Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Naruto Shippuden. All characters in this story, excluding those that are created by me, are the intellectual property of Masashi Kishimoto. Please show support by reading or watching the original source material.
~Naruto: The Second Coming - Chapter Ten~
"Shisui of the Mirage"
Kumogakure no Sato was a beautiful village to behold. Located in a range of towering mountains, with much of the buildings and structures built into the mountain edges, elevating them to the point where they actually reached the very clouds themselves. In that regard, the village very much lived up to its name.
Compared to Konoha, it was far more militaristic, imposing curfews on all citizens and having very few non-shinobi occupants. This allowed them to have a tremendous standing fighting force, but also led to their economy not being nearly as bustling as their forest dwelling rivals.
It was late evening when suddenly the sounds of people running throughout the streets, along with hurried shouting filled the air. Soon after, an alarm pierced through the entire village, waking everyone and putting all shinobi on edge. It was the emergency signal, which was something only activated whenever the village was under assault.
One of the village's elite shinobi, Darui, who had long been close with the Raikage and his family, was one of the first people alerted to the emergency. Apparently, much to the Raikage's humiliation, the village had been infiltrated, and the intruders were entirely unaccounted for, even after C attempted to sense them out.
"Whoever they are, they're skilled enough to use the chakra suppression jutsu," C commented as he and Darui stood atop one of the taller mountains in the area, granting them a good view of everything that was going on. It isolated them quite a bit from the rest of their comrades, giving them enough privacy to speak quietly as they waited.
Darui appeared more tired than usual as he rubbed his eyes, "Great, so you're saying that they can do whatever they please?"
C shook his head, "Not entirely. They're suppressing their chakra, so they can't use any ninjutsu or genjutsu; otherwise, they'll give themselves away. We'll just have to wait until they make a mistake, or are put in a position in which they are forced to reveal themselves. When that happens, I'll find them immediately."
Still a bit skeptical, Darui merely sighed before sitting down on the mountain edge. The action earned him a confused look from C, who immediately began wondering if there was something wrong with his old friend.
"Something bothering you?"
Darui shook his head before sighing, "You mean other than the fact that we're possibly facing a threat of invasion?"
"Yeah, other than that," C responded, almost knowingly.
With a sigh, Darui massaged his temples, a clear sign of his stress. It had to be difficult being the Raikage's right-hand man, especially during such turbulent times. The man who he had casually called his 'boss' for much of his life, had been changing drastically as of late. All of his actions were incredibly antagonistic, even when compared to Kumogakure's history of aggressive military objectives.
"Don't act like you haven't noticed it as well," Darui explained. "The boss...he's been acting strangely over the past few years. This is the first time that I've ever felt like I'm on the 'bad' side."
C crossed his arms and kept his gazed fixed on the village, "That situation with Konoha's Jinchuuriki was certainly a mess," he acknowledged. "And his vendetta against that Uzumaki kid as well."
"It's all so dull," Darui complained. "To think I'd have to experience war in my lifetime..."
Before he had even finished getting through his sentence, he heard the barely audible sound of someone landing not too far behind him. He and C both turned around to see a masked individual, apparently affiliated with Konoha if the armor and distinct porcelain mask of their Anbu Black Ops.
"Finally, I've found you," the Anbu remarked, his voice far more upbeat than what one would expect, considering most in his position were stoic and unreadable.
Darui's eye's narrowed when he noticed that the intruder seemed to be explicitly focused on C, 'Does he know that C is a sensory type?' he thought to himself. 'But how would he..?'
Before any more words could be exchanged, the Anbu unleashed a barrage of shuriken toward them, before spewing flames from where his mouth would be under the mask. Each of the individual shuriken was encased in flames, making them a tad easier to dodge in the darkness of the night, but far deadlier if not evaded.
Still, the attack itself was rather straightforward, apparently done with the purpose of distracting and leading on to another, more effective maneuver. Due to his immense skill and experience, Darui was able to see the Anbu disappear in a blur of speed all while he simultaneously avoided the attack.
"C, he's-"
"I know!" C interrupted before quickly turning around on a dime, evidently able to anticipate the intruder's movements due to his sensory abilities. "Lighting Style: Flash Pillar!"
Electricity was discharged through C's body, creating a bright light that blinded everyone in the surrounding area. Having fought alongside his friend before, Darui managed to cover his eyes just in time, all the while keeping the rest of his sense on high alert in case of another attack.
