(Un)Welcoming Eternity
Narukami Island.
An area that spanned across Ritou, its port of entry to Mount Yougou, home to the Grand Narukami Shrine, and on its coast is Inazuma CIty.
Inazuma City is where most of Inazuma's population lived, from Tenshukaku being the highest point in the city to the busy streets of the city, Tenryou.
Then there was Hanamizaka, the outskirts of Inazuma City just outside of Tenryou cutting through the northern part of the city.
It was a quiet area, unlike the bustling and prosperous Inazuma city, where it exudes a different atmosphere entirely.
"Arghh! That darn tengu!"
Most of the time...for there was one individual that brought the exact opposite of said quiet atmosphere.
A fair bit distance away from Hanamizaka led to a small shore, where one might find people fishing away in their past time.
There were instead, four young men walking about, their direction unknown to everyone, even to themselves.
At the forefront of the group was the one that had just let out his piercing yet loud voice.
His name was Arataki Itto.
"Boss, how long are we gonna wander around, we've been doing this for hours now," one out of the three behind him complained.
"No way! I gotta figure a way out to get that darn tengu to agree to a rematch. I won't stop until I get my revenge," Itto replied in annoyance, his thoughts still on a certain someone.
"But haven't we tried that a couple times already? It doesn't look like she'll ever agree to it. Plus, didn't you lose to her in a fight already?"
Itto stopped as he turned to face the other three, an accepting expression accompanying it as he spoke, "Sure...she beat me, I'll admit it. But that doesn't mean she'll win next time, she's just scared that she'll lose to yours truly if we ever fought again."
He then turned his back towards them, "Plus, I was nice enough to change the fight to a sumo match instead, but she still won't accept any of my challenges," he whined, ruffling his wild hair.
The other three did not know what to expect from their leader, that was...until Itto suddenly let out a frustrated yell before going into a sprint, causing the others to try and catch up to him, with trails of sand being left behind as they did so.
Just as he was about to stop to hold his breath after running for several minutes, wanting to vent out his frustrations into the wind...
He stumbled, losing his footing as he fell right on his face, greeted by the pile of sand on the ground.
Put off by the sudden taste of sand, Itto immediately stood right back up as he spit it out bit by bit.
"Boss, you alright?"
With the uncomfortable taste mostly gone, Itto shook his head as he gave a response, "Course I am. Still, kinda weird I fell like that just now..."
His eyes then settled on what laid underneath the sand, something that he did not notice before due to his haste in wanting to scream at the top of his lungs.
He noticed a small part of the sand had dusted off from his fall just now, and upon observing the spot more, saw a patch of bright orange underneath it.
It came off as strange to him, yet it also piqued his curiosity as he called out to the other three, "Hey, help me out here. Seems like there's something under here."
The group then began uncovering the pile of sand, clumsily doing so as sand got into their eyes as they worked, until finally...
"Is that a dead body? Oh man, I didn't think we would see something like this?!"
That was their first reaction on seeing the unfamiliar appearance of one Son Goku, his body slumped on the shore.
"Boss, what do we do? Do we go report this to the Tenryou Commission, or the Yashiro Commission!?"
"Report? Why would we do that? I think it's better if we just cover the body back with the sand, and nobody would ever know."
"But what if someone asked us about it? I don't think I can keep my mouth shut if that ever happens..."
Having heard enough of the current conversation, he decided an intervention was needed, "Nobody is going to do anything. Plus, what makes you think the guy is dead?"
The three stopped to stare at Itto incredulously, "I mean...we found him buried in sand and he hasn't been moving ever since we found him. If he's alive, he should be up by now right?"
Itto disagreed as he closed his eyes, "No way. Just because he isn't moving doesn't mean the guy's already gone. We gotta check for a heartbeat first, you know...the standard stuff."
Right after he said that, he was thrown off by the scene before as he opened his eyes again.
All three of his members were poking the guy with a stick, as if they were expecting a reaction if they continued to do so.
"I don't know boss…seems pretty dead to me," one member said simply.
Itto shook his head as he moved towards the body, brushing off the others aside.
