___________ POV Narration ___________
It was a sunny day in the Land of Keyes, Yamada Tomichi, the kage of the hidden village within that land couldn't help but take a sip of tea as he enjoyed the view from his window.
Their hidden village was a coastal one, being right near a beach, hidden among sand, rocks and foliage.
But despite its natural camouflage, it was still a rather great tourist attraction for many.
Some called it the 'Pearl of the West', a nation so beautiful nestled in between the below-average lands of the Rock and the Wind.
Yamada was immensely proud of his village, especially since he was the son of its founder.
The Land of Keyes formed a bit later than most, as things were still quite messy after the Warring States period for them.
It was hard for their land to consolidate enough power to protect itself from the giants surrounding it.
Thankfully, they were able to avoid being invaded many times due to their being able to foster good relations with most of their neighbours.
Yamada's participation in the Shinobi Alliance against the Uzumaki was also a way for him to show his support to the Tsuchikage at the time.
Of course, it turned out to be a bust, but Yusuzo was forced to cut his losses in that situation.
Thankfully Onoki had much bigger issues in his hands than picking on a smaller land for abandoning the alliance at that time.
So, Yamada was left pretty much unaffected by most issues. He was also one of the lands that didn't participate in the War on the Dark Brotherhood. Also called the 'War of the Greats'.
The Land of Keys was simply not in any state to get involved in such conflicts.
Yamada had put a lot of effort into maintaining the neutrality of his Land that entire time. His only real regret was not being able to join the Three Corners Alliance and benefit from it.
Alas, it wasn't as if he was worthy of it in the first place. Their Land of Keys would've been significantly weaker than all of the others, and they were also not much better financially than any of them...
He sipped his tea as he looked over some files, random reports about the village's finances and the number of new genin they had produced that year.
Such reports were integral to the job of a Kage, Yamada was to check them before sending them forward to the Daimyō of the Land of Keys in his quarterly report.
As he was checking those files, a shinobi dropped from the ceiling of his office and took a knee, grabbing the Kage's attention almost immediately.
"I guess it must be important since you are interrupting my tea time..." Yamada muttered as he gave the masked Anbu a cold gaze.
"S-sir, we have reports that the Red Dot has been spotted heading towards and entering the Shura Clan's compound!" The Anbu wasted no time in giving his report.
The silence in the room following his report was so deafening that one couldn't even hear the sound of the waves outside crashing into the coast.
"The Red Dot... Wha- Why would..." Yamada lost his composure at that moment.
After all, Ken was a figure that could singlehandedly wipe out the entire Land of Keyes within the day. Yamada was well and truly stumped.
'What could he want from such a remote clan? Is he perhaps interested in their bloodline? But it is quite useless since it is uncontrollable...'
"S-sir, should we send a party to intercept and attempt to question his intentions?" The Anbu continued kneeling as he spoke out.
His words seemed to grate Yamada's ears, however.
"What? Do you want to die? If you're feeling suicidal don't drag the village down with you.
No, no one is to bother Ken. Include the Shura clan in that order, for as long as Ken is even rumoured to be close to the compound we aren't touching it with a ten-foot pole."
Yamada didn't care at all about losing face. He didn't care if his neighbours would taunt him later about Ken being able to just waltz into his territory like it was his own house.
At the end of the day, the Kage saw his approach as being the most pragmatic in that situation. Pragmatism was his ruling principle at the end of the day.
The Land of Keys couldn't possibly have anything to offer to someone like Ken.
And since getting positively involved with Ken was near impossible, Yamada didn't want to get involved with Ken at all.
Now, whether or not Ken wanted something from them remained to be seen.
'Although doubtful, if he truly needs our help with anything, he will seek us out. Not like we could stop him from strolling into my office any time he so desires...'
And so Yamada decided to continue with his day normally. With the Shinobi under him doing just as instructed and drawing a perimeter around the Shura Clan.
Meanwhile, in a residence of the Shura Clan's compound, Ken was still sitting at the table with his Biological Family.
The conversations seemed to flow more smoothly at that table from that point forward.
