WIP

Age : 32 Posts : 1178

Having wandered through various countries before he finally passed into the land of mountains, the young shinobi was far from tired. As if driven by some higher power, the Uchiha did not take a break from his stride, closing in on the place he was supposed to go to. To some, not knowing what they were looking for and what they might run into would be a deterrent, though Hiruzen was not so easily scared away from achieving his goals. A lot of the work he had done had been leading up to whatever it was that had been hidden high up in the peaks of the mountains that this entire country was known for. In his opinion, there was no reason to hide anything that was not remotely worth something so high in dangerous terrain, so there had to have been something up there that would make the entire trip worth while. Stopping at the top of a tall cliff, he was able to overlook a large valley at the foot of several tall mountains. Even now, he was high up in the mountains, yet the valley ahead of him seemed like it was relatively warm. Letting his eyes pass over the valley, he saw nothing but dense foliage surrounded by mountains. Somewhere in that valley was the thing that he had set out to find, though no maps had been able to tell him anything about this particular place.

Everything and everyone he had asked about the place he was headed told him that he would be heading up into the mountains and that all he would find was rock and snow, yet here it was that he found some sort of hidden forest that had seemingly been forgotten by the world. As amazing and interesting as this view was, he could see little to nothing of what was going on beneath the dense layer of leaves that shrouded the valley like a blanket. Finding the quickest way down from the cliff, he descended into what he believed would be a dark and damp forest, though the only part he had right was the part about it being damp. The moment he set his boots down onto the soggy soil, he took a good look around both with his eyes and with his chakra sensory ability. This place was new to him, so there was no telling just what he might end up encountering and whether it would be friendly or hostile towards him. Unable to pick up any distinct chakra signatures, he was certain that there was some sort of a presence beneath his feet, though it was nearly impossible to know for sure. In a way, it annoyed him when one of his most skilled abilities were not working properly, abandoning him to fend for himself in a place that was unknown to the vast majority of people.

Deciding to leave things for what they were, he started moving forward. It was rather disorienting when one could not look up and see where the sun was, though his natural sense of direction made up for quite a bit. As he looked around, one of the things that stood out the most was the large amount of reptilians around. Seeing a lot of sub-species he had never seen before, he had not come here to learn more about the native life forms. His goal was to find some sort of temple or relic or whatever might have been left behind by the ancient civilization that had taught him so much already. While he moved further from his point of entry, he could not help but think about how weird it was that a place this high up in the mountains could be so hot. While he pondered on what made it this hot, he almost fell into a large pit filled with steaming hot water. From what he could tell, it was a natural hot spring, just far warmer than the human body could handle as it would most certainly end up cooking them in their skin. What allowed him to notice the pit was the stone rim that had been made around the pit which he kicked into. What was interesting about it was that it was the only thing about the pit that was not natural, but obviously made by human hands. Bending through his knees to have a look at it, he saw that there were in fact bodies floating in the pit.

That was when his sixth sense picked up on several chakra signatures that were rapidly closing in on his position. Moving ahead into a small clearing where he would be able to see more of his surroundings and have a more defensible position, he waited as the signatures came closer and closer. Not long after they had passed into his slightly distorted field of sensory, several dark skinned figures. Wielding weaponry that was unlike the metal used by shinobi, made from what seemed like large bones and even teeth that were far larger than that of the kind of creatures one would encounter in the lands beneath the mountains. Even their clothing seemed to have been made out of what seemed like reptilian skins, probably due to the large variety of lizards and the like that called this place home. Counting a total of seven men, Hiruzen wondered if they were going to make an attempt at tossing him into the pit behind him. If they were planning on it, they would find themselves locked in a situation far worse than death, that much he could promise them. As soon as one made an attempt at approaching him, Hiruzen activated his Sharingan to show them that he was not easily intimidated and would not be going down easily. What happened next was not something he would have expected from these people.

