Chapter 3: Heretic of the Clan

"Ah well I guess it can't be helped." Zakari sighed. "You were so close too; better luck next time I guess."

Ruki knelt down next to the gravely injured teenager as her left hand began to glow in a tremendous display of controlled, emerald chakra. The boy however refused, slapping away the woman's hand with his own before staggering to his feet and running awkwardly on his bloody leg out of the room.

The principle of shinobi conduct number twenty five states that shinobi much never, under any circumstances, show their feelings or emotions. Shoryu told himself this over and over again despite the waterfall of tears he simply couldn't contain; how could he carry on going when he'd given everything he had with it still not being enough? How could he face his mother again after the words he'd told her earlier with such confidence? The boy ran from the academy, vowing to never return as long as he lived – what was the point after all? He'd been born a failure and would continue to live like one as long as people cemented it on him.

As Shoryu ran past groups of huddled villagers he suddenly heard the cracking of distant lightning as an echoing rumble; apparently even the skies shared his sorrows, but no matter what storms would hit the village Shoryu merely wanted to be alone, and so retired quickly to confines of his summit area above his home. He grew faint from blood loss and his head began to spin when recalling the horrific injuries he'd experienced today both to his body and mind, giving him a sense of anguished queasiness like nothing he'd ever felt before. Hesitantly Shoryu untied the simple black bandanna covering his hair; it was something he never ever did when outdoors, as to add to his oddity he'd inherited his father's hair of a fluffy and feathery wave of chocolate brown as opposed the straight cut black of the Zawa clan. However despite the embarrassment he felt of it, he simply had to remove the bandanna to wrap it tightly around his leg so he could stop himself bleeding to death. For now at least, it would have to do.

"And so that puts you up to eight points – a respectable pass Ramoni."

As Zakari delivered the good news to his final student of the day the plain looking girl squealed and cried out in joy. The hour approached seven thirty, though with the approaching winter and the storm clouds casting a shadow over the village it looked closer to nine. Outside the rain pounded relentlessly against the sides of the mountainous spires. The villagers had long since retreated indoors to save themselves from an immediate soaking and the projectile phase of the exam had been moved inside at around six to shield them from the grim weather.

"And I guess that just about wraps things up for today. You were our last student to test." Zakari informed as the group reached the standard classroom down on the base level of the academy. Ramoni bowed courteously and skipped out of the room, leaving the sensei to turn back to his fellow shinobi and exchange handshakes in thanks.

"I've got to stay here and just sign some paperwork, you guys can go home whenever you like."

The two Chunin and two Jonin ranked ninja took it in turns to thank the sensei one at a time before Katane and Yoshino left the room. Zakari retrieved the stack of paperwork containing the pass or fail markings for all twenty four of the students and proceeded to sign them individually. Ruki turned to leave as well, though was stopped mid-way by the Zawa-clan Jonin.

"You have my back right?" Reizo muttered to her, loud enough so that only she could hear. "I could get in a lot of trouble if anything happens and it looks suspicious."

"I have it – don't worry, I'll act as your witness if it gets out of hand. We can't let him get away with what he did." She replied.

"I know, but you go home for now – he's all mine. Besides, you don't want to be here if things turn ugly when I'm around."

"Modest as usual I see." She joked. "Well good luck at any rate."

"I don't need it, but thanks anyway."

After the soft padding of Ruki's elegant footsteps left the room Reizo let out a long and calming exhale. If he was to handle this situation properly he'd have to keep a clear head about him at all times, but just looking at the snake of a ninja was enough to invoke powerful resentment from him. After a few breaths Reizo steadied his composure, and as cool and controlled as ever he walked back over to Zakari's desk.

"Oh, Reizo – I thought you'd left already." He said, looking up from his papers after signing and stamping another. "Is there something you needed?"

"As a matter of fact there is." Reizo announced.

Zakari paused with a look of wary apprehension; the Jonin's voice had risen to far more authoritative tone than it had before, like a disappointed father berating their child.

"It seems painfully obvious to me, but I thought I'd give you a chance to explain yourself before I take action. Tell me why you failed Shoryu Aizawa."

Zakari's heart missed a beat; so Reizo had seen through his whole act – after all it had been impossible to fail the kid without making it much more difficult for him. After his brief look of shock Zakari instantly fell back into his faux-polite smile. "The kid failed fairly didn't he? I'm afraid I don't quite see where you're going with this."

