Race: Demigod, half human, half god
Age: 18
Sex: Male
Class: Elite A level Ninja
Alignment: Good
Height:6ft
Weight:215 lbs
Appearance: Three scars parallel to each other on each cheek, average looking face exceplt that the eyes are a light purple and have three separate pupils surrounding the center one which is located within the pigment of the eye. Black hair going a little further than his shoulders. The hair is kind of curly with the purple and gold highlights. In battle his hair changes from what it is to a glowing shiny silver color. He is about 6 ft tall with a muscular build that is a little more then most people build would be. He has a large scar on the right side of his neck from when his brother tried to kill him.
Weapons: With in his trench coat and other articles of clothing he conceals a vast array of kunai, ninja throwing knives that can be used for multiple purposes. They are about ten inches in length and three in width, and are made of simple steel. They are a dark color and have a type of bandage-wrapping wrapped around the handle to provide a better grip for the use of them. Around his waist he uses two kodachi�s, a type of short katana that are incased in a simple wooden sheathe. These two kodachis are hung from his belt and hang on both his left and right side, hidden under his trench coat. Around his neck he wears a crystal clear pendent that is in the shape of a tear-drop. This pendent allows him to revive himself from death once in a battle, or in a day. It also gives him power when he and it are in agreement and thus is he able to perform the Sei Kou lei. He wears a gold bracelet with a ruby eye adorned on it around his right wrist that upon his command heals him up to three times a day/battle. In his left ear he wears a simple gold earring.
Attire: Black t-shirt under a blue trench coat. Dark green dress pants, and white tennis shoes for footwear. Around his neck there hangs a crystal pendent that is clear and is in the shape of a teardrop. No force can remove this, no matter what amount of energy is exerted on it. On his hands are two black leather gloves with the fingers and thumbs removed so that they are sticking out. On each glove there is an intricate design of a ninjutsu symbol which multiply his physical strength. Around his right wrist there is a bracelet with the symbol of an eye shaped out of ruby, and in his left ear there is a gold earring with no decorative design.
Personality: Through many hardships of painful trials Ryokuken has managed to hang onto not only his sanity, but also his kindness. He has vowed to never take the life of any living creature and will try with everything that he has become to live up to his belief. But the memory of what happened to not only his family but his village forces him to mask those emotions with the facade of a person who is happier then they truly are. He does tend to truly be happy more often then he pretends to be happy, so he is content with what his life has built up for him now. Only faced with opponents who are stronger then those surpassing mortal bounds will Ryokuken�s being become forged into something that surpasses all other boundaries. To sum up his personality would be to say that although he hides much pain, he is still someone who is happy, and should any life near him be endangered he will try with everything he has to save it and all other life involved.
Strengths: When he is near death Ryokuken does have the potential to go further then his mortal body can allow. This is due to the heritage that he was given, the blood of the greatest god. As his mortal bodies strength slowly depreciates through a fight the power of the god�s blood that runs through his veins begins to gain more and more control. Thus he loses himself more and more to a colder version of his normal self, losing it to power to win.
Weaknesses: When he envisions his brother he goes into a berserk fury that generates more energy, sacrificing his own consciousness to control it. In short he loses himself completely to the fight, but as to how far he can go is still to be known.
Techniques:
Kage-Bunshin-no-Jutsu: The greatest technique that Ryokuken has been able to learn through his training that he endured immediately following the massacre of his village. This ability allows him to clone himself many times over, allowing 2-10,000 clones of himself. Each clone is fully capable of acting on it�s own accord and devise it�s own way of attacking an opponent. These clones have their own levels of ki and can vary in strength to the will of the original fighter, Ryokuken. Because they are all derived from the same person they can communicate with telepathy with one another to elaborate on strategies for the fighting styles that they would use. This is not to say that they are all as powerful as the original, just simply to say that they can all do what he would be capable of doing, although not as well.
Hirokusia: A name that he made up. It is for the ability he has to send his own ki into the weapons that he uses. He is able to send his ki into them thus increasing how much damage and power each weapon is capable of handling. With the Kunai he uses he can throw one of them with ki attached to it, and then detonate it upon contact with the target if he so chooses. His stronger weapons, the kodachis, are capable of retaining more energy through them, thus allowing for more powerful attacks to be used. When the weapons are �powered up� with the use of his ki, a flame of white, raw energy engulfs them, giving off an almost holy light.
Shiniokusia: The technique that he named and created. The holy energy given off from his pendent becomes united with his own bodies ki and he is able to increase his own power tremendously, but it is limited by how much he can control. When he uses this technique it is entirely possible for his own energy to have no limit due to the use of the pendent, but he cannot control that much energy with his mortal body. When this occurs he becomes engulfed in the same flame that covers his weapons, only this flame of energy covers his entire body, or specified points on his body that are to his choosing. The damage that he can deliver with a normal blow while enveloped in this power is almost, if not at least, doubled.
Sei Kou lei: The white aura that surrounds his body and weapons. It is the flame that gives them power and allows him to fight to a greater potential. This power though has a unique property to it, and through proper training that he himself is discovering can create life from nothing. The life that he creates though is not that of an animals, but that of plant life. When he concentrates and has the full cooperation of the pendent that hangs around his neck, he can connect his own energy to that of the land around him and alter the state of what it contains within it. In an abbreviated definition the technique allows him to create plants and also allows him to make plants grow, adding to their energy with his own.
Mirror image: Ryokuken alters his ki to that of a person near or within his site and changes into a mirror image of them, taking on their looks and strengths, along with their memories and weaknesses. This technique can be cut short at any time and when that happens he reverts back to his normal self. Any damage that he may have received during the time that he was in the form of his opponent is still the same when he is normal again.
Shiouza: An increase in speed that is performed by certain movements of the hands to increase speed to the point that he moves fast enough to slow down time. This technique can be used for a maximum of twenty seconds at a time, and is used in conjunction with the gold earring that he wears.
The Many: this technique was learned when the ultimate technique of the Kage-Bunshin-no-Jutsu was being mastered. This is a technique that allows a person to create many images of himself, but each illusion is only a temporary copy that remains as long as they are kept in the mind of Ryokuken. They lack substance and ki, but are capable of producing a projected voice and are also able to project a false power that can trick an opponent into thinking that the Kage-Bunshin-no-Jutsu was employed. A clone does not have the ability to use this technique though.
History: This is the story of the beginning, the story of Ryokuken the Tenken. His full story will never be known, and it is he who wishes that, so that none would know all of his pain. But the beginning will be known, and it is also the beginning of a sibling rivalry that was not needed nor desired, but would involve all of the beings that were a part of existence. Picture the world as it was 14 years ago, a world that has been covered in peace and harmony, a world that is so full of the life that is now cherished and so sought out. But to know of the village itself you would have to go further back...
Before those who truly would play a part in the final struggle to determine the direction in which existence would follow, three special techniques had been created to safe-guard those who would be involved. Those techniques would be used for great good, and an evil that surpassed normal bounds. Those techniques were then sealed within a scroll, a scroll that had been sealed with incantations of various arts, both dark and hallowed. The ones who had spent their lives then built a small shrine in honor of the scroll, and upon the grounds of that shrine people would come, whether it was to see the shrine or see the mythical fighters who had devised the techniques that could equal the gods in strength, they still came.
The fighters who had evolved their secrets into those techniques knew well of the danger that would be involved if they continued to keep the scroll there, so it was that they decided to leave the gathering of people and seek a hidden place to keep their precious scroll safe and hidden. So they traveled for many years in fear that they would be defeated and their techniques used to destroy all life on the planet. Their techniques they realized were above even them to control, for it was too late they realized that not only were they unable to break the seal on the scroll, but that they were also unable to fully master the techniques once used. It would take the greatest of masters to learn how over a single life-time, but should there ever arise one who would be capable of learning it within a matter of years...the implications of that thought alone provided them the will to take the scroll to a safe place.
Years passed and slowly the fighters aged and passed on to the next life. One by one the died from the one thing that all mortals must meet in the end, until there was only one left, she had been the youngest of the group, and it was now her sole responsibility to protect the scroll. But unfortunately her time was also running short, and she would soon die, knowing full well that the scroll would fall into someone�s hands that would eventually be transferred into another fighters hands, assuming that they would not be killed or hurt when they touched the scroll.
Along the path that she walked she found the place that they had searched for for so long. It was a village that had been hidden from the world, for the reason that it was a village that trained children to be of the shinobi should they reach a certain age and skill level. She knew that this was her only hope, for her days had been numbered ever since she had created that technique with the help of her fellow fighters.
The village itself was a very clean, nurturing place, that one would never believe it to hold the elite fighters known as the shinobi. This was were she belonged. She took the scroll which had been incased in a steel quiver and walked into the village. Houses were of simple design, and the woods which surrounded the entire village gave a calming feeling to her as she walked. Houses had mainly red tiled roofing, and were shaped in the way that a traditional pagoda would be. There were dirt roads running through the village, although there were no vehicles for transportation other then walking, they gave the town an even more pleasurable sensation.
It was as she was walking down the central road of the village that she met him. He was only the age of four, but since he had trained to his fullest at the age he was able to walk and run better then any other child she had seen. The boy was playing with someone who seemed much older, probably around the age of twelve, with a look of pure joy spread on his face. The two were running around the street and people walking would either turn and yell at the two to stay quiet and act like an adult, or they would simply laugh and smile at the two�s antics. She continued to watch them as she walked toward the largest pagoda which was obviously the place in which the leader of the shinobi stayed. She was surprised at how active the two had been when she first saw them, but now the two were beginning to move faster and faster, the little boy always trying to catch up to his older friend, who upon looking at them closely she was able to determine that they were brothers, and very close at that.
The younger one then began to move toward her unintentionally in his haste to catch up. It had been a complete accident, and later she kicked herself for not seeing the incident happening. The little boy had come closer to her as the older brother ran past her. But unlike his elder brother the younger brother tripped on a rock that jutted out of the road and he fell forward, flailing his arms wildly in a piteous attempt to keep himself up. Perhaps it was fate, perhaps it was by pure dumb luck, but the boy�s wild attempts managed to get himself in possibly a deeper inconvenience by grabbing onto the steel quiver that she was holding. The boy pulled it down and hit the ground face first, landing next to the quiver, which had been securely tightened before hand was now open and laying upon the ground next to the boy.
She stood there stunned and the boys older brother pushed past her to check up on the littler boy on the ground. The boy was alright, grinning at his own foolishness. But then the elder brother did something that horrified the old female fighter. He picked up the scroll and looked at it in wonder, smiling to himself at the object that he had found. In an instant though he snapped back to reality and looked down at his brother who was rubbing his head in embarrassment. The older brother blinked and handed the scroll to his brother, who by the same miracle did not suffer the pain of almost dying when he touched it. The little boy got up and put it back into the steel casing that it had been in and handed it to the female fighter with an apologetic grin on his face.
�Sorry ma�am! I should�ve been watching where I was going with better...um...� He turned to his brother for guidance as he struggled with the correct word to use. The older brother rolled his eyes and laughed as he knelt down and whispered something into his ears. The little boy grinned and turned to the old lady once again. �Visual modality! My name is Ryokuken and this is my older brother Shinkuken!�
She gazed at the two at first in wonder and then in annoyance. �You two should be more careful! Go play somewhere else!� She said and she pointed off to the woods with a finger. They both grinned and the little boy called Ryokuken paused before he ran off to give her a thumbs up sign. He stood there for a few seconds until she finally mimicked the thumbs up. The boy�s grin broadened and he ran off to follow his brother into the woods. She simply shook her head and walked off toward the Central Pagoda in the city, hoping that the leader of the village here would be able to keep the scroll safe.
When she had finally reached the central Pagoda, a grandiose palace with walls bordering the outskirts of the central courtyard. Waiting for her was the old man who kept order within the village, he was the highest level of ninja and was therefore the strongest in the village. He was a kindly old man who stood slightly hunched over, his eyes still bright as though youth had never left him. He was almost five feet in height, and his hair was a wispy white, seeming to fall from his head in a perpetual stream. His face was kindly, and he smiled as he looked down at the female fighter, who stood only a few inches from his height. She bowed to him in acknowledgment, and the two walked into the pagoda.
