Maigo dragged his blade across the ground, the town had become under siege and the chaos of it all was beginning to show. Around him was quite and painful, the smell of burning filled the air but sizzled along hints of flesh as he began to bury his way through the town. Coming to the door of a small one story home, the ceramic of the walls had a single closed window and the door was locked. Just moments before he watched that man run inside while he laid waste to the three bodies behind him, in the street and bleeding out violently from the cuts on their person. Maigo stepped forward and swung the greatsword in his hand as he slammed the tip of it into the door near the opposite side of the hinges. His sharingan traced around it before he ripped it out again and took a preperatory step backwards before slamming it into the door again.

His shoulder turned the blade and slammed it into the door, prying it from the lock and shattering it as it flung forward and knocked a woman over as she screamed. Her voice blended into the distant screams and shouts as this town tried to figure out what was actually happening and where.

Maigo had descended upong the gate of the village, cloaked to cover and dragging the giant black sword from his back. His eyes closed for a brief moment as a group surrounded him, their haughty steps and confidence as they brandished their own weapons back and called out to him. Their jeers fell on a silent Maigo as his eyes burst open in red light and took in the entirety of the scene before him, his eyes drove the rage to the surface. The markings they held carried the golden scarab he'd been looking for. The symbol he was to hunt down and put an end to. But he was a former Hunter Ninja and an ANBU agent of Kirigakure in this place. They wouldn't get a chance to talk their point out before Maigo had dashed in blistering speed and ripped the blade across the chest of one man.

A trail of scorched fire hissed from the blade and into the air as it dragged behind his swing. The others eyes would expand as they realized how dangerous he truly was. Three more would fall before the rest would scatter and begin to run.

That wouldn't matter, he had a job to do. Every single one had to die. There were no exceptions to this. NONE! His inner voice carried him after each one, fleet footwork tracked the next man just past the entrance of the gate where his body was broken into the joint of it. Two nearby woman screamed and cried out at the horrible site but his eyes flickered to them. They were plain and simple, one incredibly young and beautiful while the other carried middle age. His chest weighed heavy, he couldn't sentence them, could he? But he would, several kunai would lash out and strike them in place before he was on the move again, cutting them both down with a single final swing and letting the flames of his blade drag to the surface and stand behidn them. The wood and straw that held fruit began to burn and his Mangekyo Sharingan spun again, tearing further and further into village. Each spot he found more and more, no longer thinking on the consequences, only guaranteeing that his mission would be done.

One more red spot on his record. More blood spattered across the sand and the map would bleed red. Just one more time, he would iterate to himself internally with each and every swing. But those words from his inner self would never become reality as the monster fueled by rage within him would continue on. Continue tearing, and continue killing. That's all it was at this point. Death and Destruction.

The woman on the ground cried out towards a back room, Maigo's small flashback broke his attention until her words carried out and he realized what she said.

"Yoshiro! Run away!" desperate words from an even more desperate mother. The one he tracked here was young, maybe 17 years old at most. But that didn't matter, quickly his sword swung down and tore into the women, her gargled scream halted suddenly under the weight and intensity of the blade. It was quiet but his sobbing was obvious now, the back room to his left. Maigo dragged the blade out and let the body fall back to the ground as it had clung to the sword from the cauterized wound.

He stepped lightly and kept on guard. A smart idea with each hasty and confident step as the door burst open and the tan-skinned kid burst forth with a knife in hand, lunging with tears in his eyes as he fell forward and Maigo avoided an injury by simply turning his shoulder. A foot dragged forward and kicked the boy to face towards the body of his dead mother. Stunned and shocked as Maigo stepped foward and stood on his back, before pressing down and holding him still. The mark of the golden scarab on his back as well, bandits and liberators for Sunagakure. It didn't matter, he said nothing as the boy sobbed and tried to reach out towards his mother with a desperate and shakey hand.

Maigo's sword would come crashing down in a single swing, tearing several inches to the floorboard and seperating the kid from his body. Maigo blade setting the edges of the wood on fire and burning more in its path as he instantly stepped away from the carnage of the scene and stepped out the door of the building.

The sky was mostly clear, a few clouds sparsely painted against the sky as he looked upwards, smoke began to climb upwards and fill the area near him and the chaos of everything began to fill the air. His eyes wandered further along, the immediate vicinity had been cleared out but that wouldn't stop him, none of them would escape. The responding party would be there soon, any brave souls to stand against him would soon start trickling in with their courage high, unaware of the monster that was dragging his feet along the street.


[1073 words]

OOC this thread is being used as a flashback...:

The sun was high in the Land of Wind sky. It beat down with the intensity that it did every day. The heat that scorched the earth across the entirety of the country was not lessened over the Village Hidden in the Sands. The sand on the ground below the young man was rough and coarse as usual. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary to the young Uchiha who was slowly making his way out of his home to begin his patrol. Kuno had only recently joined the ranks of the village ANBU, but with the disappearance of the Kazekage, his duties had ramped up a lot faster than he had expected. He had been busy will all kinds of missions that could not be left to the average shinobi, over the last couple of weeks, but today was the calmest mission possible. All Kuno was expected to do was patrol the rooftops of the village. He was to keep an eye out for crime in the city, as per usual; but there was no reason to expect anything strange to occur. As the ANBU slipped on his mask and leaped up to the closest rooftop, he breathed in deeply. The breeze on his face was relaxing, and a relaxing distraction was exactly what he needed. Unfortunately, it did not last very long. For at the end of his deep inhale, Kuno smelled something on the wind that he did not expect. Smoke.

The first explosion caused Kuno to start. The sound echoed all around him off of the buildings and against the surrounding cliffs. It was a massive detonation that was followed with the near deafening sound of a building collapsing. Kuno stood on the roof for a moment, frozen with confusion as he stared off to where a large structure was crumbling under its own weight as if the foundation had been completely destroyed. He had no idea what was happening or why, but he had to assume the worst. His fears were quickly confirmed after the sound of the crumbling building subsided and was replaced by something even more disturbing. The screams of men, women, and children filled the air of Sunagakure no Sato as the tell-tale glow of flames licking up the walls of the remaining structures began to appear. The young Uchiha blinked once again, trying to process everything that was happening around him. After a few moments of processing, the new ANBU leaped forward from his perch onto the next building toward the source of the chaos. He needed to protect his home, no matter what had just entered the village with a torrent of flames by their side. He would stand with his comrades. They would protect their village.

But the momentary resolve that filled Kuno left him almost as quickly. With each step the young Uchiha took toward the carnage, the less sure of himself he felt. The screams grew louder and louder, and the smell of smoke now permeated everything around him. On top of that, he could feel the heat of the flames that were consuming his home on his face through the mask he wore. It was terrifying to say the least. He had only recently become a member of the village ANBU, and though he had fought against enemies out to kill him in the past, he had never seen power that could decimate a building like that before. And now he was rushing headlong into the fray, praying that he would be able to stand against the enemy with his allies. But even his allies were weaker than before. The Kazekage had vanished, and with her, the hope of reform that he had felt so strongly during her rule. Now, he only hoped that he would survive the coming battle. He had no choice but to move forward. He and the other NABU were the last and only line of defense for the Village Hidden in the Sands. Without the Kage, they would have to lead. But even though he knew that, Kuno could not help but feel he was “leading” the people of the village to their deaths.


After a few minutes of leaping from rooftop to rooftop toward the source of the first explosions, Kuno arrived on the scene. The first thing he noticed was the destroyed building that he had watched fall on the ground before him. He perched himself on the rubble and looked around for any foe that he could confront, but all he saw was the aftermath of their presence. Countless bodies willed the streets around him. Some were burned beyond recognition, some were carved up remnants of people that Kuno recognized from his everyday life in the village. But even more of them were not bodies at all, but piles of ash that Kuno knew were once his friends and comrades. Scorched ANBU masks and armour laid in the red strained sand at the ANBU’s feet, and the smell of burning flesh overwhelmed his senses. There were too many bodies for Kuno to feel any sense of loss. It was just too astronomical, even in the small crater that had once been part of his village. He was stuck in a strange trance as he looked at the carnage around him. That is, until he heard more screams. His eyes instantly darted toward the direction of the sound, and without thinking, he moved toward the source.

