A Shrine in Need. (Arc 1/4)

Mission:

Oda walked along the path through the woods with a bounce in his step. Today he was tasked with cleaning one of the shrines that dotted the land. He meandered lazily through the woods towards his assigned Shrine, humming a tune and whistling occasionally as he practiced his mastery over whistling his hand signs. Something about blending music and jutsu appealed to him.

As he rounded the bend of the pathway he came to an opening in the trees and his breath caught in his throat. While messy and in a slight disarray from overgrown foliage, the shrine was undoubtedly beautiful. His usual boisterous and energetic attitude was subdued by the feeling of this place, and he found himself straining to remain quiet and respectful. The shrine of Furaibi deserved respect from Oda.

The shrine of this spirit was dedicated to his personal favorite, The spirit of Fire, better known to the native inhabitants as Furaibi the Boar. Even in statue form the boar looked to be in motion,whoever carved this was skilled. They even went so far as to carve intricate flames - flickering under the boar's feet- out of finely carved stone. Oda wondered in amazement at the skill at which the artist shaped the stone. The statue's eyes held a deep and passionate determination in them.  Oda always felt a kinship with the fire spirit, and he worked as hard as ever to ensure every inch of the shrine was in tip top shape.  It wasn’t simply that he had a fire affinity, it was that he appreciated the spirit of the boar and what it represented. As he cleaned he thought about that more, about his shinobi way. Oda believed in the value of passion and creativity. To him it was the very essence of being a shinobi, to fight with every ounce of passion you could and to overcome any challenge with creativity and adaptability. That was the true path to being a shinobi.

He swept the stone floor four times once for each cardinal direction. He climbed on trees to trim their limbs and laid prone on the ground to cut the grass at just the right angle with scissors. He labored tirelessly to clean any marks or graffiti that some kids had left years ago that went unnoticed. Usually Oda was terrible at cleaning, he would hop from one task to another at random and leave jobs unfinished, usually. However, this was different, there was a reverence to this place that he wished to maintain.  Occasionally Oda would stop for a break and stare at the statue, sometimes he swore it was staring at him as he moved around.

As he finished up cleaning he took a small prayer that was passed down to him from his parents and wrote it on a piece of paper. He kneeled at the statue, bowing his head in reverence before lighting the small piece of paper on fire and letting the ashes drift away in the wind.

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WC: 750 (500x1.5)

Claims: