All new readers, welcome. All readers who came here after reading Seal Master, welcome back! Yes, I know I took longer than expected and I'm sorry. Circumstances were unavoidable. As most of you know, this is a redo of Seal Master. Hopefully, this version will be better. This story is mostly OC-centric so be warned.
Rei Hagane (The Red Flash)
Village of Origin: Otogakure
Wanted By: Konoha, for theft of Yamanaka clan scrolls
Overveiw:
Rei Hagane can be a challenging enemy to most jounin who cannot keep up with his speed. Although incapable of hitting hard, Rei uses his array of jutsu to confuse his opponent and finish them off by chipping away slowly at their armor. It is nearly impossible to track his movements when he uses his jutsu Red Lightning. The only way to stop him is to trap him using Wind jutsu to destabilize his Red Lightning, and hit him hard. Although talented at genjutsu, he does not use it extensively, preferring to use it as a trump card. Incapacitating his hands is useless against stopping his ninjutsu as he already has lost one hand and performs his jutsu without seals.
Stats:
Ninjutsu: 3 (5 when using Sealing Techniques)
Genjutsu: 5
Taijutsu: 3
Intelligence: 5
Strength: 3
Speed: 3 (5 when using Red Lightning )
Stamina: 3
Handseals: 5
Total: 30 (max 34)
Rank: A
-The Konoha Bingo Book (16 years post Kyuubi attack)
-Uzumaki-
Kushina Uzumaki ran away from her parents, who waved at her. Her response was a raspberry, and childish laughter. Both parents shook their heads fondly, used to their rambunctious child's antics.
Ducking and weaving through the crowds, Kushina made her way through the busy streets of Ushiogakure, until she reached the empty grounds where she normally met up with her playmate. Scanning the grounds, she found that he hadn't reached there yet, and so she settled on lying down on the grass and staring at the clouds.
That one looks like a rabbit. She mused to herself. And that one looks like a cat. And that one looks like Okaa-san's scarf! And so, she amused herself by drawing pictures in the clouds, painting them with her vivid imagination. She spent quite some time telling herself stories as to why the rabbit stole her mother's scarf from the cat, until her view was impeded by childish face, with a thick mop of messy red hair, characteristic to Uzumaki members.
"What'cha doin' Kushina-chan?" the 4-year old asked, his brown eyes shining in glee.
Kushina gave a squeal of delight as she sat up to greet her younger cousin loudly.
"Rei!"
-Uzumaki-
Kushina watched with wonder, as she beheld her cousin spar with his mother. Kairi Uzumaki, was in no way weak. In fact, many people went on to say that she was actually on par with Tousen Uzumaki, the leader of Ushiogakure. Of course, she was holding back against her son, if she didn't, the child would have been a smear on the ground by now. But Rei was handling himself extremely well.
A stream of ink rushed at the eight year old, who, to his credit, did not panic. Going through his handseals, he pushed his hands out, causing three tiny rocks to be conjured out of thin air. Said rocks pelted the stream of ink, forcing it to lose its shape, and splattering to the ground. The child blinked in astonishment, obviously astounded by the fact that his plan actually worked, before breaking into a radiant grin. His mother gave him a soft smile of acknowledgement. Rei turned to beam at Kushina.
And she couldn't help beaming back.
-Uzumaki-
"Rei, promise me that you'll always be my friend."
"Promise."
-Uzumaki-
She was eleven now, he was ten, and now the war forced them to go their separate ways. Kumo was at their doorstep, threatening destruction if Ushiogakure didn't return their blood. It was now too dangerous for Kushina to remain in the village, and so, she and her mother were being sent to Konoha to be kept safe.
She hugged Rei tighter, not willing to let her closest friend, her family go. Rei hugged her back, struggling to keep the tears in.
"Kushina..."
"Promise me. Promise me you will stay alive. No matter what happens, you will stay alive and come back to me."
Rei stayed quiet for a moment, struggling with himself, until he finally pulled back from Kushina and looked her in the eyes.
"I promise."
-Uzumaki-
"Rei-kun."
