Clan: Hibana Clan

Kekkei Genkai: Saisho Kasai (The first Fire - 最初火災)

Elements: Fire Release

• (Katon - 火遁)
  

Specialization: Ninjutsu

• (Ninpo - 忍術)
  

Location: Village Hidden in the Leaves

• (Konohagakure no Sato - 木ノ葉の11人)
  

Clan History:

"We are all born as embers, struggling in the wind..."

Once, long ago, before the time of chakra was an age of limitless war. Man fought against man with blades forged from the dull natural fires of their primitive harths as rivers were stained red with the blood of hundreds of brothers and sons. Echoes of mens cries haunted the highest mountain tops as there was no escaping the ceaseless chaos which had enraptured the world like an incurable madness. Yet, like all big stories, this one starts with the birth of a child, unremarkable, a boy who was destined to be little more than a soldier, another soul who would soon be given up as sacrifice to the eternal strife around them. T'would have been a simple story, one told a thousand times before, and continued to be told until this very day.

At least it would be, were the child unremarkable.

Born with a physical birth defect causing a deformation of the boy's left arm, amputation was used to spare the boy from suffering due to the deformed bone, what's more, a wandering ember wafted across the wind, touching down directly upon the boy's pupil, burning the child as he had opened his eyes on instinct. The child let out a harrowing cry as the ember burned the unformed pupil grey, having damaged the young and forming receptors to such a state that they would never form. Dismayed at her crippled son, the mother lashed out at the gods which would allow this to happen, yet, the priest who had overseen her birthing silenced the tired and outraged woman.

Speaking softly, he said that the deformity of the arm meant that he would grow strong and resilient, much more-so than the average man, while the sign of the ember meant that the boy was not only hers and hers alone. He claimed that the goddess of Cinders, Izanami-no-Mikoto had taken interest in the boy, stating that no cinder can survive on the wind alone, meaning that the spark of divinity was at play. The Priest asserted that the Goddess had blessed the child with something only the greatest men ever get to truly face and overcome. That blessing, would be adversity... Taking all of this in, seemingly convinced by the consolement of the aging holy-man, she would name the boy Hibana, after the cinder which had lay upon him in his first few moments. In turn, the mother thanking the lady Goddess for her gifts and asking for her guidance in raising the man in an image that she would be proud of...

Years would pass.

The child would grow to boyhood, and passion would burn like a fire in his veins. Having seen men go to fight in the wars, he would aspire to become a Samurai each waking day of his life, fighting with sticks in the back-alleys, modifying his clothing to represent samurai robes, and even fighting bullies in the streets of his relatively peaceful village, fights which although he started, he would hardly ever win. The combined loss of his depth perception, his right eye saw little but the faintest of shadows, while the loss of his arm in turn left him so vulnerable, he posed little more than a distraction to allow the prey of the bullies escape unhindered.

Day after day Hibana would return home, bruised, cut and even broken with a smile broad across his face as he would eat his meals, allowing his mother to tend to his wounds. Frail as his body was, he was a wolf trapped within the body of a hare. Many thought his energy little more than the energy and extravagance of youth, yet the years rolled on until the boy became a young man, his rugged robes traded for the ceremonial garments of a Samurai, like his father and older brothers before him. Pride bellowed the inner fire into an inferno as for the first time, he would march with his brothers into the mouth of a battle, no matter the scowls and comments they chattered behind his back when they thought that no ears could hear their jeering. It would be that taste of battle however, which would transcend Hibana's once waking and peaceful world, into an inescapable hell.

The smell of death and the copper taste of the blood tainted air filled the lungs of the company as they rode into battle. Arrows hailed the Samurai as they charged on horse-back, Hibana among them as they rode in wedge formation for the torn open gates of the enemy fortress. A spark of glory as victory seemed so close to the young man, a light sensation overcoming him as he seemed to be soaring through the air towards his target location. Left only to find, he seemed to be trailing behind... Only then did the boy feel the stinging bite of the arrow, followed by the disorienting greeting of the earth as he was shot from his perch...

It was an ambush.

Flanked from either side, Hibana and the company he rode with were cut in two, isolated from each other and halved by infantry, cries echoing over the mountaintops as once brave men died screaming in vain... But not Hibana, gripping his sword and severing the arrow lodged in his left shoulder, the fire which had forever built up within him was let out in fury. With a deft sprint, Hibana tore through the enemy militia with fearsome resolve, training relentlessly from such a young age proving him well, having long overcome the disadvantage of his missing eye, and learning to use his lighter side as a swift pivoting tool, Hibana had transformed into an unstoppable whirlwind, to such shock and awe from his comrades, they rallied behind him, closing ranks to fight and die together if necessary... The hard-fought battle at the gates of the fortress, stopped the ambush force from retreating, leading it to be slammed with a second wave of reserve cavalry, crushing it from the flanks and easily claiming their victory.

Hibana became a Legend... but the world, was about to change.

On a battlefield against immeasurable odds, chakra on the precipice of being given to mankind by a mysterious sage who attempted to usurp his mother's kingdom. Now, together upon another battlefield, against an army of white beings that had been awakened as a formidable standing force. A nameless soldier with one arm and one working eye, began to remember his past... Faceless men beside him dying to the unholy creatures as Hibana could no longer remember their names, his memory had been long eroded, like all those who had been released by the folds of the infinite genjutsu. But as a face he recognized fell before his eyes, as his memories one by one returned in flashes of horror, joy and brilliance, tears rolling down the mans' face as chakra was given to man in order to fight the Rabbit Demon. In that solitary moment, Hibana became more than a cinder. Crying out in anguish his blind eye exploded with primal fire in an aurora of light and heat, burning his flesh to the bone, as like a brilliant and uncontrollable sun, he burnt his enemies before him to less than ash as the fires ate away at his physical form. Hibana had ascended into something more, more than a man, less than a god... a child of Izanami's ember.

Having not survived, but honored by many as one of the greatest fighters of the first war, it was observed that where wehat was now called the Sesho Kasai had touched, bountiful glades had sprouted anew, transforming old battlefields into glades of beauty and splendor. Hibana's sons and daughter re-titled their clan in his name as commemoration. A man blessed by a cinder, who became a glorious inferno, having passed torch onto the next generation... And so, a clan was born.

"... and it is up to us to stoke our inner fire, so that it may burn brightly."

Kekkei Genkai Description:
The Hibana clan since the birth of their founder has had a long relationship with Katon, after chakra was given to mankind, the founder of the clan came into possession of the 'Sesho Kasai' or The First Flame. The first flame was a primordial white flame that shone with brilliant auroras of colour which destroyed everything that it touched, including its wielder. Yet, the devastating fire seemed to bring new life in its aftermath. Considered the mythical brother of Amaterasu, the Sesho Kasai was renowned as the only flame comparable to the haunting and legendary black flames. However, as time went on, practice of the Sesho Kasai became forbidden, so, for the safety of its practitioners and those around them, it was split into its components, least it would not consume those tempted to control it.

At but a fraction of its power, the Sesho Kasai is still a powerful weapon, as a member of the Hibana clan activates a standard Katon technique at the cost of -5 additional chakra they are able to augment and enhance that Katon technique with one of the three facets of the Sesho Kasai.

The Sesho Kasai:

• The Pure Flame: The Pure Flame is the title given to techniques which apply the most basic and fundamental function of the First Flame. Purity. The understanding that Katon is an energy, that an energy can be amplified, and can exist solemnly without a source to power it. With focus, the pure flame produces a consolidated white flame of incredible power, burning far brighter and more focused than any natural fire, and able to exist even if submerged in water. The pure flame is the heart of true fire, and the center of the Sesho Kasai.
  
  Techniques incorporating the Pure Flame, have any Radii halved, and no longer give off any heat radiance past a few feet due to their ludicrously focused nature. However, in return they deliver harsher burns than normal, increasing any burns they would deal by a stage (Ie, moderate 2nd degree burns would become major 2nd, while major 1st degree burns would become minor 2nd.) as well as shedding Katon's natural weakness to water, interacting as if it were equal rank, while retaining its advantage against wind release techniques.
  