As he moved past the piles of scorched bodies and ashes, Kuno found himself looking at a building that was burning. The screams that he had been pursuing were coming from within it, and the integrity was faltering quickly. It would not be long before the innocents inside would soon be victims of the attack. Pressing forward, Kuno jumped to the roof of the small home to an opening in the roof where he could look down to see the occupants. There were two smaller children, a boy and a girl, clinging to a man to was mostly likely their father. Calling down to the trio, the Uchiha reached out a hand to help pull up the survivors. With pleads for help, the man passed up his daughter first, followed quickly but his son. But as soon as the son was in his arms, Kuno saw the man’s destroyed legs beneath some of the wreckage. He was pinned there, and there was no way he would survive. The man seemed to know this as well, and as he mouthed the words ‘thank you’ to the ANBU, the father closed his eyes. Kuno felt a shift beneath his feet, and he quickly snatched up the screaming children and jumped away as the building collapsed beneath him. With tears in his eyes, Kuno carried the children out of the flames and toward a part of the village he could see was not on fire.

When Kuno finally broke through the plumes of smoke with the sobbing children in his arms, he found himself staring down at a massive evacuation effort. Before him the special jounin could see hundreds of villagers moving toward the gates of the city in the hopes of escaping the horrible calamity that had befallen their home. The fires that rose behind him marked the end of an era in the Village Hidden int eh Sand. There would be no village when this was over. Now, the only hope was escape. Ahead, Kuno could see a couple of chunin directing people from the village and made his way toward them with the kids. When he arrived, he simply set them down on the ground and spoke to the closest ninja. “Where are the attackers?” The man blinked for a moment and then responded. “It’s like they’re everywhere. But we just came from where the Grand Bazaar used to be. There was a man there destroying everything, screaming about righteous fury of the gods. He was insane! We ran here with anyone we could find.” Kuno nodded slowly as he processed the information. One man. He had his target. The shinobi turned on his heels and jumped back into eh flames towards the location he had been told, praying that the children he had dropped off would not suffer the same fate as their father.

The travel to the bazaar took longer than Kuno had hoped, but he was not too late. When he did arrive, it was just in time to hear the ear shattering crashes of another building collapsing. Kuno was about to brace himself for the impact of the structure hitting the ground, but that is when his eye caught a glimpse of a woman staring up at the building as is rushed toward her. In a moment of foolish instinct, Kuno rushed forward, charging toward the helpless woman as the building that was now above them both did not slow its descent. Much to his surprise, Kuno reached her just in time, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her out of the was as the building hit the ground just behind them. Dust and debris flew up all around them, and the pair remained braced on the ground for a moment before they finally stood to their feet. Blinking back tears from the dust that filled his eyes, the Uchiha made eye contact with the woman just as she began to sob out her thanks. But she never got a chance to finish her sentence. Mid-word, a blast of flames burst through the wall of another building, catching her partially and leaving her screaming in pain. She collapsed and fell silent and Kuno turned to see the source of the blast. Standing in the hole that was just create din the nearby building was the shape of a man that radiated heat. He chakra filled the area, and Kuno could do nothing but stare at the approaching darkness.  

Once again, Kuno was snapped out of his trance by an ally. Though this time it was not by screams of fear, but rather that of an ally charging into battle. The battle cry was not one that Kuno recognized, but there was no mistaking the mask of the ANBU that jumped over Kuno’s head and toward the enemy. The Uchiha tried to raise his hand and stop the shinobi, but his words caught in his throat as he watched another jet of flame erupt form the man and completely engulf the overconfident defender. There was no screams any longer. The man simply went silent as he was reduced to ash in a mere moment. Behind his mask, Kuno went completely pale and his mask hung agape. His half-extended hand fell to his side, and in that moment, Kuno accepted his fate. The man looked away from the fresh pile of ash that he had created and locked his eyes onto Kuno, eyeing him up slowly, as an experienced enemy would. Kuno knew that if he ran he would die. He had to stand and fight. He had to stall the man long enough for the villagers to get away. It was only now that the true fear of death had set into his soul, gripping it with a chilling grasp despite the heat around him.  He had no choice.

Kuno narrowed his eyes and planted his feet, taking up a fighting stance that he had practiced many times before. He reached across his body and placed his right hand on the hilt of his weapon, gripping it with white-knuckled tension. And finally, Kuno channeled his chakra into his eyes and activated his Sharingan. He needed every advantage he could get. The crimson eyes that pooled like the blood in the sand below him caused time to slow down for a moment before the man began to speak. "Let all those who stand before me, the great Mitsuo Sarutobi, Seventeenth Hokage, Sword Saint of Konoha, Helldrake of the Aoi Bara, Saviour of the Uchiha Clan, Hero of Kirigakure, that I give you a choice on this day. The choice, like many, is a simple one. I am the blade of the God of Death, put on this path of righteous justice by divine purpose and here to bring penance to a great sinner. You stand in the path of that divine justice, and if you wish to leave now I will not hold it against you. Sometimes the smartest and most noble thing to do is to run...but mark my words...all those who stand before me in defiance of my words shall be burnt to ash and will melt into the glass that will encase this den of sin, for sins cannot be hidden behind the purity and clarity of glass; it puts them all on display for all to see...Sunagakure will be a warning to the rest of the world, young ANBU. Do not be a part of that warning.”

As the man finished his speech, there was a moment of quiet between them. Th crackling of the fires burning around the duo was all that Kuno could here. He gritted his teeth in that moment and though of all of the men and women who had fallen around him. The ninja, the civilians, the women, the children, all of the victims of this man’s burning hate. In that moment, that hate was transferred to Kuno. With a shout of rage at everything this man had done, the ANBU charged forward to his likely death. The initial blast of fire that Mitsuo Sarutobi launched at him was to be expected, and much to his own surprise, Kuno managed to leap to the right and draw his blade to get out of its path. The distance was then closed, but seemingly out of nowhere, the nukenin had produced his own weapon. The two blades clashed, and as Kuno held his ground, Mitsuo simply raised his free hand. The strike toward Kuno’s sword sent it careening form his hands, and the Uchiha barely had a moment to react before he felt the man’s foot in his stomach, sending him crashing against a nearby wall. He groaned in pain as he looked dup at the fearsome destroyer of his home. No more words were uttered by the self-proclaimed god of Death as he proceeded to burn down the building above him. Kuno looked up in horror as it crashed down around him, covering him in rubble.

Much later…

It was so quiet. But it was not silent. He had expected silence after dying. Just an eternal nothingness all around him that would perpetuate until the end of time. But instead of that, he could hear what sounded like wind blowing. He could smell things too. Though it hurt to smell the air around him because of the dust that caked his lungs and the broken state of his body, he could smell blood and smoldering remnants of the majestic destruction flames that had poured over his homeland. And with that revelation, he realized that he could still feel his body; he was still alive. He tried to move with a start but found himself pinned beneath something. As he struggled to wiggle left and right, freeing up space around him to move further, it took everything in his power to not pass out again. His arm was broken, and a number of ribs were certainly cracked. But he was alive. For what felt like hours, Kuno wriggled and squirmed beneath his temporary grave until he finally saw cracks of light above him. He pushed toward then with all of his willpower, urging his body to move though it should not have been able to. Finally, a hand was free. Then an arm, a shoulder, and soon, his whole head. The wind that whipped over the desolate crater that was once his home stung his face. He blinked the filth out of his eyes and stared at the ground, soaked in the blood of his fellow countrymen. He shuddered, suddenly very cold with the memory of the day he found the ground pooled in his mother’s blood. The pain and anguish of that day mingled with this one. He wanted to say something. He needed to do something. But it was too late. And so instead, the young man screamed. He screamed out a all of wordless rage to the sky as his eyes bathed themselves in crimson once again, and the two tomoe that spun around them slowly separated into three.

