High above in a tower of red, an old man burdened by years of regrets and failures. Looks upon that which he calls home, full of hope and love for those he considers his own. THis man being the third Hokage, a man of power, the strongest within his home. But in this moment he has never felt more powerless, with war starting in but a few days, his mind wanders to those that have come before. His teachers, Hashirama, Tobirama. Two great men, men who have worn this heavy hat before him. Both taken in previous wars.
"Shikaku, report." an old experienced voice booms, full of weight shoving those that hear it that this old monkey still has some fight in him.
"Hai, Hokage-sama." A voice responds, sounding like it is spoken through a yawn "Suna is moving towards our borders, they are currently crossing the land of rivers. Estimated time before contact with our patrols is less than two days. ANBU sent to deliver your missive to 'The Salamander' is estimated to return within four hours carrying a response. Our spies in Iwa have reported that 'The Fencesitter' has mobilized his forces but is delaying action for now. And the latest news from Kiri has shown an increased level of unrest between the shinobi and the various clans. The projected result is that a civil conflict might arise within a month, quicker if outside interference is introduced." Concluding his report Shikaku Nara, the jonin commander of the leaf adopts an expression of exhaustion, while undoubtedly the most intelligent man within the country, his intellect is only matched by his laziness, so typical of those within his clan. So is his spiky black hair tied up in a high ponytail, his dark eyes looking perpetually asleep shoving the scary intellect for those with a keen eye for detail.
"Hmm, is that so?" The third replies, the gears turning behind his brow, ready to show why he got his title of 'The Professor'. "Onoki has never been a man of swift action, he much prefers to wait out the situation to take advantage of the most advantageous situation. While not the most pressing situation at present he will become the biggest issue if left unattended."
"Hiruzen, if i may" an old voice sounds out from the shadows, belonging to an old man covered in bandages along his right side disguising his horrible injuries and missing eye, leaning on a cane this cripple known as the shadow Hokage, Shimura Danzo, an old friend and teammate of The third, turned advisor speaks up. "Let my Root shinobi move in on Kiri and remove their ability to partake in this war, while you use your forces to meet Suna on the battlefield, this could all be a distraction to allow a small force of ANBU dispatched to infiltrate Iwa and sabotage key areas removing Onoki's ability to remain passive which will remove most of his threat factor since he will not be able to launch ambushes on our forces while we are recovering."
"That suggestion does have merit old friend. Very well, Danzo, dispatch your Root to remove Kiri from the conflict. Shikaku send a battalion of jonin to intercept Suna. I want Sakumo to lead them. And I want Dragon to send team wolfpack to infiltrate and sabotage Iwa. If we are successful we can end this war before it formally starts. Move out."
""Hai, Hokage-Sama"" a collection of voices chorused in unison before they all blurred away to carry out their leaders orders.
Quest Received; Who, where, when.
Objective 1; Find out who you are.
Objective 2; Find out where you are.
Objective 3; Find out when you are.
Hidden Objective; ?
Rewards; 200xp, Gacha tokens 2x, Status screen.
Failure; Imprisonment.
The first thing to greet my eyes as they open is a bloody quest. 'Of course I won't have access to my status screen immediately, that would have been too easy now wouldn't it? Well, let's see if I can't do the first two objectives.' As I look around the room I woke up in I see that it is a pretty spartan looking place, merely containing a bed, a desk with a candle holder on it, and a wardrobe in the corner. 'Okay, lack of electricity as evident by the lack of lights and use of candles, I must either be in a village out in nowhere or this world has not yet developed past the 1600s.'
As I get up from the bed to investigate the room I am in I notice that I can hear voices bustling in the rest of the house, I can hear the pecking of birds outside, the scratching of small critters digging in the forest.
'Hmm, it seems my sense of hearing has improved immensely from before I died, either this is normal for humans in this world, or I have become something else.' I muse as I move over to the desk where I find a journal open showing me my first clue as to what has transpired.
The Unrest is growing between us and Kiri, Kaa-chan believes that it won't be much longer until it escalates and we have to flee so as to not be exterminated like what happened to the Kaguya clan a while back.
'Kiri? Kaguya? Bloody hell, I am in Naruto aren't I? and from the looks of things I am within the land of water sometime between the end of the second war and the Kyuubi attack.'
Ding!
Objective complete
Quest; Who, where, when.
Objective 1; Find out who you are.
Objective 2; Find out where you are. Completed
Objective 3; Find out when you are. Completed
Hidden Objective; ?
Rewards; 200xp, Gacha tokens 2x, Status screen.
Failure; Imprisonment.
'Well that confirms where and when I am, now to figure out Who I am, or rather, What I am would be more appropriate.' I walk over to where I see the bathroom being so I am able to look in a mirror. What I see shocks me. A young boy about 15 looks back, messy dark hair framing his thin face, dark green eyes with a ring of speckled amber surrounding the pupils, clad in a black shirt with torn sleeves showing off his thin slightly muscular arms.
'Why? Why do I look the same as back then? What cruel joke is this?' My mind is racing as the image of a young woman flickers behind me in the mirror. "WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE? WHY CAN'T I ESCAPE YOU!" I rage as I lash out with a punch towards the mirror shattering it completely. I fall to my knees cradling my face within my cupped hands, my breaths labored. As I slowly collect myself, calming slightly my thoughts continue 'Hah.. Even in death you haunt me… I should probably wrap my hand, it can't be pretty after that.'
As I remove my hands from my face to assess the damage done, my eyes widen in shock as I find them completely unharmed, not even a scratch upon them.
"What is this? That glass should have shredded my hand, unless… Enhanced senses, incredibly durable skin, it can't be.. Noone is that cruel.." I mutter as a thought hits me. but before I can investigate further I get pulled from my thoughts by screams ringing out throughout the night. Followed by a loud
*BOOM*
'What is happening?' I run to the window and look out, seeing people run from burning houses, corpses lining the streets as people dressed in pale blue camo runs around cutting down anyone the see, some shooting pressurized balls of water from their mouths reducing running civilians to merely a body with their head popped like a watermelon, their brain and blood painting the surroundings red. I see one of the assailants closing in on a woman cradling her mutilated child in her arms, the look in her eyes showing that she doesn't want to believe what is happening even when her leg has been reduced to a tattered slab of meat dripping blood on the soil beneath her. With my enhanced hearing I can make out the deranged mutterings aimed towards the child in her arms, she doesn't seem to acknowledge the gaping hole within its chest revealing its broken ribs and dangling intestine to the world.
"You disgusting thing.. I will end your pitiful suffering so you can't sully our great land anymore." The shinobi states as he looms over the broken woman, and with a swift flick of his wrist he separates her head from her shoulders ending her life.
'I have to get out of here. Without knowing if my theory is correct I have no chance against these guys, I am nothing more than what equates to a very knowledgeable civilian at the moment, they would slaughter me within a second.' I turn around and hurriedly sneak out of the room I was in, finding myself in a short hallway with a door on either side, both smell like wood, and the coppery sweet delicious smell of food. 'What? Why did I think that? No time, I need to get out of here.' Briefly distracted I didn't hear as someone approached the door to my right until I see it starting to open. Without a thought I started running to the door on my left hoping it led to a backyard or something. To my relief as I exit the house I find myself in the forest surrounding the small village I woke up in. The screams and smells slowly grow fainter as I move deeper into the forest running from the hell that was left behind.
The sun had set by the time I felt safe enough to stop and catch my breath, settling down beside a stream of water I gather my thoughts and reflect over what had happened.
'It seems that Kiri had started the purge of bloodlines earlier in this world, that being did say it changed up some things so I couldn't fully rely on my previous knowledge. And it seems I got the confirmation I needed to find out what I am.' I muse as I look down in the stream beholding the glowing red irises surrounded by a midnight black sclera with pulsing red veins extending around my eyes and into the inky black depths. 'It seems this being found it amusing to turn me into a Ghoul.'
Ding!
Quest Completed
Quest; Who, where, when.
Objective 1; Find out who you are. Completed
Objective 2; Find out where you are. Completed
Objective 3; Find out when you are. Completed
Hidden Objective; Escape the Eradication of the Yuki Clan. Completed
Rewards; 200xp, Gacha tokens 2x, Status screen.
Hidden Reward; RC-cell/Chakra conversion skill, 300xp
Ding! You have leveled up Twice
10 skill points added