Testing the Rituals [Temple Binding]

What kind of Faith charges money for their “most sacred of rituals” especially for those of their own faith? If there was something that really set off the “scam” alarm this was one of them but alas Manjiro’s own curiosity was more then enough of a reason to undertake this so called second chance at life that the Jashinist Temple offered. During his stay here at the temple he had been digging into the available records and scrolls that there was scattered throughout the place, The priests here swear up and down that this a legitimate thing that had plenty of valid claims and recorded occurrences but from what Manjiro could find they all seemed specatory at best and fake at worst. Most of the documents on the “success” of the ritual were from ancient times to when Orochimaru, Hidan, and Naruto were roaming the world doing their various accomplishments. In today’s age it was just records of the number of people who had undergone the ritual and that was about it, it wasn’t very good to satisfy the young Chinoike’s own doubts.

He was a bit disappointed that there weren’t written names of the people in the records though he did suspect that that information was actually held much higher in secrecy then what he was allowed to study. After all he was sure that most people who underwent the ritual weren’t true believers of the faith so it would make more sense for the faith to keep the names hidden more in cases of future conflict. With his own awakening of the “Mature” ketsuryugan he had been allowed to access a normally off limit areas of the temple but he knew there had to be more that was hidden in here though he didn’t see a reason for diving deeper and risking the ire of the faith and by proxy the rest of his clan. He wasn’t at a point where could freely do what he wished though he felt that day growing closer as he grew into his strength.

Bringing himself back to the present and out of his thinking, he approached the Temple and the priests, “I’m here to undergo the ritual for a second chance at life.” He said as he produced the 30,000 Ryo needed to purchase the service, the priest looked at him with a smile and that scummy way of rubbing ones hands together like they were a fly trying to clean their “hands” it really made Manjiro want to stick a kunai into the man’s neck, but he simply let the urge pass and followed the priest as he was brought into another section of the temple, it was adorn with various Jashinist symbols and effigies. Manjiro had been in this section before though he hadn’t seen it all set up for this ritual so it was at least something new. A group of priests came into the room and asked for Manjiro to undress and allow them to touch him as needed, he nodded his approval and once he was in the nude the priests started adorning on him various symbols and texts. Manjiro noticed that the symbols were similar to what the texts had told him about those who were truly immortal in the faith. Hidan is the most famous of followers of Lord Jashin, it was said he while undergoing the ritual for sacrifice would have his skin turn pure black with white symbols and such appear on his body.

For this ritual it seemed like they were almost one for one though of course Manjiro was pale and the coloring used for this ritual were black in color so it was the opposite but he just knew that these rituals were some how connected. He stored this new information away for future research, there was so much to learn about Lord Jashin and the Chinoike Clan that Manjiro was honestly tempted to test the effects of this ritual as soon as he was able too. The more he thought about it a line from some of the scrolls that talked about the past leaders of the Chinoike clan about being able to converse with Lord Jashin and thinking they were the coming of a new god. It was said these people had changed after coming back from the dead though it wasn’t like every Chinoike had these changes in them in the past, only it seemed a select few did and there had been other changes in these people concerning their strength.

Though Manjiro had originally contributed this just the limiter that all humans had on their bodies to keep them from using to much strength that would harm them being removed due to the body having died once forever thinking that it was still fighting to survive from the past failure. Maybe there was more to it, Manjiro craved to find out the validity. More and more of a plan to test these effects seemed to solidify as the priests finished with his adornment, they left the room and beyond telling him to remain here and not leave or do anything beyond exist nothing seemed to be going on. “This has to be a scam, maybe it is time for an old fashion purge.” Manjiro said aloud, he cared not for any listeners after all he was sure they had heard people say this plenty of times. He kind of wished someone would rush in and cause a commotion for his words just to make this a bit more interesting but there was nothing just the natural sounds of candles burning and the slight breeze for ventilation through the room.

What could he do in this annoyingly long and boring event? Do mental puzzles? Go to sleep? There wasn’t much he could think of to increase the fun of this. A raised slab sat in the middle of the room and Manjiro knew it was there for those who were being sacrificed to Lord Jashin, and an idea popped into the young man’s head. What if he laid on there while he waited? Maybe he would experience one of those so talked about and claimed “Conversations with God” events that people loved to rag on about during religious sermons. So that’s what he did, he walked over to the slab and got situated on it putting himself in the position he knew from having been apart of these things in the past and closed his eyes.

