Blood God's Whisper

The symbol appears slowly, dim at first and growing brighter and more vibrant as time passes. Kirigo had been seeing it for a few days now but this was the clearest and brightest it had been. Maybe bright wasn't the right word to describe it Kirigo thought. It's growing deeper, more alive, as if the symbol itself was made of some living substance. It seemed to flow constantly through itself, wrapping, coiling, changing and unchanging at the same time. When he’d first seen it Kirigo had thought it was just flat, it had appeared as if someone had simply carved it into a wall, lost in some distant part of his brain. Now, as he watched he could make out shapes on the mess, bloodied mutilated bodies, twisting in and out of each other, wrapped in a bloody embrace they could never hope to escape.

Kirigo wasn't sure why but he didn't feel any uneasiness at the sight of the symbol. If anything he actually felt a sense of belonging that had grown as the symbol had grown clearer over the last few days. He noticed that the low humming he'd heard the first night had become clearer too, so clear in fact that he thought he could make out words in the raspy whispers that emanated from the symbol, as if all it's different parts were trying to speak to him at once and finally come to a consensus on the message they needed to convey. He focused on the sound of the voices as he stared deep into the symbol. Once they had become clear it was as if he felt the words more than he heard them, like they'd vibrated through his whole body directly into his soul.

“Come to him, child. Claim your heritage. Give yourself to him and he will grant you his protection. Destroy in his name and he shall make sure you never suffer destruction. Kill for him and he will make sure you never have to fear death. Do for him as your ancestors did before you.”

As the words were spoken the symbol began to grow brighter writhing and pulsing with the sound of the combined voices. A hand began to tear away from the symbol, the flesh barely clinging to the long bones of the fingers as they stretched towards Kirigo. He could hear the ripping of the flesh as the arm separated. The squelch and splatter of blood and the muscles rippled stretching towards him. Normally he would have been terrified but he  felt an odd sense of excitement. As the hand grew nearer to his face it extended two of its fingers one pointing to each one of his eyes. The sharp points of the bare finger bones looked like knives, ready to dissect his eyes. Kirigo felt the exquisitely agonizing pain as the bones began to push themselves into his eyes slowly, the sharp tips breaking through corneas with ease. He felt the blood begin to run down his cheeks and across his upturned lips as he laughed in exuberance. He didn't fully understand why but the pain was feeling him with the most joy he had ever felt. He wanted more. He craved it.

“A gift for you, from our Lord, child. For opening your mind to him, he has granted you a token of his vision. The beginning of the great power you will one day wield.”

Kirigo felt the bony fingers hook into his eyes and began to pull them from his eye sockets. The long optic nerves stretching taut before ripping from his skull.His eyes were drawn back into the symbol by the arm and pulled into the symbol. A moment later the arm separated from the mass again. This time it stretched across and plucked the eyes from another skull in the symbol. These eyes were glowing a bright blood red with a small white pupil showing in the middle. The arm stretched back across to Kirigo and placed the new eyes into his head. He smiled even wider as he felt the sweet pain of the nerves binding themselves together. He blinked a couple of times looking around with his new eyes before the voices spoke again.

“Now go, child. Bring death to thy neighbor and sow Jashin’s word in this world”

Kirigo woke groggily, his head pounding from the vision. He sat up slowly and brung a hand to his face to wipe his face. When he touched his face he could feel a thick sticky substance that clung to his hand. He jumped up from his bed, running to the bathroom. He turned on the light and looked in the mirror at his face. He was completely covered in blood that had begun to dry and flake in some areas. His hair clinging to his head and stuck up in some places, stained an off color. Staring into the small white pupils in the center of his now dark red eyes he remembered the vision from the night before. He could hear the voice telling him to claim his birthright and remembered the sweet pain as his eyes had been exchanged with those from the symbol. He smiled as he remembered running his hands slowly across his face and poking gently at the edges of his dark eyeballs. They were real. It was all real. Over the last few nights he'd had several visions assuring him that if he waited Lord Jashin would give him a blessing. All he had to do was wait, and be willing to give himself to Jashin. Now here he was, finally having received his blessing.

Kirigo felt like it was just yesterday he’d overheard a couple of the village guards talking about the temple. They'd been discussing rumors of people going missing in a distant land and one of them said that he'd heard it was the responsibility of a murderous cult. They resided in a temple deep in The Land Of Hot Springs and worshiped a god named Jashin. Kirigo instantly became interested and decided to do more research. In the village library he’d found several books referencing a blood temple, people disappearing, and immortals who drank blood, but nothing solid. After a week he thought he’d finally made a connection. He believed the blood temple he was reading about may be connected directly to Jashin. He’d found a picture of a symbol, an upside down triangle with a circle around it, on one of the pages and traced it on a piece of parchment for reference later. A couple books later he came across the same symbol being called the philosopher's stone, a mythical item that was said to grant immortality. While looking for mention of people with immortality he came across a tell of a small clan that was banished from thor homes. They were said to have gone mad and started drinking blood after being exiled from their village. He’d continued reading and chasing even the smallest leads, growing more and more interested in Jashin and his teachings, until he’d finally come to a solid hypothesis.