Darui was filled with newfound confidence. C was skilled in many regards, both as a sensory type and a medic-nin; however, he was also deadly in combat. In the entire village, it was likely that there wasn't another shinobi more skilled in the use of genjutsu in battle.
After waiting another few seconds, he opened his eyes and turned in C's direction, "So what kind of hallucination did you put the guy under?"
C glanced toward him, perhaps to explain, but was then blitzed instantaneously as his head snapped back due to a vicious knee. It all happened too quickly for Darui to intervene, and before he knew it, his comrade was incapacitated, and he was left alone to fend against this mysterious intruder.
"The genjutsu didn't work?" Darui mumbled to himself as he lowered himself into a fighting stance.
The Anbu appeared to have heard him, "Nah. Genjutsu is kind of my thing, actually, so your buddy was just unlucky, I guess," he responded, rather matter of factly, but Darui chose to assume that there was mocking laced in his voice.
Darui removed the large cleaver he had been carrying on his back, and in response, the Anbu unsheathed his tanto. It was a much smaller weapon in comparison, but any jonin-level shinobi was skilled enough to channel chakra through their weapons, enhancing them and making snapping through the thin tanto blade more difficult than it appeared.
"This is pretty brazen of you, isn't it?" Darui asked. "Don't you Konoha Anbu usually prefer to scurry in the shadows?"
Seemingly unaffected by the comment, the Anbu chuckled, "We want you to know that we were here. That it was us. That's the whole point," he explained. "Hard to interpret a message if you don't know who's sending it to you."
"You couldn't have just sent a messenger hawk?" Darui joked before the two men began circling around each other, waiting for the opportune moment to strike.
Despite the casual nature of their conversation, the tension was incredibly high as the two men released their chakra, resulting in literal pressure being exerted in the surrounding area. Despite not being a sensor, Darui was easily able to tell that his opponent had incredibly potent chakra, leading him to believe that this was no ordinary Anbu.
"Your Raikage has made it clear that he has no interest in negotiating or reading letters," was what he received as a reply. "Besides, even if we did come to an understanding again, your meathead of a leader would break any treaties he signs before the ink could even dry. Violence and force are the only languages he knows...so here we are."
Darui smirked slightly, "We? So there's more than one of you then? That's good to know."
Whether it was because of the observation or because an opening appeared, Darui didn't know, but almost immediately after he spoke his opponent lunged toward him with immense speed, blade ready to decapitate him. Thankfully, he was able to block it with the flat of his sword before skidding back and creating space.
"I assume that between you and your partner, you're stronger, right?" Darui asked. "That would make sense, since you were the one sent to take out C, which is crucial to whatever you're planning."
The Anbu's head tilted, and it was clear that he had no idea what his opponent was getting at. It was beginning to get difficult to tell if this was a battle of blades or words. Darui was doing his best to learn as much about these intruders as possible so that he could pass along the information to the boss once he was finished here.
"I'm just wondering if I'll need to conserve my chakra in this fight," Darui elaborated. "But seeing as your partner is weaker than you, I can probably handle him easily enough after I'm finished here."
Surprisingly, his remark earned another chuckle from the Anbu, "Underestimating an opponent is one of the worst mistakes you can make," he countered.
As the conversation continued to develop, Darui noticed a crow soaring in the sky above him. He thought nothing of it until many more appeared resulting in what could only be described as a storm of birds flying around him and his opponent chaotically, blocking out the moon and making it difficult for him to orient himself.
Noticing the absurdity of it all, and remembering that the Anbu had remarked that genjutsu was his forte, Darui focused his chakra throughout his body in an attempt to undo what was clearly some kind of illusion. As he did, the crows took it as their opportunity to, as a collective, fly in his direction all at once.
Right as he managed to dispel the illusion, each of the crows morphed into a ball of flame, revealing that his opponent had been using genjutsu to mask his true attack. Thankfully, Darui was lucky enough to have an affinity for water, alongside his affinity for lightning, and weaved through hand seals faster than the human eye could track.
"Water Style: Water Prison!"
