Kentarõ
A soft yet vibrant glow descended from above, its luminescent brilliance washing over their figures and tracing the edges of their silhouettes. The light flickered, dust particles followed their movement, transforming their charging forms into a form of simple shadow play, with only a mass of corpses as an audience to their theatrics.
They clashed in the middle of the arena, exchanging blow after blow. Sand splashing around them as they danced, their movements becoming more savage and unpredictable as one tried to catch the other off guard. Both of them tired to the bone, yet none willing to show weakness to the other.
Kentarō did not even blink as sand was chucked upon his eyes. He forced them wide open, despite the horrendous itch, and ducked under the high kick that came afterwards.
He shot out with a kick on his own, aimed at the exposed space in between the white haired kid's legs. It connected and quickly the pain flared in his ankle as the blow landed upon the knee instead.
Kentarõ wobbled a few steps back, blocking three follow-ups to the throat, liver and stomach, before the fourth one connected to his jaw. His teeth shook at the impact, but Kentarõ ignored the uneasy feeling in order to steady his breathing and stand up straight.
The once full of mirth blue eyes, were now looking down on him with hints of boredom and disappointment.
"That's… it?" He groaned, running his hand through the long white hair before sighing in exasperation. He looked like a kid whose time at the playground was about to end. "Guess that's it. Damn it! I really wanted a friend…"
Kentarõ huffed in annoyance, his face still blank as he silently churned what remained of his chakra. He had to reach deeper, stealing from the energy that purpose was maintaining basic bodily functions. His chakra invaded the senses of his opponent when he saw a strike coming to his throat. He projected himself slightly to the right in the casted illusion, which would give him an easy opportunity for counterattack.
The white haired kid's eyes lost focus for a moment, before widening and readjusting on Kentarõ's true form a moment later. The powerful blow connected to his nose and Kentarõ's head was buried a few centimeters deep in the ground. It came with an audible crunch of his nose.
"A genjutsu huh?" He could almost hear a grin stretch upon the brats face. "It's the first time I get to fight someone who can use it! Though you do so like a brute! When you are so forceful, even a dumbass would notice it."
'Oh fuck off.' He thought as his gaze rounded the ceiling.
He could swear there were no stars earlier.
His mocking tone quickly changed to that of child-like curiosity. "What else can you do? Show me! Pretty please?"
Kentarõ ceased any movements, lying still like a corpse.
The kid bent over him, nudging Kentarõ with his foot. "Nee, wanna be friends before I kill you?" Seeing no response, he tilted his head and sat upon Kentarõ's stomach, poking his head with a finger. "Oiii, you there, shitty-genjutsu-kun?"
Kentarõ's eye twitched and using the moment of vulnerability, he lifted his torso up in a quick movement. Shock flashed upon the brat's face, a gasp escaping his lips and before he could react, Kentarõ smashed his forehead upon his nose, breaking it with a loud crack.
'Serves you right, cunt!'
His next movements became quick like serpent strikes as Kentarō forced himself up; each focused on decimating his face further. The scream after he gouged out the left eye felt like music to his ears. Kentarõ moved again, channeling all the force he could muster into the palm heel strike aimed at the windpipe.
Before the hit could connect, the kid managed to make a hand sign just in time. Kentarõ's eyes immediately fell upon his mouth, it looked like he was about to spit on him.
He felt his hand blown away, as pain assaulted his senses. Kentarō's arm swung loose, barely hanging from his shoulder. Stifling a scream and creating distance, he barely managed to avoid another burst of water aimed at his chest.
Kentarõ forcefully calmed his breathing while creating even more distance, giving himself time to think. He quickly scanned the battlefield and flickered close to the corpse of the girl he killed. Kentarō lifted her with his other hand, which supported her weight. His brows furrowed as he looked down on his devastated arm. The bones were shattered, poking from the skin, while the whole arm hung only thanks to the ripped tendons holding it together. 'It should get slower the further I am from it, or at least give me enough time to react without risking my life.'
