Ronin floated on the surface of the mountain lake, his webbed feet gently patting against the water. Did he make the right decision? Obviously the Kansei Clan would be outraged by his sudden abandonment. After all, he was a Royal Guard. However, it felt like being a Royal Guard didn't affect their decision to hunt him down. They'd do the same to anybody else who abandoned the clan, even for some second-rate fighter. It wasn't about position... it was about action and reaction. The greninja leaned backwards and dove down into the deep water until he reached the bottom, only the sound of his steady heartbeat to keep him in time with his surroundings. Had his own pulse not swam through his head, Ronin would lose himself in a timeless meditation until he eventually faded for lack of oxygen.

It seemed a little bit harsh, hunting down family because they left. That was ultimately their decision, their freedom. To be punished for it was straight up immoral and controlling. Their ways were Stalinist and totalitarian. After reaching the soft muck at the bottom of the lake, Ronin looked back up at the soft light that reached him and closed his eyes. The Kansei Clan, "a family of trained warriors devoted to making the world a better place, devoted to unifying helpless villages and underdog clans to create a unified nation." Yeah right.

If only Ronin could stay at the bottom of that lake forever, staring up at the warm light that peaked through a 100 feet of clear water. All his troubles would melt away, the clan forgotten, the conflict dissolved.

But alas, conflict never dissolves.

The warm light that swam through the water turned warmer and warmer, until it seared burning hot. Calm blues and yellows turned into raging reds and oranges that flung through the air like frightened crows. The water, even so far down below, grew warm.

'Oh no...'

Ronin's heart began to pulse faster and harder as he swam upwards. Although it took less than 10 seconds, his ascension back to the top of the water felt like hours. His dread rendered anymore serenity left in his being into ashes as his head breached the surface, breathing in smokey air. The greninja coughed, tears welling up in his eyes as burning trees and grass surrounded him. He could hear screaming as a pidgey fell off of its branch, burning to death.

'No no no."

The water around Ronin was nearly too hot to bear. Everything was burning down. It all went south so quickly... but how!?

"Foolish." Ronin's breath caught when he heard the voice. A familiar voice... one he hated so much. He turned to see a red and yellow figure, glaring down at him from the rocks. A blaziken, draped in a dark purple cloak.

Ronin gritted his teeth, his throat vibrating very subtly. "Shuichi."

"You shouldn't have left the clan," the assassin said, jumping down into the circle of ash-ridden vegetation created by his fires. "You knew they would send me to persuade you."

"Persuade me!?" Ronin hissed, motioning to the destruction as he moved out of the water, mere feet away from Shuichi. "YOU CALL THIS PERSUASION!?"

The dark blaziken just swept his hand to the side nonchalantly. "Unfortunate casualties."

"You sick fuck..." The enraged greninja stretched his hand to the lake. Its clear strands of water twirled around as ribbons, thinning and sharpening into a blade of water. Ronin grasped the weapon of water and pointed it towards Shuichi. "You're belligerent, arrogant, and absolutely FUCKED UP... You aren't fit to be a Kansei Assassin."

Shuichi's stoic expression refused to move. "I eliminate my targets. That's all that matters."

"Like I said, you're arrogant," Ronin growled, launching right into Shuichi, his sword pointed at his opponent's core. He was done talking. If the Kansei Clan planned to make an example of him, Ronin was going to make damn sure that they'd regret their decision. Ronin would cut each one of them down. Shuichi was no different. Their attack on peace will stop, and Ronin will behead anyone who stands in his way until he forces their surrender. Period.

Unfortunately, Shuichi was prepared for resistance. He sidestepped the attempted stab and slammed his fist right into the center of Ronin's chest, dispersing his weapon. With an exasperated grunt, Ronin gripped Shuichi's wrist and pulled, whipping his body around to land a solid heel kick on the blaziken's head. Should he land the hit successfully, Ronin would continue to motion and crush Shuichi's head into the ground. At least that was the plan, but Shuichi was too quick. Even though he landed the hit on the back of Shuichi's head, Ronin soon fell victim to the same trick he used. Shuichi grabbed Ronin's ankle from behind his head and flung him against an ashen tree. The force of the impact nearly broke his back, and forced him into a ball on the ground.