Pulling together all of his findings Kirigo had decided that the temple was for sacrificing people to Lord Jashin. The cult's followers were called Jashinists. They would sacrifice people at the temple in order to ear Lord Jashin’s favor. Their main belief was that if they sacrificed enough people to Jashin they would be rewarded with immortality. Jashin was the god of death and destruction and his followers reveled in these things. He believed thats why people were probably going missing around The Land Of Hot Springs now. Their must be another sect of Jashinists that rose up and took over the temple. A sharp pain pierced through Kirigo’s head. A flash of memory shot to the front of his mind. He’d seen this symbol before. The Philosopher’s Stone. Jashin’s Mark. He’d seen it before.

Kirigo began to slowly creep through the upstairs of the small shop. Wincing at every creaky board, and trying to move quickly through areas where the moonlight shone in. He finally reached the small entrance to the cramped attic space above and pulled the cord lowering the small ladder to the floor. The air coming from above smelled stale and dusty. Kirigo grabbed a candle from the table nearby, and slowly began to climb the ladder into the dark space above. The dust choked him slightly and he had to stifle a cough as he crept through the cramped space. He looked around until he saw what he’d come for, in a far corner was a small wooden chest with a lock on it. Kirigo had noticed it when he had came up to the attic before snooping around for books to read but had cast it aside at the time. He picked the chest up and cradled the small lock in one of his hands looking at the symbol engraved on it. The same symbol he had been seeing in his dreams. The symbol of Lord Jashin. He smiled at the sight of it, the dried blood still on his face cracking as he did so. He turned the lock over in his hand inspecting it for a keyhole but couldn't find one. “That's weird”, he thought to himself, “no keyhole? How am i supposed to open it.”

“You must give to receive. Part of yourself for the blessing of Jashin. Only a true heir can open this box, look and you will understand”

The voices seemed to come from all around, flooding Kirigo’s mind with their chorus. When they had first started it had been unbearable. Like standing in the center of a concert hall with the entire orchestra playing directly at him. Now though, he had gotten used to it, they gave him a sort of calming feeling. Their words seemed to activate something within him. Kirigo felt a slight tingling around his eyes as chakra flooded through them and his vision took on a slight red hue. Looking at the lock now it seemed to be pulsing slowly. He leaned closer and was amazed at what he saw. There seemed to be a tiny circulatory system inside the lock. The “heart” of the lock was where there should've been a keyhole on the outside, directly under where the symbol was engraved, and there were tiny veins running from it all through the lock and shackle. Before he had realized what he was doing Kirigo brung his hand up to his mouth and bit down on the side of his hand below his thumb letting a stream of blood trickle down. He let the blood run down into his palm and pool up some before wrapping his bloodied hand around the lock. Through his hand his chakra vision allowed him to see the mechanism in the lock still. He watched as the pulse of the lock began to speed up, the tiny heart pumping viciously as it fed on the chakra from his blood, before it suddenly stopped and the lock clicked open. Kirigo removed the lock slowly, setting it on the ground beside himself as he knelt to the ground. He opened the chest, the top creaking as he did, eager to see what was inside. As he opened the top a piece of parchment fell out, tied with a small piece of cord. Kirigo picked it up slipping the cord off and unrolling the parchment.The writing on the note was neat and Kirigo could tell it was written in blood by the faint glow coming from the chakra still left in the ink, the note read:

“Jashin, help me through this cruel world.  This cold, hollow world we call home.  As people laugh and smile, let them see.  See me as a shadow that lashes out.  Upon my prey of innocent lives.  Oh, Jashin, thy God of pain and hate.  Please let these clueless, lifeless souls, of a human shell realize this.  This agony of torture and the smell, the stench of their own families blood.  Please, Jashin, bring me thy strength.  The strength of thy almighty power.  Let me feel thy heat course through me.  So fast and hard it breaks me.  Breaks me until I shatter like ice.  Into slivers upon the damp ground.  My blood soaking into this Earth.  This Earth is filled with so much death.  Yes, Jashin, oh God! I love thy forever.  With all of this heart that thy gave me.  I will always do as thy wish, My Lord.  Thy gave me life and now power.  Forever and ever, Jashin, let me show you.  Show you my love by causing misery to others.”

The legion of voices in his head echoed the words as he read them, his whole body tingling as if his blood itself was responding to the prayer. A warmth spread through Kirigo, filling him with energy. He set the note aside carefully and turned his attention back to the remaining contents of the chest. There was a bundle of senbon wrapped in wire, a few other small parchments bound in cord, and a few strange coins with the symbol of Jashin on them. Kirigo decided he would take the box and stash it in his room to inspect the items more closely later, his candle was beginning to burn low and it wouldn't be long before the sun rose and woke his parents. “Oh shit,” Kirigo thought, beginning to panic, “my parents. What am I supposed to tell them about all of this? I have to get myself cleaned up” He picked the prayer up off the ground and sat it back on top of the other items in the chest. Then he crept back downstairs tucking the small box close to his chest. When KIirigo reached his room he slid the chest under his bed and grabbed a fresh set of clothes heading to the bathroom. He stopped in front of the mirror looking deeply into his new eyes. The bright red covered almost his entire eyeball, just the slightest point of white remaining in the center acting as his pupil. He realized his vision didn't have the red haze it had taken on earlier and wondered if he'd gotten used to it or it had deactivated. He’d have to figure out exactly what this new power was and how to control it as soon as he got the chance.