Just in the nick of time, water was expelled from his mouth, surrounding him in a sphere water that was highly difficult to penetrate from either the inside or outside. It was a jutsu typically used to trap an opponent, but Darui was bright enough to realize that he needed a defense that could protect him from all directions. The only con to using this jutsu as a defense was the fact that he needed to hold his breath while inside, which could lead to him drowning if he remained inside for too long.
It worked just as he had intended, with each of the fireballs being extinguished almost immediately upon impact, creating hot steam that filled the surrounding area. However, just as he was preparing to release the technique, a much larger ball of flames came barreling toward him. He continued maintaining the jutsu, and it continued to hold up, protecting him from any damage. But all was not as well as it may have seemed.
Darui's brow visibly furrowed as his opponent continued to pepper his protective sphere of water with various fire style jutsu. Minutes soon passed, and Darui began to wonder what would give out first, his ability to hold his breath or his opponent's chakra reserves.
'He's leaving me with two options,' Darui thought to himself. 'Stay in here and drown, or release the jutsu and be incinerated...How dull.'
For his sake, he hoped that he could come up with something soon; otherwise, he and his village were in a heap of trouble.
Located in a darkened alley, Naruto sat hidden within the shadows. He waited patiently, keeping himself occupied by maintaining his breathing patterns and preventing his chakra from fluctuating in a way that could reveal his position to the enemy. This wasn't his first infiltration mission, but it was undoubtedly the most high-profile and dangerous. He would need to be even more cautious than usual.
He and Shisui had arrived in the Land of Lightning barely over twenty-four hours ago and spent that time planning out their next move before infiltrating the village in the late evening. It wasn't all that difficult, actually. For all their military aggression Kumogakure had a far less sophisticated security system than Konoha. He and Shisui merely had to incapacitate one of the perimeter guards before sneaking in.
As he sat contemplating what he would need to do in the coming hours, he sensed a presence approaching him from the entrance of the alley. He stood to his feet and waited patiently until he and the stranger were face-to-face. It was a Kumogakure shinobi, which was evident by his garb and headband. He had onyx eyes and ash-grey hair, which was kept in a ponytail. Most notable where his black rimmed circular glasses.
"It is nice to meet you, Mr. Anbu," the stranger greeted casually with a sly smile. "But I was under the impression that there would be two of you?"
Naruto crossed his arms and explained, "My partner is currently dispatching of the village's sensory type so we can proceed uninterrupted," he said.
The Kumo shinobi's smile widened, and he adjusted his glasses with his middle and pointer finger. He then reached behind his back and inserted his hand into the pouch he had attached to his waist. Naruto's eyes narrowed behind his mask as he instinctively prepared for some kind of attack, but was put at ease when the man simply removed what appeared to be a scroll.
"Don't you trust me?" the Kumo shinobi teased knowingly, apparently having picked up on Naruto's apprehension.
If he were a lesser man Naruto would have rolled his eyes at the comment, "You are a spy," he responded simply. "It would be foolish to trust you."
The man smiled, apparently in agreement before adjusting his glasses once more in what Naruto was quickly beginning to identify as a habit. He found this man to be quite odd, as he didn't portray the typical demeanor that Naruto expected from one of Danzo's Root Anbu. In place of the standard emotionless visage, there was a man who appeared almost devious in nature.
"All of the promised intel is in that scroll," the spy commented, inclining his head toward the roll of parchment now in Naruto's possession. "I must say, it was rather difficult to come by. It makes me wonder how you're actually going to get this done."
Naruto placed the scroll in his pouch without any explanation, "You're dismissed," he commanded, finding the spy's presence to no longer be needed.
He received a silent chuckle and a resigned nod in response, "Very well. I do hope to meet again someday soon, Mr. Anbu," he remarked before slinking back into the shadows like a cold-blooded reptile.
Once he was finally alone, Naruto removed the scroll from his pouch, and his Sharingan sprang to life as his eyes darted over all the writing and imagery, instantly memorizing and categorizing the information into his mind. Overall, it was the intel was incredibly valuable, and made his task seem a bit less like a complete and utter fool's errand.
"The Kohaku no Jōhei," he muttered to himself, remarking on the object the scroll and his mission were both centered around.
The Kohaku no Jōhei or Amber Purifying Pot was one of the tools of the legendary Sage of Six Paths. While most had gone missing over the roughly one thousand years since the Sage walked the Earth, several of them somehow came into the possession of Kumogakure. Most of them were eventually stolen by the Gold and Silver Brothers when they defected from the village, but the Kohaku no Jōhei still remained as their sole relic.
Being able to infiltrate Kumogakure and steal their most valued artifact right from under their noses would be the best way for Konoha to show them that they weren't to be meddled with. It could also show the Raikage that they had other means of hurting him outside of merely killing his men, and could possibly trick him into making a mistake out of rage.
Naruto read further into the scroll and finally came across the Kohaku no Jōhei's location. It was apparently hidden in an underground chamber below the base of the most massive mountain of the many that surrounded the village. The intel also spoke of a lone guardian in the chamber, but apparently, the spy hadn't been able to find out exactly who this person was.
"The likelihood of me getting out of here alive isn't very high, but when is it ever?" he mumbled to himself before his thoughts went elsewhere. "I wonder how Shisui is doing?"
"Just give up you stubborn bastard!" Shisui complained in irritation after using another fire jutsu. "You've been holding your breath for like twenty minutes!"
Darui simply shook his head and flipped him off from within the prison of water.
With a shrug of his shoulders, Naruto banished the thought, "I'm sure everything's going smoothly."
After another few moments of waiting, he decided that it was likely that Shisui had taken out the sensory type by now. With that in mind, Naruto leaped out of the shadows and into the moonlit sky. His hands weaved through a familiar set of hand seals, and he was engulfed in a puff of smoke. When it faded in the wind, he was revealed to have used the transformation jutsu to disguise himself as a dark-skinned Kumogakure shinobi.
He then landed on the street below and darted toward his intended destination, doing his best to look like an active duty shinobi searching for intruders. Occasionally he would pass some other Kumo shinobi, but they all sprinted by without a second glance. His seemed to be working perfectly so far-
"Hey, you!" a voice shouted from behind him, causing him to skid to a halt. Naruto turned around and saw three Kumo Shinobi eyeing him up.
His mind raced. Did they notice something? "Uh...yeah?" he said as they all got a little closer.
"Have you seen anything yet, we haven't found shit, man," one of the complained before yawning, clearly exhausted.
Naruto silently cleared his throat in nervousness, "No, I haven't been able to find anything either...man," he replied, internally sweating. For all his talents, he'd never been much of an actor.
"Damnit!" another one of the men growled in frustration. "Those Konoha trash must be lucky as hell. The second we find them they're dead."
"I don't know if luck has anything to do with it. They seem pretty clever to me," Naruto countered without even thinking, earning several odd looks. "I-I mean, clever by Konoha standards. Those tree hugging bastards are stupid as hell...am I right?"
He was forced to remain composed as the other men merely blinked in his direction. Had he given himself away so carelessly?
"Riiiiiight," one of them said, clearly weirded out. "Well, anyway we're going to go search on the other side of the village now. I'm sure you have things handled over here."
Before he could even say another word, the other men disappeared in bursts of speed. He instantly felt all of the tension leave his shoulders as soon as they were gone. He'd really need to work on his improv; otherwise, the next time he was asked to infiltrate enemy territory, he'd be found out instantly. He was just glad Shisui hadn't been here to see that, or he would have never heard the end of it.
After that, there were no interruptions, and he soon arrived at the entrance of the chamber. It was a massive pair of steel doors which were being guarded by only two men, far less than what was usually the case, but with intruders currently about, most shinobi personnel were out searching.
"What are you doing here?" one of the guardsmen asked, his voice laced with suspicion. "Shouldn't you be out looking for the enemy right now?"
It was subtle, unnoticeable to most, but Naruto's eyes quickly shifted crimson red, and before they knew it, the guards' eyes glazed over. Sometimes the most effective genjutsu were the kind that weren't all that powerful, using very little chakra being. It was like utilizing a needle to kill someone instead of a sword. If done correctly, it could get the job done all the same, without drawing as much attention.
"Lord Raikage sent me to check on the relic. He's worried that the enemy may be here to steal it," he explained, knowing that the genjutsu had taken full effect. "Stay here no matter what you hear down below and don't let anyone else inside."
The guards nodded in understanding, "Yes, sir," they both drawled in unison before they each pulled out a key and inserted them into the door's two keyholes and turning them in opposite directions.
