He was ready this time, he would not fail a second time as he stood ready with his backpack on his back and a few new weapons in his arsenal. He walked towards the abandoned mine as he heard he would be joining someone on his expedition to find metal. He was not sure who his partner would be and if it would be worth his time, all he knew was that right now he needed to collect materials to create more weapons.

He was standing there for a while and soon time was passing as it became midday, he had waited for close to an hour. Where was this guy and he forgot what his name was and only had a picture of the man since he had to at least know what the guy looked like.

The small boy shook his head a bit as his blonde hair blew in the light wind as he now was losing his patience as he became a bit angst as he went and stabbed a nearby tree with his kunai once. He thought his aim was a bit off and took a few steps back to train as he threw three shuriken towards the kunai and hit around it as they just hit the tree. He was a bit disappointed but figured his aim was at least decent still.

~Words 228~

The climate of kumogakure no sato was surely unpredictable. Two days ago, it rained all night but Dray was not bothered by the cold weather, it only soothed the suiton chakra that flowed in his body system and the previous night, the weather was calm and Dray slept calmly. The cold of the morning sunk its claws into Dray’s skin as the calm wind breezed in through the half opened windows and raised the bed sheets off of Dray’s body. The green haired shinobi was fully awake and unlike the land of stone where the morning sun was always the first to peek in, Dray figured out that the clouds of this beautiful village had probably blocked out the harsh rays that might make some people uncomfortable thereby making the day’s start a pleasant one. Dray got up from the soft bed and walked towards the bathroom. The bath was quick though he was certain he had washed himself clean. He proceeded to clothe himself in his usual attire of green and black cloak which he was sure that he would change soon enough once everything he had in mind fell in place. He was a young, intelligent and skilled man. He was good at what he did almost to the point that he could move his pieces around the board without anybody noticing and use them when he wanted, such was the beauty of puppetry in the hands of one who was worthy. A single arrow in the hands of a master was deadlier than a quiver full of arrows in the hands of a novice. Dray picked up two of his ninja scrolls that contained his two puppets, Temp and Wrath. The scrolls were medium sized so he strapped them to his back like a back pack. He looked at the small little man where he sat, green hair, black shoes and beautiful linen cloak, it was Chi- the first and youngest of Dray’s puppet which is his main companion.
The puppet master breathed life into the senju puppet through the wooden strings jutsu as both of them walked out of the room and down the stairs till they got out of the inn. The previous day, Dray had visited a blacksmith with the hopes of getting good metal for making his iron tail but upon getting there, the blacksmith kindly told Dray that he could get good metal for himself from the abandoned mines of kumo since anyone hardly visited there and if Dray could keep up with the many creatures that now inhabited the mines. The blacksmith made Dray understand that there was one other person that seemed familiar with the mines so it would make better sense if Dray joined with him so they could visit the mines together. So, Dray was going to meet up with the person at a specific point. Dray hoped he was punctual enough for this person since he had not met him before. Dray and Chi got to the meeting point as Dray scanned the area but all he could see was a young boy having at a tree. Well, he did not like underestimating anyone so he was going to make an attempt. The new path he was walking on ever since coming to kumo included making good friends and he already had two friends in kumo but he was not exactly able to open up to people so the best way was through his puppet, Chi.

The lively puppet would begin its performance towards the young boy. It would advance towards him calmly not making any alarming actions. The puppet’s well crafted structure and covering made it difficult for anyone to know it was a puppet except people with extreme methods like how Ameryuu did not feel any electrical signals from it. With the puppet taking the front and Dray walking behind it without pulling any strings, the puppet would get to few meters away from the young boy and speak out words that Dray was controlling it to say. Hello there, we are supposed to meet something going to the abandoned mines of kumogakure. Have you seen anyone around? the puppet would ask.
WC:703

He was feeling a bit uneasy as he continued his training, when he looked behind him as someone spoke to him. He was a bit surprised to see a small girl as he was not sure how to react to her appearance. She had simple features and her green hair appeared just a tad weird for him. As he carefully approached the strange girl he felt a bit uneasy as he held his one kunai in his hand and began to channel chakra very minutely as he came closer to her. He was also waiting for someone as well, so it was a bit suspicious that a girl would also be here since he was meant to meet a guy on his own. He could not see anyone as he finally was within three meters of her he immediately jumped back away from her.

