Trial by Fire

Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, the sound of his heartbeat resounded through his ears like some unearthly drum that pounded tirelessly as the young shinobi took one punch after another, Ryuu had made a very grave mistake. Once a proud jounin of Amegakure, Ryuu was now a paid punching bag for a god forsaken bar in the shady underworld that was the black market of the shinobi world. Each punch the rogue now took reminded him of where he had come from and who was to blame. This exile was his crucible and through it he would become stronger. However, for now, he was left to relive each moment since he was thrown out of his village that once meant everything to him.

One punch to the left cheek sending his head head sharply to the right and with it a memory of entering the black market. Ryuu had been traveling for days after leaving the land of Snow and parting ways with a companion who had foolishly left the rain village, it all felt like some distant dream now. With next to no sleep the newly proclaimed rogue stumbled into town a shadow of his former self. Large bags under his eyes indicated the rather severe lack of sleep, the rags he called clothes that clung to him illustrated the trials of his travels and gaunt cheeks denoted the need for food along with the near incessant rumbling of his stomach. In essence, Ryuu looked like hell and felt ten times worse. He had heard rumors of the black market in his days as a jounin, but never been there himself. At first glance it lived up to the stories of a vile heap of lowlifes, but upon looking closer it became apparent that it was much worse. If there was illegal money to be made the miscreants of the black market were out to make it.

Makeshift streets were made by stalls that seemed to be very haphazardly made that sold all sorts of frowned upon goods: drugs, body parts, forgeries, and even people. Ryuu found himself walking through the corridors of human depravity and unconsciously wrinkled his nose. At this point the former jounin was only a missing ninja in name. In his heart of hearts the man had not truly embraced or, until now, realized what it meant. Every part of Ryuu recoiled at his surroundings, but more so he recoiled internally as he came to understand what he had to become if he wished to remain apart from the village system. Dodging past a few street brawls it became crystal clear what he must become to survive: a cold hearted bastard out for no one other than himself. However, Ryuu did not wish to merely survive rather he aimed to thrive. To do this he would need guidance and place to call home, whatever that may mean in the missing ninja world-he would soon find out. Just like that this memory passed through the now battle hardened Ryuu.

Luckily the punch that had landed on his cheek had not been too strong and had created an opening in his opponent's stance. His opponent was much larger than him, but with a simple sweep of the leg Ryuu took the man’s feet out from under him much to the dismay of the crowd that was now booing at Ryuu’s actions, it was obvious who their money was on. Interestingly Ryuu could not hear, or rather he did not choose to hear, this booing instead upon impacting his opponents leg and watching his legs give way beneath him reminded the rogue of the first time he found this place, the first time he found the establishment that would define and refine him, temper his hate and sharpen his resolve: the punchbowl.

Having wandered through the endless maze of stalls that were the black market. Ryuu made his way to the very center of the market, the rotten core if you will. It was here that the then neophyte into the world of rogues discovered a den of despicability and scum.  At first he was attracted by the constant yelling and one booming voice announcing what sounded like a bar fight on a rather grand scale. Approaching the particular makeshift building in from which all the noise could be heard, Ryuu was not overly impressed. Over the entrance way to the ramshackle place there hung a crooked sign that seemed older than time itself. The sign read plain and simple in large red block letters “The Punchbowl: knock yourself out one way or another”. Taking a deep breath the former jounin walked into what was presumably a bar, whats the worst that could happen, right?

The first thing that hit him, before the body of some drunk patron, was the smell. It was a vile smell that smelled like an odd cross between sweat and alcohol. The smell was really quite revolting. However, Ryuu did not have much time to ponder on this fact as a drunk man stumbled into him and promptly fell to the ground at Ryuu’s feet. Oddly enough at this the noise seemed to die down as all eyes turned to Ryuu, the newcomer who had unwittingly stood in the way of the next contestant. Of course the drunk man was the contestant the people now looked for and finding him at the fe Ryuu haeet of Ryuu caused quite an uproar, which was quickly stamped out by the loud booming voicd heard before.