Age : 32 Posts : 1178

Upon seeing his eyes, the one that made an attempt at approaching him suddenly took a step back. Lowering his spear, he waited a few seconds before approaching him yet again, looking him over with an almost disturbing amount of interest. It was not until the other men joined in on it that he started feeling like some kind of test subject that had to be examined. Thanks to the cloak that concealed his weapons, the men were not alarmed by him at all, nor did they feel intimidated. Most people would not dare look directly into the Sharingan, though these men were staring into them like they had never seen something like it before. When he thought about the way these men looked at them and the way they acted, it was actually very possible that they had never seen someone like Hiruzen before. This opened up many doors, though it also made for a potentially dangerous situation if he did something that came natural to him but in some way frightened or offended these people. It was for that reason that Hiruzen decided to give these men the time to inspect him until they came to the conclusion that he was not going to be a threat to them. Hiruzen had no reason to hurt these men, not until they decided to become hostile and come at him with the intention to kill. Once they were done, they spoke to one another in a language that made no real sense to him at all. Listening as closely as he could, it seemed like a mixture of the language spoke in the shinobi world, mixed with the ancient language he had studied and a hint of something unknown to him.

Judging by the look of things, the men had decided that Hiruzen was not a threat to them and gestured at him that he should follow them. Believing that doing as they told him to for now would not be a bad thing as it would help him further his own goals without having to hurt anyone. Not shutting down his Sharingan even once, he wanted to be prepared for the off-chance that these men might make an attempt at hurting him. Wondering where they might be taking him, his sensory let him know the answer to the question even before his eyes could figure it out. Approaching a small village built in the treetops, he saw many others like the men that escorted him to the village. He had seen people with dark skins before in the land of lightning, though the complexion of these people was several times darker than that. As they had been inspecting him when he first appeared, so was he inspecting him now that he was no longer in any direct danger. Trying to pick up as much of their language as he possibly could, he kept following the men up into the tree village. Entering a large hut that acted as the center of the village, the first thing he saw was a large skull that had been fashioned into some kind of shrine, complete with lit candles and offerings that were placed inside of the open maw of the skull. In front of it was a throne made out of wood and fashioned with teeth of various sizes. In it sat a man that appeared to be in his early thirties, seemingly being no more than thirty years older than Hiruzen was.

"You are Shinobi, yes? My name is Ngai, I am the leader and elder of this community. We are of a small tribe known as the Yashou. We have been calling this place our home for many generations. It is our duty to look after lord Ruhanga and his offspring in Suikibodō. Ruhanga and his kin have been living in this valley for years, providing us with what we need in order to survive in return for our aid in looking after the valley. It has been this way since the dawn of our tribe and will continue for many more generations after I have passed away. Now, if I may ask, why is it that you have come here?".

Shortly after he spoke to Hiruzen and showed that he spoke the common language, he waved at the men that brought him in, telling them to leave and close the door behind them. Whether the man was confident in his own abilities or just trusted Hiruzen to not pull anything, he had not expected to be left alone with the leader of a village like this. Still, it was a show of good faith, something Hiruzen could appreciate. Because of that, it seemed like it would be best for him to be honest about everything. It was a good chance for him to see what the people of this village could mean to him and his goal, but if it ended up becoming troublesome, he could always erase the conversation from the man with his Sharingan. All things considered, nothing bad could happen either way.

"My name is Hiruzen of the Uchiha clan, and I am in fact a shinobi, or I used to be. I have spent several years wandering the world and learning new things. I am not attached to any village or community and my only allegiance is to myself, something that has allowed me to learn a lot about the old world. Which leads me to your question as to why I have come here. I have spent many months with one of the largest temples in the known world and spent a lot more time researching an ancient civilization that ruled the earth before the dawn of shinobi. A while ago, I found a relic that told me to come here, though I have no reason why or what I am looking for. Now that I find you here, might I ask if you know what is located roughly two kilometers north of this village?".

As soon as he told Ngai exactly what it was that he was after, he could tell that the expression on his face changed from the carefree one to a more stern one. Following up on the change of expression was a silence that seemed to last for hours in Hiruzen's mind, though in reality, it lasted but a few seconds. None the less, it was a rather uncomfortable silence that made him wonder whether he had to wipe the conversation from the man's mind or if he had to keep going. Deciding to wait and hear him out if he was going to keep on talking, he instead saw the man rise up from his seat and walk over to the door. Gesturing at Hiruzen to follow, he was not waiting around as that might seem like he did not trust the leader of the village. Not trusting him might have negative consequences that he could do without, so he wasted no time in following Ngai out of the hut and out of the village.

