Hello everyone! First off, thank you for putting up with me for more than one chapter. Second, I have a note about the setting and characters. Yes, EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER IS ORIGINAL. Yes, the main character is considerably powerful. But no, he is not a self-insert. I can't change your mind through persuasive arguments, but I encourage you to keep on reading. I wish I could have simply jumped into the actual story but really, the main character needs some special introduction. I promise you, though, I will avoid Mary-Sues and cliches every step of the way in an effort to provide you with an enjoyable story. Thanks again for reading!

Eight years had passed since young Junichiro first put his hands together and called forth the chakra his sensei had promised him lay within. Five seals now adorned the right arm of the young Sage-in-training, each a testament to his sufficient mastery of a certain technique. Some came more easily than others, a few taking only three or four months while several seals took years to master. Now only the final seal remained to be mastered.

Junichiro lay in his cot positioned in the corner of the house adjoining Masahiro-Sensei's blood bank. Moonlight filtered in through the window above the boy's cot, streaming over Junichiro's extended arm. The student slowly turned the arm from side to side, examining the five hexagonal seals as he thought about the soon-coming morning. Today Junichiro would be tested by Yami, the final Serpent Sage, and he wasn't very optimistic about his chances. Masahiro-Sensei had been training his student for over three years on this single technique-the two had spent more time on this one technique than any two others combined.

Sometimes the boy wondered why he even continued, but he had continued along the path of knowledge for so long already, it would be a shame to stop now. "Each seal gives you great power, Junichiro," Masahiro had told the boy after he earned his first seal. The Fireball Jutsu was the easiest to learn out of all of them, merely requiring large amounts of chakra rather than any particular level of skill. After only a single month Junichiro could hurl an inferno the size of a large boulder at a tree, scorching and burning wood and bark alike. Kaji the Serpent Sage had touched his scaly nose to Junichiro's arm, branding it with his blessing.

Each time Junichiro mastered a technique he felt a surge of pride, but none more than that first day when he knew that for once in his life he had truly accomplished something extraordinary. Now, looking at his tattooed arm which was filled with almost nine years' worth of memories, Junichiro thought back to that day and forward to the day on which the sixth seal would join the others. Perhaps that very day, perhaps not.

"Can't sleep?" Junichiro looked quickly up at his sensei who had approached as silently as a ghost.

"No, Sensei."

"Understandable. I couldn't sleep on my final day either. Though it certainly didn't take me three years to learn the Shadow Void Jutsu."

Junichiro gave his sensei a sidelong glance. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Sensei."

Masahiro laughed and clapped his student on the back. "Hey, you might as well get up. It's not like you're going to get any more sleep tonight." The boy rose from his bed and made breakfast, chewing the beans and rice slowly by the red light of the stove. After he had finished eating Junichiro changed into his heavy, dark training uniform and confronted his sensei.

"I'm ready, Masahiro-Sensei," Junichiro announced firmly. His stomach was turning with anxiety but outwardly the boy showed no signs of emotion as he had been trained.

"Are you?" The old man put down the mug of tea he had been drinking and stood. "Yes, I think you are. Come on then."

Sage and student exited the house and walked silently through the forest behind the blood bank, neither saying a word until they reached a large clearing. Scorched earth and shattered stone lay around the area, testaments to the many hours Junichiro had spent practicing advanced techniques over and over, even after he had mastered them so that his prowess would not fade.

Junichiro's mind wandered back through the years as he noticed a certain tree, a particular rift in the ground, a small pond, each the spot where he had once labored under the hot sun in search of the knowledge of the Sages. Would he succeed today as he had five times already?

The boy stood in the center of the clearing. It was still dark, but the sun was just about to rise. The bottoms of the clouds glowed purple and bathed the area in an ominous pre-dawn shadow, the perfect setting for what was to come.

Masahiro had come to a stop ten feet away from his student. The sage rolled up his right sleeve just a bit, exposing the hexagonal seal planted on the inside of his wrist just below the palm. He pricked his left thumb on a kunai knife and wiped the freshly welling blood onto the newly exposed seal. "Sage Art: Snake Summoning Jutsu!"

Yami, the huge black cobra who presided over the six Serpent Sages, appeared between the two humans in a puff of smoke. Masahiro bowed to him and the serpent acknowledged the gesture with a flare of his nostrils. "Isssssss it time?"

"Yes. The boy is ready."

With a sibilant hiss Yami fluidly turned and fixed the suddenly anxious Junichiro with his black and white eyes. "Are you ready for thissssssss, human who would be Sage?"

Junchiro swallowed his apprehension and nodded firmly. "I am. What will my target be, Yami-Sensei?"

The huge cobra reared up to his full height of ten feet, hood flaring majestically in the growing light of dawn. "Me, little boy! That isssssss, if you can!" The lids of the snake's eyes briefly flickered but his gaze never wavered. "You have until the ssssssun rissssesssss to itssssss fullessssst."