WC:2765

There were 3 that approached first, their stances taken upon the surrounding rooftops as they looked down at the scene created before them. Maigo walked with a quiet confidence as he scouted out, stopped in place as his eyes traced across each of them, their weapons were drawn and the scarab marks placed upon their shoulder pads or the chest of their shirts. They were young but led by a slightly older blonde man, forming a triangle around Maigo with two in front and one caddied not fully behind him but to his side. Maigo's sharingan traced the scene and then flickered to the one behind him, looking over his shoulder and letting the cold air around his presence sink in, quickly fading away into a fiery rage. The juxtaposition of the danger and threat of his eyes to the anger that carried with him as he pushed onward would drive him towards his goal.

The blonde man's voice called out at him, demanding that he explain himself, a simple call to try and de-escalate the situation before any more fighting occurred. There was a tick of nervousness in his voice, as the fire crackled and a puff of black smoke billowed at once from behind Maigo to interrupt his words. It shifted from anger, the anxiety carried throughout his body and Maigo's eyes silently slide from the blonde to the man on the opposite side. Another kid who carried a katana very incorrectly, not even a genin in stature but he carried the mark. The blonde man watched as Maigo's grip tightened and his weight shifted, calling out again to break his attention with an angry insult to the Uchiha. A call to his namesake brought Maigo's eyes solely upon him as his tomoe would spin slightly and mark everything around him.

The kid behind him and the kid to the side would be no trouble, he'd only have to take care of the blonde before he could continue on, further footsteps and calls out in the distance. No one was ready and there would be nowhere for them to escape from this town. It might take all day to fully clear it out and put an end to this entire situation. A town of bandits and criminals that sought to unbalance the nations around them for their own nationalism. It wasn't up to Maigo to determine whether their mission was just or their goals right. His mission was to put an end to the group of rebels that actively opposed Kirigakure's operation and create problems for their efforts. He'd put an end to it all, shifting his weight to the front of his feet before lifting off the ground and jumping high into the air.

Sleek in form as he let his great sword hold behind him before launching upon the blonde man's person like a bullet himself. His eyes tracking everything happening as the blonde man drew his sword up defensively to block Maigo as his own great sword came around to cleave into him. The clanking of steel set off as the blonde man dove backwards and Maigo landed on the rooftop with his eyes still following him. The nearby clanking of footsteps against the rooftop tiles flickered against Maigo's ears as the blonde man changed stance and immediately tried to re-engage with the fight. He knew better than to let them fight him on their own. But his mistake would quickly turn to tragedy as Maigo would hesitate his step forward and then quickly turn his attention on the kid lunging at him on his left.

Diving along the blade of the sword but careful not to make contact with its edge, Maigo would grapple past him and step behind while quickly rotating his foot and taking his rear. His hand held along the kid's wrist and kept the sword extended out in the original stabbing motion he made. The great sword Maigo was carrying in his opposite hand as he pulled the kid's arm out and then with a single motion, threw him from the rooftop much to the surprise of the mentor that brought them along.

Not expecting that Maigo wouldn't kill the kid instantly, it left an opportunity of attack as he arrived without his weapon drawn to kill, wanting to avoid his own comrade. The Sunagakure ninja would step back as much as he could while Maigo stepped forward and stepped into his space while staying low and drawing a kunai from his pouch in his right hand. It wouldn't take but three more steps before Maigo would have taken away his footing, three swipes with each step, blocking the blade and pushing it higher above the blonde man's head before the kunai would plunge into his neck, stabbing upward and driving him to the tips of his toes. Maigo's face was blank as the blood began to pour, his stance was equally neutral as he began to release the man but left the blade, letting him take a step back before falling over and sliding off the opposite end of the rooftop. His concentration broke again with a single yell, the boy from behidn finally decided to enter into the battle, the cry out as he shakily stepped forward onto the rooftop shingles and let the even more shakey katana make a swing at Maigo.

It was too easy though, with every step he needed only move a minimal amount to avoid it. Not even a genin as well, his steps were flawed but practiced and his anger clouded his judgement. He'd struck a nerve killing him, shouting out about his sensei falling, one of the instructors of their new ninja force. He was certainly a good one to take out of the picture but with a hasty swing Maigo regained focus and leaned out of the way of the downward slash before quickly stepping up and shoulder charinging in a single step. The flat of his shoulder buried into him, not fully knocking the wind out of him but enough to send him back a step and forcing his weapon to drop in that mid-slash.

Maigo's neutral expression carried on as he didn't say a word again, the blade carrying across the ground just like before as it severed the life from the kid. Maigo sighed again and stretched out to crack his back, off in the distance he could see more people coming in to address him. Walking to the edge of the rooftop he found the kid that he kicked off, holding onto what appeared to be a broken arm. Maigo raised an arm and threw his giant sword into the air and let it flip to the ground before flickering up to a high point of his own.

The giant black steel would fall point down right into the stomach of the kid below while Maigo took a new stance, his feet barely holding atop the point of a simple water tower, barely some 5 to 10 feet higher above the rooftops as he looked around and waited for the newcomers to arrive. His Mangekyo Sharingan would continue to watch them diligently, every step they would bring in as he would wait patiently and gather his breath and anger within himself.


[1238 words, 2311 words total]

365/400 Chakra:

The time immediately after the fall of Kuno Uchiha’s home was mostly a blur. A great deal was happening in such a short time that Kuno could do little more then anything he could to survive. By the time he crawled out form under the building that had been dropped on him, most the refugees had either fled or been killed by the invaders. The young Uchiha crawled his way out of the village, doing his best not to be spotted and eventually made his way out of the smouldering crater that was once his home and into the Endless Dunes. However, he had really only moved from one danger to another. This danger of isolation was nearly impossible to fight through, but for days, maybe even weeks, Kuno managed to drag himself across the dunes and through the sands to find shelter, food, and even a small amount of water inside of some of the plant life that he managed to find. The scraps of survival items kept him alive for an undetermined amount of time until one day, he felt the pull of unconsciousness. He did his best to push through it, screaming out loud and begging his body not to give up. But the days with minimal food and water were too much for him, and eventually, darkness closed in over Kuno’s vision. He truly believed he was dead.

But the dead do not wake up. The dead remain in unending darkness for eternity, or so Kuno assumed. But for the second time in his life, Kuno felt his eyelids flutter open after he thought they would never open again. He had no idea where he was, or how he got to that place, but he was alive. He could feel all of his limbs, as sore as they were. He could feel the air moving in and out of his lungs as he slowly breathed, testing to see if any of his ribs were broken. But it was as he was thinking of his condition that he realized he was in a bed. In fact, he was in a bed inside of a tent. He knew he was still in the Land of Wind; the heat alone was an indication of that fact. But he was in an actual comfortable bed, and that defied explanation. Slowly, the ANBU propped himself up into a sitting position and leaned on his elbows to take in his surroundings. He must have groaned in pain because a lost the moment he had sat up, the flap to the tent open and in stepped a young woman. “Well well well,” the stranger said with a wry smile. “It looks like you finally woke up. Congratulations.” Kuno tried to process what was happening, but nothing made sense to his mind on overload. “Th-thank you, I think,” he said quietly. There was an awkward pause for a time before Kuno decided to speak up. “Who are you? And where am I? How did I get here form the desert?” The woman’s smile turned into one of concern as she stepped over and began to explain to him. “We found you in the desert, not long after you passed out. It must have been only a short while, since you were still alive when we found you. The state you were in when we found you was rough, but we brought you back after your three day nap here.” Kuno’s eyes went wide at that revelation, and before he could stop him, the Uchiha found himself explaining everything that had happened to him. As he reached the end of his story, the young woman nodded quietly before responding. “I know. It happened to us too. If you can stand, you should come with me.”

Shortly thereafter Kuno steppe from the tent in which he had been laying for three days entered into the bright midmorning sun of the Land of Wind. The heat directly in his skin was surprising for a moment, but before too long he had adjusted to it. For a moment, Kuno covered his eyes and let them adjust to the harsh rays of the sun as well before moving his arm out of the way and taking in the view of the entire camp. Tents and small structures were erected across a space that Kuno found to be surprisingly large. The buildings looked like they had once been ruins of another settlement that were now repurposed into a living space for the survivors of the attack on Sunagakure no Sato. As the pair stepped through the camp, the young woman explained that many of the refugees had found themselves arriving in the makeshift village after they had been wandering in the desert for days. They had no official leader, but as a combined effort the group had managed to survive and even thrive slightly in the wilderness. Some former ninja of the Village Hidden in the Sands were in charge of gathering supplies and fighting off the wildlife that would harm the village. Upon hearing this, Kuno wasted no time finding those defenders and joining up with their number. He showed them his ANBU tattoo to prove his loyalty and ability; before too long he found himself as an official member of the scouts.

