There was a small village that sat outside the village of Kumogakure, it wasn't large by any standard and rather unimpressive compared to some of the other villages and the great ninja village itself. But still, of the two or three hundred people that existed in its dinky wooden wall that hardly passed the qualifications of being a fence, surrounded by lush farmland, Maigo found a quite and quaint place to relax and spend his time. Mid-afternoon struck and he'd left Kumogakure to check the port for Alwen, to see if she would have arrived yet, leaving Lin behind in the village to do whatever it is that she would do for her village. For Maigo, there were two things he was tending to, the first would be to find Alwen and hope she ends up in the Land of Lightning like he himself did and the second, would be tracking the movements of some bandits of a known criminal organization.

Well, not just any organization but an organization of international criminals controlled by Maigo's estranged father, and in a front to continue tracking down the mysterious man who so wounded Maigo. Well, not in any physical sense, not yet, but leaving him to his own devices and taking away a family from him, well... the rage burned like hot iron coals against the ground, steam spraying off even where there was no water.

For now, it was just after mid-afternoon, the sun was high in the sky with scattered clouds as white as snow, the breeze pushed things along and the crops blew sporadically along with it. There was a gentle smell of the various crops and cut grass that filled the air, Maigo sat on a bench near a tea shop, a sparing few passing by him and some concerned glances towards the north of their village. Just past the opened gate in their fence, black smoke arose in a small pillar like a smoke signal, another burned a few degrees to the right of it and another even further off in the distance to the left. In the distance a man rushed into the gate, out of breath, he called out in a panic, Maigo was too far away to make out the words in their entirety but from the tone and worry, he figured the problem out very quickly.

They're back... and they said they're not leaving until they collect every dime! For Maigo, he made out back, and not leaving until... which, would play interesting for him. The thought crossed his mind of the tea that sat behind him getting cooler, he hadn't a chance to really investigate the problems of the country and it was Lady Ayakashi's directive to help the people of the Land of Lightning and try to win back support. Well, he wouldn't go for the gradiose of announcing that Kirigakure ninja had saved them, but he reached to his cup and took a sip, finding a band of 10... maybe 15 men marching towards the city with cheap weapons and tools. Rakes, some swords, farming scythes, and one man in the middle... he led the group several steps ahead with a torch, but his face couldn't be made out yet.

They entered in, laughs and scattered running from other villagers, Maigo stayed calm... remained seated, set his cup down for a moment. The men scattered out with intensity as the man in the center, grey hair pointed out towards the village after entering in its border. Instantly, his thugs scattered out and began to cause trouble, grabbing a woman and preventing her from running away, a few entered into shops with their weapons and started yelling, the man in grey leisurely walked through the street and caught wind of Maigo sitting there, pretending to ignore them as the rage built up inside him. He was on edge, he could feel the anxiety of the situation building... no, it wasn't anxiety it was frustration. These sorts of problems seemingly existed everywhere, but for Maigo... he found the logo on his shoulder, of that organization he'd been hunting. Even if this guy was nobody, he was nobody in relation to someone, and that made him valuable, for the time being.

As the man's team of goons ran around ransacking the village, the grey haired guy began to speak up, Maigo grasped the cup again, tightly, he felt like it was about to shatter in his hand, everything else drowned out in the moment. And then... it broke, the cup flew from his hand before the liquid hit his lips, the ceramic shattered against the ground and the remaining tea flowed across the dirt, Maigo's eyes looked toward it before he really registered that the man had slapped it from his hands. "Did you hear me?!" he shouted again, pressing the hilt of his blade into Maigo's shoulder and pushing him backwards into the wall behind the bench. "I said... we're collecting the town's taxes! And since you're here... you better cough up what you have too..." he smirked and grinned snidely. Maigo sighed as he knew what came next, but there were quite a few bandits and this was energy he wasn't ready to exert. He knew one thing, that with the other men terrorizing the city itself, he needed to draw the attention towards himself, keep it away from the civilians. Besides, how tough could these bandits be?

It wasn't like he was outnumbered 15 to 1 or anything like that... still, the rage would help. Oh, the rage would help even the odds.


[954 words]

There was a dark place inside of the man who walked towards the small town shop, pain dripping off of him like venom and vengeance pointed towards his enemies like the tip of his sword. He once had the world, everything he could possibly ever want, at his fingertips. He had a loving father and a beautiful person with whom he loved dearly and was ready to spend his entire life beside, but darkness swept over him like a shroud and slowly took away everything that he loved. When everything was gone he had gone seeking his retribution, and that was where he had found a path of divine righteousness and fury. The man who at the time was known as Sword Saint hadn't felt saintly at that point, the leader of the group Aoi Bara giving him new purpose and a reason to live on. He took the steel of the man's heart and determination, and molded him into something new. From the ashes rose the dragon, and he was truly a sight to behold. He swept through criminal organizations, sending a message to any and all who dared to oppose the Aoi Bara and their vision for the world; if you continue along your heathen path, you will be burned by the Hellfire Dragon, no mercy shall be afforded to criminals or heathens.