Darkness was all he saw behind his close eyelids, with the flicker of shadows casted by the light of the candles. Then a tiredness drifted into his body as if he had just survived a dangerous battle against a strong opponent and just barely came away from the fight with victory, a strong and pulling tiredness that quickly pulled his mind into the void of nothingness. Sleep overtook the young man though not a deep and peaceful sleep but one that came when sleep paralysis overtook you and your mind and body just didn’t seem to connect anymore. Fully aware and alert but as alive as the corpses that filled the tombs of the temple, Manjiro didn’t fret if he had been able to he would have had a smile on his face, after all this was exactly what he was hoping for some kind of mystical and unknown occurrence during this supposed “real” ritual.

His thoughts lead to the creation of a “self’ in this nothingness, he had formed his own being to be present and walk in what was nothing but a void. This is what he used to explore this place, at first he floated or that’s how it felt, there was no change in the void he wasn’t even sure he was moving but it felt like he was. Some people would call this intuition and that’s what Manjiro went with. Then in a amount of time unknown to the young man he could no longer “float” his way forward and he landed on a surface, there was nothing to show that there was something to stand on he just suddenly wasn’t able to float as he had been and he wasn’t sure if it was simply his mind no longer agreed that you could float indefinitely and was creating new rules for this place or it was some other force.

So he walked, with no sounds and the barest sense of the surface touching his feet it was like he was walking on smoke, as if he were to stop moving forward he would fall till the end of creation. Though he wondered why he thought he would just fall, why wouldn’t he just float once more, how much of this was his own mind creating things so it doesn’t lose itself and how much of this was the effects of the ritual? There, a change in the air, the scent of blood, that strong sense of rust and iron. It grew till that was the only thing that Manjiro could think of, why this change? Then in the distance the ground changed, solidified and became “real” and with its change the rise of fresh spilt blood came next. It was slow but eventually it rose to Manjiro’s knees. Was this also his mind playing tricks on him? He had seen and split plenty of blood in his life from the members of his own family, to those who had been caught by the clan. It did not make him excited, calm or any real effect, it never did. Manjiro’s mind had simply processed it as a liquid needed to survive, so he didn’t understand why his mind would show him this and so much or it with smell and all. Was this the so called “guilt” that people felt when taking someone’s life?

No, he had no qualms about those lives, he knew the end game in life was to die so why did it matter if it was sooner or later? He knew he would most likely meet his end at the blade of another no one got out of life alive. It also helped that his own faith praised dying, when you celebrated the deaths of those who passed instead of fearing it and being sad it truly allowed you to live fully.

A rumbling begun deep within what he could only consider the ground, and a shrine made of bones rose from under the blood, inside the shrine looked to be a throne of some kind with a darkened figure sitting on top it though Manjiro could not see the person’s features like there was something shrouding the person from his sight but he could see the aloof and bored pose the person was taking. Like they had nothing to do and even then the appearance of someone here didn’t stir their interest, like a conqueror with no more to conquer, A martial master that had learned it all and defeated every opponent there could ever be for them. This is how this person struck the young Chinoike.

WC: 1847

Staring back at this individual who had arisen from blood that swallowed the world below, there was a sense of disgust and curiosity that plagued Manjiro. The silhouette presented by this ‘Martial Master’ held and looked towards him in boredom and seemed dismissive of the fact that he was present in this world of blood. Soon enough anger boiled within him looking at this individual that stood above him dismissing him as someone who was not worth the time and energy. As his anger grew, the blood around him began to boil outwardly in this sea of iron. He was dissatisfied with being just a body within the pool of blood that sat below this person’s throne. It was he who deserved to look down on others as he had done so in the past.


This was a scam. More than anything Manjiro’s eyes locked towards this figure as the faintest of outlines exposed a wide grin by this individual, mocking him. If this was a test by Lord Jashin then this was woefully incorrect to present to himself for this binding of the temple. There was a faint realization that the world around him continued to fill with blood as it oozed out from skulls upon the arms of the throne. Slowly more figures would rise above the blood, crucified with arms sprayed outward over the symbol of Lord Jashin. Their features were also hidden but their silhouettes were present. One Manjiro recognized instantly was that of the man he killed the other day. 


Anger that boiled these bodies up had something that reminded him of the blood that was his, the blood that remained on his hands and looking back to the individual on the throne, the grin had widened as it gestured behind and beyond itself on the seat to more symbols with more bodies lining up in rows and rows, tens of them at first and then hundreds. Manjiro’s stare hardened from anger as the boiling slowly subsided as his curiosity began to rise beyond that. Was this a presentation? An indication? Was what he saw before him a sign that there was significantly more that he could be doing? This bored posture he initially saw towards him brought his own ideals and personality to his face and then he furrowed his brows, willing his body to move forward. 


If this was a presentation of what Manjiro could be within Lord Jashin’s faith then let him claim what was presented to him. The bodies he recognized were the ones fallen to his hands with more that he did not perceive strongly enough to understand who they were, but that did not bring his attention away from what he wanted and desired in this moment. Unbeknownst and likely not really thought of, the other bodies outstretched behind where people who had binded themselves to Lord Jashin’s Temple or were sacrificed for others rise and grow into the powers that Jashin could bless upon mortals. As Manjiro willed his body forward through the warm viscous blood, the figure simply relaxed on the throne grinning wider and wider as the boy before him approached. “Oh! So you approach me?”

The words echoed in this chamber on repeat but that did not deter Manjiro from doing what he wanted at this time. He felt that even with the world around him as some fever dream that he would still operate under his actions and if he wanted to do something, then he would do it. Why else would he be here now? Why else would he still be in this situation? It was obvious the more he thought of what was presented to him, he wanted it. To rise above others and claim the power that Lord Jashin had to offer his followers who gave unto him as he has given to them. The bodies were just those who had simply outlived their use on this world. They have reaped what they sowed already and the best use they had was to simply be used by others. The individual shown to him on this throne was his best guess, a representation of him in the future. One that Lord Jashin had created to show what he could be given that Manjiro continued his worship and faith with him. 


Manjiro’s faith being engrained since early, he knew and understood that there was more to the Jashinist’s faith that his parents had presented him. Though it was not until now he understood that the power and favor of the Chinoike to Lord Jashin was due to their innate nature in understanding life and its frivolity. As one who does not stop what his followers wished to do so long as they pay their tithe, Lord Jashin as a deity made it clear to Manjiro that what he wished for was more. More from the boy who was becoming what Lord Jashin himself presented to him. Someone who rose above the rest and sat upon a throne in a sea of blood. If that is what was being offered for power and servitude, it did not change any path that the young Chinoike had already walked. In fact it continued to align together towards learning and developing his own skills more.


His body felt sluggish in the sea as Manjiro continued to move forward towards that throne. His desire began to mix with that initial anger and his mood began to mellow once more. Realizing the world was just once again an illusion built upon his faith, the temple that he knew he was still in was present. It had to be right? Stuck in this facade of reality was not where he would be staying till his end of days, and he would not be satisfied with a bone throne in such a plain sea of blood. There was more that he wanted, more that he sought after to learn about. A second life after death would be the trick and the caveat of faith that defied the ‘natural order’ but overjoyed Lord Jashin. Another chance to continue once death occurred piqued Manjiro’s curious mind further now as to how he would feel. Would this be where he sat afterwards? Would coming back to life just make him stronger? Or was this the end of the line once life was done and over after even the second run of living?


Questions began to fill his mind while considering the world outside and how it looked. He no longer saw the temple and even with his wide vision from his Kesturyugan there was nothing but darkness, blood, and the fallen, crested against Jashin’s Symbol suspended in air before himself and his potential future. He stood there staring back at the dark figure that only had a grin before him and decided that he was going to accept it finally. Accept what was to come as he had done so before when given chances to steer differently when his family showed him the cult. Nothing was ever simple and clean with the intent of others but that did not deter Manjiro from seeking his end goal with this ritual, a second coming of life after death. If this ended up being a total waste of time, money and he got nothing out of it, he was not going to be pleased with the end result as his face turned sour with the thought.


The figure before him rose and stood from the throne that presented itself to decay as the bodies that made it slowly sank and spilled into the sea of blood populating it further as it spread around the two individuals, one standing now thigh-deep in the blood, and the other standing above it with the bodies of those who fell behind them. Manjiro’s vision being focused forward, he considered looking back, to see what he had behind him, if he too had his body count behind him and not just in front of him. However something told him to not let this figure out of sight. Something about this reeked of foulness in his mind so he used his expanded eyes to look in the peripherals with clear and concise vision. He too had these images of floating corpses affixed to Lord Jashin’s Symbol and that was when he returned the smirk that the figure had. It responded with the shift as it began to cackle, into a rolling laugh that filled what Manjiro’s mind accepted as some sort of mental space that he was able to conjure. “Goooooood! Goood!” It shouted before the form and figure brightened and became a mirror of himself. His educated guess proved right as the vision itself slowly disappeared and left himself alone in the sea of blood. 


The scenery changed as the ‘sky’ in this space darkened into dark storm clouds with a blood red sky peering beyond the visage of the clouds. The sea of pitch red blood changed into a dark metallic looking liquid, quite possibly the iron that was left from the blood as it pooled and remained behind. Manjiro did not feel any different and at this point whatever this new scenery was, did not interest him until a new voice echoed within the space, “Not yet. Soon.” before his vision rebounded back to the darkness that had started the whole process once more and he scoffed at the ‘vision’ being presented to him. Thoughts riddled his head again on what he had beared witness to. “What a joke” he voiced in his mind, and heard not his voice from his mouth, but in the world around him. He floated there without feeling once more as the world that he had entered returned to what it started out as. 


His thoughts wandered and kept him there for some more time. Thinking about what he saw, the presentation of what he had witnessed and the resulting imagery afterward. Manjiro scoffed a bit as at this point he was just upset that he was still there at this point. There was nothing interesting just sitting within this negative space be it his own mind or some dimension he just peered into and now looked towards in the future. A preview of what power he could obtain should he continue the path that had been laid out for him. Remembering his side of the coin; the presentation of bodies indicated he was lacking compared to what he could be and he knew that, especially considering the true followers of Jashin would not scurry money away like the priest did earlier. With that in mind he figured that the priest was just using fealty to stuff his own coffers over the temples. “What scum” He added to his thoughts not wanting to think any longer than he had to on that topic.


At some point the vision had to end for him right? Surely seeing that image of a shrine with a throne inside of it had to be something he could investigate or ask about now, a new objective to enjoy the pleasure of discovery. It gave him a new added item to check off the list once he got out of this binding ritual of whatever accord this was supposed to be. With the young Chinoike still just vibing in the aetherial space between possibly life and death, he considered the meetings he had at this point around the temple. The individuals who offered themselves to Lord Jashin as well and the sacrifices they have made in his name versus the ones he had taken so far. There was more for him to do and laying idly in this scenario was not on the top of the list to make it happen. Action was needed and required of him at this point should he want to rise up and above the rest that he saw in the vision. 
Thinking back on the group he had worked with and joined there were a handful that came to mind. Mizu, Arantima and Kinko. Each had their own role to run in the vicinity and it was a wild world to consider the three of them working together. It had not been that long since Manjiro had joined the fold here but was nevertheless present and now a part of the group of Yugure. Though he did not have a proper seal or writ with the group, they had taken him in and provided what knowledge they had of Lord Jashin, albeit not much had been garnered yet. Hopefully with this binding he could preface and ask for more but only time and conversations with them would tell. There was not much he could gain from Kinko though Manjiro was sure that Jashin would appreciate another sacrifice, but once more, only time would tell if that was the direction or path that ended up laying out in front of him. Likely was not anytime soon as rocking a boat or ship you just joined is ill-advised for any newcomer, but that would not deter him should the opportunity and desire fancy him.