After joining up with he defenders, things were surprisingly quiet for the former ANBU. He would routinely be travelling outside of the tent city to find supplies and to fight off anything that would harm the innocents, but other than that, Kuno was finally able to settle himself for a while and comes to terms with the reality of what had happened to his home. It was a traumatic experience that had left him scarred both physically and emotionally; but those scars had plenty of company. What hurt him most was the fact that nothing could be done by the village to stop the attack, and nobody from the outside had been there to help. That is partially why Kuno was so surprised and pleased to hear about the Suna reclamation effort being launched by the remaining great ninja villages. Kuno stated to advocate for the idea of going to the reclaimers and offering their assistance, but it soon became very clear to him that the rest of the refugees did not want that. They felt abandoned by the other nations, and they could not allow themselves to be put under the heel of another ruler. Instead, the other defenders declared that they would become their own village of survivors. From that moment on, the Golden Scarabs were born. The symbols were handed out to every member of the village, and though Kuno took one, he could not help but believe that this foolhardy plan would end painfully for all of them.

Despite his concerns, Kuno did not leave the Golden Scarabs behind. He felt a certain obligation tot hem for many reasons. Not the least of these reasons was the fact that they had saved his life. Without them, Kuno would have died in the desert with nobody to say he was anything but one of the victims of the Fall of Sunagakure no Sato. Additionally, he felt as though he had failed to protect these people once before, and so now was his chance to redeem himself. The Uchiha continued to help the group without question for some time, before finally he was asked to do something he had not done since before his home had fallen. He was asked to kill the ninja from the reclamation project to keep them from trying to assimilate them into their village. The ninja were from Konoha, and they had done nothing wrong yet. But the other defenders had spoken, and Kuno knew that if he did not go with them, then they may very well die. Reluctantly, the former ANBU strapped on his weapons and headed out to kill the approaching enemies. He had to defend his new home. He had no choice in the matter.

But of course, the violence could not stop at one time. As the reclamation project ramped up, more and more shinobi from the remaining nations attempted to attack or “save” the refugees of the Golden Scarabs. And that meant that Kuno was sent out on more and more missions to defend the people of his new home. The more he went out on these missions, the more he began to feel like he was doing the right thing. These people did not need the great nations to “keep them safe.” In fact, they had proven that they were completely incapable of that when they let a self-proclaimed God of Death wander into the Village Hidden in the Sands and completely decimate it. Under their protection, more innocent people would die for no reason, and Kuno was not going to allow it. It was simply too little, too late. And so, the cycle of death continued with the young Uchiha and his more capable companions killing anyone who would dare to compromise their home. The Golden Scarabs would survive in the desert under his watch, and if anyone wanted otherwise, they would have to go through him to make that happen.

After coming to this revelation, Kuno only hesitated once more before one of these missions. The defenders had received word that a group of shinobi frim Kirigakure no Sato were on their way to determine why so many people had gone missing near their location. Obviously, this meant that they would have to be dealt with so that nothing would disturb the village. But for a moment, Kuno paused. He knew about the reputation hat Kiri had for their brutal and powerful ninja. He also knew that there would be retribution demanded by the Mizukage for any Kiri nin that were killed. But that hesitation did not last. Steeling himself for the inevitability, Kuno joined his comrades in taking up arms. The team ran out into the desert and came upon the Kiri forces in the dead of night. As it turned out, they were only genin and maybe chuunin that were no where near a match for Kuno and his companions. They were put to the sword with the little resistance, and the team was heading back home before dawn had even broken. And yet something weighed on the young Uchiha like a bad omen. There was a feeling in the pit of his stomach that their actions would have lasting repercussions. Whether it was nervousness or something else, Kuno could not determine. All he knew was that as they ran away from the carnage, he began to regret their actions.

It was not long after that incident, maybe even a few days later, when Kuno was returning back to his new home with the rest of the defenders. They had just finished driving off some wild beats that were closing on their camp and they were all ready to relax. But before they were back within the camp proper Kuno could see the plumes of smoke off in the distance, rising above the tent city that he now called home. Shortly thereafter, the sound of screams could be heard. In almost an instant, the young Uchiha’s mind was thrust back to the day that Sunagakure no Sato had fallen. His experience had started almost exactly the same way; smokes and screams in the distance that signaled the arrival of death. He and the defenders charged forward on instinct alone, but as Kuno looked to the faces of those beside him, he knew that they were feeling the same way. Rounding corners and heading towards what seemed to be the source of the cries, Kuno could already see bodies of men, women, and children piling up in the spaces between the tents. His mouth fell open as he walked through the valley of the shadow of death. The red stains on the ground spread ever so slowly as the life drained out of the fallen, soaking the ground beneath them and making it the same colour that the sand had been during the fall of the Village Hidden in the Sands. His vision seemed to blur between the reality that he was witnessing, and the memory of what he had seen that day. Anger and pain already welled up inside of him; he knew that he would slaughter whoever had done this. He would not lose a home again.

“There! On the water tower!” Kuno was lurched back into the moment by one of his six companions. The young man was pointing to the top of the tower where a man was perched, waiting for them. The power that emanated form this man was unlike anything that Kuno had felt before. Even Mitsuo Sarutobi had not instilled him with as much fear as the monster above him did. The chakra was daunting, but familiar, which unsettled Kuno even more. As the group of defenders continued toward the tower, Kuno could hear them discussing how they would go in for the attack. But the young Uchiha was preoccupied with the strange man’s chakra. The familiarity was too much to be a coincidence. Something about this man was familiar. Something about him felt like Kuno.  

He realized what it was all too late.

As his companions leaped forward onto the rooftops and changed toward the figure, Kuno reached out his hand to stop them. But for the second time in his life, Kuno watched helplessly as the six men charged toward their certain death. For Kuno had seen the man’s eyes. His eyes were that of a man who had been destroyed over and over, only to grow into something even more powerful because of it. His eyes were eyes of hate, pure and dark. His eyes were just like Kuno’s, but stronger. His eyes bore the legendary dojutsu that Kuno knew meant the end for his companions. For this enemy held the Sharingan.

WC:2343+2765=5108

Inspiration was a hard thing to bring about in a person. Though, it didn't come just from feel-good speeches and moments of happiness that spurged onward action and good deeds. It came mostly from anger, denial, and regret most of all. It wasn't much that Maigo had done thus far, his capacity for destruction was scratching the surface but as the words called out against him, identifying him among the tents and structures to mark him as their target. More people to defend their home, more people to die at his hand and yet, he'd done what so few people could do at will.

He'd inspired them.

He had inspired these men to take up arms and instantly charge head on, finding a way to take him down without hesitation and without a real plan. They moved quickly and were far more skilled than what he had faced so far with no doubt but the truly powerful thing of these men is that they had been inspired by Maigo's violence. His anger inspired them to action and inspired them to take his life. Or at least attempt to, because inspiration also came from anger, welling up deep within. An anger that demanded release and demanded vilification through their deaths. He would show them that his inspiration was greater than theirs. Maigo would show them that the anger that welled up within him was far greater than any regret or anger or combination of motivations that carried their steps onwards.

Dropping down gracefully from the tower to the ground, Maigo pulled out his shoge with his left hand before readying himself. There were six in total that descended upon him and his sharingan began to spin as he recounted their actions and trajectories in his own mind. Their words mostly fell on deaf ears from Maigo and it was obvious their tactics as they split up and tried to surround him and catch him from multiple angles, but he wouldn't allow it. Channeling chakra into his blade while also holding the Rat handseal he would quickly make slashes behind him and to his side, two at first at odd angles as he stepped up and created a space between himself and them. The slashes leaving persistent forms of chakra blades in the place of the slash, nearly a meter in length as well but to the men watching it would cut their vision in half along those angles, sliding away and disorienting them.