His black hair was pulled back behind him and tied off, the streaks of grey in it showing a life that hadn't been kind to their master. His eyes were determined, one an emerald green, the other which he took from Synn Karisuma being a paler green. He had given up on the guise of wearing glasses years back, and he had come to like the freedom that came with not wearing them, never having to adjust them in the middle of battle or while walking. His black and grey beard was neatly trimmed and the scowl of determination plastered on his face twisted the scar upon his lips in an interesting way. His dark clothing kept him difficult to see, and his general stealth made him nearly impossible. He was a shadow's shadow, one that could go unseen when he wished it. The only thing that would give him away was the cloak of hatred that he seemed to have issues dimming down, the heat radiating from his body impossible to miss. He was like a walking furnace, his rage manifesting itself in an obvious way. There was a reason that he was referred to as the Hellfire Dragon, or the Hell Gate King in the Aoi Bara.

He had decided that taking some time away from the village of Kumogakure would be good for him, the conflict between the Mizukage and the Raikage, as well as Tsuyo Hyuuga, the founder of Aoi Bara, having given Mitsuo an unfortunately bad reputation in the village. He instead decided to lay low in the surrounding villages, though he didn't think that he would end up coming across what he had heard from the locals. Extortion ran rampant here, a gang of people who were wrapped up in everything that the Aoi Bara had opposed for many years. Mitsuo Sarutobi couldn't let this stand, and with fire in his heard and death surrounding him like armour, he made his way to begin the cleansing of this village from that which ailed it. He could see them making their way into the small place, brandishing weapons, wether real or makeshift, and marching upon the unsuspecting and fearful townsfolk. Most of them went for the shops, but he saw a couple of them move towards a man who was simply sitting minding his own business. Mitsuo's face became angry as he saw the man brandish a sword, the villager not seeming to notice him, or being somewhat foolish perhaps if he did. Mitsuo respected bravery, but the man wouldn't have to be brave in this situation.

Walking towards the man with the sword pulled, Mitsuo took the blade whip "Penance" from around his chest, allowing the tip of it to drag along the ground as he walked. He was the picture of death, an agent of divine retribution and punishment. One of the men saw him approaching and began to back away, leaving the man with the sword pointed towards the other person alone. When Mitsuo spoke, his voice was low and powerful, amplified by the anger inside of him. His aura burned white hot, anyone close to him would have been made uncomfortable by this, but he didn't care. This was what he had been trained for and this was his purpose. "You think you are tough, pulling a blade upon a man who has done nothing wrong? Extorting a peaceful village for their hard earned money? This is a poor place, there is nothing here for you but pain, suffering and death." The blade scraped along as the man turned to look towards Mitsuo. As his eyes caught the Hellfire Dragon's, Mitsuo's pale green eye would flash, a surge of chakra flowing through it and causing the man to become as stiff as a board. "You have made a grave mistake, coming here today. You must have known that eventually, the reaper would come to take you for your crimes against man. Unfortunately you are not faced with the reaper, you are to be consumed by a dragon." He flicked his wrist, the chain whip snapping out and wrapping itself around the man's neck. He was sure that the man would have moved his hands to attempt to remove the blade if he could have, but the Karisuma eye was truly a stunning thing to have, completely incapacitating the man but leaving him fully aware of what was happening.

"Death...comes on swift wings." The Hell's Gate King pulled his wrist back, the blades digging into the man's neck and severing his head from his body, the chain whip coming back to the ground in a clatter of metal on stone. The other criminal seemed petrified, too afraid to move away from the horror that he had just witnessed, but Mitsuo knew that this was something that happened when one saw the death of a friend, a family member, a lover...He had been in that situation too many times, and the Seventeenth Hokage had gotten to a point where his emotions had become dulled so much that nothing could shock him anymore. He had hoped that the man who was being threatened would not become broken from witnessing a death in front of his eyes, but unbeknownst to Mitsuo, the man was of one of the great ninja clans that was more well versed in dealing with death than any other. One of the two clans that were older than his own, and one of the most prominent clans to ever grace the forests of Konohagakure. Mitsuo's dark eyes moved towards the next bandit, his left hand pulling out his sword "Retribution", "Penance" still hanging in his right hand ready to strike. It felt good to be doing good work once again, and the cleansing of these bandits was just what he needed to get him ready for his end goal, his showdown with another former Hokage...

