The Pisukage was taking a stroll through the Pisukage Temple, despite the late hours. The Pisukage had never been one to sleep well, or at all to be honest; however, the recent series of storms had made sleep near impossible. The storms always started at exactly nine o' clock, always nine o' clock. 'Why?' asked the Pisukage inwardly, carefully avoiding speaking aloud.
He was always careful not to let the slightest sound escape his lips since he had taken a vow of silence. The Pisukage continued his ponderings as lightning struck and thunder boomed in the background. The thunder was loud, louder than anything he'd heard before, so loud, in fact, it would cause a normal person to jump, but then again he wasn't normal. He had never seen such powerful storms… Well at least not in while... At least not since…
"That's it!" He exclaimed inside his head, being extra careful not to let the slightest peep escape his lips. "They've returned" A wave of fear flooded over him. He felt his heart race and his knees weaken as he continued pondering, "Then that means that these are only the beginning, and that Legion will come back in full force. How could this situation get any worse?" Irony struck.
As soon as he had completed that thought, he heard someone shout "Pisukage!" The Pisukage turned around to see a pale scrawny shinobi awkwardly running to him. "Pisukage! The Nohana is blossoming!"
The Pisukage felt a sharp pain on the right side of his head, "Not these headaches again." He looked up towards the sky and prayed to every deity there ever was or will be, "Why me? Why now? Why them? Now I have to take care of Legion before the tournament. Which we will have to start in a about a month and a half, but last time we battled Legion, it took three months alone to track them."
The Pisukage nodded at the attendant whom gave him a worried glance "You're thinking the same thing aren't you?" asked the attendant. The Kage of the storm-riddled village gave a simple nod. The attendant put up the hand signs of tiger, dragon, and rat, quickly shouting, "Mental Link Jutsu!" The Pisukage gave a slight smirk and proceeded to bring the attendant up-to-date.
"To conclude, I need you to bring me the descendants and the survivor," he ordered. They were only thing standing between this village and total eradication. The return of Legion and the blooming of the Nohana...why did they have to coincide now? Why? "And quickly," he added, "Very quickly."
The attendant nodded, "Right away sir." The Pisukage watched as the scrawny attendant raced to bring the team back to the Pisukage. The Pisukage made his way to his office and sat down at his desk. He began to write letters to notify the other Kages about the tournament. He wrote five letters, each labeled with the symbols of the five major villages. He signed with his own village's mark, a stylized owl. His head pained him again, and he pressed his fingers to his head.
It pained him again, and he took some headache medicine and moved on to other business. He began preparations for the tournament: sleeping arrangements, food supply, rules and regulations, and, worst of all, getting the arena ready again. The attendant and the four members of the team knocked on the door, but the Pisukage was too far gone in his work to hear them.
The attendant took the silence from the room as permission to enter, and lead the team into the room. The five awkwardly stood waiting for the Pisukage to notice them; eventually the attendant cleared his throat nervously to get the Pisukage's attention, "Pisukage, sir." The Pisukage was currently writing his village's name Shizukagakure, "Village Hidden in the Silence", on an official paper.
The Pisukage stopped what he was doing and looked up at the team. The attendant activated the Mental Link Jutsu so the Pisukage could communicate. The Pisukage took a deep breath in and slowly brought the team up to date.
He began with the chuunin, "You three are all sixteen years old, and as you all know from village history sixteen years ago, on the exact day you three were born, the village was the victim of a group of terrorists called Legion. Well, your parents died trying to take Legion down, and they succeeded for the most part… I believe you three are some of the only ones who can help take down Legion for good."
The Pisukage looked at the sensei of the three chuunin, "You are the only survivor of the Legion attack sixteen years ago. You can help put them down for good." He looked at the entire group again, "As you have probably figured out by the way I have been talking, Legion is back; I am assigning you four to track and take down Legion. Be careful; you are going up against a force unlike any other." The special team of four nodded and took off out of the village.
The attendant turned and looked at the Pisukage, "Do you think they will be okay?" He replied with a nod, "Each of them are tougher than all of their parents combined." The attendant sensed the conversation end, and left the Pisukage in peace to work.
The team jumped from rooftop to rooftop attempting to reach the edge of the village as soon as possible. Once at the entrance gate, the team leader looked at his team of three chunin and smiled. He turned to the first one who was wearing a blacksmith apron and a pair of goggles on his forehead. The blacksmith nodded, straightening his goggles. "Your father built my weapons. He was my most trusted friend; I miss him dearly. You have spent a lot of time trying to rebuild your clan, and I applaud you for that. You are one of the most powerful of your clan. Probably the most powerful member of them all; however, this is the force that killed your father. You will need great caution. I need your strength… Your father's strength. Only you have the ability to finish the Legion."
The blacksmith tightened his grip on his Warhammer and rested it on his shoulder. Then ran a hand through his thick red hair. His well-tanned, almost burned, skin glistened in the moonlight. The leader looked into the blacksmith's brown eyes; he gave the kid a smile. "You can count on me, sir" said the blacksmith simply.
The leader then looked at one covered by a long coat, not unlike what the Fourth Hokage wore but only green. The one in the long coat was the last of a group of powerful monks. "You are the last of a powerful order. All of whom died trying to protect this world. I watched as each and every one fell by Legion's hand. They illuminated the way to find legion and... Please be careful. Very powerful men have died doing your job."
The monk drew his bo staff and lifted up his lantern. The monk had symbols drawn all over his body, most of them resembled stars and dragons. A gust of wind blew through the village it ruffled the monk's medium length hair which was tied back into a ponytail. He gave the mentor an understanding look. "As you wish, sensei."
The final member waited for his speech silently. When the leader started to speak he felt a lump in his throat. He was severely choked up thinking about the last member's father, their relationship, and the father's death, "Your father… Your father saved me. I was in a dark place… I was alone on the streets… Your father took me in, helped me become a ninja. He died standing in between me and certain death. You will bring the Legion into view. Your eye is the only thing that can see the true form of Legion and your ninshu will share this power with us."
The last member wore a hood that partially covered up his masked face. There were bandages that were sloppily wrapped in different places around his body. It always reminded their leader of a mummy. The mummy felt his eye tear up at the mention of his father. As long as he could remember, the mummy saw the dead, and he was the only one of the three who knew their father. When he was little the mummy met up with his father every day. The tear began to fall down his face. He slowly wiped it, and grabbed his hooked sword, in the spirit of correctness: khopesh, and his short sword.
Another tear fell down his cheek. These weapons were his father's… He slowly looked at his arms, covered in bandages. He moved his head downward to let his hood hide his face. He didn't reply, as the leader expected. The mummy never even responded verbally to any communication; at best he would reply with an extremely minor nod.
The blacksmith stepped forward. "Sensei, may I ask a question?"
The leader, gave him a smirk, "You just did." The blacksmith was taken aback, not knowing how to respond to his mentor's joke. The mentor never made jokes- ever. He was the epitome of serious.
"May I ask a different question?"
The team leader raised his right eyebrow and chuckled, "Just did."
The victim of the leader's newfound playfulness sighed, "Do you think we're ready? Do you think we'll be okay?" He had his reasons to be unsure if they were truly ready. Even though their entire lives had been preparation for when they would face Legion, it was still a tremendous and dangerous force that even surpassed S-level threats.
"I have faith that you three will be able to stop Legion," he told them, answering only part of the question. The leader knew that all four of them would probably not survive, and with that they took off toward the worst part of the storm.