She did not displace the chakra of his technique as he took out another kunai and looked around while focusing on the puppet. "Show yourself, I will not fall for your genjutsu." as he looked at her not sure if she was an illusion or perhaps some transformed creature or perhaps she was a puppet. There were just too many possibilities as he took a strange stance where he had his right hand gripping the special kunai tightly while his left hand faced towards the enemy.

~Words 228 + 230~

Dray stood few inches behind Chi watching the scene unfold. The weather was moderate but the young boy seemed uncomfortable like he was frustrated or something. The most noticeable trait about him was his blond hair and his clothes were not much to talk about but as he turned to Chi, Dray noticed the colors of his eyes. Eye color like that was hardly seen or so Dray thought since he had not met anyone with such eye color. Dray could see the uneasy look on his face once Chi approach him and Dray would get more confused as the young boy would jump backwards few meters away from Chi and holding out a kunai to defend himself. Show yourself, I will not fall for your genjutsu the young boy would say while looking at Chi strangely. Dray could not yet decide what to make of the situation and it would seem as if this young boy had some difficulties in seeing because Dray was well in plain sight or perhaps the sun had gotten in his eyes and hindered his vision but as Dray looked up to the sky, the clouds were doing a brilliant job in blocking out the sharp rays of the sun. Dray looked around and still there was no sign of anyone around. The best thing that Dray could do was to ease this young boy’s tension since he put him in it with the way he approached him with Chi.
Calm down. You are not in any genjutsu and what you see before you is an extension of my art. Chi is my companion and he means no harm to you. Dray would say to the young boy while walking towards him calmly. He was wondering what the young boy was doing here in the first place. Why would such a young one be left to wander this far and even with weapons on him because Dray could see the basic projectiles that were stuck in the tree and from where they hit, he could well determine that the young boy’s throwing skills were lacking and Dray could help him with anything ranging from that to finding his way back home but first Dray needed to make sure that the boy was all calmed. My name is Zennyo and I’m here to meet someone who would accompany me to the abandoned mines of the village hidden in the clouds but I am yet to meet him so I cannot say what he looks like.
WC:426

He heard a strange weird man's voice coming from behind the strange girl like creature who had spoken to him earlier. He was told he was not in a genjutsu, but he thought maybe that was what the genjutsu wanted him to think until he heard the girl was a boy named Chi and was a companion. He was blinking a bit before noticing the guy was behind the Chi.

He watched as the man approached and was beginning to wonder what was going on until her recognised the man's face from the picture. The man introduced himself as Zennyo and that he was here to meet someone who would help him through the abandoned mines of the village as he calmed down he lowered his weapon as he had a somewhat stubborn look on his face.

"Are you okay? You could have just said hi instead of using this, Chi monster?". The small boy was not sure what to make of this Chi as without any normal chakra mass it was like a strange creature to him as he was looking to the man. He did not even let the man reply as he spoke a bit more clearly. "I am Elin, follow me." As he walked towards the entrance of the mine passing the man while keeping a firm grip on his kunai ready to leap away at the slightest taste of danger as he stopped beneath the arch of the cave like entrance of the mines. He was here to collect metal and to do it with this man as a partner in mining. He was finally ready to do some minor labour as a minor miner who was not really that minor at all.

~Words 228 + 230 + 290 = 748~

The boy finally seemed to hear Dray speak as he blinked a few times before seeing Dray properly as he then lowered his weapon though the expression on his face was not all friendly yet. Dray could imagine from this little discovery that the boy must have had a problem with his eyes that hindered him from seeing correctly and such a thing would definitely come in the way of a shinobi. Chi stood there as if wondering what this kid was up to. He had spoken to him in his most friendly form and yet this was what he got? It was almost as if the puppet shrugged and he folded his arms as Dray listened to what the young blonde haired boy had to say. “Are you ok” he asked Dray. Dray was not sure if to take that as an insult thing or maybe the young boy was concerned about Dray but it did not seem to be the concern one anyway Dray continued to listen. “You could have just said ‘hi’ instead of using this chi monster”. The puppet seemed to frown as it looked at Dray and back to the blonde haired boy. First, he did not like being detailed as a puppet and now he was being referred to as a monster. Only if he had a mind of his own then he would have definitely taught this little mannered kid a lesson but alas, he was under Dray’s control.