Kirigo turned on the water and let it heat up and started steaming before undressing and stepping in. He put his face under the spray and wiped his hands over it to clean away the crusted blood, watching as it washed down the drain, staining the water pink. He turned his hand over to look at the spot where he’d bit down in the heat of the moment. He didn't know what had come over him to do something so reckless, it was a pretty good mark too, might even scar. He let the water run over the wound, cleaning it before washing the rest of his body and stepping out. As he was drying off it finally occurred to him he didn't have to hide anything from his parents, they were hiding something from him. How else would the chest have gotten upstairs if his parents hadn't put it there? He needed answers now. Maybe they could explain the strange voice and his eyes and the weird visions. He finished drying and dressed himself before returning to his room.

He decided he’d try to go back to sleep for now and catch his parents at breakfast to confront them both. If they had known something like this would eventually happen he wanted to know why they hadn't told him before now so he could prepare himself. The voices had also mentioned his ancestor, but that was even more confusing because neither one of his parents had eyes that looked like he did now. Was there something he had done to draw attention from the voices and their strange Lord? He laid down in his bed pulling the covers over himself but didn't close his eyes. Instead he just let his mind wander staring into the dark of his room as the light slowly began to invade. After a couple hours he could hear his mom and dad in the kitchen getting ready to start their days and open the shop. He could smell tea in the air and so he made himself sit up and get out of the bed. He stooped down grabbing the chest from under his bed and tucking it under his arm. He wasn't exactly sure how to approach this whole situation so he decided he’d just walk out there. They'd probably be a bit alarmed at his eyes but what else was he supposed to do. Kirigo walked towards the kitchen slowly, his anxiety growing into a hard lump in his throat.

When Kirigo turned the corner into the kitchen his mother had her back turned cleaning dishes at the sink. His father was drinking his cup of tea while reading the paper. As his father looked up from the papers his eyes grew wide in surprise. He choked on his tea, dropping his paper and slamming the cup down in the process. His mother turned around to see what was going on and gasped as she seen Kirigo’s eyes, struck with fear. Kirigo walked over and took his seat at the table, looking back and forth between the two of them. His father began to compose himself first. Wiping his face and cleaning the spilled tea from the table before slowly raising his cup and taking another sip, closing his eyes as he did so. His mother just turned back to the sink, turning her attention back to the dishes, clearly not wanting to be involved in the conversation that was coming up.

“What happened?” His father asked.

“I was hoping one of you could tell me.” Kirigo sat the chest on the table between him and his father. “I found this in the attic. And I've been hearing strange voices since I started at the academy. Is there something I need to know?”

“We were worried thi might happen once you started training. I'll explain but it may take a bit of time, it's a long story. We didn't mean to hide anything from you, we just didn't think it was worth mentioning before since you haven't shown any interest. That was your great grandfather's chest, and it seems, you've awoken to our family's ability. We’ve had a long hard history and it's been better for us to just stay to ourselves. Before the power was discovered we were just a simple clan of shinobi, nothing special, but that changed..”

Kirigo’s father proceeded to tell him the story of his clan’s history. Starting with the original matriarch of their family and her journey to The Valley of Hell to visit Lord Jashin in solitude. After, he went on to the Warring States period, and the marriage between the Land of Lightnings daimyo and the Chinoike lady. He told him how shortly after the wedding the daimyo passed away and his first wife spread rumors that it was his new wife’s fault. The rumors spread gaining traction among the villagers and the clan was banished, forced to move to a place called the Valley of Hell in The Land of Hot Water. He said that while there the clan was forced to survive off of what little food they could scavenge and a pool of water that rose from the valley in a spring, so tainted with iron that it ran red as it bubbled up from the ground. The only thing allowing them to continue on being the power that had been passed down through their generations. The promise from Lord Jashin that they would not perish as they were destroyed.

“No ones really sure exactly when our family actually gained its true power though. Some say the matriarch had been blessed with all our powers by Jashin himself. Others say that Jashin blessed us only with the fortitude to survive and the hardships are what made us actually develop our abilities. Right now you probably only have blood vision, it'll allow you to see just like if you had the Byakugan. Over time your power will grow, your vision will grow even greater and you'll learn to harness our clan's true secrets. I wish I could help you but I chose a different path, a quieter one. Everything you need to start should be in that box though. Maybe one day you'll be able to meet some of our other clan members and get some proper training. I'm sorry that I can't be of more help but hopefully that answers some of your questions.” As Kirigos dad finished telling the story he leaned over towards Kirigo and performed a genjutsu release. Kirigo felt his eyes relax and his vision, which he hadn't even noticed was still active, went back to normal. “Try to keep it under control for now, you never know how people are gonna react. I doubt we'll run into any issues these days as long as it's been but it's always better to be safe than sorry.”

“So what about the voices?” Kirigo asked. He’d sat quietly through his fathers story, intrigued by his family's tragic past. He wanted to know more. To study all the secrets that ran through his blood. Yesterday he’d been just a normal kid. Now he was the vassal of some blood god’s will. He intended to capitalize on this in any way he could.

