It had been several days since Yanjirou left Sunagakure. Each day was spent walking through the blistering hot sands of the desert, merely hoping he was walking the correct direction - even his map wasn't helping much. Especially since it showed the road he still had left ahead of him... There were a number of countries, cities, and whatever else between him and Kumogakure, and he'd only just left the first town on the way! Perhaps he should have expected this much, but nothing interesting had happened just yet, nothing new has revealed itself to the boy, allowing for a mental break from the monotonous surroundings and extreme conditions. Thus far, it had only been sand dunes, long, cold nights, and if he was lucky, the occasional traveler that broke the silence with a quick, "hello."
The young Byakko couldn't help but sigh, as now wasn't much different.
"You really should try to stop that, child. If anyone else were around, it could be viewed as bad manners, and I won't have any of my underlings being marked as unprofessional." Sunokura didn't help the boy through his suffering... The only conversations she was capable of having, we ones where she nagged Yanji for his habits, and expected nothing more than a "yes ma'am." "Stand up straight, slouching can only lead to back problems in the future," "You'll fail to see imminent dangers if you rest your eyes while you walk, try to stop that." Her commanding nature was nice in a fight, at least from what he's seen so far, but any other time and it was just annoying. Perhaps she was trying to train him to be a leader, perhaps long term success as a ninja started with good posture and little to no sighing? In order to prevent himself from leaving his weapon buried somewhere in the desert expanse, he could only assume these things and listen...
"Yes ma'am.." The boy mumbled, thinking his response was yet another thing beginning to get old, even if they communicated telepathically. At this point, Yanji was practically trudging through the sand, struggling with each step as the monotony started getting to him. Something had to happen, anything, so that he could think of something else, so that he could keep himself sane. Otherwise he would just be a slave to the commands of his gauntlets... A robot programmed by his celestial creator.
Suddenly, the boys ears twitched. Someone, or something, was nearby. The young Byakko halted, and scanned the surrounding area as his eyes began glowing. His gift from Byakko proved useful, as he managed to locate a group of potential bandits squatting behind a nearby dune.
"I guess those eyes do have a use." Suno mocked, never having understood the point of the boy's gift.
"I know you're there, come on out before I come to you." Finally, he would be able to ignore his partner for a little bit!
A loud smack sounded from the distance, followed by apologies and a group of men rising from their hiding place. One of which didn't seem very happy with the rest... "Knew I shouldn't have swapped out some of my crew..." The man complained, before locking eyes with Yanjirou and smiling. "Guess you found us out boy, but you should've kept your mouth shut.. I was gonna slit your throat while you slept if you hadn't noticed us!" All of the men began giggling, pulling out weapons of varying uses and sizes from their holsters.
"You could've tried." Yanji calmly replied, confident in his ability to hold his own against a few thugs. His smug comment quickly wiped the smile off of many of their faces, but the presumed boss continued smiling.
"Heh, it's alright boys, I always love it when they think they stand a chance!" With that remark, the group began sliding down the dune, rushing Yanjirou the moment they were met with a more solid ground. As they all grew closer, Yanji noticed that the largest of the group was the boss, who also happened to carry the largest weapon... Was he compensating for something, or did this group happen to be one of the biggest cliches Yanji had come across in his lifetime?
Regardless, the first few were swiftly taken care of, each receiving a pair of warm metal claws that ripped apart the muscle within their legs and arms. It was becoming clear why these men were simply thugs... With the lack of strategy in their group, there's no way they would be able to make it in a real job. There was no coordination, no communication, not even any courage from the individual. The only courage they had, came from the faith that a group could conquer all. They made a fatal mistake, however, and that was underestimating their target.
As the last of the lackeys fell to the sand, blood staining the grain beneath him as he let out moans of pain, the boss decided it was time to stop being disappointed in his men, and do something about this himself. "Didn't expect you to be a shinobi, kid... A taijutsu practitioner too, huh? Guess this thing will be useless." He said, dropping the hammer he carried. Had he given up? No... Yanji recognized what he was doing with his hands, but by the time his mind processed the information, it was already too late.
A fireball suddenly flew from the man's mouth, smashing against the boy and leaving his clothes in tatters before he even had a chance to react. A shinobi!? How had he not heard of this group before hand? There was only one option the boy saw when faced with an opponent of this caliber, and that was to ru-
"Fight! You really haven't learned yet, have you?" Sonu scorned, taking control of the boy's body, as she'd done many times before. As usual, she gave no thought to how much energy she was using, and simply pumped all of Yanji's chakra into his arms and legs to improve his speed, launching him toward the man at high speeds and striking him in the chest. But she overestimated the man's resilience...
Rather than simply disabling or shutting down the man's vitals, she shoved the boy's arm straight through his chest, and gave control back.. After the initial shock of the attack, the man's body shut down and dropped to the ground, pulling the now blood-soaked child with it. After collecting his thoughts, or what was left of them, the boy panicked and struggled to pull his hand from the man's chest. Bits of flesh were still stuck to his gauntlets and skin, causing the boy to pass out. This was the first time he'd ever killed another human being...
