Day and night he ran at his top most speed and only stopping briefly to catch his breath. He always slept little but long enough to revitalise his body. He did not carry much provisions because he could stay days without eating though taking water was essential. His aim kept his charging forward and he could not wait to accomplish it. Where he was going, he had been there before and what he was going to do, he had tried to before but this time he was positive that he would get it done. The first time he had tried, he was acting on his own resolve which did not seem too strong at that moment because he gave up and just went back to the land of lightning but this time he was doing this as a mission given to him directly by the raikage failure isnt an answer to such a request.

Before leaving the hidden cloud village, he had received a raven from his informant in the hidden stone village and Syn was acting directly on this information. Their faces appeared once again in his head after a long while and this time more vivid than ever. They were two evils, one smaller and the other larger. What was his name again? Zen.. Yes Zen was the name of the smaller one. He had a very annoying face and a sinister laugh which pissed off Syn the more but the older one, more friendly he would seem had this voice and character that once sent shrills down Syn's spine. The fact that he was once weak annoyed him but then he no longer held regrets rather all that remained was revenge.

The many things he planned on doing to this two if.. rather when he caught up to them was endless. His inner evil mused to him as it smacked its lips at the thought of sticking their heads on pikes and leaving it to rot in the waste lands or as food for the crows of the sky. Even though he was not sure what would have happened to him had this life changing event not happened, he still cursed them for taking something so precious away from him.He did not know if he would have gained the will to become stronger but then their actions had corrupted something else in him and for this, they would pay dearly with their lives.

Through the night he ran swifly as he felt the cool nigh breeze slap on his face and coarse through his hair, sailing his coat backwards and allowing it flow to the rythm of the wind. He was not afraid of travelling alone in the dark for he was was positive that he could hold his own amongst most difficulties. This same road he treaded about a year or more ago and he was captured like an animal being hunted. His previous self would have cursed that day if he was still here but Syn was no longer that person. He had evolved both in strength and in sense. His thinking had since matured and his actions along with it but for those two who believed themselves to be the creator, giving and taking the life of others at will, it would end for them at his hands and this he was very much sure of.

It was almost dawn and the breeze was getting warmer. The sun was yawning and stretching ready to shine upon the likes of mankind. Through his travel, he had not been bothered by the scorching sun nor the stony rain rather he pushed on like his hands were tied to a carriage and tugged on continously. As the sun began to rise in the distance, the horizon held a pleasant view but then the road he was on began to get familiar. This road led straight to the land of stone but then his informant stated that his focus should be the surrounding lands in the border which happened to be very vague. The border was vast and his started point he could not decide. His speed decreased as he began to jog, looking to his left and right and checking if anything or anywhere seemd familiar. His mind was drawn to this place but he could not place his finger on where exactly he was to go.

The jounin halted and took a moment to survey his surrounding. Once he had taken it all in, he closed his eyes and sat down to meditate briefly. He surfed through the memories in his head calmly and then he was almost there, the day when it all changed and yes, he found a clue to what he was looking for.

Swiftly, he sprang to his feet and headed in his north- east direction as if he was running on all fours. It took him a little while but then he had arrived here. The place now becoming very familiar and so different at the same time. He was positive that this was the area and there was meant to be a cave here but so many things seemed to have happened and now there were numerous boulders and mountains and cave looking stones that he could not decide which was which. The senju had come this far, infact for the second time and he was so close to dealing justice this time that he would not give up on this. Not yet.

Taking to his heels, he headed up a small plateau-like mountain as he picked out a scroll from his waist band and performed the tiger seal therefore unsealing his dwarfish puppet, Chi. Three more hand seals and Syn could see through the eyes of the puppet having activated the Foresight of the puppet master technique. Controlling the puppet, he scanned the area. Checking for cave opening or anything that did not seem to be in place. Whoever these people were, they sure knew how to cover their tracks well. It was over thirty minutes now and Syn was not ready to give up. He was enthusiastic about finding his target and just then his hardwork paid off. The area had been so quiet that the falling of small chunks of rocks were head and immediately, the puppet faced the direction. Zooming in through the puppet's eyes, Syn found something that wasn't right. It was as if an entrance had been carved out of this rock and this several earth particles had been meshed together to block it and that was why small crumps of rock had fallen off.

Being well versed with doton techniques, Syn knew that this was some kind of earth jutsu and why waste time when he had a mission to accomplish. He retracted the puppet to his position and sealed it back into the scroll as he made his way for the cave. Whoever had done this sure had some skill but compared to Syn, he or she was still learning.

He got to the cave entrance as he ran his fingers on the chunks of rocks and earth that had been finely molded together to cover the entrance but not perfectly unfortunately. Feeling the rock for no more than few seconds, he found it. With full strength he puched at the rock hitting the crack directly as the rocks came crumbling down at his feet. The master hath come.

He was right, this was a cave. It was the exact cave as the insides was becoming familiar. He raised his sunglasses and stepped into the cave. Several bones were crushed beneath his feet as he proceeded. The first object he came in contact with was the earthen table. He ran his fingers across it as the memories flashed by him. On this table, he was chained like a beast and he lay there helplessly as what belonged to him was taken away forcefully.

He looked across and found the other table were the other man had laid. The events looked so real and he was almost lost in thought. The memories were welling up in his head, almost causing his death but he was quick to react as he saw through a metal on the table, somebody swinging a sword from behind as he dodged to the side and flipped backwards away from his attacker.

''I knew you would come back, Draygglez Senju.''

The attacker stood at alert but the voice was not his. Syn located the voice and it was coming from above, opposite him. The owner of the voice stepped into the little light and Syn had no trouble identifying him... 'Zen' Syn said as he appeared to be calm. The man had not grown any taller and neither had he put on much weight. He was still his same dwarfish self with that sinister smile but something had changed, he had aged pretty much. 'I knew you were coming and i am prepared for you, Senju boy.. Tamio.. Get him.

How the man found out that he was coming did not matter to him and he could only be bluffing for all Syn knew. What was real was the fact that he was here and he would not leave here alive. The only one in sight was Zen and not the older man but soon enough he would have the heads of them both and first he had to deal with this person before him. The fellow charged at Syn with the sword in his hand. He attempted to slash in an arc motion at Syn's center but the later was faster and he knew it. With both hands forming an X sign, he kissed the young man's hand just below the wrist thereby blocking the attack after which he thrust his knee towards his stomach but the fellow was quick to react as he also blocked with his left knee.

Both parties flipped backwards but mid-air, five kunais came flying at Syn's center. Before he landed, he reached for his ninja pouch and withdrew a single kunai using it to block the five kunais thrown at him. He then launched the kunai straight for Zen but the Kunai was stopped by an aura of chakra. 'You wont get me that easy boy, things have changed. That was impressive, a aura of chakra that acted at will. Zen sure looked tougher than the last time he met Syn but still there was one enemy here before Syn could get to Zen.

Enough of this childish games. If this Tamio person needed a sparring partner, Syn was not an option.

Syn digged his right hand in his pouch and brought it out with five kunais , he did the same with his left and brought out five shurikens too as he launched them at his opponent. In the moment of the launch, Syn sped towards the young man watching him fend of the various projectiles. Hitting him with the projectiles was not the objective rather distracting him was. As Syn approached him, he leapt over the young man that attempted to cut him down but he landed successfully and the moment Tamio turned, Syn's left hand had transformed into a sharp wooden branch sticking into his torso as he was then finished off with a Kunai stab to his jugular.

One and two and three claps were heard as the body fell to the floor with a thud. 'You seem to have gotten stronger. Is it the hatred that has kept you going? Tell me'. The man above clapped and said.

'You deserve to know nothing about how i have lived. Tell me where your master is and i'll make your death less painful, dwarf.'

'I'm not a dwarf! I'm only short. You insolent fool. Anyway what amuses me is the fact that You survived the once in five years rituals. This makes you more interesting.. But i'll make you a deal. If you beat me, i'll tell you where he is. Ha ha ha..
Having said this, he pulled his cloak and he appeared to be small and slightly bent like he had always been but then he began to straighten up as the cracking of bones was heard. He forced the final crack as he revealed his true self but he was not done yet. He formed two hand seals and placed a thumb on his fore head and the other thumb on his heart. Instantly, his muscles pumped and he became slightly bigger with veins all over.

'Shall we?

The man meant business and Syn had come prepared. Forming one and two and three hand seals, five earth spikes protruded from the ground around him and shot towards the target to explode on contact. The smoke from the explosion cleared and Zen was still standing firmily, unscathed by any of Syn's attack and so it appeared that the aura also blocked against chakra based attacks. 'Nice try boy. Now, it's my turn and i'm coming.. He he he' he said giving off his sinister laugh once more.

In a flash, flying from above towards Syn was about a dozen projectiles or more and he himself wasted no time in forming some seals as he put his right hand to his mouth to spew a jet of water that obstructed the projectiles frm getting to him however about three kunais came through and these ones had probably been chakra infused. Forming three wooden kunais out of the palm of his hand, he hurled them at the projectiles as both weapons collided with each other and fell to the ground but that was mainly a distraction.