“I am Elin, follow me” the young boy quickly said without letting Dray speak a word. He seems to be quite impatient and Dray knew by now that he was the person he was supposed to go with to the abandoned mines. Dray wasn’t sure what to make of this young boy but he was near to finding out after all it was them both going into the abandoned mines. The blonde haired boy’s grip was firm on his kunai as the got to the entrance of the mine. The surroundings really showed that this place had been abandoned for quite a long while. Who knows what creatures must have taken this place as their home so two people walking into the mines would definitely be regarded as threat so both Dray and Elin were to expect anything. Dray stood for a while at the mouth of the cave, the young boy was meant to lead him in but now, looking at how so little light entered the cave, Dray thought he should take the lead instead incase anything went wrong. He wasn’t a very jovial person but at least he was trying his very best to be friendly but that did not mean making himself inconvenient. He would always have a part of him that did not take much shit from anyone regardless of who they were. “I go by the name Zennyo and I believe you have experience with the mines.” Dray would say to Elin as he would take out two scrolls and lay them on the floor. Performing a single unseal hand sign, a poof of smoke would appear that would quickly fade away to reveal Dray’s brothers. Temp and Wrath, two identical puppets that were no different from him. Their main purpose was simple, to guard once Dray was in the mines. Anything was to be expected so now it was up to Elin to lead the way.
WC:574

The man said his name twice as the boy began to look with wonder in his eyes, amazed at how stupid the guy might be. Though he thought about it and maybe the man thought he was hard of hearing, who knows the thoughts going through the head of a man and his Chi. He watched as the man placed two scrolls on the floor and perform some hand seal and a puff of smoke appeared revealing two more puppets. He began thinking to himself that maybe the man was weak and needed the puppets to protect his weak and frail body, though the man was really big so there might be other reasons.

He thought to himself a bit before speaking to the man again. "Follow me and please be careful not to step on any rats they very territorial in this cave." As the small boy walked forward leading the way many small rats began running all over the place while some ran over your feet and others just scattered as the small boy proceeded towards something as he searched around for a bit and you heard a scratch and a small flame and then a torch lit up a small portion of the area.

"we can not move the torches so please be careful not to fall too far behind it gets really dark in here." The boy had a small rat on his head as he just seemed to ignore it as if it was natural. There were some large rats that were close to a small cat in size as well just scampering about with their feet as the boy was just moving on ahead as if this was nothing at all to be worried about.

~Words 748 + 291 = 1039~

Rats?! Those were the threats of this abandoned mine? Dray could not help but sigh to himself as to why he had summoned Temp and Wrath. He was expecting better threats and a chance to have some fun. He could well defend himself against any threats but he had taking a liking to puppetry that he now rarely using his ninjutsu techniques that could wreck havoc in most cases. He only used them when he needed to. With Elin taking the front and Dray walking behind him and then the other two identical puppets because Chi was beside Dray, he performed another hand sign while behind Elin so the other two puppets would vanish with a poof of smoke. Dray thought that there were going to be some more threats other than rats in the cave. The young boy walked further ahead as Dray heard something scratch and fire came up. The young boy had lit a torch and he told Dray to stay close because it was going to get very dark pretty soon as they advance into the mines. Dray had no idea how much iron they would be able to gather so he would just have to wait and see it. Walking with a young blonde haired boy through the mine seemed boring so Dray was going to try to start a conversation. He did not often do that but the young boy did not seem to like Chi so Dray was not going to let the young puppet talk to him and upset him.

“He called me a monster, what are you going to do about it, Zennyo?” Chi would ask while grumbling and kicking a rat that was the size of a rabbit towards a wall as the rat would squeak while flying through towards the wall with such force. “Keep calm” Dray would say to the young puppet. He had developed a high level bond that Chi that the puppet had enveloped a section of Dray’s mind so to a level, the puppet was able to think but all that he says would still be controlled be Dray indirectly. “So Elin, how often do you come to this mine and are your parents aware. Not to poke into your matters but you seem like you have been to this mines several times and you also seem a bit young to do so alone.” Dray would say to Elin hoping to strike up a conversation.
WC:411

He was listening to mumbling from behind him and he heard something that sounded like a swift kick to a rabbit sized rat which hit the wall as the cave began to shake slightly as Elin stopped and pulled out his two kunai. He asked Elin who listened partially as the man asked him how often he came here and if his parents knew as he replied to the man. "I have been in here a few times and I am adopted so I have no mother or father. I wish you did not hit the rat though."