It wasn't until hours later that the boy woke up, quickly realizing that night had fallen, and quickly remembering the events that had unfolded. The heat from before had already begun to rot the man's body, and the men he'd disabled were alive, but passed out from the pain they were enduring. The stench alone caused the boy to throw up what little food was still left in his stomach, but he knew he would have to move on... Despite still being in shock, he knew it would be difficult to explain what had happened here. It would merely be something for him to think about during his journey, and something to clean off of himself as well.
He was now nearing the border of grass country...
The young Byakko couldn't help but sigh, as now wasn't much different.
"You really should try to stop that, child. If anyone else were around, it could be viewed as bad manners, and I won't have any of my underlings being marked as unprofessional." Sunokura didn't help the boy through his suffering... The only conversations she was capable of having, we ones where she nagged Yanji for his habits, and expected nothing more than a "yes ma'am." "Stand up straight, slouching can only lead to back problems in the future," "You'll fail to see imminent dangers if you rest your eyes while you walk, try to stop that." Her commanding nature was nice in a fight, at least from what he's seen so far, but any other time and it was just annoying. Perhaps she was trying to train him to be a leader, perhaps long term success as a ninja started with good posture and little to no sighing? In order to prevent himself from leaving his weapon buried somewhere in the desert expanse, he could only assume these things and listen...
"Yes ma'am.." The boy mumbled, thinking his response was yet another thing beginning to get old, even if they communicated telepathically. At this point, Yanji was practically trudging through the sand, struggling with each step as the monotony started getting to him. Something had to happen, anything, so that he could think of something else, so that he could keep himself sane. Otherwise he would just be a slave to the commands of his gauntlets... A robot programmed by his celestial creator.
Suddenly, the boys ears twitched. Someone, or something, was nearby. The young Byakko halted, and scanned the surrounding area as his eyes began glowing. His gift from Byakko proved useful, as he managed to locate a group of potential bandits squatting behind a nearby dune.
"I guess those eyes do have a use." Suno mocked, never having understood the point of the boy's gift.
"I know you're there, come on out before I come to you." Finally, he would be able to ignore his partner for a little bit!
A loud smack sounded from the distance, followed by apologies and a group of men rising from their hiding place. One of which didn't seem very happy with the rest... "Knew I shouldn't have swapped out some of my crew..." The man complained, before locking eyes with Yanjirou and smiling. "Guess you found us out boy, but you should've kept your mouth shut.. I was gonna slit your throat while you slept if you hadn't noticed us!" All of the men began giggling, pulling out weapons of varying uses and sizes from their holsters.
"You could've tried." Yanji calmly replied, confident in his ability to hold his own against a few thugs. His smug comment quickly wiped the smile off of many of their faces, but the presumed boss continued smiling.
"Heh, it's alright boys, I always love it when they think they stand a chance!" With that remark, the group began sliding down the dune, rushing Yanjirou the moment they were met with a more solid ground. As they all grew closer, Yanji noticed that the largest of the group was the boss, who also happened to carry the largest weapon... Was he compensating for something, or did this group happen to be one of the biggest cliches Yanji had come across in his lifetime?
Regardless, the first few were swiftly taken care of, each receiving a pair of warm metal claws that ripped apart the muscle within their legs and arms. It was becoming clear why these men were simply thugs... With the lack of strategy in their group, there's no way they would be able to make it in a real job. There was no coordination, no communication, not even any courage from the individual. The only courage they had, came from the faith that a group could conquer all. They made a fatal mistake, however, and that was underestimating their target.
As the last of the lackeys fell to the sand, blood staining the grain beneath him as he let out moans of pain, the boss decided it was time to stop being disappointed in his men, and do something about this himself. "Didn't expect you to be a shinobi, kid... A taijutsu practitioner too, huh? Guess this thing will be useless." He said, dropping the hammer he carried. Had he given up? No... Yanji recognized what he was doing with his hands, but by the time his mind processed the information, it was already too late.
A fireball suddenly flew from the man's mouth, smashing against the boy and leaving his clothes in tatters before he even had a chance to react. A shinobi!? How had he not heard of this group before hand? There was only one option the boy saw when faced with an opponent of this caliber, and that was to ru-
"Fight! You really haven't learned yet, have you?" Sonu scorned, taking control of the boy's body, as she'd done many times before. As usual, she gave no thought to how much energy she was using, and simply pumped all of Yanji's chakra into his arms and legs to improve his speed, launching him toward the man at high speeds and striking him in the chest. But she overestimated the man's resilience...
Rather than simply disabling or shutting down the man's vitals, she shoved the boy's arm straight through his chest, and gave control back.. After the initial shock of the attack, the man's body shut down and dropped to the ground, pulling the now blood-soaked child with it. After collecting his thoughts, or what was left of them, the boy panicked and struggled to pull his hand from the man's chest. Bits of flesh were still stuck to his gauntlets and skin, causing the boy to pass out. This was the first time he'd ever killed another human being...
It wasn't until hours later that the boy woke up, quickly realizing that night had fallen, and quickly remembering the events that had unfolded. The heat from before had already begun to rot the man's body, and the men he'd disabled were alive, but passed out from the pain they were enduring. The stench alone caused the boy to throw up what little food was still left in his stomach, but he knew he would have to move on... Despite still being in shock, he knew it would be difficult to explain what had happened here. It would merely be something for him to think about during his journey, and something to clean off of himself as well.
He was now nearing the border of grass country...