They talked for many hours, and it was finally later that the leader of the ninja�s accepted the task of protecting the scroll from those who would use it for evil purposes. The female fighter, nameless to the people and ninja�s of the village remained in the pagoda, making sure that her task here was finished. And so life went on in the village as normal for three more months, when the event that needed to set in motion the final battle of light and dark took place.
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Shinkuken was a ninja in training, officially that is. He had surpassed all within his age group and those above him. He had reached the point in his skill, strength, and speed, that he also surpassed the Elite ninja of the village. He had been dubbed a child prodigy, and was already up for nomination for being the next leader of the village should the time come. The only reason he was still an apprentice ninja was the fact that he had never desired to be known by all. He knew full well the implication of what would happen to him should he become the next leader, and although it was a great honor, he cared little for it. This is why Ryokuken looked up to him.
Ryokuken loved his brother, they were always together playing, and Ryokuken was always trying to catch up to his older brother, hoping that he to might be known for his strength like Shinkuken was. Shinkuken cared for his brother as well, but something seemed odd to him about Ryokuken, to him Ryokuken seemed to be getting better and better with each passing day, and that troubled him for some reason, even though he knew he should feel pride. But the four year old ninja still had a long way to go, and that thought comforted him.
His mother had raised him and Ryokuken, along with his two little sisters, both twins, and a younger brother who was more into increasing his mental capacity then he was increasing his abilities as a ninja, and that was fine with his family. Shinkuken�s father had died or disappeared a long time ago, and now he wondered just who or what his father had been. There had always been some sort of hope that his father would come home and show him where he had been...but that was a dream, and he knew that it would never come true. Nuikuken, the other brother who was around the age of eight, had lost his father shortly after he was born. His mother mourned this but struggled to support her two sons. Then when She met Ryokuken�s father, her life turned around, for after he was born she was blessed with luck beyond that of a normal person�s. Ryokuken always asked who his father was, but his mother would never tell him. Then She met her husband of today, and after a few years the twin daughters had been born.
This was the background of his family, and Shinkuken felt as though he should feel complete, but he never did. Something seemed to be missing, but his brother, Ryokuken, seemed to be in a constant state of bliss. Nothing seemed to upset him, and he was always happy to be with his family and friends. His friends were a little older then him, but he trusted them almost as much as he did his family, and so they were always playing, that is whenever Shinkuken was too busy to play, due to a mission of some sort that he would be sent on every now and again.
It was on the return of such a mission that he had decided to take a rest at a spring that was near a tree. He was leaning against that tree and gazing into the horizon, a dark orange and purple mix, something that occurs for only minutes a day, and is said to be one of the most beautiful sites that can be seen. The clouds were scattered sparsely through the dusk sky and the sun was on the verge of falling beyond the horizon, giving off one last bit of illumination throughout the forest that surrounded him. He slowly closed his eyes and smiled, knowing full well that this would be a moment for him to cherish throughout his life.
As the sun�s last rays of light faded from view he saw another light growing from the corner of his eyes. This light was different then the light that enveloped the landscape, almost as if it were two lights within the same light striving to conquer the other. These lights conveyed a seemingly complex message, and whatever the message was it drew Shinkuken to them. Shinkuken regretfully awoke from the half slumber that he had fallen into and looked around for some object giving off the light. Faster then a normal human eye could follow he picked himself up and leapt into the tree, waiting for whatever was imparting the mysterious light to make it�s presence known.
As the light from the sun faded from view the light which was made of two lights grew in volume and intensity nearly blinding the young ninja. As he watched in the tree the light finally provided a source for him to see what gave it off. Two beings stood within the light, not touching but close to each other, as if not trusting the other to go too far off without it�s knowing of it. They stood facing the tree, and Shinkuken knew instantly that his simple technique that he had employed half-asleep had not worked, although as to how badly he had failed in doing it he did not know, for it would depend on the skill level of the two beings in the light.
�Come down from the tree...this is you destiny that you must fulfill, and it is only you who can begin the cycle, the final cycle that is meant to be.� A voice had formed itself in his head and without knowing why he felt a great calm wash over him, feeling as though regardless of what he did now he would never regret it.
He lowered himself slowly from the limb in the tree and touched the ground with both feet, slightly light-headed. The two beings beckoned to him without even moving a finger, as though it was his own will to meet these two. Walking on trembling legs he collected his wits and walked to the two. He knew now that these two were gods, and of the highest calabur of god in existence. The light that the two were giving off was not a normal light, but a light that was emitted due to the raw power they each had. The light was not a soft glow nor was it a sharp, piercing brightness, but rather an inferno of light that�s luminescence seemed to be alive. They both looked at him with eyes void of interest, but whether or not they were hiding their interest was beyond Shinkuken.
He continued to walk toward them, feeling as though if he did not now, after coming this far to them, he would fail. He stood before them now, neither moving or daring to breathe too heavily. He was nervous, and they knew that fact well. Without another word the two deities each held out a palm of perfect structure, and within those palms rested two pendents, each of the exact same design, the design of a tear-drop. The only visible difference between the two was that each pendent had been crafted in a different color, one crystal clear, the other a deep crimson hue. The infernos that raged from the gods seemed to come from within the pendents, not the gods. Shinkuken, instantly knowing what to do, as though this had all been preordained, stretched out his right arm and took both pendents, and when he touched the pendents, something became clear to him.
The deity of light was Ryokuken�s father, for the crystal clear pendent had come from him, and so was his love transferred from the dazzling god of light to the pendent that was intended for his son. Shinkuken felt nothing then, knowing full well that Ryokuken�s potential would surpass him now without a doubt. But that was not the most astonishing thing to have happened to him then, it was that the pendent of the crimson hue belonged to him, meaning that the malevolent deity of darkness had been his own father, and that he too could increase beyond Ryokuken. The two gods looked on at Shinkuken to see what he would do, as if waiting for him to react to the knowledge in some peculiar way that they had not foreseen. Shinkuken eyed them both and then placed the two pendents into a pocket in his shirt, closing it to prevent anything from taking it.
The two gods nodded to each other and then with a brief flash, white light from the god of light and a dark purple flash from the god of darkness, they disappeared into the realm where they themselves would watch the events unfold. Shinkuken stared at the space where they had disappeared, and slowly, almost reluctantly, pulled himself away and ran back to his village, hoping to find Ryokuken as soon as possible.
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Ryokuken, having been bored immensely had decided to leave his home and go find his friends until his older brother Shinkuken arrived. His mother hugged him and kissed him on the forehead, and Ryokuken giggled and ran off to find them, waving to his sisters as they sat on the steps leading up to their house waving back. Ryokuken stopped and turned around, giving them a thumbs up sign, which the two laughed and mimicked with joy, happy to see him in his favorite pose. His brother Nuikuken looked up from his book and smiled at him, repeating the action of giving the thumbs up sign. The children�s mother rolled her eyes and took the daughters back into the house.
Ryokuken turned around and ran off out of the village, knowing full well where his friends would be. The waterfall that was on the mountain above the village with the large pond had always been a gathering place for him and his friends, and they knew well enough that if they were to go looking for them, that they should always go there, to that spot. Ryokuken, even at his young age, was one of the fastest in the entire village, and had received praise for his speed whenever he ran at his best. Although he was one of the fastest, he could never catch up to his brother, and that was what he had always tried to do, just to be with him.
As Ryokuken approached the spot he saw that he had been right, and that his friends were all waiting there, knowing that he would be bored and seeking enjoyment here. They all rushed out to meet him and together the children began to tackle each other in rough amusement. They all rolled around playing, and would every now and then jump off into the large pound that sat next to the road, the waterfall almost deafening the closer they got. They continued to play for late into the evening, until finally it had gotten dark. The kids all sat near the pond edge skipping rocks, seeing who could get the most. Ryokuken reached down to pick up a rock and as he touched it he saw his brother, walking slowly over to him and his friends, a ambagious looked etched onto his face when he saw Ryokuken. Ryokuken stood up straight and waved to Shinkuken, laughing with joy at the return of his brother. The other kids all looked over and saw the elder brother, and they too waved and started laughing, Shinkuken being a friend to them as well.
Shinkuken made his way straight to Ryokuken, ignoring the laughing children and the roar of the waterfall. He knelt down and placed his hand on Ryokuken�s shoulder, looking into his strange eyes that he had always had. Ryokuken�s eye�s had always scared him in a way, the way that there were three separate pupils surrounding the center one, and the color of his eyes also made him feel strangely odd, how purple they were amazed him. Ryokuken looked at his brother, and a worried look was painted all over his face. Shinkuken then spoke, and when he spoke to Ryokuken the children�s voices and the loud roar of the waterfall instantly disappeared.
�Ryo, I have something to give you...it�s...it�s a gift from you father...he wanted you to have it� He whispered to him softly. Ryokuken�s eye�s widened and he seemed to be in shock at what was said to him.
Slowly Shinkuken reached into his shirt�s pocket and drew out the two pendents, which glowed strangely when in contact with each other. Ryokuken looked confused at the two pendents and Shinkuken took the crystal clear one and put it around his neck, smiling. Ryokuken felt a great wave of happiness spread through him, and he knew as soon as that pendent had touched him just who his father really was. A soft white light emanated from the pendent as though it too felt the same joy the Ryokuken felt. Shinkuken saw this and smiled, and then he too place his pendent around his neck, expecting the same result.
As soon as the pendent fell around his neck Shinkuken froze. He lost sense of who and what he was, where he was, and why he even cared. The pendent gave off an ominous glow and it too rejoiced in it�s new found ability. Shinkuken was slipping, slipping into a realm that he knew nothing about, but within that realm there laid the power that he had been searching for all of his life, the power to surpass even gods. Unlimited potential flooded through his veins, altering his state of mind and his state of sanity. His eyes blinked hard and when he opened them again they were eyes no longer his, they had turned into the eyes of a demon, a demon with the body of a demi-god. But Shinkuken would not lose everything that he was, he continued to hold onto his consciousness knowing that a demon would take over his body completely should he ever allow it.
Ryokuken was still smiling at the new found friend, for he was able to communicate with it, a communication that was so deep within the two that no words or thoughts were needed to know what was being said. Ryokuken looked up at Shinkuken and smiled giving him a thumbs up sign. Shinkuken had now delved into insanity far beyond that of a normal mortal. With the power of the pendent and the blood of a god flowing through him, however watered down with human blood, was still a force that would have no equal. He gazed down at Ryokuken and broke out into a smile, the same smile that Ryokuken would remember all of his life. Shinkuken pulled his hand away from Ryokuken and trust it into his shirt pulling out a kunai knife. Before Ryokuken could comprehend what was happening, Shinkuken thrust the blade into his neck killing him with a blow that was enough to send him into the pond nearby. As the life faded from Ryokuken�s eye�s he heard his friends screams and the roar of the waterfall, all mingled with the laughter of Shinkuken, the brother he loved.
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Shinkuken had killed them all, not one of the children made it far, and the one who had attempted to attack him were instantly murdered. He relished in the blood that flowed from the children, and the pendent�s glow intensified with every death. Shinkuken now knew what he wanted, what he needed. The scroll. He had touched it once and now he knew that the power it gave off would become his power alone, and the techniques would soon be his to learn and master fully.
The old female fighter sat in the pagoda, sipping green tea as she looked out onto the courtyard. She had known that this night would be the last night, and that the evil creature coming here to kill her would not only take her life but all those in the village. She could do nothing to stop this, for if she saved even one life then all life in existence would pay for it. The child of light would have to suffer now, in order to become stronger later. She looked at the scroll and prayed that whatever techniques he learned they would not be all of them.
The old village leader sat near her, and he also knew of the events that would take place, but he ignored then, believing that it was just a false sign. He had recalled all the ninja�s to the village to be safe though, hoping that all would not be lost should the omen come true.
Shinkuken made his way to the village, killing all that he saw with incredible stealth and skill. But he did not bother to hide the bodies, for he wanted the people to come to him, and come they would he knew, for they would all die, everyone would all die. The pendent told him this.
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It was as if he was in a dream, floating in a world that had been so full of peace and love, only to have it destroyed by someone he cared about greatly. Ryokuken slowly opened his eyes, knowing that he was not dead, knowing that the pendent around his neck brought him back. He had been thrown into the realm of death only to have been saved by the same gift that his father.
He slowly lifted himself up and gazed around, a deep cry throwing itself from deep within his soul. Sorrow filled him now as he gazed out at his friends, who only a short while ago he had been playing with. These were his friends, he had shared dreams, goals, and happiness with them. But now they were massacred by one person, a person with whom he loved...all the carnage of his friends mutilated bodies had been the product of his brother, and now he was the only one who left.
Crying, he pulled himself from the water to get back onto the shore and see if they were all okay. They were not, each one he checked to see if they were alive, but the way they had been ripped apart and killed was too brutal for even the slimmest chance of survival. So Ryokuken, weeping non-stop, turned away from his friends, and looked down to his village.
The sight of the village stopped his tears momentarily, and the glow of fires illuminated the surrounding forest as if it had become day once again. The home that he had grown up was burning and all he could do was stare in horror. He wouldn�t believe it, no way was it possible for him to comprehend what was happening to his family and friends in the village below. He knew now that he had no time to stay here and cry, he knew because if he waited then he really would lose everything that he had. He lunged forward and using the speed he had been blessed with he ran as hard as he could to his home, where he knew that something had happened.
Everything was a blur to him, the woods, the village, the fire, all of it seemed to go past him without his own concern. Dodging through the streets he was sickened to see people lying everywhere, all dead. With each and every death Ryokuken saw the face of someone he had once loved, all of his friends dead now due to his brother. Tears streamed down his face and all he could do was run to his family, praying that they were still ok.
He finally reached the familiar steps of his home and ran into it, only to wish that he hadn�t. His brother had come here as well, knowing that his family would bring him greater satisfaction with their deaths. His brother, Nuikuken had been ripped in two, his corpse bleeding covering the floor of the entire room. Ryokuken covered his mouth and closed his eyes, sickened by the horror before him. He slowly opened his eyes to look for the rest of his family, hoping that maybe something had saved his sisters and mother. Hope failed him then.
Pinned to the wall hung his two sisters, gutted and hanging by kunai driven into the wall, their faces filled with pain and fear. That sight alone was too much, and Ryokuken broke down. He threw up onto the floor and knelt down, kneeling in the blood of his brother. He had never cried as hard as he did then, and with him the pendent seemed to cry, giving off a dark blue light. The light filled the room, and after crying for nearly ten minutes he heard a sound. It was his mother, he knew it, it had to be. He pulled himself up with such a painstakingly filled sorrow that he did not even notice the blood of his sibling�s on his clothing. He walked slowly, yet with such a rapid intensity that he began to dart around, looking for his mother. He found her near the door, laying on the ground with a kunai in her heart.
Ryokuken ran over to her and began to cry. She was alive, and he was filled with such a joy that he almost forgot his family. He was so happy that he was not alone. A dribble of blood came from his mother�s mouth, and she turned to look at him slowly, her gaze looking out at her son for the last time. She smiled slowly, tears forming in the edges of her slowly dimming eyes. Ryokuken put his head down on her chest and wept, unable to take all the pain at once. His mother, with her last strength, pushed him slowly up and took his hand, looking into his eyes.
�M..m..my littl..e gift.....from..the heavens,� she managed to say, pain forcing her to cry into his hand. Horror once again filled Ryokuken.
�No! Please mommy no!...please!� He cried, clutching at her hand and looking into her eyes.
�My....little...Tenken...� she said slowly, whispering the words before her breath left her body. Ryokuken sat there, gazing as her eyes glazed over. He stopped crying. He sniffed once and very gently reached over and closed her eyes. Then, in the same movement, he snapped his hand back and pulled the kunai from her heart.
�No way...no way are you going to get away with this...brother.� His look had lost the look of despair, and now he was ready, he knew that the house would burn down, and he also knew that the village was gone. He had killed them all, and now Shinkuken would pay for it.
Ryokuken stood up, the blood of his family covering him, the light of the pendent guiding him. He ran out the door with the kunai in his hand, knowing exactly where to find his brother. It was as if he was being called to the pagoda, as if the scrolls themselves were beckoning him to come. He ran through the streets again, oblivious to the carnage that had wrecked the city. Shinkuken had hunted them all down and defeated them, killing all of the greatest ninja�s in the city as if it were of no consequence. Ryokuken would end it. He had to.