"Oh but I think you do." Reizo punctuated his words by slamming a single fist down on the wooden table and looming over the man, belittling him just as he'd belittled Shoryu. "You deliberately went out of your way to intensify and sabotage his exam out of your own personal hatred for him – you can't stand to see him succeed in anything just because the kid had the misfortune to not inherit the Raikyogan. If anything you should be helping him; it's not his fault he was born that way."

"These accusations are nonsense!" Spat Zakari. "I don't know what kind of evidence you have to suggest me capable of such behaviour."

Reizo smiled a cunning grin. "I'm glad you asked Zakari." He began to circle the man like a tiger threatening its prey. "Firstly, you purposefully led him up to the highest platform of the projectile training because you knew his wider shuriken would be ineffective against the currents, and even when he made a near-perfect shot you had the audacity to suggest giving him a half mark. Second: you attacked him in the taijutsu exam with force that was less of a rookie's calibre and more that of a specialised Genin level expert in kenjutsu, but not before you slammed him with the full force of the Raikyogan and blamed it on a misjudgement of strength."

"This is preposterous!" Zakari complained.

"Then, if that wasn't bad enough, you had the nerve to hit your own student with a senbon, because you knew that if he cleared that phase he'd have the six points he needed to advance."

"That was a freak accident and you know it Reizo! One of them must've bounced off another in the crossfire."

"Is that why your senbon wire on the left side of your belt that normally carries five of those things now carries four?"

"I had chicken for dinner; I used it as a toothpick."

Zakari's cocky remark was promptly interrupted by Reizo grabbing him by the collar and pinning him headfirst into his own desk with a force powerful enough to crack the furnished wood and bounce his coffee mug from the table.

"Don't get smart with me you arrogant little brat." He warned, sounding perilously dangerous even despite the low key his voice remained in. "I know you did it because I saw you with my own eyes and that's the simple fact of the matter. You deliberately sabotaged his exam out of your own resentment of him, and in your desperation to see him fail you used a B-rank genjutsu that was just as likely to kill him." Upon finishing his sentence Reizo drove the man's head further into the table. "I could have you dropped from the programme in a heartbeat for such a cruel and reckless move, and I haven't even brought up the fact that you no doubt modified his written test to a fail. Sure, the kid's no prodigy, and he's hardly going to be breaking any records, but he's easily got what it takes to pass no problem. I thought as a fellow shinobi and distant cousin I'd offer you the chance to explain yourself - to see if you had some other agenda, but now I see that it's just as I thought: you hate that kid for being different. You think he somehow shames your family's honour by even existing and that you're superior in every way, so you can't stand to see him succeed at anything."

After a few more calming breaths Reizo loosened his grip on the man before finally letting go. "Well it's all at an end now, you can pass him." He said. The Jonin then began to walk away, leaving the sensei to the confines of his office.

Zakari clenched his fists in anger. "It's at an end? You really think I'd let that kid pass after what he's brought on our family? He's a nobody - a failure! You think someone like him could ever be a successful shinobi? Never! I refuse! The brat's not worth it!"

"It's funny you say that, because by the end of today Shoryu will be accepted as a Genin. As for you. . ." Reizo stopped to cast a glaring eye over his shoulder before continuing. "Your days as a ninja are over. I have another Jonin and two more Genin who witnessed your appalling conduct today. Pack your bags Zakari."

"You. . ." This time it was Zakari who slammed his fist onto the table in anger, rising up from his seat at last and pointing a finger of accusation at his elder. "How can you say such things? As a member of our clan you should be supporting me! How can you take that brat's side over mine? How you even look at him and not feel the shame of our family's honour being disgraced every time he opens his mouth?"

"Simple: because I'm not a narrow minded, arrogant fool." Reizo seized one simple Cloud ninja headband from the rack of spares and thrust it into his jacket pocket. "Goodbye Zakari."

"You think that's it do you?"

The sound of a whole desk being kicked away and the swish of a single blade being withdrawn made Reizo whirl around to face the younger man as Zakari's anger reached its limits. The markings on his hands begun to glow a powerful electric blue, signifying the initiation of the clan's Kekkei Genkai.

"Raikyogan!"

Reizo only smiled to himself upon seeing his family's dojutsu turned against him for the first time; Zakari's eyes had warped into shining orbs complete with four tiny pillars of lightning extending out from each iris as his sword hissed thunderous sparks like an eposed length of wire. "You're looking for a fight? I'm warning you Zakari, your power doesn't even compare to my own."

"Well we'll just see about that!"

With his distant cousin approaching fast Reizo withdrew what at first appeared to be an odd ninja tool for purposes unknown to Zakari. A silver spike mounted atop a two foot long handle of steel suddenly appeared in the right hand of the Jonin, though with a quick jerk of his wrist the tool's purpose became clear. The weapon lengthened and snapped firm with Reizo's swing into a solid six foot pole topped with a jagged spike as the man flourished the spear into a combat stance, ready to take on any assault. If the weapon's surprise appearance hadn't been enough, Reizo had yet another trick to wow his conceited relative.

He smoothly glided away from Zakari's lazy and hatred fuelled swing of the sword before leaning into a powerful kick to knock the man out of the room and into the lobby area containing the now familiar spiral staircase. After crashing through a handful of wooden tables Zakari eventually managed to groan himself to his feet, letting his eyes wander back up to his opponent just in time to see Reizo roll up the blue sleeves of his jacket.

Through Raikyogan-enhanced vision it was clear for Zakari to see; along with the usual lightning bolt on the back of Reizo's hands, similar markings of a tribal nature were faintly etched all the way up the Jonin's forearm to stop at his elbow, which could only mean one thing.

"You. . ." Zakari stammered. "You've got-"

"That's right, Daimyo Raikyogan!"

There was no trick here – a surge of blue colour washed over not only the bolts upon his hands, but also the strange designs racing up his forearm as his eyes warped into a thunderstorm far more intense than Zakari's own.

"The Daimyo Raikyogan," whispered the sensei. "Bestowed to only one in fifteen members of the Zawa clan – only three people that possess it are alive today. Are you meaning to tell me that you're one of them?"

Reizo nodded calmly. "Well at least you're not completely uneducated. Did you know that the human body doesn't just possess an internal bioelectric current? The Daimyo Raikyogan gives its users enough control to be able to manipulate the external bioelectric field that the body constantly puts out. In other words, I'm not just limited to point blank range."

"What?"

"Lightning Javelin!"

Zakari launched himself up the spiral staircase another floor up to avoid being fried by the incoming thunderous lance that Reizo had suddenly blasted from his free hand.

"Had enough already?"

Zakari turned to see that the agile Jonin had somehow appeared behind him, still with his spear in hand and eyes aglow with a powerful blue light. "Never!" he roared, and with that, Zakari charged once again for his elder.

Instead of blasting him from afar though, Reizo instead opted to let the man come. Zakari struck out three times with the bladed weapon only to have it knocked back three times again by the incomprehensible speed of Reizo's spear. Using the Daimyo Raikyogan, Reizo had achieved such a mastery of both his internal and external bioelectricity that he used it on an unconscious level to quicken his speed whenever it was active. His movements became increasingly difficult to follow even as Zakari pulled out all the stops and let fly his fiercest combinations. After the first few exchanges he even forgot about attacking the vital spots highlighted to him by the Raikyogan and instead focused all his efforts into just getting an attack in.

"Pitiful." Reizo mused. In a single rapid movement he suddenly wheeled up the shaft of his augmented spear to deliver a perfect connection to Zakari's temple, sending a buzz of electricity through his head using only the blunt side of the pole. Had he not possessed the Raikyogan Zakari would've been zapped into a coma from such a strike, though he quickly devoted all his attention to spreading the surge of electricity in an even dispersal throughout his body, all the while letting his guard down and allowing the Jonin to spin another angular kick into his chest.

As Zakari skidded hard across the room he used the edge of his blade to slow himself down and prevent from slamming into the wall, though by the time he'd gotten to his feet Reizo had kicked him hard back across the room.

"You're a traitor!" cried Zakari, spitting out a mouthful of blood. "To be blessed with such a powerful gift and support such a worthless kid; it's unthinkable! You might drop me from the ranks of the ninja, but don't you see you'll only be dropping yourself from the ranks of your own family?"

"Unlike you Zakari, I know that it's not the Raikyogan that fuels my power – there are other ways to be strong, and Shoryu understands that better than any. I have a whole arsenal of jutsu at my disposal that you couldn't even begin to comprehend. At any rate, I don't care to belong to a clan that rejects its own members for something they can't control."

Zakari staggered once again to his feet, shaking not only from hit by the Raikyogan but also from his uncontrollable rage. Once again he made an odd had sign not of the twelve basic seals; it was his genjutsu – the most powerful technique in Zakari's arsenal that he'd used on poor Shoryu.

"Ninja Art: House of Devil's Truth!"

"Release!"

No sooner had Reizo felt a presence pushing against his mind did he swiftly repel it with a chakra far greater and more potent. He didn't even blink; his glowing, Raikyogan eyes never shut – he'd batted the genjutsu aside like it was nothing.

"Your cheap tricks won't work on me. Surrender and you might leave here with just your pride wounded."

Despite the wise words of the Jonin, Zakari had heard enough. He charged for a third time at the more powerful ninja, dragging him into a complex exchange of Raikyogan-powered attacks. Sparks of blue flew from each metallic surface with every clash of their weapons in a high speed trade of blows, and for a while it seemed that in his blind aggression the sensei might actually be pushing Reizo back. It was only as he placed even more pressure on his frenzied offensive did Zakari realise that it had all been a ruse to catch him off guard.

Reizo effortlessly ducked under the poorly timed swing of his cousin's sword and brought up a powerful knee, driving right into Zakari's stomach with a force so powerful that the circuit-like glow faded from the sensei's eyes and hands. He finished with another spinning whack using the blunt side of his spear to hurl Zakari right out of the main hall and onto the second story balcony the regular students had used for the projectile phase of the exam.

Rain pounded from the skies, soaking Zakari within an instant with his downed back already drenched from the puddle he'd been thrown into. Impressively though, he was still conscious, and he gasped for breath after having his lungs flattened with the force of his enemy's knee. Splashing footsteps drawing nearer told him that Reizo had come, probably to finish him off.

"It's over." Said the Jonin.

After taking another ten attempts to steady his breath Zakari forced himself with trembling arms back onto all fours. "What's over? . ." he gasped. "You think I'm gonna let you get away with this? This battle is far from over!" even with his breathing so heavy and his body so drained, the sensei was still determined to punish Reizo for his transgressions.

Reizo only smiled to himself before speaking after a few moments. "You really don't understand that power at all do you? It amazes me how you got to Chunin level and you still don't know the one grave weakness of the Raikyogan."

"What are you talking about?" Demanded Zakari. "Start making sense!"

"You're not bad with the Raikyogan, but your problem is that you rely on it too heavily. Aside from you genjutsu that I can deflect with ease, it's the only thing you use in combat isn't it? As drenched as we both are right now, using the Raikyogan could be fatal. Water is a natural conductor of electricity - one spark from your hand with the state you're in and you could kill yourself in an instant."

Zakari's eyes widened in fear upon realising that the Jonin was right; Raikyogan would be a bad idea out here in the rain. "But the same applies for you right? That makes us even!"

"Earth Style! Stone Impact Jutsu!" Answering Zakari's remark with a quick series of hand signs and a cry of his technique, Reizo suddenly caused the ground beneath the fraudulent sensei to spring up into a solid uppercut to Zakari's chin, smashing him hard enough so that he flipped backwards in the air before landing on his chest an instant later.

"I told you already. I don't even need the Daimyo Raikyogan to beat you; I've plenty of my own jutsu. Anyway, I've had enough. If you keep this up you'll die, so I recommend you don't follow me."

With that, Reizo turned his back and calmly strolled back into the academy, leaving Zakari in a pool of rain, blood and his own pity. Once inside he heard the distinct cackling of what sounded like a damaged machine followed by an ear-splitting scream that echoed loudly around the village. Reizo knew what had happened without even bothering to turn and check. In his rage Zakari had activated the Raikyogan again despite the Jonin's warnings and had been shocked with every volt of his own bioelectricity and left himself for dead out in the cold. Despite his loathing for the man, Reizo noted that he'd contact the medical corps if he was still alive in an hour's time. For now however, he had somewhere else he needed to be.

Shoryu sat amidst the soaking grass of his mountaintop hideout, watching the flood of torrential rain cry from the heavens as lightning cracked the sky on the horizon. He hadn't been home yet – he'd been sitting there for hours, drenched to the bone and left with his own misery since he hadn't the heart to face his mother. She knew he'd be up here, but even still she didn't interfere, knowing that he'd rather be left alone. Of course she was unaware of the three stab wounds that he'd dug into his muscles and had slowly drained him of blood for the last few hours; if she'd have known that, things would be different.