“Well folks! It seems we have a new contestant to our fine establishment. So, whats your name kid.” The voice issued from a tall spindly red haired man who was cloaked in what appeared to be a brown duster and wore an odd set of boots. Naturally at this point, if they were not before, all eyes were on Ryuu thereby making the man a bit uncomfortable to say the least. All the same he managed to stammer out who is was, “My name is Ryuu.” At this there was a low murmur through the crowd that was quickly silenced as the booming voice rang out again, “Then it seems we have our contestants for the next fight like all fights it is king of the hill, our current reigning champ the mountain of a man: Mitsuki!!!!!!!!! And his opponent….” It was clear that the announcer was pausing to think of a good way to introduce the new contestant. After what felt like an eternity, but was merely a few second in reality, the announcer spoke once again, “His opponent, the dragon of the wastes, Ryuuuuuuuuu!!!!!!” With that the crowd of people opened up to reveal what they had been standing around: a ring. In this ring stood a real hulk of a man, this was to be Ryuu’s opponent and also his first steps as the dragon of the wastes.

Alas, Ryuu was rudely yanked from his memories as the man he had swept the legs out from under did not go down quietly, sadly they never did. The man now down on a knee was able to lunge forward and grab Ukita around the waist and thereby push him against  the sturdy walls of the arena. The impact to his back sent a shock through the rogue and knocked him unconscious for a brief time, he was getting cocky. In this brief blackout memories flowed freely back to his first fight, his first time in the ring that had thus far hardened him. Ryuu found himself in his memories walking as if in the third person into the ring. The ring was bordered by a wooden barrier that stood about five feet in height making it rather hard to escape from without a bit of effort. The creak of a gate opening before him and Ryuu realized what he had gotten himself into, this was not going to be fun. With the gate locked firmly behind him  it would seem the only thing left to do was fight. Now, for anyone who knew Ryuu, well, they knew he was god awful at any type of self defense despite being a jounin. Sure, he had been adept at the use of some very basic taijutsu, but nothing too advanced. Hell, on his jounin exam he had scored exceedingly low on his taijutsu section of the test, barely scraped by thanks to excelling in ninjutsu and strategy.

All the same it would seem he had very little choice in this situation. No one had his back, so he knew he could not afford to take any missteps especially against such a hulk of a man. Trying his best to look tough and much larger than he really was, Ryuu put up his fists and prepared for the fight of his life. Unfortunately for him he knew nothing about these pit fights as he merely watched as the hulk in front of him threw out a fist that opened at the last second to reveal that he held sand in it. Of course Ryuu was in no way expecting this and in an instant he was trying to blink sand out of his eyes with very little effect. In fact, he could barely see as the mountain in front of him rushing him. In a vain attempt to protect himself the rogue put his hands out in front of him. However, this would do nothing to stop the sheer mass of muscle charging at him now. In an instant the rogue was slammed against the side of wooden barricade, the wind and consciousness being knocked right out of him.

Thus, from one unconsciousness to the next Ryuu found himself back in reality and on the dirt floor that he had learned so well during his time in the punchbowl. The young man could vaguely hear a countdown being called out. He knew this call was the call to stand or lay in the dirt defeated. In a way he really wished to remain on the floor, but another part, a stronger part, willed him to stand and face the man who had laid him low. Slowly, and shakily, Ryuu stood in a rather unconvincing manner, but this was all part of the show. The rogue had, in his time here, become a master showman. After all the more of a show he put on the more likely he was to get paid. Yes, it was all for a money, it made the world go round and that was unlikely to change.

Upon standing a loud roar from the crowd envigorated Ryuu, he lived for this, the applause, the power and most of all the prowess over another as he was about to prove. For this was his last fight in the punchbowl and he planned to make it a grand one. Once again the man he was facing came at him with a right hook, but this time Ryuu was ready. He had seen this same move time and time again, he knew how to react. In perfect tandem with this punch Ryuu turned to the side such that he now stood on the outside of the punch and in turn the man’s arm. Moving in sync with his turn the man’s arms came up and caught his opponent's arm, it was over his opponent had already lost.

With another quick turn of the body to the left, away from his opponent, Ryuu brought the other man’s body with him and in a rather impressive show of strength  threw the man across the ring and into the wooden barricade on the other side. In an instant the countdown was being hollered out. ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, FIVE, SIX, SEVEN, EIGHT, NINE, T-TEEEN. With that the crowd went into an uproar, it was over and Ryuu, the dragon of the wastes, allowed a rare smile to pass over his face, this was only the beginning. Sweat dripping from his brow Ryuu walked over to the announcer's desk and spoke cooly and confidently, “Well, I suppose thats all Hydeko. Its been a great run.” The announcer, obviously named Hydeko, responded with a wry smile and a quick quip, “I suppose you did better than your first fight here. You were out cold after the first hit.” At this Ryuu could not help but laugh as it was true his first fight had left him out the second he had been smashed against the side of the arena., sad times indeed.