"Friends don't do things like that to each other!" The white haired kid squealed in rage, rushing upon him with fury and insanity within his remaining eye. Exhaling, Kentarō's eyes narrowed, as he shifted the corpse. Kentarō bent his body slightly at the angle, his knee pressed against her butt, while his shoulder supported her back. That allowed him to use the body as a shield without his only free hand binding it in place.
Seeing Kentarō standing still, the white haired stopped his movements and grinned with malice. 'He expects the same jutsu. I will give it to gim with twice the power!" Multiple hand signs flashed as he converted his chakra into water-nature oriented, his scowl turning into a menacing grin.
Behind the lifted corpse, Kentarõ glanced through the girl's shoulder at the boy, focusing on his face. 'Forceful, hmm?'
Kentarō made a single hand sign.
'Feel the rage.'
'More! I will kill him with one blast!" The white haired boy channeled his anger and pain through the jutsu. More and more chakra gathered in his lungs, far exceeding the required amount.
'Squash him like a pest.'
Even as his chest bulged, the flow of chakra did not stop, relentlessly draining the reserves until the last drop, all the while steadily increasing the pressure of the Water Boulder Technique, until finally-
"DIE!" They screamed simultaneously.
POP!
The white haired brat's body exploded like a balloon of water, splattering around his intensities, brain matter and watered blood.
Kentarõ released the genjutsu, coughing up blood from his mouth. He slid from under the corpse, his hand wiping away the chunks of flesh from his face and eyes, which gave him a clear view on his terrific accomplishment.
The sight alone was enough to make him vomit.
He supported himself on the knees, wiping away the vomit and weakly looking once more where the pile of blood and flesh now laid. "W-was this subtle enough?" Kentarõ managed to wheeze out, before chakra exhaustion hit him, and his vision faded away entirely.
…
There was something profound in lying down.
Not the act itself of course, but the deep contemplations that followed through. Be it in late at night, while tossing and turning in bed in search of sleep. Or in the middle of the day, when weariness took over the body, yet the mind still worked throughout multitude issues to take care of.
"It would be much easier if you stopped twitching, child."
Or as he was now, forced to lay down by multiple injuries that did not let his mind drift away into slumber.
'...Within every man there are many men.'
He did not think himself a man of courage.
He did not think himself a man of ambition.
He did not think himself a man of reason.
He did not think himself a man of strength.
He did not think himself a man capable of succeeding under pressure.
He did not think himself a true man in a sense, the pure masculine image that could handle everything that came his way with a simple "It's okay, I will take care of it," or just "I will do it."
So how? How did he succeed when all the men he knew he was built off told him he would fail?
Kentarō has all the time to ponder upon it now, lying on his back with nothing but pain to interrupt his thoughts, while the Sannin patched him up.
Funnily enough, he did not need to think much to find the answer.
Since long ago, screams of the men of failure had drowned out the whispers of the men of accomplishment within his mind.
'No more.'
Kentarō grunted, bringing the yellow eyes of the Sannin upon himself. "Are you done already? Any more contemplations and I might think myself a fucking reincarnation of Hashirama."
Orochimaru actually chuckled at that. The sound was raspy and dry, though he could hear some mirth behind it. "Kukuku… The last thing I would wish for, dear Kentarō-kun, is to interrupt your mental growth. Be that as it may, I am indeed done with the major injuries."
The man circled him slowly. "While I presume you know the consequences of chakra exhaustion, it would be unbecoming of me to simply scold you for exhausting your reserves so much."
He ran his cold fingers through Kentarō's arm, that not long ago was a mess of flesh and bone; now without a scratch.
"Having such a small repertoire, it was no wonder that you struggled so, barely preserving the life I so graciously gifted you."
Kentarō could hear the sinister grin stretch upon Sannin's lips as he continued. "It came to me at last, halfway through the patching of your arm. And so, yet again I took a small liberty of your body when you were still unconscious, to bestow upon you my reward for your accomplishment."
Orochimaru pressed two fingers upon his fixed arm, channeling chakra through what he imagined was a tenketsu point, an invisible point in the body through which chakra flowed. Kentarō could feel his arm change, stretch and twitch, while under his dumfounded stare it morphed into a bouquet of white, withering snakes.
"I call it Sen'ei Jashu (Hidden Shadow Snake Hands). You can and will summon it by moulding chakra through the hand sign used for summonings."
Kentarō gazed deeply at the dozen or so snakes that hissed aimlessly from his arm. Many men screamed inside his head, of how it was unhuman, how it violated fundamental rights against such a degrading treatment without his knowledge.
This time however, Kentarō chose to listen to the few silent voices, advising him how it could be used to kill.
…
Kentarō hit the training grounds as soon as there was no longer a risk of reopening his injuries
When they sparred again, Kentarō trashed Kin Tsuchi in a matter of minutes, while in the days that followed; Benjibaru also fell to his relentless onslaught for the first time.
Though bewildered, the boy congratulated him, as polite as always. He took the defeat in a gracious way, promising a rematch in the following days.
A confident smile tugged Kentarō's lips when he turned his gaze to another pray.
Kentarō wiggled his eyebrows at Zaku.
"Look at his smug-ass." The boy in question snickered. "You finally found a pair to challenge Zaku the Shithead Destroyer?"
"The only thing that will be destroyed today is your hideous face." Kentarō chuckled. "Do Orochimaru provide dental care, I wonder? You will need it when I'm done beating the shit out of you."
"Hmm, now you will get it, shitstain." His grin turned savage. Just when Zaku was about to pounce on him and rip him to shreds, Kentarō held up his hand.
Zaku stopped, the butchery on his mind stilling. The boy tilted his head in confusion. 'No slaughter…?'
Zaku sad.
"I want to go all out. Don't hold back on me, Zaku. Not in the slightest bit."
'...Hehehe.'
Like flipping a switch, the thoughts of murder returned tenfold.
Zaku very happy.
They were upon each other in a blink of an eye.
Zaku Abumi's hands slipped down to the weaponry attached to his belt, then slashed upon Kentarō's face. Each hand wrapped around a kunai in reverse grip, following after dodging Kentarō with a murderous glee.
"Stop jumping around bastard!"
"Is it irritation I smell coming from you? How pitiful…"
The boy stopped his pursuit and laughed. "That's a smell of fear! Did you piss your bed at the thought of fighting with me?"
"Oh please, go smell your mom's mattress and find out."
A vein bulged on Zaku's forehead hearing the laughter from his teammates, and the boy renewed his assault with twice the energy, throwing kunais, senbons; everything that he could grab and hurl towardsKentarō.
Having learned the lesson already, Kentarō now always had a spare set of something sharp to throw at hand, so he launched a few projectiles on his own.
Deciding to preserve some kunai for later, Zaku's hands flowed through the Ram, Tiger and Snake in a short breath. Two clones appeared at Zaku's sides, running in a zigzag pattern along with himself.
Kentarō waited patiently while Zaku and his clones closed the distance. His eyes always following the original.
He made the feint in the direction of the clone. Zaku approached him from behind and kicked Kentarō's knee before catching his arm in a strong lock; pressing against the elbow and twisting his wrist, while his foot held his head against the ground.
"Not so cocky anymore, hmm?"
Kentarō just smirked. "Sen'ei Jashu" (Hidden Shadow Snake Hands).
His arm morphed as chakra surged through it, Zaku's firm hold nowhere to be seen. The arm changed into a dozen slithering snakes that wrapped swiftly around the boy's own hands, then whole arms.
Zaku desperately tried to wrest away his hands, pulling and biting at the hissing serpents. Only when movement of his arms was completely restricted, did the boy stop. "You went through the body modification, I could admire that."
"Though you are not the only one to do so!" Seeing Kentarō performing hand signs, a powerful gale burst out of Zaku's palms, one that blew the boy away along with Kentarō and his serpentine-hand.
The boy lifted himself up in one swift motion. A smug smirk on his face. "Orochimaru-sama installed windpipes in my arms, capable of releasing strong bursts of wind from my palms when injected with chakra. Though it is only a prototype, he promised to improve the original design when I prove myself further!" He explained, his voice full of pride.
Zaku pulled out the remaining kunais, and using the windpipes inside his arms; he launched them through bursts of wind at Kentarō.
Kentarō's mind worked through the intel, while he deflected any kunai he could with one of his own, some managed to graze his skin, though it was better that trying and inevitably failing to dodge something at such a high speed. He released an annoyed sigh after Zaku had spent himself up. "You know, you have a bad habit of explaining your whole arsenal to the opponent whenever you fight. Now, as a wonderful big brother that I am, I will explain very thoroughly how bad of a habit that is, in a language you know.
Kentarō grinned as he pounced. "Through violence."
Zaku laughed, bringing his palms forward. "Don't hold back, shitstain!"
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be,
For my unconquerable soul.
'No Zaku, I won't. Not anymore.'
He felt chakra resonate to his feelings. The fire that birthed the ambition in his heart wanted to finally go out. Answer to the challenge and incinerate everything that stood in its way to cinders.
In the fell clutch of circumstance ,
I have not winced nor cried aloud,
Under the bludgeonings of a chance,
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Kentarō made a hand sign of a Snake, chakra flowed through him as Ram followed without a hesitation, his chakra churning into fire-natured one.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears,
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years,
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
Even when many a memories of sorrow and pain filled his head, even when tears of sadness threatened to flow down cheeks, blurring his vision, even as his throat burned with fire; Kentarō did not stop.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishment the scroll…
In this particular moment, everything he had accomplished so far, seemed to outshine the dark that was his past.
For what were a few rotten winter leaves under the shade of a tree, compared to a full crown of green that bloomed come early spring?
…I am the master of my fate,
Joy and glee creeped their way to his face, a genuine smile blooming upon it even as Zaku released a burst of wind from his palms in his direction.
Kentarō responded with a ball made of pure, bright fire straight out of his mouth.
I am the captain of my soul.
The ball made of fire clashed against the gust of wind, devouring it in its way and using it as a fuel to increase its size and potency.
Because both of them were in close proximity to each other; it engulfed Zaku at once.
The screams felt like music to Kentarō's ears, before the fires were stopped by Dosu's water natured jutsu.
…
Kentarō slowly approached his teammates that surrounded Zaku, his form sprawled on the ground and breathing heavily. A sharp smell of charred flesh hung in the air. Dosu worked on Zaku's injuries while Kentarō approached them with a smug grin on his face.
"Good fight, Kentarō-san. You finally did it." Benjibaru congratulated him. "I can't wait for our next spar."
"Oh please…" Zaku managed to wheeze out. "I only lost because my balls itched."
"It's one of a terrible itch then, Zaku-san." Benjibaru's eyes were full of mirth. "Might I suggest getting your jewels checked through Orochimaru-sama? Who knows, he might install the windpipes there too."
The Abumi boy's face seemed to lose all the color in an instant.
Kin chuckled and congratulated him also, though her gaze seemed more absent than usual.
Kentarō ignored them, still inclining his head in a silent acknowledgement. Through it all, his eyes remained glued to the back of Dosu's head.
"Wanna spar?"
Dosu immediately grunted in response, releasing the hold on Zaku who cried in pain as his back hit the ground. "Take care of this brute while we are at it." He muttered to Benjibaru, while slowly creating the distance. The boy in question nodded, gently lifting the Abumi boy in princess carry (much to his protest), and hopping away to the corner of the field.
Their eyes met, while the two stood at ends of the circle each. Kentarō caught Dosu, muttering something incomprehensible under his nose, before giving him a nod and rushing at him; hand signs already flashing through his hands.
He followed the suit, constantly stopping the flow of his chakra along the way, before they met in the middle.
Though Kentarō lost in the end, it did not come without a fight, nor did it discourage him from constantly pestering the other boy about rematches, day after day.
And in the following week, Dosu finally lost his first bout to Kentarō at last.