Knowledge vs. Wisdom

Mission:

”Two down, one to go.” Kiryu walked along the streets of Hoshigakure as he tried to figure out what exactly the goal of this final mission was. The directive was extremely vague: “Explore the city.” He had lived in Hoshigakure for years now and had explored most of the village in one way or another.
 
Compared to his old home, it was a majestic environment. The people scurrying about their daily lives mixed with the natural beauty of Haven and the purposeful focus on ornate architecture made the village unique even among shinobi villages. That was certainly due, in part, to the fact that it was designed as a capital city for the nation before it was ever considered to be a home for shinobi.
 
As he turned the corner, he found himself facing the temple that he attended. A twinge of guilt flickered through his mind as he realized that he had been neglecting to spend as much time as he used to at the temple. He had been so caught up with his training that he had blotted out almost everything else. It wasn’t for nothing that he had been so focused. He had to become stronger in order to protect the village. In his head, though, he knew that he was trying to justify it to himself. The gods protected the village and he was simply their servant. How could a servant truly perform the will of his master if he didn’t even take the time to speak with them?
 
Had he been influenced negatively by becoming a shinobi? He started to walk toward the temple, feeling out the familiarity of the path. It was the same path that he took every time he had visited, but something seemed different. The golden light of sunset was reflecting off the top of the temple and Kiryu felt a sense of peace that he hadn’t felt since Takeshi’s death. When he reached the temple, he looked up at the spire that reached toward the stars. With a burst of inspiration, he sent a flow of chakra down to his feet and began to run up the wall of the temple until he came to rest on the spire itself.
 
The village was laid out before him in a way that he had never seen before. There was a beauty in the way the streets were interconnected and people walked along them like the flow of a river. In the distance, he could see the palace in all its splendor. The whole city was a monument to the gods, and Kiryu had been a fool to lose sight of that. Of course, that didn’t mean his training was any less important. It just meant that he needed to focus on moderation in all things. He certainly didn’t want to get caught up in delusions of grandeur and a lust for power. That was the way of darkness and suffering.
 
With a determined smile, he looked out over the village and made a promise to himself and to the gods. He would continue to grow as a shinobi of the Village Blessed by the Stars, and he would prove to the civilians of the village that one needn’t forsake one’s ideals and beliefs in order to become a shinobi. He would be a true servant of the gods. The optimistic Genin took a mental picture of the view in front of him. He would use it to fill out a report on his “exploration” by making note of potential avenues of attack into the village. It more than likely wasn’t exactly what the mission assignment office had expected, but he had carried out the mission under the terms it had been assigned to him.

[exit]
[WC: 623]

Claiming:
+3 stats (+3 stamina)
+600 Ryo (+500 for E-rank base, +100 for Genin Bonus)
+1 Bonus AP
+104 words toward Puppet Art: Ventriloquism (250250)
+500 words toward Wind Release: Wind Strike (500/500)