As a noise could be heard as large red and green glowing eyes could be seen as the light was dim so seeing further than five to ten meters seemed difficult. Rushing at high speeds a large rat the size of a cow jumped at the first puppet Chi as the young Elin wondered where the other puppet went as he did not see the giant rat behind him, but he knew as he turned his head slightly to look at it as it seemed to be challenging him. Meanwhile a bunch of rabbit sized rats were swarming towards Zennyo and all of them would be trying to eat him.

Meanwhile the light from the entrance was gone as a rat the size of the cave hole itself roared blocking their escape as it cried out as the walls were shaking as it rose up slightly not having enough space to move it just headbutted the ceiling with brute force and stood there preventing escape.

"Zennyo, why could you not just leave the poor rats alone." The rat behind Elin jumped towards his neck as he dodged it grabbing the tail and swinging the rat with a dragon throw and throwing it into a wave of normal sized rats. The rats were everywhere all you could see were rats, smell the rats and feel the rats running against you as their battle with the rats began.

~Words 1039 + 334 = 1373~

Dray awaited the young boy’s reply as the cave shook slightly due to the rat that Chi had kicked hitting the wall and suddenly Elin brought out two kunais thinking it was a threat. Dray could not say if the young boy was just being scared or being protective of himself but whichever way, Dray hoped that he could defend himself if the real threat should come to them. He answered Dray and told him that he had been in the cave a couple of times and that he was an orphan but he was adopted. It was a sorry thing to hear and Dray felt he should not have asked but knowing he was an orphan was far more better than not knowing if he was orphan at all like Dray who knew nothing of his past. He could not tell if he had a father or mother or siblings or even relative. He was all alone and he had learnt to live with the fact that he was him now.

A noise was heard in the distance as large green glowing eyes like beams of a machine powered with high currents of electricity could be seen. Now, what in the world was that, Dray wondered. The creature with the eyes was swift as he raced towards the humans but he had a different target. His leap was fast but not fast enough to catch Chi off guard. With the over sized rat soaring in the air like an action hero closing in on its target, Chi opened up its’s right palm and lifted it towards the incoming threat as a kunai shot out of it and put the rude rat in its place. Chi imitated the blowing of smoke off his palm like a cow boy who’s bullet had hit the bull’s eye and he placed his hands down but this was just the beginning. Another bunch of large rats were now flocking towards Dray for whatever reason that they had to do so. Dray stepped backwards as Chi took the front. The puppet’s left arm ejected from its shoulder as the flexible arm swept away the rats with a powerful strike like a mother spanking her child. That would make the rats dizzy for a while as Dray saw them fly to the opposite side and land on top of each other meanwhile the light from the entrance of the cave seemed to have been shut of by a large rat blocking the entrance to prevent Dray and Elin from getting out and the force the rat was using to fit in the entrance was causing the cave to shake which might also cause it to crumble sooner or later.

“Zennyo why could you not just leave the poor rats alone?” Dray would hear from his left and it was Elin asking. “Apparently, the rats disturbed Chi and he isn’t very fond of them. I’ll take care of this while you gather the metals or we can enjoy this together, your choice it is.” Dray would say as Chi’s left arm would extend to the cave’s entrance and deal a few heavy blows to the rat who was all big and powerless. The rat would fall and manage to scurry out of the cave as the other rats would now seem to be retreating but some of them would still have a little fight in them. “Looks like that big rat meant something to them and seeing as he was defeated now their morale is falling” Dray would tell Elin as a cat sized rat would sneak up behind Elin and attempt to pounce on his head but another perfect shot of kunai out of Chi’s right palm would scrape the large rats skin, pushing it down before it could pounce on Elin. Dray did not want to kill the rat since Elin might not be happy with it so at the very least, he injured it knowing it would heal sooner or later.
WC:677

He was thinking about Zennyo's offer as the rat pounced towards him once more as he dodged it with his eyes closed as he grabbed the rat by the tail and gave it a dragon throw into the wall after which the rat he knocked back earlier saved that rat and then proceeded to jump at the boy with a spinning double roundhouse tail whip as the boy blocked both strikes with his kunai, then the rat changed tactics doing a barrel roll before jumping up as the other rats that wanted to fight all were just charging Zennyo repeatedly.