Sebasu Hyuuga...

1228

Chakra 395/420:

Maigo didn't resist the push, his eyes wandered around as the blade pressed into the flesh of his shoulder. It was then, that he saw in the distance towards his right, a man with loose sword dragging along the ground and... an aura like he'd known from others encompassing him. His eyes screamed rage and when he spoke out, nothing but anger inflected upon his tone. In the midst of his rant, his own sword flung out to take hold of the man's neck and grip it tightly, he released Maigo and went to defend himself but the man who appeared moved with grace and skill that far exceeded any bandit. The symbol of his fathers group blazed on his shoulder as he reached for the sword wringing around his neck, and just above eye level for the seated Maigo. He stayed seated and leaned back from the scene, watching as the man's eye flickered, noticing the difference in the two eyes he carried and watched the bandit freeze stiff.

A... weird jutsu, Maigo watched intently, it felt like entire moments were passing by in what was only truly a short interval. "Death...comes on swift wings." the words rang out among stunned and shocked silence, and then the blade pulled, it severed the mans head with ease, his body went from stiff to completely limp and it fell over to the ground with a thud. What came next was him removing another blade, the other thug who stood by, also with the mark that Maigo searched for stood terrified. Maigo stood up and stretched a bit, his eyes closed and flickered to life as the tomoe spun around his iris as flared into life. He snapped back into form and reached his hand to his katana, placing his palm on the hilt of the blade but not drawing it yet.

He turned his head towards the stranger, his eyes moving separate from his head to find his own gaze and catch his attention. "You seem capable enough... can you handle the other thugs around?" he spoke and grabbed the terrified man by the collar of his jacket with a tightly clenched fist. The fabric curled in his hand as the man was brought forward off his balance, having to step forward to stay upright. "And if anymore of them have this symbol on their shoulder," Maigo threw the man to the side so that the stranger could have a look at it, "Then they may have information that I am seeking, they'd be better left alive though in pain..." Maigo led off and waited to see what the man would say.

Once Maigo would have his answer, he would turn his attention back to his captive, as long as the stranger would agree to leave this one to him at least. Then, with the prowess he could offer, his gaze would dig deep into the man's mind, he would start with an illusion of restriction and pain, a severe pain that would send even the most hardened and disciplined ninja into a sweat. Then, he would begin a slow interrogation of him, for any information he had and could offer, every detail from start to finish. Leaving the rest to the other man, and if he couldn't handle it, then Maigo would intervene to at the very least, help keep them in the town.


[572 words, 1526 words total]

275/300 Chakra:

Oh good, the man wasn't as defenseless as Mitsuo initially thought him to be. He grabbed the first man by the scruff of his neck, and then Mitsuo watched as a new kind of fear spread across his face. Interesting. The man's eyes were obvious enough, he was clearly a member of the Uchiha clan, and Mitsuo was somewhat put at ease. Maybe he had heard of how Mitsuo had destroyed Ukiyo, the scourge of the Uchiha clan, or even that he had been the previous Hokage, since the clan had originated from Konoha. He didn't particularly care either way though. He had bandits to murder, and it didn't seem like this man was going to get in his way. He smiled his crooked half smile as a pair of golden wings stretched across his back, his Wings of the Saint being activated, and he scanned across the terrain around him to see where his next victim was hiding.

There were several bandits, and a few of them had seen what had just happened. Perfect. Fear was a powerful thing, it was something that Mitsuo liked to use to his advantage whenever he could. His anger often lead to other people's fear and he was completely prepared to harness all of that. He made his way towards a group of three bandits, not sure how many were around the village, but knowing that they simply stood no chance. He had single handedly taken out a group of a hundred shinobi  not that long ago, this was child's play. The whip was at his side, his sword in his hand, and death surrounding him as he walked. There was no escaping his wrath at all as he started channeling his chakra into his blade, the intense heat from his body causing a white hot double helix of flame to appear around the blade. The heat was so much that even Mitsuo knew that he wouldn't be able to sustain being around it for too long, but at this point he didn't really care. All he wanted to do was to destroy these bandits, and this was one of the quickest ways to do it.

Once he finished channeling the chakra, the heat radiating off of the blade could be felt far away from him, and the bandits started to recoil, though not faster than Mitsuo was able to move. He rushed towards one of them, swinging Retribution at the man and hearing the screams before the blade even contacted his flesh. The flesh started to sear away when the blade got close to him, and Mitsuo watched as the blade melted through it, easily getting down to the blade before cleaving off the man's arm and then into his chest. The cut was so clean that it was possible he didn't register that he was dead before his body fell apart into a heap on the ground. The second man was similarly unlucky, Mitsuo quickly chopping into him, his Cloak of the Will flaring up as he strapped Penance around his chest in one swift motion and reached his now free  right hand into the man's opened up chest, pulling out his heart and holding into his hand. He watched as the third bandit turned to run, quickly slashing out the backs of his knees, and watching the man fall to the ground, turning him over as the second man's heart burned in Mitsuo's hand.

