Smoke and Mirrors [P]

And so the time had passed. Takeo's body felt stiff, likely from being in the same position for the last few hours. The village was empty, save for a few drunks who were too intoxicated to even muster an attempt to move. At least they wouldn't be missed. He stood up, stretching his arms in the air and gazing across the entirety of the village. Takeo spoke, but the words were distant and unintelligible. With that said he clapped his hands together, forming a hand seal and disappearing from the rooftop in a blur of motion. Appearing again next to one of the skyscrapers that had dominated the skyline he gazed towards it. He reached out, placing his palm against the cold surface of the wall. His chakra spiked vastly, a black mark appearing on his right cheek, masked under the shadow cast by the hat on his head. The technique born from his studying of the Byakugan's techniques, the One Way Road, formed itself around Takeo's body. He removed his palm from the wall, appraising the building's structure for a moment or two before flicking his finger against the wall. And with that the wall disappeared, cracks appearing around the gap that formed as One Way Road sent the concrete wall caving inwards at a vast speed. The chunks of concrete slammed into the inside's of the building, effectively denting and crushing the supports of the building.

Takeo hopped backwards, moving out of the dust cloud and gazing at the hole he had left in the building. The sound of the destruction had travelled quite far evidently, the sounds echoing around the empty village. It was loud enough to wake up the sleeping drunks anyway. The first drunk to arrive on the scene arrived in only a few seconds. He was a middle-aged man, probably around forty or so. From the looks of him his name was probably Tim. Poor Tim, he probably had a loving wife. A loving wife called Kim. Tim and Kim had likely been married for over twenty years at this point. Judging from his attire he had probably been out drinking with the lads, Jim and Terrance. Unfortunately for Tim he had drunk far too much. It had probably always been a problem of his. Jim and Terrance likely told him many times about how he should learn when to stop, but he'd have always had laughed them off. Now from the looks of Tim he likely had kids. Three kids, one girl and two boys. The boys were probably twins, about the age of ten right now. The girl would be younger, around five or so. Kim probably evacuated many hours before, like a sensible person.

Alas poor Tim, if that was even his name. Would not see his family again. The moment he had turned the corner Takeo was upon him, with a swift kick to the head his snapped back at incredible force killing the man pretty much the instant it connected. Another kick to the back as the body dropped, One Way Road launching the body at tremendous speed through the hole in the wall. The corpse slammed through the remaining walls, tearing away the majority of the bottom floor of the building. And with that, the first skyscraper in the village would fall. It was a magnificent sight, much like a tree falling after being cut down by a lumberjack. Except this was louder. A lot louder. The noise was satisfying however, the sound of windows shattering, rocks hitting the floor, the buildings that were scattered around the skyscraper getting crushed under the weight.

Takeo hopped onto some of the remains, gazing upon the destruction with a grin on his face. While this method of destroying the village was fun, it was quite time consuming. So with some reluctance he produced a kunai and attached an exploding tag to it. He flicked the kunai in an arc into the air, One Way Road propelling it far across the village. Five hand seals and the kunai was enlarged, another five and suddenly the village turned dark. One thousand kunai sailed through the air, blocking the sunlight from reaching the ground. It was a glorious sight, Takeo didn't bother moving as he admired it in awe. The kunai stopped ascending, and as one all began their descent to the ground.

Another hand seal performed, and the village was engulfed in an explosion.

Takeo's upper body shot upwards. His breathing was heavy, sweat dripping down his face. Yet another nightmare. Different from before, but only slightly. The destruction of Tengakure, it was an odd thing to be sure. For starters Takeo should not even feel guilt about it. Why should he? It's not like Tengakure had let some Academy Student trash proclaim themselves as the new Tenkage after Takeo had brought the village back from the brink of a downfall. Oh wait it was just like that. So why? Why was this plaguing his mind. Was it due to that person? The random guy who refused to leave the village when it was evacuated. It couldn't be that, surely? Of course there were several more kills that night, whether directly or indirectly caused by Takeo himself was irrelevant. So why?

All these thoughts running through his head. He had barely taken anytime to take note of his surroundings. A horse in the corner of the stables peered curiously over toward him. Other than that, there was no other living creature in the building. Takeo had returned to his previous residence of the inn in Hoshigakure. He couldn't remember the name, not that it mattered. The last few days had blurred by. Takeo had flung himself into doing little odd jobs here and there. He was different now, though only in appearance. The white bandage was still covering his eye, but his overall appearance was much brighter. For one he was clean shaven, and fresh looking. His long hair had been tied back into a ponytail, though only out of necessity. Standing up, he dusted stray bits of hay off of his clothing. They were loans, yet another generous gift from the old man running the establishment. Black shirt and grey, though slightly worn, pants. Basic and simple. He preferred it that way. Taking a few breaths to collect himself, the young man exited the stables.