The small boy closed his eyes before opening them with a new sense of focus as the rat also became focused as if they were two shinobi fighting in a serious contest. "I am sorry, but you will not beat me this time." as the rat glared at him it gave a squeal then charged diving at him with its teeth. The boy replied with a kunai strike to which the rat bit the kunai and pulled it free from the boy's grip having gotten close as it clawed towards the boy. He countered by using his other hand throwing a kunai point blank into the chest of the rat who managed to block it with its shoulder before tackling the boy in the ribs.

The boy was sent back a few meters falling over as the rat fell back a bit as the rats started swarming, the rat gave a light roar and the rats left him and went to join as the mighty Zennyo now had to deal with close to a thousand crazy rats. The rats who got injured would be carried away by some rats, while there were also rats who ate the wounded rats and continued fighting. They had come here to find metal, instead they found a den of rats. The rat and the small boy gave one last stare down before both charged at each other as the ground was shaking as the boy struggled to balance, but kept his focus in the mess of the area regardless of how Zennyo dealt with his problem when the Rat fell down after the stand off between the small boy all of the rats began retreating as a few small rats began to carry the wounded Rat away.

"Zennyo, are you done bothering the poor rats so we can go to where the metal is?". The boy did not have a good impression of Zennyo at the moment and this could probably be fixed later or not depending on how the man acted as they ventured deeper into the mine.

~Words 1373 + 447 = 1820~

These rats were truly something but Dray was not having a hard time at all and neither was Chi. Taking on rats were not anywhere near stopping bandits, defending the outer walls or even eliminating an assassin, all which he had done in the land of stone. This was more similar to picking his teeth with a toothpick even though he hardly did that since meat was not his specialty. The only thing was that the rats crawling nature seemed to irritate him a bit but he was managing. As chi handled the pesky rats on Dray’s behalf, Elin was also keeping himself on top of them though he was not really attacked as much as Dray was. What could one do with these many rats that had turned the abandoned mine to their home. Dray could not argue the fact that both he and Elin were intruding on the privacy of the rats but still they were not here to cause any harm to the rats or damage to their home. They were just here to gather metals for certain reasons yet the rats were having cold feets for no reason.

The rats were swarming more and more and the clock was ticking faster. Dray had a whole lot of things to do for the day than battle rats. He did not intend to hurting the poor souls at first but they asked for it so after giving it some thought, perhaps a more peaceful approach rather than using violence would help this situation greatly because truth be told, Dray had seen that even though Chi could not get tired of battling the rats because he was a puppet, his clothe was getting damaged and that meant extra work for Dray. Dray would hear calling to him about them getting the metal they came here for and Dray wwould reply, “just a minute, I found a way to pacify them.” Using his plant skills, Dray viewed a far corner of the mine, away from he and Elin as he caused nice smelling plants with nutritious bulbs to grow there. He knew that these plants were irresistible for rodents of this caliber and as expected, the whole swarm of rats stopped attacking and flocked towards the smell of the plants. “Well, let’s get us some metals, Elin” Dray would say with a light smile hoping he and the younger boy would finally get along after such experience.
WC:409

He watched the man say they should get some metal as he gave a smile as the boy glared a bit before sighing. "Yeah we can, but learn to be a bit more mature you not a kid anymore Zennyo." He had become far more serious now and his current impression for the man was not really good after the kicking of the rat which started it all. Though the use of the plants was something he felt could have been done from the beginning, though he finally got to settle his fight with the rat as he walked ahead entering a huge empty space. Whether Zennyo followed close behind or from a distance this large opening just felt void, vacant and had a cold draft as he took a deep breathe before picking up to rocks and making some sparks.

As the sparks flew he got a bit of light as he moved towards the wall and let the sparks hit the side of the wall. All of a sudden the sparks caught a light and fire spread like lines across the entire area looking similar to a tree of flames as the area was lit up and there were strange grey and silver coloured as well as some redish and brown rocks. The ores were mixed and some of the ores here did not have a proper material you could identify either. He would look back to the man who he would have ignored until this point. "Sorry, for being so cold to you, it must be your first time here in the Rat's Lair." as he said this a person could see not thousands, but millions of rats along the walls in holes as they all looked down at the intruders while a few larger rats were just walking near some of the large entrances. The rat's cared nothing for the metal but entering any further into the cave would be invading their territory greatly as he hoped Zennyo would not be stupid and looking for more fights inside the home of the rats. 

~Words 1820 + 349 = 2169~

The battle with the rats was over and Dray and Elin had the freedom to move forward now after their encounter. The kid agreed to them moving forward but he also told Dray to behave mature explaining that he was not a kid anymore. Dray did not know if he should smile to what they young boy had said or take it as disrespect but then he laughed it off inside of him as he wondered who the kid is between the both of them. Elin was far younger than Dray so such words were expected from him and Dray would have no choice but to pay less attention to the words that seemed disrespectful. He is a child, and that’s all that matters. Dray wondered if it felt nice to be a kid or not, he did not remember anything from his childhood but he had the feeling that even when he was younger, he was of a more respectful behavior to those older than him or maybe not, he could not say. The plants that Dray had grown would be enough to hold the rats till Dray and Elin was done so they had better got to work.

Dray and Chi followed behind Elin as they walked into an open space where Elin picked up two rocks and struck them against each other to create sparks. The sparks hit the wall as they spread like fire across an oil path. The flames lit up the area as grey and silver, redish and brown rocks could clearly be seen. Elin would then apologize to Dray about being so cold to him and telling him that this must be his first time being here and unarguably it was but ever since the beginning of this trip, Dray had tried his best to be friendly even if that meant him going out of his comfort zone but all Elin had done was to behave like the child he was and pick at everything that Dray did. Back in the land of stone, he was an easy going person that hardly interacted with anyone. He spent the most of his time in his home and underground workshop doing things that gave him a purpose but after so many incidents, he had finally come to the village hidden in the clouds with a purpose and this included changing from who he was and acknowledging his comrades. He was not the type that pleaded unreasonably so if he offered his friendship to someone and it was rejected then there was no need trying to offer it again.

It would appear that the colored rocks were not the only things that inhabited this open space but hundreds, thousands and millions of rats also took shelter in the various holes in the walls and they all focused on Dray and Elin. If the rats tried anything that would make Dray uncomfortable, he would simply leave the mine and come back some other time when he would find it easy to gather metals by doing it his own way. He hoped the day would turn out more better once they were done gathering the metals that they needed. “Shall we proceed?” Dray would say calmly with no sign of excitement in his voice. It was just a simple tone that he always spoke with when he felt nothing.
WC:562

The small boy looked around as the rats gave way for Zennyo and his puppet while some curious rats approached Elin as he ruffled the fur of one of the small rats as he looked closely and the rocks. He looked up at the ceiling and then to Zennyo who did not seem all to excited or happy to finally be here as he looked down.

"We can mine the rocks over here for some ore." He paused as his mood seemed rather let down and dejected now as he looked up to Zennyo slowly. "Is it the shinobi training or do you not like me." As his eyes seemed to build up with tears as a few more small rats gathered around him. The rats were used to him more, but not so much for the stranger to their home Zennyo who they kept their distance from. The emotionless way in which Zennyo spoke, the strangeness of the talking puppet and the fact that the dust was beginning to gather as the rats started going back into their holes leaving the area quite empty as he looked to Zennyo.


Deep in his mind he could remember a time when he had a family, when he was in the orphanage there were many quiet children including him. It took a few years before he started talking to the others as he was always nervous deep down inside. He was overflowing with emotions and after being teased he began to hide more and more of them, though the attempts were failed no one pointed it out since he was really soft on the inside. Which is what most of them thought but there was someone who knew that deep down he just wanted to be loved and love everyone back. As long as he had those he did not really care how much anyone teased him or treated him like a brat. He later on became a shinobi at the age of around seven or eight, the details were no longer too clear since the papers were scattered all over the orphanage which had moved away. He found out all the other children had been adopted already and with the monk who educated him having left the village for mysterious reasons he did not understand any of it. The only one he had was Ameryuu right now, but he wanted to change that and no longer be so alone.

"We should hurry a bit, the cave is going to collapse again soon. We have about fifteen minutes at most." As the boy looked around before pulling out his pick axe and with a unique skill twirled it around as it gained a white glow before he struck the ore as it was torn out of the earth. He only gathered one ore as he then put it in the backpack regardless of what reply he got.

He would focus on his mining as he made sure the backpack was secure and he would then look to Zennyo one last time, the words that Zennyo left him before the end of their journey would mark how he viewed Zennyo and Chi for the rest of his days as he waved goodbye upon leaving the cave as it began to crumble, to be dug out once again by the rats who called this place home.