Age : 32 Posts : 1178

Leaving through the wooden gates that had been built around the village grounds, he wondered where they were going to go. When he felt that they were heading north, Hiruzen knew that Ngai had made the decision to head straight towards the place the Uchiha was looking for without first explaining it to save them both a lot of time. Moving swiftly through the treeline, Hiruzen was starting to enjoy being in this place quite a bit. Most of the people he had met were rather helpful and did not ask too many questions about his goals. Combined with the fact that the place was very well hidden from the outside world and having a very alluring climate, there was little that he could think of that was in any way negative. Several hundreds of meters were crossed in a matter of minutes as the two dashed further and further north until they reached a place where the trees no longer grew. The strange thing was that the ground where the trees ended was almost made in a perfect circle. The dark earth that made up the footing in the clearing had been placed there by something other than nature, something he was even more sure of when he saw the large temple in front of him. From the jungle itself, the temple had been very hard to spot, but when standing in the clearing, it was incredibly hard to miss. Staring at the massive slabs of stone that made up the building itself and the large shrine that stood in front of it, it was far more primordial in appearance than the temples he had visited in the shinobi world.

"This place is known as the temple of our lord Ruhanga, the one that watches over and owns this valley and those inside of it. For our service to him and the protection of this valley from those that would seek to harm it, he blesses us with a long and healthy life. I myself have recently turned ninety-seven. Ruhanga is several hundreds of years old and was tasked with the temple and the things hidden inside of it. Over the years, he made it his home and that of his descendants and close kin. These days, we call the place Suikibodō. It is forbidden for humans to enter into the temple, so there is no one that can tell you exactly what is inside, but that is not important right now. The reason why I rushed you here was because they are about to ask Ruhanga to heal one of our sick. I believed that it would be better to show you than to tell you as you might not have believed me.".

Looking up at the top of the shrine, he saw a few people standing around a small altar where a man was laying flat. What kind of disease or illness the man had was something he did not know, though he could tell even from a distance that it was the kind of thing that would require several days or even weeks of help in a hospital. Without asking for permission, Hiruzen started approaching the shrine, though Ngai did not seem to mind at all as he had more or less been expecting it. Traversing the darkened earth, he reached the stone stairs leading up to the altar where the people of the tribe stood in a semi-circle around the sick tribesman. As he made his way up, he could feel the ground shake beneath his feet. It was not until he had reached the top of the shrine and got to the altar that he could gaze down into the temple itself and the dark pathway that seemed to go on endlessly into the darkness. That was when the light from the outside world made contact with something massive making its way up from the inside of the temple. Showing hints of green, red, orange and yellow, it did not take long before the gargantuan beast rose from the temple and placed his claws on the altar. Looking at the men that had gathered in front of it, the large horns on his head, the colorful spines sticking out of his back and the sword-like teeth sticking out of its mouth proved to him that it was not the kind of creature that was to be taken lightly. Still, Hiruzen was not intimidated by it, he knew that taking on a beast such as this was well within the boundaries of his power.

"Ngai! It would seem that you have brought an outsider to the temple of the ancients. Why do I bestow the blessing of long life upon you and your people if you do not even perform the tasks I have given your tribe?".

Once it spoke, it sniffed a small gust of air out of its nostrils that almost blew several of the tribesmen off of their feet. The massive lizard was not happy with the arrival of an outsider, that much was clear to everyone. When Hiruzen was about to speak up for his own sake, Ngai stepped forward before kneeling before the beast. It was interesting to see how these people had learned to live side by side with such a creature and come to see it as some sort of Old god.

"Lord Ruhanga, this man is a shinobi from the lands below. He claims to have been sent here after making contact with a relic left behind by those that have built this temple. While he did not know about the temple or about you, he knew the exact location of this place after activating one of the information spheres you yourself once showed me and my father. For an outsider, he knows too much about the temple and your former masters to be making it all up, which is why I have brought him here. If you would think otherwise, strike me down where I stand, but do not punish my people for it was not their choice but mine.".