Rei, went down on one knee and lowered his head. There was no need for him to do so. Tousen had said specifically that he did not want the respect. All he wanted was to protect his village. But Rei's respect for the man ran too deep for him not to bow in his presence.
"Uzumaki-sama."
The fight was difficult, lasting nearly a month. Countless bodies of Kumo ninja littered the battlefield. Even more Ushiogakure corpses lay there.
During the battle, Rei had gained quite a name for himself. He and his father formed a formidable battle team. Both went out into battle, their heads held high. Their signature justu, the Raigan, caused the sharp blade-like rocks to cut through every enemy they faced. They stood together, back to back, as the storm of rock knives flew around them piercing their enemies' bodies. Those who did manage to get through were finished off by the father's sealing techniques and the son's illusions.
Tousen gave an exasperated smile.
"Rei, we are family. You can refer to me by my first name."
Rei said nothing. Sighing, Tousen went on, his features hardening, a sure sign that bad news was to come. "Rei, our forces are being pushed back. We are being defeated."
Rei did not respond.
"When Kumo finally beats us, they will take everything of use, and destroy everything else."
No response.
"That is why the elders and I have decided to seal away all our relics in the bowels of Ushiogakure. Heavy seals will be placed in front of them. No one will manage to get past them. In the eventuality that someone does get to them, we need a guardian to protect them."
Rei was unmoving.
"Will you take the responsibility of being the protector of our legacy?"
Finally, Rei spoke.
"I will."
-Uzumaki-
The war ended. Ushiogakure was burnt to the ground.
Kushina never did see Rei again.
-Uzumaki-
Orochimaru ran through the tunnels, Kakashi hot on his heels. Orochimaru knew all about the variety of traps the tunnels had. The Uzumaki were famed for their skills in the sealing arts. One would be hard-pressed to survive in an area filled with Uzumaki seals, designed to kill you. Not even the Kumo army that tried raiding the catacombs could pass through.
The Uzumaki skills were a force to be reckoned with. But nothing could stop Orochimaru. All he wished was that the traps would take care of the annoyance behind him.
As he ran through the tunnels, he stepped on a seal. The kanji below his feet glowed for a moment before vanishing again. Orochimaru kept his gaze forward, wary of any traps that would strike him.
His senses tingled, he felt a pulse of chakra activate ahead. He skidded to a halt, just as a few blade-like rocks pierced the ground where he would have been, had he not stopped. Orochimaru idly noted that the rocks had been sharpened with electric chakra. Dual nature jutsu seals? But he did not ponder further as he ducked below Kakashi's lunge.
The white haired man rolled to feet as he touched the ground, and immediately jumped out of the way to avoid another barrage of rock-blades. As they two Konoha ninja glared at each other, they kept their sense peeled for any sign of the third attacker.
A muffled thump was heard to Orochimaru's right.
Immediately both ninja threw their kunai in that direction. Another thump indicated that the hidden assailant had dodged, but they didn't react to that. Instead they threw themselves at each other, seeing that their opponent was open after the throw. Orochimaru parried each blow, and in turn got each of his own blows parried before they were forced to jump apart to dodge another volley of the rock-blades.
Orochimaru landed on his feet, and narrowly blocked the figure that attacked him. He only saw a flash of red before he heard the distinct sound of chirping. He twisted his body away to dodge the Chidori, and was promptly attacked by another set of rock-blades. Jumping out of the way, Orochimaru finally caught a glance of his assailant.
He was short, maybe eleven or twelve, his features twisted into a determined scowl, that Orochimaru thought was endearing as the boys eyes flickered between Kakashi and himself. The boy was in a defensive stance, one eye out for the white-haired man crouching a few feet away, one on the snake sage.
They had found themselves in the middle of a three-way-standoff.
And Orochimaru was enjoying every moment of it.
-Uzumaki-
Orochimaru gave a triumphant smirk as he watched the struggling form of the child. The boy was shaking, his legs quivering from the effort it took to stand. Kakashi was busy struggling against the snakes that was wrapped around him. Sadly, they were non-poisonous and normally finished off their victims by strangling them.
