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Part II
The Hunt
Sojan leaned back his head, in awe of the Battle Tower. The massive facility must have been twenty stories high, piercing the very heavens with its tip. The entire facility was surrounded by swarms of people, each bearing different colors and clothing to signify their specific country. Sojan wore a green and black shirt that had a commando pattern. He had loose black shorts, his arms and legs were covered in tape from the elbows and knees down. Zenton wore a tan duster jacket, with a white undershirt underneath. His pants and shoes were black, and he carried a massive cylindrical suitcase on his back. Kuro wore the same black jacket as he had at the exams, using the collar to cover his face and the hood to cover his eyes. The jacket extended around his feet, with a small sliver around the legs for mobility. Kuro also wore a large sheath on his back.
The three boys made it to the registration office within a few hours. It was no fun waiting in line, and even less fun to see the amount of paperwork that needed to be done. The three handed in their paperwork, making the lady behind the glass adjust her glasses in surprise,
"You say you boys are from the…Necros Clan?"
"Is that a problem, Madame?" Zenton said rather quaintly,
She signed their names onto slips of paper and sent them down a small shaft, not bothering to answer Zenton's question,
"Next in line, please!" she called, making the next man push Zenton aside,
The tournament would not start for another day, so the three boys spent the night in a rather luxurious inn. The Kazekage himself had paid for their room and board, allowing them to stay within the Golden Lotus Inn,
"Everyone get to sleep early, we've got a long day ahead of us,"
Kuro lied down without saying a word, closing the door behind him. Sojan kicked off his sandals and lied down,
"So Zenton, is this the kind of opportunity you've been talking about? Getting a job as ANBU would give you the chance to perform all those good deeds we're talking about," Sojan laughed under his breath a bit, "It seems kinda ironic. You only wanted to do good deeds so you could hide your secrets a bit longer…but you have to expose that very power in order to become a power of good,"
Zenton was sitting on the bed, facing away from Sojan,
"Good night," he said, without addressing Sojan's words.
It was the next day that Daijou met them outside their hotel. He walked them towards the tournament groups, making it obvious that everything he did would out of dutiful conviction to the Kazekage.
"How exactly did you boys meet? Lord Kazekage informed me that all members of the Necros clan are distantly related. It would seem impossible for the three of you to know each other,"
"Kuro and I met through my uncle Satetsu," Zenton said grimly, "After we were together, Sojan was not difficult to find,"
"The Crimson Avenger of the Necros Clan! Come on and all to challenge the youngest taijustu master in the world," Kuro said mockingly,
"Laugh all you want, but I'm still undefeated in my home town!" Sojan bragged, crossing his arms,
"This uncle Satetsu, he sounds like a good man to bring you two together,"
Zenton grinded his teeth,
"Far from it. That man was a monster. He brought Kuro and I together through coincidence, not action," Zenton took in a deep breath, ready to tell his sad tale, "My father disappeared soon after impregnating my mother, and she died giving birth to me. Satestu served as my guardian. He had discovered the secret of the Necros clan, and how his brother-in law had borne a son with a demon in his belly. From the day I was able to walk, Satetsu did everything he could to try and awaken that demon. He would abuse me, trying to ignite my rage so I would snap at him. As much as I wanted to kill him…I refused to lash out against him. No matter what happened, I made an oath that I would never give in to him, and I would never give him what he wanted. But even I had my limit,
"One day he crossed the line. He decided that it was not enough to torture me, but he brought an innocent girl into the fray. He kidnapped a local girl and made a point to beat her in front of me. I knew that I was just giving him what he wanted, but I refused to let personal morals get in the way of protecting someone. The Sand was unleashed, and I sent a spiral of earth around the man, letting him suffocate in it. I led the little girl back to her family and let the Sand Serpent rest in my body once again. I've been able to control the demon ever since…so I suppose it is not a wholeheartedly bloodthirsty beast,"
"That's all well and good, but what does that have to do with you meeting Kuro?"
"Right. Well after I killed Satetsu, I found that his study was full of demonic imagery. He had been studying the three demons Zenkuron had sealed away. His research of the Shadow Dragon led me to Kuro,"
Daijou nodded his head,
"And what about you, Kuro? What's your story?"
