THE SHANTAKAI.



HISTORY.


Literally meaning 'Beautiful Death' the Shantakai was constructed by one of the most fearsome shinobi of an older generation: Mezon, Kengen. Indeed, he was a shinobi who had made a name for himself by tearing through the mud that is known as the shinobi world. Sunagakure had produced many powerful shinobi in the past but Kengen would be considered histories finest shinobi. Alas, he was considered the finest but also the ruthless and merciless shinobi that history would mostly remember by. History cannot tell the story of how the Shantakai began, how Mezon, Kengen began his tale from peacemaker to war-creator and how one man revived it.

In the very beginning, the young Kengen’s mind was just a naïve and young soul; he sought out the adventurer’s fruit, craving the sweet freedom that his village could not give and wish to spread his ideology outward onto the world. He was a kind soul at first, one who didn’t outright want war and didn’t seek out the madness that would be put into the categories of genocide, terrorism and pure mass destruction. If he was aware that the world is an old being and has turned men like Kengen into mad creatures then perhaps the Shantakai would have been just a faded memory in the back of the mind of a young man’s mind that would’ve passed on like the turning of seasons. Ah, how fate seems to fall into certain places and perhaps fate’s cruel hand touched the mind of Mezon, Kengen and chose him for what was to come.

During this period, Wind Country and Fire Country has had a rock relationship that has gone through neutral agreements between the two countries to outright destructive wars that has taken many lives of both shinobi and civilian. These two countries were not the only ones that were in high tensions. The secret nation that was Kirigakure kept themselves hidden from the public eye, causing weary to the strong-willed Iwagakure and the aggressive Kumogakure. Kumogakure has seen better days who once sought honor and had the fearlessness that triumph every other village. Alas, they have fallen short as the new Raikage and Daimyo were in constant feud with each other. The Daimyo’s paranoia and the Raikage’s stubbornness brought forth tension.

Kengen’s heard that the shinobi could be torn apart. His solution to this was purely simple: Bring peace to the neighboring countries and bring peace to this world Kengen had venture out during the prime of his life. He left his friends, his family, and his home to wander the shinobi world as a representative of peace. The people of Sunagakure did not see Kengen as an enemy, how could they? His ideals were well-known and he spoke to those who wish to find that narrow path that is peace and tranquility. It would never be guessed that Kengen would not return by himself but with a small and desperate army that would seek out the death of Kazekage.

Kengen, for the next four years, had walked down the path of shadowy death. It seemed the farther he walked down the road of war, the carnage only increased. It seemed that every day, Kengen would wake up and he would look outside seeing the smoke rise so high into the sky that it could be seen from miles away. Each passing day, the screams of the fallen would echo out into the forests, through the deserts, through the mountaintops, through the marshes. How Kengen could only watch those suffering and could do so little to aid them. His words didn’t hold much weight to the people as they did not see Kengen as a savior but alas just a man with just that: Words. Indeed, his ideals could not reach to the people of the shinobi world at first.

It was during these years that it was the first step towards the beginning of the Shantakai. Kengen had begun raising followers of the sort, one who had liked minds that resonated with the idealist. A two of which history recalls were Han Juguro, a shinobi that came from the marshes and swamps of Mist Country. His personality was calm it seem but his intent had a certain spark and fire that could lash out just as quick as it came. The second was Seishin, Hitoshi. He seemed callous and rough at certain points but his heart was always for Kengen and he always spoke with such charisma that some confused him as the leader. These three associates became the best of allies during these years. Their alliance had grown and echoed off towards people who had great power. Soon, three became six and six became nine. The group, nameless at the time, began not only spreading their words to the people but also creating groups so that those who could not defend themselves could be armed and ready for war.

War. It is a beast that does not change. The weapons may differ, the tactics can change, the people have different skill and they may prefer different types of warfare but war is still war and it was this factor that initially caused the Shantakai to be formed. Many had joined the group during the first years. There were the small rebellious groups that formed within countries, both large and small, that joined the ideas that Kengen had formed off from. They had joined Kengen and his group only to feel the wrath of the villages as they engaged in combat. Those who were among the elite, the original nine that Kengen had gotten were the ones that survived. Those who were the weak had died off. It seemed to be a repeated process with the deaths of those small rebellious groups but those that survived manage to gain a large advantage towards the main countries. Rather than obtaining peace which was Kengen’s original goal, it appeared that Kengen’s ideology had come to a complete 180 where he did not see peace in the long run. A quote he once said to Heiki, a young prodigy and apprentice for Kengen at the time in the later journal entry states that the following quote “I’ve lived to see the deaths of many children in this world, the burning of mothers and fathers holding onto their children trying to protect their kin. I’ve see the drowning of the old and the hanging of the young and I see now that the idea of peace is just something of fantasy. In order to obtain peace, one must be ready for war.”

Those years were a chaotic one as the wars between the neighboring countries would intensify one month and then the next there would be a ominous silence between countries. It was during this time that the Shantakai was planning on a larger scale war. One that would cross the boundary between countries and would ultimately put the world in a state of chaos and pandemonium. It would be true anarchy and in the mind of Kengen, true peace. Not all of members of the Shantakai wished this to happen. It was this that led to the Shantakai’s first ever ‘true’ defeat. Among the members of the group was one spy that had relayed messages back to the Fire Daimyo and Wind Daimyo. The two countries had made a temporary alliance in order to defeat the Shantakai once and for all, restoring balance to the world and perhaps ending this long ongoing feud with the countries.

The final battle had sprout forth with the large armies of Konoha, the large armies of Suna and the elite army that was known as the first generation Shantakai. Led by Kengen, now with insanity in his mind and chaos in his heart, he charged into battle in with nothing else to lose but the ideals he started with. All three sides lost a majority of men and women that day, Sunagakure especially. It was in Konoha’s interest to retreat as the Kazekage initiated a final last minute effort in sacrificing himself for the better good of the world. He wanted the shinobi legacy to continue and gave the last remaining bit of his army and Konoha to escape. His release was that of the dust element, obliterating the remainder of what was left of the Shantakai and those who didn’t escape the blast. Kengen tried to prevent this from occurring but in the end, all was silent.

It was there that the Shantakai should’ve died. All was lost in that battle, including many of the original few that had started with Kengen all those years ago. Within the sand of that desert, there was blood that soaked into the earth and fed the desert with its crimson liquid. The vultures and crows scavenge the land that fateful day. Indeed, many shinobi thought that was the end of the Shantakai.

But one soul survived-

THE SECOND GENERATION.