The ninja weapons clashed against each other, causing sparks that momentarily illuminated the night. The eyes of both ninjas met, one of them possessed eyes black as the night itself, while the latter, showed a mystical X in the pupil, accompanied by a mysterious blue color like the sky, whose iris was surrounded by an intense and bright red color.
The battle between these two ninjas was evenly matched, neither was backing down, no, he was simply toying with his enemy.
"Damn brat..."
He held his arm tightly, as a deep cut was located there. Blood gushed out like an unstoppable waterfall, little by little his movements lost speed until....
"Job done..."
Toru's eyes flashed as he watched the man fall in front of him. All around him was littered with corpses, each one had died in gruesome ways, clean slashes separating limbs and breaking bones. For him, it was easy to kill these bastards with just a slash of his daggers. This was now his part-time job and, although it was hard to find people worth as much money as the leader of this band of ninjas, it was enough to fund his own lab.
Mercenary work was sometimes a bit tiring, he always had to search for information on his own, make preparations and many more things just to kill a single person.
"Luckily I didn't damage the face, so they can recognize it and pay me what they promised me. Now, I should check this base, maybe there is something valuable. Okaminaru, keep an eye on the surroundings, if anything happens, kill them all."
"If they attack me I will have no choice but to defend myself. If they die in the process, it will be their fault for attacking me without a second thought. Besides, if it helps you continue with your bizarre plans, that's fine with me."
"Thanks, I'll reward you when we get to our base."
Having said that, Toru began to explore the base of these ninjas.
According to the information he managed to get, this was a gang belonging to some sort of mercenary organization. Among them was the leader, whose head was worth 15 million ryou. Toru accepted this job from some suspicious people who bought the corpses, moreover, when he joined this job, he was given a Bingo Book, which contained different assassination targets.
It was a surprise for him to find Hatake Kakashi and Sarutobi Asuma in that book. Both were worth a lot of money, over 30 million each, but Toru didn't need so much money to go head on and kill them, with the man he had just assassinated was more than enough. Now, he marked with an X the image of the man's face that appeared in his book, indicating that the target had already been eliminated.
'I need to take a bath, I'm covered in blood again. Now that I remember, I forgot to leave one or the other alive to use in my experimentation, though I don't think I'll have to do that, I already have ten Root ninjas kidnapped, if they survive, they may be of use to me in the next few months'
While thinking, he went through the pockets of all the corpses, that's how he was able to find about 2 million ryou. Seeing the pitiful amount of money these guys had, a sigh came out of his mouth. They were about fifty people, so it was unfortunate that they all together have so little money.
Still, after his monetary disappointment, he continued to look through the things that were lying on the ground until he reached the tents belonging to the now deceased mercenaries.
Once there, he took the opportunity to renew his ninja equipment, basically stealing everything he could and sealing them in some scrolls. All this took him about ten minutes until he reached the last tent, which was the largest.
As he approached, he could smell a strange odor...
'It's the second time in my life I've seen something like this, only this time it's worse.'
When he opened the tent, he saw a naked girl, possibly between 16-17 years old. She had bruises all over her body, her gaze was vacant, she looked malnourished and her lips were dry.
She never noticed that a strange boy had entered the tent. She simply covered her body with her arms while hiding her face in her knees.
Although it was little, Toru could see her face, she was a pretty girl, however, all her beauty was wasted due to the deplorable conditions she was in. He squinted his eyes, the see a strange viscous liquid coming out of the girl's crotch. This gave him a strange feeling, as a small burning flame flared in his eyes, the light of death presented itself. He held the daggers in his hands and approached.
Feeling the sound of a stranger's footsteps, the girl's eyes widened in fear, tears began to run down her cheeks, as she tried not to let her sobs be heard. She hugged herself tightly, and waited for this stranger to do what he had to do.
This was no life... she thought so. Being abused over and over again, being beaten and treated like an object... this was not living....
"Mom... help me..."
She closed her eyes tightly as, in tears, she called out to her mother, asking for help, but no one came to her rescue, all she got after suffering so much, was a crushing silence that only made the fear and despair she felt increase. There was no hope anymore, even death would be a prize for her. That's what she wished, that her suffering would end, she didn't want to go on living like this... no more, no more...
'Mom... why did you leave me alone?'
She gritted her teeth hard, waiting for whatever this man was going to do to her.
"Kill me already... kill me, please..."
Resigning herself once again, she had forgotten how many times she had asked these men to murder her, yet they only laughed as they used her body as if it were an object. And, though she waited patiently for these men to use her body, the silence only continued. Although she heard someone's footsteps, nothing happened in those seconds of silence.
So, with curiosity and tears on her cheeks, she slowly looked up. Her eyes opened when she saw him, that boy....
He was looking at her with an expressionless face, with a beautiful color of eyes that shone as if they were the lights of fireflies at night. He was a boy, with very fine easy features, black hair, just like hers. And on his scarf, there was the badge indicating that he was a Konoha ninja, however, she paid no attention to this and looked at this boy's face. The mystical color of his eyes, with an X stretching across his pupil, she thought... this was something strange.
"Kami...-sama...? [God?]"
She did not understand what her eyes were seeing, however, her mind came up with a simple explanation for this occurrence. He was god, a god who came to end her suffering, a god...who would take her to her mother.
This god, this false god sighed wearily. He raised his dagger as the X in his eyes slowly rotated.
"...Do you wish to die?"
Toru's eyes widened at the sight of that girl's face.
A sad smile... and one of relief, with tears running down her cheeks, falling to the floor. She had dark circles under her eyes, yet she was a pretty girl, she was just a girl, whom some bastards tainted with their filthy seed.
This led him to understand, that this world was, somehow, cruel and beautiful, for this girl, accepted the end of her suffering with a smile on her face. So he did not have to minimize the wishes of this young lady whose innocence had been taken from him, he simply decided to fulfill her wish, like the false god that he is.
So, in a single second, his right arm moved and blood splattered, staining the entire tent. Right there, inside that place, lay that girl, whose head had been completely shattered by the daggers of her false god. She died without any pain, with a smile on her face, and as for this false god who only existed for a few seconds, she sighed as she left that sad place.
I walk slowly and observing the surroundings, where all the lifeless bodies of the mercenaries were. The massacre he had caused... was finally satisfactory for him.
A smile formed on his face as he appreciated the chaos he had caused. This was pleasurable, the sensation of death covering his body, the stars and the moon rising in the sky. This was the perfect place, the perfect setting for a death artist.
"The show is over" He closed his eyes keeping the smile on his face, at the same time, he stretched out his arms as he let out a long sigh.
He kept the daggers in his cloak and wiped his face with a handkerchief. He kept a relaxed and calm expression after that, however, this expression soon changed to one of concern and annoyance.
'Kill them'
'It was love'
With the knife
'I don't want this!'
'Forgive me'
'You fucking murderer!'
'I wanted to..."
'Die you bastard!'
'Damn brat'
'Tonight...'
'Hahaha'
'There is no escape'
'You'll suffer for the rest of your life'
'Mom... help me...'
Dozens of voices began to echo in his head, each one saying something completely different. Like whispers, over and over again they sounded close to his ears, the whispers echoed in his brain, only to return to his ears again, repeating this process over and over again.
He touched his head in pain as the light in his eyes intensified, at the same time, the X in his pupils began to swirl violently and a tear of blood ran down his cheek to finally fall to the ground. At that moment, he looked up.
The whole atmosphere became dark, but he kept everything around him, the trees, the lifeless bodies, the flames that tried to devour the forest. However, blood began to flood the ground, the moon turned blood red and the stars became a crimson red rain. Right there, dozens of human silhouettes made of blood began to emerge from the ground, men and women alike, all stretched out their hands to reach Toru.
He, in the midst of all this mess of blood, fell to his knees, holding his head tightly.
'Get away from me...'
The blood silhouettes didn't hear him and together, they began to whisper louder, closer to Toru's ears. Soon those whispers became screams, screams that echoed in his mind, over and over again without stopping.
"GET AWAY FROM ME!"
Toru's shout echoed through the forest. In that instant, everything returned to normal. The moon, the stars... there was no more blood on the ground. However, this made his breathing heavy, with small beads of sweat running down his forehead. The silence that came after this was despairing, something that disturbed the calm in her heart, but...
"Thank you... Kami-sama."
He looked up without knowing what was going on. A girl's voice was heard in front of him, that's when he saw who it was....
With a peaceful smile on her mouth... her eyes were the color of an emerald, her hair was black and her skin was snow white. She was that girl, whom his false god killed to end her suffering and now, that girl was thanking god for saving her from that endless darkness.
Slowly, that girl disappeared, as if her body turned into glowing particles that rose up to the sky and then, silence returned to the place, but somehow, everything became more peaceful after that.
Toru touched his chest feeling a sense of relief. This kind of thing started to happen to him very often, just after a month of leaving his home village. However, it was the first time someone thanked him for something like killing him.
-6 months later-
It's been a few months since all this started. Just now, funding his next project, everything was ready to start the investigation. About twenty people were spread out on stretchers, bound at the arms and legs with thick straps to prevent the use of their limbs. Even the instruments he would use were near each stretcher.
It was time to start this show, a show full of screams and tears, the definition of a tragedy.
'Each test subject has the same blood time as I do. It was hard to find so many, but now everything is ready. I'm surprised that most of them are Root ninjas, though. Danzo doesn't give up and keeps sending his ninjas. 'I should think about how to kill him, but for the moment I can't return to Konoha, I must first obtain this Kekkei Genkai'.
Finishing washing his hands, Toru put on his lab coat. He walked a few meters until he reached one of the metal trays located next to one of the stretchers. Once there, he took some white gloves and put them on, taking care not to let any bacteria reach the surface of the gloves. With that finished, he looked at all the stretchers, trying to choose his first guinea pig.
There was one in particular that interested him. He seemed to have a good resistance to taijutsu and ninjutsu strikes, he was also good at using these two equally, so it could be said that this kidnapped ninja was the strongest of all present with the exception of Dr. Toru.
"I'll start with you, get ready, these are going to be a long few months."
With a look as cold as ice, Toru took one of the small glass containers, whose content was Yamato's blood, only this one had small modifications. He obviously had to modify its cellular structure to avoid mishaps in the assimilation of the cells, so the human body would not have so much chakra load when the new cells were integrated into its system.
However, he stared at the blood in the container for a few seconds. That bright red blood brought back memories he thought had been buried in his mind, never to appear.
"Yamato-sensei..."
-During the training before the final test of the chunin exams-
The loud punches were heard reverberating throughout the place. Speed versus experience, Toru was trying his best to be able to connect even one punch, however, it was impossible. Every time he thought he had managed to find a weakness to throw a crushing punch, Yamato would parry it as if it had been nothing, as if it was simply the punch of a small child with no ability to defend himself.
Every time he threw a punch, his energy was depleted. He was exhausted, his speed began to slow down greatly, with each passing second.
Yamato, on the other hand, showed no mercy and, every time Toru approached to throw a punch, he easily blocked it, only to hit him back a second later with twice the force.
"It looks like you can't continue anymore, so let's end the training for the day. Can you stand up?" Yamato asked as he saw his student lying on the ground, completely exhausted from the hard training he was receiving.
"Ha... ha... I can't breathe... I'm going to die..."
"You're overreacting."
"Yeah... I was just thinking, thinking about some things that have me intrigued. Yamato-sensei, how did you get your Kekkei Genkai? I mean the Mokuton."
Squinting his eyes as he heard this question, memories of his dark past came back to his mind. Now that he had become a sensei, there was no problem in telling this to his student. For a team of ninja, trust must come first, this made him think things over a bit more.
"Hm... let's go to some restaurant for something to eat. I'll tell you about it there..."
***
The aroma of meat was in the air. This reached his nostrils, causing his hunger to increase. He felt as if his mouth would start producing more saliva than normal, but something like that is common in humans, after all Toru is hungry too, and if Yamato is the one who will pay the bill in this restaurant, he should make the most of it to fill his stomach, after all the opportunity to eat for free didn't always present itself.
Together they took one of the tables that was farthest away from everything and took a seat there. They ordered large amounts of meat to be able to prepare, as this was a barbecue restaurant, so preparing their own food was something that could be done.
"How about eating a little first, training is heavy and wears the body down, however, you can regain your fitness by eating and staying healthy. A ninja should eat enough, so he can stay alive and healthy."
"That's fine, if you say so. Although that's something I already knew."
"That's good to know that. Now, while we're eating... Earlier you asked a question that caught my attention. You asked about my Kekkei Genkai, so I'll ask a question too."
"What kind of question?"
"A simple question to answer, depending on your intentions as a ninja. So, why are you hiding your ninjutsu? You refused to train the ninjutsu you already know in advance, why?"
"I'm sorry to give such a flat answer. You'll simply be able to find out when it's my turn to fight in the final exam."
"So I'll have to wait to get my answer, huh... Then so be it. As for yourquestion, I suppose you must know who the first Hokage is, right?"
"Uh-huh, Senju Hashirama, the man everyone called Shinobi God."
"Good, then this will be easier to explain."
Picking up some meat with the chopsticks, Yamato placed them on the grill and then continued with his answer to Toru's question.
"Shodai Hokage-sama, was an exceptional ninja, so much so that everyone considered him a god among the shinobi. He possessed hundreds of hidden jutsu, powerful enough to massacre entire villages. Among those jutsu, was Mokuton, the Kekkei Genkai that was created by his own hands. Suiton [Water Style] in one hand, Doton [Earth Style] in the other, by joining his hands, the chakra of these two elements combined, creating what is known as Mokuton [Wood Style]. This is a powerful jutsu, possessing a high attack and an almost impenetrable defense. Having explained that, the reason why I have this jutsu that belonged to the first Hokage... is because I am an experiment, can you guess who is the author of this experiment you have in front of you?"
Touching his chin with his thumb, he analyzed all the information he had so far and tried to look for someone capable of making an "experiment" capable of transplanting a Kekkei Genkai, however, no idea came to his mind.
"I don't know..."
Yamato closed his eyes and took the piece of meat that was on the grill with the chopsticks, then, he brought the meat to his mouth and made sure to enjoy its taste before swallowing it.
"Orochimaru..."
Toru's eyes widened as he remembered the snake man.
"He was the one who used Shodai Hokage-sama's cells on me to make my body capable of replicating that Kekkei Genkai. He used me as a guinea pig in that experiment, there were more children with me at that time, they all died except for me... however, it's been a long time since that happened, so I'm better now. I became the sensei of three rookie genin and, even though it was against my will, I can say that I enjoy being the sensei of the three of you."
Looking at the meat on his chopsticks, Toru sighed, he felt he shouldn't have asked that.
"You question yourself, don't you? That's something we all do, we think about everything around us and right now you're thinking about what I just told you. The reason why I told you all this...is because I trust my students."
Leaving some bills on the table, Yamato wiped his lips with a handkerchief to then leave Toru eating without any worries.
"I'll see you early tomorrow morning, training has only just begun."
He glanced at his sensei before he walked out the door of the restaurant. For a second he observed the meat on his chopsticks to then bring it to his mouth.
"Free food doesn't go to waste, neither does information."
-Back to the present-
"Ahhhhhh! Aghhhhh! Ugh!"
He tried to free himself from his restraints, but it was useless, the straps were too strong to break with his physical strength, even the gag in his mouth was too strong to break with his teeth. He simply continued to writhe on the gurney as he felt a strange cold fluid running through his veins. The sensation was strange, but he felt no pain. For a moment he came to feel that everything was fine, that nothing was going to happen... what a wrong thought.
He arched his back in pain and his eyes were bloodshot as his screams of pain were barely audible due to the gag in his mouth. He desperately tried to break free, but it was the same as before. He felt his heartbeat quicken, he also felt the blood move faster than normal inside his veins and, at that moment, his screams stopped being heard, being replaced by moans of agony as his body convulsed. Blood began to flow from his eyes and mouth, at the same time as roots began to grow from different places on her body.
Roots clung to the stretcher, roots began to come out of his arms and legs, but the place where the most roots were coming out was from his chest, right where his heart should be.
His vision began to blur and before perishing before this cruel experiment, he looked into the eyes of the boy who held a pencil and a notebook, which wrote down everything that was happening, with such a cold look, that it seemed like death itself looking into his eyes.
"Test subject 01... dead. The assimilation of the cells was too much for his body, he could not resist the process and the balance in his chakra was lost, showing the roots of Mokuton coming out of specific places in his body. Note for the next test: Slightly modify the cell structure to avoid disturbing the chakra balance. Adjust slightly the amounts of red and white blood cells that the test subject's body receives..."
Disappointed by his first failure, Toru sighed wearily.
"Let's get on with it."
______
From now on, I plan to make this story a bit more raw and cruel for the main character. There will be many important events for Toru in this second volume, all of which will affect him mentally. Still, there will always be happy regrets for him, the story is only in its second prologue before entering the real plot. So consider these two volumes a full-fledged Naruto fanfic, after that, well... it will be a surprise.
The next chapter will be published at 460 power stones, we will meet again when we reach that goal.