The boy scowled determinedly as the black marks receded down his face and arms. Orochimaru raised an eyebrow at this. He already figured out that the marks were a by-product of a technique that allowed the child to use pure nature chakra. Orochimaru knew of a clan which specialized in using snake sage chakra, but what he was witnessing was one of a kind.
The boy was using pure nature chakra. Not the kind of chakra one gained the use of when one was with a summon. This was the pure nature chakra which wasn't modified with the help of a summon. Each summon modified the nature chakra you received to help you perform specific tasks. Snakes used it to allow more flexibility and body modification. Frogs used it to help you leap amazing distances. But the chakra the child was using gave him a pure power boost. If he could master its usage, he would never need a summon to augment his abilities. Even without mastery, this gave him an enourmous power boost, second only to jinchuuriki using their bijuu. This was truly an amazing find.
The child never let his eyes leave Orochimaru, always watchful of the man. Orochimaru stayed put, calmly smiling at the boy. Finally, when the boy had recovered enough, he burst forward with a punch, which was avoided by Orochimaru with a simple sideways tilt of his body. A flurry of attacks was thrown, but Orochimaru sidestepped and dodged each of them, until he grew tired of the game. When the boy aimed a kick straight for Orochimaru's head, the man blocked it with his forearm. From behind his collar, a snake shot out, wrapping around the leg and dangled the boy before Orochimaru, who grinned perversely at his capture.
The boy wasted no time, his hands going into a single handseal and blew straight at the snake sage's face. Dust, with sparks of electricity charging the air around it, billowed out and flew straight into Orochimaru's face. With a cry, Orochimaru staggered back, letting go of the boy who flipped backward and another hand-seal later, five rock-blades were protruding from Orochimaru's gut.
More would have pierced had a giant snake not coiled around him protectively, taking the hits from a dozens of rock-knives that embedded themselves in the snakes hide.
Orochimaru snarled as he caressed his injury. The boy wanted to play rough, didn't he?
When the snake disappeared with a puff of smoke, Orochimaru was revealed, holding the famed Kusanagi in his hands.
-Uzumaki-
"Sasori-san, could you please make a prosthetic arm for me?"
"You're bleeding."
"Oh, that? It is of no consequence. My latest capture put on quite a fight. Quite an impressive ninja. He forced me to use excessive force, and hence the arm. After I am done studying that wonderful seal which allows him to use pure nature chakra, he will make a good addition to my personal squadron of elite ninja."
"You do realize that even with the prosthetic, he will never be able to use double handed ninjutsu again."
"He is an Uzumaki, I'm sure he will figure something out."
-Uzumaki-
Years in the servitude of Orochimaru had given Rei a thirst for knowledge like his master, although he never really excelled in gleaning secrets from dead bodies like Orochimaru and his protege, Kabuto. Rather, he excelled in the field of genjutsu and sealing, looking at the two not as a vast array of techniques and skills to be memorized, but rather as simple systems that followed a few underlying rules. With the manupilation of these rules and his keen intellect, he easily rose through the ranks of Orochimaru's subordinates, growing in reputation every day.
His brown eyes never really allowed him to appear threatening to his opponents and so soon they were hidden behind messy red hair that flew in every direction. Not many could claim to knowing about the 'Raigan Uzumaki' and that was how he liked it. He lived a life mostly of solitude, hidden behind stacks of books on genjutsu theory, rarely interacting with his peers, surfacing only to complete the missions Orochimaru sent him. Whenever he was forced to interact with other people, he left them feeling as though they had just been studied through a microscope, each and every secret of theirs revealed.
Even the famed Uchiha, Orochimaru's to-be-body, felt unnerved when he met the 17 year old for the first time. Over the next few years, Rei was followed by narrowed eyes whenever he crossed paths with Sasuke. The Uzumaki ignored the boy obviously not caring of the Uchiha's opinion of him.
He had better stuff to do. Books to read. Missions to complete. Broken promises to mourn.
He tried not to think about Kushina.
So that's a wrap. Hope you people enjoyed it!
Read and Review!
-ProdigyPsycho