With a bow Junichiro stepped forward. "Yes, Yami-Sensei!" He had to attack the snake itself? How could he possibly accomplish such a feat? The boy raised both hands to chest level. Tiger, snake, rat, snake... His hands moved deftly with the dexterity which comes from years of practice, forming each hand seal quickly and accurately. Finally his fingers rested in the final position, rat. "Sage Art: Shadow Void Jutsu!"

The Shadow Void Jutsu requires very little skill but a high level of both concentration and chakra. It is a variation of the Shadow Manipulation Jutsu in which the user forces his or her chakra out through his shadow into the target, holding the target in place by freezing their muscles. When the target can hold no more chakra the user abruptly and quickly reverses the flow of chakra, drawing it out and in theory causing the target's chakra network to become useless until it heals-usually a several-week process. Used upon a ninja of normal level the Shadow Void Jutsu can take over an hour to fully implement. Junichiro couldn't even begin to imagine how long it would take on the Serpent Sage Yami.

But every task must be begun before it can be completed. Junichiro stepped forward so that his shadow overlapped that of the enormous snake, and initiated the technique. Instantly the shadows flowed together and darkened, bound together by the powerful technique. The boy began forcing chakra out of every pore in his body, directing it downwards along his shadow and up into the Serpent Sage.

Boy and snake stood perfectly still for almost four hours. Patience was Junichiro's strong point; this part was easy for him. Even so, the chakra depletion he was going through put an enormous strain on his body. The benefit of the Shadow Void Jutsu was that it allowed for the accumulation of natural energy all Sages learn early in their training which can then be converted to chakra, so Junichiro was not in danger of running out for another few hours. But the sheer amount Yami was capable of holding worried the boy-when it came time to reverse the flow, could Junichiro avoid absorbing so much that his own body was incapacitated?

Yami's frozen body loomed silently over the boy as the trainee's chakra flowed into his huge frame. His large eyes fixed were fixed upon those of Junichiro, flickering eyelids the only visible movement in his entire serpentine form. Masahiro stood in the distance, feeling the tension build and watching the first beads of sweat forming on his student's brow. The sun was definitely in the sky now, but it would still be hours before noon came and the test would be over.

Forty-five minutes late Junichiro began to feel he had almost reached the limits of his chakra pool. Worry flitted across his mind and he wondered if even his chakra pool, enhanced as it was by the five seals on his right arm and his rigorous training, would truly be enough.

Just when Junichiro thought he had reached his limit he felt a sudden resistance. "That's it," he muttered through gritted teeth. With one decisive mental yank he redirected and reversed the flow of chakra and the giant snake's body began draining of chakra.

But it was going far too slowly. This was the part Junichiro had spent the majority of the last three years practicing, the part he could never seem to get right. Masahiro described it as feeling like drawing a bucket on a rope from a deep well, but to Junichiro it was more like trying to grasp a stream of water with his bare hands. Tiny amounts of chakra were being pulled into the trainee-Sage's muscled frame but most of it simply redirected back into the snake's body.

Less than an hour remained. Masahiro shaded his eyes with one hand as he looked up into the sky, judging the time. He frowned. Yami hadn't actually moved but in the now-bright light of the sun the corners of his scaly mouth seemed to be twisted in a grin. Junichiro sweated and shook, trying desperately to draw in the chakra. At that moment, he knew he couldn't complete the technique in time. "I just hope Masahiro-sensei won't be too angry."

With extreme effort Junichiro turned his head to meet his teacher's gaze. "Sorry, Sensei!"

Masahiro gave him a sad smile. "It's okay, Junichiro. There will always be another day..." The he saw his student's left hand going to his pocket. What was he doing?

Junichiro slowly turned his head back to look at the curious Yami. He kept only the barest trickle of chakra coming in, just enough to sustain the technique, but forced himself to stay calm as he performed this delicate action. In the boy's left hand was a small vial of blood he had "borrowed" from his sensei's special store. A tiny label on the front read "Uchiha."

Carefully the trainee-Sage uncorked the vial and smeared it over all five seals on his right arm. "Hey! Where'd you get that?"

Junichiro ignored his sensei. "Sage Art: Imperfect Blood Transfusion. Uchiha Clan Kekkei Genkai Imitation!" The seals began to glow and a sharp pain filled both his eyes. Junichiro's limbs began to shake even more and his body threatened to fail him. But the boy forced his head upwards, and met Yami's gaze with blood-red eyes. "Sharingan!"

At once the unfamiliar technique began to drain the boy's tiny pool of remaining chakra, and when that was empty it latched on to the supply of the giant snake. The eyes siphoned off enormous amounts of energy, faster and faster, until finally Junichiro pulled his gaze away and sunk to the ground unconscious.

Masahiro rushed over and felt his student's pulse. "Junichiro!" He picked his student up and ran with him through the forest, the Serpent Sage keeping pace.

"That wasssssss very ssssstupid, but mossssssst ingeniousssssssss," Yami commented. Masahiro did not respond.