The first two slowed their approach as they prepared to weave past the arcs but the cuts in their vision left them disoriented and struggling to find a grasp on the moment. Maigo parried the kunai of the first man up wards and dragged his Shoge across his midsection before shoulder charging him away and to the ground. The second made a stab towards Maigo but it cut into his arm as he rotated clockwise and stepped away before driving the Shoge blade downwards into his neck and cutting again. Quick spurts of blood as Maigo stepped up to engage the next portion of their group and left another arc behind him, further building up the maze of arcs around him.

The third one made two diagonal slashes with a katana, hoping aimlessly to land a blow as his vision would further distort before Maigo would step underneath him and grab his wrist before turning him over his shoulder and throwing him to the ground. The fourth was a women who aimed to strike with his back turned while holding the mans wrist while he laid on the ground. But they underestimated the sharingan and with a turn, he threw his shoge out and let the blade land with a thunk in the dead center of her chest, the force stopping her in her tracks for a moment.

Maigo's eyes quickly turned down and found the fifth man who was charging in and slashing high above. Maigo flinched instantly, turning his body downwards and twisting the mans wrist to break it, or at least dislocate it as he rolled across the ground and used his legs to sweep the fifth man to the ground too. Maigo's grace was subtle but his movements quicker and angrier, with force behind them and force that wore his endurance out quickly. Pushing off the ground quickly and jumping over to the woman as the two on the ground would find their feet and the other would tend to his arm. Maigo would quickly grab the handle of the shoge and pull it from her chest, her hands holding on to it as she lingered on her feet and did her best to stand. It was a small struggle but he stepped behind her and used her as a shield between them and the others before grabbing the hilt and kicking her, finishing the fight as he could.

Readying himself again with the Shoge in his hand, blade pointed down and blood dripping from it as the fifth man caught the woman and slowly laid her to the ground. The final sixth man tried to catch Maigo off guard but the yelling he made before hand, pure anger while he had watched Maigo cut down the rest of his group, gave away his approach. It was beginning to look like Maigo had eyes in the back of his head as he suddenly turned down and avoided the blade. Standing back up he deflected the second strike with his own knife before making three cuts of his own, quick and almost letting the bloody blade shine in the high points of his attack as he quickly stepped behind him and spaced himself from the last two.

The first came in with weapon drawn, having broken his genjutsu, he would make several slashes that Maigo would parry, dodge, and reflect. Only taking small nicks and cuts at extremeties as the man began to finally challenge him. The second had use of only one arm and made small attacks in the moments between, Maigo was being pushed back on his footing but his sharingan tracked through each of the singular attacks that combo together to offer some grace to his anger.

He was almost right to cast his genjutsu as every attack that cut into his skin made him think more and more that he might have lost if he fought them all on equal ground but he had more tricks up his sleeve. Waiting for the chance, one man made a strike that Maigo parried upwards, almost leaving himself open for attack while the man with one good arm began to stab inwards, not realizing he had left another arc of chakra in wake of his slash. Striking forward and cutting into his bicep, Maigo would grab the shirt of the other man and pull him into the arc, cutting into him as well while he took a step back.

It was finally over with a few quick slashes, leaving them both bleeding and falling to the ground to choke on their incoming deaths. Taking steps back over his scene he would begin to guarantee all their deaths, looking for the final one of their group, having only briefly noticed his inaction amongst all of them. When Maigo found him, he would end simply with a single line towards him, letting his Mangekyo Sharingan bear down on him,

"Well then?"


[1244 words, 3555 words total]

320/400 Chakra:

It was happening all over again. Over and over and over and over Kuno had witnessed death. Bodies upon bodies had piled up in his life from each and every place he turned. Everything he had ever done was stained in blood. Even before he knew better, his own blood was already cursing him. When he was born, his mother had lied to his father about her heritage, but as they grew older and stronger, the secret of her blood came out. They were Uchiha, and the blood of the legendary clan ran through his veins. But his father hated him for it. The man hated Kuno, he hated his mother, he hated his sister, and all because their blood was the same as a monster that had killed his own friend years before. That spilled blood had flooded through Kuno’s heart, and in that moment, his life became stained. He was cursed; he was convinced of nothing else in that moment that he watched the latest group of his soon to be friends run toward their inevitable faith. Kuno stared up at another man that shared his blood, covered in the life of others that he had already slaughtered. This man was everything that Kuno vowed not be to be as an Uchiha, and yet he was the reality that would win here. The Uchiha were a violent people that were meant to be bent toward destruction. That was the only lesson he had come to learn in his life. Everything he wanted to achieve was a lie. He would never be able to redeem his people. No; his people did not deserve to be redeemed. They could not be. They were evil, and that truth became clear to him under the sun of the Land of Wind. His friends moved as if in slow motion toward their foe as the monster himself stepped down gracefully, as if floating from above rather than ascending from whatever hell had created him. He knew that his friends were shouting at each other, but their words fell on ears that had been deafened by the despair he was about to face once again. All he could do was whisper with his hand outstretched toward the coming slaughter.

“Please….not again…”

His friends split and surrounded the unknown foe, attempting to come at him from multiple angles all at once. It was useless though, considering the perfected state of the man’s Sharingan. Nothing would get past the visual prowess of the beast that now swing his shoge and created permanent arcs of chakra in the air. They crackled with energy as they appeared to be trapped in place when they wanted to push forward. But still they remained, blocking the trajectory of two of the defenders. As they duo weaved between the arc, Kuno could tell that they were disoriented and off balance. The pathetic kunai strike aimed at the villain was parried in an instant, and in the blink of an eye, the defender’s stomach was torn open by the shoge that was deftly wielded by the enemy. Kuno blinked in horror as the man fell back and crashed to the ground, blood pooling around his now lifeless form. As he blinked again, an image formed in his mind; one that he had believed he had locked away ages ago.

The door hung slightly ajar, moving slowly back and fourth with each passing moment as the warm evening breeze blew past the threshold of the Uchiha residence. Immediately, Kuno’s mind switched from casual thoughts to tactical infiltration as he slowly drew his miao dao so as to not make any noise as it was pulled from its bamboo sheathe. He then reached up and placed an open palm on the door, waiting and listening for a moment. There was only silence. After what seemed like an eternity but was in reality only thirty seconds or so, the young Uchiha slowly pushed his door open, exposing the interior of the building. The door opened into a front hallway area with stairs leading upward, a living room area on the left, and a hallway leading to the kitchen on the right. Crouched low and with his hood pulled up over his head, Kuno stepped into his home, listening carefully and stifling his breathing so that it would not interfere. There was no sound…

But then, there was a sound. It was not much of a sound; in fact, in any other situation it would have probably gone unnoticed by most. But in the silence of the building, it might as well have been a wrecking ball slamming though the side of his house. It was a cough. Just a simple, quiet, weak cough from an unknown source, but it came from the kitchen. Pulling his blade into a defensive position, Kuno Uchiha turned to his right and began to walk through his house slowly and carefully to ensure as stealthy an approach as possible. The few feet felt like walking miles on end to Kuno, but still he maintained his composure and walked slowly up to the doorframe that surrounded the entrance leading into the kitchen. He stopped, and pressed himself up against the wall before leaning out slowly to survey the scene before him.

His home’s kitchen had been utterly ransacked. There were dishes shattered on the floor and the kitchen table was overturned. Some of the tables had been thrown across the room and one of them was shattered. On top of that, there were scorch marks on the walls and every utensil from kitchen knives to pots and pans had been tossed about as if someone had been intentionally destroying the place. But the most noticeable feature in the room was the reflection of the full moon that was shining through the window onto an ever spreading pool of crimson; in the center of this crimson pool was Eishi Uchiha, Kuno’s mother.  He could see what was in front of him, and yet he could not comprehend it. He tried to step forward, but only succeeded in stumbling and falling onto his hands and knees before scrambling frantically into the pool of blood that was gushing from his mother. “Mom? Mom what….what happened?” He struggled to speak, though he was not crying, his throat was constricting due to the horrific scene before him.