"Why don't you just piss off?" Kuro glared at Daijou, his hand already gripping his sword,
Daijou blinked in shock and backed off, leading the boys to the tournament grounds,
It was almost immediately after the boys arrived that the master of ceremonies began to speak. He was a dark-skinned man with circular sunglasses and a large furry coat. Underneath the lion-skin coat was what seemed to be a tuxedo. He wore pristine white gloves,
"Welcome, Shinobi of all ilk! My name is Teishuten. I could not be more pleased with the fine selection of warriors that stands before me today! This is the tenth annual Tournament of Nations, and I have faith that this will be our most spectacular competition yet! It gives me great pleasure to introduce last year's champion, Kontan Minarai!" Teishuten stepped aside as a few crimson curtains opened, revealing the former champion,
The boy seemed older two years older than Zenton. His black hair was kept in a ponytail, but the bangs were still spikey and spanned across his forehead. His eyes were orange and bore heavy black bags underneath. His right arm was mechanical, with three menacing clawed fingers. He wore a headband with a peculiar symbol on it; some sort of upside-down "T". He walked to the pedestal Teishuten had stood at,
"Greetings, Shinobi of all ages," he spoke in a voice that exceeded his years. It was the kind of voice that was gravely and stoic, hardened by bloodshed, "I will keep this short and quick," his eyes turned into a menacing glare that was cast over the entire audience, "Get out now. I see far too many youngsters in the crowd here today, and I will not stand to watch you get slaughtered. This is a simple matter of survival. If you do not kill first, you will die. Simple as that," Kontan turned his back on the pedestal, disappearing behind the curtain once again,
Teishuten began to laugh, taking his place at the pedestal once again,
"Ha, ha, its men like that that make this tournament worthwhile! Now then, I suppose we should get the preliminary round out of the way,"
Zenton raised an eyebrow, "You see, we only have room for sixty-four members in this tournament, and more than triple that number have registered. To thin the ranks a bit, you will each be tasked with finding one of these," Teishuten pulled a small golden egg out of his coat pocket and raised it into the air, "There are sixty four of these little treasures scattered around the surrounding area. Every warrior who manages to procure an egg and bring it to me will win a place on the tournament bracket. The hunt begins….now!" a small starting pistol went off,
There were a few seconds of silence. The instructions were delivered so quickly that no one was certain what to do. It was Sojan that broke the silence, punching the man next to him into the dirt and running out the nearby double doors. It was then that all the others flooded out, clogging the doorway like an artery. The smarter ninja, like Zenton and Kuro, blasted holes in the roof to travel through and quickly made their way outside.
Sojan was a freaking master of awesomeness. He had already found an egg hidden in a nearby bird's nest. He would get it back to Teishuten before half those losers even got out of the arena! It was then that the bird's nest burst into smoldering ash. Sojan blinked, knowing that he had not started the fire. He looked back to see two ninja, each wearing loose clothing and bandanas over their faces. One had patterns of red and black while the other wore blue and white. The blue ninja spoke first,
"You handle this one, brother. I will search for a different egg," he ran off in the other direction,
Sojan cracked his knuckles,
"You're gonna wish your bro had stuck around, punk. You're gonna regret thinking you could fight me one on one!"
Before Sojan could gloat any longer, he was forced to dodge an incoming attack. The blast narrowly missed him, and hit the tree behind him. He looked back to see the tree a steaming pile of black bark and shoved the golden egg in his pocket. The ninja attacked again, punching the air and sending purges of white steam.
"Art of the Scalding Air!" the red ninja announced proudly,
Sojan chuckled, dodging the attacks with ease,
"Alright, since you showed me your signature move I might as well show you mine!" Sojan clapped his hands together and surrounded them with translucent spheres, "Taijustu mastery: Megaton Justu!" Sojan ran at the red ninja, wailing at him with his right hand. The red ninja barely dodged, and Sojan ended up punching the tree behind him. The tree was broken in half, torn apart by the force of Sojan's punch,
"The Megaton Justu? But that's a defensive technique! It was created to be an invincible force-field!"
"Yeah, you'll quickly find out I'm not one for the conventional," Sojan snickered, running at the red ninja again and trying to uppercut him. The ninja did a backflip to dodge and kicked more scalding air at Sojan. Sojan raised his two hands to dodge, absorbing the impact easily. His forearms would have been burnt, but the tape protected him. Sojan simply smiled, "You're pretty good at this, what's your name?"
"It's Karyoku, and my brother is Kogorasu. Once he finds a golden egg he'll be back to help me. Once its two of us versus you, you'll be overpowered,"
"So that's your brilliant plan? Wait for your brother to rescue you? Pathetic!" Sojan jumped into the air and punched downward on Karyoku. The ninja evaded once again, but Sojan quickly swept his leg. Sojan ran off towards the arena, wishing to spare the man's life. More steam raced past his head, grazing his hair. Sojan turned back in outrage,
"Are you already forgetting the first rule! Kill or be killed!" Karyoku roared, shooting steam out both his hands. Sojan blocked with the shields and felt his rage boil. His scar glowed with the blackness of a tattoo, and his hair stood on end. He howled at Karyoku, breathing fire at the man. When Sojan stopped his scream, the entire forest was ablaze. He spit on the ground and continued to run towards the arena, ready to get the preliminaries over with.
Zenton sighed, somehow knowing that Sojan was to blame for this inferno. The entire forest was caught in a massive fire, and it would only impede the search for the eggs. Kuro and Zenton were sticking together, hoping to overpower any lone stranglers. They noticed a small volcano not too far away, and deemed it a worthy place to hide eggs. Apparently many other ninja had the same idea, for nearly one hundred Shinobi were climbing the mountainside.