He'd bandaged himself up with the dilapidated rags of his bandanna, having to tear it into multiple parts in order to cover the full extent of his injuries, but after doing so he'd spend the following hours wondering why. He didn't care anymore; as far as Shoryu was concerned he was no good to anyone – he'd never make it in life, so what good did it do for him to be alive? He'd never be able to live out his dream as long as people like Zakari kept bringing him down.

With the roar of the howling wind and the heavy shower of rain pounding against the Village, Shoryu didn't hear the squelching of another's footsteps until they were right behind him. Wearily he turned his head, though he snapped back into the world upon realising that it was Reizo – one of his oppressive clan members, who stood towering over him.

"Nice hair. You really do stick out from the Zawa clan don't you?"

"What do you want? Come to gloat?" Murmured the boy, turning back to face the view of the great storm. "Well go ahead."

"I'm not here to gloat Shoryu." Informed Reizo.

"Right, sure. . ." Shoryu shook his head. "How did you find me up here anyway?"

"Your mother told me. She's worried about you Shoryu."

The boy hung his head in remorse. He knew she'd be beside herself in worry, but even with that she knew he just wanted space to himself. "I know. . ." He said; his voice with a faint hint of regret. "What do you want anyway? I failed didn't I? Just leave me be – I don't need to hear whatever words of pity you might have."

Reizo sighed as he took a seat beside the youngster amidst the soaking wet grass. "I think we both know you didn't really fail that exam." He said.

"Well what difference does it make?" Shoryu's hands suddenly balled up into fists so tight that his nails drew blood from his palms, and in frustration he carried on. "No matter how hard I try it always ends the same – whether I'm a bad ninja or a good one doesn't matter as long as the clan gets their way."

"So then, I guess you'd be happy to hear that as of tomorrow, Zakari Takazawa is no longer a shinobi of the Hidden Cloud. In fact something tells me that he couldn't be one if he tried for a while in the condition he's in."

"Huh?" gasped Shoryu. For the first time, the boy looked up and met the Jonin's gaze with an expression of perplexity.

Reizo sighed again and lounged back on his elbows in the sludgy grass before continuing. "We fought back at the academy. We had. . ." The man paused, searching for the right words. "Conflicting ideas about you."

"But. . . Isn't he one of your cousins though?"

"Well, you're one of my nephews too." Figured Reizo.

"Yeah but. . . He's-"

"What? Just because he inherited the Raikyogan and he's a lightning adept, you think that makes him better than you in my eyes? Your score for the written test should've been around sixty or seventy; you also should've got two points for ninjutsu and three for projectiles. As for the genjutsu, well it's not really been tested properly since you had a Chunin level technique thrown at you. Basically you should've been looking at nine points at least. To me that's the sign of a promising shinobi, regardless of anything else."

Shoryu froze; Reizo had exhibited the same method of thinking that he used every day of his life. He could never understand the clan's perceived superiority they had over him – couldn't they just see him for who he was? For the longest time Shoryu thought only his mother capable of such logic, but it seemed as though this man thought in the same way. He didn't care what Shoryu looked like or what he was or wasn't capable of, he just accepted him regardless of any of that.

A metallic clinking sounded as Reizo fumbled around in his jacket pocket. "We fought over this." He said, retrieving an official Cloud ninja headband, identical to the one he wore around his arm.

Shoryu's heart skipped a beat as his eyes widened in joyous surprise. It seemed too good to be true, yet the sincerity he sensed from the compassionate Jonin told him that it was so.

"Take it." He said. "I daresay you've earned it. As of this moment you're officially a Genin of the Village Hidden in the Clouds."

Shoryu almost collapsed upon being handed the honorary headgear. It was a simple piece of equipment, comprised of a white piece of cloth and a metallic surface with the symbol of the Cloud etched upon it, but the right to wear it symbolised the collaboration of all his work over the years. With trembling hands the boy tied it around his forehead, savouring every moment of his first real triumph.

"But. . . I mean – there's just one problem." Said Shoryu eventually.

"Don't worry about it." Reizo already knew what the boy was going to ask. "You're worried about being held back further when you advance right? – If you get stuck in a team with a squad leader or a fellow member from the clan then it'll just be the same thing all over again."

Shoryu nodded silently.

"Well I've a solution: You'll be in a team under me." The man revealed. "I'll be your sensei and I'll make sure you get the tutelage you deserve. I can teach you things that'll make you far stronger."

"But the squad leaders – I didn't see your name as one of them."