The voice then rang in his head, “Not yet. Soon.” Sounded feminine to Manjiro, an elderly woman and it was sure to be a topic of conversation sooner rather than later if the voice was correct. Now it was just to get this binding done and move on with life and whatever life was to come thereafter. The voices in his head eventually faded to nothing as his consciousness resurfaced to the reality that was around him. He was adorned in the garments the priests had provided, though as he rose from the slab, he saw there was a fresh pool of blood forming Jashin’s symbol on the floor around him. Quickly checking his extremities, he noticed that blood was trickling down his face from his eyes. Perhaps what he saw was the catalyst for the binding as the symbol itself was formed from the blood he had released from his eyes. Internally his soul felt a tug and a connection to this slab now. It appears the priests, as greedy as they were, were not wrong with the proceedings that had taken place. 


The world felt a tad brighter and richer in colors that were focused and centered around him in this ritual space. It appeared to him that being given a second life while still alive made the world more vibrant, including the hues in the blood that had formed the Symbol of Lord Jashin below. He smirked a bit, “Guess not a full scam. Got more to do though.” He said to himself as he knew the ritual was done and figured the priests were aware of that once they witnessed him coming back out. With the priests looking overly pleased with themselves, they grabbed and removed the ritual garb before providing his normal clothes for him to put back on. As much as the priests were silent, one in particular spoke up this time around beginning to discuss the proceedings afterwards. Detailing what was to come once death did occur, Manjiro listened as it appeared this priest in particular was more experienced than the others. 


The priest talked about the bodily return to the living alongside the soul inside would come back here from wherever they die off in the world and that he would be in their care till he got back his strength. This upset Manjiro as it still reeked of a scam in the end, but it was understandable that you would not just be right back to shape if you had died, though having the knowledge that he did have. Manjiro was aware that he was one of a handful who would come back stronger should the stories and legends ring true to the words of past Chinoikes returning to life and finding new power from the post-mortem. It was an intriguing process and thought experiment to consider but that would be a discovery for him to find later in life and not presently, there was too much to do and process with what just happened. 


Walking around the temple, Manjiro had been told by the priest that he should stay at the temple proper for an hour or two after the ritual for it to 'lock-in' and 'seal' properly, whatever that meant by the money-grubbing priests. Probably expected him to buy food or something from them for lunch. Though the temple was where he wanted to be the first time seeing that domain got him thinking that it was likely something tied to the Chinoike bloodline and not just a random imaginary image that he conjured in his head. Finding records or notes or something else, would likely be at the temple as even a register of who had taken on the ritual and survived would be kept somewhere right? There was not a chance that Manjiro would skip on the chance or opportunity to figure out and learn more about the power that Lord Jashin had blessed him with as he felt that the vision was the greatest indicator that he had what it took to rise above the rest of the scum of the world through his power. But the first step was to meander around to see if he could subtly find out more information about what he saw.


Surely there had been tapestries or some etchings of a place that he had witnessed somewhere in the temple and with taking on the ritual, surely he had more access or permission to go deeper and find more secretly held teachings of Lord Jashin. Alas, he found himself wandering to the point of being back within the ritual space itself as he saw the blood that formed the symbol had dried but was still liquid enough to smear if he wanted to. Understanding full well to not do that, Manjiro peered at the stone slab that he had laid himself upon and reflected heavily with his vibrant eyes active once more to get a better feeling and context to what his body or blood might have been witness to while his mind was occupied otherwise. Finding and figuring out nothing he stood there for a while longer before mentally dismissing his active Ketsuryugan and letting the silence of the room fill his head one more time. There was much to consider and think about and he felt he had spent enough time here present in the world of the living at the temple to be ready for what was to be.


Finally departing, Manjiro knew the weight of the blood that was soaked against his legs in his head, alongside the shrine in the middle of the sea of blood. Those two pieces of information were more than enough for him to consider his next steps, he needed sacrifices. He needed bodies to spill their blood and the ability to offer it up to Jashin to reap the rewards that were ever present in the world. There was work to be done with figuring out how to get back to that space, that sea of blood, that shrine with the bone throne.

[Exit]

WC: 3,200
TWC: 5047


Claims: Binding Complete
-30,000 Ryo
Stage 4 Ketsuryugan (Manjiro is a PB Chinoike and has now Completed the Binding which are the conditions to unlocking Stage 4 Inverted Ketsuryugan)

Approved