“I'm not sure. Maybe there's something about it in the chest? I'd heard stories of other members, people who took up Jashins blessing, being guided by the voice of our ancestors' pasts. Maybe that’s it? Like I said, I didn't choose that path. I learned our family’s history so that I could pass it on but I never tried to awaken the gift.” His father answered, turning his hands up in a dismissive manner.

Kirigo looked over to his mom. She had finished the dishes sometime during the story and turned to face them, listening to their conversation. She had a sad smile on her face and was staring at Kirigo. When she noticed him looking she giggled, brushing hair from her face. “I guess my little boy is growing up, huh? Well, no matter how big you get, I hope you remember to be a good person. I'm sure you can prove everyone wrong about your clan and their beliefs. Maybe you could even be the one to bring everyone back together.” She walked over to Kirigo and knelt down, giving him a quick hug before leaving the room. KIirigo thought he could hear her starting to cry as she left the kitchen.

“Your mom’s just worried about you. You've grown so much in such a short time it's taking us off guard. Especially awakening the Ketsuryugan so quickly. We’d been discussing how to tell you everything but we thought we had more time. On top of that your mom isn't from our clan so she didn't really know what to expect when you did awaken. The change in the eyes can definitely be a bit startling to anyone seeing it for the first time. If you have any more questions about the past or truly wish to develop your power I would suggest traveling to the Temple of Jashin one day. Even if you're not wanting to follow the religion, it's always been a sacred place to our family and you're likely to find others with the same abilities there.” Hids father stood as he finished speaking and walked over to Kirigo, placing  a hand on his head and rubbing it gently, scruffing his hair. “Just be careful. These are powerful forces and even our family never truly knew what they were getting involved with. All that survives the teaching nowadays is the scraps we've kept alive through storytelling, from one generation to the next, passing just enough information to point anyone who needs more in the right direction.” He patted Kirigo’s head a couple times before leaving the kitchen, calling over his shoulder as he left, “If there's anything else I can help with let me know. Oh, yeah. Isn't your genin exam today?”

Kirigo jumped up from the table grabbing the chest and running up to his bedroom. He’d completely forgotten that he was supposed to take the exam today. Hopefully he had the jutsu he needed down, He didn't think he’d have any trouble but it still made him a bit nervous, especially with everything he'd had going on the last few days.He still didn't understand exactly what he’d done to awaken the vision, he’d only been on a couple simple missions. He had been training hard so maybe it was just a matter of reaching a certain point physically, though that didn't seem quite right to him. He’d started having the visions the night he’d gone on the mission with Tenizen. Maybe that had something to do with it? One thing Kirigo definitely knew is that he had to take Tenizen’s advice and pass the exam as soon as possible so he could start really getting out there. He had a destination now he just had to figure out how to get the funds and make it to the Temple of Jashin. He’d already made up his mind to travel there as soon as he thought he could make it and try to learn more about what was going on with him. He didn't really trust anyone enough in the village to ask them if they knew anything. Then again maybe he was gonna have to take his dad’s advice and finally make a few friends that could help him out. He wondered if Tenizen would be interested. He’d seemed trustworthy, but, Kirigo hadn't seen him since the mission. He might not even be in the village anymore. He decided he’d go out around the village looking for him after his exam today. Then he’d at least be worth Ten’s time, he’d only slowed him down on their mission before. Well in the end it was his choice, Kirigo could only ask.

He got dressed as the thoughts ran through his head. Pulling a tight, black, long sleeve shirt on and a pair of dark green cargo pants. He walked over to the tall mirror in the corner of his room, smoothing the wrinkles out of his clothes as he walked, and checked himself out. He leaned forward towards the mirror and reached up pulling the skin around his eyes down so he could get a closer look. The genjutsu release his dad used must have disrupted the flow of chakra to his eyes causing the dojutsu to subside. His eyes had turned back to their normal blue-green, the light causing them to dance slightly like the seas that surrounded the island.He’d focus on just keeping it under control for today but as soon as he got home after class he planned on working on activating his new ability at will. He turned away from the mirror and walked over to his bed sitting on the side and pulling his shoes on. He stood up and grabbed the chest off his bed where he sat it and shoved it back underneath the frame where it wouldn't be seen. He smiled to himself as he walked out of his room heading to the front door. He waved to his mom and dad who had returned to the kitchen as he passed, flashing them a smile. Then, he proceeded out the front door and into the streets of the village. The cool breeze felt nice but he was glad he had decided to dress warm. The fog that clung low to the streets was thicker than normal and seemed to carry an ominous chill to it. Kirigo’s smile widened some as he shivered in the cool breeze. The cold was nothing but a minor inconvenience compared to the persecution his ancestors had faced in their home village. Nothing compared to the anguish and despair of his clansmen as they'd slaughtered each other over the disagreements they'd reached in the Valley of Hell. This was nothing that could hope to trouble him. He was made to face hardships. Made to spread hardships to others. And so he would as Lord Jashin commanded. He would spread despair to earn favor and protect himself.