"Alright alright, stop with that. You have to be delicate when you're checking whether or not someone's still alive or...you know," he said as the others backed away to give him space.
Itto squatted down in order to get a closer look on this new person, and did the first thing that came to mind.
"HEY, YOU ALIVE!?" he screamed right into the person's ear.
Despite his loudest effort, the individual in question did not give a single response at all.
Annoyed, Itto went for the next best option.
He held his right arm as high as he could, opening his palm fully before slamming it right down onto the person's chest.
But just as it was about to come into contact, the person suddenly opened their eyes at the very last moment.
Itto could not stop his arm in time as it was already far too late to do so, but he didn't need to.
That was because the person in question immediately raised his own hand to grab Itto's wrist, effectively stopping the slam altogether.
Then there was nothing but silence, with Goku and Itto blinking at one another in confusion, their mind barely registering at what had just occurred.
That was, until Goku decided to break the stalemate, "Yo."
"It's a ghost!" One of the three immediately yelled out, sending the other two into a disarray as well.
Itto himself wanted to scream in terror as well, but held down his desire to do so as he realized that the person in front of him was no ghost...in fact, it was the opposite considering he was able to physically touch him just now.
For Goku, he was simply confused on what exactly was going on as his memory was still hazy, having just regained consciousness.
As Itto began calling the others to return to their senses, Goku slowly recollected back to past events that had transpired ever since his last exchange of words with Kokomi on Tatarasuna.
Ever since then, he had traversed through the land of Inazuma by himself, bearing witness to sights that could not have been found anywhere on Watatsumi island.
In fact, he had even encountered a group of weird people in straw hats and heavy armor along the way.
Not that he could recall what they called themselves as, seeing that they were threatening him at the time, something about money...though his thoughts were drifting towards something else for him to pay attention.
The results of that confrontation was pretty forgettable too, as he was disappointed by how easy they were to take down despite how much they boasted themselves up to be.
Regardless, he continued traveling on land until he saw nothing but water in his way, which plainly showed him that there was no other way but to simply swim across.
So he did.
And in doing so, he underestimated the distance it took for him to arrive at shore.
Before he realized, he had swam for a full day, with nothing on his person that could keep him energized in the journey as he was surrounded by nothing but water...
...only to be greeted by a sudden wave of water crashing down on him.
In hindsight, it probably wasn't the best idea for him to challenge himself swimming across the sea with an ever constant thunderstorm above him.
He wasn't hurt per say. In fact, that tidal wave helped him quite a bit in reaching his destination.
There was just one issue once he arrived at shore.
He couldn't move, like at all.
Simply put, his hunger had finally caught up to him at the time, rendering him immobile despite his sense of touch grasping the solid ground.
He simply laughed at the situation he was in, not quite worried despite the circumstances of it all.
Then, a smaller wave of water washed all over him, leaving piles of sand scattered about with him right under it.
It was only then he could do nothing but close his eyes, his strength slowly sapping away from the starvation.
That was as far as his memories could recall before his thoughts were startled by a clearly shaking Itto pointing his finger towards him.
"Alright, stop it with the screaming. The guy's not a ghost! And you...it's rude not to introduce yourself, don't you think?"
Realizing that Itto was referring to him, he decided to give a response, "I'm Goku. Who are you guys supposed to be?"
"You must really be from the boonies if you've never heard of the Arataki Gang, and me, their leader," Itto complained upon seeing Goku's cluelessness of their identity.
"Hey boss, why don't we introduce ourselves to this guy?" one of them suggested, the color in his face returning to normal after realizing Goku was in fact very much alive.
Upon hearing the idea, Itto beckoned the other three into a huddle, and gave hushed whispers to one another as they began discussion.
"We could try that routine we've been practicing on for a while," another added.
The last one somewhat disagreed, remembering another member's comment on their recent endeavour, "But didn't Shinobu said that it looked stupid?"
"As the leader of the Arataki Gang, I say we just go for it. Shinobu is...well, she's second in command and she does call some of the shots here, but I'm still top dog, so what I say goes. Right now, I say we do the thing we've been practicing for."
Goku merely blinked in confusion as the four broke formation, before one of them stepped forward, stopping in place for several seconds while he had no idea what was going on at the moment.
That was until one of them started posing.
"Akira!" he yelled out, holding the edge of his straw hat confidently as he stood upright.
The next member gave a half squat before presenting both his arms wide open to his left, "Genta!"
"Mamoru!" the one on the left said as he struck another pose where bended his body forwards, with one hand touching the ground and the other way above it.
"Arataki 'Numero Uno' Itto!" he proclaimed confidently as he positioned himself in the middle, his arms in front of chest with a wild grin accompanying it.
"—and that makes us the Arataki Gang!"
With all four members standing in their poses, Goku could only utter one response to what he had just seen.
"Why are you guys standing around like that?"
"We were introducing ourselves. Great isn't it? Thought it up myself," Itto boasted proudly.
Goku however, unintentionally pointed out something the four had never considered up until now, "Isn't it easier just to say out your name instead without doing all that just now?"
Itto almost reeled back at such a question, for he had no true answer to it. Still, he quickly held up his cool as he gave a response, "Sure, it's easier, but you gotta leave a good impression on people. So, what better way for them to remember the name of the Arataki Gang than showing them an introduction that beats all introductions."
"...But it looks pretty silly if you ask me," he commented as he tried to copy Itto's pose, only to fail as he didn't have the energy to do so.
Itto did not notice the martial artist's struggle as he was too focused on his comment, "Silly? No...you just haven't realized the greatness of it. You'll see, once we practice a bit more and try it out on others they'll totally recognize the Arataki Gang with just a single glance."
"Wait, we still have to practice for this?" The one named Akira questioned, scratching the back of his head.
"I was kinda hoping that was the end of it. Last practice made my entire back sore," Genta added.
Itto intentionally ignored their words as he focused on the person before instead, "What kind of a name is Goku anyway? You gotta put a little extra something there you know. That way, nobody would ever forget you if you have an awesome intro like ours."
"Sorry about that then, but..."
Goku could not complete his sentence as he felt his entire body falling forward, his face planting itself onto the soft sands.
The four were startled by the action, especially since they saw the person before was acting so casually just a moment ago.
It all then became clear when they heard the loud growling noise coming from said person.
"Looks like I'm still out of energy right now," Goku said despite being muffled by the sand in his mouth.
Strangely enough, the members of the Arataki Gang immediately understood Goku's plight, as they too had experienced such hunger before.
Mamoru was the first to speak up, "Hey boss, why don't we treat him to some roasted lavender melons?"
"Yeah, that's not a bad idea Mamoru," Itto said aloud before positioning himself to Goku's level, "You're in luck my friend, usually we don't let non-members join our roasting session, but I think we can make an exception for someone that is down on their luck."
And just like that, Itto picked the martial artist by the shoulder as they began walking off to a place unknown to one Son Goku.
"Hey hey hey, save some for the rest of us! I get that you're hungry and all, but I would like to enjoy some lavender melons myself, thank you very much!" Itto complained aloud as he swiped one of the sticks that Goku was holding on among the many that he had.
Goku simply let out a cheeky smile as he continued to indulge on the food before him, with bits of lavender melons splattered across his mouth as the other members of the Arataki Gang merely looked at him in awe for eating so much since the food was cooked.
Currently the five of them have settled down in a small area a bit away from Hanamizaka, with a bonfire being started up as they all sat on the ground enjoying the food.
"Fwaah, that wasn't so bad. Wished there were more of them though," Goku said as he finished the last portion of his lavender melons,
Itto reeled in a bit of his annoyance as he wanted take more bites out of the now non-existent food, but instead decided to ask the newcomer something else, "Not trying to be nosy or anything, but I gotta ask... what were you doing sleeping under all that sand nearby Hanamizika?"
Goku blinked in confusion, "Hanamiwhat—? Ehehe, I'm not really sure where I am."
"Seriously? I kinda figure you're someone not from Inazuma but you gotta know where you are at least. You're at Hanamizaka! The place near Inazuma City! Ringing any bells for you?"
Goku's eyes widened in surprise upon hearing the name, as it was the place he had been searching for the past few days, "Eh!? So, this is Inazuma City?"
He did not elaborate any further, but instead jumped high up into the air, leaving the Arataki gang members in disbelief at seeing such a display.
As Goku lingered in the air, he could see the many buildings in the nearby city, but there was one object among them that caught his eyes.
It was a giant statue, its likeness similar to the one he saw on Watatsumi Island despite its bigger size, yet it was the appearance of another person altogether accompanied by ...an interesting flow of energy emanating from it.
He did not need to observe more to know that this Raiden Shogun was definitely here.
Once he landed back onto the ground, Itto let out an impressed whistle, "You seriously got some strong legs there. What's getting you so excited anyway?"
It was a valid question. After all, it wasn't everyday they meet an outsider from Inazuma, especially so due to the Sakoku Decree being in effect.
"Nothing much. It's just I finally arrived at where I wanna be," he responded happily.
Itto rose one of his eyebrows, "Where you wanna be? What, Inazuma City?"
Goku nodded vigorously, his smile becoming ever wider the longer he stared at the city.
Finally, he could meet this Raiden Shogun himself.
Itto then shrugged his shoulders, "Can't say I get what's got you so excited…I mean, Inazuma City is big and all, but there's other places to look at as well."
"Well, this place is where this Raiden Shogun lives right?" Goku said bluntly.
The mention of the Electro Archon caused all of them to tense up, all except for Itto of course.
Rather than being wary, that question caught his attention.
"Why do you want to know that?"
There was a slight shift in Itto's tone, one of interest more than anything else.
"I wanna talk with her, that's all."
"You want to talk to the Electron Archon, just like that? You know, the big shot of Inazuma?"
Without missing a beat, Goku immediately followed up Itto's question with one word.
"Yup."
There was a moment of silence between the two, with Goku showing a nonchalant grin while Itto slowly grasping his words in quiet contemplation.
The other three that were watching on the sidelines however, were very much panicking on what they were witnessing.
It was not because they still believed the martial artist was some sort of ghost tricking them into trusting him so easily.
It was also not because they thought this Goku person they just met was crazy, due to the fact that he wanted to waltz into the place and meet the Shogun of all people.
Rather, it was because—
"AHA...HAHAHAHAAH! That is the best thing I have heard in a while!"
—their boss would almost definitely take a liking to Goku.
They all let out a sigh, for they knew trouble was already brewing with their boss being so interested in him.
Well, it was at least better than how he was acting earlier.
Plus, this was already expected since this was their boss, Arataki Itto they were thinking about.
The policy of the Arataki Gang was to never let a single moment in life go to waste, after all, and not being interested in this Goku's story would be one of them if they let the matter go.
Goku scratched his head in confusion at Itto's burst of laughter, seeing as what he just said was not anything strange in his eyes.
"So, you're going to meet up with the Electro Archon huh? Must have been some place for you to wash up all the way here...by the way, was your ship wrecked or something?"
"Ship? I swam all the way here so I doubt you'll see any ship nearby."
"Seriously!? Now I gotta know where you came from! Not every day you see someone just deciding to come to Inazuma out of nowhere with nothing on their backs."
In response to his query, Goku simply pointed to the direction he came from, with their eyes lighting up in realization.
"Kannazuka huh? Guess that makes sense. Doesn't explain how you were there, but I don't need to know all the details, right guys?"
Mamoru and the others nodded in agreement, though they were very much looking at Goku with a newfound yet curious look.
Having rested enough, Goku felt it was time that he moved towards his destination.
"Yosh, guess it's time I head out then. Thanks for giving me some food guys, I really needed it to get my strength back."
Just as he took a step forward however, he was stopped by Itto holding him by the shoulder.
"Wow wow wow there buddy, I think it's better if you don't walk straight into Inazuma City like that."
"Eh? Why not?"
"Well...it's because...it's because...you guys mind helping me with explaining?" Itto said as he turned to the others for help in the matter.
Mamoru was the one who decided to explain, "Ahem. Due to the Sakoku Decree, outsiders of Inazuma cannot leave Ritou, and if any of the guards see you here, they are definitely going to think you're going against the decree."
Well, that didn't seem like the worst thing to happen, "Why is that bad?"
