"Hoho? Interesting. I've made a strong investment."
A retired shinobi with greased silver hair and a slim body chortled.
An old and rickety machine tinged next to him. Soon, tens of thousands of ryo were unleashed into a bag next to him.
He grinned joyously. He had made the right bet.
He had aged well and was around 65 at first glance.
Kai stood behind him nervously, his short constitution bobbing up and down to see what was going on.
The retired shinobi clicked his fingers twice impatiently.
"My drink is horribly warm."
The old man swung his drink around, a look of dissatisfaction on his face.
Kai scooted over before giving the drink a bit of ice release, not enough to freeze it but the kind that negated the heat.
The man had a gracious smile like a deceitful angel.
"A real use for the Yuki."
Kai ignored him before heading to his next attendee.
"Kai Yuki."
A voice sounded before him. Kai looked back in confusion. It was someone in a full black suit, their face hidden by some thick curly hair.
"Your application to work when you want to was accepted. You can leave for today."
Kai nodded solemnly.
"Thank you, sir."
As Kai strutted out he knocked into a person.
"Sorry."
Kai squinted and looked up, peculiarly.
It was Kyoto Uchiha, who had just gotten out of the arena, accompanied by the referee and two instructors.
Kyoto rose his chin.
"Hey."
Kai scuttled off after being glared at by the authorities.
After turning a corner, Kai listened closely. His ear pressed on the bland dull grey walls of the stadium. He could hear some muffled speech.
Kyoto looked at the men surrounding him, bored and tired.
"So, when do I get my paycheck?"
The referee bit his tongue and had a look of frustration on his face.
"Patience."
The referee squinted his eyes before handing Kyoto an envelope. It was as white as snow but it had aged and had an odd yellow tinge all over it.
"1500 Ryo, 1 win to your streak and you can choose your next opponent."
Kyoto tilted his head lightly.
"Sounds good to me."
Snatching the envelope softly, Kyoto strolled out with peace of mind. He was still bumbling over his most recent victory.
Kyoto quickly found his old clothes in a box that he had left them in and changed.
Kai who had been waiting by the corner for a few minutes nodded as he saw Kyoto.
His eyes were half-tearing.
"So... can we get that gyoza now?"
Kyoto smiled heroically.
"I'd say they've been earnt."
The two wandered out, through the dark tunnel and finally outside the red and white house. Leaving the underworld of the village hidden in the grass at peace.
It was just around lunchtime when they got out. They had woken rather late it would seem.
Not much actual time had passed between them waking up and them now going to get some gyoza.
As the two wondered a delicate and somber mood settled.
"Hey..."
Kai had uncertainty in his voice.
"You're pretty strong right?"
Kyoto shrugged with a bit of a smirk.
"Who knows, I could be considered quite weak compared to some entities."
Kai's voice grew with power over time.
"Well then. How about we fight? If I win, you have to buy me gyoza every day."
Kyoto had a look of surprise on his face.
"Ho? And if you lose?"
Kai shrugged innocently.
"I'll teach you ice release."
Kyoto looked at Kai dumbfounded.
"That won't be possible I'm afraid and that's an awful deal for you even if it was possible."
Kai sighed, he assumed Kyoto was just being generous.
"Fine, then I'll owe you a favor. One that surpasses the heavens."
Kyoto started walking with more pace.
"Alright, it's a deal."
Kyoto had no doubt he would lose. Kai had been grievously injured against normal shinobi.
And now he was going to essentially face the son of a god.
Yeah... things weren't looking amazing for Kai.
Nevertheless, Kai had an aura of joy as he found the gyoza stand which held the gyoza he so craved.
Kyoto paid 500 Ryo for a plate of 65 Gyoza. A decent trade-off.
Kai looked at it all, his mouth half-gaped.
"Isn't this too much?"
Kyoto laughed lightly. He seemed amused.
"It's fine, I'm tired after being in an environment like that."
The two dove in swiftly like ravenous hawks picking off worms from the ground. Their hands dove in and out rapidly.
Kyoto's mouth felt soothed as the components of the Gyoza shifted and melted in his mouth.
It was just beef and herbs but it tasted amazing when exhausted.
A wonderful eating session ensued.
But then... that fateful moment came.
The last gyoza. The most wanted but at the same time most dangerous gyoza in the entire world.
Kyoto reached for it casually, thinking that it wasn't a big deal but as his hand slowly dove down, a smooth hand grasped his.
It didn't use force to restrain his, but rather...
Chakra.
Kyoto's hand was frozen over. A faint layer of freezing perma-frost had settled perfectly.
Kyoto's eyes widened in hazard.
A sea of emotions had turned and a tide of unseen war had come crashing down in his mind.
His mouth irked right forcefully.
' This little...'
His anger seethed and practically boiled the gyoza before him.
Kai reached out as fast as he could, like a viper.
A move of enlightenment appeared in Kyoto's mind.
' If I can't have it..."
"No one can."
Kyoto couldn't even say the jutsu he was going to unleash he was that short for time.
Like a hyper-sonic cannon, Kyoto released the smallest but most furious fire release he had ever seen.