Zen had already leapt from where he was as with his right leg stretched out, he was about crashing down on Syn but the latter was quick enough to raise his arms and block the leg and also thrusting his own leg in the man's side before flipping few metres backwards to collect himself. 'You fight like a lady.. Hehe'.

syn's kick had connected and this time there was no aura to block it. This might as well imply that only physical attacks worked against this man and Syn wasn't all too good in taijutsu but then he knew the basics and coupled with his strength and speed, he shouldn't have a hard time. Forming the rat, bird and hare seals, plant vines erupted from the earth beneath him and cloaked him in some sort of armour so he would be able to defend more strikes from Zen.

He charged forward first and his opponent came at his too. Leaping into the air moments before reaching Zen, he planted his right foot first and used it as a pivot while he turned and dropped the left leg straight to the side of Zen's face but this attack was dodged as Zen unleased a blow directly at Syn's ribs. He felt the force of the blow but he was uninjured thanks to this armour and the fight would continue non-stop.

Zen boasted his strength and speed but Syn was far more better. Zen was tiring and Syn could see it so he pressed on, giving the man a chance to exhaust himself.

The fight went on for a little while longer and Syn had been gaining the upper hand. Zen was managing to catch his breath but he was trying not to show that he was tired. Being one full of analysis, syn wondered if the aura that protected Zen was somehow dependent on his level of chakra or something at least that thing had to be fed. Trying out his suspicion, Syn formed the hand seals necessary for this Jutsu and called out; Suiton: Mizurappa and straight out of the earth shot a water moving towards Zen at incredible speeds. The young man kept flipping and moving backwards until he jumped high enough and latched himself unto the wall of the cave while breathing heavily.

Syn could say that his suspicion had been confirmed. Instead of just letting the jutsu to hit him and have the aura block it, he fled. This was Syn's chance. He brought out his earth spikes once more and lauched them at the man on the wall. Zen dropped down before the missles could explode on him. He charged forward, heading towards Syn but the senju slammed his palms unto the ground as thicks vines erupted right beneath Zen, wrapped around his legs and spread his arms wide rendering him immobile.

He struggled but there was no way he was getting out of those. 'Tell me what i need to know and your death will be quick.. Syn said as the vines wrapped around his neck, choking him. He coughed continously as his eyes bulged out after being choked as Syn released the vines a little. He caught his breath as he began to speak.

The man you seek is Ichido but i shall tell you what happened before he became my master. I served under another master in a far away land, one who possessed the cursed eye known as the rinnengan. This man had the ability to do various things and most of all, he could bring back people from the dead but as he did this, his life span was always shortened. He got in a gruesome fight one day and his left eye was damaged but he managed to get home. I was with him until his death bed and as he died, i removed his remaining eye. Knowing fully well that i did not have enough chakra to wield the eye, i implanted it into my chest. Both of the eyes were required to revive souls from the dead but i had only one and so i formed a technique of my own, The art of Rejuvenation!

His face looked calm though he was attentive. Syn had read about the Rinnengan and what havoc the eye could wreck but it was said to have been long lost along with other powerful weapons and items of the third and fourth shinobi wars. Now Syn understood how that aura thing could protect this man at will, it was possibly one of the eye's abilities.

'Before the development of this technique, i had made my research. The life force of a person contains memories and goals whether good or bad. This memories and goals gives a person a reason to keep on living and through manipulation, these memories or goals can be put into another person thereby giving them a sense of living. I had known this for long but when i acquired the rinnengan, i began to find a way to utilize it and i arrived at this technique. I went into the depths of hell and bargained with one of the surbodinates of the king of hell who held the souls of dead people, he agreed to receive the dead flesh of my victims but once in every five year cycle, one victim would be granted the grace to live again and this happened to be you.

The moment your memories and goals were taken, you died and your body decayed but then it was enveloped in a chakra cocoon and your body was rejuvenated making you look different and anew. Somebody without a past or a cause. What baffles me is how you regained this memories but for the past few weeks, i have been having nightmares about your coming and i knew it would end this way.

Concerning Ichido, I found him a victim who had lived close to eighty years old with enough memories to sustain Ichido for about fifty years and right after the ritual was complete, Ichido tried to get rid of me because i might become a threat but i fled away and came here waiting for the day you would come. I spread rumours about my arrival and the ears of your informant seem to have gotten it. I'm not afraid of death but see to it that Ichido gets whats coming for him, Senju. He will attend a meeting in the thunder grounds of kumogakure about a month from now. Beware, he is highly guarded.

Having the information that he needed, Syn released the vines and reached for the man swiftly, morphing both of his hands into a branch and poking several of his vital organs including the rinnengan in his heart. Making sure that he was dead, Syn walked to the cave's entrance and brought the cave crumbling down with earth missles that detonated at his will. This first part was done, the next would follow in suite.

EXIT THREAD