"Do you know how long it takes for a human heart to burn?" He asked the man, a wicked smile on his face as white hot fire fell from his blade onto the man at his feet. There was a horrified look on his face and the pain was clearly becoming too much as Mitsuo saw consciousness leave his body, but not before he would see the heart melting in Mitsuo's hand. "You learn something new every day." He laughed before bringing his blade down cleanly through his neck, causing one more head to roll free, though this one the wound was cauterized from the immense heat coming off of the blade. He looked around once more, looking for where the other bandits had gone. He ideally would have to head them off before they had a chance to get too close to buildings, as ideally he wouldn't be burning this village to the ground, though he knew there was a possibility that when the Hellfire Dragon was on the prowl something like that might happen...

1993

Chakra 310/420:

The man offered a smile in return, it was of acknowledgment but there was more to it... a gladness behind it. As if Maigo had lifted off some restriction there from him, his sharingan watched briefly and his hand tightened as he could feel the man with him sweat and fidget in pain, those nails penetrating his body, leaving a sensation of pain unknown to most. But Maigo watched, as the man changed before him... chakra funneled out from him, Maigo recognized the fuuton chakra but his eyes changed, it seemed to illuminate with him. He continued to watch as he made his way to a group of three bandits and fell upon them in a furious power and left fear in its wake. His blade became hot... the heat so intense Maigo felt like he could feel it from where he stood a ways off and the intensity of the chakra was insane. To combine that with those wings of his took great chakra control and prowess inherently, forbid using both of those jutsu at once.

And by the time he was really done, heat surrounding him and wings of wind, Maigo knew that he was no man to even try to underestimate, all the genjutsu in the world couldn't save him from power like that. For all his own strength he felt so far behind, the jutsu used and all else, his eyes could see it and comprehend it, but there was prowess in droves there that Maigo couldn't understand, may not be able to match ever. But that wouldn't deter him, he had a bandit and a need for information, a burning desire to rip it from the man. His hand released the mans cloth, he fell rigid into place, bound by the illusionary nails that would pierce his body. Maigo had another plan, he spoke plainly to the bandit, "It seems I did you a favor, keeping you to myself instead of letting you face that man on... wouldn't you say?" a rhetorical question as Maigo's held tilted a little but his hand rose up to form the Rat hand seal.

"It's too bad that I still need to ask you some questions, everything. I want to know it all, where you guys work from, who controls you, and what the point of it all was. I'd ask more but you don't have much time, so I'll just have to shatter your mind and see where it leads..." the debris around them would fluster, leaves and dirt spinning around them in a circle and then... hell would emerge. Not a literal hell of fire and brimstone, but for the paralyzed man, his own personal hell. One of bugs and creepy crawling creatures, that was his real fear and while he was paralyzed and subjected to it, fear and pain encompassing him, he would get to watch as the world faded away, the ground around him encompassed with bugs. Centipedes and roaches would begin to climb up his body, panic set in as he squirmed and fought against the nails, only creating more pain for himself.

Stacking the genjutsu was a bit cruel... painful, the man was visibly sweating, his face was red and he had no semblance of being responsive to anything that wasn't the genjutsu, but Maigo spoke on anyways, in the case that he could hear him and were looking to something to grab onto in that hell, "Everything, tell me everything and this hell will stop. The others abandoned you, they sent you here in a trap to die, and now this is the torture you receive. Speak up and this could all be over very quickly..." Maigo watched the progression of fear in his eyes and face. Just like he'd done so often. Maigo wasn't a cruel person, or cold or hateful or anything of that nature, but when his sharingan activated, there was a side of him that emerged and took over. A darker chakra that guided him in the abyss like a blind sailor through a storm of emotions.

Regardless, this bandit would be talking... no singing, everything Maigo wanted to hear momentarily. He would glance back to see how much more progress the other man had made, seeing that he wasn't leaving the bandits this far very conscious or alive, or with their hearts intact at that either. Granted, the bandits were taken care of at the least... that was something.


[755 words, 2281 words total]

235/300 Chakra:

This was what he lived for, it was the thing that made Mitsuo feel as though he was on top of the world. His blood was flowing through him and he felt unstoppable. A handful of them made their way towards him and a smile flashed across his lips. He wondered what particular way he would destroy all of these men. He could use the Dust Cloud Technique and turn them all into mist, but there wasn't much fun in that. It was far too quick and there wasn't necessarily anything particularly impressive about it. I suppose that killing five people in the span of a second by turning them into a red mist was somewhat impressive, but Mitsuo preferred to go a little bit slower with his kills, so he would leave that technique out.

He could expell gunpowder from his mouth, activating the Ash Pile Burning jutsu, which was a staple of his clan and the jutsu he had used to bring an end to the Karisuma clan. It would be ignited when he bit down on a flint that he kept in his teeth, sparking and igniting the gunpowder to create a massive explosion. There, of course, were two issues with using this technique. The first was the fact that it would do a similar effect to the Dust cloud technique in which it would turn them all into ash in a very short amount of time, and the second issue was there were a lot of buildings around here and Mitsuo was trying to not burn this small village to the ground. He decided that this would not be the way to go.

He had a personal preference towards swords generally, and therefore maybe that would have to be the way that he went. It was always so simple. 5 men advancing at him. He would wrap Penance around his chest, pull out the Sword of the Immortal Blaze and throw it at the one closest to him, deeply embedding the massive flaming bastard sword in the man's chest. He would run up the man, jump off of the pommel of the sword while drawing Justice, along with Retribution, and spinning in the air, removing two more heads from two other bandits. Upon landing he would quickly resheath those two weapons, pulling his Sword of the Immortal Blaze free as the other two would attack him, or run away, whichever. If they ran he would throw the Chita no Kiba at one of them, catching him in the back of the head and chase down the other one, sweeping his blade through the man's legs in order to make it so he could no longer run, then taking his arms so that he couldn't even crawl away. He would then allow the man to bleed out on the ground, making his way towards the next set of bandits. This was always impressive, and was something he really enjoyed doing. That would be the way.

He allowed the double helix blade to go out and wrapped his chain whip, penance, around his chest, pulling out the sword of the immortal blaze. There was only one issue with his plan. He threw the weapon, embedding it deeply into the first bandit's chest, and then ran towards them. The issue ended up being that when he got close enough to retrieve the weapon, all of the bandits ended up being within the radius for his cloak of the will. He jumped off of the pommel, did his spin and noticed there were no heads to cut off. He landed and looked around a little bit confused, before noticing a pile of ash and bubbling sinew on the ground around him. He had accidentally fried and ashed all of them.

Well shit, I didn't mean to do that. Guess I don't know my own strength, eh Nii-san?

2651

Chakra 280/420:

There wasn't any joy from it, Maigo gritted his teeth for a moment as the man screamed out, "Make it stop! Make it stop! I'll talk!" his eyes widened, the adrenaline had well beyond kicked in. His face was red, he was sweating now, panic had far beyond set in as he tried to resist, the paralysis wouldn't last much longer but his hell would encompass him. Maigo shook his head, he knew that anything he was going to do or say would be falling on nearly deaf ears as the man squirmed around, "Talk, and then you can be released..." he stared down intently to him.

The man's next words were a collection of nonsense and keywords in panic, "Kazuya Uchiha... he brought... here... ahhhhh" the words stung for Maigo as his ears twitched at the name, "recruited our group, as a distraction, south... near the rice... our group..." between the panicked yells and fidgeting about, his eyes widened and full of fear.

---

After a short moment, Maigo had let everything else fade out and listened intently as he spilled out more details in a brief amount of time. He drew a kunai and pressed it into the man's throat and brought him to the ground, his shoulder pressed by Maigo's knee as he drove it further and further in. After a brief moment, he would stop resisting, his eyes would fade out, not in fear but of moving away from the light of the world. Soon, he'd be spewing nothing, and not longer after that, the pained breath from his body would completely stop. He'd grabbed his kunai and ripped it up, the sanguine trailed from it and splashed out, the man who'd gripped at Maigo's leg released it and was left to his own thoughts before dying away.

Looking up, Maigo saw the aftermath of ash from the other man, incredible power emanated from him. A quick check of the burned bodies, the two dead in front of him, and the other three he'd killed before. That left five of the bandits to be dealt with, no doubt they'd have caught on to their plan. Maigo dropped the kunai and let his sharingan glance towards the stranger as he drew the two windmill shuriken from his backpack, pulling one into each hand over his shoulders. Unfolding them into each hand as the blade sections locked into place, and beginning to rotate them at incredibly high velocity on each side of him as he spoke up, "There should be five bandits left..." he would call out to him, "It shouldn't take long to take care of them at all..." he would nod towards the gate, and Maigo would target the first two bandits he could find.

The two he found immediately would be running towards the gate, Maigo would jump and rotate his body, sharingan flickering to track his targets and then releasing the shuriken each to target the first two he found. The shuriken would fly through the air in high rotation, supplanting firmly into their back and knocking them face-down into the ground. It wouldn't necessarily kill them, but they would be reeling from it, grabbing his kunai from the ground, Maigo would start looking for the last three to take down, they were all that was left.