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Shinkuken had killed them all, and the pleasure he was taking from it filled him and then left, forcing him to kill again to receive that same pleasure once again. When he had reached the pagoda that old woman who had brought the scroll confronted him, and the two had fought, but in the end her best was not even enough to hurt his body slicing her in half for failing to even hurt him. He killed every Elite Ninja there with ease, ripping through them the way a knife is torn through paper. Then before him stood the village leader, and with a burst of speed he attempted to kill Shinkuken, only to be caught within his grasp.
�The scroll is the key...the key to surpassing the gods...and you tried to prevent me from getting it? Die for you mistake.� Shinkuken grasped the elder by the face and crushed his skull in the way one would crush a piece of fruit. He threw the lifeless body of his leader and mounted the steps to the shrine where the scroll was kept safe.
Ryokuken had entered the courtyard and witnessed the death of the leader, and without thinking he performed the one ninjitsu he had mastered, the Shiouza. Thrusting his hands together as he ran he clasped them together and began to fold them in unison, and then with a simple combination of hand signals his body flashed and he ran into the shrine where his brother had already entered.
Shinkuken had reached the scroll and had already opened it, exulting in his triumph. He now would have the power to kill with no effort at all. The look of insanity had completely engulfed him, and now he was going further into it, never to return from it. As he pulled the scroll from the steel casing he began to unravel it, the power of the seals diminishing at his touch. Then with out warning Ryokuken blurred into the shrine and ran straight to where his brother was standing. He grabbed the scroll by the bottom of it, and Shinkuken was able to see one thing in his little brother�s face as he sped by, his eyes. The eyes put something into him, fear, and he hated himself for it. Ryokuken had only been able to rip off the lower half of the scroll, leaving his brother with almost two-thirds of it.
Ryokuken slid to a halt at the other end of the room, panting from the strain of the technique he had performed. Shinkuken looked at him and smiled that same smile he smiled right before he killed Ryokuken.
�Apparently that little pendent of yours has the ability to bring you back to life little broth...� Shinkuken started.
�SHUT UP!! You don�t ever get to call me that again! Do you hear! You killed them all! Mom, Nui, Shia, and Ren! They are all dead now! And it is all your fault! You don�t ever get to call me brother again!� Ryokuken screamed at his brother. Shinkuken stopped smiling and looked at Ryokuken now tired of him.
�Give me the part of the scroll you took from me and I promise to only tear out one of you lungs.�
Ryokuken looked at Shinkuken, holding the kunai in his hand ready to defend himself should he attack now. Shinkuken, with no change with facial expression, whipped out his arm and threw a kunai with lightning speed at Ryokuken. The kunai went directly through Ryokuken and hit the wall behind him with enough force to break it down, leaving a large hole. Ryokuken seemed unaffected by the attack, And Shinkuken�s eyes snapped wide open as he thought for an instant that his brother had achieved a level of speed above him. But that thought passed quickly and he soon realized what had happened.
A rage that caused even his pendent to give off a light of such anger that it cracked the room flooded through his body and out into the building. He screamed as he realized that not only had his youngest brother escaped him, but he had also taken the part of the scroll with him. He cursed his brother as he ran out of the building, searching for his brother, only to see that the pendent his brother was wearing had hidden him far too well. Shinkuken�s rage knew no boundaries, and as Ryokuken ran through the woods with the piece of the scroll he heard the anger of Shinkuken piercing his heart.
�RUN DAMN YOU RUN! FROM THIS DAY FORWARD I SEARCH FOR YOU AND KILL YOU, TAKING THE LAST OF THE SCROLL AND YOUR PENDENT TO ASCEND BEYOND THE GODS THEMSELVES!!!� He screamed out into the night air.
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Ryokuken ran for all that he was worth, he ran with the aid of the pendent to keep him from passing out. For days he ran until finally he passed out in on a hill near a village far far away from where he grew up. He cried once more, and then stopped. Taking the kunai that he had pulled from his mother, he swore upon it that he would avenge them all, and with that he slept.
Ryokuken trained under countless masters, perfecting their arts and secrets for the time when he would meet Shinkuken. He always smiled and played the fool, but underneath his exterior he was still saddened by the events which had happened, the pain he knew would never go away. But for the sake of those around him he was happy, and because he knew of peace with people he was still able to be happy, even though he knew it would never be the same.