"Because the Tenryou Commission are definitely not going to let you off easy," Genta chimed in.
Before he could even know what or who this commission was, Akira had already prepared an answer for him, "Let's just say they can be scary if they want to be."
The members of the Arataki Gang would know. Though they were never the direct focus of the Tenryou Commission because they were mostly harmless, they had very much seen the few instances on how the guards treat outsiders, especially to those that violated the decree enacted.
And it was worlds apart in how the Tenryou Commission treated outsiders compared to the Arataki Gang.
"It's not all too bad, at least you don't have a Vision with you," Itto consoled after giving a once over on Goku's appearance.
"A Vision? What does that have to do with anything?" Goku asked curiously.
As far as he could remember from his talks with Kokomi, there were never instances that having a Vision here would be an issue. In fact, with how she worded, it seemed to be more of a boon than anything else.
So, why was having a Vision suddenly a bad thing?
Itto was caught off guard by Goku's statement, and immediately asked the martial artist just to be sure.
"You seriously don't know?"
Goku shook his head, indicating that he had no idea what they were talking about.
Itto turned to the other members, his eyes pleading for help in explaining once more as he didn't exactly know how to put it in words for their new friend.
Mamoru then began his explanation, "You see...people with Visions in Inazuma has been getting theirs confiscated for a while now, and it's all due to the—"
"—The Vision Hunt Decree! If you're not serving the Shogun, then you say goodbye to your Vision," Akira said, butting into the conversation much to the annoyance of Mamoru.
This...was certainly the first time the martial artist had heard of such a thing.
Then again, he vaguely remembered Kokomi stating decrees, so it probably meant that it was never just one.
Guess she thought it wouldn't be important since he himself did not have a Vision.
"Yeah, it's seriously not good. I mean, even the boss's Vision was taken because of the decree," Genta added in, as he accidentally pushed aside Itto.
Though the young man's comment already stated Itto no longer possessed one, Goku was only focused on a single word, ignoring the rest of them as he asked the leader of the Arataki Gang, "You have a Vision Itto?"
Itto puffed out his chest confidently, "Who do you think I am? Of course I do."
Goku's eyes trailed all over Itto's figure, but no matter how hard he looked, he could not see anything resembling the gem he had seen like with Kokomi, "But I don't see it anywhere?"
"Well...that's cause I uh..."
While one could cover for their leader, Akira was one of the few that rarely did, "Boss lost it a few days ago."
"Akira, you didn't have to say it like that...but he's right, I got mine taken from a certain tengu."
Itto could feel his dissipated frustration slow resurfacing at the thought of just her image.
"I don't get what's so special about those things, you seem fine to me."
Though it was undeniable that they held some sort of elemental power, Goku could not see them as anything more than tiny trinkets.
"That's cause I'm Arataki 'The Strongest Will' Itto, nothing is ever going to keep me down for long! However..."
There was an unusual pause that came from the leader of the four, before he continued on, "Not everyone is as lucky as I am. I've seen a couple of people that had Visions before turned into something else, like becoming another person entirely, if you get what I mean."
Goku's eyes widened upon hearing this new piece of information, as he honestly did not think that these Visions would be so important to the person that possessed one.
It's just another reaffirmation to him that not everything was as he expected at first.
"That just means I need to meet this Raiden Shogun, no matter what."
The pure steel and determination in his eyes more than caught Itto's attention, causing him to give a smirk at such a display.
The trio on the other hand still had no idea what to think of this newcomer, but what they were more worried about was how their leader was going to react...
"Goku my friend, you have a lot more guts than I thought. Guts that I think would fit for a gang like ours."
Ah, so that was what their boss was pitching.
It took a bit for Goku to comprehend his words, but he had only one answer once he fully understood the implications, "You mean join your gang? No thanks."
Itto could almost feel himself losing his footing once over the blunt rejection, "Hey, don't just brush off my invitation like that."
Goku's gaze turned into one of absolute seriousness, staring Itto right in the eyes, "It isn't about whether or not I wanna join, but there are some things I have to settle right now. So, I ain't sure I could join you guys just like that because I might not even be around by then."
