Chapter 9: Chapter 6: The Fallen Clan
Chapter 6: The Fallen Clan
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Yuta slowly stood up, his body still feeling the effects of exhaustion. Though the battle had been fierce, his determination kept him standing. The battlefield that had once been a chaos of mist and water was now silent. The defeated enemy lay limp a few feet away from him, but Yuta couldn't afford to relax completely. He knew the mission wasn't quite over yet.
The shinobi walked through the rubble of the destroyed houses, observing the remains of the razed village. Every step he took was done with caution, keeping his senses alert for any hidden traps or threats that still lingered. However, his true attention was on the defeated enemy, or rather, what they might have been searching for before Yuta arrived.
As he approached the remains of the dark ninja, something in the rubble shimmered faintly under the rays of the sun. Among the fragments of wood and stone, Yuta found a set of rolled up scrolls, carefully protected. As he took them in his hands, he felt a powerful energy flowing from them, telling him that they were more than just documents.
Concentrating, he briefly scanned each of the scrolls, looking for anything that might explain the enemy's motivations. Many of the scrolls contained advanced seals, complex formulas, and forbidden techniques that had likely been stolen from the village. However, there was one in particular that caught his attention: a smaller scroll, sealed with a chakra that was unknown to him.
Yuta felt that this scroll was the most important one, perhaps the key to the mission. He carefully stored it in his kit, knowing that he would have to study it later. The other scrolls, while powerful, were too dangerous to be ignored. He decided that he would hand them over to the village authorities, who would be in charge of analyzing their contents and discovering what else the enemy had planned.
As he finished gathering the scrolls, he thought of the other ninjas who would be investigating the disappearances in the village. His part of the mission, to eliminate the person responsible for the chaos, was complete, but the mysteries still lingered. Why had so many villagers disappeared? What connection did they have with the scrolls the enemy had so desperately sought?
"The others will figure it out," he told himself. "My duty here is done."
With the scrolls in hand and a sense of duty fulfilled, Yuta began his return to the village. However, a shadow of unease lingered in his mind. The power of the scroll he had kept was unusual, and although he had defeated his enemy, the true threat was perhaps yet to be discovered.
As he walked down the path back, grey clouds began to cover the sky. The air felt heavy, as if the atmosphere was warning of something dark to come. Although the battle was over, Yuta could not shake the feeling that the war was still far from over.
—Something big is afoot... —he muttered to himself, glancing at the scroll in his backpack.
And with that uncertainty in mind, Yuta quickened his pace, knowing that what had begun in that devastated village was just the first step in his new life in the ninja world.
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After leaving the small border village, young Yuta felt exhausted. His chakra reserves were still not fully recovered, and every step he took reminded him of the wounds from the recent fight. He knew he had to continue on his way, but tiredness was getting the better of him. He decided to take a break when he spotted a nearby cave, a perfect shelter to hide in for a while. With heavy steps, he approached and entered the cave.
Inside, the cave was more spacious than it seemed from the outside. The darkness covered it, but with a small fire technique he managed to light an improvised torch. The light revealed the rough, damp walls of the place, but more importantly, it provided him with the tranquility and seclusion he needed to concentrate.
Yuta sat on a flat rock, taking out of his bag the scrolls with fuinjutsu seals he had recovered on his last mission. As he unfolded one of the scrolls, his mind began to recall the basic lessons of his adoptive mother, Akane. She had been a formidable teacher in the art of fuinjutsu, teaching him from a young age the delicate and complex task of deciphering the ancient scrolls.
"Always start at the beginning, son," Akane would tell him in his training days. "Do not rush into understanding the more complex symbols without first having mastered the basic seals."
Yuta smiled as he remembered those words. Patiently, he ran his fingertips over the intricate seals covering the scroll. The smooth texture of the paper contrasted with the characters marked on it, a series of symbols that seemedThey seemed to have a life of their own. It was an advanced technique, he was sure of that. But something about those symbols felt vaguely familiar.
He spent the first few minutes studying every detail, trying to decipher the first seal. The key was in the sequence, he knew. Any mistake could trigger a trap, or worse, release something uncontrollable. It was then that he noticed a small symbol hidden between the lines, a pattern Akane had shown him in one of their last trainings. The symbol was a special code, used by ancient fuinjutsu masters to hide important information.
"A containment seal…" Yuta whispered to himself, recognizing the pattern. If he activated it correctly, he could unlock the true contents of the scroll.
He took a deep breath and began to channel his chakra carefully. His hands moved with precision, forming the hand seals needed to deactivate the first barrier. The cave filled with a soft blue light, as the scroll responded to his energy. The seal began to glow faintly, and after a few seconds, Yuta's chakra flowed into the scroll.
"That's it…" he muttered, as the seal faded away, revealing the hidden contents.
The scroll now showed a complex diagram of a forbidden jutsu. It was a sealing technique that seemed to have been forgotten by time. The symbols spoke of a way to enclose not only energy, but also consciousness, a mental and spiritual prison that could trap any being in a parallel dimension.
"What is this…?" he wondered, amazed and a little uneasy. He had never seen anything so advanced or dangerous.
As he continued to read, a feeling of unease grew in his chest. This fuinjutsu had been designed to contain something extremely powerful, perhaps even something cursed. Yuta wasn't sure if he should continue, but a strange curiosity drove him on. He wanted to learn more, but at the same time he knew he was playing with fire.
Suddenly, a noise outside the cave brought him out of his thoughts. Yuta quickly turned off the light of his technique and put the scroll away. He cautiously stood up, activating his jutsu through the mist to detect any nearby chakra. He felt a presence… not far from where he stood, and it was large.
"Someone is following me," he thought, frowning.
He approached the entrance of the cave, staying hidden in the shadows. There, among the trees, he could see a hooded figure moving stealthily, but with the dexterity of an experienced ninja. Yuta immediately recognized the stance and the way the intruder controlled his chakra.
"A hunter…" he muttered. It was no coincidence that someone with such advanced skills was near him. He knew that, somehow, the scroll he had found was related to his presence.
Yuta made a quick decision. He couldn't stay and risk being ambushed. He wasn't in a condition to fight at his full strength yet. He carefully put the scrolls away and, with one last glance back at the cave, he silently slipped into the forest, hiding in the shadows.
The chase was about to begin, but this time, Yuta knew he had to play his cards cleverly if he wanted to make it out alive and discover the true purpose of those forbidden scrolls.
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