THE STORY OF THE EARTH SAGE OF THE LEAF (a great fantasy-action series)
SEASON 1: A Hero's Path (includes Arcs 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5A; 51 episodes in total; arcs 5b and 6 will be in Season 2: The Past and the Final Clash in the Future)
ARC 1: Maida Uchiha and the Special Sharingan (Episodes 1 - 12)
EPISODE 1: A New Path
He kept on walking. The map he had was damaged by the heavy rain, but he knew that he had been following the correct route. The rain had stopped and every minute that went by made him feel closer to reaching his destination. He had been travelling for days towards "the hidden village among the leaves," better known as "The Leaf" by other ninja alliances.
He had heard about the Third Hokage's deeds. He also knew that The Leaf was the ninja clan that had worked the hardest to maintain peace for their people and for the other clans as well. This had been the case since it was founded by their first leader, Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage. And since then, they had been the ninjas that had come closest to fulfilling the ideal of peace and a war-less life for many of their people—especially for their youngest generation.
His clan and his original village were very different. He was born at the Namikaze Village, one of the small villages that were adjacent to The Clan of the Stone. He and others at his home village became adept users of earth-based techniques, or jutsus, in order to protect themselves during the constant wars of the larger clans. They joined forces with the larger Clan of the Stone, but they still suffered many losses throughout the wars, and the great native village that he remembered from his childhood was now gone—along with most of its people.
Regardless of the losses, the Clan of the Stone was fixated with expansion and foolish rivalries with the other clans, instead of finding a way towards peace, and fighting for it…
He had enough of it. His family and his friends were dead. His brother was lost after a mission, never to be found again. And now, the Clan of the Stone was going to put him and the few others left from the small villages as members of a new Anbu Ninja Division. This was the same as saying that they would be used as disposable assassins for the clan. This wasn't the future that he wanted and it was against the ideals that he desired. He wanted change and peace, and they offered to make him a rogue assassin that would bring forth even more death. Unfortunately, the few other ninjas he knew and everybody else agreed. He was the only one who saw things differently…
One day he decided that he would make his ideals come true. He was still young at 28, so he felt he still had the chance, the time, and the determination to fight for a better future without war and conflicts. He knew he couldn't do it alone though. Then… the new path for him became clear.
He decided to leave his war-thirsty clan to join the Clan of The Leaf, led by the Third Hokage.
He knew many would call him a traitor and even a coward, but it didn't matter, because he also knew that they would not join him to fight for peace. The clan with the closest ideals to his own was the place where he would have the best chance to make them come true. It was also the place where he would be happy…
Two months later, there he was, closer to The Leaf than ever before…
He closed the old map and kept going. Something didn't feel right however. He knew that he should have been intercepted by ninjas, or by undercover Anbu agents from The Leaf, by the time he got there. Such an important place had to be heavily guarded. It surely had a very skilled group of ninjas around its perimeter, even miles in advance. Why was no one there?
Then, he saw it…
It looked like the entrance of a village!
He put away his map and proceeded with caution because he also saw two gatekeepers at that entrance—and there could be many others hidden in the area. He expected no less from a place as famous as The Leaf…
They could think he was a spy, or even some kind of trap, and attack him head on. He was ready for battle, just in case, but his true intention was to join them there without casualties. He removed his orange cape so that they could see he wasn't carrying special weapons or armor. He was concerned though; he had not fought against any ninja from The Leaf before and he was not aware of any special techniques or unique attacks that they could use. He hoped that there would be no confrontations and that talking to them would be enough. He continued walking straight towards them.
The two guards noticed him fairly quickly:
"Hey! You with the orange cape, stop right there!" yelled one, while he took out his two fire knives.
"Identify yourself and don't get any closer!" shouted the other while he unsheathed his katana.
The traveler answered calmly, but loud and clear:
"My name is Jim Namikaze and I have come in peace! I want to join you!"
The stranger left his cape on the floor and dropped his sword to show that he had nothing to hide.
"Namikaze? I haven't heard that last name since the news of the Fourth Hokage's death at The Leaf, after the attack of the Nine-Tails demon fox," whispered the guard in the right to the other one, while he held his katana tight in his hands.
"Are you a rogue ninja!?" yelled the one with the two fire knives, when he realized that the stranger wasn't wearing a bandana with the symbol of any large clan, such as The Leaf (which used a leaf-like symbol to identify their ninjas).
"What are you looking for!?" asked the other guard while looking straight at this stranger, who was less than thirty meters away from them.
"As I said, I want to join The Leaf. I want to join forces with you and I want to stay here to fight for peace, as your clan does. I will do as you say as long as you let me become a ninja from The Leaf. This is my wish. I want to be one of you."
Jim Namikaze's reply was very sincere, but the apparent distrust on the two gatekeepers' faces increased even more when they heard that.
Then, the one that had the sword said something that made Jim realize the mistake on his map:
"The Leaf and its main town, Konoha, are five miles away from here, taking that path over there. Are you sure that you are not lying to us to get closer to this village?!"
The other gatekeeper looked ready for battle with his two fire knives.
Things were starting to get tense.
Then, it happened…
It was like a lighting flash that none of them anticipated.
The real rogue ninjas that had been hiding among the trees made their move!
NEXT- Episode 2: The Ambush