"So you've got some stuff you have to do huh? I bet it's with the Electro Archon right? Once everything is settled, you can always just join up with us later."
The martial artist shook his head, "Not just her, but I got a lotta stuff I wanna take care of after this...and I ain't gonna be here when the time comes."
The matter with the Electro Archon was merely the first of many obstacles he needed to overcome.
He was sure there were many to come, but he would nonetheless do all of it just to find a way back to his world.
Was it necessary to do so?
No.
But he was here, right now in the outskirts of Inazuma City because he wanted to, and nothing else.
Upon hearing his reason, Itto contemplated his answer for a bit before he spoke once more, "Tell you what, being a member of the Arataki Gang doesn't mean you always have to be with us all the time."
"It doesn't?"
It wasn't just Goku who voiced out his surprise, but the other members as well.
"Yeah, it's one of the many benefits of being in the Arataki Gang. Besides, just because you're not here doesn't mean you aren't one. Of course, we can work out the details of your membership, how does that sound?"
Though it was nice and all, Goku only had one question in mind, "Hey Itto, why do you want me to join you guys anyway?"
"Heh, let's just say I got a good feeling about you. And whenever I get a feeling like this, I just stick to it. So, made up your mind already? I can't just keep asking and begging here you know? Limited offer! Wait, maybe I should say—"
Goku may not have met Itto for long, not even longer than an hour...yet, there was really only one answer now that he thought about it.
"Sure, I don't mind joining the Arataka Gang."
Itto felt a spark of irritation at the mispronunciation, "Arataki! Repeat after me, A. RA. TA. KI! If you're joining us, then you better get the name right."
Goku's response was to simply laugh it off, something that irritated Itto and confounded the other members even more.
"Argh, just when I wanted to congratulate you...wait, I just got an idea. Since you rejected my invitation earlier and even got the name wrong, I say you deserve a penalty game before you're admitted into our gang."
"Penalty game?" Goku asked.
"Something like a test before you're accepted, and I say we do it with an Onikabuto battle!" Itto declared with much fervor.
Goku did not know what exactly was an Onikabuto, but there was one word that fired him up more than anything else, "Ooh, a battle huh? I'm definitely up for it!"
Before his excitement at the prospect of fighting overwhelmed the martial artist, the more sensible part of him reminded Goku there was something else he had to do first.
"Can we do that after I meet the Raiden Shogun? I kinda don't wanna drag this out any longer than I have to."
Realizing he was sidetracking the discussion, he calmed down as well, "Good point. Guess we'll have to figure out a way to get into the city without alerting the guards."
"We?" Goku questioned.
Itto gave a good slap on the martial artist's back, "Come on Goku, I already decided you're one of us."
Goku didn't even register the sudden slap from Itto, "But didn't you just say I have to do a game first before I'm accepted?"
"Well, uh...that was—"
"What the boss meant to say is that you're already one of us, it's just you gotta do the penalty game first," Mamoru said as he came to the forefront, coming up with an explanation out of nowhere.
"Oh. Okay then," Goku said plainly, accepting the answer.
Itto let out a sigh of relief as he whispered into his subordinate's ear, "Nice save there Mamoru."
Mamoru let out a thumbs up in response, of which he reciprocated as well.
"So, do you guys have any idea how to get into the place?" Goku asked, turning to the other two.
"Well, we could disguise you in one of our uniforms," Genta suggested as he compared the sizes of their clothes to Goku's.
"That's not a bad idea, but aren't the Tenryou Commission super thorough on whoever comes into the city?" Akira noted, having been a witness to many of the inspections that had been conducted before.
"Plus, I don't think we can fool anyone with a hair that is almost as wild as boss's," the last of the trio said, which earned a good smack from Itto at the last comment.
"Doesn't that all take way too long? I could just jump straight into the building instead," Goku said after hearing all of their suggestions.
All of them stared at the martial artist like he was crazy to have such a thought...until they remembered that he had just performed a ridiculous feat just now.
"Hey, that might just work. Plus, it fits right into our style, don't you guys think?" Itto said as he turned to the others, who nodded in agreement.
"So...do I just jump into the biggest building there?" Goku asked as he squinted his eyes, judging the distance from here to his destination.