It took a tremendous effort for the two men to pull the doors open, but with the physical strain clearly evident on their faces, they did so. The first thing he saw was darkness, as the entrance to the chamber didn't seem to have any lighting. Further down, however, he could very faintly see some torchlight. Not wanting to waste another moment, he silently descended the stairs.
The who experience actually reminded him quite a bit of the time when he and Izumi first entered the Headquarters of the Anbu after they had been recruited. They were both deep plunges into worlds filled with the unknown, but he had a feeling that this particular journey would involve far more violence. Kumogakure wouldn't allow their most sacred item to be guarded by an amateur, so this would likely be an extreme test of his skills.
He didn't quite know what he had been expecting, but it certainly wasn't what he got. The first thing he noticed upon entering the chamber wasn't the Kohaku no Jōhei he had come all this way just to retrieve, but rather, it was the absolutely ripped man sitting crisscross in the center of the room. He seemed to pay his visitor no mind as he mumbled under his breath and scribbled into his notebook.
The man had dark skin along with his muscular build, as well as white hair and a goatee. On his right shoulder was a tattoo of the kanji for "iron" (鉄, Tetsu) and on his left cheek was a tattoo of a bull's horn. He also wore oval shaped sunglasses and a white-colored forehead protector. He also has his village's standard one-strap-over-one-shoulder flak jacket, and a long, red rope belt tied around his waist, the standard Kumo hand and shin guards, shinobi sandals, and a white scarf around his neck. Strangely enough, he also wore seven swords on his back.
Just as Naruto thought he had gone unnoticed, the man spoke, "Barging in this late is hella cruel, you teensy weensy baby fool," he said, seemingly speaking in rhymes. "State ya business before I put you to sleep for good, ya fool!"
Naruto could only blink in surprise. Could it be possible that he had finally met someone that was stranger than Shisui?
"Lord Raikage sent me to retrieve the Kohaku no Jōhei. He fears that the intruders are here to steal it and wants to move it to a more secure location," Naruto explained still under disguise, subtly using the same genjutsu he had used on the guards. "So if you'll pardon me, I'll be taking it now."
Naruto was unable to see the strange man's eyes due to his sunglasses, but he assumed that the genjutsu had worked since he didn't move at all. Taking that as his signal to proceed, Naruto began walking in the direction of the Kohaku no Jōhei. Shockingly, before he had made even three steps, the man disappeared in a burst of speed, and he felt a fist embedded in his abdomen. The force of the punch was so powerful that it sent him flying into the concrete wall of the chamber, demolishing a portion of the wall and instantly dispelling his transformation.
The sheer force of the impact required him to gather his breath for a moment, and as the dust from the rubble began to dissipate, Naruto saw the silhouette of his enemy in the distance. He was engulfed in a cloak of bubbling red chakra that Naruto was instantly familiar with. While manifesting in a very different way, the feeling he was getting from the chakra was undeniably similar to what he felt during his fight with the Jinchuuriki, Yugito.
"Another *cough* Jinchuuriki?" he mumbled to himself as he struggled back into a standing position. His cloak was now in tatters, so he removed it, revealing his Anbu armor underneath.
"Such confusion, surprised I broke through your illusion?" the bizarre man mocked with a grin. "You fool, of course I'm a Jinchuuriki, can't you see? Eight-Tails, that's me, da rapping Killer Bee!"
It would seem that he was now two for two when it came to encountering Kumogakure's Jinchuuriki. Great…
Darui was on his last legs at this point. Even for a shinobi, he could only hold his breath for so long, and his opponent didn't seem as if he'd be running out of chakra anytime soon. It was clear that to win this fight, he'd need to outthink his enemy, so he quickly began wracking his brain for an unpredictable strategy.
On the other side, Shisui was beginning to get a bit impatient. He would prefer to get this over with as soon as possible, so he could get back to Naruto and help with the retrieval of the Kohaku no Jōhei before one of them ended up getting killed. He was beginning to worry about his friend. There were countless shinobi scouring the streets right now, and even for someone as skilled as Naruto navigating through that was incredibly dangerous.
Shaking his head in irritation, he weaved through another string of hand seals and a massive fireball was sent careening toward the water prison. It almost felt pointless, since every one of his attacks had failed in both breaking through the defense and getting his opponent to surrender due to his desperate circumstances. Right now, he could really use of stroke of good luck.