He gritted his teeth, grinding them through the anger that was now welling within him. “Mom, I swear I’ll find her, and I’ll kill them all. They’ll pay for this! I swear it! I swear-“ But his tirade was cut short but a blood stained hand touching his cheek. He blinked, looking over at his mother who had managed to raise her hand to touch his face. Her words were but a whisper. “Kuno…my little boy. You’ve grown up so fast.” Her lips curled into a weak smile. “Please Kuno, find your sister, and bring her back home so that you can keep this family together. Please…you can’t stop smiling…” her voice trailed off as Kuno reached his hand up to hold hers on his cheek. She coughed, clearly in extreme pain from the very action. “Oh Kuno…I love you…so….much….”

And with those last words, Eishi Uchiha’s hand fell limp in her son’s as she died on the floor of her kitchen, in a pool of her own blood. Kuno dropped her hand, covering his face as he began to cry and cry and cry for what seemed like hours. He wasn’t sure how long he stayed there, draining himself of tears. But finally, after what was an eternity in his mind, he looked up and out of the kitchen window to the full mood in the sky. And he screamed. It was an unintelligible scream; there were no words, only raw emotion. But as he screamed up at the sky in agony, rage, and sorrow, the black irises of his eyes began to shift, until they flickered and twisted into two pools of crimson, marked with a single black tomoe each, not unlike the blood that he knelt in now. His wish had come true in the worst possible way. His Sharingan had awakened.

The images flooded back to him, flashing over and over again before his mind’s eye as he struggled to remember anything but that moment. His mother had died and his sister was gone. They were taken from him by monsters that had no regard for human life. All they did was hate. They wanted to destroy anything and everything that had to with him and his people. But Kuno had not known that at the time. No; all he had known was tragedy and loss. He was alone in the world from that point forward. People came into his life after that, but they had all died in the fires of the fall of Sunagkure no Sato. That realization brought him back to the present as yet another friend was murdered before him. The blood spewed mercilessly from the shoge wounds and soaked the sand further. Kuno tried to move. He tried to do something. But all he could do was watch in horror as the third member of the group moved forward. His attacked with the katana were useless against the ability of the demon from the sand that was carving through his new home with ease. He was dead as he crashed ot the sand below, and as the fourth member of the defenders charged forward, Kuno let out a moan of sorrow. The shoge flew from the monster’s hand and slammed into her chest, killing her in an instnt and stopping her dead in her tracks. As she hit the ground, Kuno was brought once again into his past. Back to the day that he realized the truth about his mother’s death…

He first felt the steel of a katana connecting with his lower back as was blocking another blow, causing him to flinch out of surprise, and leaving another opening for his foes. After that it was all downhill. The duo was relentless in their attack as they proceeded to slash and stab at the young Uchiha, opening wounds up all over his body. It was not long before he could no longer maintain concentration of the jutsu that caused his sword to emit heat, and shortly after that dropped, he felt his grip on the crimson blade loosening. With a swift movement from one of the thugs, the young Uchiha was disarmed; Adolescent Ember was flung through the air and landed, tip impaled into the dirt floor of the warehouse, only a few feet from Syekren. Kuno managed to look over to him, his eyes wide with surprise as he let out one word, “Syekren!”

With that, one of the men slashed his katana across Kuno’s back, cutting deep and rending flesh from bone. The force of the the blow caused the chuunin to fall to his hands and knees, shuddering with pain. He tired to look up, but could see very little as his eyes began to cloud over with darkness. But as this happened, a memory pulsed through his mind. The image of his mother, dead in his arms. I cannot die here, he struggled to think through the pain.

I will NOT die here…

The edge of his vision had begun to go dark despite the chakra pumping through his eyes. But all the while, the young Uchiha repeated the thought over and over in his mind. I will not die here. I will not die here. Over and over again he thought it, pushing through the agonizing pain of his injuries to stave off unconsciousness. His head was pounding, and he could here little more than the scream of dying criminals as the blood pumped through his head, sounding like a raging storm in his ears. Unable to bear the pain of the sweat that was dripping down his brow and into his eyes, he closed them for a moment, leaving them closed tightly as he gritted his teeth and spoke for the first time since falling down.

“I refuse to die here.”

Kuno Uchiha’s eyes flashed open again, just in time to watch the older man tear one of the leader’s throat out of his neck. Though the eyes that watched the scene were different from before. They were still the colour of blood, that much had remained the same. But this time, the single black tomoe rotated slowly around his iris, spinning faster and faster until it elongated and eventually split in both of his eyes. Now they both held a pair of tomoe each, showing the evolution of Kuno’s Sharingan. Despite the raised power of his clan’s famous dojutsu, Kuno was still struggling, and yet with a heave of breath and a grunt of pain, the young Uchiha slowly but surely rose to his feet. Blood soaked almost all of his clothes as he stood to watch Syekren stomp down onto a whimpering man’s windpipe, silencing him for good.

The young Uchiha leaned forward, both to intimidate the only survivor of the attack and also out of his own exhaustion. “Good…now all I want is a name. Who’s in charge of Autumn?” His voice had dropped back down to a whisper, but the former leader of the group could definitely hear him. Even so, the man kept his mouth shut, trembling with fear but unwilling to break for Kuno. Well, his patience was at an end. Reaching back, Kuno ripped his sword form the man’s leg and brought it over his body, slamming it into the thug’s forearm and cutting him nearly to the bone. He screamed again in pain, and Kuno responded in kind. “If you wat to save that arm, you’ll tell me what I want to know! A NAME!!!” Pulling the blade back, to swing again, Kuno shouted in anger and began to swing, but something stopped him part way down.

“Kafu….Hattori…”

Kuno stopped dead in his tracks, the name burning his ears. “What….what did you say?” He breathed as his head began to pound again. “Ka….Kafu Hattori….” That name…it was a name that Kuno hoped he would never hear again; the name of his father.

The memory of the true betrayal he felt in that moment was palpable. His father had become a beacon of hate that had led people against his own family. He wanted to slaughter every last living Uchiha because of something that had been done to him by a bearer of the Sharingan in his youth. He had become a full manifestation of hate; he was a nightmare that would forever haunt Kuno. He had killed his mother, taken his sister, and now as Kuno stared up at his rapidly dying companions, Kuno realized that he would get away with it all. Only Kuno was left. He was the only one that knew about Autumn. He was the only one that would confront his father. But all of that would be stopped by a manifestation of pure hate that now stood before him. No matter hat the Uchiha did, he could never escape the hate that followed his bloodline with a horrible vengeance. It was a curse that only now, Kuno realized he would have to live with.

The shout of rage from his soon to be dead friend brought the Uchiha back to the present just in time to see him completely miss the horror that was destroying his home. The look of surprise on the defender’s face was impossible to miss. An instant later he had fallen. The remaining two warriors stepped up, and though they seemed to push him back for a moment, the mystery Uchiha used his arcs of chakra that hung around him as the perfect weapon to end the last two members of the defenders. Their bodies hit the sand below him, and Kuno could not make a sound. The figure watched for a moment as the final two defenders choke on their own blood before turning toward the young man. The Mangekyo Sharingan of his enemy bore down on him with no remorse or fear. Kuno expected another speech about weakness or cowardice or about how this man was also a god of death. But instead, all that the man uttered were two words. Two words that would change Kuno’s despair to a rage that he had never felt before.

"Well then?"

Well then? What would Kuno do? Would he just stand there and die? Would he finally accept the destiny that was so clearly line dup for him from the very beginning? He was fated to become the victim of horrible violence ever since he was born into the most hated clan in shinobi history. He wanted to be the exception to the rule. He had wanted to prove that an Uchiha could be loyal to his home and become one of their most famous, respected ninja. But his goal had brought him only death, despair, and destruction. Nothing was left for him. He had no reason to fight. His reasons were dead. And yet, as he stood on that blood soaked sand, Kuno decided to become what he hated most. He felt the darkness build within him suddenly, as if floodgates within him had been opened up after years of being denied. He felt the death of his mother. He felt the loss of his sister. He felt the pain of near death at the hands of his father’s lackeys. He felt the horror and misery o watching his home be destroyed before his very eyes. And at last, he felt the rage and hate toward the man before him. The man who had taken the last shed of hope in his life. He breathed heavily as chakra pumped through his body fueled by pain, rage, hate, and a lust for blood. This man would bleed today. Kuno would not survive, but he would make this man bleed.

