In the beginning there was a Kami known as Kenchi. He was the mighty war Kami with dominion over lightning. He had his own army of troops and he would travel the land, sacking towns and crushing the world. There was nothing left behind him but slaughter and death. He met no true opposition until he came to a small city named Ryoku on the island of Kokokan.
When his army sat outside the city gates waiting to attack, a lone man came out. This was a large man, as large as even the Kami himself. He stood a head taller than even the tallest and was as broad as a horse. He wasn't so much a warrior as a wrestler. The wrestler practiced martial arts like most did, but he concentrated on hard grapples and grips, whereas most used sweeping forms of fists and feet. The most peculiar thing about this man meeting Kenchi was that was only wearing a loincloth, and some fabric wrapped around his midsection to hold the loincloth in its place.
This man, Kentaro, looked down on how Kenchi did his warring. He believed for a good fight, the man should look his opponent in the eyes. Meet him man to man and solve their differences unarmed. For this was the better way to solve problems, Kentaro said. There was less death and destruction this way, and there was still fighting.
Swords and spears were in fashion, but he chose none of those things. "A sword doesn't matter if you're grappling the man's arms," he would tell people whenever they asked why he didn't use a weapon. It was not a popular form of fighting and the martial community mostly looked him down upon.
This was also the time when humans were just discovering cultivation. The inner power some martial artists sought to increase their power. He didn't embrace that ideology either. Kentaro had enough skill and strength in his craft to not need some sort of worldly power to help him. He had his own inner power he could rely on.
He met Kenchi on the battlefield, man to man. They discussed an arrangement where if Kentaro won, his city would be saved. Kenchi and his army would leave and the city would be left in peace for the rest of eternity. If Kenchi won, however, Kentaro would join his army and fight alongside his men. Kentaro agreed. He would do whatever it took to save his brethren and the city he called home.
Little did Kenchi know, for he did not inspect Kentaro too closely, that Kentaro had a plan. He had been visited by an old chron of a woman sometime before. Kentaro had been looking for a way to defeat the Kami for so long. He long had the dream of stopping the bloodshed and destruction this Kami brought upon the world. This old woman had given him a scroll. A scroll that promised to give him immense power, enough power that he would rival even the Kami.
Standing there in front of Kenchi, he summoned this power. Runes appeared on his skin as if a calligrapher brushed them on. He crouched down and clapped his hands together with such force that it sounded like cracking thunder in the sky. He then spread his arms open wide, showing that without a doubt he was meeting Kenchi unarmed.
Kentaro then stood and brought his right arm up to the Heavens, praying for Rei, the Father, to give him strength in this battle. He then brought up his right leg as high as he could, so much so he was almost doing the splits while standing. The wrestler brought the foot back down to the earth with a mighty thump that sounded like another crash of thunder. He then did the same movements with the left, this time praying to Kenchi. It seemed odd since Kenchi was the one he was fighting, but there was no doubt that he would need the strength of the war kami to win this battle.
Kenchi just waited and stayed silent for the man to complete his ritual. He didn't say a word or make a move until Kentaro crouched down once more in front of Kenchi. Kentaro's hands balling into fists and resting on the clay that surrounded the city. Kenchi took this that the man was ready, and crouched down now as well, and brought fists to the clay.
The two men then charged each other in a taichi-ai that shook the entire city. Thunder cracked above their heads and lightning struck the fields around them, for their charges were so powerful. The two wrestled, locked arms and threw open palms towards each other's chests. The fight lasted long, with neither man giving or gaining an inch. It wasn't until Kentaro saw an opening and slapped Kenchi across the face, then brought the hand to the man's neck and thrusted.
Kentaro's onslaughts of thrusts, fueled by the power he gained from that scroll, had the other man falling back. Kenchi's feet slid through the clay as Kentaro pushed him back. He could then deliver one final smack to the Kami's face. A smack so mighty it dropped the War Kami. Kenchi glared up at Kentaro but nodded his head, accepting his defeat.
That was when The Father Rei himself showed up. Striding to the two warriors with his cane. Rei was a mighty being, white power of the Heavens and stars glaring around him. Kentaro couldn't quite make out what Rei looked like, but he still fell to his knees and pushed his forehead to the clay in kowtow.
Rei ignored the winner of the battle, instead moving to Kenchi. He then leaned down and whispered something to the War Kami, who was still on the ground. Kenchi yelled in dissent with what Rei told him. The deed had been done, though, Kenchi was no more.
Rei then decreed to Kentaro that he could not have a War Kami that lost so readily. He then accepted Kentaro as one of his own. Kentaro became imbued with the power of lightning and took the mantle as the new War Kami. When he tried to protest and say he wouldn't be a good War Kami Rei simply shrugged. Rei told his new Kami that now he could save all who he wished by not sacking towns and leaving slaughter in his wake.
Little did they know how troublesome that simple scroll of runes would be become.