[EXIT]

Claims:

Kirigo Hanade wrote:The symbol appears slowly, dim at first and growing brighter and more vibrant as time passes. Kirigo had been seeing it for a few days now but this was the clearest and brightest it had been. Maybe bright wasn't the right word to describe it Kirigo thought. It's growing deeper, more alive, as if the symbol itself was made of some living substance. It seemed to flow constantly through itself, wrapping, coiling, changing and unchanging at the same time. When he’d first seen it Kirigo had thought it was just flat, it had appeared as if someone had simply carved it into a wall, lost in some distant part of his brain. Now, as he watched he could make out shapes on the mess, bloodied mutilated bodies, twisting in and out of each other, wrapped in a bloody embrace they could never hope to escape.

Kirigo wasn't sure why but he didn't feel any uneasiness at the sight of the symbol. If anything he actually felt a sense of belonging that had grown as the symbol had grown clearer over the last few days. He noticed that the low humming he'd heard the first night had become clearer too, so clear in fact that he thought he could make out words in the raspy whispers that emanated from the symbol, as if all it's different parts were trying to speak to him at once and finally come to a consensus on the message they needed to convey. He focused on the sound of the voices as he stared deep into the symbol. Once they had become clear it was as if he felt the words more than he heard them, like they'd vibrated through his whole body directly into his soul.

“Come to him, child. Claim your heritage. Give yourself to him and he will grant you his protection. Destroy in his name and he shall make sure you never suffer destruction. Kill for him and he will make sure you never have to fear death. Do for him as your ancestors did before you.”

As the words were spoken the symbol began to grow brighter writhing and pulsing with the sound of the combined voices. A hand began to tear away from the symbol, the flesh barely clinging to the long bones of the fingers as they stretched towards Kirigo. He could hear the ripping of the flesh as the arm separated. The squelch and splatter of blood and the muscles rippled stretching towards him. Normally he would have been terrified but he  felt an odd sense of excitement. As the hand grew nearer to his face it extended two of its fingers one pointing to each one of his eyes. The sharp points of the bare finger bones looked like knives, ready to dissect his eyes. Kirigo felt the exquisitely agonizing pain as the bones began to push themselves into his eyes slowly, the sharp tips breaking through corneas with ease. He felt the blood begin to run down his cheeks and across his upturned lips as he laughed in exuberance. He didn't fully understand why but the pain was feeling him with the most joy he had ever felt. He wanted more. He craved it.

“A gift for you, from our Lord, child. For opening your mind to him, he has granted you a token of his vision. The beginning of the great power you will one day wield.”

Kirigo felt the bony fingers hook into his eyes and began to pull them from his eye sockets. The long optic nerves stretching taut before ripping from his skull.His eyes were drawn back into the symbol by the arm and pulled into the symbol. A moment later the arm separated from the mass again. This time it stretched across and plucked the eyes from another skull in the symbol. These eyes were glowing a bright blood red with a small white pupil showing in the middle. The arm stretched back across to Kirigo and placed the new eyes into his head. He smiled even wider as he felt the sweet pain of the nerves binding themselves together. He blinked a couple of times looking around with his new eyes before the voices spoke again.

“Now go, child. Bring death to thy neighbor and sow Jashin’s word in this world”

Kirigo woke groggily, his head pounding from the vision. He sat up slowly and brung a hand to his face to wipe his face. When he touched his face he could feel a thick sticky substance that clung to his hand. He jumped up from his bed, running to the bathroom. He turned on the light and looked in the mirror at his face. He was completely covered in blood that had begun to dry and flake in some areas. His hair clinging to his head and stuck up in some places, stained an off color. Staring into the small white pupils in the center of his now dark red eyes he remembered the vision from the night before. He could hear the voice telling him to claim his birthright and remembered the sweet pain as his eyes had been exchanged with those from the symbol. He smiled as he remembered running his hands slowly across his face and poking gently at the edges of his dark eyeballs. They were real. It was all real. Over the last few nights he'd had several visions assuring him that if he waited Lord Jashin would give him a blessing. All he had to do was wait, and be willing to give himself to Jashin. Now here he was, finally having received his blessing.

Kirigo felt like it was just yesterday he’d overheard a couple of the village guards talking about the temple. They'd been discussing rumors of people going missing in a distant land and one of them said that he'd heard it was the responsibility of a murderous cult. They resided in a temple deep in The Land Of Hot Springs and worshiped a god named Jashin. Kirigo instantly became interested and decided to do more research. In the village library he’d found several books referencing a blood temple, people disappearing, and immortals who drank blood, but nothing solid. After a week he thought he’d finally made a connection. He believed the blood temple he was reading about may be connected directly to Jashin. He’d found a picture of a symbol, an upside down triangle with a circle around it, on one of the pages and traced it on a piece of parchment for reference later. A couple books later he came across the same symbol being called the philosopher's stone, a mythical item that was said to grant immortality. While looking for mention of people with immortality he came across a tell of a small clan that was banished from thor homes. They were said to have gone mad and started drinking blood after being exiled from their village. He’d continued reading and chasing even the smallest leads, growing more and more interested in Jashin and his teachings, until he’d finally come to a solid hypothesis.

Pulling together all of his findings Kirigo had decided that the temple was for sacrificing people to Lord Jashin. The cult's followers were called Jashinists. They would sacrifice people at the temple in order to ear Lord Jashin’s favor. Their main belief was that if they sacrificed enough people to Jashin they would be rewarded with immortality. Jashin was the god of death and destruction and his followers reveled in these things. He believed thats why people were probably going missing around The Land Of Hot Springs now. Their must be another sect of Jashinists that rose up and took over the temple. A sharp pain pierced through Kirigo’s head. A flash of memory shot to the front of his mind. He’d seen this symbol before. The Philosopher’s Stone. Jashin’s Mark. He’d seen it before.

Kirigo began to slowly creep through the upstairs of the small shop. Wincing at every creaky board, and trying to move quickly through areas where the moonlight shone in. He finally reached the small entrance to the cramped attic space above and pulled the cord lowering the small ladder to the floor. The air coming from above smelled stale and dusty. Kirigo grabbed a candle from the table nearby, and slowly began to climb the ladder into the dark space above. The dust choked him slightly and he had to stifle a cough as he crept through the cramped space. He looked around until he saw what he’d come for, in a far corner was a small wooden chest with a lock on it. Kirigo had noticed it when he had came up to the attic before snooping around for books to read but had cast it aside at the time. He picked the chest up and cradled the small lock in one of his hands looking at the symbol engraved on it. The same symbol he had been seeing in his dreams. The symbol of Lord Jashin. He smiled at the sight of it, the dried blood still on his face cracking as he did so. He turned the lock over in his hand inspecting it for a keyhole but couldn't find one. “That's weird”, he thought to himself, “no keyhole? How am i supposed to open it.”

“You must give to receive. Part of yourself for the blessing of Jashin. Only a true heir can open this box, look and you will understand”

The voices seemed to come from all around, flooding Kirigo’s mind with their chorus. When they had first started it had been unbearable. Like standing in the center of a concert hall with the entire orchestra playing directly at him. Now though, he had gotten used to it, they gave him a sort of calming feeling. Their words seemed to activate something within him. Kirigo felt a slight tingling around his eyes as chakra flooded through them and his vision took on a slight red hue. Looking at the lock now it seemed to be pulsing slowly. He leaned closer and was amazed at what he saw. There seemed to be a tiny circulatory system inside the lock. The “heart” of the lock was where there should've been a keyhole on the outside, directly under where the symbol was engraved, and there were tiny veins running from it all through the lock and shackle. Before he had realized what he was doing Kirigo brung his hand up to his mouth and bit down on the side of his hand below his thumb letting a stream of blood trickle down. He let the blood run down into his palm and pool up some before wrapping his bloodied hand around the lock. Through his hand his chakra vision allowed him to see the mechanism in the lock still. He watched as the pulse of the lock began to speed up, the tiny heart pumping viciously as it fed on the chakra from his blood, before it suddenly stopped and the lock clicked open. Kirigo removed the lock slowly, setting it on the ground beside himself as he knelt to the ground. He opened the chest, the top creaking as he did, eager to see what was inside. As he opened the top a piece of parchment fell out, tied with a small piece of cord. Kirigo picked it up slipping the cord off and unrolling the parchment.The writing on the note was neat and Kirigo could tell it was written in blood by the faint glow coming from the chakra still left in the ink, the note read:

“Jashin, help me through this cruel world.  This cold, hollow world we call home.  As people laugh and smile, let them see.  See me as a shadow that lashes out.  Upon my prey of innocent lives.  Oh, Jashin, thy God of pain and hate.  Please let these clueless, lifeless souls, of a human shell realize this.  This agony of torture and the smell, the stench of their own families blood.  Please, Jashin, bring me thy strength.  The strength of thy almighty power.  Let me feel thy heat course through me.  So fast and hard it breaks me.  Breaks me until I shatter like ice.  Into slivers upon the damp ground.  My blood soaking into this Earth.  This Earth is filled with so much death.  Yes, Jashin, oh God! I love thy forever.  With all of this heart that thy gave me.  I will always do as thy wish, My Lord.  Thy gave me life and now power.  Forever and ever, Jashin, let me show you.  Show you my love by causing misery to others.”

The legion of voices in his head echoed the words as he read them, his whole body tingling as if his blood itself was responding to the prayer. A warmth spread through Kirigo, filling him with energy. He set the note aside carefully and turned his attention back to the remaining contents of the chest. There was a bundle of senbon wrapped in wire, a few other small parchments bound in cord, and a few strange coins with the symbol of Jashin on them. Kirigo decided he would take the box and stash it in his room to inspect the items more closely later, his candle was beginning to burn low and it wouldn't be long before the sun rose and woke his parents. “Oh shit,” Kirigo thought, beginning to panic, “my parents. What am I supposed to tell them about all of this? I have to get myself cleaned up” He picked the prayer up off the ground and sat it back on top of the other items in the chest. Then he crept back downstairs tucking the small box close to his chest. When KIirigo reached his room he slid the chest under his bed and grabbed a fresh set of clothes heading to the bathroom. He stopped in front of the mirror looking deeply into his new eyes. The bright red covered almost his entire eyeball, just the slightest point of white remaining in the center acting as his pupil. He realized his vision didn't have the red haze it had taken on earlier and wondered if he'd gotten used to it or it had deactivated. He’d have to figure out exactly what this new power was and how to control it as soon as he got the chance.

Kirigo turned on the water and let it heat up and started steaming before undressing and stepping in. He put his face under the spray and wiped his hands over it to clean away the crusted blood, watching as it washed down the drain, staining the water pink. He turned his hand over to look at the spot where he’d bit down in the heat of the moment. He didn't know what had come over him to do something so reckless, it was a pretty good mark too, might even scar. He let the water run over the wound, cleaning it before washing the rest of his body and stepping out. As he was drying off it finally occurred to him he didn't have to hide anything from his parents, they were hiding something from him. How else would the chest have gotten upstairs if his parents hadn't put it there? He needed answers now. Maybe they could explain the strange voice and his eyes and the weird visions. He finished drying and dressed himself before returning to his room.

He decided he’d try to go back to sleep for now and catch his parents at breakfast to confront them both. If they had known something like this would eventually happen he wanted to know why they hadn't told him before now so he could prepare himself. The voices had also mentioned his ancestor, but that was even more confusing because neither one of his parents had eyes that looked like he did now. Was there something he had done to draw attention from the voices and their strange Lord? He laid down in his bed pulling the covers over himself but didn't close his eyes. Instead he just let his mind wander staring into the dark of his room as the light slowly began to invade. After a couple hours he could hear his mom and dad in the kitchen getting ready to start their days and open the shop. He could smell tea in the air and so he made himself sit up and get out of the bed. He stooped down grabbing the chest from under his bed and tucking it under his arm. He wasn't exactly sure how to approach this whole situation so he decided he’d just walk out there. They'd probably be a bit alarmed at his eyes but what else was he supposed to do. Kirigo walked towards the kitchen slowly, his anxiety growing into a hard lump in his throat.

When Kirigo turned the corner into the kitchen his mother had her back turned cleaning dishes at the sink. His father was drinking his cup of tea while reading the paper. As his father looked up from the papers his eyes grew wide in surprise. He choked on his tea, dropping his paper and slamming the cup down in the process. His mother turned around to see what was going on and gasped as she seen Kirigo’s eyes, struck with fear. Kirigo walked over and took his seat at the table, looking back and forth between the two of them. His father began to compose himself first. Wiping his face and cleaning the spilled tea from the table before slowly raising his cup and taking another sip, closing his eyes as he did so. His mother just turned back to the sink, turning her attention back to the dishes, clearly not wanting to be involved in the conversation that was coming up.

“What happened?” His father asked.

“I was hoping one of you could tell me.” Kirigo sat the chest on the table between him and his father. “I found this in the attic. And I've been hearing strange voices since I started at the academy. Is there something I need to know?”

“We were worried thi might happen once you started training. I'll explain but it may take a bit of time, it's a long story. We didn't mean to hide anything from you, we just didn't think it was worth mentioning before since you haven't shown any interest. That was your great grandfather's chest, and it seems, you've awoken to our family's ability. We’ve had a long hard history and it's been better for us to just stay to ourselves. Before the power was discovered we were just a simple clan of shinobi, nothing special, but that changed..”

Kirigo’s father proceeded to tell him the story of his clan’s history. Starting with the original matriarch of their family and her journey to The Valley of Hell to visit Lord Jashin in solitude. After, he went on to the Warring States period, and the marriage between the Land of Lightnings daimyo and the Chinoike lady. He told him how shortly after the wedding the daimyo passed away and his first wife spread rumors that it was his new wife’s fault. The rumors spread gaining traction among the villagers and the clan was banished, forced to move to a place called the Valley of Hell in The Land of Hot Water. He said that while there the clan was forced to survive off of what little food they could scavenge and a pool of water that rose from the valley in a spring, so tainted with iron that it ran red as it bubbled up from the ground. The only thing allowing them to continue on being the power that had been passed down through their generations. The promise from Lord Jashin that they would not perish as they were destroyed.

“No ones really sure exactly when our family actually gained its true power though. Some say the matriarch had been blessed with all our powers by Jashin himself. Others say that Jashin blessed us only with the fortitude to survive and the hardships are what made us actually develop our abilities. Right now you probably only have blood vision, it'll allow you to see just like if you had the Byakugan. Over time your power will grow, your vision will grow even greater and you'll learn to harness our clan's true secrets. I wish I could help you but I chose a different path, a quieter one. Everything you need to start should be in that box though. Maybe one day you'll be able to meet some of our other clan members and get some proper training. I'm sorry that I can't be of more help but hopefully that answers some of your questions.” As Kirigos dad finished telling the story he leaned over towards Kirigo and performed a genjutsu release. Kirigo felt his eyes relax and his vision, which he hadn't even noticed was still active, went back to normal. “Try to keep it under control for now, you never know how people are gonna react. I doubt we'll run into any issues these days as long as it's been but it's always better to be safe than sorry.”

“So what about the voices?” Kirigo asked. He’d sat quietly through his fathers story, intrigued by his family's tragic past. He wanted to know more. To study all the secrets that ran through his blood. Yesterday he’d been just a normal kid. Now he was the vassal of some blood god’s will. He intended to capitalize on this in any way he could.

“I'm not sure. Maybe there's something about it in the chest? I'd heard stories of other members, people who took up Jashins blessing, being guided by the voice of our ancestors' pasts. Maybe that’s it? Like I said, I didn't choose that path. I learned our family’s history so that I could pass it on but I never tried to awaken the gift.” His father answered, turning his hands up in a dismissive manner.

Kirigo looked over to his mom. She had finished the dishes sometime during the story and turned to face them, listening to their conversation. She had a sad smile on her face and was staring at Kirigo. When she noticed him looking she giggled, brushing hair from her face. “I guess my little boy is growing up, huh? Well, no matter how big you get, I hope you remember to be a good person. I'm sure you can prove everyone wrong about your clan and their beliefs. Maybe you could even be the one to bring everyone back together.” She walked over to Kirigo and knelt down, giving him a quick hug before leaving the room. KIirigo thought he could hear her starting to cry as she left the kitchen.

“Your mom’s just worried about you. You've grown so much in such a short time it's taking us off guard. Especially awakening the Ketsuryugan so quickly. We’d been discussing how to tell you everything but we thought we had more time. On top of that your mom isn't from our clan so she didn't really know what to expect when you did awaken. The change in the eyes can definitely be a bit startling to anyone seeing it for the first time. If you have any more questions about the past or truly wish to develop your power I would suggest traveling to the Temple of Jashin one day. Even if you're not wanting to follow the religion, it's always been a sacred place to our family and you're likely to find others with the same abilities there.” Hids father stood as he finished speaking and walked over to Kirigo, placing  a hand on his head and rubbing it gently, scruffing his hair. “Just be careful. These are powerful forces and even our family never truly knew what they were getting involved with. All that survives the teaching nowadays is the scraps we've kept alive through storytelling, from one generation to the next, passing just enough information to point anyone who needs more in the right direction.” He patted Kirigo’s head a couple times before leaving the kitchen, calling over his shoulder as he left, “If there's anything else I can help with let me know. Oh, yeah. Isn't your genin exam today?”

Kirigo jumped up from the table grabbing the chest and running up to his bedroom. He’d completely forgotten that he was supposed to take the exam today. Hopefully he had the jutsu he needed down, He didn't think he’d have any trouble but it still made him a bit nervous, especially with everything he'd had going on the last few days.He still didn't understand exactly what he’d done to awaken the vision, he’d only been on a couple simple missions. He had been training hard so maybe it was just a matter of reaching a certain point physically, though that didn't seem quite right to him. He’d started having the visions the night he’d gone on the mission with Tenizen. Maybe that had something to do with it? One thing Kirigo definitely knew is that he had to take Tenizen’s advice and pass the exam as soon as possible so he could start really getting out there. He had a destination now he just had to figure out how to get the funds and make it to the Temple of Jashin. He’d already made up his mind to travel there as soon as he thought he could make it and try to learn more about what was going on with him. He didn't really trust anyone enough in the village to ask them if they knew anything. Then again maybe he was gonna have to take his dad’s advice and finally make a few friends that could help him out. He wondered if Tenizen would be interested. He’d seemed trustworthy, but, Kirigo hadn't seen him since the mission. He might not even be in the village anymore. He decided he’d go out around the village looking for him after his exam today. Then he’d at least be worth Ten’s time, he’d only slowed him down on their mission before. Well in the end it was his choice, Kirigo could only ask.

He got dressed as the thoughts ran through his head. Pulling a tight, black, long sleeve shirt on and a pair of dark green cargo pants. He walked over to the tall mirror in the corner of his room, smoothing the wrinkles out of his clothes as he walked, and checked himself out. He leaned forward towards the mirror and reached up pulling the skin around his eyes down so he could get a closer look. The genjutsu release his dad used must have disrupted the flow of chakra to his eyes causing the dojutsu to subside. His eyes had turned back to their normal blue-green, the light causing them to dance slightly like the seas that surrounded the island.He’d focus on just keeping it under control for today but as soon as he got home after class he planned on working on activating his new ability at will. He turned away from the mirror and walked over to his bed sitting on the side and pulling his shoes on. He stood up and grabbed the chest off his bed where he sat it and shoved it back underneath the frame where it wouldn't be seen. He smiled to himself as he walked out of his room heading to the front door. He waved to his mom and dad who had returned to the kitchen as he passed, flashing them a smile. Then, he proceeded out the front door and into the streets of the village. The cool breeze felt nice but he was glad he had decided to dress warm. The fog that clung low to the streets was thicker than normal and seemed to carry an ominous chill to it. Kirigo’s smile widened some as he shivered in the cool breeze. The cold was nothing but a minor inconvenience compared to the persecution his ancestors had faced in their home village. Nothing compared to the anguish and despair of his clansmen as they'd slaughtered each other over the disagreements they'd reached in the Valley of Hell. This was nothing that could hope to trouble him. He was made to face hardships. Made to spread hardships to others. And so he would as Lord Jashin commanded. He would spread despair to earn favor and protect himself.


[EXIT]

Claims:

Approved.

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