Then, almost as if the universe had answered his prayers, the mist generated from the heat of his attack faded in the wind and his opponent was revealed to be face-first in a pool of water. Shisui wasn't sure if he finally passed out or if he simply ran out of chakra maintaining the defense, but he really didn't care. All he was concerned about what that this was finally over.
Deciding that binding and restraining his enemy rather than killing him was more his style, Shisui retrieved some shinobi wire from one of his various pouches and appeared next to the unconscious Kumo shinobi in a burst of impressive speed. It was only when he kneeled down to tie him up that he realized his mistake.
His opponent was suddenly engulfed in black lighting, searing the skin on the palm of Shisui's left hand before he managed to teleport to a safe distance. The pain was incredible, but Shisui remained focused as he watched his apparently rather clever enemy return to his feet, with the same look of lazy boredom plastered on his face.
"That was supposed to kill you, how dull," he complained. "You Konoha shinobi never make things easy, do you?"
Shisui smirked under his mask, the pain from his hand a mere afterthought, "I could say the same about you," he remarked before his posture straightened. "I'd like to learn your name."
There was now an unspoken level of respect between the two men. It was the kind of respect that could only develop in the midst of battle, when the two participants realized that they were squaring off with someone that could very well take their life at any given moment. It was difficult to explain to those who had never seen battle before.
"The name's Darui," his opponent casually revealed. "And while you hide your appearance well, I've already figured out who you are...Shisui of the Mirage."
In response, Shisui merely shrugged his shoulders, "Shisui of the what now?" he asked. "Never heard of him."
Darui then massaged his neck in apparent soreness, "Sure, sure. Whatever you say," he said, clearly not believing a word of what he was just told. "How about we get this over with?"
A particularly strong gust of wind carried through the area, rustling their hair and clothes, though, despite this, the two men stood as still as statues. Each patiently waited to see if the other would make the first move, which would undoubtedly spark the second round of their little dance.
In an instant, Darui was no longer in his relaxed position was his hands quickly went through five hand seals, "Storm Release: Laser Circus!" he announced.
First, a halo of bright energy spread around the Darui's hands as the jutsu was activated. Then it encircled his hands, and from that, several beams of lighting were sent straight at Shisui, who merely stood in place as they approached faster than most could ever hope to move. His Sharingan eyes closed under his mask and then the jutsu impacted, creating a cloud of dust and debris.
Darui's eyes darted in all directions as he attempted to predict where Shisui could have possibly teleported to, but at no point did his enemy appear. It was then that his eyes widened in shock as the dust cleared, revealing something that he couldn't have envisioned occurring in his wildest dreams.
Shisui remained where he stood, his body encased in what appeared to be some kind of ethereal green ribcage made from pure chakra. Then, before Darui's very eyes, the ribcage formed into a towering skeleton, which was then encased with flesh and then armor, finishing as a massive green avatar which resembled a fiendish looking tengu. Shisui stood at the center of this gigantic chakra construct, completely protected from all sides.
"I'm sorry, but I can't keep holding back," Shisui said, his Sharingan visibly glowing behind his mask, now taking the form of a four-point pinwheel. "Don't ask how I know, but I get the distinct feeling that my buddy is in danger."
At the sight of his now seemingly insurmountable opposition, Darui could only manage to say one thing.
"How dull."
~End~
First things first, I'd like to thank all of you for putting up with my brief absence. In case any of you were wondering, at no point was this story at risk of being put on a hiatus, or even abandoned. I have every intention of finishing this story completely; however, if I feel that my passion for it has faded to the point that I don't feel like I can put out my best work, I will take a break and wait for it to return. Even while writing this chapter I didn't feel the same amount of passion that I had when I started this story, but I'm genuinely excited for the next few that I have in store for you guys. Anyway, this isn't something that you guys should expect to happen often, so I could see the next few updates happening fairly regularly. Still, I have a general rule of each chapter being at minimum 5,000 words, so don't expect an update every single week or something crazy like that. There will be times in which I do manage multiple updates in a single month, and I get the feeling that will happen in the month of March, but don't take my word on that.
I'd like to give a shoutout to everyone who has left reviews on my story. In particular, I'd like to mention Asuraa, who is a rather accomplished author on this site, with two stories called "Absolute Choice" and "Live and Let Die." I highly recommend that you give these two stories a read!
Again, thank you all for your continued support.