Blood {P}

Arson! Murder! Deception! These were the uncommon cries heard throughout the black market of the shinobi world, the punchbowl had been burned to the ground with three bodies inside. Normally such crimes were not frowned upon and often praised by the underworld scum, but today such crimes had committed against some of their own, the ultimate betrayal of the missing ninja code of honor. Believe it or not there was some honor among thieves and killers, go figure. Amongst all these cries the mastermind of the arson and murderer himself, Ryuu Koga, sat in a smoky bar in the black market.

The former jounin kept to himself drinking some vile concoction at the bar. Apparently Ryuu’s deed had not gone unnoticed and there were rumors that  some people had seen who did it and were currently searching for the man who did it, a justice squad of sorts, irksome. Ryuu did not fully believe these claims as he was fairly certain he had been very careful. However, unbeknownst to the rogue it would seem that the walls of the black market had eyes and ears everywhere-he was a marked man and didnt even know it. The roving justice squad was currently searching for him, they had not spread the news of who committed the act for fear of Ryuu fleeing. It was much easier for them to operate on the low key and find the one man they were searching for and deliver punishment.

In fact this squad had just arrived at the doorway of the bar Ryuu currently sat in. It was composed of ten people, all trained killers and torturers. However, their leader was by far the most brutal man of the lot, Kunshin. The man stood at six and half feet tall with a frame that was more like a rhino than a man. This thick brown hair matted down his back as if he were the hide of some beast. However, the most defining feature of the man was his two eyes, black as an abyss and as cold as the coldest winter night. At his core Kunshin was a killer, but he also possessed honor, an unfortunate mix that now put him on a collision course with the dragon of the wastes.

Upon entering the bar the makeshift vigilante squad of missing ninja effectively cleared the place by their mere presence. Naturally Ryuu could sense their presence thanks to his use of chakra senses, but he did not make a move. There was no reason this could not be diffused with a bit of talk. Talk was always preferable as opposed to needless exertion, that was not to say Ryuu didn't hunger to fight. In fact, he half hoped he’d be able to skip the whole monologuing and such to skip right to the fight. Though, on the other hand, the former jounin was by no means an impatient man. Hell, he might as well relish the needless banter while he had the chance.

Then came the inevitable, a deep mocking voice that echoed out from behind him, “So, do you get off killing our own and burning one of our finest establishments to the ground. And you think you got away with it as well?” At this the collective of ten men let out hoarse laughs that sounded more like the heckling of hyenas, but was quickly silenced as Kunshin continued at an even clip, “In fact, you may have had one of my informants here not seen you stalk away from the wreckage of the building. There is blood on your hands oh mighty dragon of the wastes. What a meaningless name. So, what have you to say in your defense before we finish you?”

Downing the last of his beverage, Ryuu grimaced as his throat burned for a brief second. Then the shaggy haired man turned in his seat to respond to his aggressors in a cool sharp tone of a superior, “Alas no plan is perfect, right? As for what I have to say, well, not too much I suppose. I guess the best thing that can be said I have been living my life as I see fit and I foresee that I will be living this life for a quite a bit longer than you or all of your men.” With that Ryuu stood up and assessed what he would be facing. It would seem the rest of Kunshin’s men had retreated outside to avoid unwanted company leaving three men including Kunshin in the bar.

However, it would seem Kunshin found the whole thing humorous as he laughed a deep hearty laugh, that of a deeply amused man. And then he spoke, “Well, I suppose you will die having put a smile on my face, you two take care of him and drag his body out when you are done, we’ll string him up for all to see.” With that Kunshin turned and left, it would seem Ryuu was not even worth his time, that would be one of his last mistakes as he would find out later. For now Ryuu knew he had to deal with the two men right in front of him. Luckily it would seem these two men would act as an example of why one does not mess with the dragon of the wastes or better yet a member of the Crystalisis clan. Ryuu had recently done some digging into his bloodline and found that it had quite the useful effects.

These two men would be the first to behold that which Ryuu had kept cloaked for oh so very long, his birthstone blood. As the two men approached him Ryuu sighed, this would be over quickly. It would seem the two men both wielded small daggers, a minor annoyance at best. In an instant Ryuu’s skin turned to dark earthen brown and a ruby red aura blazed from the man. The two would be assailants did not know what they had just gotten themselves into. Both men approached at a rather quick pace, but Ryuu merely stood there as both men made to stab him in either side of the gut, surely a painful way to die. However, their blades merely glanced off to either side of him, which caused the former jounin to chuckle a bit as he grabbed both men’s now outstretched arms at the elbow giving a firm squeeze resulting in two sickening cracks and two blood curdling screams of pain.