  
• The Wild Flame: The most dangerous aspect of the triad of the Sesho Kasai The Wild Flame is the title to the yang infused fire which gave its original state its uncontrollable nature, spreading and devouring everything that it touched. With the Wild aspect separated into the devilishly crimson Wild Flame, its potency has decreased to a more manageable level. The wild flame is the form, now stripped of its power it is but a shadow of the devastation the first flame once caused.
  
  Techniques which are augmented with the Wild Flame take on a hellish red hue rather than the more gold tinge of natural fire. Wild Flame techniques continue to spread, creeping like an oil fire long after their use in the form of natural flame. Travelling across any surface which is remotely flammable at speeds of 1/2 a meter per second until they are extinguished. These flames can be put out with suiton techniques / sources of any rank, or any technique which would smother them so long as they have the radii to do so. This natural flame can deliver 1 degree of burn per post if continuously exposed or surrounded by them, making them dangerous if left unanswered.
  
  
• The Devouring Flame: The Devouring Flame is but an echo of the brilliant colours which used to form the luminous and bountiful aura which surrounded the original Sesho Kasai. But having been robbed of its heart and its substance, the flame became hollow and reversed. Seemingly fire in name and visage alone, the Devouring flame has little form one can see with the naked eye as it appears as flickering pockets of void that seem to devour light itself. Its rumored that this facet of Yin aligned flame once gave the Sesho Kasai its bountiful after-effect, leaving life in the wake of the legendary fire. The devouring flame is the brilliance, robbed of its heart it eats so that it may shine once more.
  
  Techniques which implement the Devouring flame no longer burn or physically harm what they hurt, while still delivering the pain as if they had. Additionally, rather than radiating light, the devouring flame eats all light within a meter of itself, drawing it in and consuming it, potentially blinding enemies on the other side. Which, due to the chakra imbued nature of the fire, can't be seen through without sensory techniques or a  Doujutsu of equal rank to the Devouring Flame technique being used.
  

The True Flame:

Drawbacks:
Though the Kekkei Genkai of the Hibana is one that many consider difficult to contend with on the battlefield, they have their own fair share of limitations. Their Katon techniques, while they allow a grand degree of versatility, due to their natures combining any two colours would result in the flame become far too powerful or too unstable for most users to wield due to the nature of the Sesho Kasai, leading the clan to only being able to use one application at a time through the clans method. However unique combinations of two applications are can be made as their own individual jutsu to varying effects, and are considered B rank and higher. These can be apped by an individual at B rank. While true Sesho Kasai techniques which unite all three into their former glory requires learning how to wield the true flame and are all considered S rank and higher techniques.

• Elementalists: Members of this clan have a focus on their Katon element more than almost any other facet of their training, as such, Katon must be taken as the primary element of members of this clan, and they must take the Hesitant (Specialization) negative special characteristic (SC) without being able to balance it with an additional positive SC.
  
  
• Katon Aligned: Having such an affinity for Katon creates a deep rooted connection in both the clan member's body and their own chakra, leaving them vulnerable to the element diametrically opposite to their own. Members of the Hibana clan receive +1 rank of damage from Suiton techniques.
  
  
• Chakra Scarred: Separating such a fundamental part of themselves into three parts takes a toll on the body if the ninja who continue to use it. Many Hibana clan members are born with birthmarks that look more like burns, a sign that the chakra within their body is a little more volatile than normal and making it hard to wield. Hibana clan members begin with -20 chakra to their chakra pools.
  
  
• Kindling Embers: With the difficult to wield and primal nature of Sesho Kasai techniques, the user needs to prepare their chakra before they can be used, a function likened to 'preheating' so that they can handle the intense heat of the first flame. Sesho Kasai techniques if used within the first 2 posts of combat, deliver light second degree burns to the user in locations where their chakra had been molded in order to perform the skill. Kindling and preparing their chakra is a process as simple as engaging their chakra, be it through meditation, focus or using other techniques.
  

Members:
Hibana (Clan Founder)

Kekkei Genkai Jutsu:

Sesho Kasai Star of True Fire:

Pure Flame Shooting Star:

Wild Flame Fire Starter:

Devouring Flame Void Pulse: