— The Path

[Naitome]

[PRIVATE]
[PROLOGUE]

Would you believe there was mist within mist? Sounds simple, right, but silly, like something a child would say. Ambiguous, yeah. Mist inside of Mist, uh, that would just be more mist right, I get it. I really get it.

If there's anybody that understands this Ace, it's me. Mist. Sort of like missed, ya know, funny right? With the whole --

And it gestured towards a series of arrow wounds riddling the non-corporeal glow that was its spiritual form. It looked like any other casualty of war, or perhaps of destruction, the absence of war but the lingering hatred and cruelty. All the pain without any of the patriotism. Akuharu lowered his head and pretended to smirk lightly, as if concealing the greater urge to burst with laughter, but he did not find the similarity of the words amusing. He wondered if acting sincere well enough would get the response he desired.

Morbid, Yama-ji.

<sub>A pause. He did not care for whatever this spirit thing had been, but why the affectation of closeness? As if this were his grandfather, as if they were beyond formality when they weren't. Because it would engender trust. Trust allows individuals to stand out enough to be identified as targets, which can be destroyed or manipulated for victory. Trust implants weakness. Build weakness before the assault has begun in order to ensure your opponents defeat. Everyone is an opponent. Trust everyone and they will be weak. Trust that everyone will lie and deceive you and kill you and in that way you will always be able to kill them.

Why do I think like that?</sub>

You okay Ace?
I'm fine. Just thinking about buying a shield.

The two laughed at that, and Akuharu removed the blank scroll from his side, pointing towards it and handing it out to the phantom slowly twirling in a gust from the inside of the cave. They were beneath the Kage's Tower, in the ruins of ugly pipework metal and exhaust fumes that billowed downwards, curved awkwardly by unnatural thermals and heated rock. They could not see through the thick chemical fog slicking the caverns sides with black, but a little of the spirit's visible chakra reflected off the mess and lit the dry parchment in dust well enough to read.

On its center was a single word...

HERE

...that appeared just as it was brought beneath the glow.

Tell me about the Mist within the Mist. What is it? What does that even mean?


Well, I'll tell you, since there's really no point not to, not anymore. Not with The Six Paths of the Moon currently, uh...well...dead.

The Mist Within The Mist. It's a metaphor, you understand these? It's like a symbol. You can hide something within something used to hide something. So the question you've got to ask yourself, as a ninja, is this; IF someone is capable of hiding something, will they do it? And the answer, of course, to anyone who would dare claim to be a ninja, is...yes. Of course they would. So it makes you think, right? Right, it makes you really sit down and think.

What's hiding in the Hidden Mist?

And the answer?

Ninja's. I win.

And the spirit creature guffawed loudly at this.

Well, yes. Of course, ninjas. You're hiding behind every sandal strap and fly. But what would be the easiest thing to hide if you were going to hide something inside of a bunch of mist?

Um. Tree's?

No you fool! More mist. And what kind of mist would be valuable to your dead pirate master?

Akuharu thought a moment, before his mind put the obvious together. But he would not believe, could not, that his Master would be so bold. He chuckled almost in spite of himself; true mirth this time. At the genius of the man he dared admire; his father and his torturer and his victim.

You can't be serious. He actually stole the--
Mists of the Diseased Coil? Absolutely. There's a lake a few meters deeper into the cave where they just sort of...float there...being misty and mysterious and what have you.
You mean you haven't...gone in?
Are you insane? Even spirits get gnashed together in there; i'm not turning into a six foot glass turtle-slug or something because of an idle curiosity.
Where's this lake again?

And the spirit shook his head side to side, a look of disappointment, a sigh; he rubbed a chin that wasn't there and stared at the floor before bringing his hands swiftly together, like praying.

Just walk straight ahead Ace. Just walk straight ahead and you'll get there. Good Luck.
Thanks. Hopefully there won't be any arrows.

And Akuharu smiled wide, with the perfect affectation of emotions he did not feel, and sped past the apparition in a blurring of movement. The spirit followed the black outline of his passage as he grew nearer to the lake, before looking away. It's eyes closed as if in pain.

And now you go to die Akuharu.

He cried out suddenly, in anguish. The image of tears disturbing the chakra-fused static.

They're going to kill you again.

[Naitome]

[PRIVATE]

Nothing moved. He would wade through body-thick fog for hours at a time awaiting the cold tingle of change from mists lined in glowing blue lights and feel nothing at all, only to sit suddenly, defeated, or move his hand over the mask concealing his lower jaw expectantly. In the vision before; the dream that was not a dream but somehow explained why he walked the surface of an underground lake inhaling heat-absent steam, there had been no scar or disfigurement, he'd even smiled. But through the glaucoma of memory glassed with doubt, smiling was not possible. His voice was a shrewd whisper barely higher than the surface of the water, a wound in the surrounding sound and not the noises of a real person.

Deeper still. Where the crag split into broken piles dotting the rock like animal droppings around the nearest shore, into the Veil of Spiritual Corruption, the Shademire, the Dark Echo of Madness, the Unnamed. This had been the ultimate treasure of his former captain. This was the Horde of the Moon.

_{They say the mist itself is a living thing. That is was cursed by ancient practitioners of an artform higher and older than ninjutsu, proud warrior monks guarded a tiny wet puff that skirted the outer edge of a golden cage frantic to explore the world. For thousands of years, it is believed that the being remained 'imprisoned', a pet and an exhibition, and was protected against the black things that stalk the nightmares of the Tailed Beasts. But one day it was taken. One day, a pirate known as the Six Paths of The Moon simply walked up and took it.}

For all the Mist's reported exploits, Akuharu was quite unimpressed. It had not attempted to swallow him whole, as it had apparently done to the entire village of Akario'lr in the Tetsu No Kuni Scrapgraves. He'd not become a turtle-slug, he did not think at least, though this made him wonder whether or not turtle-slug's gave serious contemplation to the nature of their existence, and made him a bit uneasy as he pushed handfuls of moist air away from his face. With a sigh, he allowed a flickering of chakra to wind its way towards his eyes, the black soon boiled over in blood red and expanded, as his pupil tear-dropped into a tiny spinning comma. Through his Sharingan, the mist finally and gracefully changed.

It was indeed, alive.

Or at least, it could have been, it was difficult to find words to describe what he saw. His head hurt to hold the complexity of it. He observed chakra flow through channels twisting like mazes through the air itself, like the thin skein of arteries blistering up and piercing fat callouses of energy which popped and spilled shining particles and exploded into fragmented columns each second. It was beautiful and terrifying. Something was sick; there was a tumorous swelling of spiritual energy that corckscrewed a tainted black braid through the mist's center and pulsed with wrongness. As he'd moved through it unaware, it had spent its time wrapping around him, fixing him inexplicably to the things core. A predatory twitch of nerve-like smoke detached from a bubble of water and moved towards him, it grew darker the nearer it got. He braced himself.

The lake

split

into

p

i

e

c

e

s

And he tried to correct his balance before

|SPLASH|

The chakra keeping his feet atop the lake extinguished without warning and Akuharu's body plunged beneath the water.

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[Naitome]

[PRIVATE]

Air. Air. This was his only thought as the black coil of diseased chakra intertwined with the mist spread hardened tentacles under the surface of the lake. It constricted in rhythm with his panicked motions, his flailing and fighting, each gasp for breath punctuated by a newer smaller fall into the waiting water. When his head broke the surface, he would draw in a deep breath of the mist, further trapping himself, only to be forced back down as he felt his body cocooned in raw energy. The dull tingle he'd been expecting was delivered a thousand fold; pain replaced all reasonable thought with screaming as the mist invaded his cells and soon all that was left of Akuharu were two small red lights drowning in the distant echoes of waves. The black coil dragged him lethargically to the furthest shore, threw him onto cave-stone like a shell, left him there.

And then he woke.

LOOKS LIKE THE SULTRY SLAVE GIRL SEER OF SHANGRI-LA, THE MID-TOWN MID-WIFE, THE NEREID KNOCKOUT, IS CRUISING FOR A BRUISING AS SHE FACES PHYREXIA'S REIGNING CHAMP-ION, A MINDLESS MEAGER BRUTE OF BRUTISH MEATY MINDLESSNESS, THE TAILED WAILER, A RARE ROOK-SCORPION OF THE DREAD FOREST!!!! WHAT IN THE WORLD WILL SHE DO NEXT?!!?!

Akuharu's vision adjusted. He did not understand what he saw and heard and was forced out of the daze of near drowning by...applause?

He appeared to be in an arena. His Sharingan eye darted back and forth between the massive insect bearing down on what appeared to be an unarmed and quite terrified young woman, and the surrounding crowd that packed the nearby stands to capacity. The crowd was elevated above him; the arena itself was little more than an open pit where a few colored tent wrappings were strewn along cheap metal poles like banners and where the brunt of the sun could be avoided if one stuck to the sides. He cast his head from side to side, searching for some visible exit, and saw only the arena curve in on itself, a miracle of topography that made sense and didn't. It was a closed loop that ran backwards and forwards through rock girders and carved bone, or it was an electrified grating, or a wall of ice. His Sharingan could not tell what it was, and the flow of chakra distributed throughout the area was abysmally low; even the 20 meter scorpion bearing down on the helpless girl hungrily had lower levels of the famed energy then he would come to expect.

_{I know I have to save her. But part of me wants to wait. Maybe not. Maybe their are others in this group; others taken from their own homes and brought here, collected. She could be the traitor of that group, or the whore, or the tyrant. She could be appearing innocent and this could be a trap designed to force me to turn my back to her; she could be trying to kill me. I should wait. I should wait and see what happens, see if the beast rips her apart. I should wait, I should--}

He was already a blur along the sands.

_{But where did the Cave go? How did I end up here? What is this place? Am I to play gladiator now? Will I be forced to fight for my freedom? What sort of place is this? Phyrexia? The Dread Forest? What are these places? Why have I never heard of them? There is sand everywhere, but this is not Kaze No Kuni; why is the chakra so thin, these people so...weak? Is this all an effect of the mist? Am I still laying on the shores, wracked by dreams? By a nightmare? Find answers. I must find answers--}

The crowd roared.

IS THIS A NEW CHALLENGER?!? SEEMS THE SULTRY SLAVE GIRL HAS FOUND HERSELF A HERO! WILL HE BE ABLE TO STAND UP TO THE AWESOME MIGHT OF THE DREAD FOREST'S MOST EFFICIENT PREDATOR? AND LOOK! IT'S GETTING READY TO STRIKE HIM DOWN! WATCH THE TAIL FOLKS! WATCH AND BE ---

From their vantage point, they watched as Akuharu's placed himself directly into the scorpion's path, and with the tiniest amount of effort possible, drove his wrist between the things massive eyes before popping the blade attached to it, and pushing down and through its jaw, dragging its brain through to the ground. He crushed its head into the dirt of the arena floor in one single motion, and its body twitched to complete stillness, while the audience seemed to hold their breath. The fight was already over.


...


WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOLKS?!?!? UN-BE-LIEVABLE!!!! THE HERO'S DONE IT!!!! HE'S DONE THE IMPOSSIBLE!!!!!! DID YOU SEE THAT!?!?!? MAKE SURE YOU DIDN'T BLINK OR YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED IT! WHAT SKILL! WHAT SHOWMANSHIP! HE'S TRULY AS FIERCE A COMPETITOR AS I'VE EVER SEEN COMPETE IN THIS COMPETITION!!!


And the crowd took a moment to take in the announcer's words, which boomed from all angles without seeming to truly come from anyone. Then they erupted with cheers that drowned out even the overly excited voice of the master of ceremonies. Akuharu turned to face the young woman, who sat down in a fatigued heap and looked at the young Kirigakure shinobi as if he were a worse creature than the monster he'd slain.

Are you alright?

He asked carefully, showing her the palms of his hands as the wrist-blade slid back into place, a disarming gesture.

You...you are...you move like...like a shadow creature...
I was only trying to help. I didn't want it to hurt you.
What are you?
Where I'm from it's customary to ask who someone is, not what they are, and only after giving your own name first.
I...I am called Magda'l. Who are you, shadow-creature-thing?
Hello Magda.

Akuharu smiled as he looked down at her.

My name is A-

CHAMP-ION!! STEP FORWARD AND CLAIM YOUR PRIZE!!! A LIFE FOR A LIFE!!! THAT IS THE WAY IT HAS BEEN SINCE TIME IMMEMORIAL!!!! HERO!! WHAT IS YOUR NAME!!??!?

Akuharu paused as he tried to look 'towards' the sound, but could not distinguish a chakra flow responsible for the garish greeting. He walked slowly towards the center of the opened wide arena and spoke instead towards the crowd, straining to lift his voice above the ruckus.

I AM AKUHARU UCHIHA. WHAT IS THIS PLACE?

He'd expected no reaction. Perhaps the slight bit of awe mixed with jealousy and fear that mention of his surname often brought out, perhaps just a muffled sigh of recognition, an acknowledgment of his clan's fame. But mostly, he expected nothing at all. He was in a strange place, surrounded by strange occurrences; it would not make sense to be recognized here, but he apparently had nothing to lose he had not already lost.

The crowd was instantly, deathly silent.

SURELY...YOU ARE....CONFUSED, HERO? WHAT IS YOUR TRUE NAME?
I AM NOT CONFUSED, EXCEPT BY THE FACT THAT MY QUESTION HAS GONE UNANSWERED. WHERE AM I? WHAT SORT OF PLACE IS THIS. I DO NOT TAKE KINDLY TO BEING HELD AGAINST MY--
SILENCE, FOOL.

At first, he thought an explosion had gone off, but it hadn't. Someone had simply walked into view, appearing before him as if out of thin air, a collection of chakra that easily dwarfed Akuharu's own and almost made his head reel from the site of it. No one spoke after the being did, and Akuharu's was shocked into silence only because it seemed that the mention of his name was for some reason, taboo.

WE WILL NOT ASK AGAIN. WHAT IS YOUR NAME. NO JOKES THIS TIME. WE DO NOT THINK YOU ARE FUNNY. YOU WILL SPEAK ONLY TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION; WHAT. IS. YOUR. NAME?

And throughout the arena, Akuharu's heard slight whispers gather through the wind. It's the King, why's he here, what will happen now, why would he say he was Akuharu Uchiha? Akuharu stared at the being who grew ever closer, as he let his Sharingan fade into coal black spheres and took in this 'king'. He was a bit taller than Akuharu, bulkier, with long black hair and a mask covering the entirety of his face. He wore a simple outfit of gray-black armor and walked forward as if his steps were the heaviest on all of earth. Akuharu looked at him without fear, not from bravery, but from frustration.

I am not joking, and do not understand why anyone would think i was being funny. My name is Akuharu Uchiha. I am a genin of the Village Hidden In The Mi--

Without warning, the man was upon him, a fist planted into the young man's chest, knocking him backwards. Before the chakra could be called back to his eyes, he was struck again, this time an open palmed strike that forced him down, taking the breath from his body as the 'King' pivoted, pushing more of his considerable body weight behind the blow. He stomped Akuharu's stomach once, twice, then grabbed him by the back of his neck with his left hand while the right drew an enormous sword and pressed it against the Kirigakure shinobi's now exposed throat.

YOU MOST CERTAINLY, ARE NOT AKUHARU UCHIHA, boy. YOU ARE NOT NOW, NOR WILL YOU EVER BE A GOD. THAT NAME IS RESERVED..

The man slammed his head back down into the sand, as Magda'l backed away from the voices and the sounds of violence. The only other sounds were from the announcer, who seemed to have regained his composure and was now filling the crowd in on what they'd already seen.

...AND IT SEEMS THE HERO HAS CLAIMED TO BE NONE OTHER THAN OUR KING HIMSELF, AKUHARU UCHIHA! WHAT NEW EXCITEMENT WILL UNFOLD!??!

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[Naitome]

[PRIVATE]

He took a moment to compose himself, spitting out clods of gathered sand becoming mud as they mixed with sweat and blood from the man's pummeling. He kicked out from underneath the man's grasp turning wildly, his left leg arching up to catch the corner of the man's left shoulder as his right aimed for the side of his shin's. His right hand withdrew Akurojin-no-hi and stabbed it into the ground as his left foot connected, while the left hand unleashed a marked tag thrown in a lazy overhanded spiral that caused the king to jerk back his head with startling quickness, blocking the kick with one hand as the other swatted at the projectile wildly. As his hand made contact with its metal, a tiny explosion blew both men back...or would have, had Akuharu's grip not been securely attached to the naginata sunk deep into the earth. He curled into the fetal position, placing both feet against the pole-arm's shaft, and pushed off in that next second, following the king's limp path thrown cheaply across the sands. He was upon the King before the man could catch his bearings, and with a second kunai in hand, he thrust straight down, the metal blade splitting the mask at its center, and finally revealing...

...it was...

...it was Akuharu. It was his face. Free of the disfigurement. Enraged. Snarling and spitting stupidly in humility. But it was his own face. Only the eyes were different. The three spinning tomoe at their center bloomed outwards, tinted with black; this was not a Sharingan he'd ever seen before.

What...is this...what....what manner of thing are you? What..what's happened...

As he spoke, he was surrounded suddenly by an armed guard. The edges of several spears were pressed into his flesh with enough force to draw blood from each of their tips, as he sat crouched over the King, his body as still as death.

GET HIM OFF OF ME YOU WORTHLESS INCOMPETENTS, SEND HIM TO THE MINES! DO YOU SEE THIS??? HE HAS STRUCK YOUR KING, BURN OUT HIS EYES AND CUT OFF ONE OF HIS ARMS AND FILL HIS THROAT WITH SPIDERS AND LET HIM BE RAPED BY WOLVES IN THE SHADE-LANDS. DROWN HIM IN A--

But the guards moved to do no such thing. They prevented Akuharu from moving himself, but did not otherwise seem interested in harming him. One of the braver ones cleared his throat and nodded towards the slowly decomposing body of the Scorpion, as it slowly molded back into sand and shadow. Magda'l ran forward, trying to say something, but a guard respectfully pushed her back and turned to address the King.

Your Highness, I understand your...anger...at the boy's impertinence for claiming to be...you...however, he did defeat the Ruk'sran'phyrex. According to your own law, that alone is enough to buy his freedom, as well as to grant him legal ownership of the match's surviving participants. Perhaps...

The King did not listen, had continued as if nothing was being said

--IN DRAKE VOMIT AND FEED HIM TO VULTURE DEMONS AND BOIL HIS HEART IN SOUP AND BURY HIM IN GLASS IN THE AKUHOU AND T--
Perhaps he was merely being superstitious. You know how simple the slave folk are. Everyone knows that only Akuharu Uchiha could defeat such a beast so easily, and i'm sure he only meant that he has not been given a true name yet, and wishes to fight on your behalf.

The guard looked down at him, a large man, rough-cut, like a chip of stone in armor, and signaled for the others to remove their spears.

That is what you meant, isn't it?

And in his mind he heard a voice speak plainly to him.

Say Yes. Tell them what they want to hear or you'll die.

He looked around, confused.

Say YES you stupid handsome shadow-creature-thing!

Yes. Of course, my lord.

Akuharu said cautiously, bowing and removing himself from the King's body.

I did not mean to attack while you were..so graciously correcting my impertinence. It will not happen again.

_{Because the next time, i will cut off your entire head.}

The King brushed himself off and looked at him long and hard, then up towards the crowd awaiting his response. This could quickly turn into a bad situation; he did not need the hundreds of thousands in attendance to realize that they outnumbered the King and his Guard at least thirty to one, not now, not when he was so close. A guard looked away from him but thrust a hand out at the same moment, one carrying a new mask, and the King snatched it rudely before strapping it to his face and bellowing for all in attendance to hear.

YOUR KING IS IN A GRACIOUS MOOD. I WILL ALLOW THE champion TO KEEP HIS LIFE, ALONG WITH THE SPOILS OF VICTORY.

He motioned at Magda'l and two others behind her, who'd previously been hiding in the shadow of an overturned pillar. A few guards sauntered over and exchanged words, before harshly shoving them towards Akuharu.

SINCE YOU DO NOT HAVE A NAME, I WILL GIVE YOU ONE. FROM THIS DAY FORTH, YOU SHALL BE KNOWN...AS KOKUON.

He leaned in then, towards Akuharu, his words barely above a growl.

I have shown you mercy, for their sake. Leave my city by nightfall, or I WILL have you hunted down, and killed. The girl too.

The King bowed to the loud applause of the sated arena before turning and shimmering off into the distance.

Take your property and go. The travel stones have been unlocked for you and your slaves passage, but no one else. Go. Over there.

A guard said, pointing towards the furthest wall where a small blue stone glowed with irregularly shaped kanji. Akuharu bowed and walked in its direction, noticing that Magda'l and her 'friends' followed quickly in step. She came forward and touched his shoulder lightly, almost fearfully, before looking into his eyes with curiosity.

Are you alright?
Yes. Thank you, by the way, for saving me with the guard. I didn't actually know what to say.
What do you mean? I did nothing...
The voice. In my head. Telling me to agree with them or that they'd kill me. Obviously that was you. I'm guessing you're a Yamanaka? Is that why they call you a 'Seer'?

Magda'l looked perplexed and embarrassed; a harrowing complexity to say the least, and seemed to choose her words carefully before she spoke again.

You...heard...me say something to you?
Well, not heard. Your thoughts. Who else could it have been. You called me a 'handsome shadow-creature-thingie'.
I DO NOT think you are handsome, it was not like that exactly, and anyway, how...why...oh gods...i don't even...

And she seemed almost too frustrated to continue, but nevertheless, did.

How can you do these things? Your powers; your speed and skill, these things cannot be learned. You are as fast if not faster than the king, and he is able to wield the Blackness and cast magics...where are you from? What land would you call home?
I am from Mizu No Kuni.

Magda'l looked at him in a placating manner, as if he hadn't answered her, and there was an awkward silence.

Mizu No Kuni? The Land of Water?
Well of course you are, I didn't expect you to be from another planet. WHERE in Mizu are you from? Which fiefdom?
Fiefdom? What are you talking about? I am a shinobi of Kirigakure No Sato. My allegiance is to the Mizukage.
....

She looked at him even more perplexed. She seemed completely unfamiliar with what he was talking about. He crouched down in the sand and drew out a crude and child-like map of the world. He indicated the major nations and minor, and singled out Mizu No Kuni, then drew a dot to represent Kirigakure.

There. In Mizu No Kuni, i'm from this point. Kirigakure. The Hidden Mist Village.

She looked at him and smiled, unsure, then knelt beside him and inspected the map.

You draw the world as it was far before the time of even the first King. This...

And she encircled the entire map, erasing the symbols that expressed the other major and minor nations, and gesturing towards both the new and old worlds, forming the map into a globe.

...This is Mizu No Kuni. Everything, is Mizu no Kuni.

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