Looking at Hiruzen for a few moments, it seemed that the beast was not pleased at all. Letting out a deep, bellowing sigh, it rose up its right claw before bringing it down upon the man that had brought Hiruzen up to the temple in the first place. While it was not his place, Hiruzen knew that the beast stood between him and getting access to the temple where he would be able to find more of the spheres that had brought him here. He knew that Ngai was not going to let him into the temple because of the rules of his tribe, though it was a fact that if Ruhanga struck Ngai down that he would not gain access to anything at all. Releasing a burst of golden chakra, it formed into a large hand that knocked against Ruhanga's claw, knocking the beast off balance and forcing it to relocate next to the temple. Notably shocked by this display of force, Hiruzen wasted no time in maneuvering himself between the thing that fit every description of a primordial behemoth and the leader of the Yashou Tribe. With a golden aura around his body and crimson eyes in his skull, he stared down on the beast that stared back at him with a terrifying glare. Having heard the things Ngai told the beast, he believed that he could take things from here.

"If I may be so bold as to cut in, Ngai is right. I have been doing a lot of research about the people that were apparently your master at some point. Down in the shinobi world, there are still a few temples left that practice the teachings of the people I refer to as the Ancients. In my few years on this world, I have learned more about them than most people ever will. If you did not believe Ngai before, believe the chakra that rendered your judgement of this man inert. If you are truly a former servant of the Ancients, you should recognize this as the remnant of Ninshuu.".

Age : 32 Posts : 1178

After a momentary stare-down, Hiruzen deactivated his Sharingan and let the golden aura slip into non-existence. As he did so, the beast lowered the large frills on its back and closed his mouth so as to stop showing its teeth. A few moments later, the beast made its way back up the shrine to hang over the altar a second time. Glaring at Ngai, the man instantly knew that they all had to get back, grabbing Hiruzen by his cloak and pulling him back along with the other tribesmen. Grinning at the sight of it, the beast started making strange noises with his throat before releasing a large glob of his saliva unto the sick man laying on top of the altar. Finding the whole thing rather disgusting, Hiruzen looked on to see as the saliva was slowly slipping away through small trenches in the stone that had most likely been made for this very reason. Watching it all drip away, he could physically see changes in the condition of the man as the fever seemed to drop and his skin seemed to get healthier too. It was not long after that that the man woke up and seemed to have been cured of whatever was making him sick in the first place. Of all the things he had seen up to this point, this was without a doubt the most interesting and shocking thing he had seen in quite some time. He had seen people get healed before, but never this fast, and this guy even seemed a tad younger than he had been before.

"Your friend is healed, take him with you and return to the village, but leave the shinobi here. There are a few things we need to talk about before I will allow him to leave here.".

Taking a few minutes before bowing, Ngai took his tribesmen with him and returned to the village. Hiruzen believed that Ruhanga would have been angered when Hiruzen knocked his large claws away, keeping him from killing the leader of the people that had been serving him. In a way, the beast seemed pleased that he had been proven wrong and kept from killing a loyal follower. He could see it in his eyes that the large creature did not exactly mind being wrong in his earlier assessment. Trying his best not to look smug, Hiruzen waited for the kind of reply he was going to be getting from the large beast. Not getting the kind of response he thought he would be getting, the beast nodded its large head towards the entrance of the temple before turning around and heading back in. Seeing it as an invitation, he disregarded the things he had been told by Ngai about how the place was forbidden for humans. He knew that the laws that applied to the village did not apply to him, and with the acknowledgement of Ruhanga, he believed that it was fine if he entered, so he did. Moving down from the shrine and into the long dark passage leading deeper into the main temple, the large beast was leading the way for him while his deep bellowing voice bounced off of the walls.

"You have the same golden aura that my former masters had, so there is no doubt in my mind that you are what you say you are. We do not get a lot of outsiders here that are not interested in robbing everything of value from within this temple, which would explain the bodies you have seen in the boiling pits. I am making an exception to the rules because Ngai believes you, and not everyone manages to take me off-guard and overpower me in the process. I know that you might have questions, but you will need to keep them in until we get to the center.".

Age : 32 Posts : 1178

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