Naturally Ryuu was not one to take a hit lying down even from his now friend, Hydeko, “I was just practicing taking hit you know that.” At this point people were filing out of the punchbowl or filtering over to the bar section of the establishment, but Ryuu and Hydeko continued their banter with Hydeko firing back, “Sure, you did, sure I had to pull you out of the ring myself, bloody pain. So, what are you going to do now?” This question caused a roguish smile to flash over Ryuu’s face before he responded, “I have some business I need to attend to, you know my line of work and history, I’m sure you understand.” Hydeko laughed  at Ryuu’s word, the announcer knew of Ryuu’s origins and was perhaps the only man alive that knew his goal. With a few words Hydeko said his farewells and held out his hand, “Well, I suppose this is  goodbye then, good luck on your endeavor. Dont forget who made you what you are.” Now it was Ryuu’s turn to laugh. He simply waved the man off and strode out of the bar with long clean strides. The black market backwaters had forged a new man and it was this man who was about to bring chaos into a world devoid of it and one man was to blame, Worr Temuri.

Walking through the filth of the black market Ryuu allowed his mind to run wild. He had finished his time in the Punchbowl or rather his contract was up. It had been a quite informative run, during his months at the punchbowl Ryuu had learned the art of taijutsu. During the first month of this odd ordeal the former jounin remembered how he had fought like hell and made no ground. Back then the typical fight for Ryuu was short, due to his lack of experience and general timidity. However, as time passed  Ryuu learned more and more mostly thanks to the man Hydeko, the announcers of the fights. It was in this man that  Ryuu had entrusted much of his history and life story while in return Hydeko taught the former jounin how to fight. He remembered the sleepless nights in which he had practiced stances that seemed meaningless at the time, but with each real fight Ryuu began to see the applications. This was what marked the second month of Ryuu’s time at the punchbowl: hope. He was still unable to definitely win any fights, sure he won a few here and there due to flukes, but he was getting there.

The next month brought improvement the likes of which were almost unthinkable naught but two  months ago. Ryuu began to actually win fights. With this victories the rogue grew stronger and smarter he adapted what he learned and in this time Hydeko and his training turned to spars as they became equals. And in these spars the two men became friends who were able to respect each other and formed a rather close camaraderie, Ryuu fighting and Hydeko announcing said fights. All these thoughts clouded Ryuu’s mind in a slight fog as he pushed open the door to his inn. His room was small, little more than a cell really. It had a dingy old bed and single dresser next to a sink and toilet. On the dresser lay a sword, nothing special, merely a sword-the steel of Amegakure. It was this sword that would one day be buried in the heart of Worr, the leader of Amegakure, well, to the knowledge of Ryuu anyway. Tired beyond his wits the man threw himself into the bed, which bowed generously, but did not break.

Letting out a sigh a single tear ran down the man’s cheek. Never more than one, only a single tear. Wiping the tear from his face, Ryuu took a deep breathed and forced himself to stand, sadly he would be unable to fall into a restful sleep just yet. There was still one thing he had to do, tie up loose ends. He could not let Hydeko live. Ryuu had come to this conclusion long ago. The man simply knew too much about Ryuu’s plans, plans that were best kept secret. Sadly Ryuu knew Hydeko too well, the man would do anything for money. Unfortunately the only real way to keep a man quiet about anything is to end his life, well, that or pay him off, but Ryuu had no money, thus he needed to do what had to be done.

Glancing over at the sword on his dresser Ryuu had half a mind to bring it with him, but thought better of it-there was but one way this could end, a duel of physical prowess. As a result the former jounin now found himself walking, as if on autopilot, through the streets back to the punchbowl. Surely most people would be gone by now, Hydeko always stayed late. Pushing opening the door, Ryuu found this to be partially true. There were three men, the bartender, Hydeko and a lone man at the bar, this would make it much more interesting. Three people, three bodies, hand to hand, no easy task. Though it would make for a perfect test. Not wanting to draw attention to himself Ryuu kept his head down and walked over to the man sitting at the bar, the man was small and very easily dispatchable no reason to involve him in a drawn out fight. As such Ryuu came up behind him and with a quick movement broke the man’s neck with a dull crack.

