Suguru rushed past Konohagakure's outposts, deceiving the active chakra fields to appear as a random bird flying through. He jumped from branch to branch, flickering rapidly as he advanced.
It didn't take him long to reach the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rivers. It was only a few days' worth of high-speed, chakra-draining travel.
Suguru did not use the express route he had used for the Chuunin Exams. That 'shinobi highway' had too many eyes.
Instead, he was going for a dual-purpose detour to Tanigakure.
Deep within the Land of Rivers, Suguru stumbled upon a medium-sized settlement. In the depths of the night, his arrival went unnoticed even by the chuunin-led squad of Tanigakure shinobi.
He waltzed into the settlement and stood beside the drowsy shinobi.
'Dark Release: Inhaling Maw.'
"..!"
Suguru took a deep breath, inhaling a huge amount of chakra into his system. The four shinobi who had been guarding the settlement attempted to resist.
Unfortunately for them, they barely had any chakra left.
Stumbling like drunks, they struggled to unsheathe their weapons.
'Again,' Suguru thought.
[Bird].
'Inhaling Maw!'
Suguru watched as the four shinobi were reduced to nothing but emancipated corpses. He ended their lives manually with a slash across their throats. His kunai drew blood, swiftly burned by the flames that spewed out of Suguru's hands.
By absorbing those four chuunin, Suguru's chakra reserves increased enough that he could make an extra stable Shadow Clone.
Thus...
'Shadow Clone Jutsu,'
A line of clones appeared and swiftly dispersed with a flicker. Suguru's clones formed a perimeter. Fifteen figures put their hands together at the same time.
[Bird].
And they all sucked in a deep, starved breath.
'That's another settlement down my stomach,' Suguru burped as his clones dispersed and gave him all the chakra he absorbed.
His body processed the foreign chakra and used it as a catalyst for his growth. Various affinities seeped into his body, and a certain intuition for the five elements began growing within him.
His Fire Release affinity, however, was skyrocketing. It was a clear bias towards the flames of his original talent.
A welcome development, in all honesty.
As for his chakra reserves...
'Twenty...'
Five extra stable Shadow Clones for around one hundred twenty-five civilians. Thanks to the variety of their chakras, no imbalance began manifesting in his physique.
Suguru felt refreshed.
With his hunger satiated, he began combing through the Land of Rivers. He traveled slowly, looking through the beautiful landscape and admiring the beauty of Mother Nature. The snaking blue lines that cut through the earth were sights to see.
Eventually, Suguru stumbled upon a bandit camp of around thirty bandits. Their chakras were much stronger than the civilians he had devoured earlier.
Suguru looked at them. The screams of their captives were a harrowing sadistic tune. From day to night, Suguru could hear their voices, even from afar.
His gaze fluttered throughout the camp. A sense of disgust welled up from within him.
For the first time, his hunger subsided despite not devouring any chakra.
'I've lost my appetite.' Suguru clicked his tongue.
He put his hands together to form a hand seal.
'Shadow Clone Jutsu,'
Another perimeter was formed. However, this one was much, much wider, spanning three kilometers in radius.
Suguru and his clones thus called forth their chakras.
[Rat » Horse » Ox » Dog » Horse » Monkey » Boar » Dog » Tiger]
His chakra flared.
A ferocious glint in his eyes flashed in the darkness.
'Hellfire Artillery Jutsu,'
***
Kamito Akira emerged from one of the tents in the bandit camp. The splatter of crimson stained his face, and his nails were black with hardened blood.
He took a few minutes to head over to his boss's tent. Upon ducking under the flaps of its doorway, he spotted human bodies hung like clothes on a clothesline. Various wounds were scattered throughout their forms.
In a way, each body bore some form of brutal artistry. None of the wounds were lethal and every bruise had darkened like ink.
Furthermore... Those bodies...
Their eyes were lifeless yet their chests still heaved up and down.
"...How's training, Boss?" Akira yawned, unfazed by the sight before him. "The guy you gave me didn't know anything. He died mid-scream."
"I can feel it... I can draw out my chakra soon. I just need more training." A grin spread across the bandit boss's scarred lips.
"Let's raid the next place tomorrow at first light—"
The bandit boss froze.
His eyes darted upwards, where an uncanny light began shining through.
"Huh? Isn't it just a little past midnight? Why is it so bright?"
Kamito Akira and the bandit boss rushed out of their tent. Then, upon noticing the sky above their heads...
Despair consumed their hearts.
"What... the hell..?"
Akira was the first to fall to his knees. The drying blood on his face evaporated. The grass at his feet began sizzling.
It was then—
—BOOM!
Condensed balls of flames rained down from the heavens. As if brought about by divine retribution, all the bandits could do was pray.
Pray for mercy.
Pray for forgiveness.
Pray for heavenly oversight.
And pray for reincarnation.
—BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Pillars of fire engulfed the camp, turning all their hard work into a blazing bonfire. The roaring flames spared nothing. The blazing hellfire cared not for the lives it reduced to ashes.
Smoke rose like a plea for the moon to save them.
—BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Another volley of fireballs consumed Akira's world in flames. He had long been consumed by a raging fire. Pain engulfed him so thoroughly to a point where he could no longer feel a thing.
His skin was melting.
The flames had already burned him down to his flesh and bones. His organs were the next kindling in the queue. Blackened skin cracked and bled with every gap in the flaming volleys.
He could feel his chakra slowly draining out of his body, further fuelling his weakness.
Resistance never occurred to him.
Nay... He could only hope that he would be given a moment to resist.
"Ha!"
That moment never came.
The hysteric, dying Akira spotted a silver-haired boy, with flames dancing around his body. The rain of hellfire seemed to carve a road for him to tread.
Each step was filled with devious disdain.
While Akira slowly breathed his last breaths, his eyes met the boy's gaze.
Silver irises looked back at him with uncanny intrigue. The innocent smirk on his face contrasted with his arrogant gait.
"Indeed," Akira heard the boy laugh, "Raining hellfire is worthy of becoming my Magnum Opus."
A notepad appeared in the boy's hands. Akira watched as the boy began scribbling. The bone-chilling screams of his comrades flooded the air like an unholy choir yet the boy seemed utterly unbothered.
The pure lack of care.
The innocence of intention.
The artistic desire for perfection.
"You... monster..." He managed to mutter one last curse before his body erupted in flames.
Even his bones would be reduced to ashes.
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