wider.
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{End of Genesis Arc}
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Woo, what a ride!
Btw, writing a three way fight is HARD. I tried my best to make it flow naturally so I hope it's satisfactory.
Anyway, this marks the end of the first arc. What a way to end it with a 4.6k word chapter eh?
Genesis encompasses his birth all the way to the day of his first massive achievement in his ninja career. After all, winning the Chunin Exams is no small feat.
Next arc will start soon, and let me tell you this is where Souei learns the full truth of being a Ninja. Things aren't always sunshine and rainbows and although he's learned a little bit of it in his first mission, this is where he'll finally realize the saying on why a Shinobi Endures.
I really hope you've enjoyed this first arc as much as I enjoyed writing it :). Marionette has been an absolute joy to write and I'm really happy with all the reception I've received.
Anyways, that's all from me.
Next arc, here we go!
Cheers!
Advanced chapters on my pat_reon page! Depending on the tier, you could get up to chapter 21 of Marionette of Suna along with the first chapter of The Dark Swordsman.
P_atr_eon.com/TeemVizzle
(Remove the spaces)
Trivia: What is the biggest What If in Naruto that you wanted to see? (Alive Minato, Uzumaki didn't get killed off, Itachi choosing the clan, etc)
Shoutout to FadingIce1 Playz and Aaron Ray for being my loyal Patrons!!
-4199 words-
{Start of Crisis Affliction Arc}
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[Year 51, Sunagakure]
The sounds of wood clashing could be heard as two wooden puppets could be seen clashing against each other in a small clearing.
The puppets were humanoid with no distinguishing features as they were created simply for practice dummies for budding puppeteers to use when they started to learn the art of puppetry.
Right now, Sasori Matsuri was having the time of his life.
After all, his precious nii-san is taking time out of his busy schedule to finally train him. It's been a year since his brother (technically, he was his uncle but who cares. Brother Souei is much better) kicked everyone's butt in the Chunin Exams.
His brother and his two teammates were promoted to Chunin as soon as they returned back to the village. He didn't really know the details but apparently the Kazekage heaped praises on them for being the first team to become Chunin at the age of 12.
And isn't that incredible?! From what Sasori understands, people don't usually make Chunin until they're like 15 or something. That's three years earlier than they should be.
Sasori himself was still in the academy. Even though he was only 6, his skills are growing at a pretty good pace.
Right now though, he had to focus as he swiped his little hands to the right to dodge an attack by his opponent's puppet. The difference in skill was pretty obvious though, Sasori's movements on his puppet were still stiff and awkward while Souei's were filled with grace and fluidity.
This was later proved when Souei's puppet managed to dropkick Sasori's to the ground. In one fluid movement, his older brother directed his puppet to reach Sasori's side and tap him on the head.
Acknowledging his loss, Sasori immediately dispelled the chakra strings from his fingers before he pouted.
"Looks like it's my win again." Souei chuckled amusedly.
"Whatever. I'll get you next time!" Sasori exclaimed excitedly
"Sure you will." Souei snorted. "Now come on, I have a mission soon and I should get ready."
The duo then turned and made their way back to the Matsuri Clan Compound. They walked and talked as they quickly reached their front door and promptly walked in.
However, as soon as they entered the living room. They could see Grandpa Ebizo consoling a crying Grandma Chiyo by the couch.
"W-What's going on?" Sasori asked anxiously.
Souei himself looked with narrowed eyes as he could see that their appearance made both elders jump in their seats.
Chiyo's tear filled eyes immediately widened as she quickly wiped them away before approaching her grandson.
"Oh Sasori, I'm so sorry…" She said in a soft voice as she hugged him.
"...It's about your parents, Sasori. I'm so sorry but they didn't make it back from their last mission." Ebizo said as his voice shook, obviously trying to hold strong in front of his family.
Sasori and Souei's eyes widened in shock as they heard that news. Sasori himself looked like someone punched him in the gut as tears appeared on the edge of his vision.
"W-what? M-mom and dad?"
His arms slowly circled around Chiyo as held on for dear life. Silent sobs then turned to the wails of a desperate child, hoping for his parents to come home, but knowing it was futile.