Entering into the inn, he moved over to the counter where a bowl awaited him. As per the deal the inn keeper had set up breakfast for him. He didn't pay attention to what was in the bowl, nor the taste of it. Almost in auto pilot Takeo ate in silence. Leaving the empty bowl, Takeo silently exited the inn before the landlord returned.

Hoshigakure was a grand city. How many times had Takeo thought this? He had no clue. Though he had likely done it at least once every time he saw it. Sure it wasn't perfect. No place was after all. Regardless it was a great place. Takeo passed through the streets, keeping to the side of the roads. He didn't feel like being in the centre of the crowds. It'd just draw unwanted attention to himself. Attention would just cause problems for him, something he wasn't interested in. It felt good to be out in the fresh air. He had spent far too long cooped up inside. After walking for half an hour he found and stopped in a small cafe. Sitting outside he watched the passersby as he sipped from his mug of tea. This was nice. Takeo relaxed in the chair, his body slumping back into the chair. The atmosphere in this city was a good one. He hadn't really seen a place like it. Or maybe he had, but just couldn't remember. A small smile appeared on his face. For the first time in awhile he felt..at peace almost. It wouldn't last though. Takeo knew that.

Peace never lasts.

It was the middle of the night, and Hoshigakure was undergoing some odd weather. Lightning strikes were uncommon, at least Takeo had never seen one till now. Of course this wasn't natural. The young man knew this to be the case as he stood atop a the roof of The Turning Point. Above him, electricity crackled. Lightning fired from the ball of electricity, shooting into the sky at a rapid rate. His white eye honed in on the fired chakra, watching it cruise like a missile into the distant sky. Needed more work. His chakra dropped, and the lightning fizzled out.

The young man wiped sweat from his brow. This was becoming a pain in the ass. Takeo wasn't entirely sure why he was up here at all. Perhaps it was due to the nightmares that had plagued him yet again. His sleep disturbed, there was no way he was going to get back to sleep tonight. He might as well keep some of the other residents up, in fear of the storm. The storm of his own creation, one create so as to drive his mind away from the shadows. The moon was out tonight, off in the distance. Still, it's light shined down upon Takeo illuminating his figure in the darkness.

Takeo's hands moved in a blur once more. Tiger, snake, tiger, snake. Or was it snake, tiger, snake, tiger. The former Kage had never actually bothered with hand seals before. Thus the names of them were lost upon him. It was unfortunate then, that he had to go through with using them at this stage in his life. Perhaps it was because he could not focus completely anymore. Too much haunting him, making his once sharp focus as dulled as a worn blade.

Once more lightning chakra crackled into life above his form. His hands dropped to his sides, and his eyes honed in on his target. A shadow flickered across his vision on the right. It took quite the willpower to not shoot the lightning halberd at it, likely destroying a building and causing numerous casualties as a result. No, once more the chakra was shot high up into the sky. It travelled far and fast, exploding outward in a brilliant ball of chakra. It was much like a firework display, only far more dangerous of course.

"Again." He muttered to himself. Fatigue was catching up to him. Perhaps if he practiced some more than he would find himself capable of sleeping tonight. The white haired youth went through the motions again. Tiger, snake, tiger, snake. He was pretty sure that was what they were called. The young man couldn't be bothered to check, but not knowing the names of the hand seals wasn't exactly a massive hindrance to him.

Another shadow danced across his line of sight. The young man grimaced and moved from the rooftop. The lightning followed his movement, like a firefly that was attracted to him in some manner. It was an odd sight to be seen for anyone who was awake at that time. Though Takeo didn't care, it was not like they knew of him. Hopping onto yet another rooftop, the lightning chakra was fired forward into the sky. Takeo's breathing was growing heavier by the minute. A late night workout, why hadn't he thought of something like this before.

Once more he went through the motions. Lightning chakra forming and then firing off into the night sky. The man landed onto the solid ground of the street. Dusting himself off, the lone figure wandered down the road and back to it's place of residence.

The odd storm was over for now.

[Close Topic]

1940 wc

Relearning Lightning Halberd for 1.5k

440 going towards it's mastery.

18 AP