Hiroshi had a lot of questions, which Ken answered with the same relaxed and friendly smile.
The Blind Monster also finally came to know his parent's names. The biological mother was named Ryoko, and his father was named Toyama.
They all bore the Shura family name, representing their clan.
The parents were awfully quiet as the brothers spoke about their lives up to that point.
"T-that's so awesome! So you hunted down those swordsmen just like that?!?"
Of course, Ken provided a simplified version of his past. A lot of it was public information regardless, it was just that Hiroshi paid no mind to the Shinobi world.
"Mhhmm~ I guess you could say I had a lot to pay them back for. But I somewhat outsourced their deaths to my subordinates, just to add that bit of humiliation in there.
To this day I keep their blades within the organization that I have built."
Ken smiled as he briefly remembered the events of that day. He may not have found the type of enjoyment he wanted from his revenge, but taking out such a disgusting group of Shinboi was still a nice memory for him.
Ryoko and Toyama were both pretty much petrified, finally remembering the very infamous parts of the Red Dot's legend.
Of course, the thought that Ken would take revenge on them did cross their minds. But seeing as they were still alive, and Ken hadn't peeled the skin from their bones the moment they dared to attack him gave them some hope.
Ryoko, at the very least, wouldn't ever fight back against Ken.
'If he decides to kill me... Then so be it.' She knew her mistake, hell she regretted it moments afterwards, but her husband had insisted that raising Ken would be too difficult.
At the time, Ryoko was persuaded by his argument that caring for a blind, rampaging member of the Shura Clan for a lifetime was an impossible task.
It was only through bonding with Hiroshi that she recognized just how grave her mistake was. She realized that caring for a child was never a burden as long as one genuinely cared for it.
As Toyama grew older, he too felt disappointment in his younger self. However, he was more stubborn than his wife and never fully admitted his fault—at least until his mistake was 'staring' him right in the face.
Regardless, Ken's story of revenge wasn't the only concerning aspect to the parents... There was also their son's reaction to it all.
Hiroshi really seemed to be cut from the same cloth as Ken. He seemed more impressed and fascinated when hearing about the gruesome deaths of the 7 Swordsmen of the Mist.
They were not killed in battle, they were tortured, broken both physically and mentally and ultimately murdered in their lowest moments.
Ken had likely left them with such deep mental scars that they were never going to make it to the Pure Lands.
After all, any soul with attachments and regrets was forever going to be stuck in limbo.
Ken's revenge had inadvertently doomed their afterlives as well.
The Shura Clan had deeply spiritual beliefs, and so did the clan that Ryoko originated from, which was why they were all the more horrified by what their son, Ken, had become.
Although, they really didn't have the right to call him their son.
"Anyway, that's enough about my life. I am doing well for myself, I am a proud father of hundreds now, and the Brotherhood is thriving more than ever."
Both Ryoko and Toyama felt their eyes almost pop out of their sockets when hearing that. At least until they remembered that Ken was considered a father figure for all recruits in his organisation.
Hiroshi really seemed to admire Ken a lot. And how couldn't he? A child that was dealt what was likely one of the shittiest hands in life turned everything around thanks to sheer talent, hard work and determination.
Of course, if one were to ask Ken directly then he would contribute most of his success to his unmatched talent.
His skills as an assassin had carried over, but it was thanks to the body that he was born into that he was able to use them from such a young age.
Had he been a normal child, then he likely would've only started his life in the Shinobi world at around 15 or 16, when his body would've matured more.
He would have lost many opportunities, and he would have certainly not been able to rise as quickly.
"Now then... Let me get to why I've decided to visit you all in the first place..." Ken slowly leaned into his chair, Hiroshi's attention was completely fixated on him.
His parents both nodded.
"Information and blood samples... We will do our best to help you with everything you need, Ken..." Toyama spoke out, his gaze told of his inner turmoil, betraying his calm exterior facade.
But Ken didn't really care, instead, he smiled and started learning more about his clan and its current situation, as well as the circumstances of his birth...
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