"Who did it?" The cold voice of Souei Matsuri reached the occupants of the room. Seeing his usually cheerful nephew act this way brought forth a surge of emotions he never realized he was capable of.
Ebizo of course noticed this and knows how dangerous it was for them to act out in anger. But despite his heart saying otherwise, he answered. "It was Sakumo Hatake. The White Fang of Konoha."
"I see." Souei said quietly before reluctantly turning around to leave the room. "I want nothing else but to stay here and help Sasori through this, but the Kazekage gave me an important mission. I have to go."
"Don't worry. We'll all be here by the time you get back. But Souei, please make sure you return to us."
"...Of course I will."
— Marionette of Suna —
A few days had passed since he left for his mission. Souei recently found himself lounging around the roof of a caravan. His mission involved a High B-rank mission involving the protection of a high ranking official from the daimyo office.
The man was heading to the Land of Vegetables to try and engage a working relationship between both countries. The Land of Wind would provide them with rare minerals while the Land of Vegetables would provide fresh crops and agricultural products.
He could still remember the Kazekage being adamant this mission not end in failure. Sunagakure usually receives their import of food and fresh products from the Land of Fire. This is because the Land of Wind's climate just isn't fit for farms. Sure we have our own foods that can grow in the harsh deserts, but it's nowhere near enough.
With the rumors of war taking place soon, Suna needs to have their own source of food and grains that aren't from their potential enemies.
The daimyo and the Kazekage had decided we would open trade routes with the Land of Vegetables. And so Souei was whisked away in this bodyguard mission by Ryushi. The official himself was pretty excited to get the champion of the Chunin Exams as his bodyguard, as he was among the few to accompany the Daimyo in watching the event a year ago.
The convoy to the Land of Vegetables was a decent sized group. There were 3 caravans each bringing their own group of people. The first one was filled with 3 people who served as servants and escorts. The second one had the official himself, while the last one belonged to the Daimyo's personal guards, who brought their own forces as precaution.
There were 4 of them, each one Souei ranked as around low to mid Chunin level in strength. Pretty decent, but not enough. Souei wonders why such an important mission like this only has such low level guards protecting it. Sure he's here but still.
A few hours passed by that Souei spent laying down on the roof of the caravan with his thoughts centered towards Sasori. 'I wonder if he's okay…'
Souei then clenched his fists as he thought of the man responsible for the pain his family has suffered. 'The White Fang of Konoha, eh?'
The sudden stop of the carriage got his attention, as they weren't scheduled for a break for the next 3 hours.
He got up and looked to the front. Ahead of them, the path was blocked by an uprooted tree. Souei stayed put on the roof on the middle caravan, already a decent amount of what could only be bandits circled around the convoy. He could see the coachman of each carriage shaking in fear as their hands shook while the clutches to the horses.
From the back caravan, the 4 daimyo guards immediately exited as they all brandished their weapons against the bandits.
One of the bandits that Souei assumes to be the leader took a step forward as he grinned maliciously. He was a large man with visibles muscles covering his entire body. His head was shaved as he held an axe in his hand. "Well lookie here! Now you people look like you got some good coin on ya! How about sharing some with us eh?"
That was the moment the official himself, Zori, exited his carriage and confronted the bandit. "You got some nerve disrupting a convoy from the Daimyo Office! I'll have your head hanged for this!" He declared, getting wide eyes from the bandits.
"Woah woah, back up. You're saying you lot are with the Daimyo?" he blinked owlishly before his grin grew wider. "How perfect! That means he'd probably pay good money to have you back right?!"
Zori looked taken aback at that. His face paled as his fear was shown.
Souei however, had already tuned them out as he took a mental count of all the bandits in the area.
'Around 20 of them. From the looks of it, they're just run of the mill thugs with no formal training.'
Souei smirked. This was going to be easy. 'Hmm, maybe I should take this chance to try out something I've been working on.'
He refocused back on the conversation only to see the bandit leader rush towards Zori with his axe raised. It looks like he'll be able to reach him before the other guards could do anything.
"Now that won't do."
To everyone's surprise, the large man was suddenly stopped in his tracks. He looked shocked as his eyes darted, trying to find the cause of his immobility.
"That was pretty rude of you to ignore me y'know? And that's my client you're trying to kill." Souei's voice cut through as everyone there looked to his direction.
