NARUTO: Tobuden: Chapter Three

CHAPTER THREE: URARASHI KAN

“K-kill me? B-but you’re--” Tobu thought about who he was to refer to this person as, but the initial thought was already escaping his lips, “Sensei-san?” Tobu’s voice was a high-pitch squeal, his eyes wide, his back was nearly horizontal, but his feet were planted firmly on the ground. His eyes moved from the blade that threatened his life up to the cold, blue eyes of the man he thought to be his sensei. The man’s golden hair gently moved with the wind.

“Die.” The man drew his blade back, and in one fluid movement, he repositioned the hilt of the sword in his hand, lifting it above his head.

His muscles tensed--

No hesitation--

He thrust the blade downward--

THUK! THUK! THUK!

The sound of arrowheads piercing the man’s flak vest. They didn’t actually penetrate through the vest, thus, not injuring the man. Tobu fell flat on his rear-end before flipping to his stomach and pushing off, running from the Jonin. Kan stood, his bow out in front of him, the fingers on his free hand were loose. He flexed them before reaching back into his quiver, plucking three arrows from it. The older male began breaking the arrows in his flak vest, tossing them aside.

“Who are you?” Kan asked, placing the arrows on the long string, drawing it back and taking aim.

“As Tobu called me, your sensei.”

“Then why’d you try to kill me?!” Tobu asked between gaping breaths, he held his chest, his heart beating a mile a minute.

No response.

“What can you guys do?” Kan asked in a whisper, his eyes locked on the male who threw the sword he held onto his shoulder. Tobu grunted, rolling up his sleeve of his right arm, the sweater’s cloth scrunching on his elbow.

“I can punch things really, really hard.” Tobu leaned forward, staring across the way at their target, he gripped his right forearm with his left hand, holding it down at his side.

“Um… Um…” Hana fidgeted, searching through her pants for something. Kan glanced at her through the corner of his eye before fixing his aim back on their ‘sensei.’ Tobu arched a brow, looking over at her with a confused expression. “Ehehe. Gomen nasai!” She apologized with a bow, “I seem to have forgotten my weapons at home!” The two boys looked over at her with surprised expressions. How could one be so ditzy? This shock left an opening--

The man darted forth--

Kan locked back on, aiming for the man’s face or somewhere equally exposed--

“Damn it--!” Kan growled, the older male was swaying back and forth, easing out of his aim--

“Don’t shoot where your target is, shoot where he’s going to be…” He recollected--

He released the arrows, causing them to whistle as they cut through the air at high speeds--

They drew close--

It was only a moment away from connecting--

Intercepting--

A stroke of his powerful blade--
ZAN--!

The arrows were sliced in half in a blinding silver light caused by the sword--
KOROKORO!!

He continued his approach--

In the blink of an eye, he was there--

Before them, with his cold eyes looking down upon them, as if they were piercing through the children’s very souls. His blade was high above his head, ready to strike Kan down where he stood. Kan looked up at the eyes of a cold-blooded killer, causing his heart to sink in his chest, his morale diminished.

Just as he was going to cut the boy down, Tobu rammed his right shoulder into Kan’s, knocking him from the way. He lifted his fist, thrusting it forth into the oncoming blade. His fist was wrapped in a wonderful golden color, if one were to blink, they’d even say there was an off glow to the fist.

A collision--

Hana gasped, it was all happening so fast--

His fist met directly with the very blade, something that would have lopped a normal person’s arm in half failed to even phase him--

The sword began to sing, sing a song of the deaths of millions of enemies--

The song of a millions of comrades fallen--

It was so loud--

Blinding--

The older male slid back, the children covered their ears due to the high-pitch screech of the sword. The man looked down at the blade, surprised at the feat of not being cut by it. Hana rushed to Tobu’s side, grasping his hand, “Omigosh! Are you okay?!” She frantically looked for a cut on his hand to find nothing. Kan looked over at the Hana and Tobu, wondering how he was not missing the arm.

“I hear you…” The man spoke softly to his sword as it was slowly lulled. “He’s not as impotent as they said he would be.”

“What the hell was that?!” Kan grunted, standing from the ground Tobu forced him on.

“We’re even. You saved me once, I saved you once.” Tobu explained, glaring over at Kan before slipping his hand from Hana’s grasp, hissing in pain. Though he sustained no injury, there was still harm done, possible fracturing, his knuckles were slightly bruising. He couldn’t let that stop him, they weren’t playing training with a sensei, they were fighting for their lives with a stranger.

“It was merely a reflex. I got excited and acted.” Kan explained, pulling an arrow from his quiver, taking aim on their alleged sensei once more.

“I thought you wanted to see me dead.” Tobu chortled, taking grip of his right forearm once more, taking stance.

