The Chosen: Chapter 7
A/N: "The following is a fan-based work. Naruto is owned by Shueisha, Viz Media, and Masashi Kishimoto. Please support the official release."
Chapter 7: What Is A God?
I had only just begun the process of cleaning up the mess we had made when Hiiro awoke. She seemed slightly worried over being asleep while I had been awake but didn't let it show as much as I would have expected. Silently she joined me, and together it only took us a little while to remove the body and clean up the blood-soaked plastic. A small path of plastic led to the hallway, once the top layer had been removed. The carpet was spotless from what I could see, and after Hiiro confirmed with a silent three-seal Jutsu that no blood remained, I considered the job done. I removed my clothes, wrapped them in the final layer of plastic sheeting, and sealed them within a scroll to be destroyed later. I heard the shower down the hallway turn on, and when I turned around, Hiiro stood in the living room doorway, leaning slightly against the wall, studying me. As I watched her, she raised an eyebrow, before glancing towards the shower.
'Don't mind if I do…' I thought as I followed along, being sure to stay on the final plastic path.
30 Minutes Later
After finally getting cleaned up, and into fresh clothes, we sat down in the living room, across from one another.
"I expect you have many questions, Kureizu." Hiiro starts, motioning with her hand.
"I do, yeah," I replied, trying to think of where best to start. "You mentioned that the Ashemic Hunter guy is on the move? You think he is coming here?"
"Oh yes, he is coming here." She replied, smiling. "There is little chance he is going anywhere else."
"Why is that? Just the rumors were enough?" I question, curious.
"Ah…I don't think I explained very well earlier. We were a little busy…" She says, getting up and collecting her bag. "Let me start from the beginning…"
She rifles through for a moment, snagging up the book from before, and taking out the photo, once more showing me the face of my enemy. "This man, the so-called 'Light Of Ashemu', does not always look like this. This picture is over 80 years old, taken when he was already in his 40s."
"He doesn't look a day over mid-20s there…" I reply, studying the picture. "He is immortal?"
"No, not technically." She replies, taking the photo back. "The Ashemic Order, and the Hunters that work through it, receive a blessing from their God, Ashemu. It gives them a temporary youth, lasting anywhere from a few days, to a few years. I don't know how that is determined, but it's one of the many things that make them so hard to kill. They are stronger, faster, and smarter than any normal Ninja…and in some ways, they can sense us. Not amazingly well, he could not point you out in a crowd…but that he is moving at all means that Ashemu has called for him, handing over the mission where his previous agent has failed. The Light is one of the best…and there is cause to worry."
"How have I never heard any of this before?" I asked, "We studied various religions, even touching on Jashinism, in school. Nowhere does Ashemu appear…"
"The Elemental Nations do their best to ignore the existence of the Ashemic Hunters, if only because of what their coming entails. Seeing their reaction to the weapon, you recognize that they understood what it meant. They did everything they could to find you before another hunter showed his face…" Hiiro answered.
I pondered this for a moment, nodding. It made sense.
"Has Jashin spoken to you yet?" Hiiro asked, suddenly. "You have been a full-fledged member for over a year, have you not?"
I froze then, unsure of how to answer, before deciding to simply be truthful. "No, and yes, over a year."
She cocked her head to the side slightly, a curious look on her face, before something seemed to click for her, "You don't fully believe in Jashin, do you?"
The silence in the room was deafening, as I studied her closely. I was now worried that if I told her no, she might attack. As I thought quickly about how best to answer, the answer was instead given to me.
New Mission: "Another Order…"
Rank SSS+
Hiiro knows much about the curse that afflicts you. Discover what she knows, and learn the origins of Jashin.
Objective 1: Learn What Jashin Is - 8300 XP
Objective 2: Commune With Jashin - 3400 XP
Objective 3: ?
Objective 4: ?
First Step:
1. Tell her how this happened
I hadn't been expecting such an easy answer…
"I didn't become…this…" I replied, haltingly starting my story. "I was made into this…"
She motioned for me to continue, an odd look in her eyes. I told her of the mission, a soft hum when I mentioned the missing girls. She said nothing as I described the chamber, the pit, and the blood…Her first true reaction was when I described the man, and what he had done, slitting his own throat as he hung above me.
"Jashin damn you Jūsha!" She whispered fiercely, as my "Steps" updated to listening to her tutelage.