He was sitting on top of the middle carriage, legs crossed and he laid his head on a palm in a bored manner.
"S-Shinobi?!"
"Yep, you got it in one. You didn't think an official client from the Daimyo Office wouldn't have any competent guards, did you?"
The bandit leader panicked and immediately ordered his men. "K-Kill him! He's just a kid!"
Although they slightly hesitated, the group of bandits immediately charged forward. Zori, the official, rushed back to the safe confines of his carriage the moment he saw this. "P-protect me! Please!"
Souei said nothing as he immediately stood up, strings conjured from his fingers connected to every single bandit in the area.
"What is this?!"
"I can't move."
"Hehehe, now then…" Souei had a concentrated look on his face as he started moving his fingers in an intricate manner.
Suddenly, the bandit leader slowly raised his axe, before he swung it sideways, cutting one of his subordinates in half.
On the other side, one bandit raised his blade before he stabbed his friend beside him.
Another bandit, who had a relatively large stature, simply grabbed two of his colleagues before he started choking them.
"W-What is this?! What's going on?!"
Under the shocked gaze of the official and his escorts, every single bandit started killing each other.
Screams of pain could be heard as the massacre started. Souei simply had a blank look on his face as it all happened.
After what felt like hours, the ground was covered in red as corpses littered the field around them. The Bandit Leader was the only one left standing, with him panting in exhaustion and sweat and blood pooling around him.
Souei released his control as the large man fell to the ground unceremoniously, akin to a puppet whose strings have been cut. He laid there in the ground, physically and mentally broken as he looked up to see Souei standing above him.
"P-Please. Have mercy." The bandit leader cried. Snot and tears dirtying his face as he sobbed.
Souei just looked on before he turned around and left. A wave of his hand was all it took for strings to appear and lift the tree that blocked their path away.
He jumped back onto the roof of the middle caravan, before he laid back down with his hands behind his head. "Let's go."
Zuri, who was still in a state of shock, immediately snapped back into attention. "O-Of course!"
He then gestured for everyone to start moving as they gingerly move past the dead bodies and away towards their original destination, leaving the sobbing man by himself.
— Marionette of Suna —
"May I ask you a question?"
Zuri asked him as they sat by the fire. It's been a few hours since the encounter with bandits and the convoy has stopped to rest for the day. They were half a day away from the border to the Land of Vegetables and decided they'd continue the journey in the morning. They camped close to a river and Souei found himself in the company of the official.
Looking at the man, Souei finally took the chance to study his features. Zuri was a man in his mid 50's, with slightly graying hair. He had a goatee and tan skin that contrasted to his bright yellow suit.
"What is it?"
"Why did you spare that man from before? If I understood correctly, he was the leader." The man asked with a curious tone.
"He asked for mercy and I gave it to him, that was all there is to it." Souei said in a quiet tone. "Besides, someone had to bury the corpses."
Zuri frowned at the answer as he looked at the Shinobi that was assigned as his bodyguard. He was barely older than his own son, and he was already doing something like massacring 20 people in cold blood.
What a messed up world they live in.
He then remembered the first part of the answer and smiled. 'Perhaps not as cold as I thought.'
"Nevertheless, I thank you. You saved me and the entire convoy and for that, you have my gratitude."
Souei just smirked. "Anytime, oldman."
.
.
.
It was four days later that they found themselves in another situation. Souei was in his usual spot on top of the middle carriage before a sudden chill ran down his back. He immediately got up and scanned their surroundings, just trees and a small clearing ahead.
However, something was obviously wrong or else his instincts won't be screaming at him like this. He continued to look around him to find anything out of the ordinary.
Something red crossed his vision and his eyes widened as he saw an explosion tag attached to a tree beside them. A quick scan told him that every tree around them had tags planted on them.
Souei was about to warn the guards, only for the tags to suddenly glow bright as they were activated.
'No time!'
Deciding that he and Zuri's lives took priority, Souei resolved himself as he crossed his arms and created a cocoon of solid string that surrounded the middle carriage.
He tensed himself in preparation as a bright explosion could be seen through the small gaps from the string cocoon. Souei pumped more chakra to his strings to make sure they held as the shockwave nearly knocked him down.