“I said you’d be lucky to make it past a serious mission.” Kan corrected, shutting an eye, focusing on the man.

“Still doesn’t explain why you saved me.”

“Likewise” Kan pulled the arrow back, the longbow bent slightly.

“Will you two stop it?!” Hana whined, stomping a foot and pouting. “We need to find a way out of this!” She stated, pulling a scroll from her jacket pocket. She rolled it out across the floor, performing a series of hand seals before planting her hand on the center marking. A cloud of smoke engulfed her and the surroundings. When it quickly cleared, two lotus flowers were revealed on the scroll’s seals. Tobu arched a brow, confused as to what the lotuses were for. “Yay! It worked!”

“What’re those going to do?” Tobu queried, letting his knuckles loose, flexing his hand to relieve himself of some pain.

“What? They’re just really pretty.” She giggled.

“Gah…” Tobu’s expression was one of extreme shock, his jaw dropped, almost amazed by how ditzy she was. “It’s hopeless.” He wept--

“Heads up!” Kan called, releasing the arrow as the man once again approached at high speeds, this time, his target was the girl, since she seemed to be the weakest among the three. Not only that, but she was the only one he hadn’t seen retaliate against him.

Tobu quickly readied himself--

The arrow missed the man by a hair--

Kan plucked another arrow from his quiver--

Tobu rushed forth--

The man easily made his way around Tobu--

Hana’s brow furrowed, she performed another series of kata--

“NINPOU: HASUBAKUHA NO JUTSU!! [Ninja Art: Lotus Explosion Technique]“

The lotus exploded outward, Hana pushed off the ground, leaping backward into a backflip as the concussive blast surrounded their alleged sensei. Nothing was left but a cloud of petals and a large wooden stump in the center. Tobu and Kan looked on, wondering what exactly had happened. Kan fixed his aim directly at Hana with a smirk.

“Got’cha’.” Kan released the arrow--

It whizzed at Hana--

Over her shoulder--

And into the Jonin’s head, causing him to fall backward--

Exploding in a cloud of smoke--

“Damn that’s getting old quick.” Kan mumbled, Tobu looked around for their sensei.

“Interesting…” The man spoke from the distance, now standing where the three children first found him, by the lake. “Now that I’ve evaluated the three of you. I deem your abilities unworthy of being Genin. Though you three work uncannily well together, you are just too weak to become Genin under my tutelage.”

“Wh-what?! Say that while chewing on my fist!”

“You were just toying with us…” Kan spoke softly, coming to the realization that it was nothing more than a test.

“What I mean to say is that nobody will be passing on to become Genin, in fact, you all are no longer shinobi from this moment forward.” He then pointed to Hana, “Except her.”

Tobu looked to Kan, then to Hana, who was just as shocked as the boys. Kan pulled an arrow from his quiver--

Urarashi Kan’s Household: Dawn

“You’re an Urarashi. Being a shinobi is all our family knows. You’re the last of us, the last Shagekinin to ever live. It’s up to you whether or not our teachings will survive into the next generation, Kan.” An old man kneeling in the center of the large open space, before a large statue of Buddha. Kan stood before him, bowing to the elderly man. “I am proud of you.” The elder said, bowing in return, he rose a longbow up to Kan. “Accept this bow.”

“Hai.” Kan slid his hands underneath the bow, between the man’s hands, accepting it into his possession.

Now

“To hell with that.” With that, Kan strung the arrow on his bow--

Enishida District: Three Years Ago

“…your mother wanted you to be a great ninja. The greatest. That’s why you’re here, Tobu. I understand that you don’t want to be a shinobi, at least not now. But I have a feeling that it‘s something that you‘ll love just as much as she did.” A younger Shuiro said, placing his hand on Tobu’s head, ruffling his messy charcoal hair.

“Mo-mother?” He thought about it, looking up at Shuiro with a blank expression. He looked down at the ground, a tear falling from his eye. His head jerked upward, tears brimming on the tip of his eyes. “OSSU!” He cried to the heavens--

Now

“Screw that noise.” His knuckles crunched as he balled them up. “I’m not weak! I’ll prove myself!”

The sensei sighed, growing tired of the pointless skirmishes. “You do know that now that the examinations are over, I have all right to kill you if attacked.” He then looked over at Kan in the distance. “I assume you’re going to be taking part in this, too?”

A nod, “I have no other choice.“ Kan stated before releasing his arrow--

“OSSU--!“ Tobu darted forth--

Another conflict was to begin--

THE TWO NINJA WILL NOT BE DENIED!!
THEY ATTACK WITH VIGOR WHEN THEIR LIVES ARE AT STAKE!!
NEXT CHAPTER: DECISION!