Ronin choked, his breath caught up in his throat. Shuichi was just too effective against him. Although Ronin had the element advantage against Shuichi's fire, the blaziken's fighting ability far surpassed his own. It was only a matter of time before Ronin ran out of stamina and suffered an execution by the hands of the Kansei Clan. If he was going to survive this encounter, he'd have to play his elemental advantage as strong as possible, but how?

Ronin had no time to react as Shuichi sprinted towards him and stomped at his head. With the blaziken's foot only a fraction of an inch away from his head, the former Royal Guard spun his legs and pushed off the ground, hitting Shuichi square in the jaw. With that quick dazing moment giving him the opening he needed, Ronin steadied himself and hurled two water shurikens right into Shuichi's chest. One sliced through the right side of his abdomen, but the other missed entirely and trailed off into a group of bushes.

"Dammit," Ronin cursed. One hit wasn't going to win him this fight. He prepared another flurry of water shurikens, but Shuichi had his solution prepared much sooner: a powerful Blast Burn. The flurry of flames encased the greninja, evaporating his water and burning through his leather armor. Ronin howled in pain as the flames died down, but the singeing remained, his skin cooking and burning. Shuichi immediately retaliated and launched a focused strike right into Ronin's abdomen.

To Ronin, it felt like the punch was going to break right through him. He could hear his spine bend and pop, nearly breaking in half, and his stomach? His intestines? Mush. Everything slammed up against Ronin's back, sending him to his knees to dry-heave until he threw up what seemed like a gallon of blood.

There was no getting up after that hit. Ronin was beaten into a pulp. He couldn't even speak out to scream in agony. Only his eyes, widening in pain, showed the strike's true damage... The fight was over, and Shuichi was the one left standing. He glared down at Ronin's blood-ridden face, holding the cut on the side of his belly.

"Pathetic," Shuichi spat. "To think you used to be a Royal Guard." Had he the voice or the breath, Ronin would spit at Shuichi, but the only energy he had left allowed him to continue spitting blood out until he could breathe. Shuichi stood up tall and reached to the sheath against the small of his back, pulling out a small assassin's blade. "I'll cut out that ridiculous tongue of yours and hang you with- aaAGGH!" The blaziken dropped his blade and collapsed to the floor, holding his head.

Ronin coughed out another batch of blood before finally being able to breathe again. "What the..?" What was happening to Shuichi? Third party intervention? Whatever it was, it was giving him one last chance... a perfect chance to end this. With Shuichi's blade right there, and him incapacitated with his head in his hands, Ronin could kill the Kansei Clan's prodigy assassin. He could send a message... if only he could move... The pain in his abdomen was still too much to bear. Even staying still hurt... But this was his last chance...

With gritted teeth, the greninja moved one leg forward, then another. The pain in his stomach made him want to hurl again... but he couldn't afford to stop. Ronin reached a hand out and grasped the handle of the assassin blade. He was halfway there... Almost there... Ronin gripped the hilt in his hands and pointed the blade down, one hand still supporting him on the ground.

Sllice...

Shuichi's groaning went silent as his own blade severed the artery in his neck... but he wasn't dead yet. Ronin knew that. The greninja pulled the blade out to let Shuichi's blood stain his own fur, but didn't drop the blade. Instead, he re-positioned it above Shuichi's spinal cord. "Burn in hell..." Ronin thrust the knife down into Shuichi's neck, severing his brain from the rest of his body. The blaziken seized his movements and went still, his eyes wide open, his expression frozen in the surprise present right before his demise.

Ronin released the blade and fell to the side. It was done... The message was sent. As his vision faded, colorful blotches of white, pink, and blue grew to overtake his fading consciousness.