"It's not there. But it will be in the morning. Originally I thought I'd hang back on training a squad until I was a little older, but after seeing some of the students today there's a few ninja with great potential that I'm interested in, and you're one of them Shoryu. Starting a week from now you'll on my team along with two other shinobi. Do you think you're up to it Shoryu?"

There was no question about it – Shoryu nodded his head frantically and beamed in excitement. "Yeah! Of course! Thank you Reizo – I mean Reizo-sensei. It's an honour!" he cried.

"Good. Now let's get you to the medical corps – if you leave those wounds like that any longer they'll become infected and if you stay out here any longer you'll get pneumonia. I can't afford to have a crippled ninja on my squad you know."

"Right!"

"Mom! Mom! Mom!"

Being the overly protective soul that she was, the first thing that Yuuko noticed when Shoryu came running in near the stroke of midnight was not the headband of the Cloud shinobi, but the mess of the boy's blood-soaked clothing. "Shoryu what happened?" She cried, rushing over to him.

"Oh, that?" In excitement Shoryu had completely forgotten about his torn pants and the grizzly wounds that had been recently sealed. "I stabbed myself in trying to get out of a genjutsu – it's fine now, the lady said I'd be walking properly again in the next few days, but I might have some scars afterwards."

"What?"

"But it's okay mom! Look!" Shoryu proudly jerked his thumb to the headband upon his forehead, gleaming under the light. "I passed! And it's all thanks to Reizo-sensei!"

"Don't sell yourself so short kid, you passed all by yourself." Said Reizo, who calmly followed the boy, having to duck under the doorway with his taller height.

As Shoryu happily flung himself into his mother's arms she smiled and turned graciously to her guest. "It was Zakari wasn't it?" She guessed. "He's gone too far this time."

"It's alright now though mom! Honest! See, he tried to fail me again, so Reizo-sensei beat him up!"

Yuuko let out a small gasp of surprise upon hearing the news. Like Shoryu, she thought it unthinkable that a member of the Zawa would support Shoryu over Zakari. "Bless you." She said at last. "I'm glad to see there's still some compassion amongst the clan."

"Don't thank me; the kid's got talent – it really doesn't matter to me whether he's from the clan or not."

"But. . . What you must've risked – you're the clan's prodigy right? When they find out-"

"-I really don't care what they do." Reizo interrupted. "If siding with Shoryu puts me in the same exiled position as him, then I don't care to be a part of it."

Again Yuuko seemed surprised as she nodded understandingly. The clan was full of self-righteous and arrogant shinobi, but this man was different – he saw the world from a very un-Zawa viewpoint, something which she thought impossible, especially for someone who'd inherited such a rare strain of the Kekkei Genkai. "He keeps calling you sensei; are you taking him under your wing?"

Reizo nodded. "Yes. I'm putting a team together with Shoryu and two other Genin who I haven't decided on yet. You don't have to worry about him Yuuko; as long as I'm around I'll prevent anything like the events of today from happening ever again. With any luck, give the boy a few years and he'll be a great shinobi – one that the clan will feel foolish for ever rejecting in the first place. Perhaps that at least will make them reconsider their ways." As Yuuko bowed her head and Shoryu parted from her, Reizo turned to address him directly. "Like I said before, we'll have our first exercise a week from today, so you make sure you get better and practice on your techniques before then. I'll only be recruiting the best shinobi, so you'll have a hell of a lot of competition within the squad to keep you on your toes."

"Right!" This time Shoryu's resolve was concrete; he was through with training at only seventy percent effort – he had to be on top form and work himself twice as hard in order to keep up with his rival shinobi, and most importantly, to prove to Reizo-sensei that he'd made the right choice in believing in him.

Author's Notes: Heya guys, hope you like the new chapter, I thought it was about time for a proper ninja battle, especially just to show how awesome Reizo is. And before I get accused of something, I know he's very Kakashi-esque in his whole persona, but there's a reason for that. . . Kakashi's f***ing cool!

Anyway, I thought I had to give the Raikyogan some kind of weakness since it seems a little overpowered at first, and I guess rain and water makes sense for it. Funilly enough I got the idea from watching one of the filler seasons in Shippuden: During the three-tails arc towards the end, there's a scene with Kakashi and the others fighting one of the bad guys, AND HE USES RAIKIRI UNDERWATER. Naturally I was like 'WTF he'd kill himself and everyone in the water with him!', so I included it as a weakness for this thing :)

The rest of the main cast is coming in next chapter, so I'll see you then? :)