It wasn't impossible, but he would probably need a trunk or something to stand on when he's in the air.
"The moment you do that, Tenryou guards will just swarm in to arrest you. No my friend, you're still gonna jump, just from another place altogether."
The trio immediately deduced what their leader was implying, which left only Goku feeling lost and confused.
Out in the distance near Hanamizaka, there was a lone figure observing them all too quietly.
"So, I just need to jump from here?" Goku asked, staring at the tall cliff in front of him.
After the Arataki Gang's non-verbal agreement on a location, they then led Goku along the shoreline, which meant going around the outskirts of Inazuma City instead of going into it.
Not only that, the further along they went, the noticeably higher the city became to the point that they could not access the area without climbing said cliff first.
"You betcha. All you have to do from here is jump as high as you can to reach the top. The moment you get there, you just have to sneak around the place and find the Raiden Shogun herself. Easy, right?"
Goku was very much on the same wavelength as Itto, "Yeah, this will be easy!"
"Good luck man, we'll watch your match with boss when you get back."
"Yeah yeah, we can hang out after that too."
"Heh, don't think you'll win if you challenge us though, boss isn't the only one that knows a thing or two about games."
Just as he was about to take off after giving them a happy nod, the friendly atmosphere was interrupted by a new voice.
"STOP, IN THE NAME OF THE TENRYOU COMMISSION!" A man shouted aloud.
As they all turned to the source of the noise, they were greeted by the sights of several men running towards them from far away.
"Ahh, it's the Tenryou Commission!"
"How the heck did they even find us out here?"
"Must have been one of them patrolling the place! Gah, I knew we should have been more careful."
Thankfully, despite the guards spotting the Arataki Gang, they could not exactly determine the number of individuals in such a distance.
Upon seeing them, Goku was about to step in and intervene...until Itto stopped him.
"Just leave it to us Goku, you can go ahead and meet the Electro Archon."
"But what about you guys?"
"Heh, don't worry too much. I don't think they can arrest us this time, I mean...it wasn't like we were doing anything illegal," Itto reasoned, as for once, they technically didn't break the law.
Probably.
"So, we'll distract them and once I give a signal, you just get out of here as fast as you can."
Goku thought of his options at the moment, but ultimately decided to trust in Itto's words.
With their new member agreeing to the arrangement, Itto let out a confident strive as he beckoned the trio, "Alright, time for the Arataki Gang to show our stuff!"
As the men came closer and closer, Itto called out to them, "Hey gentlemen! You're just in time to see the most glorious thing you'll ever find in your life!"
The guards stopped for a moment, wary that the Arataki Itto would pull out something off his sleeve to escape.
Thus, the Arataki Gang begun...introducing themselves once more.
"Akira!" the young man yelled out, holding the edge of his straw hat confidently as he stood upright.
The next member gave a half squat before presenting both his arms wide open to his left, "Genta!"
"Mamoru!" he said as he struck another pose where he bent his body forward, with one hand touching the ground and the other way above it.
"Arataki 'Gotcha' Itto!" he proclaimed confidently as he positioned himself in the middle, his arms in front of chest with a wild grin accompanying it.
Stunned by the ridiculousness of the situation, the guards tried to ignore what they just saw as they continued running towards the Arataki Gang.
Just as the guards were about to reach them however, Itto steadied himself as he reeled his head backwards until he could see nothing but the sky…
…only to then slam his forehead hard right onto the very ground they were standing on.
A cloud of dust burst forth from the very impact, obscuring what the guards could see from their position.
Realizing that this was the signal that Itto was talking about, Goku immediately leapt high up into the air, and within the span of several seconds, he was able to land at the very top of the cliff.
As he took one final glance at Itto and the others, he saw that the guards had already arrived near the group, but no matter how long his gaze lingered onto them, it didn't seem like a fight would break out anytime soon.
Guess it was one more reason for him to see this through.
Tenshukaku, the residence of the most exalted one in all of Inazuma. Standing tall on the highest point in the city, it watched over all that was under the Electro Archon's dominion.
And in the innermost chamber of Tenshukaku, laid the Raiden Shogun.
