| abstract
| - The storms were furious within the confines of the land lost to time that the ruined city of Atogakure sits at the center of. The winds were unforgiving, while thick raindrops beat against the ground, accompanied by hailstones and frequent bolts of lightning. In times like these, everyone kept in their houses. While everyone huddled and bunkered down waiting for the storm to pass, which wouldn't be for another two days, something else was happening underground. A ritual was taking place, one of great importance to the leaders of the city; The Jashinists. With a blood ritual required to keep their bonds with Jashin strong, they found a candidate perfect for the job, who was to be escorted to the ritual chamber and become Jashin's next sacrifice. As the chains begin to be set around the pedestal, the victim is escorted into the ritual chamber, surrounded by countless Jashinists, all praying in unison with a deep, paralyzing hymn. Akio had spent nearly a month now in Atogakure. His mission had seemed simple enough, just a basic observe and report. Akio had infiltrated enemy territory before, but only bandit groups and small unorganized terrorist groups. Never before had he been sent to spy on another village. This wasn't a surprise, as ever since the Forth Shinobi World War the major shinobi villages had all been at peace with one another. Atogakure however was very different from the major shinobi villages. The city had long been in total economic despair. The only people that lived here either had nowhere else to go or were profiting from the misery in some form. Many residents resided in rundown shacks nestles in shanty towns throughout the city. Looting and muggings were common, houses were quite often burglarized and the closest thing to any police Akio had seen were Jashinist enforcers who would occasionally kidnap some unfortunate citizen and drag them off to some unknown location. On this day, Akio had decided to follow these enforcers, curious as to where they would take shelter from the storm, and not even his years as an ANBU had quite prepared him for what he stumbled upon. Having transformed himself into a dark haired young man using a basic shinobi Transformation Technique, Akio followed two of the cloaked figures he knew to be enforcers through a long and winding network of tunnels. They must have walked for quite some time, but after what Akio guess to be a half mile of torch lit stone tunnel, he began hearing the unmistakable hum of a crowd in the distance. It wasn't long after that Akio entered a massive arena style room. The stands that lined edges of the space could easily hold a crowd of five hundred, and there was not a free space to be seen. Without a doubt, every single person in attendance was a part of the Jashinist cult. The Jashinists were without a doubt the strongest faction in the city, but until now Akio hadn't been aware of just how significant they really were, and it scared him. Akio attempted to blend into the back row of the crowd. Many of the spectators were shouting, but the sound melded together and nothing was coherent. From where he stud Akio could see a man two rows ahead of himself that had the overlapping circle and triangle symbol of the Jashinists cared into his left shoulder, dried blood caked all over his arm. Akio had sat among thieves and murders many times in his career, part of his role as an infiltrator, but never before did he feel so much like he was surrounded by savages. Though many members of the crowd sat silently, patiently waiting for whatever was going to happen here to get underway, just as many seemed to be foaming at the mouth, their blood lust like that of feral beasts. Even before a figure began making there way into the sandpit at the center of the stands, Akio made up his mind that once he was done here, he would leave Atogakure immediately, and never, under any circumstances, return. At the podium of the ritual chamber, the figure positioned herself in front of the crowd. With her hand raised up, the sounds of screaming and shouting were silenced, as if they needed to hear what she had to say. As the crowd silences itself, their ears were prepared for what she had to say. "This is a glorious day, not one for shouting, but one for celebrations. Once again, we found a prime candidate. We've had plenty of candidates for sacrifice, but not one quite as potent as this one. I believe that this individual will be the one to give us an even stronger connection to Jashin than ever before." With an uproarious cheer from the crowd, she once again signals them to calm down, letting the crowd quiet once more. "As per the usual, we shall all prepare in the preparation chambers. We must be spiritually connected to Jashin for us to properly receive his blessing. Come, everyone. Let us begin the meditation." Jitoku lowered her head and the rest of the crowd did the same. In an attempt to avoid being singled out in the mass of psycho's and murderers, Akio lowered his head with them, but rather than "meditate" Akio was calm himself. This was so much more than he had bargained for. It had been stressful enough on the streets of Atogakure, constantly on the lookout of muggers and thieves while staying under the radar of the ruthless Jashinist enforcers. Now he was alone among battalion of the Jashinist freaks. If he was discovered, he would have to make the quickest escape he had ever made in his life. The stress was intense, even for a veteran like Akio. But there was also a hint of relief as well. What he was witnessing was no doubt grounds for intervention by the Shinobi Union. As everyone begins their meditation, a small posse of Jashinists bring out the sacrifice. With chains strapped to her wrists and ankles, she's escorted to the sacrificial altar, kicking and screaming trying to break free from her restraints. "No, let me go, you bastards! I don't want to die! Please, let me go!" She screams, but her screams fall flat against the collective hums of the meditation process, all meant to drown out the screams of the victim before the sacrifice begins. With one last tug of the chains, they rest her on the sacrifice block, anchoring her chains to rings against the block, tightened to keep her from struggling in order to keep the blood from splattering. As the chains strap the victim down, the humming stops, and everyone begins to raise their head. The cult leader, Jitoku signals everyone to rise up. Handed the sacrificial tool, Jitoku holds it firmly in her hands, slowly approaching the victim. Observe and report Akio began repeating over and over again in his head. Observe and report, just observe and report, damn it don't get involved. Despite what he was telling himself, Akio could feel his fist clenching as the scythe wielding woman approached the helpless girl. As the the triple bladed weapon was raised up into the air, Akio felt his hands dig into his pockets. In a blur of movement, Akio launched both handfuls of flash bombs towards the center of the arena, wrapping his cloak over his head in order to protect his eyes from the blinding light. The arena quickly erupted into chaos as the bloodthirsty crowd became a frenzy of unguided limbs and confused screaming. As Akio threw his cloak over his head, his transformation technique released, revealing him to be wearing a white and yellow fox mask and a full ANBU uniform. Drawing his tanto, Akio rushed to the alter, blocking the unusual scythe as the woman blindly swung the weapons towards the victim. "Sorry for crashing the party." Akio yelled above the roaring crowd. Sparks fly as the metal clashes with one another, illuminating the room before dispersing completely. Thanks to a flash of cold fire in front of her, Jitoku was left unphased by the flash bombs. "So the reports were correct. There was an ANBU agent snooping around the place. Looks like I owe someone twenty ryuu. So what's a sheep doing walking into the wolves den?" Jitoku asks. Resetting her scythe, she gives it a spin, the blade making contact with the ground, building up sparks. "If there's one thing anyone should learn about this place, it's that no one can hide. Atogakure is my den, and everyone reports to me. I had my eyes on you the moment you set foot in this place. You never spoke a word. And that, is the greatest act of betrayal. Silence." "Big words coming from a bloodthirsty savage. Hate to cut the conversation short but I think I've overstayed my welcome." Reaching into his pocket once again, Akio pulled out several small spherical smoke bombs, detonating them all at once and filling the center of the arena with a thick black smoke. By the time everything had cleared, not only was Akio missing, but the young woman that had been strapped to the sacrificial alter was gone as well, her shackles broken and lying in pieces. Akio cursed under his breath, unable to believe he had gotten himself and the young woman lost in the maze of tunnels. The path he had taken while following the two enforcers seemed simple enough, but every tunnel seemed identical to one another. They must span a large portion of the inner city, which would explain the lack of exceptionally tall buildings in the area that Akio had noted early in his stay. It would make sense for such a thing to exist in a criminal utopia like Atogakure. Akio imagined that the tunnels were used for all sorts of smuggling back when the village had an actual police force. Leading the girl by her wrist, Akio made an abrupt halt just before another sharp turn in the tunnel. He peered around the corner and quickly drew his head back. He turned to the young woman and put a finger to where his lips would be under the mask. "Has anyone found him yet?" a burly voiced asked from around the corner. "I don't think so." Another man replied. "It won't be long though. We'll probably be called back to the chamber for the sacrifice within a few minutes." "Yeah, we got all angles covered. No way he's getting away. Let's head out to the tunnel entrance by the old temple. I don't think anyone has that exit covered yet." "Good plan." With that the two men began walking down another tunnel, their footsteps growing fainter as the distance between them and Akio grew. After a few moments of silence, Akio let out a breath. "We're in luck." Akio said to his new found acquaintance. "Looks like there's an exit nearby. We just have a little longer and we'll be out of here." Not hearing a response, Akio turned to face the woman. She was visibly shaking, staring down towards her feet. There was no telling what had been done to her while she was held captive. Akio could only imagine what the Jashinist cult was like to their victims. Though the young woman seemed free of physical harm, minus some marks on her wrists and ankles from her shackles, there was not telling what psychological damage had been done. Gently grasping both the girl's hands, Akio began speaking in a soft voice in an attempt to calm her. "I just need you to be strong a little longer. Once we're out of here, I have contacts that can get you away from this city. They'll take you to Konohagakure and you'll be safe, but that can't happen if you break down now, alright?" Nodding her head, the girl waited for Akio to turn his back. With the right opportunity, she grabs Akio by the shoulder and drives a blade through his back, activated by flicking her wrist, activating a spring mechanism that pushes the blade forward into the lower structure of his spine. "You're quite sweet. Bit far too short minded to even think of the impossible. The damsel in distress being the Dane in distress. But I suppose it's too late for you to do anything about that now. I've pierced the lower thoracic structure of your spine. You won't be walking anytime soon. Guards, if you would please." Akio couldn't find words. Even as the blade retraced out of his back and he crumpled to the floor, his mouth remained agape beneath his mask. How had he not seen the blade? How did he let himself be tricked so easily? All it had taken was a desperate face and feigned innocence and he had fallen right into the enemy's trap. All these years as a shinobi, wasted because he felt like acting like a hero. Akio attempted to pull himself up against the wall, but it was a futile effort. All he could manage to do was turn to the girl he had thought he was saving, the bloodlust in her eyes now evident. "Bitch." Akio muttered. "You god damn cultist bitch." "And you're just a puppet working for a mass murderer. We're not too different, you and I. The difference is all in how we act. Those who try to play hero, stepping out of their place, they're just going to get themselves killed. You see, we knew you were coming the moment you stepped into the ruined city. The thugs and murderers you find out on the streets? They're all part of us. Everything they see, we see as well. You stuck out like a sore thumb, even with your disguise. We just needed to push you enough to show how dangerous we truly are." As she finishes her sentence, a group of guards appear behind Honrui and approach Akio, dragging him to the prisons. "Enjoy your stay in Atogakure. You won't be leaving anytime soon." Akio lay limb as he was dragged, as if he was capable of doing much else. He knew he was going into shock, and his legs were now completely useless anyway. Broken and feeling as defeated as a man could be, Akio quickly reflected back on his life. He had become a shinobi in hopes of living up to his father's name. Unfortunately just like his father, Akio was going to die on the job, though Akio was destine to meet his end beneath a city of filth while his father had at least had the honor of dying on the battlefield of the Forth Shinobi World War. Regardless of the place, Akio and his father would both die doing their duty. As Akio began pondering what words would be spoken of him back in Konohagakure, a familiar sounds began humming in the distance. At first Akio didn't even notice the noise, but as he drew nearer it became impossible to ignore. It didn't take much for Akio to realize what it was. In mere moments, Akio was back among the roaring crowd, except this time he was the one they were cheering for.
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