The chakra rushed to his eyes as he stared at the man. The black pools of nothingness swirled for a moment, Then faster and faster they spun as they changed from darkness to a crimson hat matched the ground beneath his feet. Three black tomoe appeared in each eye as they spun on and on, building and growing in power as Kuno saw everything so clearly for a moment. But he was not done there. His hate pushed him further and further. His tomoe spun faster and faster until suddenly, there were no tomoe. Instead, there was a twisted, curved, and ever so powerful manifestation of the Sharingan in its perfect form. Kuno stared back at the focus of his rage and hate with eyes that matched his own. Every person that had harmed him in his life was now personified by the monster that stood before him, staring back with his own Mangekyo Sharingan. Kuno wanted to say something. He wanted to tell the man that he would regret angering him. He wanted to tell the man that he would do everything in his power to end him in that moment. Kuno wanted to say so much. But in that moment, he could not. Instead, the young Uchiha drew his blade and screamed. He screamed a blood curdling cream that would be heard for miles around before he leaped into what he knew would be his last battle.

WC:3284+5108=8392

OOC:

Chakra: 340/350:

The yell broke it, the anger that swirled around his person and drove him into madness as he dashed recklessly forwards. Maigo would step forward and prepare himself, bringing his Shoge in front of him as he turned his foot and shoulder towards him. It was almost too easy as the spinning sharingan would come to meet his own, Maigo finding his opportunity to cast his own genjutsu. To test the prowess of those eyes, letting his own eyes expand and the pattern of his Mangekyo Sharingan would expand and take hold of his enemy if he would allow it.

The world would then shift colors, hues of blue and white in the sky would become black and blood red. The nails would fly downwards and pierce through him to restrict his movements, suddenly and without much warning as Maigo would close the gap. Letting the hand which carried his Shoge slip towards the pouch on his side to slide it away before he would close the gap between them. His sharingan running over him, almost ignoring any struggle or words that would come from him, and instant to let the panic set in as he would take measure of his opponent. This Uchiha who tried to match his anger to Maigo's own. With a final glimpse, Maigo's eyes would lock onto his before his hand would reach up and grab his face, almost underneath and pressing the tips of his fingers into the cheeks of his face while pulling him forward in the paralysis.

"Anger comes from pain but pain is merely a lesson in the past..." Maigo would mentally flash to images of Sunagakure no Sato being destroyed, the details in the reports that had been passed around to the ANBU agents with pictures and small details of those responsible and other notable subjects in the land. Beyond that all, images of the destroyed city but painted with unique destruction to fill in the gaps would blaze through his mind. Maigo's Mangekyo Sharingan would spin again more violently as he would project these images onto the young man's own eyes in front of him. It would be like a sudden heartbeat, a flicker away and the pain from the Shackling Stakes technique would fade away to reveal a new horror. One that would surely drive at his very conscious. These people were so bent on restoring their land they'd forgotten to start restoring the place they'd lost first.

Maigo would show it to him, his Tsukuyomi would distill that horror to him one last time before he would begin to take his life. Once his genjutsu would be cast, Maigo would release his face and take a step back, almost pacing into his place as his arm reached slowly back towards his pouch, embracing the Shoge in his hand again with the blade pointed upwards. His posture would turn and watch silently and calmly the turns of horror and emotion that would overcome the boy in this instant. It wasn't a glorious site, but he would kindle that rage within him just a little bit, giving him a chance to step forward and fight with the tenacity and anger that embodied his clan.

It was done to Maigo before, thrown down by a stronger Uchiha and he'd walked away from it. Maybe he wasn't any stronger from it like so many wisdoms would offer but he was certainly more aware. Of where he came from and what his clan was truly like, embracing the aged tradition of swatting each other down in anger in a lust for power. But in the instant, it wasn't the external Maigo who would relish in the combat and the trading of fiery anger but internally he would be letting a tear run down his face. As he would be responsible for pushing another onto this path. This wasn't a life he wanted, but he had to walk it. The thought that he could have brought the Uchiha together under a banner and peacefully had been whisked away so long ago. It was painful to do this to another Uchiha, but as long as the monster that embodied his rage remained in control of himself, there was nothing for him to do but sit back and weep those internal tears.


[728 words, 4283 words total]

245/400 Chakra:

Kuno had never distilled so much emotion into one moment before. He had been through a great deal in his life, and he had felt emotions stronger than many. But in that moment, as the young Uchiha rushed forward with a reckless abandon that would have made any and all of his teachers turn away with disgust, he burned with a fire as hot and as black as the Amaterasu that his clan’s eyes were infamous for producing.  His crimson blade was in his right hand, ready to spill blood the moment it could. It was just as thirst as he was for the life of this man that stood before him. It wanted to drink in the suffering that he had caused by making the mystery Uchiha suffer as well. With each step forward, Kuno felt less and less regret. At first, the special jounin had known that he was charging to certain death. But now he knew that his charge was much more than that. The former ANBU of a village in ruins was charging towards the fate that he always knew was his. Deep down he had always known that one day he would become what he hated most. He would become the personification of hate and rage that his eyes promised him. To become a stronger Uchiha meant that one day you would become that which he had promised himself he would not become. But in that moment, that is who he was. That is how he would always be, until the moment he died.

The mysterious Uchiha stepped forward and prepared himself for the attack from Kuno. As the younger Uchiha swung wildly, the monster of the desert raised his shoge in front of him and turned his foot and shoulder toward Kuno. Still shouting, Kuno pressed on and stared forward at the man. Their spinning Sharingan met for the briefest of moments, but that was all it took. The world instantly changed. The blue and white sky that was above him twisted and contorted, violently changing into a horrific picture of black and red that reminded Kuno of his own eyes when his Sharingan was active. Kuno was still moving for a moment in this dark world, before falling from the sky came six large nails at a blinding speed. There was nothing he could do; Kuno felt the giant nails pierce his body, locking him in place against the ground. His scream of rage changed into one of pain as the stakes locked him into a helpless position. He could not move, and now the rest of the world was fading into nothingness. The reds and blacks of the sky were all he could see other than his assailant. He could not move, and now the man was moving toward him.

He closed the gap just as quickly as the nails had fallen from the heavens and let his own weapon fall back into its pouch. There was no need for it now. Kuno was helpless. He could do nothing but accept his fate and die with dignity. He was completely and utterly outclassed by the man who had taken everything from him, and it showed. Kuno watched, his own Sharingan still active as the man looked him over, the legendary dojutsu never ceasing to spin in his eyes. He had thought that his own eyes would be able to push back the shadow of this man’s presence, but it seemed that the mysterious murderer’s anger was far greater than his own. Finally, the beast’s eyes came to rest of Kuno’s again. He was scared. Oh he was so very scared. But he refused to crumble under the gaze of his better. He would die strong, just as he knew his mother had. Just has he knew the ANBU of his village had. Kuno expected the blade to come then, ending his life in an instant. But instead, he watched in horror as the man’s hand reached up and grabbed Kuno’s His fingers pressed into Kuno’s face as he pulled him forward against the nails. He could feel them tearing into him further as the man spoke once again.

"Anger comes from pain but pain is merely a lesson in the past..." Kuno stared in horror as his eyes began to spin again, but now more violently than before. They twirled around and around and then suddenly they were gone. In fact, everything was gone. The pain of the nails through his body were still there, and he could feel the man’s hand on his face, holding him in pace. But he was gone, just like the desert that had been around them. Instead, everything was replaced with images of his home. He saw his village standing tall and proud as it had not so long ago. The sun was shining down over it and Kuno felt the wind on his face as he was perched on a building. It was a familiar scene, but he was not sure why it felt so familiar. But when the scent reached his nose, he knew why in an instant. He smelled the smoke, just like he had that day. Or was it this day? Had everything he had experienced been a dream? Was he still on that rooftop? Was he still deciding how to proceed as he watched the flames begin to lick up the side of buildings in the distance? He rushed forward, suddenly freed form his shackles that had been holding him in place. That is, if they had ever been real at all. Was it just a nightmare? Was there still a chance that he could save his home?