She, who presided over all of Inazuma, looked over each matter with one goal in mind.
Eternity.
And to do so, the Vision Hunt Decree was enacted to collect the Visions of those that possessed one.
Half a year had passed since then, and a little more than sixty Visions had been inlaid onto the Statue of the Omnipresent God.
Yet, the pursuit of eternity continued on.
There were still many that defied the current decree, desperately hoping to hold on to their Vision.
Pointless.
The one that held a fraction of her attention in this regard was the Resistance, but she found no need to personally intervene in the situation.
Despite receiving reports of the loss that had occurred at Tatarasuna, the impact of that battle was trivial at best.
It did not change anything, as it was merely delaying the inevitable.
This was more so true now that one of the heirs to the Kujou Clan had departed to settle the matter.
For now, she would continue to only address matters that would relate to eternity, nothing more and nothing less.
Just as the silence within Tenshukaku continued to settle in, the peace was immediately destroyed as an abnormality came into the scene.
One that not even the Raiden Shogun herself could have foreseen.
A part of the wall within the chamber crumbled apart, with pieces of it exploding as someone rolled on the ground and into the chamber.
She remained impassive as she merely observed the situation, but her focus was very much on what was in front of her.
"Blergh! I didn't know the wood here would be so easy to break," one Son Goku said as he stood up from the wreckage he had accidentally caused.
"Who are you to dare trespass Tenshukaku?"
Upon hearing her voice, the young man's gaze now focused on her, a clueless look adorned on his face.
"Ehehe, sorry about that. I was having trouble sneaking around since I couldn't figure out where exactly was I just now."
His eyes then wandered around his new surroundings, until they finally settled on her as a look of realization struck the young man.
"Hey...you're the Raiden Shogun right?" He asked, pointing his right index finger towards her.
An outsider that wishes to have an audience with her?
How absurd.
However, she still had to ascertain him further, so for now, she would answer his foolish question.
"You are correct, yet I do not see the relevance in your question."
His expression remained relaxed as he waved at her in a friendly manner, "Hi there, name's Goku. I'm not exactly from around here, you know?"
Regardless, pleasantries were a waste of time.
"State your query. To the point."
It was then and there his expression changed to one of seriousness, "Stop whatever you're doing to the people around here, especially those decree things."
To brazenly challenge the authority of the Electro Archon…
"And what right do you have to demand such a thing from me?"
"I don't. But even someone like me can see that not everyone around here is happy with what you're doing."
To believe in such sentiments….
"The world remains constant as time marches on. Human lives are fleeting, as they would never overcome the test of time. For that alone, what reason would I have to placate them? "
"So, you aren't going to stop then huh?"
Her silence was the sole affirmation that Goku needed, as he let out a chuckle, "Heh, I kinda knew this from the start... but, I just had to ask anyway you know? Well, the only thing left is just to make you understand through the one thing I know best then."
Then, he shifted into a basic stance, one that was obviously full of holes that anyone would be eager to exploit.
A lesser fighter would have immediately attacked upon seeing such a faulty stance. She however, saw otherwise and recognized the opponent before her was a threat.
A threat that was in opposition to eternity.
That reason alone was enough for his termination, amongst the sea of transgressions for trespassing on Narukami Island.
"You, who challenges me...will be struck down."
A flicker of lightning sparked across the air as a naginata hung on the wall was flung into her hand.
It was only an instance, but she saw her would-be opponent flashed a smile at such a simple display.
What foolishness.
AN: So, we finally arrive at Narukami Island…and I skip the entire section of introducing Goku to the city itself. Thanks Itto. This however does not mean that there won't be a scene where Goku can admire the city, but that's in due time. For now, battling Raiden should be the priority for him, of which I'm probably gonna have both fun and frustration at writing this fight.
Anywho, I have a question that I'm hoping someone has the answer to…when the Archon Quest for Inazuma begins, why were there exactly 99 visions placed in that statue again? Is it just for the dramatic impact of getting the magical number 100 during the story or was there something more significant? I honestly cannot recall, and after searching a bit, I still don't know.
This won't affect this story, at least I don't think so? It's just something that has been nagging on me for a while now.
Til next time.