After the explosion passed, he released the cocoon. Immediately he could see both carriages in front and behind him to be nothing more than charred blackened pieces of wood with no survivors.
Souei growled at that. He had gotten the chance to know each and every single person that traveled with him in this journey and now they were all dead.
"Good god…"
Zuri took this chance to exit his carriage and expressed his disbelief at the scenery that greeted him. He clenched his fists before letting it go in his powerlessness.
"Souei, what can-"
He asked only to stop as Souei raised an arm in the universal sign to wait.
Suddenly, a group of people flickered in towards their position. They had blank masks and wore cloaks that hide their body underneath.
"Who the hell are you?"
Souei questioned as his eyes were blazing in fury. Again and again, death encompasses those around him. First his cousins, and now them. Hari, Jojo, Kanto, and Mayuri, the four guards. Mirai, Hotetsu, and Kari the servants. Even the coachmen weren't spared. These people weren't ninjas. They were just innocent civilians.
He clenched his fists tight as he could barely hold back his anger. Seeing the masked people in front of him not answering his question, he pointed a palm towards Zuri.
"Sorry old man, but I'll have to focus. Just wait up and this'll be over soon." He said to him as he created another cocoon smaller in size to the previous one with Zuri inside.
"No wait!"
Souei just ignored him as the 6 Shinobi in front of him took stances to prepare for the fight. Not knowing what they could do, Souei opted to be more cautious.
Two of the masked men immediately dashed towards him with a kunai in hand. They kept going forwards, only to suddenly lose their momentum as they got bisected, pieces of their flesh falling to the ground in a soft thud.
Souei simply glanced at the remains of his two opponents before his eyes gazed back at the 4 remaining masked shinobi who were visibly surprised at the fate of their 2 comrades.
Souei mentally pat himself on the back. It was an idea he had after the Chunin Exams where he was forced to fight 2 fast opponents. By silently conjuring strings in between him and his opponents, anyone who dashed at high speeds towards him would find themselves an untimely death. After all, he could create strings so thin it was nearly impossible to see with the naked eye.
One of his opponents must have noticed something as he signaled his allies and immediately one of them did quick hand signs and burst out a thin stream of fire towards him.
The strings he put between them caught fire almost immediately and Souei had to quickly conjure up an earth wall to defend himself against the flames.
Knowing the strings are now gone, 2 of his opponents immediately dashed out from the sides of the wall while the other two appeared on top of said wall peering down at him.
Not wanting to participate in a 1v4 fight, Souei immediately evened the odds as 3 string clones appeared behind him and rushed their individual targets.
The real Souei however singled out the one from the group that seemed to be the leader. Strings pulled him up as he shoulder checked his opponent off the wall.
His body then twisted mid air as it now rushed the now still flying opponent. Souei quickly appeared above said assumed leader of the masked ninjas before lifting his leg up and hammering it down on his opponent's shoulder, driving him back into the ground.
Souei didn't slow down as he continued to summon strings to jump off of and launched himself towards the now downed ninja.
He slammed his knee into the ninja's chest. He felt the ninja's ribs shatter upon impact and organs ripping apart. He pulled his knee from the dead shinobi's chest with a sickening squelch.
He looked away towards the three remaining masked ninja, only to see two of them already done dispatching his string clones with only one remaining left. His last clone on his last legs as it tried to fight off against three ninja at the same time.
Souei simply raised one hand into a half ram seal. The thing about string clones are that they work pretty differently to a regular standard clone. The first being they require direct control by the user, which means that Souei himself had to individually manipulate the movement of the string clones for them to move. The more clones there are, the harder to control, the less fluid their movements become. However, the plus sides involve them being much more durable than standard clones. Unlike water clones that are only a tenth the user strength or shadow clones that dispel after one hit, string clones can take a lot of damage before they crumble back to regular strings.
And of course, last but not least, Souei's favorite application of them.
"String Clone: Combustion."
Similar to how the string grenades could explode into sharp shrapnel, the clones could do the same thing.
The result, of course, being that all three shinobi found themselves mutilated beyond recognition.
"Ughhhh."
Except one apparently.
Souei immediately found the one moaning in pain, he managed to luck out by only getting one of his arms cut off below the elbow and his leg from above the knee.