"You know him?" I asked, a little surprised. Maybe the Jashinists are a closer community than I had realized?
"He's…an outlier, as far as Jashinists are concerned," She replied, sighing. "There are rules, and he's one of the few that refuse to follow them."
"Rules?" I asked, "I'm starting to realize how little I know of all of this. I know that Jashinism is a cul-Religion, that they follow Jashin…and uh…"
"Tend to be immortal monsters known for large-scale massacres?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well…yeah," I replied, smiling sheepishly. That's exactly what I'd learned in school.
She frowned for a moment, before standing up. "I'm sorry, Kureizu. What you've learned is…historically accurate. For a very long time, thousands upon thousands of years, the Jashinists were exactly that; mass murdering sadists."
"Were?" I asked, "Cause of the two I've met…one did murder 9 people to turn me into one of you. The other had me torture a woman, and then fucked me in her puddle of blood."
She smiled then, a dark smile that sent a pulse through my chest…and my cock. "As I said, Jūsha is different."
Her lack of a response to our activities spoke volumes, so I moved on. "Then what changed?"
"Jashin changed," She responded, "Rather…he evolved…."
I thought about her words…there was a connotation there that I wasn't getting.
"I can see that you're confused, Kureizu," She said, pursing her lips, "To that end, I will do what Jūsha should have done, and teach you. Will you accept me as your teacher?"
As she spoke, a special alert pop-up appeared, one I'd seen just a few weeks prior, during my promotion.
ALERT!
New Rank Pending: Disciple Of Jashin
Yes Or No?
"If I want answers to all…this; The only answer I can give you is Yes," I replied, both to her and the floating alert.
ALERT!
Special Rank Earned: Disciple Of Jashin
+ 3 Perception
New Jutsu Unlocked!
Jashin to Majiwaru - Commune With Jashin
"Good…then let us begin with a simple question my student…" She said, her eyes intense. "What is a God?
"Well…conventionally, a God is something that is beyond us. Something more, above us in the spiritual hierarchy?" I replied, unsure of how best to answer. "Or perhaps something supernatural? Able to do acts seemingly outside of the natural order?"
"Do you understand, Kureizu, that to many things…you are a God? You can walk on water, create a whip of it, even a dragon. To a normal person, you're as close to Godhood as they will ever know," She replied, holding eye contact. "To the woman you just murdered, you were above her. You were much more than her, holding her life in your hand…and without a worry for her, you took it. If you are not a God…what is a God? Take a moment to think about it."
Think about it I did. She made very good points, even if some of the logic was…grotesque. If to others I was a God, simply by the acts I performed, and I expected a God to be that much more than me…then what was a God?
"I'm sorry, Hiiro," I replied at last. "With your comparison, I can't think of what makes a God any different from me."
"Good," Hiiro said, smiling her dark little smile, "That's the point I wanted to make, Kureizu. We are Gods. To those beneath us, we are as much Gods as Jashin is God to us. With the same ease that Kami could scour this planet clean with fire once more, we could do the same to a hill of ants. It is all about effort. You can find Gods of many things, scattered the world over. Gods of the forest, the plains, the waters. Gods that give miracles, gifts, and boons. Some are fickle things, handing out favor and disdain in equal measures simply to delight in their praise, while others would see you burn before ever turning their divine light in your direction…there is a blessed well about 2000km away, with an animal sacrifice, will grant you nearly any wish, only to curse you for it, turning your wish from good to evil. To Gods, we are ants! The same effort it would take you to accidentally knock over an ant hill, a God could turn all of Ame into a hole in the ground. That, Kureizu, is what a God is. Do you understand?"
I considered her words for a moment, before nodding. "It's about the act…"
"Good, you're learning!" She replied. "The issue, Kureizu, is in expectation. You'd imagine that a God, someone to whom you are nothing…would look the part. You imagine them larger than life, a sign from the heavens. An ethereal figure, something beyond comprehension. I tell you this so that you understand that a God, is a God, because of what they can, and will do. It is not what they look like, what they sound like if they can speak, or even what they are that makes them Gods. It is the actions and the effort…There is a man within a cave, four, maybe five hours east of us, right now…he is 1500 years old. If you met him on a street, you'd have no idea that he was the living embodiment of a God, descended to the world he helped shape some untold eons ago, simply to see if we are worthy of his efforts. With a thought he could erase you from existence, make it to where you never existed, all without even knowing what he is."
I blinked, shocked, "W-what?"
She nods at my exclamation. "I'm serious, Kureizu. I've met him myself, about 80 years ago. It was the first mission Jashin sent me on when I was newly…remade. Understand me well, Kureizu, when he descended, he lost himself. He doesn't know what he is, anymore. He is lost, a senile old man, with the power to end everything. I know what you want to ask, how? How could I know he is a God when even he doesn't know? You can feel it. When in their presence, you can taste the power they hold, any God that graces you with their presence. There is a sacred deer within the forests of the Fire Nation. To attempt to hurt it would see nature turned on you, hunting you wherever you go till it crushes you." Hiiro explains, "A being of sacred fire walks an island deep in the southern ocean, and of it, I'll tell you little else…I'm telling you this so you understand the whole picture. Without this knowledge, it would be easy to mistake your God for something other than what it is. It would be easy to learn the truth, and not understand what makes a god, a God."
I nod, understanding. "You're telling me to strip away from preconceptions. That Gods are not just…people in another plane of existence. That they can, and do exist around us."
She smiles then, before standing. "Exactly that, Kureizu. Now come, follow."
As she makes her way towards the window, I pause her with my question, "Wait, where are we going?"
She turns her dark smile once more on her face, "To meet Jashin, Kureizu. Tonight you learn the truth that less than 20 remaining faithful know. You learn the face of Jashin…"
"You can use Shadow Step as well?" I asked her, as I saw her step within a shadow, and appear on the other side of the large wall that surrounds Ame.
"Oh yes…I should explain that." She replies, before looking up at the night sky and turning us slightly more south by southwest. "You'll understand more when you've met Jashin, and I explain more of our history…but when Jashinists fuck, we have a chance to learn abilities from one another. It only works once, and I am devastated that I didn't learn your little mind-control trick…but this ability will serve me well regardless."
"How the fuck does that work?" I asked as we began making our way away from Ame.
She only smirked in response, shaking her head. "You'll understand more shortly. We only need to travel a bit further. I did notice that you gained the Seductress's Blood from me, though. I can smell it from here…"
I blinked momentarily, before realizing she meant the Blood Seduction ability that I'd gotten a pop-up for. I nodded in response, before turning my thoughts inward. What else would this night entail for me…
"Here, Kureizu," Hiiro said, as we slowed to a stop.
Around us a normal clearing in the forest, nothing of any real interest standing out. No altar, no pillars, no fell depictions of a god of murder.
'Right…my preconceptions.' I thought, making eye contact with Hiiro.
She watched me, an eerie look in her eyes…one of…expectations. "Your body knows what to do, Kureizu."
She was right, of course. Even as I had considered the matter, I knew that to commune with Jashin, I needed to sacrifice blood for it. My blood, specifically. I snagged a kunai, digging it into the palm of my hand, ignoring the wash of pleasure and pain that flashed over me. It took me a minute, the healing of my hand needing to be opened three more times to provide what felt like enough blood to me. I sank to my knees in the blood and closed my eyes.
Jashin to Majiwaru Activated!
The ground beneath me seemed to shift slightly, needle-like pricks of pain and pleasure all along my legs, and with a gasp I-
The lights of the city shined brightly, reflected in his eyes. It had been nearly a century since last he stepped foot within Ame…that Ashemu had led that charge then went without saying. The pulse had calmed at last, telling him that his enemy, the enemy, was somewhere within. A smile nearly graced his face for a moment, the thrill of the hunt nearly sending him hurtling over the wall into Ame…but he paused. He still had several more days before his gift would leave him…no need to rush when the infection was already so close at hand. With a sigh, he dropped silently over the wall, and into the city below.
A/N: Sorry for the long ass wait, and such a short chapter! Work has been blah. In good news, I got a promotion! In bad news, I'm busier than ever. Add in the difficulties in writing the 'What is a god' section, which I rewrote TEN TIMES(Literally!) trying to get the right feel to it…and you can imagine why this one took so damn long.
Having said that, I already know WHAT Jashin is, how he became, and how he evolved. Can you guess? Kudo points to anyone who does!
Since I already know what happens next, writing it should be easier than this chapter by far…
Kureizu learns the face of his God at last, learning a truth he was unprepared for. The Light Of Ashemu has arrived, and even Hiiro seems…afraid. What oh what is our intrepid MC to do?