Kuno rushed forward. He jumped form one building to the next with the same haste that he had charged at the man in the desert. Or…that he had dreamed he had charged with. It was all so unclear now. Nothing made sense anymore. And yet everything was clearer than ever. He had to save his home! It was his last chance. He looked around on the rooftops for allies that would charge into the fray to protect the innocent people of the Village Hidden in the Sands, but he did not see any. He was all alone. The rest of them must have been taking care of the evacuation. He needed to hold back the forces that sought to destroy them all. He needed to be the last line of defense. He finally reached the place where the fames had started, but when he jumped to the ground, there was no sign of the attackers. Instead he could see bodies piled up around him. They were covered in blood, burns, and ashes that were no doubt the remains of their friends. It was just like the dream he had before. He was going to be too late. The feeling of despair clutched at his chest for a moment before he forced himself out of that thought process. He had to do as much as he could.

He pressed on, following the trail of destruction and death that had been carved through his home. The ground had been heated so violently in some places that the sand that would have normally been beneath his feet had been turned to glass. He looked down and caught glimpse of his reflection in the glass underfoot as he ran forward. His Sharingan spun violently, reminding him of the man that had bested him in the desert…or in his dream of the desert. Kuno shook his head aggressively to wipe his mind of the haze that seemed to be following him around. The smoke was so thick in the air and the buildings crumbling around him were nearly deafening. There was so much sensory input that the young Uchiha began to feel overloaded. He was confused; he had to get out of the smoke. He ran and ran, forgetting his goal as he pushed forward in hopes of surviving. It seemed like there was no change that he would not suffocate in the cloud of smoke when he finally broke through it. He found himself surrounded by buildings that were ablaze. In each of the building he could see families burning alive. Their screams echoed around him, but he could not move. He was too terrified of the sight that stood opposite him. There, watching him with a look of disappointment, was the man from the desert. The Uchiha that had destroyed the last remaining thing that had given him any hope in his life was now at the epicentre of the destruction of his home.

His mind danced circles around itself as it tired to comprehend what he was seeing. There was no way to understand how his dreams and reality had mingled so perfectly. His head screamed in pain, and his eyes darted around as he tried to look for a way out. But the circle of buildings around him locked into a perfect circle. There was now ay he could leave. All he could do was listen to the sound of creaking foundations as the buildings began to teeter. The monster of a man simply stood there, appearing to be closer every time Kuno turned his head and looked back at him. He could not do anything about it was watch helplessly as he was locked in place. He was not sure whether it was fear or a jutsu of some kind. But he could not move, and his mind screamed for him to run. Suddenly, the man was directly in front of the young Uchiha. Kuno could feel the hand on his face again. He felted the pain of nails through his body. And then the man pulled him close and nearly whispered to him as he gazed maliciously into his eyes. "Anger comes from pain but pain is merely a lesson in the past..."

Kuno blinked.

The sun was hot from above, but the sky was clear and only dotted with a few clouds. As if in response to the adverse head of the Land of Wind sun, a breeze blew through the village of Sunagakure no Sato and brushed gently against Kuno’s face. He was watching over it all. He was a protector after all. He was now a member of the village ANBU, and as such he had certain responsibilities. But the splitting headache that was permeating every part of his body screamed that something was wrong. This was not just a normal patrol. The village was under attack! He knew it had to be! He had seen it! He had fought through it twice before! But here the village stood, perfectly fine and undisturbed. His mind reeled at the sight and he almost fell of the building that he was perched on. But then it happened again. He smelled the smoke. It couldn’t be happening again and yet it was. He screamed in pain as his brain tried to process it all again. He had to stop it. He had to do something. Suddenly, he was running again. This time he knew where the man would be even before he got there himself. So he ran there first.

From building to building he jumped as quickly as he could, praying that this was somehow different and fighting back the tears that threatened to fall unbidden form his eyes. He would not die here. He could not watch his village burn again. But then suddenly it was on fire. The heat was nearly unbearable, and he could feel the flesh on his skin recoiling as a reaction to the searing burns that covered him. He did not even remember getting to the ground or to the circle of buildings. But he was there again, standing in place as the families of his home burned around him. Their screams of terror and pain echoed in the circle of buildings that trapped him in place. And once again, standing before him was the mysterious man. He approached slowly, not by walking but by simply being closer. Then once again Kuno was frozen. Once again he could not move and he felt the stakes through his body. The man’s hand was on his face once again, holding him with a disgust that seemed to permeate everything around him. And then the man leaned forward again. The eyes were all that Kuno could see as the words flowed through him once more. "Anger comes from pain but pain is merely a lesson in the past..."

Over and over and over again Kuno saw the fall of his village. Each and every time the vision began it felt so real that Kuno fought through it as if it was happening for the first time. Each and every time he would look for survivors or allies. Each and every time he was alone with the corpses. Nothing he did changed the inevitable outcome of his village burning around him and the man from the desert reminding him of his failure to do anything. "Anger comes from pain but pain is merely a lesson in the past..." The words seemed to echo all around him as he continued to push through the embers of his home, praying that he could make a difference. But he could not. Every single time, the village fell. And every single time, Kuno would scream in pain as he tried again.

And then it was over. He was on the ground. The young Uchiha could feel sand beneath his hands as he moved them, trying to understand why everything was suddenly so bright. He was curled up on the ground, shaking violently and repeating the same words over and over again, but he could not hear what he was saying. He knew the sun was beating down on him from above, and he could see crackling fires of his latest home burning around him. And yet Kuno Uchiha felt cold. He felt so cold and so alone. He blinked ahead and could see the feet of the man who had made him like this, but as he blinked, he felt something on his eyes that he had tried so hard to fight back. But there was nothing he could do now to stop the tears form pouring out of his eyes. He simply could not understand what was happening or why it was happening. All he knew is that this man above him was the one who had started it and the one who had made it stop.

Kuno’s entire life had led up to this moment on the sand. He had fought through so much pain and sorrow. He had pushed through rage and the threat of death. He had tried so hard to become something that he wad not. But in the sand that day, Kuno became exactly what he had always been ever since his father had told him that he hated him after years of showing nothing but love. Kuno was broken. And with that realization, Kuno could finally hear the words that he was saying over and over. Everything he had tried to do and become was summed up in two simple words.

“I can’t...I can’t…I can’t…”

WC:2559+8392=10951

Training Three Tomoe Sharingan (3000-10% for combat thread = 2700/2700)
Training Mangekyou Sharingan (9000-10% for combat thread = 8100/8100)

151 remaining

He couldn't, huh? Was that all it was? He couldn't... after all that and he broke, so weak that he'd crack under pressure. The conversion of his eyes were an interesting thing to see from the outside. The pain and suffering manifesting itself and yet, Maigo would crouch down quietly, holding the Shoge to his side as he placed a hand on the Suna nin's shoulder, not exactly comforting but to break the murmuring going on under his breath.

"You can't, but soon it won't matter. Many in this world can't, save yourself the pain and suffering. It won't serve you in this life or the next."

Maigo would offer a final recompense before he would draw the blade of his Shoge across his neck, as deeply as he could and as quickly as he could. The tinge of the blade would scatter an outpouring of blood as Maigo would use the hand on his shoulder to stabilize him. Stepping back quickly, he would fling the blood from his blade before wiping it on the clothing of another body around him.

It was over, everything was done and he would wait to let this one die. His body he would keep once he was dead, and if he would continue to fight, it would only take a few more strike to put him down permanently.


[233 words, 4516 words total]

Maigo would finish his work, bringing the body of the Uchiha with him to take back to his encampment, ready to harvest those newly formed eyes for himself.

[Exit Thread]
[28 words, 4544 words total]
[Exit Thread]
[Claiming Kuno's body and items as my own.]

Training: