Training Day [Private]

[Seijin]

Eye’s blinking, he stared at the ceiling of his makeshift hospital room. It seemed like just yesterday when he need only barely to focus to slow the world down to terms that he could dictate. Back then he had been able to sway away the mental incursions of skilled experts and use only the lure of his eyes in order to make even the most hardened bend to his will. No longer did he have that power however. Now all that remained of him was a husk of his former self. Having expended himself in the service of attempting to help out the Konoha shinobi front, the effects of the kinjutsu Red Rain phenomena had been a shock to his system. His body attempted everything to press onward, but with the constant use of cursed seals to compensate for the ever draining chakra enhanced rain, he was helpless to stop himself from quickly burning out. Uchiha were known for their ability to change the world with the slightest of glances but no longer did he have such a power. The fire was gone and in its wake he was at the mercy of the healers. A rare occurrence within itself, his chakra system was quickly failing and the ability to mold chakra to his will, much less keep a hold of it was quickly slipping away. Much like a battery that was on its last leg, his body was searching for energy, a spark, something to keep it connected to this world. Without a chakra system in place, his body would eventually wither away and he’d die, a sad state of affairs for the Tsuchikage who was fighting a war that was technically not his own battle to fight.

 

[Seijin]

Huddled around him, those loyal to him had insisted that he rest when they first started noticing the signs but on he pressed. Persistent to be present at every battle and a part of every skirmish, his blackened fire was never far from the battle and strangely even then, he dared the Red Rain to try its best. Augmented by the curse seals, his flames never seemed to die out, never seemed to flicker and before his eyes, foes fell by the wayside time after time. His prowess quickly being made known, the name that he'd made for himself as a Centurion of sorts seemed to stick and soon there was no battle to be had unless he was at the front of it, directing every move. How could he have been so stupid to ignore the constant ache after every battle despite the lack of noticeable signs of physical harm? The answer was relatively easy to figure out, he was bullheaded and young. Nothing could touch him; he was invincible, immortal even. Or so he put on the front of being. Soon he couldn’t ignore the heart stopping moments when even a simple genjutsu seemed to take his breath away and pretty soon, he could no longer keep up with the intensity of even the greenest samurai. The answer came as no surprise to those familiar with the Red Rain phenomena within the Konoha ranks. His chakra coil was fighting far too hard to and being put through far too much stress. Soon, the fire that once raged in his eyes was no longer there and his physical body began to take a toll for the worse as the dying chakra system of his held even graver repercussions on his physical body.

 

[Seijin]

As he lay in the in the room, surrounded by his thoughts, he’d sent away his most trusted courier to run back to the ancient of libraries in Iwagakure and to pick bring to him a scroll long thought foolish in its suggestions. He figured that if he had nothing better else to try than trying the figured unknown was better than being waited on by those who he promised to protect. If he was going to lose his claim to fame by being a master of the mind then the trying to at least hold on to the world of the living by attempting to turn the stuttering of his proverbial heart into a quaking fury that couldn’t be contained. When the scroll was finally before all that could see it, being a studious Kage held its merits as nary a soul questioned how he remembered even this obscure of a technique. Though he couldn’t fully harness the abilities of the technique, he would attempt to strongly mimic them, and with that, he put his life in the hands of trusted battlefield medics who would do their best to follow the guidance of an ancient scroll that they knew up until recently, nothing of. Fortunately for Endo they could keep their mouths shut, and even better still, he actually woke up the next morning.

 

[Seijin]

Native to the Earth Country, the people known as the Toujigikou were anything but lovable to most. Known just as equally for their artistic nature as the destruction that it wrought upon the land, Endo now stood among them. As one changed by the purely controlled chaos of a heart burning nearly waiting to explode with nigh limitless power, he could now appreciate their peculiar way of looking at life. Having tasked the medics with essentially redirecting his chakra lines and sealing the new points with particular chakra enhancing seals, he’d forgone the hungry mouths of clay with stylized and easily manipulated seals that could be drawn to his major chakra points. An age old technique of holding back power, now he was living with energy akin to the sun though it had come at a price. No longer able to summon up the power of the sharingan, he was something like a very good fake among the real, or so he imagined. Those who had seen him on the battlefield would surely notice but fortunately, there was little telling the difference between flames that never died and explosions that never seemed to end. Clever excuses would cover over most questions. He was already a fan of using earth based ninjutsu techniques as well so with cleverly hidden training he’d managed to make his near death experience simply a somewhat publically known mission based preparation. While he’d probably be the last one fooled by a genjutsu trick, he now had to completely reimagine his typical battle schemes and replace them with ones that quite literally level the playing field. Looking over the village from his current vantage point, he wiped his brow after another cleverly disguised training session among the Guardians of the village. He’d mastered the basics of causing controlled near microscopic explosions, enough to kill a man from the inside out, now his next focus was on energizing enough earthen clay to destroy a mountain if necessary. A Kage’s work was never done.

OOC: Topic Left