Seeing this as an opportunity, Souei tried his best to keep the man from dying. At first he contemplated on heating up his injuries so he could cauterize them, but that would undoubtedly be painful and the man would probably fall unconscious from the pain. Which won't do since he's pretty pressed for time.
'I got an idea but I have no idea if this is going to work. Well whatever, here goes…'
Finding sudden inspiration, Souei tried his best to use his strings to patch up his injuries and stitch the holes in his body. The result was crude work at best and was definitely only a temporary fix, but it opens up a lot of opportunities for on-the-spot treatment if he practices it more.
'I should consult Auntie and Rukia about this. Maybe even get a lesson or two from them on how to stitch properly.'
Souei puts a mental reminder to do just that as soon as he gets back to the village. Now though, he's got work to do.
He summoned strings that pulled the groaning ninja up before he held him in a starfish like position with both hands in the air and his legs open to the side. His body was tilted forwards with his head on the same height as Souei's. Souei then stepped forward and took off the ninja's mask.
Facing him was a man in his mid 20s with blonde hair and teal eyes.
"Talk. Who do you work for?" Souei questioned.
The man simply stared as Souei defiantly, his eyes practically challenging him.
Souei pulled on one of the strings, the strings on his wrists and ankles becoming tighter as a result and starting to cut into his skin.
The man's eyebrows slightly twitched as he fought through the pain. Souei assumed he must've gone through torture training if a twitch was all he got from that.
Not knowing what else to do, Souei simply frowned before pulling the string even further. The strings tightened even more as blood can now be seen flowing from his wrists to his arms and droplets of blood leak from his ankles. Souei made sure however to not pull enough that the wrists and ankles get cut off.
He could see the man's face scrunched up in response to the pain. His jaw tensed as Souei gave it a few more seconds before he let go of the string and let it loosen.
The ninja's entire body immediately slacked as he panted in quick breaths.
"Had enough?"
The man looked to Souei in fear before he nodded tiredly. He opened his mouth to speak only for his body to suddenly lock in place. The man's eyes were wide in panic as the paralysis took over and he found himself unable to move. It didn't take long for him to suddenly shake uncontrollably. Souei, not knowing what was going on, immediately cut off his strings and grabbed the body out of the air as he laid him on the ground.
His torture victim was convulsing and blood leaked out of his mouth and eyes. The man's body suddenly jerked upwards before dropping to the ground, clearly dead with his eyes and mouth wide open.
Souei was confused by all this. That was when a strange marking caught his eye and Souei opened the corpse's mouth and pulled on his tongue. Right there, engraved on the back of the tongue was a strange seal that was quickly disappearing. Souei made sure to remember the design as the seal was completely wiped from the man's body.
Souei then stood back up. His eyes gazed towards the remains of the other masked ninja nearby and then towards the broken and charred caravan. He then looked back down towards his latest torture victim, whose cause of death remains a mystery.
'What the hell is going on?'
————————————————————————————————————————————————
The plot thickens mueheheheh.
I also apologize for the late chapter. It took a while to organize the plans for this arc, but now everything is dandy. The short hiatus is over and I should be back to posting pretty regularly.
Anyways, I'm pretty sure everyone already knows who exactly the masked ninja were. After all, at this point in time, Root was a VERY active organization and Danzo was very busy orchestrating a lot of things from behind the scenes.
I looked it up in the wiki and Danzo was responsible for a lot of the crazy stuff that happened pre-canon. I hoped to utilize that and make him scheme out a lot of dark things for the MC to eventually run into.
Writing the torture scene was pretty fun. And so was the forcing-your-enemies-to-kill-one-another type move. Been planning that one for a while now.
In other news, this is the start of the Crisis Affliction arc. We're starting things off with a small mission that will probably last a couple of chapters before we head towards the bigger stuff, aka The Second Shinobi War.
Advanced chapters on my pat_reon page! Depending on the tier, you could get up to chapter 22 along with a few other benefits. I've also got 3 chapters for The Dark Swordsman if you're interested
P_atr_eon.com/TeemVizzle
(Remove the spaces)
Anyway, that's all from me.
Cheers!
Trivia: How important of a character is Danzo to the series as a whole?
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