[567 words, 2848 words total]

There should be five left, eh? Mitsuo smiled as he scanned around, watching as the man who was with him attacked a pair of the bandits himself, whom he dispatched fairly easily with a windmill shuriken. Mitsuo had some Kunai, but they were boring as projectiles. He could throw his tanto but that also wasn't so much his style. He remembered the first time that he hand Tsuyo had ever done a mission together, and he would never forget it. He pulled his Sword of the Immortal Blaze out once more, watching as a couple of the bandits ran away. He saw that they were both moving in a linear fashion, one in front of the other, which was too perfect of a situation. "Uchiha, watch." His voice was low and curt, hoping he would turn his head towards him as he witnessed the perfection that was the Sword Saint of Konoha in action. Mitsuo took the sword, holding it in one hand and pulling it back behind his shoulder, before hurling it like a javelin. The weapon sailed through the air towards the two bandits, catching the one right below the neck through the back and causing him to speed up as the hand guard didn't allow it to go right through him. He was pulled forward into the man in front of him, the blade going through him between the shoulder blades and pinning him to the wall. Mitsuo frowned slightly, he had wanted to grab three of them, but the third seemed to have escaped his notice.

He scanned the area, looking to find the other, who was running towards the gate of the town. Perfect. He wasn't going to get away, even if he wanted too. Mitsuo pulled out the Chita no Kiba, watching where he ran too. He knew that he could make this throw, this blade specifically being better for that. He pulled back, holding the tip of the blade between his fingers, and launched the blade upwards towards the man's direction. He watched as it flew, flipping a few times before finding its mark in the back of the man's head, and Mitsuo smiled once more as he fell to the ground. He walked over and collected his Sword of the Immortal Blaze first, which took a bit of effort to pull free, before putting it back in its spot on his back. He then went to grab the Chita no Kiba, some brain matter on the blade which he cleaned off before strapping it back to his thigh. He made his way over towards the Uchiha once more, looking at his handiwork as well and nodding.

"I hope you got what you came here for from that one, because I don't think any of these guys are going to be any use to you." He looked back towards the ash, gore and dead bodies littering the ground. He smirked as he looked back towards him. "We should also probably get out of here, before these villagers start giving us some trouble and we have to fight them too. I don't want to have to explain this to Kumo, since I'm not exactly the most popular person there right now..."

3196

Maigo watched intently as the man wound up and let his sword go, impaling two of the last three bandits and pinning them against a wall. The third and final one, was taken down by another weapon which he threw and implanted itself into the back of his head, Maigo's sharingan focused in on the rotation and the skill behind his throwing, taking note of it. He was... skilled, more so than Maigo who had a vague understanding of many different weapon types, he was... very skilled in his own styles.

As the stranger collected his weapons, Maigo did the same for his shuriken, cleaning the blood off into the grass and folding it back into his backpack as he watched the stranger approach him again. A small sentiment that he wouldn't really be gathering much else from these men, Maigo looked around and saw the mess they'd made of the town, those bandits were taken care of but it was a mostly gruesome sight. Blood everywhere, tattered bodies cut up and turned to ash, mostly at the hand of this stranger but... Maigo wouldn't try to claim innocence of the situation.

The next came a request to get out of the area, Maigo wouldn't mind in the slightest but he would feel a little bad leaving the town in such a mess, a gruesome mess at that. Maigo nodded as he finished putting away his weapons, "That would make two of us then... But I do feel a little bad leaving the town to deal with this..." he would look around one more time and give off a slight sigh and shrugging off the thought. Turning to the gate of the village he would take a few steps forward into the apex of the gate and turn back to see if the stranger would follow him. "Alright then, any ideas on where to go Mr. Stranger?" He turned back to him briefly, waiting to make his own introduction and then potentially getting a word in about his skill with a weapon. Maigo's sharingan faded away back to their normal honey color as he turned around, knowing he wouldn't have a direct need for them now.


[373 words, 3221 words total]
[Sharingan ended, 205/300 Chakra]

The Sword Saint of Konoha began to walk through the gate, leaving the village quickly with the Uchiha in tow. He had decided that he would wait until he was out of the village and into a forest, ensuring that the man continued to follow him, before he pointed out something that was bothering him. This Uchiha had just called Mitsuo Sarotobi, one of the most famous shinobi in the entire world, Mr. Stranger. What rock had he had to be living under in order to have never heard of him? He was going to make sure that he left this place knowing who he was, because that was simply an unforgivable crime.

