Prologue
The full moon hung high in the murky darkness of the sky, a single, luminescent disk that cast an eerie shine down upon the Kaijingakure No Sato. The village had changed, that much was obvious to the young man as he stared down at the community that had once been his home. He stood on air as if it were made of solid material instead of a thin gas that, naturally, would never be able to maintain his weight. "The village has grown" he thought to himself as he pulled his heavy black cloak tighter around his body, making sure to shield himself from the worst of the wind. "The village has grown and so have I" he completed the thought as he clapped his hands together before his fingers began to dance and writhe. His fingers moved about at a dizzying speed, forming complex and rarely seen symbols, handsigns, they had been dubbed by the Shinobi who utilized them. The young man continued his practice of the handsigns until finally, he ended with a sudden clap that echoed off into the night, only to die upon the wind as it picked up suddenly. He had ended the handsigns with his hands clasped together, almost as if he were in prayer; with the palms of his hands touching and his fingers fully extended. But if this was any sort of prayer, it was certainly not to any God. For surely, no God was cruel enough to answer this man's twisted, destructive prayers. Drawing his hands apart, the young man revealed the small, orange ball of flames that danced in the space between his palms, less than an inch from touching them. "Village Hidden in the Ashes, indeed" he whispered and then he drew his arms completely apart, as if welcoming a bear hug from an old friend, and the small, orb of flames dropped down, towards the center of the village. The shock wave came first, rippling forth from the area where the small ball had landed, the force it carried enough to send a man flying past the five hundred meter mark. The heat and flames soon followed. It was horrible. Within an instant, the ball had spread out laterally, it had spread with speed that no human being could ever mimic, Shinobi or not. The flames had reached a maximum height of 20 feet or so, but the speed at which the deadly flames had struck out was horrific, within the bat of an eyelash, the flames had spread out to encompass over 30% of the village, beyond, even, the expectations of the young man who had utilized the jutsu to release the flames. But he was gone, long gone, having left the scene of the crime before the ball had even touched down in the center of the village. He couldn't bare to see the place he had called home for so long destroyed by his own hands. It would simply be too amusing for him to be able to keep the focus necessary for him to run on air.