It set the gyoza in front of him ablaze and a huge flame bore fruit.
As the two looked at each other in hatred and frustration the owner of the shop came out.
He started shaking as he looked at the mess the two customers were making.
He looked like a true demon. His chef hat fell right off of his shiny balding head.
He was shaking so much that it looked like he could have easily started a minor earthquake.
"Get..."
"Out..."
"Of..."
"MY SHOP!!!"
The two were paddled away, Kyoto sent out a water release on the way out to eliminate the fire, unknown to the gyoza chef.
The two found themselves at the edge of the village hidden in the grass.
"What an overreaction."
Kyoto brooded as a hand lay deep into his cheek.
"Yeah..."
Kai and Kyoto looked off into the distance nostalgically.
Kai spoke tiredly and far from energetically. His eyes were squinted hard.
"I made 500 Ryo for an hour of work."
Kyoto had a hint of snark in his voice.
"I made 1500 ryo for a death battle."
"Nice."
Kyoto looked at the sky.
"What do we do now? I know I've got a fight tomorrow but there's still a whole day ahead of us."
Kai looked up at the sky as well.
"Agh. I don't know. Days don't usually feel this long."
Kyoto felt a small burn of inspiration flash in his mind.
His eyes burned with the influence of his mind.
"Alright."
"Bring in the bets."
Kyoto placed 100 Ryo on Kyoto A.
Kai placed 100 Ryo on Kyoto B.
"The fight of the century."
"KYOTO VERSUS..."
"KYOTOOO."
Kai looked up dead-panned.
"Great commentating."
A small flutter of claps emerged.
Kyoto took them all in graciously.
Soon Kyoto backed out and in a field of sailing grass, two Kyoto's faced off against each other.
Or rather, two shadow clones that looked exactly like Kyoto. One had a man-bun and the other had a ponytail.
Although Kyoto didn't use the Jonin-level shadow-clone technique in combat since he considered it a waste of chakra, it was good for entertainment.
Kyoto A, who had a ponytail unleashed a deadly fireball jutsu. It was the basics of the basics but it would be devastating against a fellow shadow clone.
Kyoto B dodged it with a front flip and just flipped over it. Kyoto A didn't stop his attack and unleashed a thunderclap arrow.
Instantly, a vibrant blue arrow construct formed before swerving toward Kyoto B in an instant.
Kyoto B dodged it by curving his body right.
Soon, the two entered a battle of taijutsu.
Kyoto B had the advantage and was on the offense.
Their hands which were swapping rapidly looked like blurs as they went back and forth.
Soon, Kyoto B landed a sweep on Kyoto A and attempted to finish it off with a fireball jutsu.
Kyoto A realized the ploy and swiftly swept Kyoto A to the ground from its grounded position by utilizing both of its legs.
Kyoto A fell quite goofily and its jutsu went into the air, embers fell to the floor in a parade.
The two soon engaged in combat once more.
Kyoto B went for a chidori as fast as possible.
Kyoto A wasn't prepared and before it could react it had been slashed on the surface 8 times due to the rapid combat speed of the chidori.
Kyoto A looked like it was on the verge of disappearing and was only still present because the chidori was quite weak and barely had any chakra put into it.
Realizing it probably only had one good hit in it left, Kyoto A released all its chakra in one move going for a huge jutsu that had a huge AOE.
It did a fast set of hand signs before breathing in all of its chakra. Once it finished this attack it would most likely disappear.
"Fire style: Lesser fire annihilation."
The same attack that Kyoto used on Orochimaru.
Kyoto B responded with the exact same attack.
"Fire style: Lesser fire annihilation."
Soon, two straight beams of pure beastly orange flames powered through and clashed with each other.
All the flames that reached the fields were put out by the real Kyoto.
The clash between the two flame cannons continued for a while until a clear result was made. Kyoto A had gained the advantage by going first and was slowly engulfing Kyoto B's lesser fire annihilation.
The flame-like cannons slowly died down, and Kyoto B caught fire and would disappear any moment. Its fire annihilation jutsu was just a second faster to burn out first.
A very harmful second.
From the bridges of death, Kyoto B did hand signs faster than Kyoto had ever assumed he could do.
Although it was fun and games for Kyoto and Kai, for the clones it was life and death.
Kyoto B released its last jutsu whilst on the very brink of death.
"Thunder style: Thunderclap arrow."
Its arm melted away as it threw the vibrant blue thunder construct.
It popped into a puff of smoke.
Its arrow traveled and pierced straight through the unexpecting and overconfident Kyoto A.
Kyoto A had a look of shock as it was carried by the arrow for a few seconds before bursting into a cloud of smoke.
Kai and Kyoto turned their heads to each other at the same time.
"Draw?"
Kai nodded. He would've taken the loss but it did seem like a draw since both had died in a 2 seconds gap.
The two kept their money and continued their day, exhilarated.
Kyoto's journey in the ninja world had taken a small twist.
(I know shadow-clones aren't that durable but come on just imagine that these are some pretty goated shadow-clones.)