The early morning light broke through the forest canopy in iridescent splinters, causing the dew drops to glisten as they clung to the flourishing undergrowth. He was an old man now, his whiskers greyed with the strain of the years, his eyes dulled, his movements slowed, every step intentional and every movement calculated.
He was old as the forest was old but he had been young once...
The young man dashed through the forest, his armoured form weaving through the fragile branches. The echo of the Anbu in quiet pursuit reached his well trained ears, each footstep like a clarion call through the ancient trees. He paused for breath, chancing a glance around one of the mighty boughs to sight his predators. It was a calculated risk but he quickly realised he had never been that good at math.
The fuma shuriken whined as it cut through the air, blood arced from the side of his face as the blade sliced through his bone mask and the soft flesh hidden beneath. The lethal weapon continued on its trajectory before an ancient tree blocked its path, imbedding itself almost a foot into the old hardwood.
But he was young, he was fast and he was mad!
His outreached, wrinkled fingers slid over the fuma shuriken still imbedded in the tree. Red sap and rust had mingled over the years seeping from the scar left in the wood like the scar on his face. He was close now, the stones bore testament to the violence that had transpired... The stones never forgot... The trees never forgot... Neither could he...
"Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
He slid under the Anbu's guard, eviscerating the startled elite with thousands of tiny chakra blades, the barrage tearing the Anbu to pieces at point blank range, gouging blood slicked grooves out of the moss covered stone behind the dead man.
He looked up in time to see the two remaining hunters dash from the upper branches towards the ground. Their hunt was over and his fight for survival was about to begin in ernest.
The old man crouched, his fingers tracing the scars in the stone, drifting to the moss covered ground litter. There it was, right where he had last seen it. The earthly remains of the long fallen Anbu, a time bleached skeleton, lay mostly concealed under the leaf litter. He caressed the side of the skull, almost affectionately.
"Rest now Shinobi, I will not forget and neither will the forest." White wisps of chakra coiled around him before seeping into the ground, a small rumble and an upheaval of leaf litter signified the creation of a small shrine being birthed into the world. The fallen shinobi's skull encased inside bedrock, the kanji of Fire emblazoned on the stone.
His eyes traced the detail of the work, a small nod in recognition of its perfection, to its testament to the unknown fallen.
Now for the other two...
Now for the other two...
They moved in synchronicity, their hands flying through hand seals almost faster than the eye could follow... Almost.
Dog... Rat... Tiger...
He started forming hand seals in response.
Tiger... Rat... Snake... Rat... Tiger...
"Katon Renkeijutsu Karura!" the Anbu's synchronised voices sounded clearly, red flame erupting from the completed seals, combining into a savage looking dragon, its open maw revealing fangs of pure fire intent on scorching his flesh. But he was young and he was strong...
"Suiton Suijinheki no Jutsu!" Water geysered from the ground around him. The dragon and the wall collided, steam bursting as the two primal elements violently reacted as their natures dictated. But the assault was not over. Mist curling around their forms, the Anbu, blades drawn, moved like lightning. He was young, he was ready...
The sharp ringing of steel on steel, blows deflected, blades dodged, parried, ducked, weaved and countered. A momentary separation between the combatants... Reengagement, his steel weakened, the Anbu's steel strong...
His blade cracked then shattered, the Anbu finding his mark, his kunai cutting deep into his targets forearm, painfully severing tendons rendering the arm useless. But his had not been the only strike to find its mark.
The Anbu slumped to his knees, blood gushing from the ragged wound which had almost separating his neck from his head. Even a broken blade can kill.
He slumped to his knees, as the Anbu had done years before.
"Rest now Shinobi, I will not forget and neither will the forest." His voice was calm, his chakra coiled again into the verdant soil, coiling around the second Anbu's skull as the earth again hardened into a small shrine for the fallen. He ran his fingers over the scar the dead man had given him a life time age.
He slowly raised himself from kneeling, brushing the dirt from his pants he turned away, eyes gazing through the ancient forest... There was one more...
Just one more...
Blood freely flowed from the wounds he had sustained, his hand limply hanging at his side. The Anbu saw his opportunity, though his brethren had fallen they had left their mark. His face had been injured, blood obscuring the vision in his left eye. His hand disabled, his tendons severed, his fingers hanging useless.
If the Anbu's observations were correct then his preys hand seals would now be useless and his depth perception compromised, now was the time to strike, now was the time to put this rabid beast down...
Ram... Boar... Dog... Bird... Hare...
"Raiton Shichu Shibari!" The ground erupted violently around the injured man, four stone pillars springing forth, chakra infused lightning throbbing around them. The lightning arched to his armour, burning the flesh beneath. He let out an uncontrolled scream, pain raking across his searing mind... He was young but he was not in control...
Sinking to his knees the lightning barrage continued.
"Ra...sen...gan!" The sphere of power slammed into his crumpled form, the massive burst of energy spinning him like a rag-doll through the trees with a series of sickeningly wet cracks as limbs twisted and broke against ancient boughs. He slumped to the ground against the base of a large tree, his mask and a lot of his blood trailed the trajectory his body had traveled.
The Anbu dashed almost faster than his injured eye could follow, almost... Reaching down and hoisting his broken quarry by the neck the Anbu leaned in close, his mask only inches from his preys ear, "Any final words before I put you down?"
He coughed a spittle of blood before whispering a series of words, the Anbu leaned in closer hearing the tail end of the sentence, "...Kanashibari... Ninpo Sozo Saisei... Byakugo no Kinjutsu..."
The Anbu's eyes widened in shock as his body went rigid. Pure white chakra coiled from his still pinned victim, enveloping his body. His good hand reached to the clawed wrist holding him aloft, his eyes blazed white with raw power as he uttered one more word, the last the Anbu would hear before he turned to dust... "Chakuraho..."
The man's face turned into a malicious grin, he was a young man and he would live another day...
He was an old man... He had lived for many more days... Taken many more lives...
His hands reached into the soil, his white chakra infusing through the rocks and roots, finding every scrap of dust that was once the Anbu who had come so close to succeeding. The third shrine rose in a shower of litter, a shrine to the Anbu that had fallen, to the forest that had witnessed so many souls depart this world...
"Rest now Shinobi, I will not forget and neither will the forest."
[topic left - retired]
He was old as the forest was old but he had been young once...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The young man dashed through the forest, his armoured form weaving through the fragile branches. The echo of the Anbu in quiet pursuit reached his well trained ears, each footstep like a clarion call through the ancient trees. He paused for breath, chancing a glance around one of the mighty boughs to sight his predators. It was a calculated risk but he quickly realised he had never been that good at math.
The fuma shuriken whined as it cut through the air, blood arced from the side of his face as the blade sliced through his bone mask and the soft flesh hidden beneath. The lethal weapon continued on its trajectory before an ancient tree blocked its path, imbedding itself almost a foot into the old hardwood.
But he was young, he was fast and he was mad!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
His outreached, wrinkled fingers slid over the fuma shuriken still imbedded in the tree. Red sap and rust had mingled over the years seeping from the scar left in the wood like the scar on his face. He was close now, the stones bore testament to the violence that had transpired... The stones never forgot... The trees never forgot... Neither could he...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
He slid under the Anbu's guard, eviscerating the startled elite with thousands of tiny chakra blades, the barrage tearing the Anbu to pieces at point blank range, gouging blood slicked grooves out of the moss covered stone behind the dead man.
He looked up in time to see the two remaining hunters dash from the upper branches towards the ground. Their hunt was over and his fight for survival was about to begin in ernest.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The old man crouched, his fingers tracing the scars in the stone, drifting to the moss covered ground litter. There it was, right where he had last seen it. The earthly remains of the long fallen Anbu, a time bleached skeleton, lay mostly concealed under the leaf litter. He caressed the side of the skull, almost affectionately.
"Rest now Shinobi, I will not forget and neither will the forest." White wisps of chakra coiled around him before seeping into the ground, a small rumble and an upheaval of leaf litter signified the creation of a small shrine being birthed into the world. The fallen shinobi's skull encased inside bedrock, the kanji of Fire emblazoned on the stone.
His eyes traced the detail of the work, a small nod in recognition of its perfection, to its testament to the unknown fallen.
Now for the other two...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now for the other two...
They moved in synchronicity, their hands flying through hand seals almost faster than the eye could follow... Almost.
Dog... Rat... Tiger...
He started forming hand seals in response.
Tiger... Rat... Snake... Rat... Tiger...
"Katon Renkeijutsu Karura!" the Anbu's synchronised voices sounded clearly, red flame erupting from the completed seals, combining into a savage looking dragon, its open maw revealing fangs of pure fire intent on scorching his flesh. But he was young and he was strong...
"Suiton Suijinheki no Jutsu!" Water geysered from the ground around him. The dragon and the wall collided, steam bursting as the two primal elements violently reacted as their natures dictated. But the assault was not over. Mist curling around their forms, the Anbu, blades drawn, moved like lightning. He was young, he was ready...
The sharp ringing of steel on steel, blows deflected, blades dodged, parried, ducked, weaved and countered. A momentary separation between the combatants... Reengagement, his steel weakened, the Anbu's steel strong...
His blade cracked then shattered, the Anbu finding his mark, his kunai cutting deep into his targets forearm, painfully severing tendons rendering the arm useless. But his had not been the only strike to find its mark.
The Anbu slumped to his knees, blood gushing from the ragged wound which had almost separating his neck from his head. Even a broken blade can kill.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He slumped to his knees, as the Anbu had done years before.
"Rest now Shinobi, I will not forget and neither will the forest." His voice was calm, his chakra coiled again into the verdant soil, coiling around the second Anbu's skull as the earth again hardened into a small shrine for the fallen. He ran his fingers over the scar the dead man had given him a life time age.
He slowly raised himself from kneeling, brushing the dirt from his pants he turned away, eyes gazing through the ancient forest... There was one more...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Just one more...
Blood freely flowed from the wounds he had sustained, his hand limply hanging at his side. The Anbu saw his opportunity, though his brethren had fallen they had left their mark. His face had been injured, blood obscuring the vision in his left eye. His hand disabled, his tendons severed, his fingers hanging useless.
If the Anbu's observations were correct then his preys hand seals would now be useless and his depth perception compromised, now was the time to strike, now was the time to put this rabid beast down...
Ram... Boar... Dog... Bird... Hare...
"Raiton Shichu Shibari!" The ground erupted violently around the injured man, four stone pillars springing forth, chakra infused lightning throbbing around them. The lightning arched to his armour, burning the flesh beneath. He let out an uncontrolled scream, pain raking across his searing mind... He was young but he was not in control...
Sinking to his knees the lightning barrage continued.
"Ra...sen...gan!" The sphere of power slammed into his crumpled form, the massive burst of energy spinning him like a rag-doll through the trees with a series of sickeningly wet cracks as limbs twisted and broke against ancient boughs. He slumped to the ground against the base of a large tree, his mask and a lot of his blood trailed the trajectory his body had traveled.
The Anbu dashed almost faster than his injured eye could follow, almost... Reaching down and hoisting his broken quarry by the neck the Anbu leaned in close, his mask only inches from his preys ear, "Any final words before I put you down?"
He coughed a spittle of blood before whispering a series of words, the Anbu leaned in closer hearing the tail end of the sentence, "...Kanashibari... Ninpo Sozo Saisei... Byakugo no Kinjutsu..."
The Anbu's eyes widened in shock as his body went rigid. Pure white chakra coiled from his still pinned victim, enveloping his body. His good hand reached to the clawed wrist holding him aloft, his eyes blazed white with raw power as he uttered one more word, the last the Anbu would hear before he turned to dust... "Chakuraho..."
The man's face turned into a malicious grin, he was a young man and he would live another day...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He was an old man... He had lived for many more days... Taken many more lives...
His hands reached into the soil, his white chakra infusing through the rocks and roots, finding every scrap of dust that was once the Anbu who had come so close to succeeding. The third shrine rose in a shower of litter, a shrine to the Anbu that had fallen, to the forest that had witnessed so many souls depart this world...
"Rest now Shinobi, I will not forget and neither will the forest."
[topic left - retired]