He pulled the package of cigarettes out from one of the pouches on his coat, his zippo lighter in his other hand. As he took a smoke from the pack he held it to his lips, using one hand to shield the flame from the wind as he struck the lighter with the thumb of the other hand, inhaling deeply and keeping the smoke in his lungs for a few seconds before exhaling the smoke out of his nose. Ah how he loved the light headed feeling he gained off of that first deep drag and keeping the smoke trapped. Longer gave better results and it gave Mitsuo just the release he needed to take the edge off of his stressful life if only for the five minutes it would take him to finish his cigarette. He knew it was a bad habit but with medical jutsu as advanced as they were he would never have to suffer the ill effects of smoking and was free to enjoy each cigarette as much as he wanted too. He took another drag and smiled softly, holding the smoke a little bit longer as he flicked the ash onto the ground of the forest he was standing in before exhaling the smoke through his nose once more.

"My friend, I do not know how you don't know who I am. I am famous in all five villages for varying reasons. I am Mitsuo Hiruzen Sarutobi, head of the legendary Sarutobi Clan, Seventeenth Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. I was granted the title Sword Saint of Konoha by the Fifteenth Hokage Takeshi Uzumaki, my former sensei, after I went to the Chuunin Exams in Sunagakure and put on such an impressive display that I was instantly promoted after the first round. I am a former ANBU Captain in Konoha and am the man who killed Hao Uchiha and Ukiyo Senju, who I'm sure you've heard of as I'm sure when you were a youngling she was still terrorizing your clan. I am the savior of the Uchiha clan..."

He took a pause and took another deep inhale on his cigarette before continuing; "I am a Missing Ninja, one of the most powerful in the world, because I defected from the village of Konoha twice, the second time was after being made Hokage, and both were for different reasons that I won't get into." He pulled out his Konoha headband with the strike through it and held it in his hand as he continued. "I am known as the scourge of the Karisuma clan, for it was I who went to Suna and killed all of their elders in a brutal assault on their compound. The truth of the situation is a little different, but in essence it is still truth. Because of this I am hated in the village of Sunagakure." He ran his fingers through his beard, flicking the ash of his cigarette once more and releasing smoke from his nose.

"In the Village of Iwagakure I am a wanted man due to my connections with a group that was housed there. We had ties to the Kage and were extremely well connected in general. We worked towards destroying crime, since as a group of Missing Ninja, we were perfectly poised to deal with such things. That group was where I derived my second title, the "Hellfire Dragon" due to my immense chakra and the manifestation of that chakra. We went from there to Kirigakure, where I became a god. We aided the village in the war against the Seven Bells army, where I took on the Seven Bells general and saved Yuudai Aisu, and then though we had thought her dead, we engaged her once more and I, along side with then Hokage Mitsuhide Uzumaki and Mizukage Ayakashi Aisu, and hindered by that fool Sanosuke Flint, took her down once again, turning the tide of the war. Our organization was awarded the highest award possible in Kirigakure, and we are all worshiped as War Heroes. Ayakashi offered me one of the Seven Swords as a reward, but I turned it down, saying I would come back for it one day."

Mitsuo stopped and looked towards the younger Uchiha man, curious to see if anything had sunk in with him. "Any of this ring a bell?"

4040

Maigo followed the stranger through the gate and exited the town, putting the citizens and the grim circumstances that the pair had left their town in, well, both literally and metaphorically... behind him. Maigo walked off to the side of him, watching him pull out a cigarette and began to smoke from it, it... didn't bother Maigo? Nothing a little smoke would really harm for Maigo but he still cringed at the lingering scent it left behind in the air and on a persons clothes.

The forest had enveloped around the pair and it had been quiet for a small time when the man spoke up, ranting on about 'how could you not know me?' and some other things, he seemed to divulge his rant so quickly and with authority. Maigo blinked for a second and listened in, the details of... his entire life? Sounding like an old man singing his own praises for some time, there were words he made out through it all, small bits that struck him with information that he resembled! Different kage, the chuunin exams and proclaiming himself the savior of the Uchiha clan. Maigo almost rolled his eyes at the notion, he didn't know what he meant and didn't consider himself as part of that clan, not in a way that anyone else would consider themselves at least.

He continued on to reveal that he was a missing ninja, his cohorts and exploits and how he became a war hero for Kirigakure. Even to say as far that he was offered one of the seven swords as a prize but turning it down... seemed foolish, but his final struck Maigo. Sarcasm wrapped in sass perhaps? His rant left Maigo struggling to hold onto details, what he heard and comprehended and even understood were all very different things. Maigo groaned a bit before speaking up, "I know the Mizukage and stuff! And Hao, and... well, I know about the Kage and stuff. Never heard much about anything else though, that's too many names..." he crossed his arms and nodded his head, reaffirming himself.