Simple, these two were nothing, but thugs and they would die as such. With one useless arm a piece and the two men writhing on the floor in pain Ryuu saw no point in continuing these men’s pain, the former jounin was a killer, but he was not without a conscience. He did not allow his quarries to live their last moments in complete and utter pain, ending it quickly was preferable to such a fate. In keeping with this code the rogue wasted no time in drawing the ninjato that hung on his left hip. Then walking over to each pained man, Ryuu ended that pain forever. Thus, silencing the cries of the men and no doubt worrying the eight men outside. With a slight flick of the blade the blood streamed off and it was sheathed, another deed done.

Though Ryuu’s skin returned to normal the ruby red aura around him seemed to burn even brighter than before as if it feed off the death. As if this were not enough there was a glint in Ryuu’s eyes, an evil glint. Who did these people think they were? They clearly did not know who Ryuu was, but they would soon find out. Oh, yes, they would soon find out indeed. With a red aura burning around him Ryuu wove a few hand seals, the first set was a for a very interesting space time jutsu that allowed Ryuu to move without a care for acceleration the second hand seal was much more familiar and caused a shadow clone to appear next to Ryuu, a perfect likeness. If one were allowed access to Ryuu’s mind they would see the plan to bury these men in their untimely graves.

Putting this plan into action the shadow clone picked up one of the now deceased men and carried it to the front door throwing it outside causing cries of surprise from Kunshin’s men. The clone then proceeded to step outside to face the music. The real Ryuu, on the other hand, went out the back and snuck around the side and waited for the cue, it would be rather hard to miss said cue, but for now he merely listened to the exchange between his clone and the eight remaining men.

“Your men are weak, I’d suggest trying harder if you really wish to erase me from this world. The other ones back in the bar. I’d say collect your dead, but I am not done here yet.” Ryuu’s clone said in a snide condescending manner. This naturally created a retort from Kunshin himself, “Do you really think you can take eight of us? At best you got lucky against those two. Though I am in a bit of a forgiving mood, I will allow you a chance to surrender to us and you might live, might being the operative word there. Take your pick.” Now it Ryuu’s clones turn to laugh for a considerable amount of time as well, the real Ryuu was rather surprised he was not attacked during this time. Until at least the clone spoke, “Well, I pick none of the above, shocker right? I dont intend to play fool to some half witted oaf such as yourself.”

There was the signal it was at this point that the clone wove a few hand seals, which opened a large portal above all eight men and from it dropped an immense amount of earth. from the sky right onto the unsuspecting men. Alas, it would seem not all of them were to be caught. Kunshin had not noticed the large earth glob that, but he had charged at the clone while he wove hand seals and thus tackled the clone back into bar. The rest of the man’s gang was by no means as lucky as they were all caught in the glob of mud. It was at this point that the real Ryuu appeared from around the corner and blasted said mud with a steady stream of flame, thereby causing the mud to harden and kill all those within. The only one left was Kunshin and Ryuu knew this as the memories of his recently destroyed clone flooded back to him.

Alas, Ryuu was not given much time to process this information as Kunshin, using chakra senses had located the real Ryuu and charged through the flimsy wall of the bar and right into Ryuu, knocking him right to the ground. Now this was an unfortunate position, but things could be worse, they could always be worse. With this in mind Ryuu know lay on the ground face to face with Kunshin who was now yelling in his face, “YOU THINK YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO SAY WHO LIVES AND WHO DIES??”

At this point Ryuu simply smiled an evil smile as the red aura blazed around him strong than before as he spoke a single word “Yes.” With that a crystalline armor seemed to spring from Ryuu’s body as if was there the whole time, Kunshin had made a mistake when he first crossed Ryuu. Now, Kunshin was still much stronger than Ryuu, but the former jounin had been able to worm his fist up against Kunshin’s stomach and as the armor formed three inch spikes dug into Kunshin’s stomach causing the man to flinch. This in turn allowed the rogue a little more room to work with. With this new found room Ryuu dragged the now spike embedded fist up to Kunshin’s throat and ended the foolish engagement. In an instant Kunshin’s life blood spilled all over Ryuu no longer was it merely the aura of Ryuu’s bloodline that remained red it was his entire body stained red with blood. Pushing the soon to be dead Kunshin off of him Ryuu stood as his armor dissipated, he had not even needed his space time jutsu, go figure.

Now drenched in blood of some of the people in the highest standing in the black market, Ryuu knew it was time for him to leave such a place. Thus, a bloodstained Ryuu sauntered out of the black market willing to stare down anyone who dared look at him funny, it was their funeral. He really needed a vacation. This whole being a rogue was tiring and he had only just started, perhaps he would find some place tropical. Yes, tropical that would surely do. The white sand beaches, the ladies and most importantly the time. Time was something he needed, time to plot, time to build power. Building took time and in all honesty the slums of the black market was not the most creative of places. Indeed, this move would be perfect, he needed it. It was high time Ryuu returned from the land of rogues.

{TWC: 2211, Birthstone blood unlocked 2000/2000, +11 stats}

Approved