| abstract | - A deluge of rain fell upon the Mount Myōboku, falling down heavily upon the home of the toads. Starting off as a mere pitter patter, the heavens sent their wrath upon the mountain. A dark day in the skies - reflecting the mood of those that were inhabiting this majestic land. Skies, pitch as black caught with razor sharp winds that bit at the environment. The heavy rains forced the toads into their homes, hiding under hovels, nestling themselves in the hills, though Gamabunta sat at the edge of the mountain, overlooking the world with his two sons, Gamatatsu and Gamakichi. Nestled under his chin, as if he were a giant alcove, they sat with him in the violent storm. Gamatatsu's puffed his cheeks in and out, sitting quietly and contently with his father. His brother would not sit still however, groaning audibly as he looked out into the gloomy steppes. "Why do we have to stand watch in this rain... no one ever visits the Mountain anymore..." memories of former friends lost to time. The eyes of his father looked outward, the rolling rumble from his throat echoed out, chiding his son. "We stay because the Mount will always need guarding." his thoughts weren't far from his sons, but the times were lonely and dark, and the Mount was his home to guard as long as he lived. -- "Who can eat this?!" Fukasaku argued with his wife, Shima, complaining about the large bowl of very poorly made stew, the meat was under cooked and the vegetables could have been rotten due to their distinct lack of color and rather putrid texture. It was an insult! Shima of course, defended her soup, "My cooking hasn't got any worse than yesterday, maybe in your old age you've lost your sense of taste!" Fukasaku leered at his wife, oh how old they had become, but a loss of taste? "Ha! I'm sure whatever vegetable in this stew came out of the this very fresh pig you've tried to poison me with!" the insults swayed back and forth. Shima swaying her ladel around, mouthing off to her mate, taking the bowl out from his hands and tossing the contents out the window, spilling into the rain outside. Shutting the clatters, she looked at Fukasaku, "This time, you cook!" taking off her apron and tossing it over his head, her dull green cheeks tinted with red from the anger she was feeling towards her husband's ungrateful ways. Tonight was going to be a long night... -- Lightning continued to crash outside, each strike pounding atop the mountain, reaching near the trees and towering mushrooms that traversed the homeland of the toads. Winds howling so loudly that nothing else could be heard aside from the thunder claps that followed the streaks of blazing energy. Steps in the rain went unnoticed, hidden by the veil of thick darkness that surrounded and reigned over the mountain. A man, striding through the mire of the downpour, walking forward. Hands in his pockets, garbed in black clothing, head to toe in ebony. Ponytail adorning his head laying back against his nape and down his back, soaked with the water dripping all around him. Splash... splash... splash... steps in the rain, walking up to the grand gates of the Toad Sage's home, a temple of time, older than he could even remember. A toothy white smile, laced with livid rage appeared upon the hidden man's features. Hands slid out of his pockets, walking closer, his heart began to race. "Yes... it has been too long, seven million years too long..." thoughts of hate, thoughts of revenge dipped in and out of the man's mind. The walking embodiment of pain; an escapee from the Naraka, once the most holy of peacekeepers. A man, the progenitor of Ninjutsu, chosen of Ashura. And he was one of the most evil men known to the face of the world, lips parting even wider, as he marched through the symphony of the storm. "It's good to be back..." threads sprouted from the man's back, darting around his body, ethereal strands that wafted and darted about gracefully - restrained by his own will, a hidden tension in his motions. The gates were blocked by two large toads, both brightly colored in bright olive, marked with brimstone red dyes, symbolism of their warrior-hood. The one to the left, wielding a large Kanabo, the other, a pair of Kama's upon his back. Their eyes darted down to the man in the shadows that was making his way towards the great steps of the temple. "Halt." voice low, they both jeered at the man. Grasping the large pummel of the Kanabo, threatening the figure down below. The figure smiled as the lanterns that drooped off the temple's awning shewn down upon him, revealing the maddening gaze, glazed over accompanied by a crimson smile, created by the gnashing of his own teeth, blood dripping from his lips. Blood that stained his teeth and gums fell from the corners of his smile as he looked up to them. A madman on the moutain... threads suddenly becoming visible as they peered out of the darkness, illuminated by the flash of lightning that webbed across the sky. The threads darted and jolted as soon as they had been revealed, hissing through the air with little a motion from the madman. The Toad to the left, sprang forward, swinging his club at the threads, hoping to cleave them down, crushing some of them into tatters, the motion that followed his gargantuan frame was astounding - matching that of the storm, swift and powerful. "That was a mistake!" the toad shouted out, preparing to make his next play, to crush the grinning fool on the first step. His arm pulling back, ready to swing his weapon down upon the madman. His action failed, the threads that had previously been tattered now weaved and intertwined, where one had been, several had taken it's place, restraining the weapon down to the ground. "It's a Shinobi!" the large cyan toad watched as the threads coiled about with a life to them, threatening to crawl up the weapon and to his arms. It didn't take him but a moment to drop the tool, and his mouth churned with water, sending it out against the steps, hoping to wash the man off his chosen pedestal. The toad to the right was facing a very similar opposition, the kama's he wielded hummed with chakra, slicing and dicing at the slew of threads that continued to come at him from the darkness. The ebb of the battle was that of attrition, the tethers that exuded from the man that they were facing acted upon their own whim, and came at them from all angles, empowering each thread. One thread, two thread, five thread, ten threads! They only seemed to come at him with increased vigor and zeal, "Brother Gamaroku, alert the Sage!" his chakra shaped kama's continued to cleave at the madman. All the while, the madman took his calm steps up the stairs to the temple doors. "Don't you dare turn from me." his voice hissing out of the teeth that were tense and clamped tight against eachother. Glee in his voice, as if the emptiness in his soul was being filled by this assault. Raising his hands, he posed himself as if orchestrating a balled, the tethers that slid up the stairs and out from his body working in conjunction to wrap around the Kama wielding guard's forearm, winding tight around him. Blood began to squirt and seep from the large toad's limb, sewing into the flesh and prying it from the bone. "Don't you dare turn from me!" his voice echoed to the brother toads. Brother Gameroku looked back to his brother and then to the bell upon the temple's awning, the warning signal for the Mount, and then to the madman on the steps, "Get away from my brother!" he couldn't fall to this foolish marauder and he couldn't let his brother die either! He leaped from the step he had been positioned on, and hurled himself down into the path of the threads that were connected to his brother, taking hold of them and pulling them away, snapping the tethers into shreds of dwindling chakra. The threads around his brother's limb loosened, but didn't fade. They were still active, humming with energy, refusing to let go. A good thing, Gameroku imagined, they were keeping his flesh to the bone of his arm. It was sickening to look upon, and the only thought in the frog's head was that of justice for his kin, "You are going to pay for that, tiny man!" leaping again down to the madman on the steps. Splurch!, Gameroku's eyes opened wide, "W-what..." looking down to the man on the steps, and then lower, to his own chest, a small series of threads had weaved around his throat, gone undetected. Slicing into his artery, he fell to the ground, feeling the life flow from him. Body bobbing down the steps in a slow roll. Eyes once wide began to fill with darkness, "I failed... y-you.. broth-..." the sound of his voice collapsed as the madman's threads pried away at the throat they had wrapped around. The Kama Toad could only look to his fallen brother, using his own good arm to swing at the threads, watching his only kin fall, he felt the pain in his chest, sorrow. Eyes went to the bell, knowing the threads that were wrapping around his ankles from the steps would prevent his movements, he took his last hope and tossed the kama at the bell, clipping it's side. The dark intruder's eyes fell to the toad, "You turned your back." no longer grinning, a look of intense rage, combining his threads and slicing at the Kama frog's throat and chest, tearing into his wounds, toppling him from the steps, a loud thud ringing from his landing. "I wonder if anyone heard that..." the intruder marched up the steps, the threads coiling back away and dissipating, putting his hands back into his pockets. Striding up the stairs, "Far, far too long..." -- The Great Toad Sage sat upon his chair, speaking with Gerotora that sat infront of his looming seat. Interrupted by large thuds, and the chiming of the bell - then silence. "Gero my son, hide yourself..." the smile on his lips showing such love and kindness, warm and soft. Gerotora looked back to the doors, and sprang away, hiding behind the many prayer wheels that his Toad Elder was sitting in front of. Gamamaru sat where he was, unmoving. The time had come, this was the moment when the darkness clouded his vision, a moment that had been foreseen and irreversible. The looming silence added onto the seconds, dragging them out. Knock... knock... the soft patting of the large doors was followed by their gargantuan framework parting only a tad, revealing the madman at last, fully revealed by the brightly lit torches and lanterns. "You..."
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