"Avalanche!" Zenton called, warning all the others of his actions,
Zenton then smacked his hands against the earth, making all the sand in the area vibrate. This was enough to incite an avalanche. All the ninja were unharmed, reaching safety at the foot of the volcano. Zenton brought all the sand he had just used and brought it together, forming it around his and Kuro's feet. They raced up the side of the mountain, riding on the sand. Once they reached the summit of the volcano, they found that there were at least twenty eggs within the molten center of the Volcano,
"Looks like your gut was right, Zenton. Grab the eggs and keep on moving,"
It was then that the mountain began to shake. Zenton looked back, knowing he had not causing this earthquake. There was a boy with deep maroon clothes and short, cropped hair. He raised his hand, making the earth move to his will. Zenton watched as a massive hole was ripped in the side of the volcano, streaming lava out like a faucet. Zenton grinded his teeth,
"Kuro! Deal with this man while I stop that lava,"
"Why bother with those people?"
"No! I won't let those people at the mountain basin die! Not while I can stop it!"
Kuro began to rave,
"Enough of this Zenton! How do you plan to last in this tournament if you're not willing to let them die! It's not even like you're the one killing them!"
"Negligence is just as bad as murder, Kuro," Zenton began to fall down the side of the mountain, riding on his cloud of sand,
The brown-haired boy looked at Kuro amusedly,
"It's not very often I meet a boy so easy to manipulate," he cackled, "I wonder, can you defeat me on your own?"
Kuro bent his neck to the side, letting a loud crack echo through the air. Kuro's pupils grew small,
"Oh no, Zenton isn't worried that I'll lose the fight. He's worried that he won't be back in time to stop me from killing you…" Kuro gripped his sword and unsheathed it, "What's your name anyway?"
"You can call me Gaeoro. I hail from the Land of Stone, and have mastered the ten arts of the Heavenly Earth,"
"My name is Kuro of the Necros Clan. I bear a powerful demon inside me, the Shadow Dragon. While I may be able to keep my demon in check, it is only at the cost of my sense of mercy. The only way to overpower the demon of shadows is with my own bloodlust!"
Kuro's shadow cracked at Gaeoro like a whip, slicing at him with a guillotine-blade. Gaeoro raised his arm and made a stone pillar rise out of the ground to defend himself. He was able to block Kuro's shadow, but the blade was imbedded halfway through Gaeoro's pillar,
"Heavenly art number one: stone dragon!" Gaeoro slapped his stone pillar with his one hand,
Several small stones fell off the tip of the pillar, sculpting the image of a dragon's head. The pillar extended out of the ground, growing in length and lunging down at Kuro. Kuro jumped into the volcano to dodge. He gripped onto a cliff, dangling over the molten sea, and watching Gaeoro look down on him. It was then that another ninja appeared on the volcanic summit,
"You two had better step back! Don't make me hurt you!" he boasted, holding a kunai,
Gaeoro simply laughed, sending his stone dragon to swallow him,
"Heavenly art number two: stone mummification," Gaeoro said calmly, watching the stone dragon trap the spare ninja in his maw.
The pillar-body of the dragon slowly dissipated into soot and ash, leaving only the head. The dragon's head began to slowly shrink, suffocating the man inside. Kuro could not help but find himself giggling along to the man's screams of agony. They stopped abruptly, announcing the man's death. Gaeoro returned to the side of the volcano, looking down at Kuro,
"It seems our battle has had a rather abruptly. I suppose we'll meet again in the tournament,"
He made a small plate spring up underneath a golden egg, launching it up into his hands. Kuro grinded his teeth and extended his arm. His left arm turned into a black tentacle, growing in size until it had reached the volcanic cliff. He grappled himself up, standing behind Gaeoro.
"This duel is far from over," Kuro growled, the whites of his eyes growing dark,
Gaeoro watched in horror as Kuro's shape became near-amorphous. His left hand was a long, black tentacle, dragging along the ground. His right hand had fused with the butt of his sword, giving him a claymore for a hand. His eyes had grown black, his pupils white, and his white hair that once hung over his face in bangs was now standing on end. His breathing was heavy, like some sort of feral beast. He swung his tentacle and wrapped around Gaeoro's ankle, pulling him in closer and stabbing with his sword. Gaeoro was pierced through the stomach. Kuro began to chuckle, showing his now pointed teeth. It was then that a wall of sand appeared between Kuro and Gaeoro, splitting in two and pushing the two away from each other,
"God damn it Kuro, I thought you were better than this," Zenton said, shaking his head disappointedly,
Kuro looked back, barring his teeth,
"Don't you look down on me! I'll kill you both!" Kuro lunged at Zenton, cocking his elbow and preparing to stab directly through his cousin,
Zenton grabbed Kuro from behind using his sand. Kuro was held back by his elbows and knees, struggling to escape. In the chaos, Gaeoro had escaped down the mountain. Zenton sighed. At least this day was over. The three of them were in the tournament. That was all that mattered for now.