Luckily for this stranger, he had found Maigo who could spout out untitled grandeur for himself like no other! "But listen to this Mr. Mitsuo Hiruzen Sarutobi!" he paused and puffed out his chest, almost as if he were striking a pose, his arms falling out of their folded position. "You can call me Maigo Mugetsu! And I'm a genjutsu expert, so much to the degree that I trained! a former Tsuchikage! You might have fought alongside one but I trained one! I think that's pretty much something, oddly sexual guy with a knack for theatrics, but still! He recruited my help to learn genjutsu! And as for that savior of the Uchiha clan stuff, I don't know about any of that. I don't know the clan, I've never even met another Uchiha before... so save your bragging for wherever the rest of them are!" he nodded again. His arms recrossed themselves across his chest. He had no idea how Mitsuo would take his bragging or anything of that nature, but... well, Maigo already entered that mindset and there was no turning back for him now.


[557 words, 3778 words total]

This guy was clearly clueless, there couldn't really be any other explanation. Mitsuo shook his head, taking the last satisfying drag of his cigarette before dropping it to the ground and putting it out with the toe of his boot. He spoke of how he knew the Mizukage and Hao, which Mitsuo assumed was from reputation as he looked too young to actually know Hao. He seemed to be quite naive towards the workings of the world, as even the most oblivious person could tell you that Kazu Kanetsu was the Tsuchikage, Sousetsu Senju was the Hokage and Suzume Kōga was the Kazekage. It was like the obvious knowledge that Kaguya, Yuudai and Strafe were the Sannin of the Bloody Mist Village, everyone knew these things. He wasn't even sure this boy knew that. He couldn't imagine how this man could live his whole life under such a rock, but it must have been a pretty lonely place to be.

He told Mitsuo that he was a genjutsu expert, which explained why he had dealt with only one target while Mitsuo took out the masses. He hadn't had much experience with Genjutsu users, but from what he had heard of them they weren't overly useful against multiple targets, and from what he knew (having once dated Oshiki Uchiha) that was fairly accurate. He talked about training a former Tsuchikage, but Mitsuo found it unlikely that this boy had ever met Arashi, and it was even more unlikely that he had time to train Denzen before his demise, or Tomeo before she went missing. Maybe he had met her since then? He talked about him being oddly sexual with a knack for theatrics, which didn't sound like any of the previous Tsuchikage, so he was pretty sure this boy was simply blowing smoke out of his ass at this point. He had somehow managed to never meet an Uchiha, though he had learned how to wield his Sharingan, which was a feat that Mitsuo was somewhat impressed with, but he then implied that Mitsuo was bragging with his last statement, something that Mitsuo found as somewhat of an insult. He would never brag, he was simply educating this person on the way of the world.

When he finished speaking the Sword Saint looked at him and frowned. "You don't seem to be the most knowledgeable person out there, but that's fine. You seem fairly capable, which is more than I say about most shinobi out there. I hope you got the information you were looking for, and I was happy to kill all of your bandit friends for you. If you need any more pests taken care of, I will be back in Konoha for the foreseeable future. It was a pleasure for you I'm sure." He nodded towards the man, turning his back towards the clearing and preparing to leave. "Oh, and if you're curious about my sword tricks, I'd be happy to teach you one or two some time." He smiled as he activated the Body Flicker technique and made his way back towards the village, where he would begin to prepare for the journey back to his homeland...

{Exit Thread}

4582 Words

Sojutsu - 1500
Bojutsu - 1500
Fuuinjutsu A -> S 1295/9000

Mitsuo put out his cigarette with his boot while Maigo spoke, having drawn out even more of that awful smoke and let the smell cloud the air. Mitsuo sighed after Maigo finished his own bit of bravado, essentially writing off Maigo's words and patronizing him like a child. Happy to kill his bandits... they weren't his bandits!! He was just there at the time, a simple coincidence. However, he finished off that he would be heading to Konoha soon and caught Maigo's ears. There was a severe doubt that he would ever get the chance to find him again, powerful ninja aren't easy to run into or stumble onto.

Well, except for Maigo but his own foolishness led any potential power he had by a wide margin. What really caught Maigo's attention was an offer to teach him a few of those sword tricks, impaling someone at a distance with a sword like that, it was... well, a sort of grandeur in brutality that Maigo was severely lacking. But before Maigo could really respond other than musing around in his head for a brief moment, he smiled and flickered away, Maigo's head turned to his general direction but he didn't care to follow.

Maigo sighed and stuffed his hands in his pockets, making a slow and leisurely walk back in the same direction, headed to the village himself again. He mumbled to himself as he started to walk, almost kicking the dirt, "What a show off..." he left and began the long walk all the way back.


[264 words, 4042 words total]
[Exit Thread]

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