~Words 2169 + 562 = 2731~
TRAINING BUKIJUTSU B-A = 1408(other thread) + 1592 = 3000/3000
TRAINING C-RANK JUTSU = 1000/1000
139 excess words

EXIT THREAD

The young boy would look upward then towards Dray as he would notice Dray’s blank mood. He pointed to some rocks where they could mine ore as he looked downward again. “Is it the shinobi training or do you not like me?” his voice would come out slowly with the voice being directed at Dray. It was a question to ask indeed. They had not really gotten along ever since the very beginning and none of it was truly Dray’s fault. Was there any problem in trying to be friendly? Dray saw none and even still, he did not look at Elin like the child that he was rather he looked at him as a fellow shinobi of the cloud. Tears formed in Elin’s eyes and little rats slowly gathered around him. Dray felt no guilt because there was once a time when he found it hard to feel anything at all. It was not any shinobi training that had made him what he is rather the heavy change that his life had undergo brought about his current situation. Having no memories of a mother or father or even the slightest relative, it was saddening but Dray hardly thought of those. As far as he was concerned, his life began when he found himself at the bastion walls of iwagakure no sato, the medical capital, the land of stone. The period where he was discovering himself was as if he was a newly born baby that was learning how to live the life into which it was born. He discovered himself with nobody except his puppets close around him so what fault was there that he hardly felt anything towards anyone. He had made a resolve to stop living this emotionless life and that was why he was trying to be friendly but even that seemed to be a serious task on its own. Whether he would be able to carry out this task or not, only time would tell.

“It is neither the shinobi training nor the fact that I hate you but perhaps one day, I will tell you my story, Elin. As of now, I regard you as a comrade and comrades look out for each other.” Dray would say to Elin not to comfort him but to let out the simple truth in him. The young boy would announce the crumbling of the cave in few minutes as he would bring out a pick axe and begin mining. Dray would also take out a finely crafted multipurpose blade out of Chi’s right knee as he would also mine some ore, enough for his project as He, Chi and Elin would exit the abandoned mine before it would crumble. They would then part ways till they met again after all, they were both ninjas of the cloud.

WC:474
TOTAL WC:4236
TRAINING STATS: ENDURANCE: B-B3 (2400/2400)
TRAINING B RANK jutsu (1500/1500)
REMAINDER: 336

The young boy would look upward then towards Dray as he would notice Dray’s blank mood. He pointed to some rocks where they could mine ore as he looked downward again. “Is it the shinobi training or do you not like me?” his voice would come out slowly with the voice being directed at Dray. It was a question to ask indeed. They had not really gotten along ever since the very beginning and none of it was truly Dray’s fault. Was there any problem in trying to be friendly? Dray saw none and even still, he did not look at Elin like the child that he was rather he looked at him as a fellow shinobi of the cloud. Tears formed in Elin’s eyes and little rats slowly gathered around him. Dray felt no guilt because there was once a time when he found it hard to feel anything at all. It was not any shinobi training that had made him what he is rather the heavy change that his life had undergo brought about his current situation. Having no memories of a mother or father or even the slightest relative, it was saddening but Dray hardly thought of those. As far as he was concerned, his life began when he found himself at the bastion walls of iwagakure no sato, the medical capital, the land of stone. The period where he was discovering himself was as if he was a newly born baby that was learning how to live the life into which it was born. He discovered himself with nobody except his puppets close around him so what fault was there that he hardly felt anything towards anyone. He had made a resolve to stop living this emotionless life and that was why he was trying to be friendly but even that seemed to be a serious task on its own. Whether he would be able to carry out this task or not, only time would tell.

“It is neither the shinobi training nor the fact that I hate you but perhaps one day, I will tell you my story, Elin. As of now, I regard you as a comrade and comrades look out for each other.” Dray would say to Elin not to comfort him but to let out the simple truth in him. The young boy would announce the crumbling of the cave in few minutes as he would bring out a pick axe and begin mining. Dray would also take out a finely crafted multipurpose blade out of Chi’s right knee as he would also mine some ore, enough for his project as He, Chi and Elin would exit the abandoned mine before it would crumble. They would then part ways till they met again after all, they were both ninjas of the cloud.

WC:474
TOTAL WC:4236
TRAINING STATS: ENDURANCE: B-B3 (2400/2400)
TRAINING B RANK jutsu (1500/1500)
REMAINDER: 336
EXIT