Luckily the bartender did not seem to notice as his back was turn, so Ryuu laid the man’s head against the bar without being noticed. Of course when the bartender turned around he would find nothing but a fatal bottle to the face. Ryuu had grabbed one of the bottles that lay around and with a single smash killed the man. Alas, smashing the bottle also drew the attention of the last soul in the room, Hydeko. Clearly the man was startled as he yelled and ran at the turned back of Ryuu with a balled fist. Ryuu himself was able track the man’s movement across the room via his chakra senses turned at exactly the correct moment and caught the Hydeko’s fist in one of his hands with ease. With a few cool words Ryuu said his real goodbyes, “I’m sorry, friend.” Hydeko said not a word he merely attempted to draw back his fist, which was something Ryuu could not allow.

Holding firm Ryuu pulled the man towards him and right into his elbow, there was very little Hydeko could do in this situation  except face the music and take the hit that sent his head back at a very odd angle, a kill shot. So, much for a fight to the death, this had been boring. Sadly he expected more from the man that had taught him everything he knew. It was a bit off putting to be honest. Was Ryuu that good or was Hydeko that bad? Ryuu knew he would never know the answer to that question so he sent the man he still regarded as a friend slumping to the ground with a dull thud. The last remaining soul in the place then took a seat next to the man who’s neck he had snapped.

Looking into the mirror that lined the backside of the bar Ryuu found someone he did not know. The man’s face looked gaunt and his black hair long and shaggy, it took him a moment to identify this as himself, he had changed. He was no longer the man he once was, hell, he had just killed three people with very few qualms . To calm his nerves and cleanse his mouth of a rather bad taste that had oddly accumulated there, Ryuu grabbed a half full bottle from the bar and took a swig of the  odd liquid. It was a bit fiery on the way down, but otherwise not too tasty. Shivering a bit, Ryuu knew he could not just leave three dead bodies lying around. Allowing his mind to gel once again, Ryuu came to the conclusion the best way to get rid of them was burn the place to the ground. Even in the den of crime there was certain ways to justice, better it seem like an accident.

Sighing once again, the rogue stood from his chair and turned to the body of his friend that lay on the ground behind him. Stooping down Ryuu ran his hands over the Hydeko’s face closing the man’s eyelids, it was done. Standing up the killer and dragon of the wastes wove a few hand signs while standing in the doorway. Then, in a brilliant display of katon jutsu, three fire dragons were spewed from the man’s mouth and at the shoddy structure of the punchbowl. Walking out, Ryuu never looked back at the newest chapter in his life as it burned to the ground. Odd how he would be to simply burn a place to the ground without a second thought save for the thought that it had to be done. Now, there next that simply had to be done was to knock on Amegakure’s doors and show the village the folly of their leader, yes, surely that would do it?

It was now, walking through the near empty streets of  the black market, hearing only the crackling of fire behind him Ryuu questioned himself, what did he want? At this singular thought Ryuu could not help but laugh to the sky above him. What he wanted was behind him, what he wanted was to see things burn and burn they would. Where would he start this scar on the great nations? Well, naturally he would have to start small. Every great fire needed a spark, Amegakure could serve as this spark, yes, everything hinged on Amegakure. It would fall or Ryuu would fall trying. Then perhaps he could move to the rest of the minor villages...he would need more than just himself. He would be a fool  to think he could bring the world to its knees by himself. He needed accomplices, he needed those who shared his want to make a change. Ryuu knew this would take time and time was something he had, with Hydeko gone no one knew his true motives or plans. Toppling the old guard was something that now occupied the former jounin’s mind, the clockwork in his mind began to tick, slowly at first, but gradually picking up the tempo to a feverish pitch that seemed to get ever louder in the missing ninja’s mind.

It was this day that a new villain was born. The world would soon know the name that was the dragon of the wastes, Ryuu Koga. Upon entering the black market the once village ninja had come out as a new beast entirely. His ambition had become larger and his greed greater. However, most importantly he had become stronger. Before he could not stand against  Worr Temuri, but now he felt he could easily topple this man from his throne no matter how high up, even those that sit upon a throne are destined to fall-it was the way of life. Sure, when Ryuu’s time came he would fall as well, but for now the laughing man that walked the streets of the black market was on the rise.

{WC: 4006, +20 stats & Taijutsu spec acquired}

Approved